Chapter 7: Chloe, Tacos, and Cosmos

Chloe enjoyed the party a little too much. At one point, she started a taco tossing phenomenon. She momentarily let the thoughts of the White Rabbit and Alice scene from earlier surface just long enough for her to lose control and toss a mini taco against the wall. All the other girls had no idea why she had done it but having drunk round after round of cocktails and shots, they found it great fun and joined in with elevated enthusiasm. Tacos were being flung all over the party room. She felt a little bad for the workers that have to clean it all up but damn, it was worth it. It allowed her much needed stress relief.

She went to the bar after the party as planned to call her best friend and hear her thoughts on what she should do. Covered in mini tacos, Chloe attempted to brush some of the taco debris off but quickly gave up and just walked into the bar, tacos and all. It wasn't exactly a dive bar, but it wasn't posh enough to turn her and her tacos away, so she sat down and ordered a cosmopolitan.

"Mighty fancy drink for a taco," said a guy a few stools down. She gave him a look that said: 'don't go there' and took her phone out. She took a deep breath, then selected Kendra's number.

"Yeah, babe? What's up?" Kendra answered, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Hey, Kenny…what are you doing?" Chloe asked her best friend. Chloe never knew what Kendra could be up to.

"Hmm? Oh! Having sex. So what's up?"

"Oh, nothing. I just walked in on Jon and Veronica… Wait, you're having sex?!"

"What the Fuck? I knew that guy was an ass! Hold on, let me finish, and then I'll call you back. I can't give this conversation the right amount of attitude like this."

"Uh-huh,"  Chloe said and hung up. Never can tell what Kendra might be doing when she calls, Chloe thought again with a sigh. She got her drink and sipped it as she tried to think about what she should do next.

Maybe I should tell Nicki. Yes, tell Nicki, tell him what's going on. He should know. He has a right to know. Yes, that's what you're going to do. And he will know what we should do next. She repeated to herself. She was staring at her drink. She hadn't blinked once as she thought about how to tell him. Finally, she blinked with the determination that she would tell Nicki Moulton, and he would know what they should do. Together they could deal with this. It was a much better idea than her having to deal with the situation alone. She really liked him. He was a good friend.

She pulled out her phone, found Nicki in her contacts, and sent him a text message asking him to meet her for lunch tomorrow. Jon had golf with some guys from work and his dad. Veronica usually went to see her mother on Sundays. So lunch tomorrow would be the perfect time to talk to Nicki. Her phone rang, and for a moment she thought it was Nicki. It was Kendra calling her back.

"That was fast!" Chloe answered.

"Oh? Yeah, well, I was ready forever ago. Just waiting for him. Anyhow, what's going on? Tell me what happened? Did you kick him out? Wanna move in with me?" Kendra rambled as energetic as ever.

"Hold on, Kenny, slow down. I'm not moving anywhere. I didn't kick him out. He doesn't even know I was there. I forgot the birthday gift for my craft girls' party, so I went back and heard Veronica giggling in that way like in a romance movie and…"

"Wait, Veronica!!! NO! That Bitch!"

"Yeah, well," Chloe mumbled. She should have listened when everyone told her not to trust Jon with Veronica.

"Does Nicki know?"

"I don't know. I sent him a text to meet me for lunch tomorrow."

"So how were they doing it, huh?" Kendra sounded like she was literally bouncing in her seat.

"Do you have to sound so excited?"

"Oh, babe! You're so lame you need to live a little. Remember our bucket list thingy we wrote when we were fourteen? I still have my copy. I'll send it to you. It'd do you some good to cross some of those off."

"List? Um…Okay. Right." Chloe had no idea what Kendra was talking about.

"So…Details. I promise to tone down my excitement." Kendra cleared her throat, and in a somber low voice full of sympathy, she said, "what happened, dear?"

Chloe rolled her eyes and told her the scene she happened to walk into earlier. When she finished recounting the events up to the point of her, as a taco, calling Kendra, there was a long silence on the other end. An unnatural silence, almost as if she'd disconnected. Chloe looked at the phone, and the time of the call was still running.

"Um. Kenny?" She must have accidentally hit some button or something.

"Yeah." Kendra coughed a bit before continuing. "Sorry, I put you on mute. I was laughing. Not that it's funny you caught your husband cheating but, Alice?! Damn! I didn't know he was so freaky."

"What?"

"I'd suggest you get even, but babe, you got your work cut out for you to even that score. Ha ha, seriously! Alice!"

"Even the score?" Chloe was so lost in this conversation. All she ever knew of sex was Jon, and even then, it really wasn't very exciting.

"Well, coincidentally, our bucket list here includes office sex. Maybe you can seduce that guy that has the hots for you? What was his name, Billy?"

"Billy? He's a pervert!" Chloe wasn't going to have sex with Billy!

"Perfect! Pervs are freakier by definition, right? Or what about Nicki? He works with you." Kendra sounded excited again.

"Look, Kendra, I'm not going to get even. I just thought...I don't know what I thought. Besides, I like Nicki, I'm not going to have sex with him. Maybe I'll come out your way for a visit or something, just me and clear my mind of all this."

"Oh, great idea! I'll find you a guy. Just one night, no strings sort of guy."

"Right." Chloe rolled her eyes and rubbed her temple before downing the rest of her drink. "I'm gonna head home and take a couple muscle relaxers and pass out."

"Ok. Night, babe. See ya soon." Kendra still sounded too excited, considering her best friend's husband was cheating on her.

"Night."