California Love
A little bit AU. A futuristic fiction featuring the following couples-
Cane and Amber
Chance and Chloe
Kyle and Summer
Nick and Phyllis
Episode 1: A Chance Meeting
"Who's idea was it to come to the beach anyway?" Chloe griped. "I've got sand in my crotch and in pretty much every other orifice too."
"Oh stop complaining, Chloe," Phyllis said, peering at her from underneath the brim of her obnoxiously large hat. "It was too nice of a day to be cooped up in that stuffy office and you know it."
"That's true, but when you said we were playing hooky, I thought we'd end up some place a little less -" she looked around - "crowded. Is literally everyone in Southern California out here today?"
"Why shouldn't they be? It's gorgeous out," Amber said.
"Well, we're here now so we might as well have some fun," Summer said. She tipped a peach wine cooler to her lips.
Amber nodded. "I agree. Besides, after only two hours here, I am already tan as fuck," she said approvingly.
"Lucky you," Phyllis said wryly.
"We all look great," Amber said. "Haven't you noticed that every single straight man on this beach is ogling us?"
Summer looked around eagerly. She even pulled down one strap on her magenta bikini for maximum effect. Good lord, she looked close to falling out of her top. "They really are!" she said.
"We could have our pick of any of them," Amber said. "I say we make them come to us and then we each pick one to have a hot night with. It's been so long since I've had that particular itch scratched."
"Same here," Phyllis said.
Summer smirked. "Mom, come on," she said with a laugh.
"Summer, just because I am a little older than I'd like to be, doesn't mean I am dead. Don't be so quick to write me off. I absolutely wouldn't mind having a hot hook up with some gorgeous stranger."
Amber laughed. "Summer, let's make this clear. Your mom probably has moves we've never even seen before."
Phyllis nodded. "Yes, dammit, I do. Just don't ask me to reveal my secrets."
The other women laughed as Chloe rolled her eyes. "I don't want to have sex with anyone," she said.
"But you need to have sex with someone," Phyllis said. "Your corset strings are strung just a little too tight these days."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe challenged.
"I think it means," Amber injected, "that you've been kind of a killjoy ever since we got here."
Chloe's lips twitched in a grimace. "Okay, so maybe I've been a little grouchy, but a killjoy? Hardly."
"She's right," Phyllis said. "You've been trying to squash every single one of our attempts at having any fun. And we need fun. We deserve fun."
Summer nodded her agreement. "Sorry, Chloe, but they're right."
Amber reached out and touched Chloe's bare shoulder. "So should we get you laid, or what?"
"Amber, come on. Even if there was anyone I was remotely interested in... They would just take one look at me, recognize me from all of the tabloid articles, and run screaming in the other direction."
"You have to get over that," Phyllis said. "Everyone has made mistakes."
"Is that what we're calling what I did?" Chloe asked. "A mistake? Because, no, no, it wasn't. God, I ... I actually let a friend believe I had killed her husband. I stashed him away for three years; kept him away from his wife and kid... I did something horrible."
Amber sighed softly. "You're way too hard on yourself, Chloe. Seriously. We've all done things we're not exactly proud of. I switched my dead child for a living one. I let my husband bond with him and love him, only for the baby to be snatched from his arms. You don't get much worse than that... but if I dwelled on what I did every day, the way you do, I'd never be able to look myself in the mirror again."
"I still can't look in the mirror," Chloe murmured. She held up a hand. "But it's fine. I won't bring you guys down anymore, okay? I'll put on a smile and pretend I am having a ball." She forced a grin to her face. "Does this look authentic?"
"Oh, Chloe," Amber murmured. "You have to let this go. You have to forgive yourself. You weren't in the right headspace back then. Even the courts agreed."
Back then, Chloe thought. Why does everything feel so fresh and raw - almost like it happened yesterday?
"As I said, we've all done some bad things," Phyllis said. "The Bug is still trying to pin that hit and run on me all these years later."
Summer looked at her mother. "And here I thought you were innocent of that," she said facetiously.
"I admit nothing," Phyllis said. "I was just trying to contribute to the conversation somehow."
"Noted and appreciated," Chloe said. "Don't worry. I get the message - we're all bad girls who have done our dirt and shouldn't feel have to feel guilty forever."
"Bad girls?" Summer asked. She smiled. "How about semi-reformed bad girls? I mean, we still do nice things. We even agreed that five percent of all of our profits from the company will to go to charity."
"She's right," Phyllis said. She reached into her large, straw beach bag, pulled out a bottle of suntan lotion and a fat, dog-eared paperback. "Now, we please just get off this depressing subject and try to have some fun here?"
Chloe nodded. "Yeah, sure. Let's just chalk up my grumpiness to getting up on the wrong side of the bed."
"I'm going back in the water," Amber said. "Anyone want to come with me?"
"I will," Summer replied, wedging her bottle in the sand so it didn't tip over.
"Phyllis?" Amber asked.
Phyllis shook her head. "No, I'm good right here with my trashy novel."
"Chloe?"
"I'm actually going to take a shower, scrub some of this sand out of my scalp at least."
"Okay. We'll have fun without you," Summer laughed as she and Amber took off down the beach. Chloe watched them dive into the surf and come up sputtering and shrieking. An impromptu splash fest broke out between them and Chloe couldn't help but be envious of her two coworkers and friends. They were so unencumbered; so free. Why couldn't she feel that way? Act that way?
Perhaps because deep down, even if she would never admit it aloud, she was a little lonely. Phyllis had Summer and Summer had her mother in return. Amber's daughter Rosie was with her in California. They saw each other almost every day, when she wasn't with her father Marcus and his wife Daze, or whatever the hell her name was.
But Chloe's daughters ... They were nowhere close to her. Delia... Her sweet Dee ... was gone forever and her little Bella was out of reach too; at least for the time being. Chloe hadn't seen her in almost six months, since right before Kevin and his new man decided to up and move to Canada with her daughter. It wasn't as if she could have stopped them either. She didn't have a legal right to Bella anymore.
Her eyes stung. She felt weak and worse, she felt pathetic. This wasn't her. It simply wasn't. She used to be so strong, so brave, so fearless. At least, she'd been really good at pretending she was all of those things. So what happened to her? What happened to her life?
She dabbed discreetly at her eyelids and moved to her feet. "I'll be back in awhile," she told Phyllis who just waggled her fingers in Chloe's direction.
Chloe sighed and started down the beach, her toes sinking deep into the thick white sand.
She was almost to the group of outdoor showers when someone screamed "Look out!" She looked up alright - just in time for a giant beach ball to slam into her face and knock her off of her feet.
"Fuck!" She moaned as she hit the ground. Her sarong was half submerged beneath the sand. She twisted around uncomfortably trying to shake the grit off of her.
"Oh wow, Lady, I'm so sorry!" A little voice said from above her. She looked up into the bright blue eyes of a child. He couldn't have been more than six or seven years old. He looked oddly familiar to her although she would have sworn she had never seen him before in her life.
"Are you hurt?" The boy pressed as she struggled to a sitting position. She awkwardly pulled herself up, clutching the silver triangles of her string bikini to her chest, wanting to be sure she wasn't actually flashing this kid.
Chloe sighed. "I'll live, but you might want to be careful who you throw that thing at next time."
"But I didn't throw it at you. My friend Addie did."
"Oh yeah? And why would she do that?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. She just does mean stuff like that sometimes."
"So why do you hang out with her then?" Chloe asked, not at all sure why she was entertaining a conversation with this boy.
"Because she's Addie," he said simply, as if that explained everything.
"Tyler!" A voice called out from nearby. The boy looked up, shading his eyes, as a man came running over to them. It took a moment for Chloe to realize who was looking at, but those broad shoulders were a dead giveaway. He may have looked older, but he was still incredibly attractive. Ugh.
"Tyler, you can't just run off like that," he said. He slowed to a stop, his eyes moving from Tyler to her. "Chloe?" He asked, his breath sounding shuddery, as if he were in awe.
"Hey, Chance," she said, swallowing over the sudden hard lump wedged in her throat.
He stared at her as if he still couldn't quite believe she was there. His prominent Adam's Apple bobbed in his throat. "God, it's been awhile, huh?"
She nodded. "Yeah, it has."
The boy looked between them. "Wait, Dad, do you know her?"
Chloe jolted in surprise, caught off guard. This was Chance's kid? Yes, he looked the part, but she'd always somehow figured Chance would remain married to the military forever. Not that she thought about him all that often. Of course she didn't.
Chance looked at Chloe under his impossibly long eyelashes. "I'd like to think I do... You look great, Chloe."
Chloe felt her face warm. "Thanks. So do you." That was an understatement. He was more manly and handsome than she even remembered - all sinew and tan skin...
"How do you know each other?" Tyler asked curiously.
Chloe waited for Chance's reply, curious to hear how he would respond. Would he admit that they'd once been lovers, or that he'd cheated on her with that insipid Heather Stevens?
He smiled. "You ask a lot of questions, Ty."
Tyler nodded, but seemed about to ask another question anyway. He only stopped talking when a young girl about his age came running over. She had thick black braids and had a sneer etched on her face. Chloe guessed by her haughty carriage that she was the infamous Addie.
"What's taking you so long?" The girl spat at Tyler. "I want to bury you in the sand!"
Chloe stared at her, mouth puckered in annoyance. Chance just sighed as she gripped Tyler by the hand. "Do me a favor and at least give him a few air holes so he can breathe," Chance said.
"Oh, I will," the girl said faux sweetly. She pulled Tyler away.
"Oh, she's positively charming," Chloe said wryly.
Chance smirked. "Addie's definitely a character."
"You could say that."
"She's not so bad though, once you get to know her."
"I think I'll have to disagree since she tried to knock me out with that ball," she said, pointing out the plastic globe sitting in the sand.
"Oh no, really? I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"Just peachy."
"I'll talk to her parents."
Chloe shook her head. "No, don't. It's really not a big deal. I probably did the same things when I was a kid."
"Still, I'm sorry. I should have been watching the two of them a little closer instead of manning the barbeque."
"Well... Just keep them close," Chloe murmured. "It only takes a second for them to be hurt or just … gone forever."
"You're right." Chance looked at her, his eyes soft and sad. "I actually... I heard about little Delia," he said. "I'm so sorry. I should have called or written, but-"
She held up a hand to stop him. "It doesn't matter. She's gone. I just try not to think about her too much."
"I didn't mean to rub salt in a wound that's still hurting."
Chloe looked at her tiny feet. "It will probably always hurt, but it is what it is." She hugged herself.
"Don't discount your grief like that. If I know anything, it's that your pain shouldn't be ignored."
She looked up at him. "What do you know about pain?"
Chance rubbed his hand almost subconsciously. She followed the movements of his digits. A white patch of skin shown on one finger where a wedding band had likely once been.
"Your wife? Tyler's mom - she-"
Chance nodded. "She passed away two years ago. I think about her a lot. I miss her... Anna was everything to Tyler and to me. I still can't believe she's gone." He shook his head. "Sorry, I know it doesn't compare to what you must be going through."
Chloe rubbed her hands up and down her arms, suddenly feeling cold even in the direct path of the sun. "Grief is grief, right?" she said. "You can't really compare it to someone else's."
"Delia was a super amazing kid," Chance said. "I am glad I got to know her."
"She was amazing," Chloe agreed. "Probably the one thing I ever truly got right. She was perfect and innocent and sweet - all without my help."
"Hey, you know that's not true."
"It is true. She was good and she was kind and I'm none of those things. I think we both know that."
"Chloe, don't say that."
"Come on, Chance. My face was plastered on the front page of every newspaper across the country for months. You must know what I did."
He nodded slowly. "I read a little about it. Yes, it shocked me, but maybe I get it. You were hurt and you wanted Adam to hurt too."
"I did. For the longest time, I lived and breathed for revenge. Even after I had my second child, I was still full of vicious feelings and hatred and just wanted to make him pay. It took me years of therapy before I realized what my obsession with hurting Adam had cost me, and everyone else too. I don't get to be a part of Bella's life, not regularly. It wasn't worth it."
"Bella's her name - your other daughter?"
"Yes, and it fits. She's beautiful, so, so beautiful. I miss her everyday." Chloe sniffled. "I really don't know why I told you any of that."
"Well, I am glad you did. You shouldn't have to keep all of that bottled up inside of you."
She shook her head. "It's fine." She sighed, looked up at him. "Well, I should get going. My friends are probably wondering where I ran off to."
"Okay... Maybe you can join my friends, Tyler, and I for a bonfire later? We're making s'mores."
"Oh god, not s'mores," Chloe said, chuckling a little.
"Okay, so you're not a fan of marshmallows and chocolate on a gram cracker? Got it. But maybe you could just come for the company."
"The whole sitting around a campfire singing Kumbaya isn't my scene."
He laughed. "I promise we'll keep the singing to a bare minimum... So come?"
She looked at him. He seemed so hopeful and while she didn't want to disappoint him, she couldn't bring herself to say yes.
"I can't."
"Oh, okay. Well, maybe some other time then?"
"Maybe..."
"I'm here on this beach every Thursday night. It's Tyler's favorite spot to visit. If you ever want to talk, I'll be around."
She nodded. He lifted his fingers in a wave and then slowly walked away with the beach ball tucked underneath his arm. She sucked in a greedy breath.
"Who was that?" Summer piped up, suddenly appearing at her side. "He's hot. Really hot."
Chloe shrugged. "Oh, some guy," she said.
"Well he seemed interested in you," Summer said. "Maybe you should get his number."
"Not likely," Chloe said.
"Well, what have you got to lose?" Summer asked as she turned and sauntered off.
What do I have to lose? Only just my sanity ... again...