The party was in full swing, drinks were flowing, music pumping, random groups dancing, others just talking and, in the center of it all, was Cathy, basking in the adoration of her fans. Chloe knew it seemed a little petty, but the whole spectacle made her want to heave.
To Chloe's immense relief, she and Jack had yet to register on her sister's radar, though Dori had been summoned to her side for several photo ops. Maybe, if they were lucky, Cathy would forget she'd invited them and they'd escape without being picked apart.
"God, I feel like I'm at a high school dance," Chloe groaned, leaning back against a wall, then smirked and raised her glass. "Only no one has to pretend that what they're drinking is punch."
Jack returned her smile, then nimbly side stepped a staggering party-goer, then propelled the back towards her own group of drunk friends.
"I can see that," he said, moving over to stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
Neither of them really knew any of the music being pumped into the room, though Chloe thought she might have recognized a few songs as a result of Prescott's newfound obsidian with the Disney channel. Alt those interchangeable kiddie actor had CD's to exploit the popularity of their shows and wasn't that just a sad commentary on the state of children's/tween and pre-teen entertainment.
"I think we've…," Chloe began, deciding she'd fulfilled her sisterly obligation of attendance, but was interrupted.
"Incoming," Jack muttered, doing that odd thing where he spoke without moving his lips. It wasn't ventriloquism, just a good skill for a field agent to have in his bag of covert surveillance tricks.
Obviously, those skills were being put to good use as he noticed Cathy making her way towards them before Chloe had, though she'd been on high alert. After all, she was the one who was in danger of severe emotional and psychological abuse. Jack….
Oh damn. She hadn't even thought about the predatory look Cathy had given him earlier. Chloe's older sister tended to treat men like they were sides of beef and frankly, a lot of women looked at Jack in appreciation. He was hot. It was just a fact.
But to Cathy, Jack was hot and he was here with Chloe, thus it was imperative that she poach him from her little sister. Even if Jack and Chloe weren't together together, she'd still feel the need to steal him.
And, while Jack didn't have the best track record when it came to picking women, he didn't deserve Cathy inflicting herself upon him. In fact, given all the suffering he'd endured in his life, she thought he deserved to avoid the minefield that was Cathy all together.
I'm so sorry, Chloe thought, wishing she'd had the composure to warn him to brace himself.
"Chloe!" Cathy crowed, sweeping up to them in a thick cloud of expensive perfume. "You made it…and you went with a knee length dress. How daring!"
Ah, the backhanded compliment. A classic. "You're one to talk about daring," she replied, then smiled evilly. "I don't know any other woman your age who would try to work that dress."
Cathy ran a hand over the exposed flesh of her side. "So few can wear it like I do," she said, then slid her eyes over to Jack. "So glad you could make it, Jack. Are you enjoying my party?"
"It's quite something, ma'am," Jack replied, making Cathy scowl (as much as was possible for her to scowl with a face full of Botox) and Chloe want to kiss him. She'd been so off balance because of Cathy that she'd forgotten to take into account the fact that he was Jack Fucking Bauer. Cathy's mind games didn't even come close to the stuff he had in his arsenal. He'd had her number since they'd met on the curb and was obviously not going to play into her hand.
This, Chloe thought, might no be so bad after all. Though quite adept in psychological warfare, manipulation and mind games, Cathy was a helpless, fluffy bunny compared to Jack…who, well, think an extremely efficient, intelligent and pissed off wolverine. The bunny didn't stand a chance.
"Oh, you," Cathy was saying with a fake laugh. "It's Catherine, silly man. So funny…Tell me, Jack, are you a fan? I think I could arrange an autographed, pre-release copy, if you're interested."
"That's a very kind offer, Catherine," he said, with a small, perfunctory smile. "But unnecessary."
"Think nothing of it," she said, ignoring Chloe and placing a heavily bejeweled hand on his chest. "I do so like to make a connection with my readers."
Oh, gag me with a spoon, Chloe thought, then silently cheered as Jack politely removed Cathy's hand from his person.
"To be honest, I've never actually read one of your books," Jack told her, using the polite, professional but distant tone he usually reserved for politicians he didn't hate, but didn't really like.
Cathy pursed her lips in an approximation of a pout. "We'll have to rectify that then, won't we?" This time she latched a hand onto his bicep and none too subtly squeezed.
He disguised this shrug off by placing his empty glass on a counter, then said, "From what I hear, they're not really my kind of books."
"Everyone loves my books," Cathy purred. "They have universal appeal…Now, how is it you haven't read any of my work? Where have you been living, under a rock?"
Ladies and gentlemen, our feature presentation is about to begin. Chloe so wished she had some popcorn, Twizzlers and a blue raspberry Icee. There was so much Jack could do with Cathy's leading statement.
"Well, there was the two years in prison…then I wandered around Africa for a while, ya know, to find myself," he said, giving a bare minimum of facts, so as not to violate their non-disclosure agreements. "Then there was a period of recovery after I was exposed to a potentially lethal bio-weapon…I guess I was busy."
That was so worth having to put on the dress, pinchy heels and enduring the party. Cathy's face actually jumped to faintly shocked and put off (which probably meant she was horrified), then smoothed back into her normal non-expression.
"Oh you!" she exclaimed, batting at his arm. "You're teasing me again, aren't you?"
Jack glanced over at Chloe, who smiled at him and slid her arm through his. "No," he said, directing the simple statement at Cathy.
"He's really not," Chloe added as her sister shot a venomous look in her direction.
With slightly narrowed eyes, Cathy hissed, "Yeah, right, Chloe. You're a computer geek. You don't run with anyone that interesting."
"I'm a Federal Agent, Cathy," Chloe said serenely. "My social circle is far more diverse than you seem to think."
It really wasn't, save for Jack, but there was no way for Cathy to know that.
"Please," Cathy sniffed. "As if you ever get to do anything as glamorous and exciting as this."
"Maybe not so glamorous, no," Chloe agreed, then turned her head up to look at Jack. "But, I'd say some days can be a bit of an adrenaline rush."
Jack gave a choked snort. "A bit?"
She shrugged. "Hey, I don't get to use the assault rifles nearly as often as you do."
"True," he ceded the point, then cocked his head. "You know, if you wanted, you can come down to the training range at Quantico with me some time. Try out the heavier calibers, see how they compare to your Glock."
Chloe knew jack had carefully phrased that sentence for shock value. As a CTU agent, she was certified with a handgun, but didn't carry one often enough to have her own particular piece. The offer seemed genuine enough though and considering how often they found themselves in the center of international crises…."I'd like that," she said, then smiled cheekily and tapped his chest with a finger. "Gonna teach me some of those sniper skills, Bauer?" "I just might," he said, then sighed. "One of these days, a retirement's gonna stick and someone'll have to pick up the slack."
"Someone who is not me," Chloe told him, taking pleasure in watching Cathy's face darken as she was ignored.
Fortunately for all involved, Cathy's agent spotted the immanent melt down and swooped in, whisking her off to meet someone who was just dying to meet her. This seemed to mollify her slightly and she left without comment.
Chloe, however, beamed at Jack. "I've been waiting my whole life to do that and fantasy smack downs can not even compare to the beauty of reality."
With a low chuckle, Jack said, "Happy to be of service."
"That was awesome!"
Dori, who apparently had acquired ninja like stealth at some point in her young life, again managed to sneak up on them and was grinning ear to ear. "Seriously, I love mom, but for about two months surrounding the release of a book, she becomes evil, bizarro world mom, who happens to be empress of bizarro world and God help anyone who upsets her."
Chloe raised a brow at her. "And that's bizarre how?"
There was a pause. "Okay, so Mom's a bit high maintenance, but the only time I really, really contemplate boarding school is around launches… or when she orders her dinner in French when we're at a sushi place. I hate that."
As she spoke, she shook her head and her dark hair fell away from her ears, revealing the bud and wire nestled in her left ear. Chloe smiled. "Not your type of music either?"
With a blink, Dori brushed her tresses back into place. "The music's okay, but it's game 3."
That perked Jack up. "The series? How's it going?"
"Yankees are up 6-4 in the 7th. A-Rod just got drilled by a pitch. Pettitte got an RBI single earlier."
Jack made a noise of contentment and Chloe chuckled. Dori just jumped slightly and said, "Yes! Jorge just drove Damon in!"
This night turned out so much better than anticipated, Chloe thought and settled back to enjoy the rest of the night with jack and her niece, even if they were a bit distracted by the game. She had her sense of satisfaction to get her through the party, so she couldn't begrudge them their own little escape, especially when Jack slid his arm around her back and rested his hand lightly on her hip.
Yes, life was good.
