(Silly Scene 11) Chloe shifts her tactics

I am leaning back in my chair, feet up on the table, a far away look in my eyes. I mumble. "Book, book, book. I want to write a book. Like a real honest to goodness book. But what? Stick with erotica?" I think. "That'd be rough if I want to do anything with it. Middle aged women own that market, I'm not sure that's really my audience if I am honest. Fantasy? Mystery? Drama? Adventure?" I sigh. This was going to be tough. Mistaken Identity and Runt of the Litter had been so easy, they just rolled off the keyboard as easy as anything. I sit and think some more. "Hmmmm."

I hear a light knock on the door and wonder who it is. Chloe had a key and nobody else generally bothered me here. There was Caitlin but I hadn't seen her in months. I head across the room, taking note of where the fireplace poker was in case I needed to defend myself again. I was hoping it was Chloe, I hadn't seen her much lately and when I have she'd been distant and acting funny. I'd finally gotten her into a story thread though, so I was thinking she should be pretty happy about that. I open the door.

Standing at the door was a slender boy of maybe fifteen or sixteen. He wore a red ball cap, a loose blue t shirt, tight blue jeans, and black and white low top Converse shoes. He had black hair and brown eyes which were squinting up at me. "Hey bro." He says in an odd too low yet too high sort of voice. The air was suddenly thick with Axe body spray.

It only takes me a moment to realize it was Chloe. "What the hell?"

She had her hair tucked up under the hat and she must have wrapped or bound her already small breasts in order to look totally flat. Her cute though plain face was passable as an effeminate male and with her Bailey bulge showing through her tight jeans she really really did look like a petite young man. If I didn't know her I would have been fooled.

My reaction was instant and two fold. First came confusion as to what she was doing. With her you never knew. Second came the realization that this disguise of hers might be usable somehow in the story. I wasn't sure how, she looked too young to do anything smutty with...but maybe if I gave her a fake beard or something...I'd have to think about it.

She saunters in with an exaggerated cocky strut. "Hey bro." She says again in her affected male voice. "Wanna go play some sports ball or something? Grab some brewskis?"

My hand was on my face as my head waved back and forth. "What are you doing Chloe?" I had a sinking feeling that I really should have looked at that last Silly Scene, I'd just been too busy to get around to it.

"Chloe? Who's that? Sounds ugly and boring and totally not super hot." She scoffs.

"Don't talk about yourself like that!" I say angrily. She continues on unabated.

She stands with her arms crossed in the way a dude might right before he said 'Word'. "It's me Charlie. Your broski, your dude, your main man. Forget about Chloe, she's yesterday's ho. It's you and me now buddy, just you and your bro."

She can't help but giggle. "Hey that rhymed!" She quickly snaps back into character. "I mean...ahem...I got sick rappin skills." Then she actually says it. "Word!" She looks at me with a squint, I can tell she can't see a damn thing without her glasses

"Oh Jesus." I groan. "What did I miss last scene?"

I head to my desk to go check out Scene 10. Chloe steps up to block me.

"Don't worry about that!" She looked nervous, now I really had to see it. "Let's go get fucking shit faced and then...um...fuck each other in the ass. You know, normal bro stuff." I take her by the shoulders and move her to the side. I continue on my way. She stands looking defeated. "C'mon..." She begs as she pulls at me. I extricate myself from her and continue on.

"I never did thank you for doing Scene 10 for me, thanks babe." I say as I sit down.

"Bro." She corrects me in a sad tone.

I peruse the chapter she had done for me. I laugh. "Ha! An advice column, clever. I like it." She can't help a little smile at the praise though it quickly dissolves into worry. I continue on and eventually get to the heart of the matter. The outrageous letter from this 'Yuriko'. It was the first I'd heard about it.

Chloe asks in a sad little voice. "Did you...did you go see her? Was she as nice as she sounds? Super tight?"

I shake my head and just moan. "Oh for..." I take a moment to collect my thoughts. "Chloe..."

"Charlie." She corrects me. "It's Charlie now."

"CHLOE!" I say forcefully. "That was obviously a fake letter. Do you honestly think I get mail like that?" I get up and head across the room to her. "And how would it have ended up in among your letters?" I ask her the only question on my mind. "Did Fiona happen to help you with that advice column idea."

Chloe continued to squint at me. "Uh...sort of. I mean I told her about it."

"And she visited you last week I bet."

"Um, let me think...yeah, she popped by."

I should have known. I'd been in the Sister Jesse thread so long, writing about the soft and fluffy Fiona-lite Fiona, that I'd forgotten just what a sharp cruel edge that woman had to her. She had warned me that the beef between us wasn't over, but I never expected her to use poor Chloe as her pawn to get at me. I wasn't even sure what she had expected this to accomplish outside of hurting Chloe's feelings and maybe getting me in trouble with her.

I take Chloe by the hand. "You've been played my love. There is no Yuriko. That was Fiona."

She looks up at me. "You met with Fiona?"

"No!" I say exasperated. "I didn't meet with anyone. That letter was Fiona getting back at me. You just got caught in the crossfire."

"Oh." She says. "That wasn't very nice."

"No, no it wasn't." I agree. I was angry but I really couldn't be too mad. I knew who Fiona was, I created her. She was as flawed as the rest of them and it was their flaws that made me care about them. That said I couldn't let this slide. I had to let her know who was boss, or at least let her know I wouldn't stand for this behavior. I'd have to consider very carefully my response.

Chloe smiles as it all comes together for her. "So you aren't screwing around on me!"

I laugh as I shake my head once more. "Of course not. Chloe, have some trust in me babe."

"Bro." She corrects again, then adds cheerfully. "Bros before hos!"

I continue laughing. "So what was all this about?" I wave to indicate her whole look. "I still don't get what you were even trying to do here. Charlie? Like, what the fuck?"

She smiles. "I figured that since I couldn't compete with Yuriko as a woman I'd try another approach." She bites her lip and looks up with a naughty little look. "Do you like it?" She wiggles her butt back and forth in her tight blue jeans, a type of clothes she generally never got to wear.

"No!" I chuckle. "Put your hair down and glasses on, and let your poor itty bitty titties out. Make yourself look like you again, and...sure. It'd be cute." I add with a wink. "I do like how the jeans show off your cute little ass."

"You liiiiike it!" She teases in her 'bro' voice. She reaches down and adjusts her package then stands proudly, hands on her hips exuding as much machismo as she could muster.

"Oh shut up!" I retort. We are both laughing. "Okay Chloe, go get changed and we'll go out for that beer."

She has the most impish trickster look on her face. "Nuh uh. I'm Charlie today." She was loving this! Even more now at my apparent discomfort. "C'mon bro." She struts for the door in the most exaggerated masculine way possible. She waves me to follow. "Come on dude! Let's hit that sports bar and watch the footballs."

I am still laughing. What the hell, I needed a pint at this point. "Sure Chuck. Ten bucks says they don't even let you through the door."

She shrugs and gives me a sly wink. "Then we'll just have to find something else to do." It was nice to see her in good spirits once more.

I shake my head. "Not unless you look like you again." I say. "I'd never cheat on my Chloe...especially not with Charlie."

"Aww, you're no fun!" She says in playful disappointment. We both laugh as I throw my arm around her shoulder, we head out to grab a beer.