Life is Strange
Chloe's Greatest Test
The apartment door flew open with a crash as Chloe stormed in, the sight of Max's concerned face not making her falter as she flopped down on the couch. She was absolutely seeing red. In an instant, Max was by her side. She threw her arms around the blue-haired girl and snuggled in close as Chloe instantly felt herself relax a bit. Having Max near her always did that. Her warmth and her familiar hipster scent made her feel like she was back in their childhood days again back before everything went to shit. She draped one arm over her, pulling her closer as they sat together.
They sat there nearly an hour lost in the silence of just sitting together along with the rhythm of each others' breathing. But Chloe knew it couldn't last forever and sure enough it was only a matter of time before a semi truck blasted past their apartment complex, its horn screaming all the way. Reluctantly, she sat up properly as Max did the same. Her throat was scratchy as hell so she got up to grab a soda from the fridge. She came back with two, handing one to Max as she popped the top off her own with her truck key.
"So..." Max began as Chloe took a deep drink. "I don't suppose I need to ask how work went?"
"Nope." Chloe grimaced, setting the soda down on the table. Ever since moving into the apartment a year ago, Chloe had got the job with a garage fixing cars. She was pretty good at it, so she was doing well. This was actually the first bad day she'd remembered having in a long time and it had been a while since she'd let Max see her this livid.
"So what did your boss what to see you about?" Max asked.
"Eh, nothing much." Chloe shrugged. "Just my routine employee drugs test that we all have to take because- for some reason- they don't want us absolutely rattling while we're using an arc welder."
"Ah." Max went quiet. Chloe knew she was thinking about the two boxes of pot stashed in the bottom of their wardrobe. Chloe had dialled it back as it was, but unfortunately for her weed was the one drug that could stay in your system for up to two weeks and the drugs tests could be conducted with little to no warning. Which made sense. Why notify someone when you're trying to bust them? "So how did you do?" she asked with what Chloe knew was an incredibly false optimism.
"Max, I just had to have a meeting about it. How do you think I did?" she asked rhetorically. She sat back with a sigh, knowing that this was going to be an awkward story to tell. Still, it was one of those times she had to just rip the band aid off. And the best place to start was at the beginning.
Earlier That Day...
"Uh, hey there, Steve. You wanted to see me?" Chloe asked, making her way into the office and wiping her hands off on her overalls as best she could. Her face and hands were streaked black with oil and grime. Her boss always called that evidence of a hard day's work and with today's turnout the evidence was pretty damning. She'd been working her fingers to the bone all day and was desperately hoping he'd noticed so they could talk about the bonus situation.
"Ah, yes. Chloe Price. Have a seat! Have a seat!" He gestured eagerly to the chair and Chloe sat herself down, conscious of getting oil stains on the somehow pristine material of the chair. It baffled her as to why he had chairs with fabric seats in such a dirty environment, but she was also glad they weren't cheap plastic. What baffled her even more was how they seemed to stay so immaculately clean. But that thought took a back seat as Steve pulled out a file and set it on the desk. "Now Chloe, as you know we have all employees take random drugs tests at unscripted times throughout the year to check they're clean while working in a hazardous environment. It's also for insurance purposes because our policy is invalid if someone has an accident with drugs in their system. I've called you in here to discuss the results we got regarding you."
"Oh yeah?" Chloe said, plastering a grin to her face and getting ready to deny everything. "How did I do?"
"We're about to have a meeting about it." Steve told her bluntly, his tone changing to a much more serious one. "That in itself should indicate that the answer is somewhere in the region of 'not great', don't you think?" With that, he opened the file out and put on a pair of half-frame reading glasses, rubbing the top of his bald head. "Okay, now I know you're familiar with the whole routine of it. We have each employee submit a cup of urine, blah, blah, blah. Did you know that there are fundamental differences in the chemical compositions of male urine VS female urine?" He sat back with a calm look on his face, but his tone betrayed a mild irritation. "I ask, because- while most of the others turned in their own sample- you appear to have traded with someone else. As you're our only female employee, that would have you busted instantly even if you hadn't both used energy drink."
"As I always said to my step douche, let's see your evidence." Chloe challenged, keeping her voice level. As long as he hadn't retained the samples, she still had a fighting chance. Unfortunately, the first thing he did was reach under the desk and produce a plastic airtight cup.
"My evidence, Chloe, is that instead of yellow or clear energy drink, you swapped with someone who's colour blind and used red." Steve told her.
"Well it wasn't a test about colour!" Chloe protested, cursing herself inwardly. The fact that the original sample pots had all been black and opaque had nothing to do with it. She should have popped the top and checked. It would have been gross but the trade-off would have been worth it. "That is a clean sample and you know it."
"It's full of sugar, caffeine and enough e-numbers to sink a battleship is what it is." Steve's expression had hardened to a glare which- combined with his reading glasses- reminded her of one of those pterodactyl things off the Dark Crystal. She always hated that movie but in that moment she had to bite the inside of her cheek to kill the laughter. But that laughter died of its own accord as Steve picked up a sheet of paper. "Now the insurance company have compiled a twenty-eight page report theorising what might be going on with you since they have to assume each sample is genuine and it's clear they've had some fun in the process. They're throwing around the names of serious medical conditions like they're baseballs! I'm seeing words like bladder failure, kidney disease and diabetes type seven. That's right, they've literally made up a new type of diabetes entirely for you!"
"Does that come with more sick days?" Chloe asked hopefully. More sick days would be good. With Max being self-employed as a photographer, Chloe could pull a sick day whenever their birthdays came around and they could celebrate together. Then she could get super drunk, take the next day off for her hangover and not have to worry.
"It comes with multiple organ failure." Steve said, taking his glasses off and setting them down tiredly.
"Okay, I know there's got to be more sick days involved with that." Chloe grinned.
"There's death involved in that!" Steve snapped before letting out a sigh and rubbing his temples in frustration. Chloe could see the age lines around his eyes and mouth. She didn't know for definite how old he was, but for some reason she couldn't help but wonder if he had a teenage kid who called him Grandpa.
"Since this isn't even my own energy drink piss, I really think this is something you should take up with the guy who actually produced the sample." Chloe suggested. "Sounds like he could go over on the spot."
"Oh, I have." Steve nodded. "He's clearing out his locker right now. Look, the bottom line is that the insurance people aren't going to write out a policy on someone with blood sugar levels this terminally high! You're giving me a new sample right now."
"Yeah, but I haven't had anything to drink in ages!" Chloe protested. "It's somehow freezing down there in the grease pit despite it being eighty degrees outside. Are you running the AC non-stop?"
"That's probably Connor." Steve said as he put the file away. "And I'll take that away separately to deal with that situation. And with regards to not drinking anything..." With that, he slid the cup of energy drink over to her, gesturing to it expectantly.
"Dude, you're asking me to drink someone else's energy drink piss?" Chloe snapped with a horrified expression on her face. "That's fucking gross!"
Present Time...
Chloe gritted her teeth in frustration as Max rolled onto her back, howling with laughter. It was good to know she could always count on her girlfriend in a crisis. She tried to tune it out, but to her it was like an addictive music that her subconscious forced her to listen to. Usually that was a blessing. Today it was a curse. But there was no way around it. Having no option, she patiently sat back and waited for Max to get it out of her system. While she waited, she stuck one earphone in and decided to listen to a couple of YouTube videos. She sat back, closing her eyes for a bit and let both sounds wash over her.
'itsuka bokura no ue o suresure ni
toorisugite itta ano hikouki o
fushigi na kurai ni oboeteru
imi mo nai noni naze ka
fugainakute naita hi no yoru ni
tada tsuyoku naritai to negatteta
sono tame ni hitsuyou na yuuki o
sagashi motomete ita
zankoku na unmei ga sadamatteru to shite
sore ga itsu no hi ka boku no mae ni arawareru to shite
tada isshun kono isshun iki ga dekiru nara
dou demo ii to omoeta sono kokoro o
mou ichido tooku e ike tooku e ike to
boku no naka de dareka ga utau
doushiyou mo nai hodo netsuretsu ni
itsudatte me o harashita kimi ga nido to
kanashimanai you ni waraeru
sonna hero ni naru tame no uta
saraba kakagero peace sign
korogatte iku story o...'
The song continued playing, but Chloe noticed Max had stopped laughing. Neglecting to press Pause, she took the earphone out and turned back to her, an expression of mock sternness on her face.
"I'm glad to see my suffering brings you such joy." She leaned over Max where she was still lying on her back clutching at her aching ribs and dug her fingers into her sides, tickling her mercilessly.
"Ah!" Max yelped before erupting into more laughter. "No! Bitch! Get off!" The forcefulness of her words was ruined by the laughter that they had to be forced in between. Unfortunately for her, that only spurred Chloe on more.
"My, my, such language, Max Caulfield!" Chloe said in an exaggeratedly offended tone before redoubling her attack and causing Max to laugh even harder as she leaned in to kiss her.
"Chloe, no!" Max protested, trying to shove her away but being unable to push her off since she couldn't lift her hands away from herself lest Chloe have an opening to tickle her even harder. "Your face is still slightly dirty!" Her words only caused Chloe to break out in a mischievous grin.
"Aww, come give Chloe cuddles!" Chloe laughed, leaning in better to rub up against Max, who practically screamed in revulsion and tried to fight back. It was useless. Chloe had managed to put on muscle since doing hard graft at the garage and while it wasn't too visible it was certainly showing now. Max, on the other hand, still had her same old twig arms.
"No!" Max screamed as Chloe nuzzled into her neck, leaving black oil smudges on her skin. Eventually, Max gave up. Chloe felt her relax as she resigned herself to the fact it was too late to stop her and had been hopeless from the start. Chloe grinned, kissing her way up Max's neck before wrapping her in her arms and picking her up, carrying her bridal style in the direction of the bathroom. "You know I'm going to have to wash these clothes now." Max said, glaring up at her pointedly.
"Max, it's 2017 and you're making it sound like the end of the world." Chloe sighed. "You would have had to wash those clothes at some point anyway, yet the way you say it sounds like it's like it's an incident so massive that it could shut the world down." That thought made her pause mid-stride, almost dropping Max in the process. "Wait... It's not going to, is it? Have you been fucking with time and somehow made yourself queen of the world? Have I just put the world at DEFCON 4?"
"If I were queen of the world, you would have stopped when I told you to and would be bowing to me right now." Max said, giving her a flirty grin. "That, or I'd have you ruling right beside me."
"That's good." Chloe let out a relieved sigh as she resumed her present course. "Plus if I'd have stopped when you asked, I'd be showering alone right now. I'd be a lonely girl if that happened." Chloe noticed a grin spread across Max's face as she realised what she meant.
"Chloe, since when have I ever needed an excuse for that?" she asked as Chloe shifted her grip on Max so that she could carefully reach out and open the door. She kicked it the rest of the way before manoeuvring them through it and turning to close it behind them. It would be some time before they emerged from the bathroom. Long past supper, in fact. But despite their late evening meal and the fact that their water bill was doomed to be absolutely outrageous that month, Chloe knew that- with or without Max's rewind power- that time between them was one that was definitely going to get repeated.
Author's Note: Okay, so I know I'm also updating Gone and Forgotten every Friday, but this idea came to me during a conversation I was part of in the Life is Strange Fan Community on Facebook and I just had to write it up. It wasn't written with any serious purpose or storyline in mind. It was literally written for the fun of it. I've got to be honest, I've really missed writing like that. Lately I've been getting a lot more serious about it because it's a distraction from everything going on in the world right now. I hope you all enjoyed it. Please feel free to leave me a review to let me know what you think. Also, anyone who can guess what song Chloe was listening to gets a shout out on the next update for Gone and Forgotten. Stay safe out there. Thanks for reading.