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“I’m going to get a snack. Do you want anything?” Chloe stood up and stretched, yawning as she glanced over at Ashley.
“No thanks, I’m good,” Ashley smiled, picking up the television remote and pointed it at the screen. “I’m just going to check the local news for the weather.” She leaned back into the couch as her petite body became partially swallowed up by the massive cushions.
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Chloe trekked to the kitchen and switched on the light, wandering over to the fridge.
She plucked a water from the door and a fruit bar from the cabinet. She tried to eat healthy and exercised as much as time permitted. She prided herself on maintaining a slender figure but being petite just ran in the family, so it wasn’t a stretch.
It was late at night, and their parents were already in bed for the night, so she was trying to be as quiet as a mouse as she roamed through the kitchen area. Chloe and Ashely couldn’t sleep again, losing the battle of insomnia. They’d decided to settle in downstairs and watch a comedy on Netflix to distract themselves and get their minds off their father’s cancer. She walked back into the living room and plopped down on the sofa beside her sister with a sigh.
It felt good to sit down and rest her tired legs. They had been to several doctors’ appointments with their father earlier in the day, and the outings were catching up with her. She rubbed her aching calves and heels, absentmindedly watching the anchors on the local news stations recount the events of the day and the weather.
“I’ll put on the movie.” Ashley reached across the table to retrieve the remote.
“Wait.” Chloe halted her with a brush of her hand in the air. “Don’t turn it off yet.”
“What is it?” Ashley’s eyes trailed her sister with a curious frown.
Chloe stared at the screen, completely baffled and dumbfounded about the picture of the man with unruly blond hair and ocean blue eyes.
“I...know that guy,” she said with a rush. No way! It couldn’t be.
Ashley shifted her focus back to the television screen. “That guy?” She pointed. Ashley didn’t formally know any of the band members, although she must have at least known their names. Chloe determined that she must not recognize Roman on the screen through her sheer exhaustion.
“Turn it up,” she instructed of her sister, leaning toward the screen to get a better look.
“And in other news,” the female news anchor droned on in a professional tone with a stoic expression, “there is breaking news out of Amsterdam, the Netherlands tonight about a popular band on tour.”
“What in the world...” Chloe whispered under her breath, completely baffled.
“The drummer for the popular rock band Infinity Prism has been arrested on assault charges,” the anchor continued.
“Arrested?” Chloe squeaked, shaking her head. This couldn’t be happening. It was surreal. Roman was usually a calm and even-tempered type of guy.
“Detained for an apparent brawl in the streets of Amsterdam...” she could barely hear the explanation and the words spewing out of the anchor's mouth.
“The band originated right here in Chicago,” the male anchor quipped as they transitioned into the next story.
Chloe stated at the screen even after the segment had ended. “I can’t believe it,” she said out loud.
That’s when she realized Ashley was staring at her expectantly, apparently needing an explanation.
“This is insane,” Ashley stated the obvious. “That’s so crazy that he got arrested overseas.”
“I know...” Chloe was numb; she didn’t know what to think or feel.
“When does the tour start?” Ashley asked.
“In a few weeks,” Chloe said.
“Will they be able to perform if he’s in jail?”
The question made her heart sink. Infinity Prism had worked so hard to get where they were. She couldn’t fathom the band having to fold a show because Roman was incarcerated.
“Hopefully he won’t be detained for long,” Chloe murmured, and then remembered the horrific accident that his sister had been in that had taken her life only the day before. “Oh my God, he was supposed to come back here for the funeral!”
The shock of seeing him on the news had robbed her memory of the funeral for a moment.
“His sister’s funeral?” Ashley asked. Chloe had gotten her sister up to speed on the subject.
“Right.” Chloe nodded and bleakly glanced at her sister. “I don’t know what will happen now. This is bad.”
Ashley gasped as if the unthinkable just entered her mind. “What if he can’t even make it home before the funeral?”
“I’m trying not to think the worst.” Chloe reached for her phone on the coffee table. “I’m going to try and call Emelia right now and see if she has any information or updates.”
“Good idea.”
Chloe forgot all about the movie. Her stomach flipped. She hadn’t told anyone about the one night she and Roman had shared, after the band’s very last show on their USA tour. It had happened so fast, so spontaneously. It had been hot and amazing, but so unexpected. And a one-off, which meant she put it behind her and moved on though when she thought of it now and then, her pulse picked up and her mind went places it shouldn’t. Confiding in Ashley had felt too embarrassing. She’d made a mistake, acted like a silly fangirl.
She could trust Ashley with anything, and they grew up being best friends, which had blended into their adult lives too. But she couldn’t really explain the reason she had yet to confess her fling with Roman. Maybe because she thought her sister might be disappointed in her. Chloe was the responsible older sister; she didn’t do things like have one-night stands with rock stars.
She pressed the dial button for Emelia and placed the receiver to her ear, waiting patiently while the phone rang. After about five rings, the system cut to voice mail where Chloe heard Emelia’s usually breezy voice directing the caller to leave a message, all while sprouting out her Marketing Director title for the band.
“Hey Emelia, it’s Chloe.” Chloe and Emelia had been best friends for as long as she could remember. Emelia knew about the night where she had slept with Roman in Hawaii. Not that this situation was deemed worthy of being in a skeleton in Chloe’s closet, but the pair knew each other’s secrets, and there was no judgment.
“I just turned on the local news and heard about Roman’s arrest in Amsterdam,” she continued. “Call me when you can.”
She hung up the call and gave her sister a look of chagrin. “She didn’t answer.”
“Hopefully she’ll call you back soon and give you the scoop,” Ashley suggested.
“Yeah...” Chloe crossed her ankles and stared at her feet. Her toes had been painted an aqua color. She’d been to the salon recently, a little indulgent treat she’d allowed herself after the chaos and stress she’d endured over the past month.
“I’m sure she has a lot on her plate,” Ashley added.
Chloe frowned. “You are probably right about that.” But then she met her sister's gaze. “Em’ will call me back, I’m sure of it.”
“You seem really upset by the news,” Ashley mentioned. There she went again, reading her sister's mind without even needing a reason. Call it sister’s intuition, but they had that talent for being able to tell when something was bothering the other.
Chloe took a deep breath and tucked her hands between her crossed thighs. “Well...” she began and trailed off, needing a moment to shift gears in the conversation. “There’s something I never told you about Roman.”
“Oh, God.” Ashley looked nervous. Her eyes widened, and she stared at Chloe expectantly. “What happened?”
“I slept with him.” There. Chloe said it. The can of worms had been opened and was spilling all over the floor. She’d ripped off the band-aid, and surprisingly the weight and burden of harboring that little secret for so long had been lifted off her shoulders.
“You slept with him?” Ashley shouted, more out of shock and surprise than disapproval. “When?”
“At the end of the US tour. We’d all been celebrating, and it just sort of happened. Are you mad?”
Ashley frowned. “Why would I be mad?”
Chloe shrugged and picked at her thumbnail. “I don’t know. That’s not normally something I would do.”
“Well, I guess I can understand.” Ashely shot her a kind smile. “I mean it’s the romance of being with a famous person, you know? He’s a hot rocker, and you had the chance, so you took it.”
Chloe gave a shy smile. “Well, that. And, he’s really a great person. I mean, what they’re saying on the news and the way he actually is are two different things. Thank you for understanding.”
Ashley patted her sister’s knee. “I’m your sister, remember? We are on the same page.”
“Maybe I messed up,” Chloe confessed. She gave a passing wave toward the television. “If his true colors are going to come out, if he is a total bad boy, then maybe I don’t want to be involved with him.”
There was a silent pause between them, and that’s when Chloe regretted the statement and wished that she could rewind the clock and instantaneously redact it. She sheepishly glanced up at Ashley.
“I mean...” she trailed off to recover. “His sister just died. I don’t know the circumstances or anything,” she backtracked.
“It’s okay,” Ashley smiled warmly. “I understand. You are just trying to protect your heart.”
“Yeah.” Chloe couldn’t believe how deep her sister could understand her emotions and her motives without even trying.
They stared at their laps for a few moments before Chloe spoke again. “I mean, he’s a really nice guy and everything. I don’t really regret sleeping with him.”
“You shouldn’t,” Ashley grinned. “Because what it boils down to, he’s a rock star.”
Chloe snorted a laugh. “He is good, too.” Her cheeks went warm.
“And he’s totally hot.” Ashley wagged her eyebrows.
Chloe’s heart flipped at the memory of his hands all over her, his head seductively exploring between her legs. She tingled at the thought of his tongue grazing over her sensitive and swollen slit. She blushed as the private thoughts bubbled back to the surface. There was definitely chemistry between her and Roman, but truth be told she’d been the one to shoot him down at the time after they’d been in bed together. He’d persisted for a while, and then, just stopped as if he’d finally gotten the hint.
“Roman had seemed eager to pursue me at the time,” Chloe admitted. “I was the one who told him I wasn’t looking for anything serious.”
“Really?” Now Ashley seemed genuinely surprised.
“Yep.” Chloe nodded. “Imagine that, right?” She shrugged and sighed, sagging her exhausted body into the back of the couch. She was tired, both mentally and physically.
She stood up, wrapping up the conversation. She was too tired to think anymore tonight. “I’m going to bed if that’s okay,” she said, hating to disappoint her sister about the movie.
“Sure.” Ashley gave her a knowing glance. “Me, too.”
“Goodnight,” Chloe waved as she pushed herself up the stairs. “See you in the morning.”
The dawn of a new day always brought with it a fresh new perspective. Hopefully, by then Emelia will have called to fill her in on what the hell was happening in Amsterdam, so she could get the worst out of her mind.