“Think my lunch-box gun will go with the ensemble?”
“I think you’d look naked without it.”
She grins and gets a little closer.
“Naked. I like the sound of that. I checked out my reflection on the way in. I’d do me. How abou
t you?”
I shake my head.
“Careful. Out here in the world we’re still getting to know each other.”
She purses her lips and pulls the jacket around her.
“You’re goddamn paranoid. You should see someone about that.”
“I tried, but she kept writing things down. It made me more paranoid.”
Candy looks away at the bottles behind the bar.
“I went to all this trouble and I can’t even kiss you.”
“Grab a drink and come back into the corner. Julie and I are just about done with our meeting.”
“Fine,” she says.
I can hear the disappointment in her voice. She went way out of her way to change her look and all I can do is nod and smile like a tourist admiring the view. Truth is, even before Candy became Chihiro I’d been feeling funny about the two of us. When she was locked up in a Golden Vigil jail cell for attacking a civilian, she said some things. Like I was using her. Like I thought she was sick. Later, she said it was just poison talking after someone spiked her anti-Jade potion. She said it made her crazy and suspicious. Maybe. Because some of what she said hit close to home and I’ve been wondering about it ever since. There’s a lot of unspoken stuff between us. I used to think that was a good thing. Now I’m not so sure.
When I get back to the table, Julie says, “Who was that?”
“Guess.”
“You’re kidding me.”
“You’ll see for yourself in a minute.”
Candy comes over with a shot of whiskey. I swear I can smell it all the way across the bar.
She takes off her sunglasses and hooks them over her shirt. Grabs a chair and sits down at our table.
“What do you think?” she asks Julie.
“I can’t believe you’re the same person.”
“That’s the idea,” I say.
“Admit it, I look like a superhero, don’t I?” she says.
“I don’t know many pink-haired superheroes,” said Julie. “But if there are any, you’ll be stiff competition.”
Candy looks at me.
“See? She likes it.”
“I told you. I like it fine. We just have to be cool.”
Candy rolls her eyes.