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"SO, DO YOU HAVE A BOYFRIEND?" Lisa pried shamelessly into Iris's top-secret love life, but Iris replied nonetheless with a simple nod. "So, what does he do?" Oddly enough, not even Evelyn knew of this mystery man which bothered her in a way. Iris was always open about her dating life, but recently that hasn't been the case; especially given the fact that Evelyn never knew Iris was seeing anybody.

"Oh, uh, he's, uh-" completely taken off guard by the abrupt question, Iris fumbled with her words. She glanced over at Evelyn who stared down at the drink in front of her as she swirled the liquid around its clear glass with her straw. The same drink that had been there since they walked in while the other two women were halfway done with their second round. "He's a Detective." She finally came clean and Evelyn's head shot up at the news.

She glanced at Iris with arched brows, and Iris simply nodded. "Really?" Lisa said shockingly yet she was impressed all at once.

"Who is this detective?" Evelyn asked.

"Uh, Eddie." Iris responded hesitantly. She was well aware that it would evoke a weird reaction from her friend. Eddie is her fathers partner after all. It also didn't help that she was keeping it a secret from Joe.

"Eddie..." Evelyn said slowly as she straightened up in her seat. "Your dad's partner, Eddie?" She didn't need the clarification for she knew the only Eddie she could possibly be talking about is Detective Thawne. She guessed she was praying she was wrong.

"Oooh, scandalous." Lisa beamed approvingly while she bit down on her straw, and Evelyn sent her a slight glare.

Iris exhaled a deep breath. "Yes, that Eddie." She told Evelyn confidently. Evelyn's eyes widened a bit after Iris's confirmation. "Look, I know it's weird, but I really like him. He's a sweet guy, and he treats me like a queen."

"I wasn't thinking it was weird." She replied in a high-pitched tone. The other girls gave her a look, earning an eye roll from the hazel-eyed brunette. "Okay fine, I find it a little weird, but if you like him then go for it. I mean you already did but well you know..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Iris laughed at Evelyn's typical awkwardness. "But there's one more thing..." She added as she bit down on her bottom lip nervously.

"Okay?" Evelyn replied rather slowly with arched brows. Iris's body language made her far more nervous than she'd like to admit. She already felt uneasy before Iris spoke.

"You can't tell my dad."

Evelyn made the mistake of sipping from her drink for the next minute she was in a coughing fit. "Uh, Iris-"

"I get it." Iris waved off the subject a bit disappointed.

"I'll keep your secret." The words tumbled out of Evelyn's mouth into the air which gained both Lisa and Iris's attention. "It's just difficult for me to get around the idea of keeping something like this from Joe." Evelyn hoped that she would understand where she was coming from. Joe came into her life with good intentions. He gave her the opportunity to be something—to be someone she'd be proud of. He gave her a fresh start. A brand new life. She felt like she was in a way betraying him. But Iris is her friend, and it's not like the subject of Eddie and Iris will come up. It shouldn't come up at all since it's a secret, so it shouldn't be that hard of a secret to keep. Right?

"I know. I understand." Iris cooed. "I'm putting you in an uncomfortable situation. I know my dad has done so much for you. So if you're not comfortable—"

"It's not my business to tell." Evelyn interjected, and Iris flashed her a bright smile.

Lisa cleared her throat before she spoke. "So, I don't know about you girls, but I think it's enough of the heavy. And..." She trailed off as her eyes drifted to the left of the room where people danced carefree amongst the large crowd. A mischievous smirk appeared. "Let's dance."

"Amen!" Iris cheered. "I'm down let's go." Lisa squealed while she clapped her hands in pure excitement. The two girls jumped to their feet and made their way towards the security guard in front of the V.I.P. Section.

"You coming, eve?" Iris beamed as she took notice of the brunette still sitting in the booth playing with her unfinished drink.

"I'm not really up for dancing." She turned down the idea much to the girl's dismay. "I'll join you in a bit." She added to satisfy the ladies, and it seemed to work since they soon disappeared amongst the bodies.

Hours seemed to fly for Evelyn as she spent the majority of the night at the booth lost in her thoughts. She battled with herself over sitting down all night when it was supposed to be her chance of letting go and enjoying herself for once. She was a tad bit disappointed in herself that she allowed herself to get in her head again. With a groan directed innerly, she pushed herself up and towards the bar.

"What can I get you?" The bartender asked Evelyn with a comforting smile. She looked very familiar to Evelyn. The woman had long bright red hair that flowed past her shoulders that you think would have been hard to forget, but her mind just wasn't connecting the dots. Her dark brown eyes bored into hers, and it dawned on Evelyn that she hadn't said anything.

"Oh uh-" Evelyn glanced at the menu in front of her. She furrowed her brows as she tried to focus on the menu, but she couldn't. She had a lot on her mind to the point that it was impossible to read a simple menu. The words would enter her mind, but it was like her brain refused to process them leaving them to evaporate. "You know what, surprise me." She finally answered after she gave up her search.

The woman chuckled to herself before she headed off to make her drink. "You got it." She called out. It wasn't long before the beautiful redhead with porcelain skin returned with her clear drink. "Here, you look like you could use something strong. Trust me."

"Is it that obvious?" Evelyn laughed a bit emptily.

"A Little.." The woman said sympathetically.

Evelyn glanced at the corner of the bartender's shirt to find what she had been looking for. A shiny name tag was pinned on her shirt. Her name was etched in black bold. She thought that knowing her name would help jog her memory, but her mind was just as bare as before. She just decided to let it go. Evelyn would've usually just asked her, but today oddly wasn't an ordinary day for her. "So, Cora, what do I owe?"

"Oh, your drinks are on the house tonight." She said with a wave of her hand. Evelyn stopped digging through her bag for her card.

"What?" Evelyn took her bag off the counter and placed it back on her lap. "Says who?"

"Says the boss." Cora laughed as she jerked her chin towards someone behind her.

"It's the least I can do." Snart dragged as he leaned on the counter beside her.

"Thanks, Cora." Evelyn said purposely ignoring the man in the leather jacket. It was immature and she knew it, but she didn't want to talk to Leonard right now.

Snart emitted a soft breathy chuckle then took a seat on the stool beside his ex-partner in crime. "So it's gonna be like that?" He asked her clearly amused by her behavior. "I'm letting you drink free tonight."

"Oh wow, you're such a pure soul." Evelyn told him in mock appreciation as she still refused to meet his gaze. Leonard, however, had no problem keeping his eyes trained on the brunette even if it was only the side of her face.

"Do you want your usual?" Cora asked Snart as she fought her laughter. For a second Evelyn forgot that the woman had been standing there watching their interaction.

"I'm good." Snart denied her offer. "I got a business deal tonight, and I need to be focused." Evelyn scoffed at the mention of his plans for selling tonight. She wondered when the hell he started participating in black markets. Although, she also couldn't help but wonder what it was that he was selling tonight.

"No need to scoff Evelyn. You once ran with this crowd or did you forget?" Snart had no problem reminding her of her roots with his cocky smirk.

"That was my past." Evelyn spoke up a bit defensively. She finally met his gaze and her heartbeat picked up its pace a bit. His smirk widened when his icy blue eyes stared into her beautiful hazel ones. He knew all he had to do was get her fired up, and she'd finally make eye contact.

"Wait.." Cora's voice broke the tension that lingered between the two of them. Evelyn blinked a couple of times before she turned her head to the redhead. "You're the famous Evelyn?"

"I'm famous?" Evelyn voice squeaked a little.

"You weren't what I pictured at all." Cora gaped as she took in Evelyn's appearance. Her eyes shamelessly traveled from Evelyn's face to every other inch of her body. Evelyn shuffled a bit in her seat which earned a low chuckle from Leonard. "And I mean that in the best way."

"Why? What exactly did you hear?"

"Not much. Just that you were once his partner and that you left to better yourself." Cora replied with a shrug, and her words were surprising. She never expected Leonard to tell the truth and not some exaggerated lie. She also never expected him to tell the bartender which made her wonder who this woman was. But mostly, she never expected him to talk about her after all these years. "But he failed to mention that you're smokin' hot." She added as she smirked at Leonard who only shrugged.

"Uh, thanks." Evelyn replied slowly and rather awkwardly. Cora sent her a playful wink then scurried off to make drinks for the new faces at the bar.

"So are we going back to ignoring Leonard?" Snart questioned sarcastically the minute Evelyn went back to ignoring his presence.

"I'm not talking to you." She huffed.

Leonard rolled his eyes but never left his spot at the bar. "Alright."

"Are you sending people to spy on me?" Evelyn asked him mere seconds later. Her constant mood swings would've taken anybody else back but Leonard had grown accustomed to it.

"Caught a second wind I see." Leonard taunted.

"Answer my question." She demanded with furrowed brows. This was a serious matter to her and she was in no mood for games.

"No." He replied firmly and slightly annoyed that she would accuse him of something like that. "Why would I have people spy on you? I mean I don't even know what's more ridiculous sending my men to spy on you, or the fact that you think I would send my men to spy on you?"

"Then how does Lisa know I'm back in school?" Evelyn countered confidently with raised brows almost to say she caught him in the act of lying.

"I don't know, Facebook?" Leonard retorted drily, and Evelyn to rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't know how Lisa knew that, but instead of accusing me why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Okay, fine, I will."

"Good."

"Good."

"Great."

"Fantastic."

"Anything else you wanna accuse me of now that I'm here?" Leonard asked her sarcastically.

"Yeah, actually there is something." She replied with just as much sass.

"Shoot."

"Why did you want me here tonight?" Her question took him by surprise, but he was confused all the same.

"What are you talking about?" He asked her genuinely with raised eyebrows.

"You- you letting me drink free..." Evelyn trailed confused herself by his confusion.

"So?"

"Lisa came to my apartment and-" she cut off her claim when she caught the way Leonard was smiling at her. She saw it in his eyes that he was completely lost. "So you didn't have Lisa bring me here?"

"No." He laughed. "If I had Lisa bring you here, don't you think I would've made sure she'd left the detective's daughter back home?" His point made sense. So he wasn't having people spy on her which was a huge relief. He hadn't orchestrated for her to end up here tonight. So what in the world was Lisa up to? What was she trying to accomplish? She knew Lisa, and she knew she had intentions for everything that had happened thus far. She turned her head towards the dance floor to find Lisa already staring at them with mischief in her eyes. Her sharp glance forced Evelyn to look away.

"I'm- I'm sorry I accused you." She told him honestly, and she had to admit she was embarrassed. Her voice was just as gentle as her hand that now and suddenly laid on his hand. He stared down at her soft small hand that rested upon his on the counter beside her untouched drink. "I've just been on edge lately."

"It's uh-" he cleared his throat before he continued with his thought. "It's fine. Let's just drop it."

"Agreed." She hummed with a small nod. A smile made its way across her lips as her eyes had softened. Leonard cleared his throat again before he quickly got to his feet. Evelyn pulled her hand back at his sudden movements.

"I gotta go." He mumbled before he disappeared into the crowd.

Evelyn turned herself in her chair to face the bar. She picked up her drink before her eyes landed on the redheaded bartender. She smirked like she knew something that Evelyn didn't know which is true for Cora. Cora found humor in the fact that her boss and the disappointed girl before her were oblivious to the truth. But those two were enough to prove to Cora that not everyone can see what's right in front of them.

A/N

rewritten: 2/8/22