—4—

"I'm never going to be polite again, Edward!"

"I warned you," Edward sighed, doing his best not to smile at the magazine in front of them. Two days later, Chloe and Oliver were all over the tabloids again, this time in a 6 page spread, detailing their supposed "secret rendezvous" at Dinah Curry's apartment complex. There were pictures of Oliver entering the building, and then, because they'd already been staked out, waiting for Oliver to come out, they'd been perfectly poised to take shots of Chloe entering the building. And of course, worst of all, they'd caught the two of them leaving together.

"I can't believe you bought this thing," Chloe said with disgust, picking up the rag and throwing it at Edward.

He shrugged, amused. "Can I help it if your fictional romance makes for great reading? Listen to this, 'In spite of mutual protests that they are not dating one another, it seems Chloe Sullivan and Oliver Queen can't stay away from each other for very long. We can only imagine what they got up to in the Bahamas, but here in Metropolis, they're enjoying a little bit of the excitement of sneaking around.' God that's good."

"I feel so disgusted with myself right now, and I didn't even do anything."

"Not according to this. Oh look! They reprinted your wedding photos!"

"Can they even do that? I thought the photographer was being sued," Chloe grumbled, snatching her cup of coffee up from her desk.

"Well, you know the internet; once it's out there, it's out there. And tabloids aren't exactly known for their integrity."

"No kidding," she glowered at the magazine, one of many.

"Oh, look! They even added the photograph of you two dancing. That one wasn't as popular originally. Wow, they really make you sounds like such a dream couple. I'm starting to wish you were dating."

"Utter those words again and you're fired," she threatened, narrowing her eyes at him.

He raised his eyebrows, smirking. "All I'm saying is I would not be the only person here checking out his ass when he stopped by for lunch-time quickies."

"OH MY GOD!" Chloe threw her hands up, trying to get the mental image out of her mind. "You're all insane."

Edward sighed. "Just remember, none of this would have happened if you'd taken my advice."

She groaned.

"I just want to know if you're really dating her!"

"Mia, for the last time, I'm not seeing Chloe Sullivan."

"But that's what you're supposed to say," Mia said. Oliver glared, and she walked over to hold the punching bag for him. He started throwing jabs at it, and she continued her onslaught. "I'm just saying, the articles all say that it's a secret relationship. So how do I know you're not just saying that you're not dating to keep the secret?"

Irritation in his voice, Oliver's reply was broken into fragments each time he threw a punch. "Because I'm not—dating her. I—barely—even—know her!" He paused for a second. "And frankly, I'm not even sure I like her. She's kind of—"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence with anything other than 'awesome.'"

He looked at her. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Um, no. Chloe Sullivan is a total inspiration."

"Mia, you know how occasionally I don't understand a thing about you because you're a twenty-year-old female?"

"Yeah."

"This is one of those times."

She rolled her eyes, laughing as he started punching again. "She's only the youngest self-made success ever."

Oliver scoffed. "That can't—possibly—be true."

"Okay, not exactly. But she's still really impressive. And I love her magazine."

"How do you—even find time—to read—all the garbage you do?"

"First, Whistle isn't garbage since she became editor, but yes, all the other stuff I read is garbage. And second, I make time." She grinned.

"Women," Oliver snorted.

"Just admit you love us."

He smirked. "Didn't—think I had to."

This time it was Mia rolling her eyes. "Either way, I really hope you're secretly dating her. She outclasses all your exes by miles."

"I'll tell her she's got a fan," he said sarcastically, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Mm, Lo, I've missed you." Chloe hugged her cousin. A month had successfully passed since her impromptu meeting with Oliver, and while the media was still constantly trying to catch them "together," she'd managed to avoid him entirely. Things were looking up.

"You're telling me," Lois said hugging her back tightly. One of the best things about Chloe's job was that it constantly required business trips to Metropolis. No, she didn't have to go on all of them, but she enjoyed seizing the excuse to come by and see her family. "Can you believe Kat and Victor are getting married in a month?" Lois asked, hooking arms with Chloe and sweeping her into the apartment.

"I'll tell you what I can't believe: you and Clark getting married next spring."

"Don't remind me!" Lois groaned. "Do you know how hard it is planning a wedding with my maid of honor all the way in California?" she demanded.

Chloe laughed, sitting on the couch while Lois started brewing coffee. "Trust me: half the time I wish I were out here, too."

"You're kidding me, right? You're living in the land of sunshine and surfers and—"

"—breast implants?"

They shared a laugh, but when they quieted, Lois wasn't making eye-contact. "And of course," she said slowly, "California also has…Oliver Queen." She continued rummaging unnecessarily for mugs that Chloe knew Lois knew where to find, deliberately not looking directly at her to make her statement seem more casual.

"Lois, please," Chloe begged. "I just got away from all the talk about Queen. I don't want to hear his name while I'm here."

"But—"

"Please, Lois."

"You just have to tell me how it's going with him!" Lois said as fast as she could before Chloe could stop her.

Chloe stared, confused.

"Oh come on," Lois begged, grabbing the mugs to pour the coffee. "I'm your favorite cousin. And I want details!"

"Lo…" Chloe said the name slowly, trying to follow what was happening, "you realize Queen and I aren't actually dating, right?"

Lois rolled her eyes. "Come on, Chloe, I'm not the media—" Chloe raised an eyebrow "—okay, I am the media, but your dating life is strictly off the record, I promise!"

"Lois, I will say this one time and one time only: I'm not seeing Oliver Queen!"

"But you two looked so cozy in those pictures!"

"Lois, you're kidding, right? You were there for the whole wedding-photo debacle!"

"Well, yeah," Lois conceded, "but I was hoping maybe that incident sort of…brought the two of you together, y'know?"

"I don't know. Every photo that's been taken of me and Queen has been strictly circumstantial, okay?"

"Fine," Lois said, clearly pouting. "Don't tell me, then."

"Lois, there's nothing to tell!"

"If you say so," her cousin sighed, handing Chloe her coffee and turning on the TV. Chloe raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing about the obvious skepticism in Lois's voice.

There was a lull while Lois surfed the movies On Demand. Then she tried again.

"All I'm saying is—"

"Don't."

"It's just that—"

"Lois."

"No one would blame you for wanting to keep it all on the DL—"

"Seriously."

"—considering your last relationship."

"You're really still talking?"

"And I want you to know that I think it's great that you're dating!"

"I'm not!"

"Well if you were it'd be great, okay?" Lois said in exasperation. "You deserve a really awesome guy, Chloe, and I've hated watching you isolate yourself these past few years."

"No one is isolating herself," Chloe argued, irked.

"Chloe, you haven't been on an actual date in—"

"Please don't tell me you're keeping track. I really don't want to know."

"Well," Lois said, backing off of the sensitive subject and reverting tactics, "I just think Oliver Queen is much more in your league. You always belonged with a guy who was a little more…" she searched for the right word, "GQ."

Chloe laughed. She could tell that there was no point in trying to bring Lois back to reality, in which she was currently not dating anyone, "GQ" or otherwise. And she had to admit, Oliver Queen did look rather suave in a tux. Maybe she needed to take a serious look at her lack of dating life. After all, she met a lot of men; surely there were a few as dapper as Queen who actually had decent personalities, right?

Chloe spent the weekend attending to business of two different varieties. She had a few meetings to take care of for Whistle, which mostly concerned viewing a new fashion line and deciding whether or not she wanted Whistle to cover it. She liked it, and much to the designer's delight, she'd decided to cover it. They'd sent her home with several goodies as a thank you, so she and Lois were carrying expensive designer bags while they attended to the business of planning Clark and Lois's wedding. They had several months, so things were mostly in the preliminary stages: a few cake tastings, looking at fabric for bridesmaid's dresses, surfing catalogues of table settings, etc.

Chloe had to admit, when her cousin had first met her then-best-friend Clark Kent, she never would have thought the two would end up together. But then, in those days, she never would have guessed that Lois would end up a world-class reporter, and Clark would end up the starring quarterback for the Metropolis Sharks. It was a crazy world. But Clark always had been talented, and Lois always had liked rooting out the truth. Really, she should have seen it all coming. Especially that the pair would end up being the perfect couple. After all, wasn't Lois the one always saying that the more a man and woman hate each other at the beginning of a movie, the more likely it is that they'll fall in love by the end? Their constant bickering had practically pre-destined them.

She knew that for the first time, Clark was beginning to resent his career as a football player these days. As much as he loved the game, he valued his privacy, and it was tough on him that his wedding was being considered such an "event." But Lois was reveling in the spotlight and rising to the challenge elegantly. Everything would be perfect or Lois would simply not get married. Chloe supposed that Lois's take-no-prisoners personality was a good balance for Clark's natural shyness.

And it was good to spend time with the pair of them, but she was admittedly exhausted when she arrived back in Star City the next Monday morning. Meaning the last person she wanted a phone call from when she sat down at her desk was—

"Queen! What do you want?"

There was a sigh on the other end. "A pleasure as always, Miss Sullivan."

"Sorry. Long night. I'm a bit jet-lagged."

"Of course. Listen, I know we don't like each other all that much."

"Only when I'm thinking about you," she joked lightly.

"Uh huh, but I have a little favor to ask of you."

"Really?" Chloe said, leaning forward unconsciously, honestly intrigued.

"Before I explain it, I just want you to know I'm not expecting this to be some sort of return-favor for killing those photos from the wedding. Especially considering I wasn't able to completely get rid of them."

"Okay…" Chloe prompted, not really enjoying the topic at hand.

"I'm just saying you don't need to feel obligated, but I still want to discuss something with you."

"What's that?'

"Well, I have a young friend—"

Her eyebrows went up, trying not to make any assumptions about where this was going.

"—who really admires you. She's had a rough past but I've been trying to help her straighten her life out a bit. What I'm wondering is whether you have any internship programs or part-time jobs that she might be able to fill? And listen, don't stress over this because I didn't tell her I was going to ask you, so no one's hopes and dreams are going to be crushed if you say no."

Chloe sucked in a breath, hesitating. "I don't know, Queen—"

"Would you please call me Oliver? My last name always sounds like an insult coming from you."

"Fine. Oliver. I just…I really don't know. Does she have any experience?"

"No, but she's an extremely hard-worker, and I've never been so impressed with a 20 year-old in my life. She's really made a huge turn-around over the last couple of years since I started helping her. She's got major potential, and like I said, you're her hero or something."

"I am?" Chloe raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Yeah, she says, and I quote, 'Oh my God, Chloe Sullivan is, like, a total inspiration.'"

Chloe laughed at his imitation. "How old is she?"

"Twenty."

"College?"

"Not yet, but we're starting to look into it for her. And getting a decent internship somewhere could really help her with that, you know," he added, starting to get hopeful.

Chloe looked out the one-way glass of her office walls, where Louise and Vivian had lost yet another intern while she was away over the weekend. What did she have to lose? She let out a deep breath. "Okay, look, Queen—"

"Oliver."

"—Oliver—I've got a position she can give a shot, but the thing is, she's got to be really tough to be able to swing it. For some reason the girls in this spot seem to drop like flies."

"Oh she's tough, trust me."

"And I want to interview her before I agree to anything. Just to be sure this isn't going to be a huge mistake, okay?"

"Absolutely. I'm pretty sure she'll be thrilled just to meet you."

"Okay. Now, I need to know: what exactly is this sordid past of hers?"

It was Oliver's turn to hesitate. "You'll definitely interview her?"

"Not if she's a kleptomaniac."

"She's not." There was a long pause. "I just…I try not to advertise it. She's very ashamed and—"

"I'm not going to judge her or tell her that I know anything. I just need to know who I may or may not be hiring."

"She used to be a prostitute."

Chloe leaned back in her seat and whistled. "Wow. And you said she's only twenty?"

"Yeah. She lost her parents young. Went through a rough patch and got in with the wrong people. Ended up in debt to a guy who pimped her out. She got into street fighting to try to make some money, and things just kept going down hill from there."

"Drugs?" Chloe asked, cringing.

"No. She's always steered clear of that stuff.

"Ho-kay," Chloe breathed, leaning her head back and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Dare I ask how you met her?"

"I'd seen her fight, saw he potential. She tried to pick me up, so instead I got her out of debt and started helping her finish her high school degree, etcetera, etcetera."

"How very Richard Geer of you," Chloe said flatly.

"Hey, I didn't sleep with her."

"Thank God."

"I'm just trying to help the kid out, okay. So is any of this going to be a problem?"

"Not as long as it's all in her past. Have her swing by…" she flipped through her calendar, "tomorrow at 9:30 A.M. What's her name?"

"Mia Dearden."

"All right, I'll put her in for an interview, but other than that, I'm not making any promises."

"Thank you, Chloe Sullivan," he said, and she could actually hear the grin in his voice. She caught herself smiling a little bit in response. "I really owe you one, and I doubt you'll regret it. She's a great kid."

Chloe shook her head, wondering what she was thinking. "Yeah, all right. I hope you're right."

"Goodbye, Sullivan."

"Goodbye, Queen."

And she hung up, hoping that that would be the last time she had to think about Oliver Queen for a while. Even in Metropolis, she hadn't fully been able to escape him. Both Lois and Clark were convinced that Chloe really was having a secret fling with him, and no amount of denial could convince them otherwise.

She frowned as she wondered what this Mia-person would turn out to be like. Even she couldn't deny it was really…endearing that Queen had taken such a personal investment in this girl's well-being. She hoped Mia would actually be hire-able. Maybe a street-fighter prostitute would be able to handle Louise and Vivian.

But, no sooner had she thought how much she would like to not think about Oliver Queen, than she received another phone call.

"I want to hear all about your tete-a-tete with Oliver while I was gone."

"Dinah?" Chloe groaned.

"I'm ba-ack," her friend sang cheerfully. "And infinitely improved, I might add. The honeymoon was fabulous, thanks for asking."

Chloe didn't bother pointing out that she hadn't asked. "I'm glad you're home, Dinah." There was no point. No amount of berating would ever convince Dinah that her scheming, manipulative ways were wrong.

"Can you do lunch? I'm absolutely dying to go to Ches Benoît's."

"Dinah, I can't today, what about dinner tomorrow?"

"Only if you promise to come see me after work today. I don't care how late you decide to leave. I want to catch up with you, and I want to see my baby."

Chloe laughed. "If you come to my place, you can pick up Tango for yourself. But I'm going to miss that little bird."

"Isn't he the most delightful company?"

"He's a very charming bird," Chloe agreed, laughter in her voice. But it was true, the bird's presence had brightened up her home over the past month. She was going to be sorry to see it go