Waking Up in Vegas Chapter (3/15)

Banner By: Andrea

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Chapter 2



Jack Wilson stared at Oliver as he spoke to the other board members and justified his latest youthful mishap. He’d been working for Queen Industries for close to fifteen years and out of all the things Oliver Queen had done in his life, this had to be the most ridiculous of them all.

He hadn’t liked Chloe Sullivan since the first time he was introduced to her at the office Christmas party two years ago. There was just something about the petite blonde that annoyed him.

He’d put up with her presence because he figured Oliver would eventually grow bored with her like he did with most women, but now they were married and things were different. There was no way he could let this marriage stand unopposed.

He turned his attention back to Oliver, catching the tail end of his sentence.

“What I do with my personal life gentlemen has no clout over how I handle my professional life. Our wedding this weekend might not have been planned, but that doesn’t make it any less real to either of us.”

Jack cleared his throat and Oliver’s eyes landed on him as he spoke.

“And the pregnancy allegations? Are you sure Miss Sullivan is even pregnant? It could be a ploy to take advantage of you.”

Oliver glared slightly at the older man while trying to keep his body language from appearing defensive. He was not Jack Wilson’s biggest fan. There was just something about the guy that rubbed him the wrong way.

“It’s Mrs. Queen and she’s not pregnant. That’s just a story that was cooked up by overzealous press. This isn’t some indiscretion or something to hide. Chloe and I love each other and I expect to have everyone’s support in the upcoming months. Is that going to be a problem?”





______

Chloe walked down the hallway heading to the small kitchen to grab a cup of coffee when she passed the conference room and stopped at the sound of Oliver’s voice.

“It’s Mrs. Queen and she’s not pregnant. That’s just a story that was cooked up by overzealous press. This isn’t some indiscretion or something to hide. Chloe and I love each other and I expect to have everyone’s support in the upcoming months. Is that going to be a problem?”

She couldn’t help being curious and she bit her lip as she shifted so she was pressed against the wall to the side of the door. The room was silent for several minutes before another voice spoke.

“We are just trying to look out for your best interest and the company’s best interest. We let you have your dalliances, and dating Miss Sullivan was one thing, but marrying her? We just feel that the two of you are not a good match. There are many eligible women who would be more suitable and who’ve…grown up in the same circles as you have.”

Chloe’s heart clenched as she realized what they were saying. Apparently she wasn’t good enough to be a Queen. She tried not to let their words upset her, but how could they not? She’d been having doubts that they could make this work ever since she realized they were married and now people who barely knew her were confirming her worst fears.

And if not even the board members of Queen Industries thought she could pull of being Oliver’s wife then what chance did she really have at making this work? Oliver’s voice brought her from her thoughts.

“Please tell me you are not implying what I think you’re implying.”

She could hear the barely restrained anger in his voice.

“We are just being vigilant Mr. Queen. She isn’t from your world, she doesn’t understand the responsibilities of someone in your position. Being your girlfriend and being your wife are two very different things.”

“Chloe is an amazing woman and I’m more than confident in her ability to be able to handle being in the limelight. Is there anything else you wished to discuss? No? Then this meeting in adjourned. I have places I need to be today.”

Chloe swallowed hard and quickly moved away from the door and towards the kitchen. She was in the process of lifting the coffee pot when Oliver popped his head in the doorway.

“Hey, meeting’s over, sorry it took so long. You ready to head out?”

She nodded and Oliver frowned noticing that she wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, we should probably get going. I’m sure Mia’s tired of waiting by now.”

She gripped the cup in her hand tightly as she passed by him and moved out the door. He watched her go, concern building inside of him. It looked liked things were going to be more difficult than he’d first anticipated.





______


The trip to Mia’s school took about three hours and they both worked on their laptops during the ride. When the driver stopped to let them know they had reached their destination, Oliver called the headmasters office asking them to send Mia out.

Chloe glanced out the window and broke the silence.

“It doesn’t look like there are any reporters out here.”

“The headmaster said they were able to get them off school grounds not long ago, so she should be able to get here without much trouble.”

Chloe nodded.

“That’s good.”

Oliver had just opened his mouth to ask her a question when the limo door was pulled open and Mia slid in bags in hand. She tossed them on the ground as the driver shut the door behind her. She folded her arms across her chest and glanced between Chloe and Oliver. Chloe smiled.

“Hey Mia.”

“Hi.”

The limo jerked to a start and Oliver glanced between the two women in front of him before speaking.

“Sorry it took us so long to get here.”

She shrugged.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”

Oliver’s brows furrowed at the teenager in front of him, his voice coming out angrier than he’d intended.

“What is your problem?”

Chloe frowned at Oliver.

“Oliver--”

“No, don’t Oliver me. She’s been in a mood since I spoke with her this morning and I want to know why.”

Mia huffed and she leaned forward as she spoke, her voice slightly loud.

“You want to know what my problem is?”

“Yes, I do.”

“How could the two of you get married without me? How could you just run off and do something so…impulsive…so life changing…so important without even calling me? I thought we were supposed to be a family. Isn’t that what you keep telling me? And then if that wasn’t bad enough you didn’t even call me after the fact! You couldn’t pick up the phone and say hey Mia by the way Chloe and I got married.”

She shook her head and Oliver could see her eyes glisten as she looked out the window. Any anger he’d been feeling deflated as he saw the hurt on her face. He should have realized, sometimes he really was blind. He swallowed hard as Chloe spoke.

“Mia…this whole marriage thing, it wasn’t planned. Not even close trust me.”

She turned to face Chloe and her frown lessoned at the sincerity on the blondes face. Oliver cleared his throat and she glanced at him.

“If we had planned it you most definitely would have been there. We got a little drunk and it just sort of happened.”

Mia chuckled and then bit her lip. She had seen the YouTube video and a little drunk didn’t cover it. They had been stumbling all over the place and yet still managed to look amazing. She raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

“How does getting married just happen?”

Chloe sighed.

“I’ve been asking myself the same thing.”

Oliver could feel the tension around them starting to ebb away and he finally relaxed against the seat. Mia seemed calm for the moment and not as angry as she had been so that was good.

“So is there anything you guys need to tell me?”

Oliver shook his head.

“I think getting married is pretty much it.”

“Really? Nothing about maybe I don’t know…a baby?”

Chloe groaned and Oliver smirked.

“I’ll let you field that one Sidekick.”

“I am not, nor have I ever been pregnant and if I have to make that announcement one more time today, I might physically hurt someone.”

Mia grinned.

“Thank god. Babies are loud and no offensive, but I don’t think the world can handle another Oliver anytime soon.”

Chloe snorted.

“Trust me there will be no babies.”

Oliver’s brows furrowed slightly.

“You don’t mean that…do you?”

Chloe and Mia faced Oliver with identical looks of surprise on their face. Chloe wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn she saw sadness cross Oliver’s face seconds before it was gone.

“…I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”

“So you’re telling me you never want to have children?”

Chloe opened her mouth, but closed it quickly. She could tell by the way he kept his expression neutral that the answer to this question was important. Mia watched the exchange between the two adults and she could practically feel the tension building in the car al over again.

“Do you…do you want kids?”

Oliver pursed his lips together and shrugged.

“I’d like to think they were an option. I mean I suppose I can always leave Queen Industries to Mia, but she doesn’t really like the business side of things.”

Oliver had never been the typical playboy billionaire, at least not to her, so sometimes she forgot that things were different for him. If he never had any kids then there would be no one to inherit all of his money, his company, and everything else.

But after everything she’d seen in the world, all the things they’ve been through and the uncertainty of their lives she wasn’t sure she wanted to bring a child into that. She could feel Oliver’s eyes on her and she took a deep breath getting ready to answer his question when her cell phone rang.

She lifted it out of her purse and answered it on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Chloelicious, hey.”

“Bart now’s really not a good time.”

“We’ve got a problem. A Watchtower related problem.”

She frowned.

“What’s going on?”

“Canary and Aquaman were supposed to check in two hours go and never did. Then about ten minutes ago their GPS fell off the grid.”

“Why didn’t anyone call me sooner?”

“…I don’t know, but any chance you can make your way back to Metropolis sooner? Like now?”

“Yeah…you’ll have to meet us at the penthouse and pick me up there, but that should be fine.”

“Okay we’ll see you soon mamacita.”

Chloe hung up the phone and glanced at Oliver.

“Dinah and AC. haven’t checked in and they just lost the GPS feed. I need to get back to Watchtower.”

Oliver let out a heavy breath.

“You can’t have Bart speed you home Chloe, the press is still all over if they see it…”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and continued speaking.

“Okay here’s what we’ll do. When we get back to the penthouse we’ll link your laptop up to Watchtower’s mainframe and you can take the jet to Metropolis that way you can work from the plane.”

Chloe wanted to protest, but she could already see he was stressed and attempting to make the best out of a bad situation so she just nodded. Mia sat up straighter and spoke.

“I want to go to Metropolis too. Can I?”

Oliver sighed.

“Yeah I guess. You guys can take the jet and I’ll just meet you out there when I can.”

Chloe noted his voice was tired and her brow creased in concern when he opened his phone to call the pilot. Ever since they’d gotten back to Star City it had been one problem after another and she could see it starting to take it’s told on him.

She just hoped that things would calm down soon because it looked like they still had a lot of stuff to work out if they wanted to make this marriage work…and she loved Oliver so she did want to make it work…didn’t she?

Chapter 3