Her crying jab left her… peaceful, Chloe realized. A bit drained, a bit lightheaded, but mostly calm. The ache was still there, would always be but for the first time in forever, she felt hopeful it would dull.
So when Hal said she owed him "for drenching his shirt", she hopped in the shower, and dressed in jeans and her favorite satin halter top without qualms. What took her off balance, though, was that owing Hal meant shopping. After he handed the keys of Oliver's Alpha-Romeo Spider to a wide-eyed valet, he dragged him to every single thrift store on their way.
Chloe moved away from the vintage dresses to browse through a pile of shawls and pashminas.
"I like this one," Hal mentioned as she fingered a soft pink one with gold sequins. "Here. Try this on."
She eyed the blazer-like jacket he held. The deep forest green matched her top to a tee. Running one hand on the sleeve, she found the leather smooth as butter. Chloe allowed him to help her slip it on. It was one size too large, so the waist cut fell on her hips instead. The wrists covered half her hands. She absolutely loved it. Hal' smirk rivaled the Cheshire Cat's. "Green is definitely your color, honey."
He hailed the clerk. "She'll take the jacket, and the scarf."
"Hal…"
When the bill rang barely above sixty dollars, Chloe wondered why she'd hesitated.
At their next stop, a hat shop, he tried on a beret and chatted up the girl at the cashier in broken French. They bought licorice candies and caramels—for my sisters' kids, I swear, oh, look they have Berties Bott's Beans, what, you've never read Harry Potter?— She laughed so hard when he insisted she bought a pumpkin larger than a water melon her stomach twisted. "I don't need a stuffed toy, Hal!"
"It's not a toy, it's the Great Pumpkin, Chloe Brown!"
"I swear, if you— No, stop, ah, ah… Stop! Hal, stop it! I'll take it, all right! I'm buying it."
The last time she had that much fun was at the Grandville Fair with Lois and Lana, watching Clark tripped over his feet to avoid them.
Finally, they reached a small restaurant nestled between a souvenir shop and yet another thrift shop. Chloe stood on tiptoes to peck his cheek. "Thanks Hal."
"For what? Oliver doesn't understand the fun of buying things second-hand. And my sisters won't come with me anymore. They say I am worse than their kids."
"I wonder why…"
"Come on, shopping makes me thirsty."
The inside of the restaurant was another surprise. Instead of the dark wood, dim lights, and drafts on tap she expected, Chloe entered a large courtyard, with painted iron furniture and overhanging linen tarps shaped like traditional Polynesian sails. The tables were cleverly scattered in the space, so that each patrons felt alone in their own islands. In the background, Miles Davis poured his soul into his trumpet.
"Hal! It's been a while, boy. Table for two?"
Chloe turned to meet the eye of the newcomer. The only hint of age was the touch of silver on his temples. His welcoming smile and smooth features claimed Hawaian or Maori ancestors.
"Three. Oliver will be joining us. How's Temuora Junior?"
"Tim is still pining for that surfer girl… He looks. She looks right back. But I'll be long dead before one of them makes a move."
"Not dead," Hal corrected. "Retired."
"Of course."
The man conceded the point, as if the exchange was some favorite debate between them. He led them toward one of the few empty table.
"Hinano for you, as usual, but what can I get the lovely lady?"
"She'll have your Summer Night Dream." A spark traveled up her spin when Oliver's hand in her back guided her toward the chair their host held for her. "It's not strong, I promise."
He could have promised the exact opposite, she would have accepted all the same. He probably had gotten rid of his tie at some point. His Adam Apple played hide and seek with his open collar. The effortless allure, from the impeccable white button-down to the five o'clock shadow on that perfect jaw was absolutely unfair. Compared to him, she looked…
"You look great. I like the jacket."
Oliver kissed her cheek.
Chloe flushed beet red. "Huh… Hi."
Oh God. No talking. Talking was a bad, bad idea. Chloe unfolded the napkin to arrange it carefully on her lap.
"Never mind me, you two. I'll just sit here and look pretty, all by myself," Hal joked.
Finally the dark eyes left her to rest on the brunette and the packages on the floor beside him. "What the heck is all that? Did you rob the toy store again?"
"Chloe insisted."
"Oh! No I didn't! You dragged me along for nearly two hours! I've never seen a man enjoyed shopping like this. My dad—" Her voice caught in her throat. Chloe blinked the surge of sorrow away. "My dad hated shopping. If I had listened to him, he would have ordered his suits from a catalogue."
"Thankfully, that's not something you'll ever risk from Mister GQ over here."
She offered a small smile to Hal, thankful for the distraction. Their orders arrived to give her another second to collect herself. Oliver mixed the sangria himself, so the gold and blue became a pale green. Chloe stared at her glass for a moment looking for the right words.
"Family is something we should never take for granted." Oliver squeezed her hand under the table. "And neither should be friends." She lifted her glass in salute. "Hal, thank you for letting me cry a river all over your shirt."
"It was more like the three falls of the Niagara Gorge…"
She rolled her eyes. "And Oliver… Thank you for reminding me who I am."
"I hope you have a good word for me as well in here."
Oliver jumped to his feet. Hal whistled. Chloe squealed, "Tess! What are you doing here?"
"I followed him."
Oliver all but growled when she pointed at him. Somehow he'd managed to put himself between the two women. His large body vibrated under the hand Chloe placed on his forearm. "It's all right, Oliver, Tess is the neighbor I told you about."
He leaned closer to murmur in her ear. "I think she knows."
Chloe grabbed his hand. Apparently, he wasn't discreet enough. The redhead crooked an eyebrow. "The MIT doesn't give doctorates to halfwits."
Hal shook his head toward Temuora in their back then pointed to the fourth empty chair at their table. "Why don't you take a seat before people starts wondering about the passive-aggressive tone which is flying around? I'm Hal, by the way."
"Tess Mercer."
Chloe watched in amusement as her friend gave the dark-hair man a once-over almost as casual as the one he'd given her. Apparently satisfied with her examination, she turned toward the blonde pair. "Queen is right, I know who you are. Chloe."
The petite blonde dropped down onto her chair. Oliver imitated her in more deliberate movements. 'He's taking control of the meeting', she realized. His fingers squeezed her once. 'I've got you.'
Tess remained unimpressed. "I've known from the beginning, actually. Lionel Luthor approached me right after I defended my thesis. He wanted me to join the R&D department of Luthorcorp. Despite the big corporations' efforts…" The saccharine smile she directed toward Oliver was custom-made to annoy him. Chloe wished she stopped baiting him before he broke all the bones in her hand. "R&D avenues are open secrets in the research community. And yet I knew nothing of the projects he mentioned, which I didn't like. I didn't like him either. And without diminishing my own value, no one offers a graduate without practical experience three hundred grands with wide-open renewal options if there's nothing fishy about it."
"If the candidate is worth it, I would." Oliver said, eyes fixed on the redhead.
Tess didn't miss a bit, fluttering her lashes at him. "Really? Oh where were you eight years ago?"
"Stuck on an island, I recon." Oliver deadpanned. Ill-at-ease with the showdown, Chloe disengaged her fingers from Oliver's to refill her drink and offered one to Tess as well in an attempt to brighten the mood. Hal caught her intent, and probed Tess on. "So you refused Lionel's offer and…"
"I took a job at the Institute here in Star City. But I am naturally curious, Mr. Queen, so I kept track of Luthorcorp." She smiled at Chloe. "You were a minor so they kept you as much as possible out of the public eye, but there were still photographs. You cut your hair, and you lost some weight. Different style in clothes, as well. But I recognized you the minute I saw you in Salinas Point."
Chloe's eyes widened. "You never called me Dorothy. It was Honey this, Darling that, Blondie, Goldilocks…"
"I don't like deception if I can avoid it."
Hal drank his beer, his eyes riveted to the redhead. Oliver hadn't touched his.
"This is all well and good, but why did you approach me?"
"Again, Mr. Queen—"
"Oliver."
"I'll reiterate that I am not exactly stupid, Oliver. I saw you come out of Chloe's apartment. She mentioned the text messages." Chloe sampled her cocktail, glaring at the other woman, her cheeks warming. "When she suddenly packed to "house-sit" in Coast City, where she met you, I wondered if you had anything to do with it."
Chloe watched Oliver from the corner of her eyes. He leaned back in his chair now, the epitome of charm, as if the previous tension had just been a figment of her imagination. She'd never seen someone switch gear so easily before. Tess lifted her glass for a toast.
"So? To unexpected friendship?"
"Of course."
He rose to his feet to cling his beer to her glass. Chloe noticed his dark eyes remained cool.
