The Trouble with Love Chapter 10
“I told you, Emil. I’m fine.” Oliver replied as he started to put his shirt back on. It wasn’t just his eyesight that improved.
His sense of hearing had improved as well. He wasn’t going to beat Clark anytime soon with his ‘super senses’, but everything was just sharper and clearer.
“That’s good to hear, I thought you’d be upset with everything that’s been printed.” Emil replied as he made some notes.
“What’s been printed?”
Emil paused as he looked at Oliver. When he saw the paper this morning, his first thought was that Oliver was going to hit the roof. He was already upset for Chloe, and Emil knew that even if Oliver won’t admit it, he knew what Oliver still felt for Chloe. “You haven’t read the papers?”
“It’s my day off. If it’s got nothing to do with the company, then I don’t want to know. If its league related, someone would’ve told me by now.”
“Oh.” Emil replied, and debated if he should tell Oliver or not. He took a deep breath as he walked to get his newspaper. Oliver was going to find out sooner or later, and Emil knew that Oliver won’t be pleased when he sees what’s been printed. “You might want to read this.”
“You’re reading the Inquisitor? Really, Emil...” the next words died in his throat as he saw a picture of Chloe, in Lex Luthor’s arms as he ushered her in a black SUV. The headline read: “President Luthor’s Affair with a Minor!”
Apparently, the summer Chloe spent in hiding was spent hiding as his lover before the trial. There were various pictures of them from the trial, with Lex always by her side, hand on her back.
Emil just stepped back and watched as Oliver flipped through the pages. “Oliver, you know that the pictures were from years ago...”
“I know.” Oliver replied curtly as he folded the paper and dropped it on the table. “I have to pick Connor up. Let me know the results of the tests when it’s done.”
The door slammed shut and Emil picked up the paper and threw it in the bin. “That went well.”
Inside the bullpen, Lois glared at anyone who dared mention the article to her or Clark, and they both have been unsuccessful in trying to get in touch with Chloe to ask how she was doing.
“So, is it true?”
Lois turned around to see Annie Jhonson the gossip columnist as she sauntered over to the duo.
“I don’t know.” Lois replied sweetly. “Are your boobs really natural?”
“Lois!” Clark hissed as Annie turned red. He watched as the woman smiled smugly as she looked at them both.
“I’ve been hearing things about your cousin.”
“And I’ve been hearing you’ve serviced everyone from the Metropolis Tigers. Isn’t that how you got your press pass from the last luncheon?” Lois asked instead as Annie turned even redder.
“Just because your cousin’s been found out to be Lex Luthor’s whore...”
“You finish that sentence, and you’re going to need more than a boob job.” Lois threatened as she stood up and glared at the woman before her. “Why don’t you try to do your job instead, the one that involves writing and not getting down on your knees and...”
“Okay, we got to go Lois,” Clark interrupted as he gently ushered Lois towards the elevator.
Once inside, Lois punched him in the chest, which caused Lois to wince as she glared at him. “She’s your best friend! Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Because having a word war with someone like Annie Jhonson isn’t going to solve our problem. I’m not happy about it either, Lois. We need to deal with this very carefully. We don’t want to do anything that will make Lex focus on Chloe.”
Lois folded her arms across her chest as they made their way out of the lobby. “Why is it all coming out now?”
“Re-election is coming; maybe they’re trying to find mud to fling against Lex.” Clark replied, but even he didn’t convince himself. He knew Lex well enough. There was no way this article got printed and went past him; he must have known about the story. Why did he allow it to go to print?
_*_
George Dean walked to Chloe’s office in Isis and watched contentedly as she sat behind the desk, phone in one hand as she read through some paper work.
There was something about Chloe, and he’d been trying unsuccessfully to break through her emotional walls. He’d never googled anyone before, but he never met anyone like Chloe before either.
Putting all her near death experience aside, her past with Oliver Queen was the most interesting one. There was never any confirmation, all assumptions, but it was pretty clear to him that they had a past, and for Chloe to be so close with his son from another woman made George wonder if he still stood a chance with Chloe.
She’d never told him to back off before, and until she did, he wasn’t going to. He knocked, and Chloe looked up in surprise as she saw him outside her office.
“George, come in!”
George smiled as he walked inside, and Chloe gestured for him to sit down. “How are you today?”
“All things considering, I’m doing well.” She replied as George sat down. “What brings you here today?”
“Two things, but I just wanted to check up on you first. You must have had quite a morning because of the Inquisitor.”
Chloe rolled her eyes as she saw the newspaper in George’s hands. “I’ve been saying ‘no comment’ ever since I got up this morning. I can’t wait for a new scandal for people to focus on. I’m pretty sure our dear President is ironing this mess out as we speak.”
George didn’t miss the not so subtle disdain in Chloe’s voice in referring to Lex Luthor.
“So, what can I do for you today, detective?”
“The first agenda actually is work related.”
“Okay, shoot.” Chloe said, slightly intrigued as George nodded his head before he spoke.
“I wanted to talk to you about Connor.”
“Oh.” Chloe looked surprised, and both of them suddenly shifted to a more professional tone. “Why?”
“I have a feeling that Connor may know more than what he’d said. I know what happened to him must have terrified him, but if there’s something that he hasn’t mentioned...”
Chloe bit her lip as she looked at George. She had a feeling that Connor wasn’t being completely upfront, but she didn’t want to push him. “You want me to talk to him?”
“I know he’s pretty close to you, he might be able to confide in you.”
“He’s been pretty quiet lately, the shock of seeing his dad get shot. It hasn’t been easy for him.”
George nodded. “That’s why Barry and I didn’t want to push him. We had that place heavily surrounded. How could these three men just disappear?”
Chloe wanted to know that too, though she was sure George wasn’t going to believe any of her theories. Not that she could share them in the first place. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll have to ask his dad if it’s okay.”
At the mention of Connor’s father, George decided to play his second card.
“My second reason for seeing you today is actually more personal. I was hoping we could have an actual dinner date. Where we both know that it’s just us two having dinner, and out on a date, as oppose to a staged dinner...”
Chloe hoped that he didn’t notice her blush at his invitation. Once upon a time, his smile would’ve made her heart flutter. She had no reason to turn him down, but there was a part of her that was afraid of opening her heart again.
“Just one night, on a place, time and date of your choosing.” George added when he saw her hesitation.
“George, you’re a really, really nice... I just don’t know ...”
“All I ask is for one night, Chloe. Have dinner with me, just one night.”
Chloe looked at him, and found that she couldn’t look away. “I... I think I can manage that.”
George grinned as Chloe smiled, unsure if she made the right decision. “One night.”
Before George can say anything, Lois walked in followed by Clark.
“Hey, Chloe... Detective Dean.” Lois greeted and gave a not so subtle smile to Chloe.
“Miss Lane, Mr. Kent.” George greeted as he stood up and Clark held on to Lois hoping that Lois wouldn’t say anything to embarrass Chloe.
“Aunt Chloe! I’m here!” A voice cried out, and they all looked as Connor ran towards Chloe still in his school uniform.
“Hello, Connor.”
Connor nodded in return towards George as he embraced Chloe.
“Connor, you forgot your bag!”
Everyone looked as Oliver entered the office. He looked at everyone in the room before his eyes settled on Chloe. “I just need to give this to Connor.”
He walked inside the office to hand the school bag to Connor. “Detective, Lois, Clark, Chloe.”
“Mr. Queen, how are you feeling?”
“Good. How’s the investigation going?”
George gave Chloe a look, which no one in the room missed. “It’s going well; I was actually hoping I could double check a few more things with you.”
“That’s not a problem, you can call my assistant to set up a time, or we can talk today...”
“Today would be great, Mr. Queen. Should I just meet you at the precinct?”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. I just need to speak to Connor for a while.”
George nodded his head and gave Chloe a smile as he said his good bye. “Thanks, Chloe. It’s good to see you again, Connor.”
“That was uneventful.” Lois muttered as George walked away, disappointed there wasn’t a display of male testosterone.
“You promise to be good?” Oliver asked as Connor nodded his head. “Do all your homework, alright?” Connor nodded again and Oliver smiled as he ruffled his son’s hair.
“I know the economy isn’t exactly in top shape, but I’m pretty sure you can hire a nanny instead of dumping your son on my cousin.”
Oliver and Chloe looked at Lois in shock while Clark gave Lois a nudge.
“Lois. You know I love spending time with Connor.” Chloe said softly as the boy held on to Chloe tighter.
Lois resisted the urge to feel guilty at the hurt expression on Connor’s face. “Clark and I wanted to talk to you about the news today.”
“Is there anything wrong, Aunt Chloe?”
“It’s nothing, Connor.” Chloe replied as she smiled. “I’ve got some of your favourite chips in the cupboard. Why don’t you go to the kitchen for a while and eat?”
Connor nodded went to the kitchen with his school bag and Oliver turned around to face Lois. “I know you have a problem with me Lois, but kindly keep my son out of it.”
There was no mistaking the sound of Oliver’s anger.
Clark spoke up before things could get out of hand. “We need to figure out what to do with the article.”
“It’s not an article, Clark. It’s a useless piece of information that’s been printed.” Chloe said as she stepped away from them to return some files on the cabinet. “We don’t have to do anything unless it gets out of hand, which I don’t think it will.”
“Define out of hand?” Lois asked as she walked to where Chloe was. “For all we know this is part of another bright idea by Lex Luthor.”
“And how are we going to respond if it is? Release a statement? I’m not going to play into his hand, Lois. He’s the one who needs to do some damage control. He’s the one with everything to lose.”
Oliver stood there as he listened to Lois and Chloe argue and all he could think of was that Chloe changed her perfume. It wasn’t the same scent he was used too, it wasn’t unpleasant; but it wasn’t her usual scent.
“Oliver, are you alright?” Clark asked as he looked at Oliver who looked like something was troubling him.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I need to go and see Detective Dean. I just need to say good bye to Connor.” He said distractedly as he made his way to the kitchen. “Chloe, if you need to have this whole thing with the Inquisitor taken care of, let me know.”
Chloe just nodded, and as Oliver walked away, he could still smell the scent of her perfume.
End Chapter
All I can say is it’s a good thing this chapter was finished a few days ago, otherwise,
I wouldn’t have been able to write anything. We just didn’t lose, we got smashed. 4-0.
Hope you guys enjoy this! I’ll just go sulk in a corner *sob*