Chapter Ten

Chloe glared at Lee's back as he sat on the sofa with his band members, giving them all the details on his 'adventurous' night in town. She was fuming with what he'd just said to her. How dare he judge her like that? It had nothing to do him what she chose to wear, and she refused to be made to feel guilty for it.

She smiled at Kirstie when she eventually walked back into the room, beaming from ear to ear.

"You had a good time then?" Chloe asked.

"It was amazing." Kirstie admitted, feeling a little bit lightheaded with excitement.

"He's so amazing." she whispered so that only Chloe could hear.

"Aww, I'm so happy for you." Chloe said as she quickly hugged Kirstie.

"Hey." Michelle said from behind them.

"Hey, where have you been?" Kirstie asked.

"Sleeping, I'm so hungover." Michelle sighed, running her hand through her hair.

"You did get a bit wild." Kirstie said.

"I always do." Michelle agreed, chuckling slightly.

"Right beautiful, are we going to lunch?" Ben appeared from behind them.

"Of course." Kirstie said excitedly, quickly picking up her jacket. Michelle and Chloe smiled warmly as they watched Ben and Kirstie take each other's hand. The two of them were so adorable together, Michelle and Chloe couldn't help but feel a little bit envious. They quickly averted their eyes as Ben seized the moment and gently placed a small peck on Kirstie's lips. Her skin tingled under his touch and she could feel her stomach swirling in excitement for their date.

"Have fun guys." Michelle called after them as they left the theatre.

"They are adorable." Chloe said, voicing what they were both thinking. Michelle watched Chloe as she took her phone out of her pocket and took it over to the sofa area, plugging it in to charge. Michelle smiled at Louise as she walked into the room a cup of tea in her hand.

"Chloe, have you heard about the job yet?" Louise asked as soon as she saw her. Dreading the fact that Chloe might get the job. Even though she wanted Chloe to be happy, she would miss her. Since they'd first met, Chloe had made her feel welcome and at ease.

"No not yet I'm hoping no news is good news." Chloe admitted, once again checking her phone just in case.

"Wait, are you leaving us?" Adrian piped up, overhearing their conversation.

"I don't know yet, but maybe." Chloe said politely, resisting the urge to say 'hopefully' as she didn't want to be rude to Adrian. Nathan smiled at her sympathetically, clearly sensing how she was feeling. Steven left the room, clearly bored by the conversation, and Lee stared at his phone pretending that he wasn't hanging on her every word.

"I'll be sad to see you go." Adrian told her.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Chloe smiled. She awkwardly perched on the end of the sofa, smiling at Nathan as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

"We don't want you to go Chlo Bo." Nathan said kindly.

"I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find someone else." Chloe pointed out. Nathan squeezed her tighter, causing her to giggle. Nathan smiled to himself, it had been so long since he'd seen Chloe laugh or even smile, that he'd forgotten how cute her laugh was.

He sighed slowly to himself, wishing that he could get Lee to stop treating her like a piece of dirt. In the past two years of working together Nathan had become very fond of her, she was like a little sister to him, he didn't want her to leave them. Chloe closed her eyes as she leant her head against Nathan's shoulder. She fell asleep almost instantly.

"Adrian, can you give us a minute please?" Nathan asked. Adrian nodded and quickly excused himself. Nathan glanced around the room, checking that everyone else was far enough away to not be able to hear them.

"What is going on with you?" he hissed at Lee as soon as they were alone. Lee glanced up at him, not entirely sure what Nathan was talking about.

"Last night you went all Rambo on us and now it's like you don't give a shit about her." Nathan tried again.

"Just because I don't condone rape doesn't mean that I care about her." Lee said matter of factly.

"I think you're forgetting who you are talking too." Nathan insisted. Nathan knew Lee almost as well as he knew himself. It was obvious to Nathan that Lee was head over in heels in love with Chloe, the only thing that puzzled Nathan was why Lee wouldn't admit it to himself, let alone Chloe. Or how he could be so cruel and heartless to someone that he loved. Chloe fidgeted a little in her sleep, causing Lee to glance in her direction. Even in a fleeting glance it was evident to Nathan how much Lee longed to hold her.

"I just don't want you to regret it when she is no longer with us, because that's what's going to happen if you keep on the way you are." Nathan said.

"If you feel that strongly about it, why don't you ask her to stay?" Lee said defensively.

"I have, and why would she stay when you treat her the way that you do." Nathan frowned.

"It's easier if she hates me." Lee muttered thoughtfully.

"What?" Nathan frowned, finally starting to feel like they were making progress and Lee's barriers were starting to lower ever so slightly.

"Nothing." Lee said quickly. As fast as the moment came, Nathan could tell that it was gone again.

"Just think about it." Nathan said.

Michelle gazed around the room suddenly realising that Kathleen still had a few interviews to do as she looked around the room and saw that Eclipse were still waiting for their turn. She sighed to herself as she sat alone, in the dressing room with nobody to talk too. Kirstie was still on her date with Ben and Chloe had fallen asleep curled up on the sofa with Nathan. There didn't seem to be much point in her being there, she stood up, ready to leave, stopping herself from standing up at the last minute as she saw Mark walking over towards her.

"You look lonely over here." he chuckled as soon as he reached her.

"I am a little." she admitted.

"Good thing I'm here to keep you company then." he beamed, flashing her a perfect smile.

"Yeah, I guess it is." she smiled back

"Did you have a good time at the party?" he asked her.

"Yes, I did actually, up until the part where I had to take care of Shayne." she giggled.

"It did get dramatic very quickly didn't it." he agreed. Michelle glanced down at her arm as she felt Mark slowly tracing small circles on it. The hairs on her arms stood on end, as he smiled at her, continuing to stroke her arm. Michelle remained silent as Mark handed her a piece of paper with his phone number on it.

"Our little secret?" he asked.

Michelle nodded, not really trusting her voice. Mark instantly walked away as Kathleen walked back into the room.

Michelle glanced around the room, feeling slightly out of place. The room was virtually empty now, all the bands that had completed their interview had left, even Steven and Adrian seemed to have disappeared somewhere. The only ones still in the room were Nathan, Lee and Chloe. Michelle considered going over and talking to them but then she suddenly remembered what a nasty person Lee was, and she didn't want to wake Chloe, who was sleeping peacefully, her head still in place on Nathan's shoulder. Michelle quickly stood up and left.

"I can't believe we have had to wait until last, I literally feel like we've been here all day." Lee sighed impatiently, tossing his phone onto the sofa beside himself, the boredom finally setting in.

"Do you have somewhere else important to be?" Nathan said sarcastically.

"No, but I would quite like to get some sleep before the show tonight." Lee sighed, rubbing his dry eyes.

"Speaking of last night, what did Matt say to you about it?" Nathan asked, speaking in hushed tones, fearful that he might wake Chloe.

"Officially he told me off for the violence and embarrassing the label." Lee said.

"What do you mean 'officially'?" Nathan frowned.

"It was kind of funny actually." Lee chuckled, crossing his legs so that his left calf was resting on the thigh of his other leg and bounced his foot up and down. Nathan raised his eyebrow and waited for him to continue.

"Off the record, he thanked me for protecting her." Lee explained, his eyes wandering to Chloe again. He sighed as he watched her, he couldn't help but wish that she was asleep in his arms rather than Nathan's.

"That's nice of him, it's a shame that she doesn't realise how much everyone cares about her." Nathan said sadly, glancing down at her.

"Don't start this again." Lee warned. Both of them stopped talking and jumped as a phone began to ring.

"Whose phone is that?" Nathan asked, glancing behind Lee to the counter where the phone was ringing.

"Chloe's, I think." Lee said quietly, remembering that she'd placed it on charge there earlier. Lee turned and picked up the phone, his heart plummeting when it read unknown caller.

"It'll be the new job." Lee said quietly.

"Shit." Nathan muttered.

"Chloe wake up." he said, trying to gently rouse her. Her eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Is that my phone?" she asked, still not fully awake. She took a second for her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the room.

As soon as she realised that Lee was holding her phone in his hand, staring at the display as though he was in some kind of trance, she held her hand out to take it.

"Maybe I should answer it and ask why they are trying to poach our stylist." Lee said quietly.

"Is it the job?!" Chloe asked, beginning to feel nervous.

"Unknown caller." Nathan said quickly.

"Give me the phone." Chloe asked, still holding out her hand. Lee quickly stood up and walked over the other side of the room, still holding her phone tightly.

"Lee!" Chloe exclaimed. Chloe stood up to follow him but before she could get to him the phone rang out. Chloe's heart sunk; she wouldn't be able to call them back now as she didn't have their number.

"Why didn't you give me the bloody phone?!" Chloe cried.

"You won't have got the job anyway." Lee said quietly.

She remained silent, staring at him for what felt like an age for the both of them. No matter how long Chloe stood there, she couldn't quite process what had just happened or what possible reason he had for acting this way. Suddenly something inside of Chloe snapped and everything that she had been keeping in check for the past few months came bubbling to the surface and overwhelmed her.

"YOU REALLY ARE A MONSTER!" she screamed at him.

"I've done nothing but try and do my job, in fact I've gone above and beyond for you. What did I ever do to make you hate me so much?!" she exclaimed. Lee stared at her completely speechless by her outburst.

"Every day that I come in here you make me feel useless and worthless. You call me names you tear me down all the time and then when I can't take it any longer and look for a way out, you ruin that as well!" Chloe shouted.

"You must really hate me." Chloe said, standing frozen to the spot. Lee still didn't respond. Chloe put her head in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. Lee and Nathan watched her sadly as she sobbed her heart out, neither of them entirely sure what to do or say to her. They were both completely powerless.

"Give her the phone Lee." Nathan whispered quietly so that only Lee heard him. Lee sighed and took a step towards the broken girl that was in front of him. In that moment he knew that she had reached her breaking point and he was the one who had done that to her.

"Stay away from me." Chloe warned as Lee stepped towards her.

"So, you don't want your phone back then?" Lee said sarcastically, once again going on the defensive. He slowly held the phone out to her, jumping slightly as she reached out and snatched it out of his hand.

"I will never forgive you for this." she whispered, before quickly walking out of the room.

"Not what I meant when I said you should ask her to stay." Nathan told Lee, before quickly going after Chloe, leaving Lee alone with his thoughts.