Chapter7
Chloe
TheodoraNicoleCooper.Thatwas the name of the woman who had spurred my third-life crisis–Fatimahad assured me it was unrealistic to thinkIwas having a quarter-life crisis at age thirty.
Now thatIhad a name,Ihad everything.Betweenthe four of us–Amy,Morgan,Fatima, and me– we were basicallyMI5, theCIA, andSherlockHolmesrolled into one, screencasting ontoFatima’sTVeverything we found.Soonenough,Iknew absolutely everything aboutTeddy, despite an impressively minimal digital footprint.FromTemecula,California.Wentto university inNorthDakotafor god knows what reason.Livedin a van half the year, travelling mostly aroundCaliforniaand theAmericanSouthwest.Hadreceived two parking tickets on said van over the last ten years.
She was the niece ofJenniferMaxwell, owner ofGwenynenHollow(duh), which had officially started operating about fourteen years ago.Wewere even able to piece together some of the lore–Jenhad once been married to aWelshman, who now seemed to be an electrician living nearSwansea, and she was now a member of multipleFacebookgroups forLGBTQ+ farmers and artisans.
Teddy’s profiles were all locked down, but we found some tagged photos that evidenced at least two ex-girlfriends serious enough to post online.Onewas now married to a man with five whole children– big yikes– and the other was a graphic designer inSantaBarbara.Therewas a picture of the latter sat on the roof of a converted camper van, nestled betweenTeddy’slegs,Teddy’sarms draped over her hips casually.Thephoto had a posed quality to it that was hard to ignore, but still,Icouldn’t imagineTeddybeing that warm and open with anyone, based on my limited experience.
I hadn’t planned on telling my friends thatTeddyandIhad met before, butAmyrecognised her from that brief glimpse at theRenFaire.Theothers squealed loud enough to be heard from space when they found out myRenFairenemesis and my work nemesis were one and the same.
“This is absolutely fate,”Amysaid, clapping her hands together. “Like, ifI’ddone a reading and said this would happen, you would never have believed me.”
“You’re absolutely right,”Isaid. “AndIstill don’t.Itdoesn’t matter.She’sjust an obstacle to overcome now.”
“I mean, she’s really hot,”Amysaid, tilting her head as she stared down at her phone.
“Why, thank you,”Isaid, tossing my hair over my shoulder and leaning back on the sofa to pose.ThenIsat forward and frowned at them both. “Wait, you meanTeddy?!”
“Well, yeah,”Amysaid with a shrug. “Notmy thing obviously, but she’s objectively good-looking.”
Morgan’s dogPablocame trotting over and lickedAmy’shand, as if in agreement.
“There’s no way you disagree with us.”Morganeyed me. “She’stotally your type.”
I scoffed. “Sheisnot.”
“Excuse me,”Amysaid, “Morganmay have only been here for theLaurendays, butIremember every girl you’ve dated, andTeddyabsolutely fits the mould.”
I tipped my head back against the sofa and groaned, covering my face with a cushion.Theyhad me pegged, and not in a fun way.OfcourseTeddywas hot.Ifshe hadn’t been,Iwouldn’t have clammed up around her when she’d had a go at me inAmerica.Onlyhot, sapphic women could shut me up, and she’d done it spectacularly.
My relationship withLaurenhadn’t exactly been a workplace romance– she worked at the actual rescue with the animals, whilstIworked in the central office– but even then, it was awkward enough when we weren’t speaking.I’dhad to stop walking dogs withMorganon our lunch breaks, becauseIwould either get distracted talking to her or be completely unable to walk through the door, depending on our situationship status at the time.
So, no,Icouldn’t let myself be attracted toTeddy, no matter how mean she was to me.Andunfortunately, yes, that was a bit of a turn-on.
“You should invite her to playD&Dwith us,”Fatimasaid. “I’vegot a character in mind that she can play.Doyou know if she games?”
“I have no idea,”Isaid, “andIdon’t think she’d accept, even if she did.Shereally seems to hate me.”
“Aw, diddums,”Amysaid in a baby voice, stroking my hair. “Someonedoesn’t like the universally adoredChloe?”
“Honestly, it’s a mystery,”Isaid, even though it sort of wasn’t.Basedon how we’d been introduced,Iwouldn’t be particularly fond of me, either.And, if she really thoughtIwas stealing her job–Ihad no idea how much truth there was to it, but she clearly believed it– then there was no way she’d agree to spend any amount of extra time with me, even ifIlet her play my enemy.
“I’d love to see that play out in-game,”Fatimasaid, a mischievous grin tugging at her mouth.
“I bet you would,”Isaid, sticking my tongue out at her.Sheheld up her fingers in a heart shape in response.
* * *
“Time for a tour,”Teddysaid as she speedwalked ahead of me.Ihadn’t even been able to put my bag down.Myraincoat squeaked where it rubbed together asIpumped my arms to keep up with her.
“Jen already gave me a tour whenIdid the course.Iwas really just hoping to get started with some content.”Thetelescopic tripod in my bag banged against my side asIhurried after her, just like it had on my long walk from the bus stop.AtleastI’dworn boots instead of loafers this time, even if they wereMorgan’sand half a size too small.
Teddy shook her head. “Thatwas the visitors’ tour.Thisis the ‘behind the curtain’ version.”
I caught slightly on her phrasing– “don’t you worry your pretty little head about what’s going on behind the curtain” echoed through my mind.Ishook it off.
