Page 34 of Vitamin Sea
" O pen up, bitch!”
Chloe was startled by the expletive that accompanied the aggressive knocking on her door.
Of course, she would recognize the voice anywhere. And it didn’t tell her that she was the sudden target of a home invasion. The voice told her she was the sudden target of Lala.
Which was somehow even scarier.
“Coming!” Chloe yelled, unsure if her friend would be able to hear her.
She frowned as she looked at the space around her.
Her condo, well, Liam’s condo—he was still living with Sophia and hadn’t been in any rush to evict his former-girlfriend-now-turned-tenant—wasn’t giving shabby-chic so much as it was giving shabby.
Cups sat on the table, the counter, the side tables.
Fast-food wrappers and empty ice cream cartons littered the space.
A layer of dust was visible to the naked eye on every wooden surface, and the bird-of-paradise plant she had so diligently taken care of since bringing it home two years ago was looking as sad as she felt.
A glance at the living room couch revealed a perfect outline of her body, which was surrounded by crumbs she hadn’t bothered to clean for—oh, well—weeks.
She had been wallowing in filth for four months and it was just hitting her now what a state of disgrace her home was in. How she had managed to avoid attracting cockroach and mouse roommates was nothing short of miraculous.
She turned the lock on the door with a ‘click’ and heard more voices—Opal and Alejandra. The door swung open, and she was greeted, as expected, by the trio.
“Surprise!” yelled Opal.
Lala gave her a sideways look.
“Really, Opal?” she said in judgement. “It’s not a party.”
Opal looked momentarily offended.
“It’s not a party, Lala,” Opal retorted. “But it is a celebration—of new beginnings, and of Chloe,” she finished off smugly.
Lala considered that for a moment.
“Hi, guys,” Chloe said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
It had been one month since Lala had staged her ice cream and yoga intervention, and Chloe had been on a slow and steady upward climb.
Despite that, it was still difficult sometimes for her to put on a happy face.
She noticed that her friends’ arms were full of bags and bottles.
Additionally, on Alejandra’s part, she carried a bouquet of brightly coloured lilies, peonies, and posies.
“Well—are you going to invite us in?” Lala mock demanded.
Chloe gave a short, humorous snort.
“Of course.” She opened the door wide and stepped out of the way. The trio bustled inside, took off their shoes, and then took in the state of Chloe’s condo. It had been several weeks since anyone but Chloe and Lala had seen the inside of it.
“Jesus Christ, Chlo,” Alejandra remarked. “We came to clean, but at this point I think your condo might need an exorcism.”
Lala took in the view and concurred.
“Call us Sisters Lala, Opal, and Alejandra,” she nodded before handing Chloe one of her bags. “Our Holy Lady of Perpetual Cleanup. Secret keepers of Clorox and multi-purpose cleaner."
Alejandra interjected, “We brought stuff to make dinner and do some meal and freezer prepping for you. We’ve also brought drinks, snacks, and board games. Most importantly, we’ve brought cleaning supplies. This place needs a love scrub.”
Lala gagged.
“A love scrub , Alejandra?” she said in mock disgust. “Please never use that term again.”
Chloe felt slightly embarrassed.
“Thank you,” she sounded sheepish. “I have cleaning supplies. I’ve just lacked the will to use them.”
Opal, who had dropped her bags on the counter, somehow managing to find space between the dishes, wrappers, and empty containers, was already rummaging in the cupboard under her sink for cleaning products.
“Right,” Lala said, taking charge. “First, we’ll put away the perishables. Then, we’ll pour some drinks and get to cleaning.”
The next forty minutes saw the foursome scrubbing, polishing, Windex-ing, and sweeping for their lives.
Alejandra had taken the liberty of putting on some upbeat pop music that was a throwback to their early twenties and they chatted, sipped, and cleaned like crazy.
Chloe was surprised at what a difference it made to have the three of them there and something to do.
She was so occupied by the cleanliness mission that she didn’t have the time to be sad.
The whirr of the dishwasher sounded off in the background, giving the promise of clean cutlery.
It was a godsend, from the looks of how much food her friends had bought, that it didn’t look like she would be eating takeout for a while.
The rest of the dishes sat in the sink, waiting their turn for the tableware equivalent of a carwash.
Just on the other side of one hour, her counters were sparkling, her floors were clean, four bags of garbage had been thrown down the chute, and her bird-of-paradise plant had been fed and watered.
The place even smelled clean. Which, Chloe supposed, it was.
But it was also owing to the scent of Windex mingled with the vanilla bean candle Alejandra had brought and lit before they got to work.
The number of garbage bags they removed was a real testament to Chloe’s state of mind, and their removal, along with the cleanliness of her condo, raised Chloe’s spirits and left her feeling lighter.
After a quick post-clean toast, Chloe’s kitchen counter was once again covered, but this time by all the groceries.
Opal got to work on making a hearty stew and the comforting scent of rosemary, thyme, and sage filled the air.
Chloe felt her stomach rumble. She had been eating exclusively takeout the past few weeks, yes.
Just like she had been for the past four months.
But in the last month, with Lala’s encouragement, she had mostly switched to the salad, hummus, and chicken kind of takeout.
Despite that, her friends had removed several empty containers of Chinese food and other kinds of fast, deep-fried, and carb-heavy items during their cleaning spree.
Noodles, egg rolls, sweet and sour sauce, and rice.
Her diet for several months had not been designed to make her feel any better, but it had brought her some level of comfort.
It had also been interspersed by pizza, burgers, fries, and Thai.
They spent the rest of the evening playing board games, drinking rosé and gossiping.
Well—Opal, Alejandra, and Lala did, at least. Chloe tried to keep up with what they were saying, but the rosé was causing her to feel a bit weepy.
Which was a shame because while she might be appreciating the fact that her girlfriends had come through for her in her time of need, she knew that when the sun came up tomorrow, she would be all alone again with nothing but her feelings.
They carefully avoided any mention of her ex and any relationship-related talk, for which Chloe was grateful.
By the time her friends packed it in for the evening at a staggering 1:43 a.m., Chloe was exhausted.
She hugged each of the girls and tried to find the words to tell them how appreciative she was, but nothing she said seemed sufficient.
They hugged her back and told her how much they loved her and how happy they were that she was starting to come out on the other side.
Before she went to bed that evening, Chloe cried.
But it wasn’t for the death of her relationship. This time it was for a different reason. They weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears were of gratitude. For her friends.