When you're dreaming with a broken heart,
The wakin' up is the hardest part.
Dreaming With a Broken Heart
John Mayer
-12-
Chloe was surprised when she heard him chuckle in response to her statement. "Oh?" he asked, mildly surprised by her sudden statement. A flash of irritation shot through her, not because he had laughed, but because of the voice distorter he was still wearing. What had once been mysterious and sexy she now despised. That blasted device was just one more way he hid from her.
She sighed, trying to shove the negative thought away. She knew how it was. After all, Clark was completely in love with Lois, but he couldn't afford to tell her he was Superman. And it wasn't out of selfishness, or because he didn't trust her. It was just that he wanted to protect her.
With her eyes shut tight, she spoke. "This afternoon, someone asked me on a date - "
She felt his body stiffen beneath her.
" - and I said yes."
Oliver could have shot himself in the foot. As a matter of fact, he already had. The repercussions of what he had done that afternoon slammed into him in full force. How had he not seen this coming? He really should have, all things considered. Of course Chloe felt guilty. It was like she was cheating on him!
...although he wasn't sure which one of him she was cheating on, now that he thought about it.
Damn, I need therapy. What am I? Schizo?
He shook his head, then stopped, realizing Chloe's face was still buried in his neck. Gently he nudged her so she would lift her face to him. He knew she couldn't see him, but he wanted to see her.
"It's okay."
A flash of hurt shot across her face and he mentally cursed.
Shit. Wrong thing to say. Great. She probably wishes I'd get angry or jealous. Of myself. Holy shit. I'm so screwed right now. How did I not realize this was going to happen?
He sat in silence for a moment, continually wondering how he had managed to be so stupid. In his mind, it hadn't mattered because he was the same person. It hadn't even occurred to him that the Green Arrow might be upset that Chloe was going on a date with Oliver Queen because they were the same person. But she didn't know that.
Shit.
Finally, he took a deep breath. "I mean, it's not that it's okay so much as it is better for you. I - this isn't fair to you, what we're doing." And it wasn't. That much, at least, he'd known from the beginning. He wished with every fiber of his being that he could come clean to her right then and there, but he knew he couldn't. She'd bolt so fast it would give him whiplash.
She trusted Green Arrow. He needed time so she could come to trust Oliver Queen now.
Bracing himself, he asked the question he knew he needed to, "Do you want me to stop coming to see you?" he asked.
"No!" she said before she could stop herself. Then she groaned, dropping her face back down to the crook of his neck. "Yes."
Even with his gut clenching at the words, he couldn't help the small smile at how adorable she was. He rubbed a soothing hand over her back before stroking her hair, playing lightly with it, feeling like an ass. "Okay."
He felt even worse when he felt something suspiciously like a tear hit his shoulder. He wondered how hard it was for her to hold back what he knew she must want to say at the moment. He knew how curious she was, knew it had been killing her to not know who he was. Right then and there it had to be bordering on torturous for her to not just demand to know who he was.
Hang in there, Chlo, he told her silently. Don't give up, yet.
After a few long minutes, he realized it would be best if he left her. The longer he drew this out, the worse it would be for her.
But as she felt him shift from under her, she immediately protested. "Don't go," she said.
He closed his eyes, guilt twisting in his gut. He'd brought this on her. It had been completely unnecessary to do this to her. What was wrong with him? "What do you want me to do, Chloe? You know I can't stay for long," he reminded her, absolutely hating himself for it, knowing he was making her feel cheap even if that wasn't the reason for it.
She rolled off of him, burying her face in the pillow. "Fine."
Another pang. "I just...Chloe."
She didn't respond.
"Chloe, I can leave now or I can leave once you're asleep." He was going to ask which she preferred but he decided to go with the harsh truth, "Which is worse?"
She didn't respond at first, but he realized she seemed to be debating the question. Finally she pushed herself up, apparently having collected herself. "You should go."
He looked down, resigning himself before he got up from the bed and started searching for his gear, putting it on piece by piece, hating himself with every movement.
Idiot, he scolded himself. Idiotic, selfish, stupid...God, you're worse than the media thinks you are, Queen!
She startled him when she spoke again. "Are you dressed?" she asked.
Pulling his hood back up he nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him. "Yeah."
She reached over and clicked on the lamp, standing from the bed, sheet wrapped around her, having discarded her sweat soaked shirt. She walked over to him beside her window. To his surprise, she reached up on her toes and pulled him down to kiss him gently. When she pulled back, she pressed her forehead against his and said, with her eyes closed, "You can still come to me. For help, I mean. I don't need you to leave me alone entirely." She parted from him, opening her eyes again and laughed a little. "And anyway, I'd miss arguing with you about stuff."
His heart broke. He shook his head, wanting to knock some sense in her. He leaned down and kissed her again, hard. When he pulled back, he looked at her sternly, but there was the barest hint of teasing in his voice. "Do yourself a favor and learn how to be a little selfish, okay?"
Day 1
Chloe woke the next morning, for just a moment unsure why her chest felt tight like she wanted to cry. Then, slowly, the previous night came flooding back to her and she groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow.
What had she done?
Her mind flashed to Oliver Queen and she beat a fist into her pillow, realizing what an idiot she must be. She'd broken things off with someone she was quite possibly in love with in favor of someone she wasn't even sure she liked. What was wrong with her?
Granted, there was slightly more to it than that, but why hadn't she at least taken Lois's advice and waited? She should have held her tongue on the subject unless it was for someone serious. For all she knew, her date with Queen would be the one and only.
Speaking of which, she still wasn't even sure why that lunatic had asked her out to begin with. She wasn't exactly proud of her behavior around him, but the fact remained that she'd been abominable to him. What in the world would make him want to ask her out for that?
"Psychotic...arrogant...attractive...billionaire!" she muttered the curses into her pillow, feeling helpless.
She rolled over and stared at the ceiling, wondering if it held some answers for her.
One thing was certain. She was not going into work today. Absolutely not. If ever there was a time to stay home and wallow in coffee-flavored ice cream with excessive amounts of hot fudge, this was it.
She dragged herself out of bed and found some clothes, intending to call Lois first, and then work, but her phone beat her to the punch. Just as she reached for it, Lois's ringtone went off.
Frowning at it, she picked it up and answered it.
"Lo?"
"Hey, cuz," Lois groaned into the fun.
"Lois, are you all right?"
"Yeah...not so much. I have some sort of stomach virus and I - " she paused and Chloe had the suspicion she was gagging. " - and there's no way I can come in. You're going to have to meet with Prinn's secretary without me. I'm so sorry."
Chloe's heart sank. Of course this would happen. Of course it would. "Are you sure you're going to be all right? You sound awful."
"Believe it or not, Smallville's on his way."
"What?" Chloe quirked an eyebrow, momentarily distracted.
"I was - oh, God, hang on." The phone line was suddenly silent as Lois made a wild dash for the bathroom. Chloe could just barely hear the retching sounds in the distance. A few minutes later, Lois was back.
"Lois, maybe you should see a doctor."
"Already made an appointment. Like, I said, Smallville's coming over because...well I'm not really sure why, but I said I couldn't partner with him on the assignment like I promised because I was ill, and the next thing I knew he said he was on his way. Something about soup. I don't know. But I'll make him take me to the doctor. I'll be fine."
Chloe couldn't help the small smile at the fact that Clark had risen to the occasion as per usual, but she was still concerned. "Okay, but just let me know if you need anything, okay, Lo?"
"Thanks, cuz. Let me know how everything goes at lunch. I've sent you an e-mail with the details."
"Thanks, hun. Feel better, okay?"
"Thanks. Bye. Good luck."
They hung up and Chloe dropped to the floor in misery. "Not fair," she accused her phone. She fell back and laid on the floor for a few minutes, trying to motivate herself to move. It wasn't working very well.
Finally, resigned to the fact that she was just going to be angst-y no matter what she did, she pushed herself up and headed for her kitchen, figuring it would be best to start injecting caffeine into her veins at the earliest available opportunity. She hit the power button on her laptop and then poured herself a mug, leaving it black. She sipped it as she opened her front door and picked up the morning paper. As soon as she saw the headline, though, she tossed it on the counter and didn't look at it for the rest of the day. It was her latest article on the Green Arrow and how he'd rescued a couple of kids trapped in an apartment complex that had been set on fire by an arsonist.
Instead she headed to her computer and unthinkingly opened her e-mail, a habit from long before she had met the Green Arrow.
That didn't make it any less of a shock to her when her inbox was empty. She hadn't necessarily been thinking about checking for something from him when she went to look, but now that she was staring at the screen, the blatant lack of messages from him seemed to be harshly dumping ice water over her, ringing home the full scale of what she'd done.
She dropped her face to her hands and released a silent sob.
Chloe had been at work for only a couple of hours when her phone rang.
"Chloe?"
"Oliver?" she asked, recognizing the voice. Her heart thudded lightly. This was bad. This guy had no idea how much pressure was on him. She was pretty much praying her would sweep her off her feet so that the previous night wouldn't be the worst mistake of her life, but at the same time, she wasn't holding out much hope.
He hesitated, and when he spoke again, she could hear guilt thick in his voice. "I - " he released a heavy sigh. "God, I'm just really angry at myself right now - you can't possibly imagine the half of it, trust me - but I have to cancel on you."
"Cancel?" she asked, her heart sinking into her stomach. "We don't even have a set day."
She heard a frustrated sound on the other end. "I know. Please, please believe me when I say if there was any way around this - " he cut off, apparently too upset to continue.
She frowned at how guilty he sound. "What's going on?" she prompted, trying to figure out just why he felt so bad. Of course, she was feeling sick to her stomach, but from his perspective, well, it was just a date.
"It turns out I'm leaving the country indefinitely. I don't know what to tell you. I'm really sorry. There's nothing I can do about it."
"Indefinitely?" she'd latched onto the word. "But...well, I mean, you're coming back eventually, right?"
He breathed heavily again, sounding exhausted. "Yeah, it's just...probably going to be a lot more than a week before I make it back. I really don't know how long at this point. I'm just...you know, I had this whole great thing planned out for you - "
She blinked, slightly surprised at how important she apparently was to him. It wasn't at all what she expected from him.
" - and I know you think I'm just...worthless, but - "
She frowned. "I don't think you're worthless."
"Look, it's fine, just - "
"Oliver," she cut him off firmly. "I know I haven't exactly been amiable with you, but...well, it wasn't exactly intentional. And anyway, I wouldn't go out with someone I thought was worthless. Granted, I don't actually know if I like you or not, but I was willing to find out. Look, just...I don't know. Call me when you get back in town."
He paused for a long time. "I will. I'll try to let you know as soon as I can when I'll be home. Do you have an e-mail address where I can contact you?" he added as an afterthought.
"Yeah, you can find it in the Planet this morning." She sighed, glaring resentfully at the front page lying at the corner of her desk.
"Right. I hadn't thought of that. Umm...so...I guess, I don't know; try not to get swept off your feet while I'm gone?" he joked weakly.
She laughed bitterly. "I sincerely doubt there's any danger of that." She sighed. "So just out of curiosity, what was it you had planned?"
"I'm not telling."
She paused. "Why not?"
"There's still a possibility I'll be able to pull it off when I get home," he explained.
"Right," she rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Five bucks says you have no idea what you were going to do with me."
He chuckled darkly on the other end. "Well, I had a few ideas..."
"Whatever you say, Queen," she said, missing his innuendo.
"Yeah, yeah. You wait and see, Sullivan."
She sighed gently. "If you say so. Either way, I imagine you have to go if you're leaving the country so suddenly, and, unfortunately," she checked her watch, "I have early lunch plans."
"Oh." There was a long pause. "Okay...well - " he stopped himself again. "Okay this is going to sound really weird and possibly creepy, but don't judge me on it, okay?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "O - kay?"
"I'm going to miss you."
She laughed in amusement. "Whatever, Queen. Call me when you're back in my neck of the woods," she told him before hanging up.
Kate Marsters was a thin, plain woman, with a small face and mousy brown hair. She wore a pair of red-framed glasses that seemed to be eternally slipping a little too far down her nose, and she embodied with acute perfection the idea of 'forgettable.' It also happened that she was Mayor Prinn's personal assistant of the last three years.
"The worst three years of my life," she groaned for the fiftieth time, and Chloe patted her arm sympathetically.
"Well, all I can say is that I can't thank you enough for agreeing to meet with me again. Lois was really sorry she couldn't be here." She took another sip of her coffee, counting down.
Three...two...
"I brought the files you asked about." Kate piped up.
FINALLY! "Oh! Thank you so much. Really."
The woman smiled grimly, holding the flash drive just out of reach for a brief moment. "And you swear this is to bring him down, right?" She'd lowered her voice, eyes briefly darting around the cafe to be certain no one was watching them. "I mean, I hate the guy, but I wouldn't hand Hitler over to be blackmailed." She paused. "Okay, well maybe Hitler, but - "
"I get the idea. And I can assure you, Kate, I'm doing this for unselfish reasons."
She nodded. "I know. I know that," she repeated, almost as if she were telling herself. "I've read your work for the Planet. You always write about that Green Arrow guy."
Chloe's heart felt like a needle had just shot through it. Great, she glanced discreetly at her watch, calculating. Twenty minutes since the last time I thought about him. The day's standing record. Yaaaaay.
"Are you all right?"
Chloe snapped her attention back to Kate. "I'm sorry. I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my mind."
Kate handed her the flash drive. "I have to go. My lunch break is almost over. And if I'm even a minute late...I swear I hate that guy," she groaned.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Chloe said, slipping the flash drive into her purse, "you're a hero today." She smiled encouragingly before tossing down a few bills on the table.
That night...
Oliver cupped her face in his hand and pulled her forward, sinking his lips into hers. It was soft and gentle and she felt her eyes slide closed, breathing into him. Her eyes flew open again when she felt a second body pressed behind her on the couch, his arm snaking around her waist to slide up the green silk skirt of her dress, finding her heat and cupping it with a leather gloved hand.
She gasped in surprise, and Oliver took advantage of her opened mouth, plunging his tongue inside of it and stroking hers forcefully. She grasped his arms for support, bucking her hips as the Green Arrow continued rubbing his hand over her pussy, slowly getting her more and more aroused. She kissed Oliver hungrily, trying to sate her need, feeling the erection pressed against her ass.
Oliver's hands slid from her cheek and neck and moved lower to her breasts, grasping them through the silk, thumbs brushing over her tightened nipples, causing Chloe to moan, grinding down on the hand still stroking her. She grasped at Oliver's shirt, tearing it open, forcing his hands from her momentarily as she tugged it from his body, needing to feel his bare skin. She heard the green arrow chuckle behind her, his lips kissing her shoulder and then her neck, finding her ear next and biting it teasingly as he pushed her panties aside and shoved two fingers inside her wet passage.
She cried out and Oliver covered her mouth with his to swallow the sound. He slid the straps of her dress down, letting it fall and expose her breasts to him. He pinched her buds as she whimpered into his mouth, arching into his hands and riding the two fingers now pumping in and out of her. Oliver's mouth sank lower and her head fell back to rest on the Green Arrow's shoulder. He closed his lips over one of her breasts, sucking at the bud and tugging a mixture between a sob and a cry from Chloe's lips. She grasped his head, holding him to her as his tongue flipped rapidly over her nipple and the Green Arrow's thumb brushed against her clit while he fucked her with his fingers.
"Oh God," she cried, her body screaming for more, for the teasing to stop. "Please."
And then both men were releasing her, the Green Arrow pulling his soaked fingers out of her and pressing them into her mouth, Chloe whimpering at the loss as she sucked them clean. As soon as he pulled his fingers out, Oliver's mouth had closed over hers once again, swiping his tongue inside her mouth to taste the remnants of her flavor. She whined in the back of her throat as the Green Arrow's gloved hands covered her breasts now, the cool leather a sudden shock as he pinched her buds, then started drawing circles over them with his thumbs.
Oliver pulled away from her lips again and then sank down, kneeling in front of her on the floor, tearing her panties off and shoving her thighs apart as wide as he could, pushing her skirt further out of the way, looking up to meet Chloe's eyes to make sure she was watching before he leaned in and wrapped his lips around her clit, sucking on it hard. Chloe cried out and threw her head back again, her thighs clenching together. Oliver's hands shoved them back open, holding them wide apart for him, and behind her the Green Arrow tangled a hand in her hair, pushing her head back up so she would be forced to watch Oliver's progress. She watched as he flicked his tongue repeatedly over her clit, then licked her slick folds, his thumbs brushing over her trembling inner thighs. She groaned as he sucked one of her outer lips into his mouth, tugging at it and stretching it before moving to the other side for the same treatment. She bucked her hips, Oliver's hands holding her in place for the most part, but the Green Arrow moaned behind her as she ground against his cock, and she wished one of them would fuck her already.
As if in response to her thought, Oliver's tongue entered into her, thrusting in and out and causing her to writhe in pleasure, her eyes never leaving him as he pleasured her, her breasts aching from the Green Arrow's ministrations. Chloe could feel her climax approaching as Oliver continued thrusting his tongue inside of her, his nose brushing against her clit, and suddenly her gaze was wrenched from him as the Green Arrow turned her head to meet his lips, kissing her possessively as she screamed into his mouth, coming all over Oliver's mouth...
Day 2
Chloe's eyes flew open, her body warm and flushed. "Holy shit."
"Hey, cuz, I - oh my God, what's wrong?"
Chloe blinked, looking up from her desk at the Planet. "Hi, Lois. I see you're feeling better."
"Don't give me that. What happened?"
Chloe rolled her eyes. She'd known Lois would catch on within minutes, but she'd hoped she wasn't quite so obvious. She debated. She could deny that anything was wrong so that she could avoid talking about it, or she could just 'fess up right there and get it over with. She heaved a sigh. "I ended it."
Lois just stared at her in confusion. "Ended what?"
Wait for it, Chloe thought wryly. Four...three...two...
"OH MY GOD!"
Ding ding ding.
Several people around the bullpen looked up in surprise at Lois's sudden exclamation. Lois cringed. "The Cubs lost?" she said, gesturing at the sports section in front of her.
"Lois, it's not even baseball season," Chloe chuckled as everyone sent Lois a strange look before going back to their usual business.
"Forget that," Lois said, pulling her chair around to sit next to Chloe, leaning forward. "What happened? I thought you were going to wait to see how things played out."
Chloe closed her eyes. "So did I. But then...he came to see me...and well, you know," she said significantly, "and then I felt guilty, like I was going behind his back, kind of, so I told him that Queen asked me out, and then one thing led to another and...well, you get the idea."
"Oh, Chlo," Lois said, reaching forward to pull Chloe into a hug. "I'm sorry. I could tell you really liked him."
Chloe allowed herself to melt into her cousin's arms and accept a bit of comfort for a moment before they were interrupted.
"Sullivan! Lane! What is this, group therapy?"
They broke apart to find Perry White glaring at them in suspicion.
"Sorry, Chief," Lois said quickly, moving around to her own desk and pulling out her mail to read.
Perry passed next to Chloe and muttered under his breath in concern, "All right, Sullivan?"
Managing a weak smile, Chloe nodded to him.
"Good," he said, gruff manner returning. "Get back to work. I'm not running a daycare here."
"You got it, Chief," Chloe joked, using Lois's nickname for him.
He winked at her before heading back into his office, barking at a few other people along the way.
When he was gone, Lois looked at Chloe over her computer. "So did you get everything from Marsters?"
Chloe nodded.
"Sweet." She glanced around them. "My apartment after work?" she asked.
"You got it."
When the evening rolled around, Chloe was grateful for the steady flow of work she'd had all day, and even more grateful for the prospect of the project before her. She needed distraction. Over lunch, she'd managed to tell the whole story to Lois, all about how things had come to a screeching halt with the man of her dreams in favor of Oliver Queen, someone she wasn't even sure she liked, just for that same person to flee to a foreign country.
Lois had elegantly cursed out both men in their turn, depending on which one she blamed in the particular moment.
Other than that, Chloe had managed to keep herself as busy as possible, her futile attempt to spend as little time thinking about either of them as she could. She couldn't decide which one of them she was more upset with: the Green Arrow for not being willing to reveal his identity even after he'd slept with her or Oliver Queen for ruining her sex/love life with his stupid cancelled date.
She and Lois pulled a late night. The article on the mayor, between the two of them, didn't take that long, but after that there was ice cream to be indulged in and movies to cry over as they purged their emotions regarding men.
Chloe stumbled back into her own apartment that night at 2:00 in the morning, thinking in the back of her mind that at least she would fall straight to sleep, and as exhausted as she was, she probably wouldn't dream at all. Her mind flashed to her dream from the previous night and she groaned as she flopped into her bed, barely remembering to flip the light before her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep...
"Oh, God, yes!" Gloved hands gripped her thighs with bruising tightness and she felt as the Green Arrow pressed into her from behind, leaning over and kissing her shoulder, but her mind was on Oliver as she reached out and stroked his cock with her hand. A tiny bit of liquid appeared, and she licked it off before closing her mouth around him and sucking, relishing his groan in response. She moaned, humming around him as Arrow reached around her and began rubbing her clit...
Day 3
Chloe woke with a groan, burying her face in her pillow in frustration, feeling the desperate ache between her thighs. Her face turned read as she recalled every kinky detail of the psychotic dream she'd had.
"Damn," she muttered to the pillow.
Chloe leaned back in her desk chair, staring at the morning paper with a grim satisfaction.
Prinn's Price: Can You Afford Him?
It exposed all the mayor's back-dealing, the money he'd embezzled from the city and from charity fundraisers, as well as the fact that he'd been taking bribes since he got elected. At that very moment, the district attorney was holding an interrogation with the mayor, and Chloe and Lois were clinking coffee mugs over that morning's front page.
"Hi, Lois. I didn't see you much yesterday. Are you feeling better?"
Lois started, sloshing her coffee slightly, causing Chloe to watch her curiously. "Oh, hey, Smallville. Yeah. Thanks." She immediately busied herself with imaginary work as Clark said good morning to Chloe and headed for his own desk behind her. Chloe studied Lois's red ears and less than subtle attempt to pretend she was focused on an upside down, unopened letter.
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Huh," was her minimalist reaction to the new development.
Lois looked up defensively. "What?"
"Nothing," Chloe said innocently, turning to her computer to open her e-mail account. Then, after a couple of moments had past, "So, Clark came over the other day when you were sick, huh?"
"What?" Lois jumped again. "Oh, yeah, he did."
"Interesting," she said simply before returning to her computer, wondering why the internet was taking so long.
The word hovered in the air for a moment before Lois took the bait.
"What do you mean, 'interesting?'"
"Hmm? Oh, nothing."
"No, you said it. What does that mean?"
"Well, I just always thought that..." she made a show of glancing at Clark as he headed to the water cooler for a drink, 'accidentally' bumping into someone in the process. "Never mind, it's silly."
Lois glared. "Chloe Ann Sullivan, tell me what you're going on about this instant."
Chloe sighed. "Oh, I don't know. I guess I just always kind of thought there was something...there." She waved a dismissive hand. "But that's silly. You're seeing Bruce."
"Right..." Lois mumbled thoughtfully, "Bruce.
"Uh huh," Chloe said, momentarily losing interest as she was greeted with an empty inbox for the third day in a row. She'd been debating whether or not to e-mail him. But maybe he thought it was for the best not to talk to her at all. Maybe he was right, for that matter. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax and turned her attention back to Lois. "But you know, it's not like you and Bruce are that serious. I mean...I like him for you and all, but Clark is very..." she smiled, "Clark."
A step too far. Lois got defensive. "Smallville's not interested in me. And anyway, I'm not interested in him. I don't know where you got such an insane idea," she added, blushing heatedly.
Chloe smirked. "Right. What was I thinking?" She rolled her eyes, glancing affectionately at the utterly oblivious Clark Kent, who was now casting a nervous glance at Lois from across the room.
I'm surrounded by love-sick puppies, she sighed to herself. I guess it was only a matter of time before they infected me.
That night...
She was in the green dress from the gala in Gotham, resting her head against his shoulder and dancing with him as they stood on the glass roof of the building. Oliver's hand cupped her chin, lifting it to him so he could kiss her, and she threaded her hands into his thick blonde hair, allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth. A gloved hand slipped beneath the slit of the dress, wrapping around her thigh and pressing her against him. Chloe reached down and found the zipper on his vest, dragging it down and shoving it from his shoulders.
"I love you..."
Hours later into the morning, Chloe woke again, chest heaving, her skin slick with sweat. Her eyes still laden with sleep, she shoved herself out of bed, dragging herself over to the bathroom. She flipped on the light and squinted as it assaulted her eyes.
Oliver Queen in the Green Arrow costume.
She needed therapy.
Tiredly, she stripped off her clothes piece by piece, and headed over to the shower, half asleep as she turned on the water, pushing the lever all the way to ice cold before stepping inside.
Downstairs, the older married couple who lived in the flat below Chloe woke with a start, eyes flying open in shock and staring in concern at the ceiling, the source of the ear-splitting scream.
