Chapter 1: Her
Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine.
"Now I was once a fool, it's true.
I played the game by all the rules
But now my world's a deeper blue.
I'm sadder, but I'm wiser too.
I swore I'd never love again,
I swore my heart would never mend.
Said love wasn't worth the pain,
But then I hear it call my name."
"Cheater!"
"That's a completely legal move, Lo." Funny. They had the exact same argument the week before.
The brunette narrowed her eyes at the chess board. There was a handful of white pieces left and the king was nearly cornered. She was losing. "The bishop moves forward and back, not diagonally!"
"Diagonally." Cato remained certain.
A door flew open somewhere in the apartment and a red haired girl bounded out, high heeled shoe in hand. Her honey eyes searched the room for any sign of danger.
"Really?" The girl lowered her 'weapon', frown falling upon her lips. "I thought someone had broken in! Some of us are trying to sleep, could you be any louder?"
"It's past 3 in the afternoon."
The girl fumed. "Yeah, well I worked late last night, Cato! Do you have any idea who's shoot I'm working on? Do you? Cinna. Freakin' Cinna, he's the biggest thing in New York! Clove, what the heck is he doing here?"
Clove shrugged. "You were asleep and I needed someone to keep me company."
Fox gaped at her. "So you called my brother? You'd pick him over me, your best friend? I'm hurt. This is betrayal at its finest!" Cato rolled his eyes. Once a drama queen, always a drama queen; the years have done nothing to soften his stepsister's attitude.
"You're both my best friends." Clove soothed. "And I wanted you to get some rest, Fox. You do have those Cinna shoots to finish tomorrow, right? Gotta look your best."
Fox maintained an unimpressed expression before her gaze fell over the chess board and her lips pressed into a tight line. Cato recognized the expression; she was getting ready to scold them.
"The bishop thing again? Yes, you can move a bishop diagonally. I don't even know why you bother playing, that dork was president of the chess club. You won't win."
"President of the chess club?" Clove snorted, picking up a piece from the board and throwing it at the blond across from her. "Whatever, I'll win. One day."
"Cato, just let her win already." Fox waltzed into the kitchen, probably looking for something to eat.
"No!" The brunette protested. "When I win, it'll be because I'm seriously amazing at chess. By the way, Fox, I made lunch earlier. Should be on the counter."
There was a loud gasp from the kitchen. "Fried chicken! Lo, oh my gosh, thank you! I've been starving myself fo-" The sentence cut off and the red haired model flew back out into the living room. "It's past 3! Clove, Seneca's going to be here at 6, you're nowhere near ready!"
Seneca Crane. Surely Clove and Fox could hear his teeth grind against each other at the mention. Cato was no fan of Clove's Wall Street boyfriend. Better still, he wasn't a fan on any of Clove's boyfriends. And it wasn't jealousy; Cato had his reasons. Legitimate reasons, too. Like Crane's absurd beard. He's got the weirdest beard I've ever seen. Looks like a three year old drew it on with a sharpie.
Cato was about to make up an excuse to leave but-
"About that..." Clove fiddled with another piece from the game. "I don't think dinner's happening."
"What?" His step sister asked in surprise. "What do you mean, did he cancel?"
"I cancelled, actually."
That was music to his ears. Perhaps Clove had seen through the fancy suits and awkward beard.
"Why?" Fox whined.
Clove's hazel eyes searched his blue, pleading for help out of the situation. Cato replied with an apologetic shrug. Fox would not give up until she had the details, that was that.
"We, uh, sorta had a fight last night. So, no dinner." The brunette said calmly.
Fox sighed, pushing her hair over her shoulder. "Okay. It's okay, you can reschedule. It'll blow over, Lo, trust me."
The hazel eyed girl laughed; a jittery sound. "I don't think so. I went ahead and just ended it. It wasn't working out, anyway. Didn't make sense to prolong it."
It was a struggle, keeping the smile off his face. Fox must have noticed because then she was there, giving Cato a hard shove before embracing her best friend.
"He was never worth your time, Lo, you could do so much better! Anyone would agree. Cato, you agree, right?"
Don't you dare, Fox. Keep your mouth shut. She knew. If anyone was to know about his feelings for Clove, it would be Fox. So far she had stayed out of the way, but she was beginning to grow tired. The hints were becoming less subtle.
"Cato!" Fox snapped." I asked you a question, isn't Lo here just perfect? Any guy would be lucky to have her, wouldn't he be?" Her light colored eyes danced mischievously as she baited him.
"Definitely. Agreed."
Clove, busy trying to free herself from the redhead's embrace, had not heard the reply. Odds were she wouldn't have cared for it either.
Another name had been added to the list of exes: Seneca. It hadn't been that bad of a fight, but it had been an old one. Clove was fed up with it. Enough with the jealousy and accusations, if he didn't trust her, then it was his loss, wasn't it? No man could ask her to-
"Ugh! What the hell, Bonnie!" The young intern had slammed into the brunette and Clove's coffee, hot coffee, had spilled all over her new baby blue peplum.
Bonnie was freaking out. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! So sorry! Oh my gosh, I can't believe that happened, it just happened!"
Other people on the floor were staring, a few were hiding their grins behind manila folders. They were waiting to see how Clove would react to Bonnie's babbling. The brunette wasn't known for being flat out mean, but Bonnie wasn't popular on the 11th floor. The girl's goal in life was to befriend everyone she came in contact with. Bubbly interns weren't efficient, they were annoying.
"Calm the heck down, Betty!" Clove didn't notice the slip. "Get me some napkins!"
"Yeah, yes, I'll get the napkins! Napkins, napkins..." The intern went around in circles, mumbling apologies and asking everyone for napkins. We have napkins in the lunch room, Bonnie! A monkey could do your job better than you!
With a groan, Clove tossed her nearly empty cup into a trashcan and made her way to her cubicle. The 6x7 space was her sanctuary. Her Mac was there, covered in post it notes, reminding her that there was work to be done. She'd be editing some pictures for Capitol's next issue. The brunette liked fashion as much as any woman, but her area of expertise was design. Graphic designs and layout, to be exact.
"Dammit." Clove kept a Kleenex box at her desk, but the stain was made worse by the rubbing motion. "I hate Mondays! Mondays are evil!"
Heels clicked on the floor and a frazzled Bonnie invaded her cubicle. "I've got napkins! Oh. Um, you already...have some...'kay."
Clove looked up from her work and directed a lazy glare at her. Be nice, Clove. People like nice, take a stab at it. Even if it's tiring. "Leave them here. Thanks."
Bonnie nodded excitedly. "Again, I'm so, so, sorry. I can pay for the dry cleaning of you want and I"
The dark haired girl raised her hand to stop her babbling. "It's fine. Go, people need their copies made."
Bonnie placed the napkins on the side of Clove's desk and ran off. Why were the interns always jumpy? Had Clove been that way? Certainly not.
In fact, she prided herself in being calm, collected, in control. How odd it was that she was currently losing her mind over a guy. But Clove didn't miss Seneca the person, she missed...something else. The attention, perhaps? Having someone there who cared? Then again, he hadn't really cared. Wall Street men rarely had time for romance and affection. More than once, it had been his assistant calling to set up dates. Seneca did have great taste in suits, though. And a glamorous beard...
"Stupid beard."
Clove turned on her desktop and got to work. Time flew by; 9 AM turned into 3PM, turned to 5 and suddenly, she was on her way home. Sitting in a cab, she went through her texts; Darius wanted to know why Fox was ignoring his calls, Fox told her about a party she'd been invited to, Cato asked if she wanted to have lunch later that week. Everyone got a fitting reply. A 'you're not actually dating, she thinks your some stalker' for Darius. An 'i'm out, don't take drinks from strangers' for Fox. And a 'sounds good, see ya wednesday' for Cato.
Her day was ending on a rather good note. Tired, Clove forced her legs to walk onto the elevator and down the hall to her shared apartment. She could see it then, the small white box that sat in front of her door. It was flat, with a lilac colored ribbon holding it closed. Stuck underneath the ribbon, was a white envelope, her name neatly written in cursive.
Without wasting any time, Clove opened up the envelope first, placing the pretty box and the rest of her things on the dining table.
Clove,
I know this news will make you infinitely happy and I write to let you know that I expect you to be here a week before the 8th. You're a member of this family, act like it please. Your cousin would greatly appreciate it. Feel free to bring a guest, nothing is too much as long as it brings you home.
You're dearly missed, sweetheart. Don't fight me on this.
All my love,
Clove almost dropped the envelope.
Alma
"The trouble with love is
It can tear you up inside.
Make your heart believe a lie,
It's stronger than your pride.
The trouble with love is
It doesn't care how fast you fall,
And you can't refuse the call,
See, you got no say at all."
-The Trouble with Love Is, Kelly Clarkson
Woohoo! Here's the first chapter in my new Clato fic.I had a poll up, not many votes but most were for a rom-com. I can't promise it'll all be comedy, but I will make an effort. (If you guys have any tips as to how to write a comedy, please send them in. I need all the help I can get!)
So far, we have Cato falling for, Clove dealing with a break up, and Fox wanting to see her friend (and to some extent, her step brother) happy. Now, about that letter and the box...you'll see! Guys, it'd be great if you could leave me some feedback on this chapter. No pressure, though. Thanks for clicking the link and I'll try to update soon! Oh, and Happy Holidays!