Chloe's Trying on Paradise – Chapter 3
"Hey, I need a Pina Colada and a Tropicana Twister," she turned around and halfway laid down on the bar. "You know Don; you would think people could be a little more adventurous when they come here. I mean, at least spice up their drink choices." The wide bodied tan older man behind the counter put the drinks on her tray as she smiled at him and took off across the small outdoor bar.
Chloe woke up that morning to another incredible sunrise staring at her through the window that she usually left open at night to take in the seabreeze. Water Island was only a few miles from St Thomas but world's away from reality. Walking out on the veranda of her efficiency, she stretched as she fixed her the local coffee favorite and read the latest book to make the library shelves.
She had developed an affinity for fruit, which surprised her along with her ability to, with the right lotions, get the brownest tan she could imagine. She left for work a little later. Her job at the jewelry store continued to be interesting as she got to meet people that were from all walks of life and yet none of them were meteor infected or worried about anything. She enjoyed the carefree nature of it all.
A few weeks earlier, though, she realized her living conditions weren't going to survive without a second job. That landed her at Don's Sandbar. She smiled pretty in her small shorts and raked in the tips, especially if she could rangle Don into letting her try the night shifts. She laughed to herself remembering that she had told Lana she would have nothing to do with waittressing. Lana would die laughing now.
"$8.50," she commented, sitting the drinks down on the table while shimming in her skirt to entice the patrons. The move paid off.
"Keep the change if you bring me a beer honey." Chloe grabbed the $20 and shoved it into her tanktop. She jumped slightly at the young man's hand popping her slightly on the back of her thigh as she walked off to the bar again. It was something she just got used to. Don was good about watching the action of the patrons and his wait staff, but a little touching only enhanced the tips. Besides, Josh was worth having his hand on her. Chloe wondered if he was interested in putting his hands anywhere else as she retrieved his beer from the bar.
Wednesday nights were difficult though. Women typically didn't tip women very well, unless they were lesbians. But those usually came in for ladies night together. Chloe sat down at the end of the bar and watched during her small break and waited for someone to wave for a waitress, but nothing. She watched the door as she snacked on peanuts from the bar, eyeing the new flavor of the week that walked up from the beach.
In bright yellow swim trucks and blue shirt, a man walked up to her at the bar. "Hey beautiful. What's the fresh tap tonight?"
"We got some new fruity beer from St Croix this morning." Chloe's smile stretched from ear to ear. She had only met Chris a few days ago but hadn't had a crushlike feeling since Clark. Clark, there's a lame flashback, she thought as his crystal emerald eyes looked back at her.
Rubbing his hand through his wet hair, he turned up his nose at her. "Nah, you know what I like." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "And YOU make it," he responded as he looked at Don.
Don motioned for Chloe to come around the edge of the counter and pointed her to where the proper glasses were. Chloe put down the glass and watched as Chris pointed out bottles from behind her. Lining them up, Don handed her a large shot glass and instructed her how to pour. "Ok, you want a large shot of pineapple rum, banana rum, coconut rum, and orange rum."
Chloe carefully poured each shot into the glass over Chris's glass and then took a deep breath. "Wow, that's a lot of alcohol." Chloe caught a whiff of the drink as she put the bottle away. Don handed her three more bottles from the refrigerator. "At least you're mixing something else in it." She poured in orange, cranberry, and pineapple juice before mixing it up. Handing the glass to Chris, he slid it back across the bar.
"You forgot something." Chloe looked around and put a, orange wedge on it.
"Nope."
Don handed her the dark rum. "Barely to cover the top of the drink." Chloe inched the spout over the drink and darkened just the top of the drink before handing it back to Chris.
Chris lifted it to his lips as Chloe bit her lip in anticipation. Taking a sip, his eyes got really big and his face became all contorted as he shook his head and grimaced. Putting the drink down, he glared at Chloe, "Damn woman, you trying to kill me?"
"Oh God, I'm sorry, you should have let Don…."
"I'm just kidding Cher," Chris laughed and reached for her hand. "It's great." He took another sip as Chloe looked over his shoulder at one of her tables.
"I'll be back." Chris turned in the seat and watched as Chloe bent down just enough to give the male patrons a cleavage show while she took their order. He looked around and noticed that Don had moved his attention to another customer. Taking out the latest cell phone, Chris turned it on and popped a picture of Chloe as she covered her chest with her fingers and threw her mid-length golden locks back over her shoulder while laughing and entertaining the patrons. That was a good picture.
Chloe returned to the bar after serving the drinks to the men. "So what's on your schedule tonight?"
"Actually, I have an early evening sail, so I have to go out."
"You think you should sail after drinking that?" She wanted to laugh but her face actually turned on the concern when she thought about it.
"I'm just assisting this one. You know, serving drinking drinks and all. It's a sailor renting for a couple of hours." Chris pulled a ten out of his wallet and sat it on the counter. Sliding it over to Chloe, she smiled and was about to pocket the money.
Looking at the back of the ten, she read the words that were neatly written on the edge of the bill. 'Would you like to go out tonight?' Chloe's eyes flipped up and grinned at him.
Bumping him in the shoulder playfully, she shoved the ten in her tanktop and giggles, "I would love to."
"Good, then I'll be back around eight at your beach. Hey, and wear a jacket tonight. The winds have been kind of whippy out on the waves today." Chris downed a few more gulps of the drink and kissed Chloe's pink shoulder before leaving the bar. She sat on the bench at the bar and watched as he ran across the beach to hitch up the next afternoon catamaran ride.
"Cherise, be careful."
"Don, there's nothing to worry about."
Don threw down the towel he was working with and leaned over the bar toward her. "You're a smart, vivacious young woman. There are men that come and go on this beach, have seen more than you know. I want you to be careful. Besides, I can't lose the one waitress that can actually make correct change and doesn't smoke." He slapped the towel against the counter and walked away.
*************
Magnil knocked on the open door of Chloe's small apartment. "Hey, this is for you. Safina dropped it by the dinner tonight since you were getting ready. I told her that you were in your teal wrap and pants tonight." Magnil handed her a light jade necklace that Chloe had not seen in the shop. "She said you can have this one. Bonus for being so wonderful."
Chloe put the necklace on and then the earrings and stared at herself in the mirror. Something seemed out of place. "I wish I could do something different." She sighed sadly and stared at herself longingly, pulling her longer hair this way and that.
"Let me," Magnil interrupted. Taking Choe's comb, she checked her time and started portioning out Chloe's parts. Chloe sat in the chair Magnil pulled over in front of the wall mirror and watched as the woman's hands seemed to float through her hair. A short hour later, Chloe stared at the new look and lifted her shoulders in excitement.
Her golden flowing hair had been transformed into something more island worthy. The small threads of french braids were not exactly cornrows but held tightly to her head as her ends gave way and blew in the breeze that passed through her house. "This is so neat." She stood up and hugged Magnil. "Thank you." Chloe touched her head once more to feel the braids and grabbed her wrap. "I have to get going," she smiled and ran down the stairs toward the beach.
************
The night had gone by without a hitch. Chris picked her up on the beach and sailed them out between the two islands before anchoring in a small cove around the island from the lights. Popping the wine bottle open, he steadied himself on the edge of the boat before wobbling over to where he had set out dinner for the two.
"You have a good rest of your evening?"
"Yeah, it was ok. Some people shouldn't be given sailing licenses. I ended up sailing the boat back into harbor alone when the man couldn't handle the waves outside of the strait. Fun as hell being drunk." He handed a glass to Chloe.
"I told you not to drink all that crap before your appointment." Chloe took a sip of her wine and nibbles on some of the fruit laid out.
"Yeah, well, its easier to forget the morons if I'm drunk." The two laughed and Chloe stared at him suddenly. "Are you drunk now?" she questioned.
"No," Chris whispered as he scooted closer to her and kissed her neck. "Can't forget you."
The two continued through dinner, watching the sunset and making small conversation. Chloe marveled at his never-ending interest in her stories from high school and her friends. She surprised herself talking about her friends that she had left behind without even shedding a tear or getting choked up. Smiling through her story of prom, she sighed and leaned back into Chris's chest as he sat the empty wine bottle to the side and rubbed the tip of a strawberry down her nose before she bit into it.
"So, this guy at your dad's funeral? Friend?"
Chloe leaned further into Chris's shoulder and sighed. It was only fair; he had spent the last hour discussing how his girlfriend had dumped him on one of his own catamaran tours of the island. He had to sit and drive the sailboat the entire time while staring at her with a group of her friends. "I guess. It was complicated. He and I were never really a thing. I think we were friends, but he pretty much dropped out of the picture after that."
"Why?"
"Just felt guilty I guess. And I never pursued it. Seemed like he chose to be alone. He had his own set of issues to deal with and frankly I got a little too involved before." Chloe ran her hand down Chris's arm before he kissed her on the cheek.
The night progressed and the two sailed back to the small beach near her new home. The sun had already gone down and the only light was from the lights now adorning the houses overlooking the shore. Chris stepped out first and grabbed Chloe as she jumped from the head of the catamaran. "Thanks for the nice evening. I hate to cut it short, but I have to clean up the boat for tomorrow's morning outing."
Chloe picked up her things from the sand and smiled, "I really enjoyed it. The first time I had ever been sailing." She stopped and waited to see his next move. Seeing he was either shy or not interested, she continued nervously, "Now, I don't want to see you in Don's tomorrow getting sloshed before work again."
"Yes mother," he replied as he rolled his eyes. "Anyway, goodnight." Chris rubbed his hand gently down her arm as he barely pressed his lips to her and kissed her.
He let go of her hand, and she backed up. She watched as Chris pushed the light craft back into the shallows of the water before throwing himself over the hull of one side and into the mesh stretched across the center of the sailboat. Waving, he switched over the sail and disappeared with the wind. She stood on the beach in the dark until she couldn't see the boat anymore.
"Well?"
Chloe jumped from her skin as Magnil walked up behind her. "Damn, don't do that." A grin came across her face as she felt flushed all of a sudden. "He's nice."
Magnil walked up the beach toward the house with Chloe and shook her head, "Nice; that smile on your face says more than nice. You like him." Chloe didn't respond, but just pasted a grin on her face as her cheeks felt redder and redder on the way home.
Once at the house, she dropped her things and spun around in her living room. Flopping back into her couch, she took a deep breath and desperately tried to hold her happiness. The best date she had since she couldn't remember. There was no Clark leaving, no meteor freak issues, no expected putting out at the end of the evening. She couldn't stop smiling.
**************
Lex stared at the picture of the blond woman in the picture in a sundress at the local art show. She sat next to an older Island woman and looked as if she was stringing beads. He also had photos that showed her in some seriously short shorts serving drinks. She looked really happy. He hoped interfering wouldn't disrupt her too much.
Clark had visited earlier in the week, hoping that Lex was for once sticking his nose into business he shouldn't. Lex knew better than to tell him anything about what he had found. Clark would be down there trying to convince her to come back to Smallville despite him and Lana already being very involved. It wouldn't be fair for her; she would come back to the same mess and still not have anything to show for it. Where she was she was happy and content. Shaking his head, he remembered Clark's conversation as he looked at the email she had sent him.
Hey! I finally got to a little Internet café to tell you what a wonderful
time I'm having where I am. I'm still not telling you where. I hope
everything is going well with your family and Lana. It's so weird not
sitting in front of a computer to do anything in life. I have gotten so
much reading done it's ridiculous. Anyway, say hi to everyone; that
means actually talking to Lex. I've included a picture for you. Ciao!
Lex looked at the email and grinned as she routed it through an IP address in Seattle just in case Clark or Lana could actually figure out how to track down the café. She was still smart as a tack and her tan just increased her desirability.
"Lex, can you help us?"
"Chloe obviously doesn't want to be found. She's happy. You can tell. Now, I heard that you and Lana got engaged or something?" He didn't want to go there, but listening to Clark prattle on about how he asked Lana for her hand would at least change the subject. After about an hour of shaking his head and downing immense amounts of liquor, Clark finally left and Lex read over the email again.
Now, a week later, he ran his hand over the same email and halfway smiled. She at least had remembered his name, and actually reached out to him however awkward. There was definitely a possibility for the two of them. He closed the folder on his desk and looked at his watch. Seeing the lateness of the evening, he started to bed when his cellphone rang.
"Hey! This is Chris. It's on it's way man. You were right; she falls hard. Although, she talked a lot about you and some other guy. How long do I have to keep this up – my boyfriend's kind of pissed."
"He won't be when you get the money in your account. A little longer. " Lex closed the phone and closed his eyes. He couldn't take a chance. Rebound or not, he would be who she would run to.
TBC...