Heartbeats
by Martana R. Alexander
Oliver Q. and Chloe S.
T
In between the heartbeats. He took a breath as he thought back to that moment. Her small petite body had been pressed to his, one hand on her arm holding the bow, the other with his fingers on top of hers. The tension on the bow string was nothing in comparison to the sexual tension in the air.
He was sprawled across his bed, having not moved since crashing out hours before. how one girl could make him think so much was too much for him to understand. she could say one thing and send him thinking.
When was the last time he had truly had fun? In all honesty his life seemed charmed. Since his introduction to the public as "Oliver Queen of Queen Industries" there had been no problem with finding a day anytime he wanted. In all honesty, he had to turn away women almost as often as he had to breath. Sex was much the same way. At least before he had become the Green Arrow it had been.
Truly the only problem he had ever had with women was when he tried to get serious. Tess had been one. She had been sweet and innocent when he met her. Had it been what they went through on the island that had changed her? Was it him and their relationship? Was it something else all together? The only thing that he did know was that she had taken a turn since their split.
Then there had been Lois. The woman had been his match in every way that mattered, and because of that he had truly cared. over the years he had questioned the origins of his feelings for Tess, but he had never doubted his feelings for Lois. Letting her go had been one of the hardest things he had ever done. Her amazing resilience was the only thing that got him through it; and seeing her now, happy with Clark, stung but yet made him feel better.
Then of course came the level of bad behavior that was so unfitting for a hero to have. The parade of loose women, some who would accompany him in his limo on short trips during which he would use the privacy of tinted windows to his benefit to temporarily satisfy his needs. Some days he had bedded anywhere between one to five girls, depending on his schedule. And along with it all, he had drunk himself into oblivion.
Still, somehow he had survived. Scarred by many of his actions, but still alive. Now, on the other side, his mistakes were too obvious. He was battered, maybe he would even go so far as to say he was broken.
As he laid there on his bed the whole world came into focus. Through everything he had drug himself through, everything he had drug his friends through, and every stupid thing that had happened for no reason one person had been there for him.
She knew that he would ruin things. He had never learned how to handle his emotions and reactions. If anything could e kept from a billionaire, it seemed that any and all forms of caring and love were often too much to take in. She knew it all and did what she could to save him from himself, as well as the world. He didn't always like her methods, but they were effective.
The room was silent as he laid there. The only sounds his own breathing and heartbeat. Somewhere, between the heartbeats, he knew. Now it was time to let the proverbial arrow loose to hit its target.