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TODAY THUS FAR has been pretty calm. Well, apart from finding out that Barry's latest criminal was her ex-partner. Her mind, however, did not forget to remind her that by the end of the day things will take quite the turn. It always does. She can never have a peaceful day.
"Wanna another?" Iris asked her from behind the counter at Jitters. Evelyn left Barry back at their Lab with the woman from Starling City a while ago to come here to study for her final. She had been sitting at the counter with her head buried in her books. "You look like you could use it. My treat."
"Sure." She replied softly. Iris flashed her a quick smile before she hurried off to make her another caramel iced coffee.
Iris finished her masterpiece and topped it off with whipped cream. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as she found her best friend highlighting a whole paragraph of notes. About twenty minutes ago, she checked on Evelyn and told her to take a small break since she had been at it for hours. After a couple of minutes of arm twisting, she finally agreed; but the minute Iris turned her back she went straight into her study routine.
"Here." She said with a smirk as she placed the coffee in front of Evelyn. Distracted by her highlighting, Evelyn muttered a quick thank you.
"Remember that break you said you'd take?" Iris asked her sarcastically. Evelyn chuckled to herself.
"I know, I'm sorry, but-" her phone dinged before she could offer Iris another lame excuse. Her heart tightened in her chest upon reading the name of the owner of the text.
"Who's Lisa?" Iris asked her with a scrunched nose.
"Uh, a friend from my days in foster care. My only friend from foster care actually." Evelyn lied smoothly. She had to admit, she was pretty proud of herself for coming up with that lie on the spot.
"Oh..." Iris said with a small frown. She believed her lie, so that earned Evelyn a mental pat on the back.
Evelyn unlocked her phone to read the message from the girl from her past. 'Meet me at the bakery around the corner from the Central City's Museum. We need to talk.'
"I gotta go." Evelyn told Iris as she had begun shoving her books into her bag. Her brain screamed at her. It begged her to ignore the message. She knew nothing good will come from this meeting, but Evelyn had so many questions that needed answering. Questions like: when did Lisa get her number? Well, more like when at the club did Lisa took her phone and added her number?
"Is everything okay?" Iris asked her. She was concerned about Evelyn's sudden rush to leave. Iris walked out from behind the counter to join her.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Just meeting up with Lisa. I haven't seen her in ages." Evelyn lied once more successfully.
"Okay, well, I'll walk you out." Iris said cheerfully, and Evelyn agreed so it wouldn't look suspicious. Besides, what's the harm in her walking her toward the door?
Laughter can be heard outside, getting louder as it's owners approach the establishment. A smirk tugged at Evelyn's lips when a smiling Barry walked into Jitters not before opening the door for a smiling Felicity. "Hey, you two!" Iris said the moment they stepped inside.
"Hey." Felicity replied softly.
Barry cheeks tinted a bit. "We're not a two." Barry said, and Evelyn mentally facepalmed.
"Oh, no." Felicity caught onto the misread and nonexistent hidden meaning in Iris's words thanks to Barry awkward Allen. "We are one and one." She pointed to herself then to Barry as to emphasize their claim that they're not interested in one another. Barry quietly agreed and Iris simply nodded her head. Iris was trying her hardest to mask her amusement.
"Evelyn." The pair said in unison.
"One and one." She greeted them with a smirk, and their faces were priceless. "So, I'm assuming Barry kept his word? He's been showing you some of the sights in Central City?" She remembered Felicity talking about how she wanted to see more of the city before she left. Barry awkwardly and adorably said he'd take her in a stuttering mess.
"Yes.." She begun. Her voice was soft. "I've seen some pretty amazing things." She added slowly as her eyes drifted to Barry.
"Really? Well, if you got time maybe we can show you some of Central City's nightlife?" Iris asked hopeful that she'd agree. Evelyn on the other hand prayed she didn't wanna hit another club. After a few weeks ago, she's done with clubs for a while.
"Oh, no." Felicity said while she shook her head vigorously. "I get plenty of nightlife in Starling City." Yeah, well with Green Arrow running all over Starling City at night. What could possibly top that?
"Oh, this is something that I don't think you're gonna wanna miss." Iris said cheekily while she placed her empty tray on an unoccupied table beside her. Her hand searched the inside pocket of her jeans and pulled out a folded paper. "Trivia night at Jitters!" She told everyone excitedly while she held up the flyer.
"Eddie's not really excited about it, I admit." She added with a slight frown. "But it could be our night guys."
Barry took the flyer to study it. "Our night to win seventy five dollars worth of cappuccinos..."
Felicity took the flyer from Barry's grasp. "Uh, yum." She said excitedly before she had begun to reread the prize portion of the flyer to herself. "You know what, I'm gonna go call work and check in, make sure everything's fine. I'll be back in a second." She handed Barry the flyer before she stepped outside.
Barry waited patiently for Felicity to be out of earshot before he glared slightly at Iris. "Why are you doing this?" He asked her sternly.
"Doing what?" She said pretending she had no ulterior motives. Even though they all knew she was trying to get those two together. If only Iris knew it was way obvious when she pulled out her matchmaking skills.
"The trivia night with you and Eddie, forcing this whole double date thing."
"Because that girl is great, and she happens to come from your very rare species of adorable nerds." Iris explained her reasoning for why she had been pushing them together. Evelyn knew she meant well, but Iris could not see that the one Barry wanted to be with was her. "Why didn't you tell me more about her?"
"Iris..." Evelyn warned her with a soft sigh.
"There's nothing to tell. She's just a friend."
But Iris carried on despite Evelyn's failed attempt at interfering. "Barry, girls don't just hop on trains and travel hundreds of miles to see someone they don't like." Iris told Barry softly and he sighed. He had clearly given up on the subject. He could tell Iris that there was nothing between him and Felicity until his face turned blue, and it still wouldn't make a difference. Iris will still hold on tightly to her opinion.
"See this is why you need my help." Iris said with a smug smile as she smacked his shoulder gently. "Bring her tonight we'll have fun."
"Yeah fun." Barry mumbled, and Evelyn placed her hand on his shoulder, giving him a squeeze.
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Evelyn glanced into the small bakery through the window. Her hands hovered over the handle. Lisa sat at a table for two in the far back corner. She wore a pair of light blue jeans, a black sweater that's a bit too big for her figure. Evelyn believed that it could be her brothers. Her long, brown, wavy hair is pulled into a high ponytail. Lisa's blue eyes soon landed on Evelyn's figure, and now she had no choice but to go inside. Any chance of bailing she had is now gone.
Evelyn inhaled a deep breath then the walked into the bakery. Lisa peeked up in her seat. A soft smile made its way onto her face. Evelyn sat in front of her without a word. They both sat there quietly for a moment staring at one another. There was an awkward silence lingering.
Lisa broke the uncomfortable silence. "So, I'm glad you came. I honestly thought you weren't going to show." She said the last bit with an empty chuckle.
"Yeah, well, here I am." Evelyn said as she awkwardly fidgeted with her hands. Lisa bit down on her bottom lip. Evelyn observed her for a brief moment. Her aura was off today. She was not being her usually overly flirtatious self. "Not to be rude or anything, but why did you wanna talk to me?" She asked Lisa after the younger Snart made no effort to speak.
Lisa's face paled slightly. She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat. "Have you talked to Lenny lately?"
"No? I don't talk to him. You should know that." Evelyn said a bit annoyed. She should have known this was why Lisa asked her here. Her mind suddenly wandered back to all the questions she had for Lisa. What was she trying to do?
"Look, I'm worried about him, okay?" Lisa said genuinely serious, and Evelyn pushed away all her questions. It was odd for her to see Lisa so concerned. Despite everything that has happed in their rocky past, Lisa was still her friend. "He's been acting strange."
"Strange how?" Evelyn asked with raised brows.
"He's been more guarded up than usual. I've caught him whispering on the phone, or arguing with someone on the other end. But the minute I make myself known, he hangs up. He keeps disappearing in the middle of the night, and now I haven't seen him in a week." She stressed her concern for her brother to Evelyn. Everything Lisa has stated was a bit weird. Leonard Snart is a complicated man. But after a lot of time spent around him, you begin to pick up and understand his complexity to the point where it becomes normal. His recent behavior was abnormal when it came to a man like Leonard Snart.
"That is a bit weird..." Evelyn said slowly, and Lisa frowned which pulled at Evelyn's heartstrings. "But I'll talk to Leonard."
"Do you even know where to find him?" Lisa asked Evelyn curiously as she finished up her coffee. She stood abruptly from her chair, and Evelyn copied her movements. Lisa then placed what she owed on the table, and nodded her head toward the door.
"Not exactly, no." Evelyn admitted as they walked out of the bakery. They strolled down the street toward the Central City Museum in unison. "But I have a place in mind." She added with a small smile as she thought about it.
"Oh." Lisa hummed but Evelyn could practically hear the smugness in her voice.
"What?" Evelyn asked her. She glanced at Lisa and she was fighting her laughter.
"You were talking about you and Lenny's place? Right?" Lisa asked her with a smirk, and Evelyn's face had become flustered.
"It's not our place." She replied rather defensively, but Lisa didn't believe her one bit. "It's just a place that Leo and I use to go to a lot, together..." Evelyn shook her head at the thought. "but that doesn't make it our place." She added a little more strongly to make herself clear.
"Oh no, of course not." Lisa agreed with a hint of sarcasm in her tone. Evelyn rolled her eyes.
"What were you trying to do that night anyway?" Evelyn finally asked Lisa about her true intentions at Leonard's club.
"What night?"
"The night you showed up at my house." She said and Lisa attempted once more to play dumb. "Girls night? Bringing me to Leonard's club?" She elaborated with a slight frustrated whine.
"I just wanted to see you is all." Lisa said nonchalantly with a shrug. "We were once great friends. Some may even say we were like sisters."
"And how did you know I'm back in school?"
"I asked around and did my research." Lisa said, and Evelyn searched her face and eyes for any hint of dishonesty but there wasn't any. However, Lisa had been known for hiding her emotions very well. Just like she's known for her acting skills which she's had plenty of enough practice. She was in theater class all throughout high school, and at some point in time she dreamed of being a professional actress. Unfortunately, Lewis smashed those dreams into tiny pieces a long while ago.
"I don't believe you." Evelyn said with a smirk.
"On which part?" Lisa chuckled.
"The part about girls night."
"Well, you were never stupid."
"So, you admit you had ulterior motives?" Evelyn smacked her playfully as they turned the corner.
Lisa shrugged with a lopsided smirk. "It'll all make sense in time."
"Lisa-" Evelyn stopped mid sentence the moment she noticed the commotion on the street. People crowd on the sidewalk watching a man in a black coat speed walk away from another man who's running after him. The man shoved those who got in his way. After what felt like minutes of concentrating on the scene before her, she noticed the man running was Joe.
Evelyn glanced to Lisa who face had deadpanned. "I gotta go." She muttered before disappearing in the opposite direction of the crowd. Evelyn let her go and pushed her way through the crowd until she was standing in front. Her eyes landed on Leonard's back from her place across the street. Oddly, he just stood there, but Evelyn knew something was up.
"Snart!" Joe screamed as he ran toward him, but he didn't get that far. For the next few seconds played out so fast, so sudden, that even Evelyn's instincts didn't get to kick in. Leonard pulled out a weird abnormal looking gun and pointed it at the street the minute he heard the sirens in the distance getting closer. He pulled the trigger and ice shot out freezing the entire street and anything else that got in its path.
Screams of horror erupted as the police car slid across the frozen street, flipping over and sliding on its side toward the sidewalk. Joe jumped out of the way not noticing Evelyn frozen in place out of pure shock. Her eyes met Leonard's and a hint of shock and fear flashed within his blue eyes. She closed her eyes ready to embrace her fate when she felt a pair of strong arms around her waist.
She felt a cold wind on her face briefly before her eyes snapped open and are met with startled brown ones. Dressed in the famous red suit was her savior, Barry. She glanced around her surroundings to find that she was now standing in the park down the road. Barry gave her a quick once-over to make sure she was okay, before he disappeared in a blink of an eye. Evelyn had been left alone as she tried to get her heartbeat back on its natural course. The only trace of his presence was the wind that blew through her hair chaotically.
What the hell just happened?