It hurts
It hurts
From the look in the assistant's eyes, Leo could tell it was the first time she was seeing either of the King's twin, or maybe she had seen Louis before and was only surprised to see how similar and yet different they both seemed. This was actually the first time he was coming to see Chloe at work. He hadn't thought there was a reason to meet her when they could always talk on phone. But seeing how she was going through a lot at the moment, he knew he had to meet her in person.
"Uhm.. yes but..."
He didn't wait for her to finish before he began to head towards her office. After knocking twice, he opened the door and entered inside without waiting for permission.
She wasn't sitting at her desk so his eyes went to the other corner of the room where her couch was. She was lying down on one of them. He began to approach but stopped when he heard her hostile and harsh voice, "Get out!"
He didn't move at all. Was she crying? It definitely sounded like she was.
"I said get out! Didn't I tell you not to come in?" She said when she didn't hear any sound like the intruder was leaving the office.
A sniffle followed the end of her words.
"It's me." He said in a quiet voice.
He saw her tense up a bit but she didn't say anything else, neither did she make any effort to look at him.
"Are you okay?" He knew that was a stupid question. She wasn't okay at all and it was obvious. But he had some doubts whether Chloe would be able to open up to him. She liked to keep to herself and had only managed to tell him a few things lately.
She sat up. Her back was still to him and he noticed she was deliberately trying to hide her face from him.
"I'll just use the restroom and join you." She said and shuffled to the bathroom before he could even say anything.
By the time she returned, he was sitting on the couch with a bottle of water in hand and handed it over to her when she sat opposite him on the other couch where she had been lying down on.
She accepted it and said a weak "Thanks" before opening it to take big gulps from it.
Her face and eyes were still very red and a bit swollen. Just what must have made her cry so much? Leo wondered. He looked really worried about her.
Taking so much water made her almost throw up. She had been starving for a long time and taking this much water made her belly began to feel funny.
"Tell me what is wrong." Leo said in a demanding voice. If he wanted to be soft with her, she was probably going to just blow off his concern. He couldn't travel with a peaceful mind if his younget sister was going through a lot and no one was helping her.
She looked away from him to look at her side.
"I'm fine." She managed to say. She wasn't fine. And she knew Leo didn't believe her. No one in their right senses would anyway. But what reason could she give him? Did she even know the reason?
Leo sighed. He relaxed back on the couch and crossed his legs before folding his arms, his scrutinizing gaze never leaving her.
"This is about Jeremy, isn't it?"
She opened her mouth immediately to deny it, but she couldn't. She shut her mouth in resignation and looked away from her brother, slightly embarrassed.
"I saw him outside the mall." He informed her, finally getting her attention. She turned to look at him.
"It looked like he had been sitting out there for a long time. He was deep in thought. I wanted to approach him but I wasn't sure what to say to him. He also stood up and left."
Chloe began to have those goosebumps again and knew it wouldn't be long before she started crying. She pressed her lips together and tried to blink back whatever tears that was threatening to fall. 'Do not cry Chloe.' She warned herself.
"He... used to work here." She finally told him.
"Really?" Leo looked a bit surprised since he hadn't heard that before. He only knew Jeremy was her classmate who liked her. He suddenly remembered she had said 'was'.
"I asked him to quit." She swallowed hard and sniffled, "He... did." The first sob escaped her lips and stopped almost immediately while beads of tears slid down from her eyes. She also quickly wiped them off with her hands.
"Why did you ask him to?" He asked, trying to choose his questions carefully. He didn't want to say or do anything that would stop her from talking.
"It's definitely not because you do not like him. Is it because he isn't from a rich family?" He asked even though he knew his sister didn't have such prejudice against people. And just as he expected, she shook her head immediately,
"That's not it."
"Then?" It suddenly occured to him and he sat up to ask, "The parents found out?" He wasn't surprised when she nodded slowly.
"They called him... a gangster. (sniffs) They said he was a bad influence and promised to approach him themselves if I didn't stay away. Mum threatened to make sure he doesn't graduate." More tears slid down her eyes, but she wiped them immediately they fell.
"I'm really not surprised." He said with a sigh. He had gone through it firsthand to know how Chloe felt. The difference between them was that, Chloe was a weak girl. No matter how much she tried to act like she was strong and that people's opinion about her didn't matter, she was the complete opposite. She wasn't strong, and people's opinion about her mattered to her. That was why she spent a long time trying to please their parents. Also why she felt like she didn't deserve to be happy after Adrian's death because people would think she was living happily after taking away someone else's happiness. It was also why she worked hard both in school and at work so that people would see how much she was succeeding not because of her family, but because she deserved it.
"So you had to let him go?" He finally asked her. It was really a weird sight seeing her cry so much because of a boy who annoyed him most times.
"I had to." She admitted. "I know him. I know Jeremy." She said in between sobs. "He was still going to stay. He won't want to run away because of the threats. But he needs to graduate the University in order to get a good job to take care of himself and his sister."
He had to graduate for his mother. She didn't want him to be a disappointment to his father whoever the man was. And if he continued to hang out with her, the worse was going to happen. She would hate herself.
"But it hurts..." She finally allowed herself cry. "I don't know why it hurts so much. I... I can't even breathe."
Why was it hurting her so much? Was it because she knew she had hurt him? Or because she hated this choice she had made but didn't have any other way out?
Leo watched her cry. He didn't say any words to stop her from crying or try to sooth her. After a while, he sat up again.
"Let me give you an advise... as the black sheep of the family.." Leo started with a mischievous glint in his eyes.