The Receptionist by Kate Myles

Author:Kate Myles [Myles, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2021-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHLOE

The digital clock on Chloe’s bedroom floor reads 6:57 a.m. She’s had three and a half, maybe four hours of sleep. Her head is thrumming, and she closes her eyes, hoping to get back to the dream she was having. She usually doesn’t remember her dreams, only the recurring one with the old lady screaming. But just now, before she woke up, Doug was in front of her. He picked up a pair of socks for her and told his wife and Dr. Maryn to stop being so mean.

She opens her eyes. She pulls her covers back and reaches for her phone on the floor. The battery is dead. Her empty screen reflects her image back at her, scolding her. Of course she isn’t allowed to see whether Doug texted. She left her one and only charger in the car.

She wanders into the kitchen. Sheralyn’s phone is plugged in on the counter. Chloe switches it out for her own phone just as her roommate’s bedroom door swings open. Sheralyn appears in a long tank top and boy-short briefs. The tops of her arms are red and pimply.

“That was so messed up last night,” Sheralyn says. She looks down at her unplugged phone.

“Your battery was almost full,” says Chloe. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Sheralyn shakes her head and moves past Chloe to the coffee maker. She opens an airtight bin and spoons fresh coffee grounds into the basket. An apple appears in the center of Chloe’s screen.

“We’re almost out of coffee,” says Sheralyn.

“I’ll get some,” says Chloe.

“Yeah, right.”

Sheralyn presses the brew button on the coffee maker and disappears into her room. Chloe’s screen goes black. Come on, come on, she thinks as the icons load onto her home screen. She starts as she sees a red bubble indicating a new text. She opens the messenger app. The text is from Dylan:

Let’s take time to decompress. Meet in two weeks?

She closes out Dylan’s text and opens her conversation with Doug. At 10:15 last night, she texted:

I have anger issues, but I’m dealing with them!

At 10:43, she texted:

Hey!

At 10:45:

Can you call me?

At 10:55:

Sorry for the lash out. R U okay?

At 10:58:

Sometimes I don’t know my own strength lol.

At 10:58:

Sorry about performance too.

At 11:43:

Seriously, please let me know u r okay.

At 1:30:

I get that u r mad but please let me know things are alright.

Please, oh please, she thinks. She pets the phone like it’s a living thing. All she needs is a tiny answer from him. Just a word.

Chloe hears Sheralyn’s shower. The coffee carafe is filled halfway. She pours herself a cup and steals a splash of Sheralyn’s milk from the refrigerator. She opens the cabinet. Sheralyn has labeled her sugar carton with a giant Sharpied S!!!! Chloe opens the spout and pours a spoonful into her coffee. She heads back into her bed and pulls the covers up to her chin.

This feeling, it’s disturbing. It won’t stop, the sense that she’s owed an answer. She wants it clear, in words, what last night’s consequences are, what Doug is thinking.

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