Page 21 of Vitamin Sea

O pus—it was where they always went for special occasions. Since it was neither of their birthdays, not their anniversary, and nor were they celebrating any achievements, Chloe had a sneaking suspicion that tonight might just end with a ring on her finger.

They had passed the five-year mark two weeks ago and, while she wasn’t desperately waiting for Liam to pop the question, she knew that at some point it was coming.

Sure, things hadn’t been great between them the past six months, and Liam had completely forgotten about their anniversary and bungled Chloe’s surprise, but he had made reservations this evening at their special dinner spot.

In Chloe’s mind, that could only mean one thing.

Still, she tried to temper her expectations—she didn’t want to get her hopes up and then be disappointed. If nothing else, she knew she was in for a great meal. It would make up for Liam’s massive screwup around their anniversary dinner.

She pulled a new dress out of the closet—a pretty, red mini done up in delicate lace with a high neckline and short lace sleeves. She’d grabbed it from one of the racks at the office. It was a Prabal Gurung piece that was going to be used in an editorial they were shooting next week.

Not that she was in the habit of taking clothing from work. All of them had done it on at least one occasion—sneaking out with an item and then returning it a few days later with the dry-cleaning tags taken off.

No harm, no foul.

The red lace was soft between her fingers as she held up the outfit in front of a mirror.

She reconsidered wearing it when she realized that if Liam was going to propose to her that evening, lots of photos would be taken.

He might even have hired a photographer to capture the whole thing.

Which might present a problem when it came to showing her coworkers photos from her engagement.

All her concerns washed away after she slipped on the dress—it was too stunning. If it came down to it, she would just leave out any pictures when recounting the engagement to her coworkers.

“Ready?” Liam’s voice came from the living room.

“Almost!” Chloe called from their bedroom. She applied a quick swipe of lipstick. She had put her hair in hot curlers earlier and opted for a dark, smoky eye.

“You look great,” Liam said when she emerged from their bedroom.

As far as looking great, she could say the same about him. His salt-and-pepper hair had been cut a few days before and he was wearing a sharp black suit with a white shirt—leaving the top two buttons undone and giving a hint of his hard chest underneath.

Things had finally gotten steamy in the bedroom a few days after the failed anniversary dinner, and although Liam had seemed distracted, it had put Chloe’s mind at ease.

He had initiated it after she told him how hurt she felt over his absence the last several months.

Because of that and in addition to the special dinner he had booked for this evening, she was feeling optimistic.

The six months of insecurity, disconnection, and lack of sex was just a blip.

Something all couples went through. Liam was almost done the deal he was working on and, soon enough, their relationship would be back on track.

After all, they lived together, they were close to each other’s friends and families; they vacationed together, made goals together, loved each other, and supported one another through thick and thin.

If that wasn’t the makings of a solid, lifetime relationship, she didn’t know what was.

Along the snow-covered streets of Yorkville, Opus, a knock-out food and wine establishment, occupied an ordinary brick building.

Under the dim lights, soft music, and low-toned chatter of fellow diners, she and Liam enjoyed appetizers, mains, and a bottle of wine while they talked about Chloe’s work and her upcoming assignments.

Liam ordered dessert for Chloe and poured the remainder of their wine into Chloe’s glass before taking a deep breath and uttering four horrible words.

“We need to talk,” he said, fixing her with an inscrutable stare.

At first, Chloe wasn’t concerned. After all, they rarely fought. And if there was an issue that they needed to talk about, she was sure it would be something they could easily resolve.

Still—there was something about the look on his face. It was an expression that she couldn’t quite place. A mixture of hesitancy and concern. And something else. He looked uncertain. Scared, maybe.

It was odd and she didn’t know what to make of it. Maybe it was just nerves due to the prospect of proposing?

She gave her boyfriend a quizzical look and took a drink of wine. After putting the glass down, she gave Liam an expectant look.

“Okay—talk about what?”

Liam swallowed.

“You know that I love you, Chlo?”

Chloe nodded, puzzled that he was starting off a discussion this way.

“These past five years together have been great.”

That’s odd , she thought to herself. Why did it sound like Liam, her boyfriend of five years, her future husband, the father of her future children, the man she would grow old together and die with, was prepping her for an ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ type of conversation?

It sure was a weird way to start out his ‘asking for her hand in marriage’ speech.

“Sorry?” Chloe said, struggling to process the words and expression on her boyfriend’s face. She suddenly had a sick feeling about what was coming; she wasn’t so sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.

“I said,” Liam sounded exasperated, “these last five years have been great.”

“Sorry?” she said again, this time sounding desperate.

She was beginning to suspect that something sinister was coming.

If she didn’t actually let him get the words out, maybe what she was beginning to suspect was happening wouldn’t actually come about.

Like avoiding collections. They can’t force you to pay if you don’t answer their calls.

Liam gave her a guilty look and a sinking feeling came over her.

“That’s why this is so difficult,” he said barreling ahead.

Oh god . It was happening. He wasn’t going to propose to her. He was going to break up with her. At Opus. At their special restaurant. After their five-year anniversary. After they had built a life together.

Over the next five minutes, Chloe had an anxiety black out. Six months after the fact, there would still be a hole in her memory. She didn’t know the exact words that he had used, but she knew that they all boiled down to one thing: Liam didn’t want to be with her anymore.

She wept openly at the table—composure and meticulously applied makeup be damned. Tears streamed down her face as he talked, but what he said, she couldn’t recall. All she knew was it was bad.

She became vaguely aware at one point of their waiter placing a dish of crème br?lée down in front of her while trying his best to be discrete.

She felt someone’s eyes on her and noticed the woman at the table next to theirs.

She was definitely eavesdropping. A dinner roll had been hovering three inches away from her mouth for the past few minutes and Chloe finally turned and gave her a teary glare.

Abashed, the woman quickly peeled her eyes off of the decoupling couple while Chloe turned her attention, but not her memory, back to her, apparent, former boyfriend.

It took her a second to realize a few moments later that he had stopped talking and a sudden rage swept over her.

“Are you fucking Sophia?” she asked, her eyes trained on Liam as she picked up her napkin and dabbed at the tear streaks on her face.

“What? No.” Liam looked stunned.

He was denying it, but there was something in Liam’s eyes that she didn’t quite trust.

And she thought she knew why. Those late nights he had spent slaving away at the office? Sophia had been right there beside him. Liam had told her as much. It occurred to her then that Dasha, her boss, had been right.

“I just think we’ve grown apart,” Liam said lightly, not meeting her eyes.

Chloe was astonished. Grown apart? she thought angrily. How the fuck do you grow apart when you live together? She realized she already knew the answer. You grow apart when a certain blonde investment banker starts working overtime hours with your boyfriend.

“Grown apart!?” she blurted out angrily. “Grown apart? Liam, pardon my language, but how the fuck do you think we grew apart when you’ve been spending every waking hour at work without me?”

She reached for her wine. From the look on Liam’s face, he was gearing up to respond but Chloe was having none of it. She raised her finger and wagged it at him as she drank from her glass.

“No,” she said determinedly. “You don’t get to respond. You don’t get to sit there and brush it off or try and justify breaking up with me on the grounds of ‘growing apart’.” She raised one hand in air quotations. “When you’re the one who has been absent for the past six months.”

Liam said nothing. She had told him he didn’t get to respond, and it seemed he was taking it to heart.

But toss it. She did want him to respond. She just didn’t want to hear what she knew he was going to say. She wanted him to respond by telling her that it was just an awful joke. That he wasn’t actually breaking up with her. She didn’t want him to respond by telling her he was sorry.

“Say something!” she said angrily.

“I’m sorry, Chloe,” Liam said softly. “I really am.”

Big fat tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

Chloe. He called her Chloe. He hadn’t called her that since the first month they had started dating. She was always Chlo. His Chlo. His honey, his baby, his babe. Now she was Chloe.