Chapter 33
CHLOE’S BEDROOM
Chloe: Are you seriously saying you’re worried that I might on cheat on you?
Philip: I don’t think I could handle it if you did. I think I’d go postal.
Chloe: That goes both ways, you know.
Philip: Of course. I don’t take this commitment lightly.
Chloe: Well neither do I.
Her eyes well up with tears.
Chloe: I wish there was some way to make you believe there will never be anyone else for me but you. I wish there was something I could say ...
Philip: I still bear the scars from when you threw me over for Brady.
Chloe: I’m not proud of the way I treated you in the past. Or that I cheated on Lucas and Daniel. In fact, sometimes I think I should be alone. I think, Chloe, you don’t deserve Philip.
Philip: Chloe, don’t say that. I’m no prize. And I know I hurt you too.
Chloe: Up to now, I think I’ve always subconsciously been looking for something else. Someone else. I’m not trying to make excuses, but I think it has something to do with the fact I didn’t have a father when I was growing up.
Philip: I’m not sure I follow.
Chloe: I didn’t know Craig was my father until I was a teenager, and from the time I was a little girl growing up in foster homes, I always wished I had a strong man to take care of me. Like Brady. And Lucas. And Daniel. They were all father figures. They wanted to take care of me, but I now know that wasn’t really what I wanted in a husband.
Philip: And what you want is ...
Chloe: Someone strong, yes. But someone who lets me be me. An equal. A partner. Someone who I can love, not just someone to love me. That’s you, Philip.
Philip: I haven’t always been that guy.
Chloe: Stop putting yourself down. You were the guy in high school I had such a big crush on, and somewhere along the way, you became my best friend. Philip, you’re the man I was always searching for. Even though you were always right there. ... I was really an idiot not to realize that what I wanted was staring me in the face all along.
Philip takes her hand and kisses it.
Philip: In retrospect, I realize that we were too immature and it wouldn’t have worked out for us before.
Chloe: But it will now. We’ve seen each other at our best and our worst, and through it all, we never stopped caring about each other.
Philip: That’s true.
Chloe: You make me feel safe. And loved...
Philip: And I always will.
Chloe: ... Like on the plane ride back from Ireland.
Philip: That’s a weird analogy.
Chloe: You’re right. That did sound weird. But ... remember when the plane was about to crash and we were running out of oxygen? You held my hand the whole time, just like you’re doing now. You kept telling me to just keep looking at you, and you kept saying “don’t be afraid, Chloe, we’re going to make it.”
Philip: I remember.
Chloe: When I looked into your eyes, I believed you. When I was running out of air, you became my oxygen. And when you held my hand, I felt safe. She puts her arms around him and holds him tight. Philip, I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. And it’s so much more than fireworks and starry eyes. It’s real and it’s strong and it’s lasting. And it keeps drawing us back together no matter what. You’re my home base, Philip.
Philip pulls away to look at her.
Philip: But what about the future?
Chloe: I know enough to know that there are no guarantees in life. But I promise you I will never, ever do anything to hurt you or give you any reason not to trust me ever again. You believe me, don’t you?
Philip: I want to believe you. I may need a little proof though.
Chloe: What kind of proof?
Philip: The kind that lasts a lifetime.
Chloe [smiling]: I’ll be more than happy to spend my life proving you’re the only man for me ... starting now.
Chloe pulls Philip toward her and they kiss. He rolls on top of her and kisses her deeply. Chloe responds in kind, as she knows that kiss means they are about to make love.
To be continued ...
