VJ

27 - Further advice

VJ

This is stupid; Chloe is going to say no.

Max texted me this afternoon to let me know Chloe was home. Apparently, she’d been visiting with her parents. I don’t give a damn about that, but Max thinks asking about her parents would be a good talking point.

I need Chloe to forgive me for being so cold at Sophie’s party. I know how it sounded; it was cruel, and for the first time in my life, I felt a tinge of guilt about what I had done. I never want to see that hurt look in Chloe’s eyes again. That girl means something to me, something no one else could ever mean to me.

I’m becoming obsessed with her. She’s buried her way deep under my skin in just a few short weeks. I feel like I’ve been given a shot of something really fuckin.g powerful, and I need more and more, yet the next shot is too far out of reach.

“What are you doing here?”

I raise my eyebrow. “Nice to see you too, Michael.”

Cheeky little bastard. It’s crazy how much this kid resembles me. Anybody would think he was my son and not Nova and Tank’s. He got mistaken for my son once when he was nine. I’d picked Michael up from school because he’d been in a fight. Nova had called me to see if I could get her precious little monster because she was out of town for the day, and Tank was busy. I could have done without it, but I collected the boy because no one else could.

I was trying not to laugh as we walked toward the ice cream shop in town. I shouldn’t have been rewarding Michael for his bad behavior. He’d broken the kids’ nose, but the little cunt deserved it for pushing Michael into a wall. However, I figured Michael needed cheering up.

An old woman approached our table with a smile. She pointed out how much my son looked like me and what a handsome devil he was. I stared at her while Michael laughed and said, ‘Yeah, I look so much like my dad!’

The old woman walked away, and I asked Michael why he didn’t tell her the truth. I wasn’t his father, but my nephew shrugged and carried on eating his ice cream. Tank wasn’t pleased when he found out, but I didn’t give a crap.

He does look like me, but I suppose that’s because we both look like Nova, even if you can tell Tank is Michael’s father. He’s even as big as I was at thirteen.

“I just meant that it’s odd to see you here.” Michael shrugs.

He’s got a point; I rarely come around Nova’s place. I’m only here now because I need to ask my sister something.

“Your Mom in?”

“Kitchen.” Michael points down the hall toward the kitchen.

I clap him on the shoulder and head toward my sister. Nova looks up at me and smiles as she pours herself coffee from a decanter.

“Want some?”

I roll my eyes while taking a seat at the dining table. “You know I don’t drink that shi.t.”

I hate coffee; it tastes like shi.t. I tasted it once when I was fourteen and almost threw up. I spat it everywhere! My mother was not pleased. I haven’t touched the stuff since. I can’t even stand the smell without gagging.

Nova laughs. “Just checking. So,” She pulls a seat from beside me and sits down. “What brings you here?” She takes a sip of her coffee.

I lean back in my seat. “Chloe.”

“You want to know how I knew I loved Tank and if it was more than obsession?”

What I want is to know how to get Chloe to forgive me. However, Nova isn’t wrong about me needing to know how she knew that she loved Tank.

“Pretty much.”

I came to Nova because no one else I know is like me. Nova may not be exactly like me, but she’s damn close.

“I knew the moment I laid eyes on Tank that he was special. He got me, and he never tried to change me. Tank liked me for me.” She shrugs.

I lean forward and rest my arms on the table.

“He taught me how to be a parent and how to be the best me I could be. Moreover, he did it effortlessly. You know you’ve found the other half of your soul when you meet someone who wants you just the way you are.”

Christ, when did my sister become so... I don’t even know what to call it... Weird?

“But how did you know...?”

“That he was worth the risk?”

I nod my head.

Nova smiles and looks to the ceiling for a second.

“I didn’t know, VJ. I just went with my gut. Something inside told me not to walk away from the man who had fast become my best friend.

“I’ll admit that I was a little scared about what I was feeling. No man had ever made me feel the way Tank did. I knew I could either go with the feeling or push Tank away. I went with it because things didn’t make sense in my world when I wasn’t with him.”

Michael walks into the room and heads for the fridge, his dark head disappearing into it. Nova smiles to herself while looking at her son.

“I’m so glad I stuck with him.” She looks at me. “Understanding or not understanding love is one thing, but feeling it is a whole other. When it hits, it hits hard, and believe me, you’ll know it. As for obsession, we all get obsessed in one way or another when it comes to the person we love.”

Nova reaches over and takes my hand, and she laughs when I raise my eyebrow. Touchy-feely crap is not in me.

“Don’t sit and wonder what it could be like with Chloe, VJ. Life is so much better when you take chances.” She winks.

“Taking chances ain’t the problem. I need to get Chloe to forgive me for what I said at Sophie’s party.”

“VJ, Chloe is a wonderful person. Extremely special to have you tied up in knots like this. All you need do is show Chloe that she means something to you. Help her understand that you were confused, and she’ll forgive you.”

“Just like that, huh?”

Nova takes a deep breath. “What you need is to understand how what you said made Chloe feel.”

I roll my neck and relish the pop. I get it, Chloe was upset by what I said. Why the hell she needs to drag it out is beyond me. I tried to explain things to her, but she ran off like a petulant child!

“I tried to explain things to her, Nova, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“Did you? Really, VJ?” I grit my teeth, and she laughs. “You’re ridiculous. You know that? If you care about Chloe, then apologize for what you said and mean it. Wouldn’t you rather see her smiling than crying?”

“Of course, I would.”

Nova smiles. “Then make her smile, little brother. Even an unfeeling man like you can manage that.” Bitc.h! “Go find Chloe and make her smile. No matter what it takes.”

I nod, thank her, and leave. It’s time I found that girl and explained things to her.

Good luck with that, VJ