Stealing Home (Read 9,815 times)

[gapeach]

Phillip has some explaining to do when he gets home. I am SO glad Chloe remembered but I kinda wish that Phillip had told her first! Of course then the story wouldn't have been so good if that HAD happened. Thank you Kpatch for NOT posting this chapter on Friday!!!!!

[melly]

Uh oh.... Good luck with this one, Philip....you're gonna need it!

[fluffysmom]

The day Philip has been dreading has arrived. Poor Chloe. I hope they can work through this revelation.

[unavitasegreta]

Uh oh! I don't like where Chloe's thoughts are headed. She's heading back to focusing on the negative in the past rather than what's happened since. I hope Phillip can give her some perspective. Great chapter!!! I liked how the reveal happened.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 18


Chloe wanted to jump out of her skin. She couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to get out of the apartment, she needed some air, time to think, time to breathe. So she called Lucinda, Parker’s nanny, and asked her to come stay with Parker for a while.

As she roamed the Chicago streets, she remembered it all. Finally unearthed, this most-feared memory of Philip abandoning her had acted as a barrier to all her other memories. Now that the blockade was removed, there were no obstacles restricting her psyche, and her remaining memories flowed back freely. She remembered Brady's descent into addiction, leaving Vienna by herself, receiving the divorce papers. She remembered her friends-with-benefits pact with Philip and making love to him for the first time. She remembered when he rejected her for some southern college girl, and now she understood why she turned to Lucas. Then she married Lucas, but wanted Daniel. Then she cheated on Lucas and married Daniel. She remembered cheating on Daniel, giving birth to Parker in the Horton cabin, the post-partum depression, the suicide attempt, the prostitution, ending up on Philip’s Chicago condo doorstep and slowly coming back to life, learning to trust again, learning to be Parker’s parents, and finding herself in love with Philip once again. And yes, she even remembered getting down on her knee and proposing to him.

You’d think that the memory of being a prostitute would have trumped all her other bad experiences, but no. Learning that she’d been abandoned by the person she trusted most in the world crushed her. She couldn’t think about anything except the pain she felt when he turned his back on her, told her to get out and take Parker with her. He rejected her in 2008, and he rejected her again five years later. He talked a good game about always being there for her, but he obviously never loved her enough, despite all the promises. Lies and empty promises.

That old familiar pain from childhood rose up and she felt like an orphan again. Never good enough to be adopted, never worthy of being truly loved. She had no idea what she was going to do now. Take Parker and move to New York maybe? Oh God, she didn’t want to do that. She didn’t want to start all over again. Her world was crashing in, just like it had every other time. But every other time, she at least had Philip to fall back on. Or so she thought.

Philip had always been her rock, her home base. When all else failed, there was Philip. It was so hard to reconcile that the man she loved so much, the man she’d known so long and thought she knew so well could just turn on her like that. No wonder she didn’t want to remember, no wonder she didn’t want to know. She should have known it was a mistake to pin all her hopes on one person, to put so much importance on another human being, to be so dependent on someone else that you forget how to rely on yourself. But Chloe had done just that. And she was about to pay the price. Again.

Oh God. She couldn’t let herself fall apart like she did before, she knew she couldn’t survive another nervous breakdown, another seizure. She had to hold it together. She just had to. Breathe, Chloe, breathe, she told herself.

She stopped and mindlessly stared into a boutique window on State Street. As the fog lifted, she remembered this store. She and Philip had window-shopped here many a time on those date nights when they walked home hand-in-hand after seeing an opera. They were so happy. Well, at least she was. The fairy tale was about to come true for them, just like one of those Hallmark Channel movies. Two high school sweethearts torn apart as teens find their way back to each other and get a second chance at true love. She was wearing Philip’s ring and planning a future with the father of her child. Who could ask for anything more?

Chloe’s thoughts faded when she heard the clanking of a train. She followed the sound with her eyes and looked up as the overhead train pulled into the station. Without thinking, she walked toward the station and climbed the staircase of the elevated railway. She paid the fare and boarded the downtown train.

[gapeach]

I hope Chloe is going to see Phillip! They need to talk RIGHT NOW!!!

[melly]

Well...all the memories are back (thank goodness!) but what is Chloe going to do now? Poor Chloe.

[fluffysmom]

Poor Chloe. She feels so alone. I hope Philip can bring her back.

[unavitasegreta]

I wonder where she's going! It's time Chloe starts fighting for Phillip rather than running from her problems.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 19

Readers, please click the link to listen to the song as you read the chapter.




Chloe had long wondered where people were going when they boarded the train. Were they going to work or home? Were they meeting friends or a lover? Were they going to the theater or to the airport, to dinner at Lawry’s Steak House, or to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs? What was going on in their little lives? Whatever it was, it had to be less complicated than what was going on in hers.

As for Chloe, she was riding the train going nowhere. So far, she rode to the end of the line and back twice. She was now on her third trip. She just needed time to think, needed to be alone -- well, as alone as one could get on a crowded train, especially now that rush hour was getting under way. The days were getting shorter now that it was autumn, and at 4:30, it was already starting to get dark.

Contemplating might be just a pipe dream at this time of day. It was definitely getting harder to hear herself think, with the train rumbling and so many people around her, swaying with the motion of the train car. She had a seat, the same one she’d been sitting in for the past few hours, but she was still getting pushed and jostled by other passengers getting on and off and straphanging over her.

During the past few hours, she felt like her heart was dying bit by bit. She kept picturing him down on his knees, the man she loved so much, begging her to stay with him in Salem. She didn’t let on at the time, but that gesture meant the world to her. Someone wanted her, really wanted her. Brady had proven she didn’t mean enough to him to stick it out, but here was Philip telling her how much he wanted her in his life.

Just a short while later, her Prince Charming broke her heart, rebuffing her for some meaningless fling with a college girl who had the most annoying southern accent. And it wasn’t an isolated incident. It happened all over again last Thanksgiving. They were engaged to be married, but he threw her out as soon as he learned he wasn’t Parker’s father. Why? Why did he do that to her?

His actions cut her to the very core. Her fears of being abandoned resurfaced. Her childhood belief that she was unlovable was reinforced. Up to now, she believed that Philip’s love was the one solid thing in her life, the one steadfast emotion she could depend on when everyone else failed her. That was obviously a myth, though -- one she could no longer hold onto. Philip wasn’t who she thought he was, and together, they weren’t the soulmates she wanted to believe they were. The magnets had lost their polarization. Turns out Parker was the only thing that held them together. That’s why Philip worked so hard to win her back after The Oaks -- because he wanted to ensure his place in Parker’s life and see to it that Parker would be raised by both his parents --not because he had an undying love for Chloe.

How many times had she been tossed aside in her life? By parents? By friends? By lovers? Too many to count. So what now, she wondered. Where would she go from here?

“Chloe?” She heard a voice from above and looked up. For a minute she thought Philip tracked her down.

A strange man who was standing nearby and holding onto a support pole was looking down at her. “Chloe, that is your name, right? Philip’s Chloe?”

Philip’s Chloe? No, she wasn’t Philip’s anything. Chloe squinted at the man but didn’t answer him.

“I’m George Murphy. The grocery store manager at Whole Foods. Remember?”

Slowly, Chloe nodded as she remembered meeting the manager of the Whole Foods store a few months back. “Yes. I’m Chloe.”

“Small world, huh? Where you heading?”

Chloe looked down at her lap, then she answered, “Nowhere.”

“Huh?” George got a concerned look on his face. “Listen, this is my stop. Why don’t we go get coffee or something.” He held out his hand, and without really thinking, Chloe took it and let George lead her off the train.

[gapeach]

Glad she is okay and with George. He is the ONLY person Chloe might listen too about the way Phillip REALLY feels about her! He ha no hidden agenda!

[melly]

Go George!!!!! Philip is going to owe him.....

[fluffysmom]

I'm glad Chloe ran into George. Hopefully he can help her.

[unavitasegreta]

Come on, George! We are all counting on you to knock some sense into Chloe and make her re-evalute running away from Phillip again.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 20


Chloe sat in a booth across from George, her head in her hands.

“What’s wrong, Chloe? ... Hey, I know I’m a stranger to you, but I’m a good listener and I’d like to help. Ask Philip.”

Still holding her forehead, Chloe looked directly at George. “Philip is the last person I want to ask anything. He wouldn’t be truthful with me anyway.”

“What? Um. Hmmm.” George seemed to be at a loss for words. “Hey, how about a cup of coffee? Cream and sugar?”

“Just milk,” Chloe mumbled, looking down at a spot on the table.

“Don’t go anywhere.” George got up and patted Chloe’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

He went over to the counter, an old fashioned luncheonette-style counter with a long row of round cushioned stools, and ordered two cups of coffee. There were no other customers at this hour, just him and Chloe. While he waited for the waiter to fill his order, he took out his wallet and located the business card Philip had given to him. He looked over his shoulder to make sure Chloe wasn’t watching him, then he dialed Philip’s number on his cell phone.

~~~~~~

It was late afternoon when Philip arrived home from work. He’d just gotten out of a meeting and it seemed like a good time to break away. He had work to finish, but he could do that from home. Mostly, he was concerned because he hadn’t been able to reach Chloe all day. Chloe’s phone was probably in need of charging, Philip told himself, or maybe Parker unplugged it; he’d done that once or twice before.

He phoned her throughout the day and, when he repeatedly got no answer, he was on the verge of panicking. Philip’s anxiety level was generally higher than it used to be, thanks to everything that happened over the past year with both Chloe and Parker, and it was a short trip to a state of panic. So, coming home seemed like a good idea.

When he entered the apartment, he was surprised by what he saw. “Lucinda. I didn’t know you were gonna be here today.”

“Chloe called this morning and asked if I’d come stay with Parker,” she told Philip. “She said she had some things she needed to do.”

“Oh.” Now Philip had reason to worry. “Um. ... Parker napping?”

“He is.”

This still didn’t explain why Chloe didn’t answer her phone, unless she left it home. “Hmmm, what time did Chloe leave? Did she say where she was going?”

“Must have been around 10:30. I figured she had shopping to do, but no, I didn’t ask. It’s not really my business.”


Philip looked at his watch. It was nearly 4:30. “I tried calling her cell a bunch of times, and she didn’t answer.”

“To be honest, she did seem a little upset,” Lucinda added.

Now Lucinda had Philip’s full attention. “Upset? What do you mean?”

“Well, she looked like she’d been crying. I wanted to ask, but .... She used to confide in me sometimes, but since her memory loss....”

“Lucinda! What did she say?” He felt that old familiar panic taking hold.

“Well,” Lucinda wrung her hands, “she kept mumbling something that sounded like ‘I can’t believe he turned his back on me.’”

“Oh God.” Philip’s stomach turned. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and started to pace. What did that mean? Was she talking about him? Did she remember something? Did she remember what happened after they were told that Parker was Daniel’s son? Oh my god. That was it! That had to be it. She’d been getting these flashes of memory here and there for weeks now, so that had to be what happened. She remembered. And she ran away. Whenever she was distraught and unable to cope, she would run away, like she did when he found her at the library in Salem, and when she ran off and ended up at St. Luke’s. But this wasn’t Salem. It was Chicago, and Chicago could be a dangerous place to be roaming around. Philip was now officially panic-stricken.

Philip’s cell phone vibrated and he reached into his pocket. He prayed it was Chloe.

Philip squinted at the display. That’s weird, he thought. He briefly considered letting it roll into voicemail, but he decided to answer. “Hello? Yeah, listen George, this isn’t a good time. ... Excuse me? What?? What did you say? ... Chloe’s with you? But how? But…. But ... yeah, okay. Rush Street? Sorry, I can’t hear you, can you talk louder? Uh huh, under the El. ... Whistle Stop Coffee Shop. ... No, I’ve never heard of it, but I’ll find it. Don’t let her leave. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”

Philip turned back to Lucinda. “Can you stay with Parker a while longer?”

“Of course, Philip. Go get Chloe.”