p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"strongspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Stone by Name, Stone by Nature/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Summary: Chloe and Nicolette have broken up after the fallout with Leo and the baby swap saga. When an unexpected visitor turns up, Nicolette finds herself pretending they are still together. Can Chloe use this opportunity to win Nicolette back?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"strongspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;" Chapter One/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"emspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"This has not gone to plan.../span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe stood in her kitchen, sipping on a cup of tea she'd brewed. She'd returned home the previous night from a trip to Adelaide, where she'd spent several weeks visiting her brothers Mark and Tyler. She wasn't due to go back to work until the following day so she had plucked up the courage to go down to Harold's Cafe a few hours ago, only to end up back home disappointed she'd gone in the first place./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe wanted to go to Harold's Cafe that morning to see her ex-fiancé, Nicolette. Nicolette was working back at the café several shifts a week to keep her busy and bring in some much-needed income after she'd been away having her baby girl, Isla. Nicolette was the Manager there but managing the cafe and been away from Isla that long was not what Nicolette wanted when her baby girl wasn't even 3 months old. So, when the two fathers that Nicolette was raising her daughter with, married couple David and Aaron, were at home with Isla, she could take on a handful of shifts a week./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Serving Chloe her favourite beverage had not been on Nicolette's radar at all that day. Chloe could've ordered an ice coffee that was warmer than the reception Nicolette gave her the second she realized Chloe had walked into the café./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe and Nicolette had ended several months earlier and it had not gone down well. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"The couple had been dating for several months, Chloe begun having doubts about if she was as committed to her feelings for Nicolette as the red head was for her. Nicolette had spontaneously proposed, instead of saying 'no,' Chloe had stood there staring at Nicolette until Nicolette asked her if the tiniest nod in the history of nods was a 'yes.' Chloe wasn't ready to be engaged, but the two fathers Nicolette was having her baby with was Chloe's brother and his husband. If she rejected Nicolette and told her about her doubts would Nicolette cut the men out of their daughter's life to spite them for Chloe breaking her heart?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe's ex, Leo, David's brother, was wafting around at the time, wanting to pounce on Chloe because he thought "they'd be good together, really good," so why shouldn't Chloe want to leave her fiancé she wasn't ready to marry for him?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"A night of drinking with Leo led to Chloe thinking she had slept with him. She hadn't. She told Nicolette before she could find Leo to find out if they had had a drunken one-night stand. Nicolette erupted at Chloe's betrayal, be it physical or not, it didn't matter, Chloe had doubts and expressed them to her ex, whilst David and Aaron lied to keep the heavily pregnant woman 'safe' from stress./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Nicolette ran away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"A few months later, a baby swap that had broken David and Aaron's hearts right to their core, like seriously this kind of betrayal would only happen on TV and it had to have been seen to be somewhat believed when the baby Nicolette handed to her arch nemesis, Paul, David's father, was Leo's with his other ex. I mean, what are the odds, Nicolette finds David's niece born a few days before Isla was and handed her off like Abigail was Isla when Leo's ex didn't want to be a mother. Crazy stuff really./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"But here we are now. David and Aaron had begun the process of forgiving Nicolette, who had come back to Erinsborough with their baby girl, Isla. Leo had buggered off with his ex and their daughter, Abigail, so David and Aaron could lose their attachment to her and form their own bond with their real daughter, Isla. Nicolette had moved back in with the guys so the three parents could all raise their daughter together. Nicolette's mum, Jane, continued living with Chloe across the road from them, as she had moved in with Chloe when Nicolette did, halfway through her pregnancy when she and Chloe got together./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"But Chloe and Nicolette were no more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"When Nicolette returned, she refused to even acknowledge Chloe, wouldn't let her say more than two words before cutting her off. Chloe wanted to explain that she never slept with Leo and her drunken night was a big misunderstanding. But it was her doubts about a future with Nicolette that cut the redhead deep and she refused to engage with Chloe seeking forgiveness and wanting her back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"When Nicolette had spotted Chloe wearing the engagement ring that she had organized for her, Nicolette hadn't listened to Chloe's reasons as to why she was wearing it. She wanted the ring back and that was all there was too it. After the ring was stuck on her finger, Chloe finally managed to remove it and handed it back to Nicolette with a promise that she'll wait as long as it takes for Nicolette to love her once more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Things didn't get any easier for Nicolette and how she reacted to Chloe every time they were in each other's vicinity. So, Chloe took the advice of Jane and left for several weeks, hoping the space would allow Nicolette to focus on Isla and find forgiveness in her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"It wasn't to be, as Chloe found out earlier that morning when she'd walked into Harold's Cafe and Nicolette looked at her like she was trash she wanted to throw out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"emspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"How am I going to find a way for Nicolette to talk to me and give us another chance?/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"A knock at the front door interrupted Chloe's thoughts and worries, even though she immediately wondered if it could possibly be Nicolette, coming over to apologize for how cold she'd been to her at Harold's and maybe ever since she had returned home more than a month ago./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Fate wasn't on Chloe's side as she opened the front door and instead of finding Nicolette on her doorstep, ready to apologize and listen to Chloe's apologies, a man Chloe had never met stood there holding the security door open./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe couldn't even open her mouth before the man grinned at her, "You must be Chloe!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;" "Depends who's wanting to know," Chloe said grumpily, her disappointment that her time away hadn't made Nicolette want anything to do with her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"The man struck out his hand for Chloe to shake, "Victor Stone. Nic's father but I'm sure your fiancé has told you all about me. It's nice to finally meet you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe shook Victor's hand in recognition, "Yes, my fiancé has told me lots about you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"emspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Fiancé? You called Nicolette your fiancé? Victor called me Nicolette's fiancé? Has Nicolette not told him that we split? Okay, I need to correct Victor and tell him what a horrible person I've been to doubt the love Nicolette holds...held for me...or I should let Nicolette tell Victor…no I should…someone should!/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"Summary: Chloe and Nicolette have broken up after the fallout with Leo and the baby swap saga. When an unexpected visitor turns up, Nicolette finds herself pretending they are still together. Can Chloe use this opportunity to win Nicolette back?/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"strongspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;" Chapter One/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"emspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"This has not gone to plan.../span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe stood in her kitchen, sipping on a cup of tea she'd brewed. She'd returned home the previous night from a trip to Adelaide, where she'd spent several weeks visiting her brothers Mark and Tyler. She wasn't due to go back to work until the following day so she had plucked up the courage to go down to Harold's Cafe a few hours ago, only to end up back home disappointed she'd gone in the first place./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe wanted to go to Harold's Cafe that morning to see her ex-fiancé, Nicolette. Nicolette was working back at the café several shifts a week to keep her busy and bring in some much-needed income after she'd been away having her baby girl, Isla. Nicolette was the Manager there but managing the cafe and been away from Isla that long was not what Nicolette wanted when her baby girl wasn't even 3 months old. So, when the two fathers that Nicolette was raising her daughter with, married couple David and Aaron, were at home with Isla, she could take on a handful of shifts a week./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Serving Chloe her favourite beverage had not been on Nicolette's radar at all that day. Chloe could've ordered an ice coffee that was warmer than the reception Nicolette gave her the second she realized Chloe had walked into the café./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe and Nicolette had ended several months earlier and it had not gone down well. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"The couple had been dating for several months, Chloe begun having doubts about if she was as committed to her feelings for Nicolette as the red head was for her. Nicolette had spontaneously proposed, instead of saying 'no,' Chloe had stood there staring at Nicolette until Nicolette asked her if the tiniest nod in the history of nods was a 'yes.' Chloe wasn't ready to be engaged, but the two fathers Nicolette was having her baby with was Chloe's brother and his husband. If she rejected Nicolette and told her about her doubts would Nicolette cut the men out of their daughter's life to spite them for Chloe breaking her heart?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0cm; padding: 0cm; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe's ex, Leo, David's brother, was wafting around at the time, wanting to pounce on Chloe because he thought "they'd be good together, really good," so why shouldn't Chloe want to leave her fiancé she wasn't ready to marry for him?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"A night of drinking with Leo led to Chloe thinking she had slept with him. She hadn't. She told Nicolette before she could find Leo to find out if they had had a drunken one-night stand. Nicolette erupted at Chloe's betrayal, be it physical or not, it didn't matter, Chloe had doubts and expressed them to her ex, whilst David and Aaron lied to keep the heavily pregnant woman 'safe' from stress./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Nicolette ran away./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"A few months later, a baby swap that had broken David and Aaron's hearts right to their core, like seriously this kind of betrayal would only happen on TV and it had to have been seen to be somewhat believed when the baby Nicolette handed to her arch nemesis, Paul, David's father, was Leo's with his other ex. I mean, what are the odds, Nicolette finds David's niece born a few days before Isla was and handed her off like Abigail was Isla when Leo's ex didn't want to be a mother. Crazy stuff really./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"But here we are now. David and Aaron had begun the process of forgiving Nicolette, who had come back to Erinsborough with their baby girl, Isla. Leo had buggered off with his ex and their daughter, Abigail, so David and Aaron could lose their attachment to her and form their own bond with their real daughter, Isla. Nicolette had moved back in with the guys so the three parents could all raise their daughter together. Nicolette's mum, Jane, continued living with Chloe across the road from them, as she had moved in with Chloe when Nicolette did, halfway through her pregnancy when she and Chloe got together./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"But Chloe and Nicolette were no more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"When Nicolette returned, she refused to even acknowledge Chloe, wouldn't let her say more than two words before cutting her off. Chloe wanted to explain that she never slept with Leo and her drunken night was a big misunderstanding. But it was her doubts about a future with Nicolette that cut the redhead deep and she refused to engage with Chloe seeking forgiveness and wanting her back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"When Nicolette had spotted Chloe wearing the engagement ring that she had organized for her, Nicolette hadn't listened to Chloe's reasons as to why she was wearing it. She wanted the ring back and that was all there was too it. After the ring was stuck on her finger, Chloe finally managed to remove it and handed it back to Nicolette with a promise that she'll wait as long as it takes for Nicolette to love her once more./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Things didn't get any easier for Nicolette and how she reacted to Chloe every time they were in each other's vicinity. So, Chloe took the advice of Jane and left for several weeks, hoping the space would allow Nicolette to focus on Isla and find forgiveness in her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"It wasn't to be, as Chloe found out earlier that morning when she'd walked into Harold's Cafe and Nicolette looked at her like she was trash she wanted to throw out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"emspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"How am I going to find a way for Nicolette to talk to me and give us another chance?/span/em/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"A knock at the front door interrupted Chloe's thoughts and worries, even though she immediately wondered if it could possibly be Nicolette, coming over to apologize for how cold she'd been to her at Harold's and maybe ever since she had returned home more than a month ago./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Fate wasn't on Chloe's side as she opened the front door and instead of finding Nicolette on her doorstep, ready to apologize and listen to Chloe's apologies, a man Chloe had never met stood there holding the security door open./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe couldn't even open her mouth before the man grinned at her, "You must be Chloe!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;" "Depends who's wanting to know," Chloe said grumpily, her disappointment that her time away hadn't made Nicolette want anything to do with her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"The man struck out his hand for Chloe to shake, "Victor Stone. Nic's father but I'm sure your fiancé has told you all about me. It's nice to finally meet you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Chloe shook Victor's hand in recognition, "Yes, my fiancé has told me lots about you."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; line-height: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"emspan style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"Fiancé? You called Nicolette your fiancé? Victor called me Nicolette's fiancé? Has Nicolette not told him that we split? Okay, I need to correct Victor and tell him what a horrible person I've been to doubt the love Nicolette holds...held for me...or I should let Nicolette tell Victor…no I should…someone should!/span/em/p