After three months of lessons from John Louis Chloe was ready to gouge her eyes out. She felt like an invalid, having to relearn everything she'd ever known. Apparently for the last twenty one years of her life she's been eating wrong, drinking wrong, standing wrong, sitting wrong, talking wrong, not to mention dressing wrong. She was getting pretty tired of being yelled at in French but she thought she was getting the hang of most, if not all of it.
She also had the added pressure of everyone knowing who she was now. Edward had told the story to the press, come out with talks of his long lost grand niece whom he was taking under his wing and molding as the next head of his empire. There was definitely no shortage of people who were going to be at the garden party watching every move that Chloe made. They kept calling it her debut, as if she was being presented to the world, which in a way she was.
Edward was warming up to Chloe more and more, partly because there wasn't anyone else in the house for her to hang out with, besides the staff, which Chloe herself didn't mind but all of them felt it was inappropriate. They met each morning in the sitting room for breakfast, Chloe had her lessons with John Louis and then they met again in the dining room for supper, Chloe telling him what she'd done that day with John Louis and Edward explaining what he'd done that day at work. It was starting to feel nice, familiar, almost like they were a real family.
Oliver managed to keep her calm and focused. She talked to him every night before she went to bed, at first he was just calling to check on her progression, make sure the plan was working, then it was about Justice League work, then it was just to ask about her day. He'd given her more than enough work trying to figure out Project Cassandra, not to mention sending over every piece of evidence they'd ever gathered on Lex and his dealings.
Lois on the other hand was just making her more and more nervous. "So your big debut tomorrow." Lois said on their weekly call before the garden party.
"Lois I'd rather not think about it." Chloe said inputting data from Oliver into her computer, hoping that a pattern would start to form with the more information she gathered.
"That's got to be a lot of pressure." Lois said, eating something on the other end. Chloe's stomach growled. She was starving but every time she sat down to eat for the past couple of days all she could think about was that every person there would see right through her and she'd have to run back to Smallville in shame, failing John Louis, Sir Edward, and Oliver. "I mean everyone is going to be watching you. Everything you do, everything you say, what you wear."
"Lois I'm hanging up now because you're not making me feel better, in fact." Chloe swallowed hard. "I think I'm going to throw up."
"Definitely want to get that out of your system now. Nothing spells scandal like puke on rich people." Lois said.
"Good bye." Chloe jumped up and ran to the bathroom, her empty stomach betraying her and she thanked whatever God would listen that she hadn't had anything to eat in a while. Her phone rang again and she walked out of the bathroom with a glass of water shakily and answered it. "Lois I don't want to hear one more word about puking on rich people."
"I hope that's not your plan." Oliver said and Chloe could practically hear his smile through the phone. "Because I got to say, I'm not sure it's gonna work."
"Oliver." Chloe relaxed, almost instantly upon hearing his voice. "What's going on?"
"I'm just calling to make sure you're ok." He said. "This is a big deal, and I've put a lot of pressure on you."
"I'm fine; well I think I'll be fine." Chloe said. "My stomach's a little wobbly and my head won't stop spinning and I'm so scared I'm going to screw all this up."
"Take a deep breath for me Chloe." Oliver said and waited as Chloe inhaled and exhaled. "Ok, a few more of those. Maybe some positive thoughts, and a glass of warm milk with a little bit of bourbon should help you sleep tonight."
"I'm not worried about sleeping tonight." Chloe said. "I'm worried about tomorrow, saying the wrong thing to the wrong person, or tripping and falling, or puking on all the rich people."
"Ok, we all need to stop talking about puke." Oliver said. "And you need to calm down. You're gonna do great. Edward says you'll be fine and I trust his opinion so you should to."
"He said that?" Chloe asked astonished.
"Of course he did." Oliver laughed. "Why wouldn't he?"
"Well, I was under the impression that he still didn't really…you know, like me that much."
"Who could not like you?"
"Ms. Reynolds." Chloe said annoyed. The woman glared at her every time they were in the same room together and Chloe had made a conscious effort to not ask the woman for anything since they'd first met in the maid's room but it hadn't helped the relationship any.
"Ms. Reynolds is a crazy old bat who thinks she's knows what's best for everyone." Oliver said. "Don't pay any attention to her ok. Get some sleep, don't worry about the party and check your nightstand."
"Check my what?" Chloe said confused.
"Check your nightstand and get some sleep Watchtower that's an order." Oliver said. "I'll call you tomorrow." He hung up and Chloe set her phone down and walked over to her nightstand, nothing seemed out of place. She opened the drawer and lying in the middle was a small wrapped box. She sighed and sat on the bed opening it up. Inside was a small charm, like the others on her bracelet only this one was a small bow and arrow. She smiled, thinking of Oliver and put it on the bracelet. She took a few deep breaths and turned off the light. She'd need all her beauty sleep if she was going to get through the next day.
Chloe fidgeted all through breakfast, couldn't seem to sit still through her last minute lesson with John Louis and managed to annoy Katrina so much that she gave up halfway through doing Chloe's hair. "Give us a minute huh?" Sir Edward said. Everyone left the room and Chloe jumped out of the chair and started pacing. "My dear, sit down." He smiled and poured a cup of tea.
Chloe obeyed and took the cup when he handed it to her. "Drink." He said and Chloe obeyed. After a few sips she felt a little calmer. "Better?"
"Yes." Chloe smiled at him.
"You're going to do great." He said. "Don't listen to John Louis or anyone else. Just be yourself and you'll do fine." He assured her. "And I think maybe this will go with your dress." He pulled a large box out and Chloe looked at it confused. He motioned for her to take it and she opened it slowly, gasping as she saw the full necklace. One long strand of diamonds that wrapped all the way around her neck with a small chain that hung down, upon which were three diamond daisies.
"It's too much." Chloe argued.
"I got the simplest necklace I could find; I know you do not like flashy jewelry." He took it out of the box and put it around her neck before she could argue. "This is a garden party." He smiled. "You must have flowers."
Chloe turned around and touched the delicate necklace carefully, smiling at Edward. "Thank you." She said.
His brow furrowed and he reached forward to grab her wrist. "Is that a new charm?"
"Oliver gave it to me." She said sheepishly. "For good luck."
He smiled and nodded. "Go get dressed, finish your hair, and meet me out back." He leaned forward, surprising Chloe even more than the necklace, with a kiss on the cheek. "You'll be so beautiful; people won't care if you say the wrong thing."
"You know what would make me feel better?" Chloe asked. "To know why you're doing this for Oliver." Ever the reporter, that question, or a variation there of, had been asked practically on a daily basis since her first night there. Ever the diplomat, Edward always answered with "Why are you" or a variation there of. But Chloe knew you can't know the answer to the question you don't ask.
Edward studied her for a moment and then shook his head, as if to say that today was not the day. "I'll tell you my secret when you tell me yours."
She laughed and nodded before going up to finish dressing.
Two hours into the party even Ms. Reynolds had to give Chloe points. She hadn't said the wrong thing, done the wrong thing, in fact, from what the servants could gather and report back to her discretely she was managing to charm almost everyone at the party. Granted she was pretty secure in her abilities to charm Edwards's peers but the people that mattered, the people that were going to make this whole elaborate plan of Oliver's sink or swim were another story. Taking into consideration her four year high school career as outsider extraordinaire, she was having more than her fair share of doubts on how she was going to push her way into the inner circle of the fabulously rich twenty something's that determined the success of this whole charade. She'd never been good with people her own age, sheer luck and possibly fate, had brought a friend like Clark into her life and she wasn't sure if fate was really too worried with Chloe impressing a bunch of trust fund snobs. "Would you please go mingle?" Edward said once it was just he and Chloe again.
"I'm mingling." Chloe countered.
"Go mingle with people your own age." He nodded at a cluster of young adults on the other side of the pool. Chloe groaned and Edward glared at her.
"All right I'm going." Chloe sighed and walked purposefully towards a group of people that she would not only have vehemently avoided in high school, but probably crucified daily in her paper. They didn't like they would be a fun group to hang out with. The stern looks on their faces, they were at a party for goodness sakes couldn't they smile, told Chloe they probably didn't want to be there. Their choice of clothing, tight designer jeans, high heeled boots, and almost identical halter tops, seemed more conducive to clubbing than a garden party which told Chloe that they dressed to impress others and not for the occasion. Their hair and make-up was also far too over done for the occasion and instantly Chloe pegged them for the flashy girls who felt they had to show off their wealth that John Louis had told Chloe about. Chloe prepared herself for the least stimulating conversation she'd probably ever experience when she was grabbed by the elbow and smoothly pulled in the opposite direction.
"You don't want to go over there." A voice said.
"No one wants to go over there." Another voice said.
"Not even the people that are over there want to be over there." A third one chimed in.
Chloe looked around and realized that she'd become surrounded by three smiling blonde girls, two who looked so identical they had to be siblings, possibly twins, all in flowery summer dresses. They stood apart from most of the people their age in the fact that they, like Chloe, dressed for the occasion in light airy dresses and not heavy designer fancies. Another thing that made them different was their manor, the way they held themselves, loose and carefree, the way one would expect people Chloe's age to be acting on a beautiful spring day at a wonderful garden party. Their hair was loose, or haphazardly pulled into pony tails, one girl was barefoot, holding her sandals in one hand and a drink in the other. And then there was the fact that they were smiling genuinely at Chloe that instantly put her guard down. "Why don't I want to go over there?" She asked as two of the girls wove their arms through hers and carried her to another part of the garden.
"You don't want to start hanging out with the wrong people." The first girl said. "I'm Abby, Abigail Phillips." Chloe shook her hand. "And this is Rose and Lily Martin."
The two girls on either side of Chloe smiled at her and continued to take her somewhere, where she didn't know. She recognized the names. Martin, steel magnet, almost as rich as Edward and Abby could only have been Princess Abigail, fifteenth or sixteenth in line for the throne. "Chloe, Sullivan." She said.
"We know." Rose and Lily said in almost perfect unison. Chloe decided they were definitely twins.
"Of course you do." Chloe sighed. "What exactly makes them the wrong people?" She asked.
"They're boring." Rose said as if it was obvious from just looking at them.
"They're fake." Lily added as an afterthought.
"They're annoying." Abby said. "We've got a list somewhere, we'll show you sometime." Chloe laughed, a little relieved that their reasons weren't snobbish, like they didn't have enough money or their parents weren't from old money. "Besides we've been dying to meet you for like a month now."
"Seriously." Lily nodded. "A whole month."
"Wow." Chloe smiled. "A whole month?"
Rose slapped Lily on the shoulder and they pulled Chloe off the path of stepping stones they'd been on and down towards the lake. "We just knew you would be cool." Rose said.
"Cool?" Chloe looked between them confused. These girls who had more money combined than God, one of them an honest to God princess and they thought Chloe would be cool. "Me?"
"You didn't grow up in this, you aren't like the others." Abby explained.
"How do you know?" Chloe asked. "You've known me for two minutes?"
"Well you're dressed sensibly for the occasion." Abby pointed out. Chloe looked down at her own sundress and flip flops and realized they'd made the same assessment of her that she'd made of them.
"You talked to Albert for more than five minutes." Rose pointed out. Chloe looked over her shoulder for Albert, one of Edwards's oldest friends, as he'd been introduced to Chloe. She was happy to finally meet him after Edward had told her so much about him and Chloe was surprised to find him down to earth, genial, and entertaining.
"He was interesting."
"We know." Rose smiled. "We love Albert. He has the greatest stories. It's just, those people…" She waved in the direction of the group Chloe was going to go talk to. "Think he's beneath them, they won't give him the time of day."
"Plus, Aunt Rachael said you were cool." Lily told Chloe. "She was our advance guard."
"Rachael?" Chloe said remembering the sweet middle aged woman who'd introduced herself and spent the better part of an hour talking with Chloe about everything from politics to music to favorite chocolate flavor.
"We sent her over to get a feel for you." Abby said. "Rachael is an excellent judge of character."
"Ok." Chloe still felt a little confused but she decided to go with it. They wanted to check her out, they decided that she was cool, and for now Chloe was just going to roll with it. "Where are we going?"
"You haven't spent much time exploring here have you?" Rose said.
"No." Chloe admitted. "I'm still trying not to get lost on the way down to breakfast." Abby smiled at her and they led her past the lake on to a well worn footpath that ducked into the trees of the nearby forest. Chloe started to get a little hesitant and slowed some.
"Trust us." Lily said chuckling as she dragged Chloe deeper into the trees.
"I really don't think…" Chloe trailed off her protest when they stopped and she looked around in amazement. "Where…what…"
"Pretty cool huh?" Abby asked as Chloe stepped forward and looked around. They'd taken her to a small clearing in the woods, only about twenty feet wide. Sunlight drifted through the overhang from the trees above that formed a sort of canopy and it sparkled on everything. There was a small bench, strategically placed to get the best light but that was the only intrusion in this completely natural spot. There were flowers growing wild along the perimeter in so many colors that anywhere else it would have looked strange but here it was just natural. The trees that surrounded them were full of birds that were singing and the sounds of other animals going about their daily business that the controlled garden at the house seemed to be missing. A stream cut straight down the middle of the clearing, heading for the lake, narrow enough to simply step over and shallow enough that you'd barely get your ankles wet if you stood in it, which is what Abby was doing at the moment.
"This is amazing." Chloe said. "How did you find this place?"
"Rachael showed it to us a long time ago." Lily said sitting on the ground, completely unconcerned about getting her dress dirty as she too dipped her feet in the stream. "She says that Edward used to have picnics out here with Jillian every Sunday when the weather was good."
Chloe sat down on the ground as Rose took the bench. She'd heard stories about Jillian, Edward's one and only true love. They'd been married when they were both young and Edward was still building his company. Jillian was the one who found the property and designed the house but she'd only lived to see two years in it before she died of a heart problem they hadn't even known she'd had. Edward never married again, rarely even dated according to Elizabeth, always insisting that Jillian was the only woman for him. Knowing this was Edward and Jillian's spot made Chloe feel a little uncomfortable to be there but she knew that Edward wouldn't mind.
Rose, Lily and Abby entertained Chloe with stories of Edward from the old days, they barely remembered Jillian being two when she died but their families had known Edward forever. They had been coming to the annual garden party every year since they were born and generally ended up in the clearing. Which was apparently well known to the staff at the house because a few hours after they'd ventured in there Sylvia, one of the cooks showed up with a platter of food and drinks, set it on the ground of the clearing and walked back to the house without saying a word. It wasn't until it started to get chilly that Chloe noticed the sun was going down and they realized they'd probably better get back to the party which would move inside for the evening, for those close family and friends who'd stay for dinner.
"We're inviting ourselves to stay the night." Rose announced.
"Yes." Lily said drying her feet on the grass as they walked back up to the house. "We're rude like that." She smiled at Chloe.
"That's fine." Chloe giggled, thinking of the four of them, grown woman planning a slumber party. "It's not like we don't have the room."
"We'll skip the formal diner thing and hang out in your room." Abby said. "And you can tell us all about working and going to public school."
"It'll be a rip roaring good time." Chloe joked and they laughed with her. After explaining to Edward that she was skipping the formal diner, getting Elizabeth to order them something from the kitchen Lily, Rose, and Abby followed Chloe to her room and made themselves at home almost immediately.
Lily went straight for Chloe's closet and started going through her things while Abby was more interested in the pictures on her desk. "Are these your friends from back home?" Abby held up a picture with Chloe, Clark and Lois, and Lana.
"Yeah." Chloe smiled. "I've known them since my freshmen year of High school." Chloe said. "And that is my cousin." She pointed to Lois.
"That's Lana Luther." Rose said looking over Abby's shoulder.
"I suppose it is." Chloe sighed. "I can't get used to calling her that."
"So you knew her before she became a Luther?" Rose asked. "Was she any…" She looked at Lily for help. "Better?"
Chloe laughed. "Lana can be…you know she's like…it's hard to explain. I have to say I liked her twenty times better before she became a Luther."
"Were we at that wedding?" Lily asked Rose as she tried on clothes in Chloe's closet.
"No we went to the first two but we didn't bother with this one." Rose said. "No offense." She turned to Chloe. "We just figured that there would probably be another Luther wedding."
"Knowing Lex, you're probably right." Chloe said.
"That's right." Abby put the picture down. "You know Lex Luther too."
"We have an on again off again friendship." Chloe said being completely truthful. Abby raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Sometimes I can stand him, and other times I hate him."
"Lex get's under people's skin because he can." Lily waved Chloe's explanation off. "Abby hasn't met him yet. She doesn't understand how we can be so blasé about Lex Luther."
"He just seems so interesting." Abby shrugged.
"I used to think that way." Chloe frowned for a second. "But the shine wears off when it matters most." She shrugged wanting to change the topic to a happier subject.
"You have the best clothes." Lily said. "Now I want to completely re-do my wardrobe." She finally came out of the closet and plopped down on the couch and Chloe wanted nothing more than to jump up and scream at Edward that rich people plopped too.
"Well I have to be honest; I didn't pick a single thing in that closet out." Chloe said.
"John Louis." Rose and Lily said together.
"How did you know?" Chloe wondered.
"We figured he'd probably be brought in to school you." Rose smiled and Chloe frowned. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Stephanie Rawlings, one of the girls in that group we saved you from. She was born into this and her parents hired John Louis to try and save her from herself but she just couldn't learn and he ended up quitting very publically."
"John Louis is good people." Lily said and Chloe smiled, realizing that was one of Lily's favorite things to say. Either someone was good people or they weren't and Lily was the one who announced it. Chloe had been given a rundown of the good ones earlier, who was ok, who to avoid. They told her who was most likely to hang out with her just because of the money or just to be able to say they know her.
"I like what he picked for me." Chloe said motioning to her dress. "I mean the style is very me I just wish I'd been able to pick some things out on my own. That way I won't always feel like my mother dressed me."
"Then we'll go shopping." Rose said lounging on the couch in the sitting room, waiting for the food to come. "Tomorrow."
"Oh yeah, I totally need all news clothes now." Lily smiled.
"Shopping?" Chloe laughed. "I won't need any more clothes for a while."
"Chloe, Chloe, Chloe." Abby smiled. "You don't shop because you need to, you shop because you can." She shook her head. "There are so many things we have to teach you grasshopper."
"Oh and we'll have to take her to lunch at Mirabelle and oh…then the Mandarin." Lily smiled.
Chloe smiled and was about to sit down when she heard her phone ring. "Hold on." She said grabbing it off the side table and walking out into the hallway. "Hello." She answered on the third ring.
"So did you play nice with all the other kids?" Oliver asked.
"I did." Chloe said. "You would have been so proud of me." She looked in the door and saw Rose and Lily fighting over the remote. "In fact I've still got a few people over. We're having a slumber party."
"Oh." Oliver laughed. "Sounds exciting, tell me all about them."
"You tell me all about them, they're your crowd." Chloe reminded him. "Rose and Lily Martin." Chloe said trying to keep her voice down.
"They're nice." Oliver said. "Real down to earth, but they have a lot of fun too."
"And Abigail Phillips." Chloe added.
"Making friends with Royalty on your first time out." Oliver joked. "My little girls growing up so fast."
"Bite me." Chloe groaned at him. "We're going shopping tomorrow." Chloe said. "Then lunch at Mirabelle and then the Mandarin."
"You're going to the Mandarin." Oliver asked.
"I guess." Chloe shrugged. "What's the Mandarin?"
"A spa." Oliver told her.
"Oh." Chloe paused. "That sounds wonderful."
"Liar." Oliver laughed.
"Completely." Chloe laughed with him.
"Ok, ok, I'll let you get back to it but just so you know, from what I've heard over the grapevine, you done good kiddo." Oliver said sincerely.
"Don't call me kiddo." Chloe groaned. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"All right, have fun." Oliver hung up and Chloe walked back in the room to see each of them on their phones messaging.
"Ok, so you are officially cool." Rose said tucking her phone back in her bag and smiling at Chloe. "We've just put the word out."
"Wow." Chloe said smiling. "I should have had a speech prepared for this…where to start. Well I'd like to thank John Louis, obviously for teaching me everything he knows…" She pretended to tear up. "Oh god I'm just so happy…"
"Shut up." Abby threw a pillow at her and Chloe started laughing.
"Now we must go over the rules though." Rose patted the seat next to her on the couch and Chloe sat down. "You're going to be very, very busy for the next couple of months or so. You're the new it girl, the one everyone wants to see at their parties. Unfortunately for now you aren't going to be able to turn anyone down."
"Anyone?" Chloe asked her eyes wide.
"Anyone." Lily said. "You don't have the standing yet to refuse. Just give it a couple of months with us and you'll see."
"See what?" Chloe asked.
"Well instead of having to go to the hot places, where ever you go will be the hot place." Rose said.
"But for now." Abby sighed. "You'll have to go, you'll have to smile, and you'll have to pretend to like a lot of people."
"We'll tell you who it's ok to like." Lily said and Rose and Abby turned to her with a glare. Lily looked up confused. "No, I don't mean we'll tell you who to like." Lily smiled. "I just mean we'll tell you who we like but you can make up your own mind obviously."
"Thanks for the permission to pick my own friends." Chloe joked with her.
"She didn't mean it like that." Abby tried to assure her.
"I know." Chloe said. "You guys are really a lot cooler than I was expecting."
"I think that's a compliment." Rose said. "I'm not sure though."
"It was." Chloe said. "In my own unpolished way."
"Well you're way cooler than we expected." Abby said.
Elizabeth opened the door for Sylvia to bring their food in and conversation stopped while they ate and watched a movie and Chloe thought for a minute that the plan could actually work.
For some reason that was completely unfathomable to Chloe, Rose, Lily, and Abby seemed to bring her into their fold. For months after the garden party it was nonstop event after event from things like a poker night at Spencer Caulfield's, heir to the biggest oil fortune in Europe, to charity fundraisers for breast cancer awareness to believe it or not a book club. Chloe was exhausted. She couldn't wait until she reached that magical point in her popularity where she didn't have to accept every single invitation given to her. But for now it was high teas and formal diners, spa days and charity balls. "Miss Chloe." Simon took her coat after letting her in the door around 2 in the morning one night after a fund raiser for something that she was a little ashamed to admit she wasn't paying attention to.
"What are you doing up?" Chloe yawned. "I thought you were on day shift."
"I switched with Ryan last week." He put the coat in the hall closet and went back to his post.
Raymond walked out of the kitchen with a plate. "I thought I heard you." He said holding the plate out to her.
"You are a life saver." Chloe grabbed the slice of pizza and sighed in pleasure when she bit into it. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to know you're going to have a ten course meal and then get something with maybe three bites on a plate?"
"You'd think for a thousand dollars a plate they could give you an actual plate." Raymond smiled. He was currently studying under the head chef at the house but couldn't get his head around this new fad of molecular food.
"You'd think." Chloe took another bite of her pizza and smiled. "That's nice." Chloe yawned again and as her phone rang. "I'm just going to finish this, take a hot bath, and then sleep for a day." She pulled her phone out of her purse and then answered it. "Hello?" Raymond shook his head knowing that Chloe wasn't going to sleep. "Hey Oliver." She walked up the steps to her room and took another bite of her pizza.
"Saw you in the society pages yesterday." Oliver teased.
"Shut up." She groaned
"You looked so cute with your arm around Bryce Johnson."
"Ugh." Chloe sighed. "He's got hands everywhere doesn't he?" She took another bite of pizza.
"Well personally I wouldn't know." Oliver laughed. "Could you not eat while on the phone with me please." Oliver said.
"No." Chloe smiled. "It's the only time I have to eat. What's up?"
"I don't know." Oliver said. "What's up with you? You were supposed to call an hour ago."
"I know." Chloe said. "I couldn't get away."
"What was it this time?" Oliver asked.
"I don't even know Oliver." Chloe said. "These things are just blurring together."
"I know how that can be." Oliver said.
"Did I ruin everything? Are we still good to go?" Chloe said.
"Whenever you are." Oliver told her.
"Well just let me finish my pizza, change my clothes and start some coffee." Chloe pleaded with him.
"Sure." Oliver said.
"Thanks." Chloe fell down onto her bed and sighed kicking her shoes off. Then she cringed as they hit the wall, and not because of the noise they made but because they were four hundred dollar shoes and they really needed to be put back in their box. She groaned realizing just how much she'd changed and pulled herself up, picking up the shoes as she walked into her closet and hung the dress in the dry clean area and set the shoes back in their box gently. She grabbed some yoga pants and a sweat shirt and walked over to her office, pulled open a cabinet and sighed. She walked to the door and pulled her hair back as she pushed the intercom button. "Raymond?"
"Yes Miss Chloe, you need more pizza?" He asked.
"No, I'm out of coffee." Chloe said. "Do you think you could…"
"Caf or decaf?" He asked.
"What time is it?" She yawned.
"4:30. "
"Caffeinated." Chloe said.
"Right away." Raymond smiled. Chloe tied the ponytail in her hair and settled down at her desk opening her computer and turning it on. She smiled when Raymond walked in the door with his hands full.
"You're a life saver you know that." Chloe smiled as he walked over to the coffee pot and started a fresh one for her.
"Yeah yeah, I was up anyway." Raymond said.
"Why are you up?" Chloe asked.
"Sir Edward is going to France tomorrow; I have to prepare his food." Raymond said.
"They don't have food in France?" Chloe laughed.
"Not my food." Raymond smiled as he presented her with large slab of chocolate cake.
"I love you." She smiled taking a bite.
"Only because I bring you food." He said pouring her a cup of coffee and setting it down on the desk as she put her ear piece in. "Tell me if I'm out of line you know but what is it that you do in here?"
"Promise you won't tell?" Chloe asked.
"Promise." Raymond sat down smiling at her.
"It's my online Halo 3 team." She smiled at him. "I'm really just a big dork on the inside." She put her ear piece in and Raymond looked at her for a second.
"It's entirely plausible that I could believe that but for some reason…" He shrugged. "I'm just not feeling the nerd."
"What can I say?" Chloe smiled. "It's the smoking hot body; it totally covers my inner geek."
Raymond laughed and walked out of the room. She typed a few things in on her computer and sipped her coffee. "Watchtower in position…everyone ready?" Chloe looked at the screen.
"Ready and waiting."
"Yeah yeah, I'm here now ok so let's do this and cut the lip." Chloe glared at the screen even though they couldn't see her.
"Fine, everyone in position." Green Arrow said.
An hour later Chloe was so ready for bed, she wasn't sure if she could even make it there. "Green Arrow out."
"Aquaman out."
"Cyborg out."
"Impulse out."
"Watchtower." Chloe sighed. "Out." She logged off her screen and pulled her ear piece out before turning off the coffee pot and trudging to her bed which seemed so far away.
Halfway there her phone rang and she answer it, flopping down and closing her eyes. "What do you need Oliver?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to apologize for giving you a hard time." He said.
"At five in the morning?" Chloe yawned.
"I know it's late." Oliver said. "I don't mean to rag on you. I put you in this position and you're doing a great job."
"Umm. Chloe mumbled half listening.
"I lived that life." He reminded her. "I lived that life without another job and you're doing great."
"Yeah." Chloe mumbled.
"Are you asleep?" He asked suddenly.
"No." Chloe lied.
"You get some sleep; I'll call you in the morning." Oliver said.
"No." Chloe groaned.
"I'll call you in the afternoon." He laughed.
"Mmm." She hung up the phone and tossed it somewhere across the room before passing out.