Chapter 3

Chloe quickly opened the door to her apartment, slammed the door, then resting her back up against it, tried to catch her breath. The events of the day swirled in her mind threatening to overwhelm her.

Breathe, Chloe. Just breathe, she reminded herself.

Things had not turned out the way she had hoped when Oliver had come over earlier in the afternoon. She had envisioned a much different outcome than this one. She saw the look in his face today. She had let him down; deceived him.

Chloe had all along justified her actions, by convincing herself it was for the good of the world. She had not confided in Oliver thinking that he would not have agreed to her plan, particularly the part about keeping Clark in the dark. The problem with their hero friend was that even though he had super powered vision, he was just unable or unwilling to see how dangerous the Kandorians were becoming; how they were not to be trusted.

She felt as though she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands. After all, Lois had gone to the future and seen their certain demise at the hands of these Kandorians. Chloe was not about to go quietly to that destiny and somehow the thought of something terrible happening to Oliver, frightened her more than the thought of her own death.

She and Oliver couldn't have come from more different backgrounds, but they shared a common sense of purpose in life. When many months ago, he had lost his purpose, she knew Oliver was still a hero deep down, with or without his secret identity as Green Arrow. She just had to get him to see it too. She was still reeling from the death of Jimmy, and she just couldn't bear the thought of losing someone close to her again. And she too, knew what it was like to hit rock bottom. She had been there herself.

Nevertheless, she was grateful when he finally came around. And when he held her hand and thanked her outside the coffee shop, she felt the spark of something go through her. For some unknown reason it stirred in her feelings for Oliver she hadn't even known existed. She however, pushed aside these emotions like she always did.

And it was a very good thing she had, because all along Oliver had still been pining for Lois. She could see it in his eyes the way he looked at his old girlfriend, and she wouldn't admit even to herself that it was a painful thing to watch from afar. Chloe was actually surprised at her reaction to how she felt about that, and then to the relief she felt when she knew that Lois wasn't in love with Oliver; she was falling in love with Clark. There was a day when she would have been devastated to have her cousin whom she adored, fall for the man of her dreams. But interesting enough, Clark had ceased to be that man to her a long time ago.

Then one night, Oliver was shooting arrows at Watchtower when she walked into the tower full of disillusionment. It was strange that she had worked so hard to get him to see he had a life worth living for, when she had been the one barely existing. It took an encounter with a little boy in the body of a superhero to see she had just been going through the motions of life. But it's funny how things can change in one instant.

She still blushed at the thought of that night. All her pent-up desires and emotions exploded together like a chemistry experiment gone wrong. But nothing had ever felt so right. Was it fate? Or was it just two people who were alone in life wanting to have some fun and just forget about life stresses. Heaven knows they both had a lot of that.

From that day on, she tried to not have any expectations when it came to Oliver, but she looked forward to each new day, with it bringing the hope of just being with him, even if it didn't end up intimately, although it most often did. Just like today, when she had been so excited when he walked into her apartment. Why do I feel such a connection to him? Why am I dreaming of him every night?

She took off her coat, and went over to her computer, booting it back up and returning to the site she had been viewing previously when Oliver had arrived.

Stop it, Chloe. You are acting like a dumb schoolgirl, she thought to herself. You cannot fall in love with Oliver. You will just get hurt.

Shaking her head to try to clear her mind, she walked towards the kitchen. She knew it was going to be a long night. She had better make a big pot of coffee.

But first things, first, she told herself. Oliver had said earlier that Tess might be listening. How, she did not know, but she did a quick search of her apartment to make sure there weren't any bugs planted. She would not put it past that bitch to do something like that, but was relieved when she didn't find any. There was certainly no love lost between the two women. She was just sorry that Oliver shared a past with Tess. They would probably always have a connection.

Now she had to get down to business. There was a lot to do before tomorrow night came around.

She just had to get Oliver's money back. Her plan had to work. She thought back to his words to her earlier today and the way he had looked at her. She couldn't bear the thought of disappointing him again. And she was literally gambling on paying him back.