PROBLEM CHILD

CHLOE’S POV

It had been a week since I left my life in L.A.

 

Now here I was standing in front of the house where I was raised, holding my large suitcase and a duffel bag that contained everything I owned. Standing in front of that door made my stomach turn as I questioned myself continuously. Was I making the right decision?

I hadn’t seen or spoken to my dad in months, many even longer than that. And I didn’t tell him that I would be coming to visit. More like become his new roommate.

I raised my hand in the air, taking a deep breath in before I knocked.

A few seconds later before I heard the door suddenly open up for me. My father was standing in front of me, his grey hair was messier than I remembered, wearing a wrinkled t-shirt that was hanging off his shoulders, and his reading glasses resting on the top of his head.

His eyes narrowed slowly when he saw me. “Chloe?”

“Hey, Dad,” I said softly, trying to maintain a small smile like everything was okay.

He didn’t move away from the door or come to hug me like every normal father would. He just stared at me like I was a ghost.

His eyes shifted down to the bags I was holding on to, then back to my face. “What are you doing here... with all this luggage? Is Bryan with you?”

I adjusted the duffel bag on my shoulder to show him how tired I was. “Can I at least come inside and drop my stuff first before I answer all questions”

He exhaled and ran a hand down his tired face, like he could already tell the full story from the look on my face. “Jesus, Chloe...what did you do?

“Dad,” I said again with a firm tone this time, disgusted that he could believe that if something ever happened between Bryan and me, then I was the problem. “Come on. Let me in.”

He stepped aside without another word.

I walked into the house, the familiar creaking of the old wooden floor welcoming me back to my roots. The place smelled like brewed coffee and had the scent of fried bacon, maybe from an early morning breakfast. It hadn’t changed much. Same dull grey walls, same brown plaid couch that had seen better days, and the old flat-screen TV that I would watch cringeworthy sitcoms on after school.

It was still minimal, quiet, like I remembered it to be.

A beagle, Rusty, lay all curled up on an old dog bed near the window. He barely lifted his head when I walked in.

“Is he still alive?” I asked, nodding at him to get a reaction.

“He’s deaf now,” my dad replied, shutting the door behind us.“Can’t hear a damn thing, but he still eats like a horse.”

I dropped my bags near the couch and pulled off my jacket from my body, allowing the silence to settle in heavily around us.

My dad, Luke Smith, stood with his arms folded. “Alright, Chloe, what the hell is going on?”

“I just need a glass of water,” I said, moving toward the kitchen area.

“Don’t do that.” His voice snapped like the sound of a whip. “Don’t delay it. Just tell me what’s going on so I can understand whatever it is that is going on.”

I froze mid-step. From his tone, he made it clear this wasn’t going to be a warm reunion between a father and his daughter.

I turned around slowly. “Bryan cheated on me.”

For a moment, there was silence in the air. I waited for a reaction. Waited for him to say something. Anything.

Instead, he walked over and pulled out a chair at the dining table.

“Is he still gonna send money to help cover my bills over here?”

I stared at him in disbelief. “That’s your first question?”

He blinked. “Well, yeah. Someone’s got to ask it sooner or later.”

I swallowed hard, my hands balling into fists at my sides. “What?! Shouldn’t a father’s first question be, ‘Are you okay, Chloe?’ or, ‘What the hell happened?’ Instead, you ask about... money?”

He scoffed. “You’ve never exactly made smart choices in life. I figured I’d get straight to the point.”

I blinked at him. “So me getting cheated on makes me dumb now?”

“No,” he said, rubbing his face. “But let’s not act like you haven’t always been a little soft about life. You finally did something right when you got married to a man like Bryan. That man was stable. He helped take care of things in your life and around here.”

My chest tightened. “He blamed me for the miscarriage. He said I pushed him away because I was scared to try again for another child.”

“Well, did you?”

I flinched. “No. You don’t get to do this to me.”

He sat back in the chair. “You took everything from me, Chloe. First, your mom, dying to bring you into this world and now the only good thing you’ve done for me, and you can’t even hold onto that until I leave this world.”

I backed up slowly, heart pounding in my chest. “So this was about money to you? You never cared about me being happy, just as long as Bryan kept the cash flowing into your pocket?”

“Are you getting alimony at least?” he asked without even listening to what I was saying.

I closed my eyes for a second before answering his question. “No. We signed a prenup before we got married. I don’t get anything.”

He slammed his hand on the table. “F**k, Chloe! How did you mess this up too?!”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out as a response.

He stood up, muttering, pacing around in the kitchen. “Unbelievable!”

“I didn’t cheat,” I said quietly. “I was hurting after the last miscarriage. I was trying my best.”

“Well, look where that has got you!”

“If you’re staying here,” he continued, pouring water into a glass, “you’ll need to get a job and contribute your quota. This house isn’t free.”

I nodded because that was my plan all along. I was going and earn some money to rent my place so I could move out of this house.

He walked, setting the glass on the table and said nothing else to me. I watched as his footsteps echoed down the hall.

I stared at the glass, and then took a seat at the table, and then pulled out my phone.

The first thing I saw was a message from my lawyer, Lois.

LOIS: [DID YOU HEAR? BRYAN JUST HAD A QUIET COURT WEDDING. THERE’S A WHITE WEDDING SOON.]