Gonna Stand Out Til You Notice Me

“I’m not gonna say you should have buuuut,” he too tried a sip of it. A bitter liquid that somehow translated as DRY. Ben wasn’t loving it. 

He shook his head no as he mulled over the concept of the musical. Ben had never found the time or attention span to sit down and watch the movie adaptation. Whatever the hell this was, it sounded WILD. Maybe he could get in to it. “You shoot your lover and go to PRISON? Chloe! What the hell kind of musical did you sign up for?!” 

Ben took the cups and dumped the remainder of the wine they didn’t drink down the drain. “Do you think we should just dump the whole bottle? Is your mom gonna be… upset if I do?” Ben asked, knowing how uptight her parents could be about things. “Probably best not to be skating around with an open bottle of old grape juice anyways.” He waited no longer as he drained the bottle down the sink. “Ten doll hairs well spent. Let’s go out instead. Maybe we’ll see the uh–” he waved his hand in hopes she’d remember. “You know WHO. Tall, dark, skeevy.” 

Ben poked her shoulder like an annoying brother. “Come on, I’ll buy.” An offer that would have him scraping by until his next paycheck, but he wanted to congratulate her on a job well done. “Have you heard from your creeper?”

Chloe playfully swatted his arm, feeling her face immediately going red at the term 'creeper'. "Oh. My. God. He's not a creeper." Tall and dark, yes, but she didn't think him a creeper. Her chest got tight as she thought about him, and she bit her lip, reminding herself she did need to tell James the good news about the musical also - then shook her head.

The knock on the door, the bottle of wine, a more than happy face behind it all: he knew what this was. Ben responded nearly synced with her “YOU GOT THE PART? Oh my god I knew it! All that rehearsing paid off, huh? Come on in, holy shit—Otto,” he said as the friendly snout of a dog poked through his legs to greet Chloe. A dog who would have gladly let in any old baddie, under the pretense of getting pet.

“Sorry he has no MANNERS, apparently,” Ben said and shook his head, gladly ushering her inside. “That’s awesome! I knew you were gonna get it,” Ben trailed off as he looked for wine glasses— a piece of glassware he didn’t ever think to buy. A plastic cup with some old cartoon on it would have to suffice. “Is this that grape juice you give to kids on New Year’s Eve?” He glanced over the label, noting it didn’t have any mention of grapes on the front. “Not a Welch’s fan myself…” he said, as though a connoisseur of the finer things. And that… he was not.

“Is that a foot on the label? What are you drinkin’ woman?” Ben teased her, as he showcased the Barefoot wine–the only brand of wine his Aunt Gayle would drink. Who knew why.  “I don’t have any wine glasses, so here’s uh… a cup from Rider’s imagination,” he offered it to her. Without a corkscrew handy, he riddled around in the drawer, found a steak knife and used some ungodly strength to pry the cork out of there. As he poured them both a drink, himself he only gave a dash of the wine, they went to sit down. “So tell me about the character you’re playing!”

With a laugh, Chloe gave the dog a scruffly scratch behind the ears, then followed Ben into the kitchen. “Look, I know nothing about wine,” she said with a roll of her eyes, “I just grabbed something from my mom’s stash.” She’d done so with permission; she chided herself that she even cared about that fact. A raise of her brow at the glass Ben handed her, a smirk on her lips, she chuckled, “I see this is an original Fitzherbert.” Indeed, his sloppy scrawl was visible across the side, and she wrinkled her nose slightly at the strong fermented smell.

Sitting on his couch, Chloe bounced a little bit, unable to contain her excitement. “Well, remember I told you it’s Chicago? Well, one of the lead roles is Roxy Hart - a 1920s jazz singer hopeful hoping to become a celebrity... but then she shoots her lover and ends up in prison, so the whole musical takes place there. Have you seen the movie? We should watch the movie.” She sipped at her wine, then sat her glass down. “Okay, I forgot how much I don’t like wine,” she laughed. “Maybe I should have brought wine coolers instead?”

The idea of taking her far away to see sights she desired seemed like a possibility. It would cost him his time off, but it wouldn’t kill him to take a moment and enjoy the little things. Hopefully. Though he couldn’t easily hold SMEE accountable to run business. Jynne could come in handy there…

“Maybe some day… you can see it all. I’ll navigate us there.” He insisted. 

James paid little mind to her appetite, as he was also starting on his second. “Mmm- oh, I can imagine. Must have been a lot of rowdy townsfolk.” He assumed. “Surprised your parents allowed you out past dark,” James teased. “Or are they loosening up grip on their daughter? You didn’t mention me, did you?” James was curious. Were there watchful eyes planted about the park? Or had Chloe produced another guiltless lie? “Where exactly do they think you are tonight?”

Chloe opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. The thought of the two of them having a future enough to go adventuring together made her heart leap. As for the question of what her parents thought, however...

"I maybe might have skipped over the mention of going on a date," she answered sheepishly, putting another fry into her mouth. "I don't have to tell them everything, though, I am an adult." But did they treat her like one? She didn't think so, considering her keys being taken when they found out she'd gone only one state over for a music festival. She could only imagine what trouble she'd be in if they knew about Michigan.

"I don't know," she continued, tucking her knees up and resting her chin on them. "Maybe it's time for me to move out?" It wasn't like she'd never thought about it before, but she'd never taken it seriously until recently. They did treat her like a kid still, taking her car had been just like getting grounded.