Chloé had bought the same salad she usually ate during her lunchbreak, but this time she wasn't able to eat that much of it. She was worried about her sister and still shocked by the news of her disease. It would take time for her to accept it, but that would not keep her from being there for her sister.
Even if they had talked just moments ago, she wanted to call her sister again and talk some more. But Chloé knew Zoé needed some rest and hoped that she would get some. But Chloé also knew that Zoé most likely called their mother after their talk to tell her about Zoé's disease and Chloé felt that she needed to be there for her as well.
Instead of trying to eat more of her salad Chloé left the restaurant and returned to her work before her lunch were over. Maybe she would be able to have a short conversation with her mother about Zoé and what they could do for her. Chloé knew that her mother must have a lot of connections and know at least one or two doctors that could perform miracles.
As she left the elevator behind when she reached the right floor and walked into the office, Chloé noticed that her mother were on her phone and seemed to have a intense conversation with whoever it was she was talking with. Instead of bothering her mother, Chloé decided to go to her desk and start her next assignment that had been left there during her lunchbreak.
She read it through before she started her research and worked without any stop for almost two hours. When she decided to take her fifteen minutes break she left her desk and went to look inside her mother's office to see if she still were on her phone, but when she wasn't Chloé decided to enter.
"Yes?" her mother asked when she noticed her presence.
"Did Zoé call you?" Chloé asked.
"Yes, she did." her mother replied in a annoyed tone.
The silence fell between them and when it looked like her mother were on her way to get back to her work Chloé decided to talk even more and hoped her mother would sound less annoyed afterward.
"What should we do?" Chloé asked.
"About what?" her mother asked in the same annoyed tone as she'd used earlier.
"Zoé's sick."
"Yes." her mother said and glared at her. "What about it?"
"She's sick. Shouldn't we do something? Or, I don't know, at least be there for her?" Chloé said after a few moments of silence.
"I'm aware that she's sick, but there is nothing I can do. I'm not wasting my time going back and forth between continents because my daughter is sick. If she was dying, I could go and be there in her final moments. But my life here is important. I'm helping worthless people dress like they actually have something good going on in their life." her mother explained calmly.
Yet again the silence fell inside her mother's office. Her mother gave her a annoyed glance when the phone on her desk started ringing.
"If that was all, please leave." she told Chloé as she answered the phone.
Instead of leaving Chloé stood still and looked at her mother like she'd always done. But this time she didn't see someone she wanted to mimic. This time she saw Audrey in her true colors and for the first time ever she felt disgusted by being the child of someone like her.
"Actually." Chloé said and walked up to her mother's desk and took the phone away from her before Chloé cancelled the call to her mother's big surprise.
"What are you doing?" her mother screamed.
Chloé took a deep breath before she put the phone away and looked at her mother again. Any other time Chloé would have been terrified of making her mother this angry, but if everything went as Chloé hoped she'd never see her mother again.
"I quit." Chloé said.
"You can't quit." her mother said and sounded like Chloé had just told her the most hilarious joke she'd ever heard.
"I can." Chloé said and stood her ground as her mother rose from her seat and looked down at her with disappointment.
"How are you going to afford the apartment? If you quit, I will make sure that no one in this city is going to hire you ever again. You'd have to come back here and beg for your job back and like the loving mother that I am I'd give it back, but with less salary and much more workhours. You'd have to start all over and work yourself up to the top again. But it doesn't have to be like that. Stay and make me proud."
Chloé knew it was a test. If she said she was sorry and didn't mean it, her mother would still fire her. Chloé had seen it multiple times during these four months. She just never thought she'd end up in that position, but she had made up her mind already and nothing her mother said would make her stay.
"I said I quit." Chloé spit in the most venomous way she could master.
A second later her mother's fist collided on the top of the desk and Chloé took a step back.
"Pack your things and leave. I don't care if you end up on the street or have to do dirty things to make a living. Just know that I gave you everything, and you wasted it all. You are a disappointment, Chloé. Just like your father and your sister."
Chloé turned around and left her mother's office. As she walked past all the other employers, she could feel their curious gazes on her, but she ignored them and reached her desk and packed her things before she left the office one last time. But this time she left as a free woman with more possibilities than what she'd been given during her four months at her mother's work.
Even if Chloé knew her mother would live up to her "promises" and ruin her chances of having a normal life in New York it didn't bother her as much as she'd think it would. Sure, it hurt hearing that stuff from her mother. But it also showed her how little her mother actually thought about her. No one in their right mind would talk to their children like that.
As she entered the elevator, she took up her phone from her bag and looked at her contact list. She read each name after each other and when she finally reached the one person she knew she could call whenever she clicked on the name and called.
"Chloé? I'm so glad you are calling. How are you?"
It didn't take her father more than a few seconds to answer and when she finally heard his voice she couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
"Dad." she said relieved and knew he could hear her crying.
"Chloé, what's the matter?" he asked concerned.
Chloé took a deep breath before she told him everything about Zoé being sick and what just had happened at work. She told him about her mothers threat and that she wanted to come home to be with him and Zoé.
When she was finished with her story, she was met with silence from his end. When the elevator doors opened, she walked out and headed toward the exit.
Her father had not said one word and for a moment she thought that he would tell her something about responsibilities and how important it is to work hard even if things don't go the way she planed. But her father wasn't like that. He was a kind soul and understanding. He had been there for her ever since she was a child and she didn't think he would start being the opposite today.
She walked outside to the busy street and started walking toward her apartment. She didn't know if her mother would make some calls and ban her from entering the building to prevent her from getting her things. But then again, that sounded exactly like something her mother would do and with that knowledge she started walking even faster.
"Chloé?"
The sound of her father's voice dragged her back to her phone and made her forget about her thoughts for the moment.
"Yes, I'm here." she said.
"I have arranged for someone to pick you up from your mother's apartment in an hour to take you to the airport. I have already booked a flight for you to Paris that leaves later this day, so you will be able to make it. Go to the apartment, pack your things and come back home." her father explained.
Chloé breathed out when she heard her father's words. Of course he would be understanding and help his only daughter when she needed it. But for a moment there she thought he'd turn his back towards her and leave her to solve her own problems.
"Thank you dad." Chloé managed to say and smiled.
"Anything for you." her father said. "We will talk about your sister when you get back and see what we can do for her."
"You are the best, dad." Chloé said.
"I look forward to seeing you."
"Me too." she answered before they said their goodbyes.
She reached the apartment building five minutes later and got in to the building without any problems. She wasn't stopped or anything else and the moment she walked into the apartment she started packing her things right away.
At first she wanted to take everything with her, but she realised that she wouldn't be able to pack all of her clothes in the two bags she had. Even if it saddened her she knew it was for the better. All those expensive clothes didn't mean anything and if she left all of them for her mom to find she knew that would make her mother extremely angry and that was something she was happy over to achieve.
The only one of Chloé's clothes that she had bought during her stay in New York that she decided to pack were a golden dress she had gotten when she first came to New York and had yet to wear. She wanted to wear it for a special occasion and now she knew that it was meant to be worn in Paris and not in New York.
When she was done with her packing, she left the apartment and walked down to the lobby. She didn't bother leaving the key behind for her mother because she knew she'd change the locks either way. It would only be a waste of time for Chloés part, and she had a schedule to follow if she wanted to get out of New York today.
It didn't take her long to find the person who would take her to the airport when she got outside and when she sat there in the backseat and looked out of the window as the cab started moving she was wondering what life would be like when she got back to Paris.
Would anyone care that she'd return? Did they even know she had been gone? They must have known, somehow. It's not like she had any contact with any of her old classmates and friends from Paris. Not even Sabrina was a friend of hers anymore and for the first time since the end of their friendship Chloé found herself missing the redhead more than ever.
