C7 CHAPTER SEVEN

"How on Earth did you get into my apartment?" Chloe asked him incredulously. She had refused to give him a key at first when he had asked as she valued her privacy very much and did not think that they were at that stage yet. However, she had later caved in and given him the key, only to meet him in her apartment three months after ramming into a strange-looking naked girl who was on all fours. He had then proceeded to beat up the girl for daring to ask him why he would be dating two girls at once. She had collected her keys from him in anger after crying her eyes out and since then, he had had no access to her apartment. But here he was locked into her apartment without any sign of forced entry.

"I picked the lock, obviously." He answered her question, his tone implying that she was very stupid for even asking such an obvious question. "I don't know what kind of relationship we're having if I'm not allowed access to your house as your boyfriend. Remember that if not for me, you'll be all alone. You should be grateful and show some respect. But no, you're out there throwing yourself at everything with a dick. I do not deserve this at all." He informed her self-righteously, slurring his words as he stood in front of her on unsteady feet.

Chloe rubbed her forehead wearily. This was not what she had bargained for at all. She had a raging headache, which worsened with each moment she stared at the stupid, drunken smile on Lucas's face. The last thing she was in the mood for was to exchange words with him, especially when he was drunk. Chloe was wondering the best way to dispatch him when he got it into his head that it was a perfect time to kiss her. It would have been comical if he wasn't drunk and she wasn't annoyed. He looked so serious as he puckered his lips and brought his face close to hers, unsteady from the influence of the alcohol. He missed her lips totally, and the kiss landed somewhere between her cheeks and her chin. In great disgust, Chloe shoved him away from her with all her strength, causing him to lose his balance. However, he righted himself at the last moment and fixed her with a drunken, hurt look.

"What gave you the effrontery to pick my lock and force your way into my house without my permission? You're becoming something else and you had better get one thing straight. I'm so over this relationship." She shrieked in outrage, forgetting her headache and being forcefully reminded when her head began pounding once again.

"Don't tell me that! You're mine and I'll be damned if I sit back and allow you flirt with different guys." He told her with fire in his eyes, his lower lips set in an unbecoming and ridiculous pout.

"Get out of my house!"

"How dare you speak to me like that? You have no right whatsoever. If you can recall, I was the one who got you the job at that restaurant. And how do you repay me? By sleeping with every customer that looks your way and talking to me in an insulting manner? You should be grateful to me. I gave you a life!"

Chloe was sick of hearing this story over and over again. She remembered when she had run away from the last foster home at the age of sixteen. She had been sleeping in homeless shelters and had been looking for a job, no matter how small. She had finally gotten a job as a cleaner at a restaurant and had taken it wholeheartedly. It was a small restaurant, and the pay was measly, but to Chloe it was everything and she had stayed there as a cleaner and later, a waitress for six years. By this time, she was no longer satisfied with the paltry sum that the restaurant paid her, plus it was on the verge of closing down. One of her fellow waitresses told her that waitressing jobs in Tulsa paid much more, so Chloe had packed her bags and headed there. The job she found was not that great, but it was still better than the one she left.

One day, about two months after she started the work, Lucas had come to eat at the restaurant and he had asked her to help him choose from the menu. Later, they had met at a supermarket and when she asked him why he no longer came to the restaurant where she worked to eat, he told her that he usually ate at his friend's parent's restaurant. He mentioned the name of the place and Chloe realized that it was one of the places in which waitresses were paid very well. So she informed him that she was looking for a job and he had talked to the owners and helped her get the job just like that. Since then, he had not let her forget about it. The pay was very reasonable too, far more than what she had earned in the former restaurant. While Chloe was very grateful to him, she had no intention of letting him hold it over her forever.

To her utter surprise, he began touching her lap again and she quickly remembered that she was wearing only panties now. So she went to look for another nightie to put it on. Lucas followed her around like a lost and sorrowful puppy, but when he opened his mouth, his words were as vile as ever to Chloe.

"You're not going to get rid of me so easily. You know nobody is ever going to love you the way I do. And I know for a fact that you love me very much. You're only playing hard to get. Why you would do this, I can't understand. I already apologized about that girl you caught me with. It's never going to happen again. We're meant to be together." He said, watching her every move with eyes that seemed beady to her. She could see that his erection was straining his boxer. He was obviously thinking that there was going to be makeup sex or something like that. Exasperated and more than a little disgusted, Chloe shrugged into her blue pajamas and turned to face him.

"You need to leave. I already told you that the only reason I allowed you to stay was that you were drunk off your ass and were in no state to drive. Although that shouldn't be my problem seeing as you broke into my house without my permission. You should be thankful that I'm not having you arrested." She told him firmly.

Lucas left after making some more excuses and she sighed in relief. Soon, she decided, she would not have to put up with his shit any longer. For some time now, even before he started misbehaving, she had been toying with the idea of relocating to another city entirely, one which was far away from here. Thankfully, she had not told him anything about it since she knew he would object. If she had had any doubts as to leaving this town and making a fresh start elsewhere, they had all been laid to rest. Before now, she had planned on telling Lucas that she was leaving, but with the way he was behaving, she was not sure she will do that anymore.