My Times With Chloe, Part Five, 1992 (The Offending Drink)

by HoneyWest

Please note: I'm starting with a prologue to a series I'd started a while back. This is just a warm-up, it's short and there is no sex. Actually it's an incident I once witnessed in a pub so it's partially true.

The next time I saw Chloe she had saved my ass. Almost literally. My co-worker wasn't going to be able to join me for drinks and somehow I started talking to a rather good-looking man at the bar. Richard seemed nice as we started conversing and before you know it I had agree to a few more drinks. Well, it's amazing how fast a nice guy stops being nice the more you get to know him. He did nothing horrendous, mind you, just those subtle little comments that told you his true side. (Or maybe I just didn't like men.) I'd decided to be tactful and say that it was not the right time for me to socialize and he said he understood and , because it was dark, he'd walk me to my car. But first how about one for the road. Sure, I sighed, why not. Richard brought two shooters back to the table and as he tried to interest me in the football game on the big screen another man tapped him on the shoulder and, obviously mistaking him for someone else, claimed to gone to college with him.

Now mind you, everything that happened next just took a micro-second but takes longer to describe: I had looked up to see a lovely woman suddenly standing in front of me. I had seen her somewhere before but before I could speak she raised her finger to her lips and then deftly reached down and switched the drinks at our table. Just in time too as Richard turned back around commenting on how 'that faggot' thought he was someone else. (I knew I didn't like him, now I felt justified.) He too was surprised to see Chloe standing there. It was then that she introduced herself as one of my neighbors in our apartment complex.

"Yes, I know you now," I breathed as a joy started to overcome my uncertainty "You've changed your hair. It's shorter. And...you have a little girl."

"Ah, my little peanut," She said proudly, "Her name's Patti but everybody calls her Peanut."

"Why?"

Chloe smiled. "Oh, all sorts of reasons. Mostly cause she's just a little nut."

This was not going according to Richard's plans as he downed his drink and motioned for me to do the same. "Come on, drink up and I'll escort you to your car. It must be getting late."

I stupidly reached for my glass. Chloe stayed my hand.

"Don't drink it, hon, he put something in it."

Richard's face turned three shades of surprise, indignation and anger. What the fuck you talking about, woman, trying to sound almost hurt.

"I saw you. As you were picking up the two drinks you dropped something out of the palm of your hand into the glass that you put in front of her. Oh, it was subtle but I caught it."

"Fuck you, bitch," he snarled with surprising lack of volume, as if he didn't want anyone else in the tavern to pick up on the accusation. "I didn't do any such thing."

Chloe leaned forward. "Then drink it yourself. Go ahead. I'll pay for another round. But you drink that shooter in front of her now. Go on, prove it's a safe drink."

At first I had been quiet as I took in what was happening. Now I stared coldly and pushed the drink toward him. "Go ahead. I'm not really thirsty right now. It's all yours."

Richard glared at the glass, weighed his options and decided to play the indignant card. "Fuck you both!" he exclaimed, kicking his chair back and making a quick beeline for the exit. "Stupid lezzies!" and out the door he went, bumping rudely into two men who were coming in.

"Wow", I said quietly as I stared at the offending drink. S'cuse me, Chloe said and she began talking to one of the two men who had entered. The husky man looked at me, back at Chloe, nodded and left in the direction that Richard had gone. She then came back to the table, sat down and smiled. "That was fun. That guy I just talked to? That's Phil. He's a cop. I mean, he's off duty right now but he's going to catch up with 'Dick' and make sure he doesn't start up his car. Would'nt want that roofie hitting him while he was driving or he might get someone killed. So... How are you love?"

"Chloe! It's you. You're here." Maybe it was the drinks, but I was looking at her as if she was a waking dream.

"Yup", she smiled brightly.

"But...you're here!" I must have been grinning like an idiot. "You're supposed to be in Washington state!"

"Nope. I'm right here."

"But--since when?"

Chloe signaled for a drink. "Two years now. How long have you been here?"

"Um, about a year."

I was all confused. I didn't know if we should hug or kiss or even french-kiss after being apart so long. Instead we just sat there. The reality of the fact that we had not kept in touch with each other in over three years blanketed us like a secret shame. Then she put her hand on mine.

"Hey, it's okay. You look great, by the way." The waitress brought a shooter for Chloe. She raised it for a toast, motioning for me to lift mine. "Go ahead. That's the safe one. Here's to...time lost." I was already mildly tipsy but downed my drink without hesitation. She smiled that warm smile I had suddenly missed so badly. "Even if it wasn't the safe one, you know I got your back."

Suddenly we were young again , talking like two college students who had shared more than just cheat sheets. We caught up on the years since we stopped corresponding and giggled at our misadventures and her family life.

"How old is she now?"

"Seven. No.(imitating her little daughter) 'seven and a half!' And she's a darling minx."

"And you call her Peanut?"

Well, she really is a nut, Anna, and very precocious and...well you're really gonna love her.

Maybe it was the drinks but there was something in the way she said that...