Earth Angel
Chapter Eight
Chloe
walked into Dot.Com and took a quick look around. She spied Shawn and Belle together in the corner, but
thankfully neither of them was looking in her direction.
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and walked to the counter to order her
usual drink. Usually the counter
service at Dot.Com was extremely fast, but on this day they happened to be
training a new girl and Chloe waited for her drink for an eternity.
She finally grabbed the cup, paid for it and turned around to walk away
running smack dab into Belle Black.
Chloe
stared at her in shock for a moment before stammering out, "Oh Belle, I'm
sorry. I wasn't paying attention."
"Uhm,
that's okay, Jan. No harm
done."
Chloe
smiled gratefully at her. "By
the way... you look really nice like that."
Belle's
mouth dropped in shock, and she started checking her hair and her face to see
if something had gone dreadfully wrong. "Why
do you say that? Do I have
something on my face? Is my hair
all messed up? Did I rip my
dress?"
Chloe
shrugged in confusion. "Uhm,
no... I said it because I meant it. It's
a compliment."
Belle
stopped her self-inspection and looked at Chloe with surprise.
"Really? I just never expected a compliment to come from you.
Anyway... I have been wanting to tell you that I'm sorry about Jason,
and I'm glad you're okay and everything."
Chloe
wanted to smile widely but suppressed it.
It was just like to Belle to be nice to even the most hateful person.
"Thanks Belle... And, I'm sorry about Chloe.
I know you might not believe that, but I really am.
I know how close you were with her."
"No,
I believe you... cause you're not doing that 'I'm only ACTING sincere'-face
that I've seen you do before."
Chloe
laughed and nodded, she knew exactly what Belle was talking about.
Jan liked to pull out the puppy dog eyes when she wanted to get her
way, even though she was never sincere about anything.
"Yeah, well, things are changing... I've changed a lot.
And, I just want to say that I think that Chloe was really lucky to
have you as a friend."
Belle
sighed sadly and looked toward the floor, "Not as lucky as I was to have
her." Belle shifted her feet
and looked upwards optimistically. "Anyway,
would you like to join Shawn and me? We're
sitting right over there."
"I
uhh, I guess... If you guys will have me... Cause, nobody else will."
Belle
smiled widely and motioned for Chloe to follow her. Chloe felt like she was reliving the past almost.
This reminded her of the days when she first came to Salem and the only
two people willing to talk be seen in public with her was Belle and Shawn.
Chloe followed Belle and sat in the booth across from Belle and Shawn.
Shawn looked up from his computer screen in surprise as she sat down.
"Jan...
Good afternoon, I guess. What's
going on? How are you
feeling?"
Chloe
shrugged and replied, "Okay right now... I made the mistake of doing some
walking today though, and I'm not really supposed to be doing any physical
activity. I have a feeling the
doctor is going to be pretty angry with me when I visit him with a sore
back."
Shawn
nodded sympathetically. "Well,
then why didn't you just stay home?"
Chloe
chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Please...
I couldn't stand being cooped up for one more second.
It's like a prison at home... a really NICE prison, but still a prison.
Besides, I had some business to attend to."
"Business?
What kind of business? Or
is this something that we don't want to know?"
Chloe
bit her lip nervously and sunk a little lower in her seat.
"Well, I didn't really want you guys to know... but I was at the
memorial service... at least part of it anyway.
I sat way back in the back where nobody could see me."
Belle
leaned forward in her seat and gave Chloe a surprised glance.
"Why didn't you want us to know you were there?"
"I
don't know. I didn't want to
cause a stir or anything. I'm
definitely the last person you'd expect there, and I didn't want to have to
explain my reasons for being there to everybody.
I feel awful... really terrible about what I did to Chloe, and I wish I
could take it back, but I can't. I
can't apologize to her either, but I went there today to make peace with the
situation. I want to move on, and
be a better person... no more of the old Jan."
Both
Shawn and Belle sat in stunned silence for a moment before Belle replied,
"Wow, Jan... you don't even sound like yourself all of a sudden.
I'm totally stunned. But,
I'm also really impressed. And, I
don't know what it is about you now, but I can tell you really mean it.
I'm so glad that you want to change... and if you need a friend, you
can call me. I know we've never
gotten along, but I'm willing to help you out if you need it."
Chloe
smiled shyly and nodded. "Thank
you, Belle. You're really amazing
to even care about me after what I've done."
Shawn
nodded and spoke up, "Yeah, Belle is pretty amazing that way.
I think she would help anyone who needs it, as long as they are willing
to change. And, that goes for me
too, Jan. There's something in
your eyes that proves to me that deep down, you are a good person, and you are
sorry for what you've done. You
almost look like a different person even..."
Belle
nodded in agreement. "I
agree... I mean, you look like the Jan that we've known since elementary
school, but there's something there inside that wasn't there before."
Chloe
paused and silently wondered if maybe Belle and Shawn could see through her
exterior to the soul inside the body. She
knew that they were kind, caring and understanding people, but their words
just now made Chloe believe that they could see the real her behind the face
of Jan. She shook her thoughts
off and smiled widely at both of them.
"Thank
you both... I really don't have anyone, and it makes me feel a lot better to
know that there are at least a few people who won't refuse to have anything to
do with me."
Belle
and Shawn smiled widely, but quickly turned their heads when they heard
footsteps approaching. Chloe's
gaze followed theirs until she was staring up into Phillip's cold blue eyes.
"Phillip..."
"Jan,
what are you doing here? Are you
trying to take Chloe's place now or something?
Drinking the same drink as she used to even... What are you trying to
do? Oh wait, Maybe you're just
here to hurt Shawn and Belle, since you can't target Chloe anymore."
Chloe
shook her head in disbelief and stood from the booth. "Sorry, Phillip... didn't know that I wasn't allowed to
drink the same kind of drink as Chloe. Hey,
I know... why don't you go tell everyone else that comes here to drink this
same exact thing that they're not allowed to because it's the sacred Chloe
drink? Phillip, I know that you
are hurting right now... but PLEASE stop taking it out on me.
I already made my apology to you, and there's NOTHING I can do to make
things better than they are. I am trying to make up for the hurt I've caused, but you're
definitely not making it easy for me."
Phillip
kept his steely gazed transfixed on her and replied, "I've listened to
what you had to say in the hospital, Jan... and maybe you were right, but that
doesn't mean I have to like you."
Chloe
threw her hands up in frustration. "You're
right, you don't have to like me. I don't expect that after what I've done to you.
But, please don't make this hurt any worse than it already does.
I don't plan on causing any more pain to anybody, especially to Shawn,
Belle or you, so please... just back off.
It's time to move on."
Shawn
put a calming hand on Phillip's arm. "I
think she's right. You need to
chill, man. Jan is really trying
to fix her mistakes, and having you yelling at her isn't going to help
any."
Phillip's
voice rose in anger as he spoke, "After what she's done to me?
AND CHLOE? No way,
Shawn... I don't believe her, and you can't make me.
I'm not going to all of a sudden become best friends with Jan just
because she's playing nice. She's rotten to the core, and I don't believe a word of her
fake little apologies."
Belle
sighed and looked at him with deep sadness in her eyes, "Just like you
didn't believe in Chloe... Right, Phillip?
You automatically assumed the worst of her, just like you can't accept
that Jan might be able to be reformed. You’re
practically family to me, and I love you, but I really wish you'd grow
up."
Chloe
felt the painful memories of what had happened on the night of the Last Blast
course throughout her body. She
had forgiven Phillip for what how he had treated her, but she had never
forgotten it. Chloe turned to
Shawn and Belle with tears in her eyes.
"I'm
sorry... I can't handle this right now. I'm
gonna go. Sorry."
Belle
looked at her pleadingly, "You don't have to go Jan..."
Chloe
shook her head and held back the sobs. "No,
I'm definitely gonna go. I'll
talk to you later."
Chloe
quickly turned and left Dot.Com to find her car in the parking lot.
She reached the red VW and released the sobs inside her.
Inside, she felt bad for leaving Shawn and Belle there with an angry
and unreasonable Phillip, but even though she still loved him, she couldn't
stand to be in the same room with him when he acted this way.
Belle had been right, Phillip didn't trust anyone, not even Chloe.
It still hurt to think about the horrible things he had said to her
when he assumed that she had posed naked on the internet. Even though he had apologized and tried to make it up to her,
Chloe still wondered why he had assumed the worse instead of trusting in her.
She thought that he knew her better than that, and even now, she was
still unsure. Shawn and Belle seemed to see the real Chloe inside, but
Phillip only saw Jan.
Chloe
wiped the hot tears off of her face and got into her car.
She quietly muttered, "Please, Phillip... open your eyes... see me
for who I really am."
She looked in the rear view mirror and wiped more tears off of her face. Even though it was Jan's face staring back at her, she still saw herself inside of those eyes. She started the car and silently prayed that she would be able to fill this void between her and Phillip, and that he too would one day look in her eyes and recognize the person behind them.