Milkshakes and Memories

In the end, I convinced her to at least have dinner with me. She was silent for the trip over, but her mood improved substantially once we took our seats in the small diner she insisted we go to. The first thing she ordered was a large strawberry shake. She was bouncing in her seat with excitement as it arrived some minutes later. The flow of good emotions swirled around us, blocking out all other noise as she happily sucked on her straw.

“You enjoy milkshakes?”

She beamed at me, spitting out the straw. “They are proof that a higher power exists.” Before I could respond, she was back to sipping at her straw. I said nothing more, enjoying the sight of her innocent happiness. Another side of Chloe I’d never seen as she swayed in her seat, bliss radiating from her. She made happy noises, humming and giggling as she drank. Beyond that one statement, she didn’t stop until the entire thing was gone.

Impressive.

“Now, the regret,” she said, leaning back in her seat as she patted her stomach. Despite her words, I saw no regret in her noise.

“I didn’t know you liked milkshakes so much.”

“Liked is such a weak word. I live for milkshakes. Especially the ones here. Best in the city. Strawberry is my favorite, but I also like chocolate, banana, vanilla…” She continued to list ever more complex flavors. By the end, her noise was buzzing happily.

“That’s all the flavors here.”

“I know! They are all my favorite.” She looked around as a somber mood took hold of her noise as she spun her straw around the now empty glass. “My Dad used to take me here after my dance classes.”

“You took dance?”

She chuckled. “A long time ago.” Her expression slowly matched her noise. “I stopped after he died. There were just too many painful memories associated with it.” Reaching out, I rested my hand on hers. “Whenever I’m feeling sad or depressed, I stop here and have a milkshake. Makes me think of happier times.” Her smile returned as she looked at me. “And now that I have you, I can create even more happy memories here.”

I gave her a smile, putting all my effort into making it reflect the emotions I wanted to convey.

“But that’s enough sad things about me. What about you? How are your parents?”

“Oh, they are dead.” She paled, looking horrified. “It was several years ago. My aunt raised me until about two years ago when I declared independence and started living alone.”

“So you’ve been living alone since you were sixteen?” I nodded. “Did something happen between you and your aunt?”

“No. My aunt is incredible and one of the strongest people I know. When she got married, I left to live on my own. After all she had carried until that point, she deserved some time to focus on her own happiness. She still checks in on me at least once a week.”

“I still can’t get my head around you living alone. Do you work or something?”

“Or something.” Her eyes narrowed. “Living off my parent’s life insurance doesn’t sound that all that grand or noble.”

“Right,” she said avoiding my eyes. She seemed eager to change the subject.

We were interrupted by the arrival of our food. She seemed thankful to have something to distract us. The conversation turned light as we made small talk and ate. It was a good time and I was glad I managed to convince her to come. Both her noise and expression showed joy and contentment. She had enjoyed herself as well, which was important to me.

“I can pay,” she said as I got my wallet out.

“I got it.” She seemed displeased by my insistence. “You can pay for the next one.”

“Okay.” Content with the arrangement, I finished paying and we walked back to my car. Opening the door for her, I helped her inside before getting in. Setting off, she silently looked out the window as I drove us towards her apartment.

“We never decided what to do about Adam.” Since we were at a red light, I looked over at her. “He’s not the type of guy who bluffs.”

“It would be easier to give him what he wants.”

Annoyance flared as her eyes narrowed. It didn’t last long as resignation took its place. “I know that. Still, the idea of him…”

Reaching over, I gave her hand a squeeze. “Whatever your decision, I’ll support it.”

She let out a long breath, looking back out the window as I started driving again. “I know that this isn’t a traditional relationship, but I at least wanted to put boundaries on things. This shouldn’t even be an issue. Maybe I should quit,” she finished in a soft voice.

“Can you?”

She didn’t answer, remaining silent the rest of the way to her apartment building.

Parking on the street, I got out and opened the door for her. “You know I can get the door for myself, right?” she asked with an amused smile.

“I know.” I was rewarded with a light kiss to the lips.

“Thank you for dinner. It was… I needed it.”

“I enjoyed it too,” I said as I watched her noise warm. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

All at once, her noise went dark. The black emotion was back, completed engulfing her noise. “T-that’s okay. You don’t have to—”

“Just to the door,” I said, studying her noise. Once more, I was perplexed by this emotion. I didn’t recognize it.

She was tense as I took her hand, but she didn’t resist. The grace she normally had was gone as she mechanically marched into the building. I said nothing, studying this strange behavior as I struggled against her noise. It battered against my mental defenses in a relentless manner. In the brief trip from the street to her door, I found myself exhausted. This never happened around Chloe before. It was usually the opposite.

“This is me,” she said quickly. “See you tomorrow.” I got the feeling she was trying to shoo me away.

I offered her a smile, giving her hand a quick squeeze. “Sure.” I leaned in to give her a quick kiss.

“Chloe?” We both turned to the new voice and I felt Chloe rip her hand from mine. It was an older man. He had a grizzled look, but in a way that leaned to the handsome side. The brown suit he wore had seen better days. There was an authority to his walk. Military maybe since he had the build for it. “Who’s this?” he asked, hawkish eyes moving to me. I recognized his type. He moved like an apex predator, used to being the hunter not the hunted.

His noise was a mystery to me because I couldn’t hear it over the unending void of Chloe’s.

“A friend,” she answered in a small voice.

“Friend, huh.” His eyes never left mine. I stared back. He must not have been used to someone standing their ground to him. His annoyance was the only thing I could get from him before it was lost in the swirl coming from Chloe. I normally loved how her noise was able to blind me from the world, but in this case it worked against me. The man’s smile was friendly, but I didn’t need my Gift to know it was hollow. He reminded me of Adam only he didn’t have the benefit of his Gift to pull people to his side.

“Name’s Leon,” he said, extending his hand. I took it, giving it a firm shake. The man had an iron grip.

“Jake,” I said as I released his hand.

“First time Chloe’s brought a guy home.”

“He’s just dropping me off since we stayed a bit longer for a project,” she said, not meeting his eye.

“Well, why don’t you come in and have dinner with us? Chloe’s mom is an amazing cook and—”

“We already ate,” Chloe said in a rush. “Besides, Jake has to get home.”

Something wasn’t right about this situation, but I knew she didn’t want me around so I would defer to her.

Giving Leon a smile, I shrugged. “Thanks for the invite, but she’s right. I have a mountain of homework to do.”

“Next time then.”

“Sounds great.” I had to pass him to go back to the elevators. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Chloe disappear behind the door as Leon followed her in. Our eyes met and I saw none of the fake friendliness that had been there before. It only lasted a second before he stepped behind the door and closed it behind him.

Something was wrong. I’d never seen noise like that before. To see it from Chloe of all people upset me enough that I was aware of its presence. As for Leon, I didn’t like him. Even though I had been unable to read his noise, there was a gut feeling that he was no good. The same sort of feeling I got when around Adam.

I didn’t like leaving, but I had **** in the matter. Chloe clearly wanted me nowhere near this place. Hands in my pockets, I rode the elevator down to the ground floor.

We were going to have to talk about this later.