CHAPTER 9
564 Words
The apartment was cold.
Not because of the temperature, but because the warmth Darrell brought into it had vanished with the slam of the door. Chloe stood frozen in the middle of the living room, tears streaking silently down her cheeks. Her arms wrapped around herself like armor against the storm now roaring inside her chest.
She’d stood there for nearly ten minutes, unable to move. The food she made was still sitting on the table, untouched. The candles she lit were flickering gently, unaware that the moment they were supposed to light had turned into the darkest night of her life.
Her hand moved slowly to her phone.
She didn’t even have to scroll; Lila was always pinned to the top.
The second the call connected, Chloe didn’t say anything at first. Just a shaky breath.
Then her voice broke.
“Lila…”
“Chloe? What’s wrong?” Lila's voice was alert and urgent. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Chloe sobbed, barely able to speak. “He left me.”
“What?”
“I don’t understand… he just walked out,” she whispered. “He said he doesn’t love me anymore. That he’s done.”
“Oh my God,” Lila breathed. “I’m coming. I’m on my way right now.”
Fifteen minutes later, Lila burst into the apartment and found Chloe curled on the couch, hugging a pillow like it might keep her heart from falling apart. Her face was blotchy, her eyes swollen, and her breath hitched between sobs that hadn’t stopped since the call.
Lila dropped her bag and pulled her into a hug without a word.
They sat like that for a while, no explanations, no questions. Just the quiet, trembling embrace of two women who’d shared every season of each other's lives.
“He didn’t even let me speak,” Chloe finally whispered. “He was just… cold. I’ve never seen him like that, Lila. He looked at me like I was nothing.”
Lila gently stroked her back. “I’m so sorry, babe. I’m so, so sorry.”
“I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Lila said fiercely. “None of this is your fault.”
Chloe shook her head. “He didn’t even let me tell him…”
Lila leaned back just enough to look her in the eye. “Tell him what?”
Chloe’s lips trembled. Her voice was barely a whisper.
“That I’m pregnant.”
Lila’s eyes widened. “He doesn’t know?”
Chloe shook her head again. “I was going to tell him... I wanted it to be the right moment. But he was distant. And then this. And now I can’t even reach him.”
Lila cupped her face gently. “Sweetheart…”
Fresh tears spilled from Chloe’s eyes. “I don’t know what to do. I feel like I can’t breathe.”
Lila held her close again, whispering, “You don’t have to figure it all out tonight. We’ll get through this. You’re not alone. I’m here, okay?”
They sat like that for a long time, the night stretching around them like a soft shroud, wrapping Chloe’s pain in Lila’s quiet strength.
Outside, the city kept moving.
But inside, a woman held her friend like she was holding the last piece of her heart together.
- Writer
