Glad you're all liking this, I do LOVE hearing back from you. *hint hint nudge nudge wink wink*

Regarding Lex's POV, you'll get a glimpse into his mind soon, but not right now. Soooooooon.

This is a filler chapter, no explosions, no partying, no crazy monkey sex. You have been warned.

Previously; Chloe took some work behind Lex's back to get a secret reserve of money (in case of emergency). Oliver turned up to play some poker and they had a clash of eyes. Mr Queen starts asking too many questions and dear Chloe has to bail him out of trouble with her hard earned money.
Oh, and Oliver had sexy dream about Miss Chloe. Who doesn't love steamy dreams? ;)

Chapter Twenty Two; Distractions

'All your life you've had a tendency to let the damsel lead you straight into the mouth of the dragon.'- Lionel Luthor (Season Four, Episode Commencement)

Chloe woke early, despite the late hours and got straight to work on her plans. First, the last third of that list, then she could take the rest of the day off. But as she landed in the lobby, she was met by a female from behind the desk.

"Miss Maine."

"Hey." Chloe just answered, waiting for the rest of the call to be addressed.

"There's a package for you. And, a few other things." Oh Oliver.

"What few other things?"

"There's some accessories in a bag, and some tulips too." Her eyes drifted past the woman to the desk where red tulips stood in a vase of water, a label hanging from them. Did he know they were her favourite flower? "Ummm, there's also a bag from Donna's bakery." Chloe's stomach purred at the name.
"Who are they from?" But she knew the answer.

"A man came by this morning to drop them off. He didn't leave him name, just wrote 'Prince Charming' on the card." Chloe laughed.

"Alright. I'll take the food now. Would you take the rest to my room?" The woman nodded and headed back behind the desk, handing over the bag.

Hmm, still warm. How long had she missed him by?

With a nod of thanks, she took the backseat of her driver's car and dialled Queen's mobile.

It seemed that his business meeting must be happening as she was forwarded straight to voicemail.

"Thank you." she began with, ignoring the awkwardness she always felt when thanking people. "The tulips are significantly better than the roses." Her eyes followed the traffic while she spoke, the driver neatly pulling out into the flowing river of cars. She found her reflection smiling at her. The man charmed her something terrible. "The food is always welcome, and smells delicious." she spoke her thoughts aloud, opening the bag to find a blueberry muffin, raspberry muffin, a white chocolate chip cookie and chocolate cake. "But you only score a 9. I don't like blueberry." she explained and closed the bag, making a mental note to donate the blueberry to the driver before she took a mistaken bite. "But it's very sweet." she praised. "I presume the package is the costume, so I'll try it on later." After all, tomorrow was the big night. Her fingers dipped back into the bag again. Skipping breakfast was a bad idea, her stomach agreed and took over her hand's control, lifting the cookie from its place. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Her tongue dipped out, licking her lips. But her mind remembered the 'gift' Queen would be accepting sometime soon, and the playful edge consumed her again. "Have a good business meet sweetie. Can't wait to see you." she purred and finished the voicemail. A sinful bite later and she was ready to personally stop by Queen Industries to thank her suitor.

There were many things Oliver dealt with on a daily basis.

This was not one of them.

It was certainly not what he was expecting to walk into after finishing his meeting. He had plans to finish early and take a nap. Maybe drop by and see Chloe. But this threw him a little.

"It was where?" he asked, flashing a look over to Clark who stood by the window.

"Delivered to your door Mr Queen." His secretary answered between blushes and the start of a stutter. He knew he made her nervous, but she did work faster than anyone else he'd previously hired. He supposed it helped that she was already happily married and not tripping over her own feet trying to seduce him like the last 'assistant'.

"No name? No return address?"

"N-no sir. It was there when I arrived back from lunch. I had security check it over immediately."

"Good." But he met Clark's eyes again, asking for a double check.

"Open it Oliver. It seems fine." Clark offered, finding nothing out of the ordinary.

Oliver pulled out the letter opener from the desk draw and sliced it down the masking tape that covered the box. Slowly and cautiously he opened the flaps.

"Are you sure this was addressed to me?" he asked the secretary again. She changed weight on her feet and nodded swiftly.

Clark stood over his shoulder, looking down curiously at the boxed cake with 'Happy Birthday Oliver' across it in blue icing and swirling font.

"You didn't say it was your birthday." Clark muttered, feeling guilty already for forgetting.

"It's your birthday, sir. Oh, happy birthday." The secretary tried to find something to be doing that wasn't forgetting her boss's birthday.

"No. It's no- it's not my birthday."

"Oh…" Feeling more out of place she changed weight again. "Will there be anything else sir?" she asked, desperately wanting to leave.

"No. Thank you." Still perplexed by the package on his desk he didn't even notice the small footsteps as she left.

"Any idea who would send you this?" Clark asked.

"Not really." He was still puzzled over why…

"Stalker?"

"Possibly."

"What about the girlfriend? You said she worked with Lex."

"Not really her style… besides, I haven't pissed her off recently." he stated "I don't think…"

"Why 'Happy Birthday' though?"

"Your guess is as good as anyone's."

"Long lost relative with memory problems?"

"There's no card." he noted. "Probably nothing Clark. Being a powerful man brings the occasional lunatic to your door."

Clark met Oliver's eyes with concern. Oliver just shrugged it off. He'd get someone to look into it, but otherwise he'd push it to the back of his mind. Besides, he'd dealt with a lot worse.

Chloe grinned down at her phone, an email confirmation send through from her gift. Poor Queen would be having a security field day. His security might trace it back the bakery if they have any brain cells, but the card transaction and email address would both be gone in the wind, deleted by the magic of her software.

She lifted her eyes back to her last meeting on the list and shook his hand in farewell. Not Arrow though. There wasn't the banter, there wasn't the nerves of being found out. So, it wasn't any of the trainers she'd interviewed today. But she had their memberships to go through. Besides that, she was done for the day, but she wasn't feeling hopeful. She'd pretty much convinced herself it was a waste of her time, Arrow trained outside of martial arts centres. Vordigan was still her biggest clue towards his secrets. She vaguely wondered if Vordigan had taught him everything; fighting, archery and even costume making. She stifled the giggle of the image of the big bad Arrow trying to sew his own outfit.

Or… the thought came to her that perhaps he wasn't as local as she thought. All reports were in metropolis area, but if he had learnt his skills outside of the city, or state, or… country –she gulped, not wanting to run through that list- he could just upkeep his talents in the comfort of his own room. Which still left her exactly where she was: square one.

Chloe's smile was gone as she took her seat in the driven car back to the penthouse.

Archery was her last chance, but her hope was dying there as well. If he was careful enough to evade any paper trail so far, she doubted he'd slip up now. The only thing motivating her to search through the information about the martial arts centres and look into the archery ranges was Lex. Lex would want to see results, a thorough search of her possibilities. And for Lex she would press on. He was her motivation right now and she really needed it. She should probably pay him a visit Friday, after she'd spent the night with Queen.

Chloe leaned back against the seats. How screwed up was it that Queen was her silver lining? She was actually looking forward to seeing him. Cursed man was like an infection now, he pretty much had total control over her now. Chloe let her head drop back, no willpower remaining to hold it up anymore, her eyelids closed and she shut out the world. She felt her body move with the car over the potholes of lower metropolis but otherwise she just felt stuck. Queen had gotten under her skin, and god she wasn't even trying to scratch him out.

She liked him. She liked him for God's sake.

Bet Lex never saw that coming. But she couldn't tell him, Lex should never know.

"Miss. You alright?" Chloe opened her eyes to the driver's concerned voice. He was one of the nicer drivers. He didn't ignore her like some others. He wasn't overly chatty and he understood space. She pulled out a smile for him.

"Just tired." she breathed. "I'm fine. Thank you." Her words flowed calm and serene. The driver passed her a nod with a happy curve to his lips and kept driving.

She turned her attention to the window, watching to roads and buildings fill her vision then fade away, swallowed by the city life. When she got back into the penthouse she'd take a nap, she decided. Maybe just close her eyes on the sofa for a few minutes. Regain her motivation.

And that was her plan all the way up the elevator, but as soon as the door opened she remember the mess of flowers and gifts awaiting her. So much for a nap.

Chloe took things one at a time.

One; coat off.

Two; shoes off

Three; laptop on and start data sync with her phone

Four; background music

Five; flowers.

As Chloe turned to the array of blossoms in her kitchen she slowed her pace. The tulips were breath-taking, the colours twisted with a candy coating, the vase crammed to the brim with more shades of reds and pinks than a valentine's parade. And she loved it. Ignoring everything else, she took the vase of tulips to the living room, placing them at the centre of the room next to the cream sofa. They reminded her of strawberries and cream as she stepped back to take in the view. With approval, she turned back to the kitchen, but the absence of tulips highlighted the box laying across the counter taking up more space than coffee maker.

It was heavier than she'd imagined; that was Chloe's first thought as she took hold of the package. Maybe she was too used to buying things for cheaper prices, or maybe she'd just learned to pack light, but as she collected the box she didn't expect it to have any weight at all.

Still, she took the gift from the kitchen and to the round table of the living room. But then she stood, transfixed.

Did the giddy feeling inside her have to be so dominant? Was she really going to pass out from excitement like she felt?

Wait, when was her last coffee?

She rolled her eyes and headed back to the kitchen. Of course she was having troubles focussing, she was caffeine depleted. She'd only had the cup this morning, and that was hours ago.

But her fingers tapped impatiently as the coffee poured, she didn't have the patience to wait for it to cool and dared a burning sip from the first second she had with the mug. The taste burned at her tongue, but she swallowed and curled her fingers around the warm life-giving mug. She knew what was on her mind… the package. As much as she wanted to deny it, it felt like Christmas again. It had been years since she'd last enjoyed Christmas, but all she could think of with that package was the feeling on Christmas Eve as her Dad had to put her back to bed several times while she tried to persuade him with logic as to why she should be able to open her presents now.

And Chloe came back to the present, face to face with the parcel current teasing her. There is sat, ominous and silent while she took the coffee mug back to her lips.

She'd given Oliver one word: Greek.

There were plenty of outfits under the costume heading of Greek. All seemed seductive, rich and beautiful for the women, but the men, they were so primal, assertive and overflowing with an untapped source of raw energy. It was her way of securing her outfit to remain modest, and securing her plan to bed Oliver by the end of the night. It was the only option, it had come to a point where she could think of little else but him. She went to sleep and the last image behind her eyes was him, she woke up and her first thought was him. It was becoming insanity.

But she'd been going at this the entire wrong way. Men like Queen with a past of bed mates longer than her list of criminal offences had developed past impulse… clearly. So, acting on his desires as a male wouldn't be enough, he'd satisfied them too many times. But, as he insisted, romance was the key. She'd simply have to play along, and when he lowered that shield enough she'd be able to clear him from her mind and get on with the job at hand. So, while she could remain modest and wrapped up for his love bubble, he would be less so, and she didn't find any problem with that at all. A man with a body like Oliver's was made for women to be attracted to, and if he happened to be half naked in a room full of women, and if he happened to desire bedding one, she would be right there.

It wasn't airtight, but it was a plan.

And thus it came back to the box. Whatever he had chosen was sitting on her table innocently hidden in the pale blue cardboard, wrapped in black satin ribbon waiting for someone to unveil it. It even had accessories, she recalled, thinking of the bag by the door she'd left behind.

She crossed her arms over her chest trying to puzzle through the package before opening it. There wasn't a lot of choice for Oliver regarding her costume really. Either way it was going to be some sort of toga or robe. Probably white. Maybe some red covering over it. Gold dashed in places.

Why did she agree to let him choose anyway? she mused.

Damn it, just open it, she hissed to herself and approached the box. Her hands tugged the ribbons easily, letting them fall away and lifting the pale blue lid. White tissue paper guarded the costume, the final layer of covering. She was quick moving it aside, her fingers diving for a more precious treasure, and as fingers touched she couldn't stop the fascination as she lifted it from the nest.

Flowing ivory cascaded down before her, tucked at the bust, pleats of cream and white spilling over the main silken material. It was beautiful. It had material pouring from every inch of it in a tasteful elegance. It would make her in every essence; a true Queen.

Her bare feet felt the ghost of material over them, the associated wrap he'd included falling from its previous home slung over the dress. He thought of everything it seemed.

And there was that tug on her heart strings again, and she let it happen, she let it take over for those few minutes. She felt the warm sting of butterflies in her stomach and her lips curved to an unconscious smile. For the first time, in a long, long time, she felt… happy.

Chloe spent the next few minutes in costume, turning before the mirror, fiddling with the multitude of accessories Queen had purchased. And when she said accessories, she didn't mean cheap plastic bracelets from the party shop. No, there was a tiffany box with ear-rings and matching necklace in. Cartier gold bracelets and anklets. That was the kind of grade to think when she fished through the entire bag full. And it was full. Even a new clutch sat in the bottom besides the nail polish and make-up.

Yes, Queen had bought her nail polish and make-up. She didn't know whether to gape at it like she currently was doing, or to laugh like her insides were. Had he bought these without a clue of the female mind, or had he sent an assistant to get one of everything?

But as she rolled her eyes to the reflection that sparkled with elegance and poise, her thoughts strayed to his own costume. Just what would Oliver be wearing?

Dress-up time finished, the outfit fitting perfectly as she thought it would. Granted, the dress was a tad long as she stood barefoot, but that would be sorted on the day. Especially since Queen thought to include her heels. Though, she did like them, a lot. But work called and she changed back to normal Chloe wear and sat before her laptop for the next few hours.

She half expected Arrow to drop by and tell her she was going along the wrong track, but he was clearly busy, all she had from the outside world was a text from Queen responding to her voicemail. She took a shower to break up her work, ordered some Chinese to satisfy the hunger and finished her Arrow search around 5pm.

She leant back in the chair, as predicted, no hits from the martial arts centres. The man was truly a mystery.

The only thing she knew was that he was not Lex, and he was not Queen, since she'd seen them both in the same room at the same time. Which just left… every other male in metropolis. Chloe crashed her head to her hands, her fingers splaying in her hair then moving gently to massage her brain into thinking again.

The archery was her last resort…

Then she'd have to start digging further into Vordigan. If she could find out how Vordigan learned… maybe the master taught the apprentice his same ways. The only people with more Vordigan knowledge than herself or the internet would be reporters. Reporters hear rumours, they file them away and decided whether to use them or not. There was probably a big juicy file on Vordigan in the databank of whatever server the papers were using. Actually… there could be rumours on Arrow too.

Then again, there could be nothing more than what she already knew.

Chloe closed the laptop, already making plans to start with the archery ranges first. She wasn't looking forward to the security on newsroom computers.

She rolled her head around slowly, feeling the pops of tension releasing with a satisfying sound. A film, she decided on the spot.
And that was how she ended up on the sofa, drifting off the sleep under a blanket while the matrix trilogy played on. Just as she felt herself nodding off through the second film, the phone vibrated, a text alert through.

Chloe grumbled, wanting to choose sleep instead, but she blindly patted across the table, reaching for the closest phone. Client phone. She pulled it before her eyes, no message. She dropped it in her lap and reached back against for the other one. Personal phone had a message for her, from Queen. She smiled and pulled herself into a sitting position, trying to wake herself up.

'I miss you. What are you doing?'

Chloe laughed softly, sinking back down into the warmth of the blanket.

'Lying on the sofa watching a film. You?'

The weight on her eyelids vanished and she turned her head back to the screen. She'd seen the matrix a lot of times, she'd wished she could slip into the 'real' world away from Lex. But it was not meant to be. No little red pill for her.

'Reviewing finance reports :( Any chance you need me to rush over to save you from the loneliness you feel without me?'

Chloe laughed aloud again.

'And deprive your finance reports?!'

She text back in jest, not at all envying Queen's night. She might not be having a rager herself but anything was better than paperwork.

'Cruel woman. I'll bring coffee?'

Her grin tugged at her cheeks.

'You'll see me tomorrow. And yes, I advise you do bring coffee ;)'

'I bet I could lure you into anything with coffee.'

And in honesty, it was probably be true. If she had to be tortured for information, it would be the caffeine withdrawal that would crack her before the pain did most probably. It wasn't her fault, everyone had something of an addiction. Queen was clearly work obsessed, it was past 7pm and he was still working.

'Possible. What's your weakness? Everyone's got one.'

Would he admit to his work addiction? Though it was hardly something that could be exploited for her benefit.

'You would use that power for evil, I'm afraid I can't tell you.'

'Trust me, what I have planned is far from evil ;)' she replied with a smirk on her lips.

'Planned? Should I be scared?'

'Very'

She grinned, feeling the ache of tiredness pull at her again. She shuffled on the sofa, trying to find the energy to get back into the film. It was near to finishing the second film anyway. Maybe an early night would be good…

Then again, she'd always sleep better if there was a man tiring her out. Shame about Queen's rule really… he'd have been on his way here already if not for that damn third date rule.

An evil thought tugged at her and she eagerly followed it. Her hands tugged at the blanket, wrapping it around her like a large cape. She snatched the zapper, turning off the movie and immersing the room in the sole light of the half moon. One hand on the blanket, the other on the mobiles she padded barefoot into the bedroom and pulled open the top draw of the dresser.

Her shopping trip had given her excuse to indulge in new lingerie. Lingerie that fit her like a second skin, ones that matched top and bottom, ones that flattered her in ways men could only dream of, ones that didn't pinch or tug or nip, ones that cost Lex a pretty penny.

Her hand ghosted across the colours. The dress was white, the underwear would have to match. Sadly white wasn't her greatest colour selection, a lot of the garments in the shop in any shade of white looked like they were to be worn by brides, and she wanted nothing to do with them, so she'd gone for other colours as a priority. Colours like the dark red to the far left, black lace nestled between the light blue and purple silk sets and a deep emerald green on the far right. Needless to say one had been bought with Arrow in mind. She traced the materials, selecting the sole white set from the drawer.
Detachable straps, cleavage enhancing, balconette and beautiful. The matching bottoms lay nestled in the cups, keeping the pair together. Chloe lifted it out. Tasteful brazillian cut of white satin with lace trim and soft cream bows to match the bra. She grinned, imagining the look on Queen's face when he saw the set against her creamy skin. He'd be powerless.

She realised she'd not yet read the text that he'd sent back and swapped the underwear for the phone.

'What exactly do you have planned for me?'

Chloe grinned, her eyes on the planning in question.

'Nothing you won't like. But I'm curious, you've been to more of these functions than me, what kind of lingerie does a girl wear to these?'

That was less of a hint than a great big whack in the face with a placard but she liked the thought of him having her underwear on his mind.

'I think I'm safer not answering this and concentrating on my work.'

As much as she wanted to call him a coward she typed out the reply that was sure to finish those financial reports.

'But how will I decide without your help? Suppose I could always not wear any underwear… that solves my problem.'

She hit send and looked up into the mirror, the playful eyes obvious to her now she could see them herself. She looked powerful and in control and it brought the energy back to her depleted body.

'You shouldn't be putting things like this into my head'

But the warning was a playground for her.

'Oh dear, are you getting sexually frustrated? Should I tell you what I do when I feel like that? Maybe it will help ;)'

'Help is not the word that comes to mind. You should go to bed soon, tomorrow I'm paying you back for this.'

Chloe laughed, but agreed with the idea. She was feeling the tug of sleep again.

'And I'm paying you back for date one. I wonder who will cave first.'

'Sweet dreams Chloe. Dream of me. Xxx'

Chloe smiled, putting the phones by the bedside table and slipping into the duvet without bothering to ditch the blanket, it was already warm, unlike her bed. It didn't take long before she was claimed by the sandman. The late night and early rise this morning seemed to be insanity as she lay there and let another yawn rip from her.

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Filler chapter, as I said at the start. Next chapter is the date.

Question to my readers; who do you think will cave first?

(Moving into the new student accommodation this weekend, I won't have internet up and running until midweek, so the next post might not be until around the 20th Sept. Depending on how progress goes I might post up the next chapter early (before I enter the new house) so you have it for the week. We'll see.)

Review if you feel it, reviews make writers happy. Happy writers are statistically proven to be happier than non-happy writers. (*sigh* my humour sucks when my head hurts- apologies)
Xx