Chapter Forty-Nine
Friday 14th February – 12:30pm
"Pierce, what the hell are you doing here" Chloe raised her voice at her ex-boyfriend.
"It's a good thing I caught you on my lunch break, I need to catch you up on the meetings from this morning," Pierce claimed to Chloe, ignoring Elly.
"Pierce, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not working today so I don't have to talk to you about work. And in case you are completely blind...I'm on a date with Elly so bugger off!" Chloe told him.
Elly loosened her grip on Chloe's hand but felt somewhat relieved when Chloe took hold of her hand a little tighter.
"I guess we can leave the work talk until Monday morning or if you don't have plans you can come by my office tonight," Pierce suggested.
"I have plans with my girlfriend, Elly, and her son tonight to hang out with them so not sorry to have to turn you down, Pierce," Chloe said with exasperation.
Pierce finally glanced at Elly, "Oh...right...Elly...hi. Hanging out with a friend and your son on Valentines' doesn't seem like much of a plan to me."
Elly rolled her eyes at Pierce's dismissal of her, "Good thing you won't be there to ruin it for my girlfriend and me, unlike now."
"Pierce, get the hell out of here!" Chloe barked at the businessman.
Before Pierce could respond, Shane came back to the table with the couple's glasses of champagnes, "What are you doing here, mate? I think the girls would prefer to dine alone."
Pierce shrugged, "Catching Chloe up on work she needs to know about not that it's your business...mate."
Elly breathed deeply, wondering if she should cave and tell Shane to escort Pierce away from them but didn't want Chloe's ex to know he was getting under her skin so quickly.
As Shane placed the glasses on the table and walked away, Pierce rolled his eyes at Shane making a point of not asking if he wanted to order anything. Then without asking, Pierce turned back to the table, took Elly's champagne glass and took a sip of the bubbly drink, then reacted in horror, "What is this swill? That's revolting! I thought I got you to stop ordering this stuff, Chloe. Please tell me, you are not drinking this cheap swill, Chloe."
Elly stared down at the table in embarrassment as Pierce plonked her glass back in front of her.
When Chloe didn't know how to answer Pierce without causing Elly more disappointment for not being able to afford the glass of champagne she'd regrettably gotten accustomed to in Pierce's presence, Pierce called out to Shane at the bar, "Shane, can you trash Chloe's glass of champagne down the drain and order us a bottle of the Bollinger La Grande Annee? Put it on my tab."
"Do not order that bottle!" Chloe yelled out.
Shane shook his head at Pierce, "I'm not doing anything Chloe doesn't want."
"Whatever," Pierce grumbled at their neighbour, "So, what was the topic of conversation before I got here for our lunch?"
"You leaving us alone," Elly snapped at him.
"What an odd topic of discussion," Pierce snapped back.
Chloe held Elly's hand, entangling their fingers, before telling Pierce brashly, "Pierce, I am on a date with my girlfriend. Can you kindly piss off?"
Pierce ignored Chloe's request then went to pick up a menu so he could order his own meal but then noticed the gift sitting next to Chloe with Chloe's name scrawled on the card attached to it.
Realizing Pierce wasn't leaving them alone, Elly spoke up, "Chlo, can we just go somewhere else for lunch? Or go back to my place instead of sitting here?"
Chloe stroked her thumb against Elly's hand, "I am not going to let this ruin our day together, sweetie, nothing will."
At Chloe's declaration, Pierce picked up the gift, "Is this your little Valentines' day present from Elly? How sweet! What is it?"
"What are you looking at me for, you bonehead? It's wrapped in wrapping paper, I haven't opened it yet," Chloe barked at him then instantly regretted it, "Pierce, don't you damn well dare!"
"What? I want to know how much Elly 'loves' you," Pierce replied in a teasing tone as he picked at the sticky tape that held the gift wrapped.
"Pierce, do not open my present or I swear I will-" Chloe started threatening then groaned when Pierce tore at the wrapping paper.
"I want to leave, now," Elly told Chloe in embarrassment at Pierce's actions.
"Oops," Pierce snarked as he pulled the wrapping paper from the jewelry box that was inside, "Good thing it's too big to be a ring as that would be inappropriate for Chloe to turn down a proposal here."
"Pierce, give that gift to me right now," Chloe demanded, staring at Elly who was staring into her lap.
Pierce ignored Chloe once more, snapping the jewelry box open and looking at the necklace inside without showing it to Chloe, "Elly, what is this tacky piece of crap you call jewelry? Did you get this from the $2 store? This is humiliating that you call this a Valentines' Day gift. Sure, if you're a tween and this is your first crush."
Elly hung her head even more, yet felt somewhat glad that Pierce hadn't gone after the card she'd written to her girlfriend and the thoughts she didn't want shared with Pierce, then prayed he wouldn't do so.
"Pierce, stop acting like a tween yourself," Chloe stated loudly.
Pierce yanked the necklace from the jewelry box, then tossed the piece to Elly who caught it in her free hand, "Chloe does not deserve tacky jewelry. If you love her, you'd know that. You'd sacrifice a few babies' outfits to be able to afford the kind of jewelry Chloe should wear."
Chloe watched with regret as Elly shoved the necklace in her pocket, hoping it wasn't tears she thought she saw welling up in Elly's eyes.
With Chloe and Elly distracted, Pierce picked up the envelope Chloe had for Elly's gift.
Chloe reluctantly let go of Elly's hand as she tried to snatch it from his grasp, "Pierce, would you stop infuriating us? This! What you're doing, it's not going to win me back if that's what you think. It's childish and harassment. Piss off before Elly and I will go someplace else."
Pierce once more ignored Chloe, instead opening the envelope and pulling out two laminated cards, leaving the actual Valentines' Day card to Elly inside, "Oh this is cute. I love the template you've used, Chloe! Look Elly, Chloe hasn't brought you a Valentines' Day present, all she's done is print out these cards as an 'I owe you a weekend trip to Sydney.'"
Elly decided to go against Pierce's expectation, glancing up at Chloe with a smile on her face, "A trip to Sydney? I love it."
"So, how come you didn't actually buy the flights to Sydney? Didn't want to commit to 'dating' Elly that long? Oh, please don't tell me you're broke as well, Chloe," Pierce asked smarmily.
Chloe took hold of Elly's hand once more, "I'll be dating Elly the rest of my life, Pierce. I just wanted to make sure I checked with Elly on when would be the best weekend for us to take Elliot to meet Elly's mum for the first time."
"Wait, you...want us to...go to Sydney to...visit my mum?" Elly faltered at hearing Chloe's reasoning for the getaway, having originally thought it would be a romantic trip for the couple.
"Yeah, of course, your mum hasn't met Elliot yet," Chloe explained, "I thought we could call her together this weekend and book in a date for us all to go so I can book our flights. I would've gotten her number from Bea and called her myself but I thought that might be overstepping it with your mum."
That would've been so awkward if you had, Chlo.
Pierce stared between the two then focused on Elly who was chewing on her lip, "What? Have you not told your mum about you two?"
Chloe pushed back her shoulders, "Elly, have you not told her we're together?"
Elly glanced away from Chloe, "I don't speak to my mum that often...it's just a hard thing to bring up with her. I'm going to tell her...I just haven't...yet."
"Elly's ashamed to be with you," Pierce quipped quickly.
"Shut up, you," Chloe snapped at him, before softening, "Elly, why haven't you told her? You spoke to your mum last week…when you conveniently took the phone call away from me…you didn't want her to know I was around, did you?"
"I'm not ashamed of us, Chloe. Last week…it just wasn't the right time. I can call her right now and tell her if you want," Elly offered.
"Except I'll always wonder if you only did so because you felt like you had to now, to make it up to me for not telling your mum until now," Chloe replied quietly.
"Chlo, it is not like that. My relationship with my mum is complicated, you know that, I just…wanted to wait until…I was sure…I'm saying this all wrong," Elly shook her head, knowing explaining it her girlfriend wasn't making sense.
"Sure of what, Elly? After 6 weeks officially been my girlfriend, that what I've done for you, for Elliot, still isn't enough to be sure that you should come out to your mum about us?" Chloe asked sadly.
Elly shook her head, "It's not like that, Chl-"
Pierce interrupted Elly brashly, "Is now a good time for me to give Chloe my Valentines' Day gift to her?"
"What?" Chloe stared at Pierce incredulously.
Elly hated admitting that a distraction from discussing her inability to have come out to Liz was actually what she needed right in that moment.
Pierce dug into his suit jacket pocket, taking out his own envelope and handed it to Chloe. Unsure why, Chloe took it from him, "Why would you buy me a Valentines' Day gift, Pierce? Do you not get that you and I are over?"
Wait, why did Chloe even take the gift off of him?
Why haven't I just thrown this back in Pierce's face?
"You deserve the world, Chloe, why wouldn't I buy you a Valentines' Day gift?" Pierce declared.
Chloe ran her fingers against the envelope.
Great, I've pissed off Chloe enough by not telling Liz about my relationship with Chloe and that Chloe is helping me raise my son, that now she's gonna open Pierce's present. It's gonna be better than the tacky necklace and this half-assed lunch I've managed to do for her. Chloe's gonna fall in love with whatever Pierce has brought her, she's gonna realize just how much I can't give her and she's gonna leave me for him…
Not sure why, Chloe pursed her lips as she stared at her girlfriend, before inexplicitly going ahead and opening Pierce's present. Chloe removed two tickets from the envelope, making sure to ignore the card inside, "Wow…Pierce are you…this is far too generous."
Pierce smiled at Chloe, "It's not generous at all. I told you that you deserve the world and I got it for you."
Chloe held out the tickets, enough so that Elly immediately spotted the names on the tickets were Chloe Brennan and Pierce Grayson, "Two 1st Class tickets for an around the world holiday trip?"
Terrific…Pierce buys Chloe the world and I buy Chloe…a tacky necklace and a meal she didn't order…
"The booking is in your name. All you have to do is call the airline and we can start mapping out the best places in the world to visit. Accommodation and expenses will all be covered too. I want you to have the best holiday of your life," Pierce declared.
"I can't wait to go on this holiday of my lifetime," Chloe announced.
Elly looked at the floor, feeling despondent that Chloe would even consider accepting the gift, wondering if Chloe would break up with her before or after she left for the airport. While Pierce couldn't look happier as he grinned at Chloe.
"Hey, Elly," Chloe turned back to her girlfriend, and repeated her name a couple more times until Elly finally looked back up at her, "How much do you think the airline booking office would charge to change the name on this ticket from Pierce Grayson to Elly Conway?"
"Wait, what?" Pierce sputtered.
Chloe reached back out for Elly's hand, "I mean the booking's in my name so I should be able to make one little change to it shouldn't I? What do you say, baby? You, me, around the world trip 1st Class on Pierce's tab? Kids under 2 fly free, we can take the peanut with us. Now, I might not be able to afford the accommodation and holiday expenses Pierce was talking about but there are plenty of Lassiters Hotels in the world and I should be able to get us a good rate. Whatever the fee is for changing the name on this ticket will be worth it. You want to come with me, Elly? We'll make it the most romantic holiday with an infant you can possibly imagine."
Elly finally smiled back at Chloe, the reassurance from her girlfriend that she would never want to go with Pierce left Elly feeling relief, "As long as you include a trip to Paris on the itinerary because I want to make love to my love in the city of love then I will be there on this holiday of a lifetime with you every moment."
Pierce watched as Chloe blushed at Elly's comment then shook his head, "You can't just go and…that's not why I got you this gift."
"Hey, you booked it in my name, surely that means if I want to take my girlfriend with me, the airline will let me pay for that change," Chloe teased.
Pierce snatched the tickets out of Chloe's hands and ripped them in half, "You just missed out on the best experience of your life."
Chloe squeezed Elly's hand to reassure her again, "Not even close, Pierce, but I should thank you for offering me that trip…because now I know I need to start saving to take Elly to Paris. Being with my soulmate in the city of love…I can't wait to experience that."
"Me either," Elly admitted, "And maybe we could…go to Switzerland first, let Elliot spend a few days staying with his grandmother Claudia while the pair of us head off to Paris where we can have the time of our lives."
"I love the way you think, Elly. Family trip interspersed by a romantic trip for two in the middle of it, count on it," Chloe promised.
"Oh, as if the pair of you would still be together by the time you can save up for a trip like that, Chloe. This lunch has done nothing but prove once and for all that I can give you the life you truly want. Elly isn't good enough for you!" Pierce retaliated.
Elly went back into her shell at Pierce's words, loosening her grip on Chloe's hand, wondering if she should ask Chloe to leave again.
Before Elly could voice her thoughts, she was interrupted.
"Dad! What the hell is wrong with you?" Hendrix suddenly stood up from the couch behind the screen which Chloe and Elly's table was sitting next to.
"Hendrix…what…what are you doing here?" Pierce stared up at his teenage son, completely thrown by him being there.
Elly and Chloe were surprised too to see the teen, with Elly whispering to Chloe, "Did you know he was there?" to which Chloe shook her head.
"I've been listening to you act like a child for the past ten minutes, Dad!" Hendrix told his father.
"C'mon, Hendrix, it's not like that," Pierce tried to claim.
"Then explain it to me cause the way I see it you interrupted Chloe and Elly's Valentines' Day lunch to do nothing but act like an absolute fool!" Hendrix stood up for the couple, "And don't try to get out of this that all you were doing was 'proving' Chloe should be with you. I heard the whole date from when the girls sat down to you acting like a jackass thinking you can buy Chloe away from Elly! You have ruined their Valentines' Day lunch and you ruined my own for good measure."
"Hey, Harlow," Chloe greeted as Harlow stepped behind Hendrix from the couch.
"What are you and Harlow doing here on Valentines' Day?" Pierce asked his son, hoping to skip past his embarrassment at being caught trying to break up Chloe and Elly by his son.
Chloe narrowed her eyes at Pierce, "Hendrix and Harlow have been dating since New Years' Eve…what, did you not know?"
"Course he didn't, doesn't show any attention to me," Hendrix pointed out.
"Dude, even I knew that," Elly snapped at Pierce.
Shane suddenly returned to the table holding the girls' lunches, "Everything okay here?"
"No, my Dad's a jackass who won't take no for an answer. Leave these girls' alone, Dad. Even I can see they are meant to be together. The way they were with each other before you showed up, not that I was listening in on purpose ladies, but all of that just screamed to me how well they work as a couple. Elly had an issue, instead of hiding it, she opened up to Chloe about it, Chloe comprised on their order. Isn't that the basis of every good relationship? Communication and compromise?" Hendrix explained.
Elly smiled up at the teen for the way he was standing up for the couple to his Dad.
Pierce sniggered as he looked at the plates of food Shane was holding, "Comprised, alright. Where's your surf and turf, Chloe? What could Elly not afford your favourite meal as well as your favourite champagne? On top of the tacky gift she brought you. Is that what you want…a lifetime of compromise because Elly's not good enough for you?"
Elly stared down at the floor, humiliated to feel like Pierce had proven to herself that she'd never be able to give Chloe the life she could have and would be compromising every day with her. Without expecting it, Elly burst into tears, "I'm not going to take this anymore."
"Elly, don't," Chloe tried to say as Elly got up, grabbed her phone and handbag and took off.
"You're not good enough for anyone," Chloe spat out at Pierce as she grabbed her own handbag, before making sure she grabbed the Valentines' Day cards her and Elly hadn't exchanged yet, and the gift for Elly, before running after her girlfriend.
"What'd I do?" Pierce shrugged.
Hendrix shook his head in embarrassment at his father, "Grow up, Dad. You're never going to get between those two. There's nothing you can do to break them."
"We'll see," Pierce muttered under his breath.
Shane stood there still holding the lunches Chloe and Elly had ordered, "Okay so I'm just going to put these on your tab, Pierce, since it's your fault the girls took off. Would you like me to throw them out or do you want to eat one of them?"
Pierce watched as Hendrix and Harlow ignored him as they left the pub too then looked at the meals, "Which one did Chloe order?"
"The calamari," Shane lied then when Pierce nodded, placed it down on the table for him to eat on his own.
