After leaving Jeff and Claire's place Shannon drove Chloe back to hers so she could pick up a few items of clothing (including what she was planning to wear that night) before they all went back to his and got ready, and then sat around drinking whilst waiting for the cab; and Chloe to finish in the bathroom.
'She's a nightmare' said Alice as she and Shannon stood waiting for her at the front door.
'Yeah, but I wouldn't have her any other way' he replied with a smile.
'I know, it's why I like you. You love her for her, not what you think she should be' Alice replied.
'Damn right I do, oh finally she fucking appears!' he said, seeing Chloe bounce down the stairs mid sentence. She looked to gorgeous for words, wearing a short black dress with a corset top and a heavy looking machine gun bullet belt slung low around her hips and her black knee high leather boots. Shannon almost wanted to turn her around and take her back upstairs.
'Come here hottie, wow you look killer' he said, sliding his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek as she smiled, thinking he looked damn good how he was dressed too; blue jeans, white shirt, black New Rock boots standing him way taller than her which she liked.
'Thank you handsome' she said, turning his face and kissing him on the lips.
'It's so much nicer to be able to wretch at watching you do that with him instead of Mike. I don't think I've wanted eight days to fly by so much in all my life!' said Alice, making them both laugh and agree with her. They couldn't wait to be each other's officially, but that night it would seem was their test run since Alice surprised Chloe by hiring the upstairs room in the bar and closing it off from the rest of the public, meaning she and Shannon could behave however they wanted since they were amongst friends; some who didn't know yet either. They figured with how trustworthy those friends were it wouldn't matter, the whole thing was only just over a week from coming out anyway.
'Okay so why does Shannon have his arm around Chloe like that? And why doe....OH MY GOD THEY'RE KISSING! WHAT THE FUCK?' shouted Chad as he stood with Kerry and a few other selected tattoo artist friends.
'Don't tell us you didn't work that one out sooner! Fuck me are you blind?' asked Kerry, he and Shane starting to laugh at Chad's face.
'NO! I HAD NO IDEA! So has she left Mike then?' he asked.
'Chloe told me she's packing off out of there as soon as they're back from LA' said Kerry.
'Woaaaah' was all he could say, followed by a low whistle as he watched them standing with Claire, Tina and Jeff.
'I have to say, I think you look a lot better with him than you did with the miserable creature you married! He was offensive!' exclaimed Tina, remembering back to the party at her best friends place when Mike had done his best to be rude to everyone after he'd hit the point of wanting to go home.
'Thank you, tonight's a dress rehearsal for the main show' she laughed, feeling Shannon pull her close and kiss her cheek, whispering 'Love you' into her ear. She was so happy she could explode; being able to walk around with him without hiding the fact they were together, enjoying her birthday with the man she wanted to enjoy all her birthdays ever after with too. It might not have been a long romance, and it may not have started under the normal circumstances, but it was the most intense and real thing she had ever experienced. The way she felt about Shannon, she'd marry him tomorrow if he asked her; if she wasn't married already of course.
Some might say what she felt was just the first flush of new love, or that she was purely getting carried away with the attentions of a younger, very attractive man, but she'd say to those people 'you're full of shit'. What she felt for him was 100% real, as Alice had stated he was the one for her, so she proceeded to have a wonderful night with him, slowly but surely getting more and more drunk as the hours passed, laughing almost constantly at either him or her friends.
So much fun she was having she didn't notice and also couldn't hear her phone ringing almost constantly in her bag, and a barrage of urgent text messages from her husband. She was too busy spending a lot of her night locked at the lips with Shannon.
'You're so damn hot' she purred, biting his bottom lip softly before sliding her tongue back into his mouth, thinking that she might want to call it a night a little earlier than planned. Sure, it was only 10pm, but her man looked so gorgeous she was finding it increasingly difficult to keep her hands to herself and was currently running her hand up and down his rock solid thigh under the table they were sat at, letting it trail across the bulge in the front of his jeans occasionally.
'I don't think I need to repeat what I've been telling you all evening, You should know how stunning you look' he replied, kissing her cheek and then her neck, his hand softly stroking the other side across the 'I've seen my fate' tattoo.
'God, how perfect?' said Claire as she and Jeff sat across the other side of the wide table watching their friends becoming more and more lost in each other.
'It's good to see him in love, suits him' replied Jeff, reaching for her hand.
'And it happened sooner than I predicted too' she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
'Well at least no one's gotta suffer Mike anymore, least of all her. So yeah she cheated on him, but after knowing what I do about him I really don't fucking blame her' he commented, reaching for his drink.
'Neither do I. Besides, they look amazing together' she said, watching them move over for Ben and Gemma as they came over to talk to them, sitting down on the long almost sofa like seat that ran the length of the far wall of the room, eventually moving around themselves to be part of the conversation which consisted mostly of Ben telling a story of Chloe and Gemma's drunken shenanigans one evening when they'd gone out.
Eleven o' clock rolled around, and it was only while talking to Alice in the bathroom that she decided to check her cell after re doing her makeup and brushing her hair. She opened it to find no less than twenty five missed calls, eight new voicemails and twelve text messages; all from Mike. Deciding to listen to them then rather than later (if she had her way the only thing she would be listening to later would be Shannon talking dirty to her) she called her voicemail and listened to the messages. At first he was just desperately pleading her to call him, saying it was important, but by the time Alice had finished and flushed the toilet to re join her by the sinks Chloe knew why he'd been so desperate to get her.
'I'm so sorry I didn't hear my phone, I'll get a cab and be there as soon as I can' Alice heard her say as she washed her hands.
'Hon are you okay? You look white as sheet, who was that on the phone?' she asked as Chloe hung up and rested a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes tightly.
'It was Mike. He's at the hospital, his mom got attacked by three guys after her car in a parking lot earlier this evening and she's in a really bad way. She's been in surgery for the last three hours' said Chloe, looking stricken. No matter how she felt towards Mike, she adored his mother Jean and the news had hit her for six.
'Look I'll tell everyone and you go, call me as soon as you hear anything okay? I love you' said Alice, giving her a hug and letting her get out there as soon as possible. Before she left though, there was one other person she had to tell. And as she waited for the cab outside the bar she didn't care who saw him holding her in his arms.
'I hope she'll be okay, fucking bastards' he said, referring of course to Jean firstly and then the attackers.
'So do I, she's a wonderful woman. Needless to say Mike follows his father. Even though for some reason he adores me, which makes me feel even worse about............................everything' she said, her hand stroking his chest through the thin fabric of his shirt.
'We've been through this. You've nothing to feel bad about anymore okay? So don't you go there and start mentally bashing yourself. Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?' he asked.
'I really don't wanna rock his boat, not now. But I'll call you from the hospital okay? I promise, and just know that it's you I wish I was going home with tonight' she said, noticing a cab pull over.
'I wish you were too. I'll see you soon yeah? And if you need any time off work just say the word. I love you, I'll keep an eye on my phone too' he said, opening the door for her. She took a quick glance around and saw no familiar faces, and then pressed her mouth to his in a passionate kiss.
'I love you too' she said before getting in and shutting the door, feeling her heart sink as she watched him get smaller in the cab wing mirror. She'd already started to loathe herself for wanting to stay with him rather than be with Mike in his hour of need. But when she saw him standing outside smoking and looking like a broken man, there was something inside her that still cared enough to go and give him a big kiss and put her arms around him. She knew she didn't love him anymore, but she didn't want anything bad to happen to him, no matter how badly he'd treated her. She was still his wife, it was her duty to be there and comfort him.
'I'm sorry for ruining your night, and I'm sorry for forgetting your birthday. It was unforgivable' he said, feeling relieved just for having her there stroking his back as she hugged him.
'It doesn't matter now, how is she? And how are you?' she said gently, steering him over to a bench and sitting down beside him, pulling out her cigarettes and discreetly slipping her wedding band back on from where she'd stashed it in the zip up pocket in the lining.
'She's out of surgery and they're running tests. And it doesn't matter how I am, all that matters is her. And you listening to what I have to say. This happening to her, it's made me realize how fragile life is, and the more I go through it acting like a total, if you'll pardon the phrase, cunt towards my own wife the more I stand the chance to lose her. Or if something happens to me and I die without you knowing how much I love you' he said, kissing her cheek and showing her one of the most tender gestures she'd known from him as he pulled her up onto his lap and held her close.
'Shhhh, don't talk like that' she said, kissing his temple and feeling her insides prickle uncomfortably. His body didn't feel right against hers, bones pressed into her where she was used to feeling muscle, and unlike when Shannon held her she just didn't feel secure in his arms anymore. She lit the cigarette she'd been holding and watched the ambulances coming and going from the ER doors, medical staff rushing around to receive gurneys with the sick or already tragically dead.
Just then she felt his fingers move her hair from her neck and lightly touch the tattoo it had been covering.
'It really is a good likeness, I don't know why I couldn't appreciate that before' he said, kissing to the side of James Dean's image and resting his chin on the groove of her collarbone. And to think that it took such tragedy to awake the kind side of Mike she had once known and loved; but alas it was too little too late. No matter how nice he might have decided to be, with restored consideration of his wife, she was still in love with someone else.
They went back in to find that the surgery to save Jean's life had been a success, but that she'd been put into a medically induced coma. The severe head trauma she'd suffered meant they still didn't know the full damage to her brain. At that moment they were giving her a sixty percent of survival and recovery, but that she could slip into a coma on her own once they brought her around from the medication. At 1.25am she stepped outside for a cigarette while Mike continued to try and reach Jean's sister Cath from the payphone inside. While she was there she took the opportunity to call Shannon.
'I expected to hear you answer to a barrage of drunken noise' she said when she heard him answer, silence all around.
'I didn't feel that much like partying after you left. I've been home for about half an hour. So how is she? And how's my woman' he said, stretching out in bed and switching the film he was watching to pause.
'She's really bad. We just went in to see her, and she just doesn't look like Jean, they got her really bad. The doctors are giving her a sixty percent chance, but they think the likelihood of her falling into a coma is pretty high. And as for your woman, she's tired and just wishes you were here to hug her' she said, sitting down on the same bench and taking a long drag on her cigarette.
'Are you going to stay there all night?' he then asked.
'Mike will I think. He keeps telling me I should go home. A little drunk and upset doesn't go hand in hand' she replied, tapping the toes of her boots together.
'You should, you sound tired. I'd say come here, but I know that's probably not going to happen again for a long time now. Next week isn't going to happen is it?' he said, sounding sad and tightly wound at the same time.
'I can't do that to him now, I'm not made of stone. No matter how badly he's treated me, that's his mom in there in a bad way, I just can't do it but I know in the same time that's not going to go down well with you either, and I'm sorry. Just know you're the one I love okay? I love you so much Shannon' she said.
'I know you can't, there's no question about it. Okay so its gunna be tough but it'll be worth it in the end, you're worth waiting for' he said. He honestly understood the predicament she was in, and wasn't about to make it any more difficult for her by acting out about her decision. He loved her too much to do that.
'You're amazing' she whispered.
'So are you' he replied, smiling and wishing she was there, then telling her as much.
'I wish I was there too. Look I gotta go, I have to ring Alice' she said.
'Okay gorgeous, call me tomorrow when you can. Love you' he said.
'I will, love you too' she said before hanging up and crying. When Mike came out he assumed her tears were over his mother. He was half right at least.
'Go home Clo, dad and I are staying here tonight. Can you bring me some clothes and a toothbrush and stuff in the morning?' he said softly, squeezing her shoulder.
'Okay, I will. I'll come back at about nine okay?' she said, standing up to be pulled into a hug.
'Make it eleven. You need to sleep off some of the whisky I think' he said, touching a finger under her chin and lifting her head to kiss her softly. She had to force herself not to recoil. He gave her forty dollars for the cab and waited with her until it came, closing the door and holding her hand through the open window before the car pulled away. And even though she knew it was the most betraying thing she had ever done, she didn't go back to the house she shared with Mike that night.
'Isn't this a bit risky? What if he decides to go home after all?' said Shannon, holding her close with one arm as he reached out and re locked the front door with the other.
'He won't, and if he does I'll make something up. I know it's risky, but you're so worth it' she said, feeling herself lifted off the ground. She rested her head on his shoulder as she wrapped her legs around his waist, feeling a mixture of security and self hatred start to collide within her as he carried her up the stairs.