Chloe

Chapter 9 - The Meeting of Friends

My body felt glorious in the warm sheets. I stretched languidly and my muscles rejoiced. It was a glorious day and it hadn’t even started yet. - Chloe’s Diary

Chapter 9

The meeting of Friends

The smell of coffee filled her nostrils causing her to jump out of the bed and rush into the living room. She smiled, her suspicion was correct, and she was joyful. Her aunt was home sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee. 

“Good morning,” Chloe called out cheerfully prompting her aunt to look up from the papers she was reading.

“Good morning, have a cup of coffee if you want,” she held up her coffee cup.

“No thank you. Not a coffee person. In fact not a vice-in-general person,” Chloe plopped down next to her.

Her aunt watched her quizzing, “You are in a good mood this morning.”

Chloe grinned, “I suppose I am.” Then she didn’t know what came over her but she got up and awkwardly hugged her aunt’s neck, “I just wanted to thank you for your kindness.”

Suddenly embarrassed by the tears threatening to spill from her eyes, Chloe went to the kitchen to try to be busy. She picked up a dish in the sink and scrubbed it. When she glanced back at her aunt she found her gazing at the ocean wiping a tear from her cheek. More tears threatened and Chloe quickly went back to washing the clean dish.

After a few minutes of silence, her aunt informed her, “I have the day off.” Chloe smiled.

So, with mutual consensus they decided they would hang out in the cottage reading or whatever. The only thing Chloe knew was that she didn’t want to go shopping! 

 When lunch arrived, Chloe excused herself from the couch and began preparing a meal. After awhile her aunt joined her, the smells enticing her out of the living room.

“That smells divine,” she said and sat at the table to watch. It wasn’t much longer when Edwin came strolling in the kitchen. He gave her a grin but stopped cold upon seeing her aunt. 

He looked nervous and posed to run, “Oh, I do beg your pardon.” He waited a moment gauging her aunt’s reaction as much as her aunt seemed to be gauging his. Chloe watched how tense he was, almost as if expecting her aunt to do something like scream. When he realized she wasn’t going to react in some irrational manner he introduced himself, “I’m Edwin Corbin.” 

Her aunt, stunned for a moment, looked from Edwin to her, and then smiled. 

Stretching her hand out in front of her, her aunt said, “Nice to meet you, did you say Edwin Corbin? How do you know my niece?” The words were said in such a predatory manner Chloe stopped what she was doing to glare at her.

Edwin rushed to answer, “We met the other night. She has made a couple of lunches, and it was so good I wanted to repeat the pleasure.” He winked at Chloe.

Chloe sighed…he was so smooth and wow, just wow.

However, her aunt wasn’t as easily charmed and she waved a hand at an empty chair, “Have a seat,” she commanded. At that point her aunt became all business. All her warmth from earlier dissipated like a thin vapor. Chloe watched her shrewd aunt assess Edwin and Edwin patiently waited as she did.

“How old are you Edwin?”

He paused looking at Chloe then answered, “19.”

“Where do you go to college?”

“I take correspondence courses,” he answered quickly. 

“I am sure you do,” her aunt mumbled so low she barely made it out. 

A crease appeared between Edwin’s eyebrows. He was uncomfortable with the rapid fire of questions prompting Chloe to intervene. She understood the aversion to questions.

“Aunt, enough! Leave the poor guy alone for a moment. He just wants something to eat and he is a good guy. I have been hanging out with him and his friends for a couple of nights now and I promise they are good people. Not troublemakers.”

Aunt had the good grace to look a little ashamed by her inquisition and therefore refrained from the twenty thousand questions she probably had posed on the tip of her tongue. Chloe sat the plates down in front of everyone and there wasn’t another word spoken.

   When they were winding down on what she must say was the best lunch she had prepared yet, Edwin pushed the plate in front of him and gave a contented sigh. He patted his belly and looked admiringly at her, “I don’t know how I can go back to eating fast food ever again, Chloe. I am ruined.”

   Aunt got up gathering the plates when she said, “Oh Chloe, you are magnificent in the kitchen.  I think I could actually have a party for once that wasn’t catered!” Then shot her a sheepish look and added, “Of course you would be compensated and only if you wanted to do it.” 

Chloe could only assume that her aunt added the last part because of all the work she had done on the farm. But the strange thing was she hadn’t told her about it.  She wondered again how much her aunt knew about her prior life. 

   Pushing the thought aside, she began cleaning the dishes from the table. However halfway through toting the dishes to the sink the phone shrilled jolting her.  

Quickly depositing the plates in the sink, she grabbed the corded phone and answered. Then she promptly rolled her eyes when she realized it was gross Earl from the grocery store. His rapid breathing was a dead give away. She shifted as the visions of his unpleasant obese body gave her stomach a turn. He wheezed out that they got a new order of spice that she had asked for on her last visit, which would be fine if he hadn’t seemed too overzealous as to when she would be stopping by again. Trying hard at being evasive and polite since she hadn’t a lot of options of grocery shopping within the community, she was able to convince Earl that she would be in soon.  She hung up the phone with a long sigh and twirled around to find everyone gone. Odd.

She stepped back to the table to gather up the remaining dishes when she noticed her aunt and Edwin were down at the beach. She walked toward the glass doors watching as they had a heavy conversation. 

Oh Good Grief. 

She should’ve expected it from her aunt to be protective but she hadn’t. Lifting her right hand she touched the glass, it was strangely nice but foreign feeling to have someone care enough to be protective. She smiled, she didn’t even mind her aunt was questioning, probably more like interrogating Edwin. She sighed, turned away from the glass, and proceeded to clean the dishes and put everything away.

   By the time she finished, Aunt and Edwin had made it back inside. Aunt grabbed her purse and said, “Well children, I am going to do a few errands.” She walked over to Chloe and kissed her on the cheek, “Chloe, the lunch was wonderful. I will have to try to be home for lunch more often,” then she sent a warning glance to Edwin, as to say “without warning.” She turned and then left the cottage.

  “You have a very lovely and understanding aunt,” Edwin commented as he walked closer to her.  She liked the way Edwin said aunt, he actually pronounced it with the u where she pronounced it like the insect - ant.

“Yes, she is definitely a change,” she commented offhandedly, “I’m sorry if she gave you a hard time. I think she’s protective.”

   He smiled, “No, don’t apologize, she’s within her right.  I think she’s very understanding and wants to make sure you’re okay. She loves you very much.” 

Such simple words but they shocked her. No one had ever loved her. Her expression must have looked as incredulous as she felt because Edwin reached out and touched her cheek tenderly, “I’m surprised you haven’t realized that yet.” But she hadn’t, she still didn’t. They stood and watched each other for a moment until he dropped his hand and cleared his throat. He walked over to the sink and began washing the dishes. With his backed turned she reached up and touched her cheek softly, still feeling his sweet, lingering touch.

   Edwin spent longer than usual with her that day. They talked about little things, about her experiences with school, how she liked to read. She even showed him her stash of old books. He left shortly after two and the rest the afternoon she alternated from taking a nap and reading. When night fell, Edwin showed back up to escort her to the fire where she met her friends to laugh and talk about more little insignificant things. It was wonderful.

   An entire week went by and their routine stayed the same. She saw Edwin for an hour or so at lunch and then she would stay busy with whatever project she had. He would always return after dark to escort her to the fire. 

She never had a best friend like him. A person she could rely on. She was growing dependent on their visits.