Gregory's Call

This is post 8 of Section III. To begin at the beginning, go here. Section II begins here. Section III begins here.

Gregory could not disturb the equilibrium for long.
“It’s for you, Chloe,” Gwen said, and then, covering the mouthpiece of the receiver, she mouthed in capital letters over the back of Lizzy’s head, “IT’S GREGORY.”
Chloe left the lunch table and went into the privacy of her father’s study, feeling tight inside. She picked up the phone and heard the click of her mother putting down the receiver.
“Hello?”
“Chloe, honey, it’s so good to hear your voice,” he said immediately, and she was surprised at how cheap and oily it sounded, yet how much she yearned to believe in it all again. It was like the hankering to join Jeff’s church, to give herself body and soul, that had assailed her on the long, weird ride to D. C. She waited, knowing that was a course he was not prepared for.
“I guess you didn’t get my e-mails?”
“I saw them.”
“Oh.” There was a pause before he continued. “To be honest, Chloe, I’ve been quite—concerned about you.”
“Thank you,” she said, hating him and his selective honesty, and hating to thank him.
He sighed audibly. “I’m sensing—I don’t know—some hostility? That’s natural, I suppose.”
Still she waited.
“I can tell this isn’t a good time to talk. I hope you’ll feel differently when I come. I feel we have some issues to work through.”

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