"For God's sake woman, don't you ever stop nagging?"
"I'm not nagging! I'm trying to have a civilized conversation; there is a difference you know."
'Dammit Paula, I told you, the meeting was unexpected and I can't do a goddamn thing about it, I have to be there. Christ the reason we are even here in London this week is because of my job..."
Chloe slammed the door to her room and turned the television volume up to drown out the sounds of her parents arguing. Her father was right; they were in London because he had business to attend to, but his rise up the corporate ladder to the corridors of power had turned him into a demanding workaholic. Her mother was correct as well; her father often overlooked the fact that he had a wife and a family, and the reason that they had accompanied him on this trip was because he had said he wanted to make up for the time he spent away from them. Now it seemed the planned trip to Paris with him was not going to happen.
She ran her hands through her sun-streaked blonde hair and stared listlessly out of the window. It was raining again, as it had been for the past three days. She and her mother had done all the tourist stuff, gone sightseeing and shopped at Harrods. A wry smile crossed her lips; mom didn't have any problem spending her father's hard earned money, but she sure objected to how much time he spent away from home making it. Stop being a bitch, Chloe, she chided herself, after all she benefited as well from the affluent lifestyle they enjoyed. The tuition fees to the university she attended were not cheap and very few of her friends got the opportunity to go abroad for sightseeing and shopping trips. Still, she thought, as the raised voices from outside continued, she could see things from her mother's point as well, she had made sacrifices to become the perfect wife for her executive husband and she did deserve some quality time with him.
The door burst open and her mother stormed in, her deep brown eyes flashing angrily and welling with tears.
"I've just had it with him," she choked, fighting back the urge to sob.
"Calm down mom, it's not like this is anything unusual," Chloe soothed.
"No, it's not anything unusual, but I'm sick to death of it. He's married to that fucking job and I've had enough."
Chloe stared at her mother, slightly shocked by her language. It wasn't that she never cursed, but she was usually more placid, more accepting of her role as the supportive wife. And she seldom used the 'f' word. But there was something about Paula today that made Chloe feel that this incident was not going to be easily forgotten.
"I told him, that if he can't fucking tear himself away from the fucking company for the weekend, as he promised to do, to take us to Paris, then we will fucking go without him."
Three 'fucks' in a row, she was pissed! "And what did he say?"
"I didn't wait to hear," she replied angrily, "But now that I think about it, let's skip Paris."
Chloe stared at her mother in confusion. Paula was in her mid forties, but still a good looking woman. Earlier in the day they had visited one of London's top hair stylists and her mother had gone for a daring new look. Her natural blonde hair had been stylishly cut to fall well above her shoulders, accentuating her slim neck and smooth throat. It gave her a sophisticated but subtle sexiness, but now she had an expression of utter defiance that Chloe didn't recognize. It seemed to make her look harder but somehow more strikingly attractive.
"Skip Paris? I don't understand you mom. You go through all this crap and now you don't want to go away for the weekend?"
"Who said anything about not going away for the weekend? I said let's skip Paris," Paula replied, her look of defiance intensifying. "We've been to Paris before honey, and I was thinking that since you're studying art history at university..."
"Yeah," Chloe said arching her eyebrows expectantly.
"How about we go to Amsterdam?"
'Amsterdam!" Chloe whispered in excitement. Yes, it did have museums featuring some of world's greatest masters of art, but there were other things she was just as interested in. It was the sex capital of the world, and she couldn't wait to explore it. "Oh my God mom," she exclaimed hugging her tightly. "It's going to be awesome."
***
During the short flight from London to Amsterdam Chloe watched her mother visibly relax as she sipped her second glass of wine and spoke excitedly of their trip.
"All that culture," she enthused. "There's the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gough Museum and Anne Frank's house..."
"And the other culture mom," Chloe giggled dropping her voice.
"Yes of course there is the red light district honey, and a trip to Amsterdam wouldn't be complete without taking a look at it." A knowing look crossed Paula's face as she took a deep swallow of her wine, "God, your father would die if he knew what we were up to."