I think there was some justifiable criticism that the funeral and Ali's recollection of the kidnapping ended abruptly. So I added a few paragraphs that act like a bridge. Go back and read if you're interested.
Ch. 21: Love of a Lifetime
"I like men who have a future and women who have a past." Oscar Wilde
(April, 2011) "You could heal people, but now you can't, but you can travel through time," Oliver said slowly as if processing each word before he said it, his eyes were unfocused, his thoughts turned inward, but his hand on hers gave her comfort. His thumb never stopped moving in slow circles on the back of her hand.
"Yes," she said softly.
"And you know this because you've done it."
"Yes."
"You traveled... back in time." His eyes suddenly focused on her and she saw that the pieces were falling together for him. "You're the Chloe my parents knew years ago." She nodded with obvious tension. "There aren't two Chloes, just you."
"Just me," she confirmed in a voice only slightly above a whisper.
"When did all this happen?" he questioned.
"I got the ability the January before I met you. I haven't taken a trip in months." Oliver regarded her gravely, waiting for the rest of the story. "I changed the past Oliver. Yours and mine. I changed the world," she nearly whispered, her voice was pitched so low.
"How?" She broke eye contact with him and he felt her tense up again. "Chloe, just tell me. I'm not going to deny that I'm freaking out a bit here, and locking you up seems like a better and better idea by the moment, but nothing you've said changes anything for me. I love you."
Her eyes filled with tears. "I love you too Ollie," she said softly. "I loved you before you even met me."
Oliver frowned trying to process that, but if time travel was on the table, anything was possible. "What do you mean?"
"I changed the past, your past, mine. The world I grew up in, I changed it, erased it, made it better," she said in a rush. "In my reality, Lionel Luthor was an unstoppable force. He killed his parents, used the insurance money to start LuthorCorp. He became wildly successful, but it was never enough. He got involved with Dr. Swann. He wanted power, and he wanted Clark all to himself."
She broke off again to take a few rapid breaths and met his eyes again. "Your parents stood in his way, so he killed them. He killed them in 1989."
Inside the house, Robert and Laura were hugging, hearing Chloe's story from her own point of view, unable to imagine a world where she didn't come to save them.
"The bomb on the plane," Oliver said in dawning realization. His life had changed around that time. When he was a child he didn't know what caused the changes in his life, just that it did. His parents pulled him out of Excelsior and put him in school in Star City. They'd increased security dramatically, and soon after had Ali. Years later Oliver had learned about the threat Lionel Luthor posed to his family, beginning with a bomb on his parents' plane in 1989.
"I tried different ways to stop him, so many ways, but it never worked. Either it went horribly wrong and the future was worse, or I barely managed to slow him down. And always, always your parents died."
Oliver froze, realizing something for the first time. "You said you got your ability in January. Before you met me. Why would you come back to save my parents if we didn't know each other?" Her words echoed in his ears 'I loved you before you even met me.'
Chloe hesitated and tried to pull her hand out of his, but Oliver held on. When she continued to struggle against him, he let go but captured her in his arms and pulled her tightly into his side, pulling her legs over his and trapping them there with a heavy arm, so she couldn't get up. "Ollie," she huffed, still squirming against him.
"Just answer the question Chloe."
"A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets." Gloria Stuart
She stared down at her lap, suddenly going still. "I did know you. I knew another you. In my reality, you came to Metropolis in 2007 after Dark Thursday."
"And we were together?"
His steady question drew her eyes up to meet his. "Yes, but not right away. You came to stop Lex. Lex and Lionel were much worse in my reality. So much worse. LuthorCorp was more powerful, as large as QI is now, and they were pretty much untouchable. Lex was a villain and you were a hero, and you came to stop him. You donated money to Mrs. Kent's campaign and met Lois. You started dating and then met Clark. Eventually you and I met." Chloe sped through her history quickly, trying not to get bogged down in details. There would be time for that later. At least she hoped there would be time for that, Oliver seemed to be taking the news surprisingly well.
Oliver looked incredulous. "I dated... Lois?"
Chloe nodded. "For awhile. And you and Clark were friends... kind of."
"Neither of those things seem believable, but OK." Oliver shifted her so she was lying on her back on the bench with him on his side next to her, looking down at her. He rested his hand over her soft stomach, his fingers finding skin and savoring the silky softness he associated with her. "So when did you and I get together?"
"Why do you think that we did?" she asked with no hint of a smile on her face.
"Because you came back to rescue my parents, Chloe. Because you said you loved me before you met me... here."
"I rescued Victor's parents too, and he and I have never dated," she argued.
Oliver stared her down. "We were together, we were in love." He leaned down to press a hard kiss to her lips, demanding the truth, but when her lips clung to his and her arms wrapped around his neck he deepened the kiss, taking his time and soothing both their nerves while underlying the point that the connection between them was elemental. "Tell me I'm wrong."
"A lot happened Ollie. I figured out your secret identity, we became friends, I did some 'odd jobs' for you, and eventually joined your team fulltime after Lex fired me from the Daily Planet."
Oliver shook his head realizing how similar some of her story was to the life he knew. "And we fell in love and got together," he insisted.
"Not exactly," she disagreed. "We got together, then developed feelings for each other. Or at least that's how it worked for me, apparently you were lying to me and leading me down the garden path the whole time," she said with put upon indignity.
Oliver laughed releasing some of the tension that had built up during her explanation. "As long as it worked. Now, keep going."
She frowned at him but she wasn't rigid with tension, so Oliver remained relaxed, kept his gaze locked on her. His hand stroked up and down her side, partly to comfort her, partly so he could keep her still if she tried to bolt again.
"I went back to stop Lionel from starting LuthorCorp, and failed. I went back to stop Virgil Swann from inviting Lionel to join Veritas, and your parents still died. I stopped their deaths directly... so many times, but he always tried again. Poison, assignation, muggings, car bombs, accidents at sea... I failed over and over again. Maybe I bought you a few years more with them, maybe I weakened or slowed LuthorCorp, but it was never enough. I kept trying and I figured out how to undo some of my more spectacular failures-"
"Like what?" She frowned at him, caught off-guard. "What constitutes an epic failure in the realm of time travel?"
"You... the you I knew, you were hurt by your parents deaths, hurt and alone and you had a dark side much greater than you... you do now." Oliver nodded his acceptance of her judgment, he couldn't imagine losing his parents as a child or even now. "They died when you were nine, but there were worse times in your life for them to die. If they died when you were a teenager, it sent you into a spiral. In some of the futures I created you weren't a hero, in at least one, you were dead before I even met you." Oliver hugged her tightly, happy to feel her small hands clutching at him to pull him closer, to keep him close. He rolled onto his side, pulling her into his chest, letting her press her face into his neck and he felt her hot tears as she released some of the strain her story was putting on her.
"I'm right here Spitfire, right here," he murmured to console her, his hand tracing up and down her back, one arm holding her firmly to him, the other sliding under her light sweater to caress the smooth skin of her back.
After a minute she stopped shaking and Oliver felt the last of her tears soak into his shirt. She pulled back a little, wiping away the remaining wetness on her cheeks. "You used to call me Sidekick, not Spitfire." She settled back down on the bench and Oliver shifted so he was again propped up on one elbow, looking down at her.
"Sidekick? That's a horrible nickname," he said easily, earning a smile from her.
"I liked it," she disagreed. "When I didn't hate it. Clark always treated me as a sidekick, we were friends that degenerated into working associates. He only came around when he needed something from me." She tried to shrug it off, but Oliver could see that it had hurt her deeply.
"I never liked that guy," Oliver agreed easily.
She frowned at him, slapping her hand lightly over his stomach. "You don't like him because he dated me," she teased.
"And because he's an ass, but yeah OK, I don't like that you dated the all powerful alien hero."
"I didn't."
"What?" Oliver asked in confusion.
"Where I came from, Clark and I were just friends. I had a crush on him in high school, a horrible crush, but we never..."
"Never, never?" Oliver asked with happiness.
"We kissed and went on a few dates, but no, we never slept together if that's what you're asking."
"It was, and thanks for that. I'll sleep easier now." Chloe shook her head at his silliness, but Oliver frowned again. "How does saving my parents lives end up with you dating Clark?"
Chloe frowned, "I don't know, Clark and I dated in a few realities, but I think this time it had more to do with me changing my own past. But it probably also had to do with your parents keeping Lionel out of Smallville. Clark had a better life here too. So many people had better lives."
"We'll get to your past, 'cause I am dying to know how that works, you live the life you made here, but you're still carrying all the memories from another life?"
"Yeah."
"So you set out to stop Lionel," he gave her a daunting look, "Seriously locking you in a room- I think I can build an impenetrable one under the manner..." he mused, then returned to his original question, "and it didn't work, so what happened to change all that? How am I here, with you and my parents?"
"I almost gave up, but..." Chloe got lost for a moment in her memories, recalling that last fight with the other Oliver, him asking her to stay with him, then his upset over the news story about his parents, that had made up her mind once and for all to change his past. "I finally figured it out. I couldn't stop Lionel with an intervention at one moment in time, or even several moments. I had to find a force equal to him, to oppose him."
Once again Oliver had a look of intense concentration. "My parents. You came back and you told them. You saved them in 1989, and you told them that Lionel wouldn't stop trying. All that time, they were looking for you."
"And Clark, I'd guess, we'd have to ask them."
"You haven't talked to them about all this?" Oliver asked in surprise.
"I..." she shook her head. "It was hard, adjusting to this life. In my old life, things were bad, but I had you. And then... and then I didn't. I finally succeeded," she squeezed the words out past a lump in her throat, recalling her hurt and despair over losing him. She'd lain awake every night for months, crying over what she'd lost, her body aching. "But you... he was gone."
"Are we so dissimilar?" Oliver asked in curious sympathy, his hand moving over her stomach and hip again, just a gentle caress, needing to touch her as much as she needed the reassurance of his touch.
"Yes and no."
"And you loved him."
"Yes," she choked out.
"And you love me."
"Yes."
"You know Spitfire, this is the height of vanity. I'm jealous of myself," he joked, causing her to laugh involuntarily as her eyes filled with tears again.
"Your ego knows no limits," she deadpanned, but was pleased that he wasn't tripping out over whether she loved him or the other Oliver.
He smirked down at her then kissed her hard, letting his hands roam over her body for a few long minutes, his touch igniting her out of control emotions in to arousal, before pulling back. "So now I know, are you still going to marry me?"
"Do you still want me too?" she asked with wide eyes.
"I told you nothing you could say would change how I feel, Chloe, but I lied, I may love you even more now."
"I love you Ollie."
"And you'll marry me," he said leadingly.
"And I'll marry you," she said with a laugh.
He kissed her again and Chloe melted into him, but he pulled back again before things went too far. "Don't plan on getting any sleep tonight, but I think it's time to get my parents out here. Besides I'm pretty sure they're eavesdropping on us already."
Chloe's eyes widened she blushed furiously as she tried to push him off of her but Oliver moved at a much slower pace, sitting up and running his hands over her body, pushing askew her clothes as she tried to straighten them. When his hand slipped under her skirt and slid up her thigh, she slapped his hand away causing Oliver to grin.
"Mom, Dad, you can come out now."
Laura and Robert appeared quickly, giving truth to Oliver's claims. Oliver's smile grew, as Chloe's flush intensified.
"Welcome to the family, we're a nosey lot, but you already love us so, we're keeping you," Laura greeted with a wide but shaky smile.
"Sorry Mom, but I'm staking first claim on Chloe, you may have met her before me, but she's mine now."
Robert and Laura both looked happy but also overwhelmed by the night's revelations. "Don't mess it up now Oliver," Robert cautioned, giving Chloe a firm hug while Laura fought back tears and walked into Oliver's open arms.
"You two are both... unbelievable," she attempted to make it sound like a complaint, but her voice was soft and tender.
CO-CO-CO
Robert and Laura confirmed Chloe's story, adding their parts to the story. They'd looked for Chloe and The Traveler, beginning as soon as she'd come and gone in 1989. They'd found Clark quickly enough, but it had taken a few more years before Robert was convinced that Chloe Sullivan from Metropolis was their Chloe, and a few more years until Chloe moved to Smallville with her dad for Robert to concede the point.
"But… why?" Chloe asked.
"We wanted to look after you, in case you ever needed us. You gave us our family, Chloe. A second chance, it was the least we could do," Laura said with tears in her eyes.
"So that's everything then?" Oliver questioned, giving his parents a hard look, but keeping his gaze soft for Chloe.
"Not quite," Laura said causing surprise to show on both Robert and Chloe's faces.
"There was no Ali where Chloe came from, am I right?" Laura asked Chloe for confirmation.
"No, Oliver was an only child."
Oliver drew back, if he was unable to imagine his life without his parents, he was completely unable to fathom a life without Ali.
"We'd wanted a second child before, but it never happened. Then we decided to have a second child the day we met you Chloe," Laura said fondly.
Oliver nodded, a heavy feeling in his heart as he contemplated another life, one he might have endured if not for Chloe. "Anything else?"
Laura looked at Chloe, but the smaller girl just looked drained. "The timing." Laura said with a defiant look at her husband who looked hesitant, but didn't try to interrupt her. "Chloe, saved us for the last time, I guess, in 1989, then went back to her own time. She met Ali that afternoon, and you that evening. For us it was 20 years ago, for her it was just a two years ago."
Oliver's eyebrows furrowed, remembering her shocked expression that first meeting, suddenly understanding it. He sat down by her on the couch she was curled up in, seeing the truth of his mother's words in her expression. "The boyfriend you told Ali about, the one you loved but gave up, that was me. The boyfriend who I reminded you of was me." She nodded, her lips compressing together tightly. "I'm so sorry Spitfire. I was such an ass to you. I didn't know how to deal with you, I had so many questions, then I just wanted to be around you, and all that time…"
Chloe's breathing suddenly got rough, her chest rising and falling rapidly as her emotions spilled out, and this time it was Laura who pulled Robert out of the room to give their son and his fiancé, their savior, some privacy. Oliver pulled Chloe into his lap, her legs easily straddling his lap as he rested her against his chest rubbing his hands up and down her back.
CO-CO-CO
When Chloe had settled again, soaking Oliver's shirt collar, anew, he led her back outside then down the winding stairs the dropped down to the beach below. They walked and talked into the night as Oliver asked questions and Chloe tried to fill in the gaps. Most of his questions dealt with their present, coloring in their interactions with her history.
Sometime later, while the three-quarter full moon lit the night and painted the landscape in black and white, Oliver led her back up a few flights of the wood stairs to a deck midway between the beach and the house above.
"This is amazing, and I want to know more, but I asked you something earlier today," Oliver began as he pulled the ring out of his pocket and dropped down on one knee before her. "I asked your father for permission, I even had a conversation with General Lane. My family is onboard. So now I just need one little word from you. I love you Chloe, more than I could have imagined before meeting you. Spend your life with me, marry me."
Chloe looked into his beloved face and wanted to tell him yes. She smiled, she'd already told him yes, several times already, but she guessed this was the time, and spared a glance at the ring, noting that it was three good sized stones, one emerald cut between two solitaire cut diamonds twinkling in the moonlight. Her gaze moved back to his dark brown eyes.
"There are things, so many things about me, that you don't know Ollie, maybe we should-"
"Do you love me?"
"You know I do," she said with wiry amusement.
"Then agree to marry me Chloe, and let me put this ring on your finger. It's been burning a hole in my leg all day."
"Ollie, I want to marry you, I do," she held her finger over his lips to keep him quiet. "But there are a few things I think you should know first. So please…" He stood reluctantly and sat on the double sun lounge on the deck, pulling her close and settling her down in his lap. "I was married."
"So you're a divorcee, from another reality. Is that the best you got?" Oliver said lightly, but she felt the tensing of his arm and the reflexive swallow he made.
"Kinda, not exactly. We were almost divorced when he died," Chloe said with some distant sadness in her eyes.
"Were you married to me?"
"No, someone else."
"Someone you know here, in this life?" She nodded. "And I just lost that bit of comfort that you not being with Clark brought me."
She smiled at his somewhat serious teasing, and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I loved him, but I didn't love him like I should have. That life… it was harder than this one, Ollie. Darker. I lost more… I lost hope, and I lost myself. Jimmy was my shot at a normal life. But it didn't work out and he paid the price."
"But he's alive here, Spitfire, you saved him."
She smiled. "I know. And you have nothing to worry about Ollie. I love you. Just you. And what I feel for you is a million times more than I ever felt for Jimmy. Which makes me feel like a bad person, but it's the truth."
He lifted her left hand and held up the ring in his other but Chloe rushed to speech again. "There's more."
"Does it change who you are? Have you been acting this whole time?"
"No, of course not."
"Then I know all I need to. I love you Chloe, and you love me. And that's all. That's everything." She smiled at him tremulously. "Tell me whatever you want to later. But right now," he dropped down on one knee before her in the sand. "Chloe Sullivan, will you marry me?"
Her eyes filled with tears and she smiled, "Yes, a million times yes."
Oliver grinned and slipped the ring onto her finger as he stood up and wrapped her into his arms, lifting her off her feet. Chloe clung to him, her arms tight around his neck as her feet dangled and he swung her around in joy.
CO-CO-CO
"If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self." Napoleon Hill
"Did he know, this other me, did he know what you were trying to do?"
Chloe and Oliver were still lying outside on the lower deck at Queen Manner. They'd made love after she'd finally let him slip the ring on her finger and were currently huddled against each other under a few blankets Oliver pulled from an all weather chest that sat in the corner of the deck.
"Yes. Not at first, but it was hard to hide, I kept failing, and then one time I had been gone for awhile, and he was worried… I had to tell him then."
"And how did he feel about it? Did he want you to do it?"
"No, he wanted me to stay," Chloe forced out though her throat felt raw with repressed grief. "He worried that he could lose them and lose me too."
"I can understand that."
"But it's not a fair thing to ask Ollie, if I had given you... him the choice, what was he supposed to choose? The chance to have your parents back, but possibly lose me? Or keep me, but never take the chance to save your parents? How could anyone choose?" she asked switching back and forth between referring to him and this other version of him. It was clearly confusing for her, but Oliver found that he was OK with the idea of her loving him and loving another him.
"I honestly don't know."
"No," she said resolutely. "He may have been angry with me, you may be angry with me now, but could you imagine your life without your parents? Without Ali? Could you?"
"I'm not judging you Chloe, I just wondered what this other me thought, if he was selfish like me."
"Selfish?"
"He wanted to keep the love he had, the woman he would make his life with. I can understand that. If you ever leave me Chloe I will find a way to chase you through whatever past you disappear into, I will bring you back."
"That would be sweet, if it wasn't borderline stalkerish," she said with an arch look, but also with a smile.
"Funny, you're funny are very inappropriate times, Spitfire." She smirked at him and he kissed her lightly. "So tell me, funny one, how many times did we end up together anyway? All of them? Ninety percent?"
"If we knew each other, we got together. But you… you died in some of the lives too. Your daredevil side didn't find a productive outlet and you were a crazy mountain climbing, cliff diving, party boy." She smiled fondly. "In one reality, we didn't know each other, but I ran into you on the street. You picked me up in ten minutes flat."
"And you let me?" he asked with pride, but his lip pushed out into a pout as he realized she'd made it much harder on him in this reality.
"I was emotionally vulnerable, and I seem to find you irresistibly attractive. It's a weakness."
"Irresistible, huh? I like the sound of that."
"That sound you hear is your ego reaching capacity, any more hot air and it will blow. You know, he may have looked like you but he… wasn't. He didn't have any of the parts of you that make me love you. He had no purpose, no drive, he was adrift. I think he was a decent person, just… lost."
"I can see that. I can't imagine losing my parents at any age, and to be alone, no Ali, no one at all. I'm not sure how I would react."
"Since I'm speaking from experience here… I'd say it's 60/40, hero to wastrel," she teased, then turned serious. "The hero was always in you Ollie, somehow it's just part of who you are. The rest of it… it's not you, it's you hiding from yourself."
"Hmm, how do the Legion travel back in time?" he asked and Chloe blinked at the change in subject.
CO-CO-CO
"He who controls the present, controls the past.
He who controls the past, controls the future." George Orwell
On the flight back to Metropolis, Oliver had a new alarming thought. "Chloe, who knows about this, about what you can do?"
"Just you, your parents, Lois and my mother," she replied.
"No one else?" he asked, pacing back and forth in front of where she sat on one of the plane's built in sofas.
"Who else would I have told?"
"Your father, Clark."
"Not my dad. I think he's had to deal with enough with all my injuries in high school. Clark knows, I told him when I asked him to send Davis away."
Oliver nodded, and continued his restless movements. He wasn't too surprised. "That's part of why he's been so weird with you for the last few months?" Chloe nodded and shrugged. Clark had taken a few months to come around again after Chloe's revelation, and in his eyes, her betrayal.
Chloe had felt her heart break a bit when Clark had finally faced her and told her that she wasn't his Chloe, he didn't know her, and they were not friends. But then she'd agreed. She wasn't his Chloe, she belonged to herself. And that was a battle hard fought.
Lois had taken Clark to task, insisting that if anyone knew Chloe it was her, and this Chloe was Chloe, just a slightly different version of the one they'd known. Clark had been horrified that Lois had known and kept the secret from him and Chloe had finally had enough of his hypocrisy. She'd demanded that he tell Lois his secret or she would. Since according to him they weren't friends, she didn't own him any loyalty. Chloe had left them to it then, and three weeks later Clark had shown up at the Clock Tower for their Wednesday morning run as if the past three months and all the hurtful words had never happened.
"I told Victor once, to ask him what he wanted more, his family or not to become Cyborg."
Oliver looked confused and stopped his pacing.
"In my world and this one, Victor's family died in a car crash that left him injured and led to him becoming who he is now. I went back, I stopped the accident but he still ended up injured. I don't believe in fate, but there are things that seem to repeat. Patterns that can't be altered."
"Vic knows," Oliver murmured.
"No, he did. But then I changed his past, I changed it and we never had that conversation. He knew, but now he doesn't."
"How do you keep it all straight?" Oliver asked as he sat down beside her and pulled her into his side.
"Sometimes I don't. My mistakes are why the guys think I'm psychic."
Oliver laughed kissed her. "Maybe you don't believe in fate, but I'm surer than ever that my fate always has and always will lie with you."
CO-CO-CO
Lois and Chloe still kept up their 'cousin time' usually in the form of movie night on random Friday nights, and now with Oliver providing the location and the food.
About a week after Chloe had finally told him the truth, Lois was at the Clock Tower loft, waiting for Chloe to get home to start the movie.
"Do you know anyone named Jimmy?" Oliver asked, seemingly randomly.
"Not that I can think of, at least not since third grade."
"No Jimmys, huh? Maybe a James?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Chloe's husband, ex, past life significant other, whatever you want to call him… Jimmy."
"She never told me his name," Lois said softly, softer than Oliver had ever heard her speak. "Jimmy," she repeated, thinking hard. "You know I think… wait, why do you want to know?" she asked with pointed suspicion.
"Chloe feels bad still about what happened then, she said he's here, she knows him."
"And?"
"And I want to make sure he's alright, see if I can help him here, for Chloe."
"Jesus. You are whipped. But it's sweet. There's a guy at the Planet, a junior photographer named Jimmy. Actually… you might know him. He's a bar back at Ace of Clubs."
Oliver considered that. The man who had had some of Chloe's love in another life was working two jobs. Oliver was sure he could find a way to give him a leg up.
Lois paused in the act of stuffing her face with popcorn from a gigantic bowl. "Oliver… you're a good guy. Rich, charming, stupid handsome. You seem to love Chloe. You two seem destined for each other, but if you hurt her… I'll make you regret being born."
Oliver grinned, "I'd expect nothing less."
CO-CO-CO
(May, 2011) Chloe's first formal event as Oliver's fiancée, and part of the Queen family, was going to be the Black and White Ball. An annual fundraiser for the Queens' foundation, the proceeds were allocated to a particular charity each year, this year being a food sustainability program in Africa.
The weeks leading into the ball were rife with public interest in Oliver's new fiancée, including speculation on whether she would try to outdo Laura Queen in the fashion department.
Chloe knew it was a big event, knew there would be hundreds of pictures from the event that would circulate around the globe, but she had no idea what to wear, and a limited budget. Chloe usually felt pretty confident in herself and her looks, but being held up against Laura Queen and Oliver's ex-girlfriends for days on end leading into the event was giving Chloe a complex. She could suddenly understand why Ali had felt like the ugly duckling in comparison to her family. No matter how pretty she was, her mother was an icon of beauty and style. It was intimidating.
Chloe just wanted to fit in, she wasn't trying to make a statement, but she couldn't find a dress that fit the criteria and gave her that 'yes' feeling. Lois was coming with Clark, and had found a dress in the first store they'd visited.
With less than a week to the event, Chloe had a dress, but she wasn't excited about it. She kept looking, wanting something that made her feel good, but that was still something a working girl could afford. Chloe had frustrated each of the Queens, except Robert, who wanted to pay for her dress themselves, including Ali. Chloe wanted to do it on her own.
She tried to explain to Oliver that she didn't have a problem with his money, and that she would eventually have to use some of it to buy clothing to attend events like this one, but not this one.
In a way it was her debut, and she wanted it to reflect who she was, including her clothing budget.
CO-CO-CO
Chloe left another small boutique that had a good selection of vintage clothing, disappointed again. As she walked down the sidewalk, she despaired of ever finding 'the dress.' If finding a dress for the ball was this hard, she couldn't imagine looking for a wedding dress. She pondered asking Oliver to elope. A wedding on the beach with just them sounded perfect. But then she imagined her father, Lois and his family, and knew they would be disappointed.
"Ms. Sullivan?" a soft voice called to her, interrupting her thoughts. She turned to see one of the clerks from the store she'd just left, a tall woman with beautiful mocha skin and black curly hair. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I thought... you're looking for a black and white dress, right?"
"Black, white, a combo, yeah," Chloe said with a weary smile. "Did I miss a dress in your store?" Chloe asked with a smile. "'Cause I think I tried them all on."
"Not in the store, no. But I have a dress, I think you'd like, based on what you said you wanted. Elegant, simple, but something unexpected, beautiful and sexy, without being over the top." The young woman explained as Chloe listened politely. "I'm a designer, and I just finished a dress design that would look perfect on you."
Chloe shook her head. "I can't afford to pay you for a custom design."
"No, I mean, I wouldn't say no to being paid, but whatever you wear is going to be photographed and seen everywhere. That kind of publicity is worth more than any dress." The woman smiled and Chloe could see her confidence and desire to succeed in her eyes. "I promise I won't waste your time. I can bring the dress to you. Just name the time and place."
Chloe considered it. "That won't be necessary, do you have a studio space?"
The woman beamed. "Yes, actually, it's a newly converted warehouse not far from here. Queen Industries redid it last year and offered space to artists and community groups for super cheap."
Chloe smiled softly, her love for Oliver and his family's charities and community building efforts on display for anyone to see. "When should I come?"
"The ball you're going to is this Saturday right?" Chloe nodded. "If you could come tonight or tomorrow, I can get the dress fitted for you in the next two days," she continued, pondering the time constraint. She suddenly faltered and looked unsure. "Or whenever you could come, honestly, it'd be great if you wore any of my pieces at any time."
"I'm not really photographed all that much," Chloe said, wrinkling her nose.
"Sure," the woman quickly agreed, but with a tone and look that said she was humoring Chloe. "I'm Deirdre by the way. Deirdre Vaughn."
"Chloe, nice to meet you," she replied and shook the designer's hand. "I'll come tonight, I just haven't found that dress yet, you know?"
"I'm hoping to change that."
CO-CO-CO
Ali accompanied Chloe that evening, with her security in tow, and Chloe felt sure the siblings were conspiring against her. She knew that Robert and Laura were pushing for Chloe to have security now that the news of their engagement was public, but Chloe had refused.
Entering the converted warehouse, the girls looked around in wonder. There was a room full of easels, another with pottery wheels, the hallways were lined with colorful murals, and music of different genres could be heard muted by soundproofing, the sound rising and falling as doors opened and closed. A group of teenage ballerinas brushed past them in the narrow hall, then turned back to stare. "...Queen..."
They went upstairs to find Studio 211, and Deirdre opened the door with a happy grin. "Whoa," she said her smile faltering when she saw the security guards.
"I come with an entourage tonight," Chloe said in an upbeat tone, and Ali laughed. "This is Ali, and her security."
"Of course," Deirdre replied, shaking Ali's hand and giving wide berth to Ali's lead guard, Eddie, the only one who came into the smallish room with them.
Ali moved directly to a rack of clothes, while Chloe eyed some beautiful fabrics lying on a table. "These are great," Ali enthused, shifting through the hangers rapidly. Chloe had already learned that shopping was a speed event for Laura and Ali, who could go into a store, find three full outfits including shoes and accessories, spend $5000 and be out again in under thirty minutes.
"Please, pick out anything you like," Deirdre invited with a proud smile. "Chloe, this is the one I thought would be perfect for you, but I do have others." Deirdre announced as she pulled out a fitted black column dress, with a slit that ended mid-thigh to allow movement, and some horizontal black sequins to add glamour.
Chloe smiled, she liked the dress, but as Deirdre turned it around to show the back her mouth opened slightly. The back was nude mesh with a hand beaded design in black over the whole back. The design was beautiful, and on Chloe's pale skin would stand out perfectly.
"With your short hair and hourglass figure... you said you wanted something that wouldn't be an attention getter right out the door."
"You have to get it," Ali demanded, looking at the dress with envy.
"How is that not an attention getter?" Chloe asked with a smile. "It's gorgeous."
"The front is very respectable," Deirdre grinned. "And the back..."
"Is bringing sexy back," Ali offered her opinion and a bit of her humor. "Oliver will die." Chloe bit her lip and looked at the dress with longing. "Try it on," Ali urged.
"It will never fit, look at my butt," Chloe argued, her eyes still glued to the dress.
"You're between a 4 and a 6. I know from the store. If I let out the hip a bit and take in the waist, you might need a bit more room in through the chest, but I think I have a solution if you like the dress…"
"Try it on," Ali demanded. "Try it on or I'll buy it for you and send it to my mother, who will make you wear it."
"Is that a threat?" Chloe joked, kicking off her heels.
"Have you met my mother?" Ali replied deadpan.
Chloe smirked at the way Laura had managed to get both her children under her thumb and keep them there to that day. "Yes, she's very frightening."
Ali glared at Chloe, while Deirdre tried not to laugh as she zipped Chloe into the dress, behind the stand alone privacy screen. The dress trailed on the ground quite a bit and Deirdre helpfully retrieved Chloe's heels, which helped but didn't solve the problem entirely.
Chloe looked into the mirror and appeared to be in awe. The dress fit. "It will have to be taken up a few inches, and let out a bit here," she indicated Chloe's hips, "a taken in at the waist an inch and a quarter, and I think if we add a bit of the mesh..." she twisted some of the mesh into a rope and held it over the straight bodice of the dress, giving a bit more coverage to Chloe's cleavage.
"It's stunning," Chloe said softly.
"We'll take it," Ali confirmed peeking around the room divider to see Chloe in the dress. "And I'll take these three if I can," Ali asked waving a few garments at them with an unrepentant smile.
They had to argue a bit with Deirdre to get her to accept money, but in the end Chloe negotiated that they would pay for the cost of the clothing with Deirdre's time included.
As they left the studio, Ali linked her arm with Chloe's. "All you need with it are heels and a pair of earrings. Maybe a bracelet if you want, but nothing else." Ali grinned and Chloe took a moment to appreciate how happy she was. "Ollie won't be able to keep his hands off you in that dress," Ali laughed.
CO-CO-CO
Ali was right about Oliver, who nearly derailed Chloe's attempts to arrive at the ball on time.
Chloe's plan was to walk the press line with her jacket on, but Ali nixed that when she pulled the jacket from around her shoulders and handed it off to Laura's personal assistant before returning to her parents' sides for pictures. Chloe and Oliver posed by themselves then with the rest of the Queens, and by the time they made it inside, Chloe was seeing stars and needed a drink. "Who are you wearing?" the expected question was asked, and Chloe felt good giving her answer. "Deirdre Vaughn."
"She's a fresh new designer from Metropolis," Ali gushed, wearing a white Grecian dress with a black belt and a deep v in the front and back.
CO-CO-CO
They finally made it inside the venue, and Oliver disappeared to find Hal, leaving Chloe momentarily alone. Robert appeared at her side and handed her a beverage. She sipped it and smiled gratefully upon finding it was sparkling water. "It gets better from here, I promise. Laura loves the pomp of the press line, and it does garner the event more publicity, but it's a bit much for me."
Chloe smiled at him and looked around the room which had kept with the theme of black and white. The only color were the centerpieces on the tables scattered around the edges of the room, which were done in the colors of a harvest: red, green, orange and yellows. "It's beautiful, you really go all out."
"This is all Laura, I just sign the checks," Robert said ruefully. His attention was captured by his wife who was waving her hand to get his attention. "Duty calls." He paused, "You look beautiful tonight Chloe, Laura was miffed you wouldn't let her buy you a dress, but now she thinks you were just hoarding your designer." Chloe laughed and several people watched as Robert kissed her temple before walking away.
CO-CO-CO
Some time later Laura pulled Chloe away from Oliver and commanded him to find his sister. "The photographers want some pictures of the three of us girls, so hurry."
Oliver moved to do his mother's bidding, and Laura turned to Chloe. "The party is going nicely, don't you think?"
Chloe nodded her agreement. "You look stunning."
Laura smiled, and smoothed a hand down the side of her black and white mermaid dress. Designed with one shoulder, fitted to just above the knee, the white crepe dress was set off by a black lace floral overlay over one side. "Thank you, but you are the belle of the ball tonight, as it should be."
Oliver waved from the entrance to the ballroom and they could see that Ali and Hal were with them. Laura and Chloe made their way through the room, with Laura nodding and smiling at friends and acquaintances. She dipped her head low to Chloe's. "What's your impression of Hal?"
Chloe looked startled. "Hal? He's great. A good friend to Ollie."
"Yes, and very handsome, quite the hero. He has a reputation with the ladies. But I don't know if it's deserved or not."
Chloe blinked, unsure of what Laura was after. "Um, yeah, he's a bit of a ladies man, handsome, easy going, charming, but he's not a cad."
"He and Oliver have a lot in common, don't you think?"
"Sure," Chloe drawled slowly.
"And Ali loves her brother so much," Laura continued lightly and Chloe finally caught the point of the conversation.
"She's a bit young for you to be matchmaking, don't you think?" Chloe said with a cautious laugh.
"Oh of course, he's much too old for her now, but in another three or four years..."
"I..." Chloe said then broke off with another laugh. "You're diabolical."
Laura raised her chin haughtily. "I need a project, you have been my project for the last 20 years, but now that you're with us as you should be..." she smiled and turned her hawk-like gaze at her children and Hal. "Your wedding will occupy me for a bit, but I think a longer term project is just the thing." Laura looked at Chloe challengingly. "Are you in?"
"As long as it's Ali's choice in the end."
"Of course, I only want my children's happiness," Laura agreed with a happy smile.
Chloe laughed again and as they finally arrived at the door, Oliver sent her a quizzical look. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," Chloe replied at exactly the same time that Laura did.
"Nothing," Laura said easily. "Nothing to concern yourself with."
CO-CO-CO
AN- Seriously, sorry for the delay- life is hectic at the moment. But I wanted to get this up, the chapter has less scenes than I meant, which means another chapter later to get all the rest of the story in, but… I doubt I'll hear any complaints about that.
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