Banner By: Andrea Chapter 12
Chloe stared at her phone before tossing it on one of the work stations at Watchtower. It was a little past noon and she’d spent the morning fielding calls about things that were going wrong with the fundraiser and she just didn’t understand it.
She’d spent months getting everything together planning things, hell she had finished planning early and now everything was falling apart. The wrong color table clothes were delivered, along with napkins with the wrong spelling of the charities name.
Apparently the ice sculpture people had delivered the bust to a warehouse instead of the venue and if she wanted it she was going to have to pick it up herself. Her phone rang again and she let out a frustrated growl before pinching her nose.
She grabbed the phone, took a calming breath and answered it, “Hello.”
“Yes, hello is this Mrs. Queen?”
She moved over to the computers as she attempted to search for the tracking number on the other ice sculpture that hadn’t been delivered anywhere.
“Yup, can I ask who’s calling?”
“Yes ma’am this is Eternity Foods…we’re supposed to be catering your event today.”
Chloe’s fingers paused against the keyboard her body freezing at his words, “Supposed to be?”
“There’s been a slight accident…”
Chloe closed her eyes as she listened to the man prattle on about how something spoiled and then the truck bringing in the new food was in an accident that left food spilling all over one of Star City’s highways. Main point…they were no longer catering.
She ended the call and took a deep breath before glancing up at the screens. She was utterly baffled at how things could unravel so quickly. She was Chloe Sullivan…Watchtower…she made back up plans for her back up plans and yet all the hard work that had gone into this event seemed to be for nothing.
She was in the process of looking through her paperwork to find the address of the company that made the ice sculptures when the door burst open. She turned her head and let out a sigh of relief at seeing Mia standing there.
“So…you sent out our specially designed distress signal…what’s up?”
“Thank god you’re here…can you hold down the fort while I go wrangle the idiots that live in this city and try to fix this distaster of an event in the next, “ She glanced at her phone, “four hours before it starts?”
Mia raised an eyebrow as she moved towards the computer screens, “Uh oh…what’s going on?” Chloe spent the next fifteen minutes explaining everything that had gone wrong so far. A frown colored the teenagers face as she glanced over all the paper work.
“That doesn’t make any sense though…I mean say your first choice backed out…things happen but your back up and the back up to the back up having something going wrong too? It’s kinda…fishy don’t you think?”
Chloe let out a sigh of relief, “Yes I do think so, I was starting to think I was being paranoid, but if I’m not the only person who see’s it then it can’t just be me. But I will salvage this night if it’s the last thing I do. I need to run to a few of these places, so if you could stay here and field things while I’m gone getting everything together that’d be a big help.”
Mia nodded as she shrugged of her light jacket and placed it over the chair, “No worries I got it you go do what you need to do and Chloe…just relax…everything is gonna be fine, we’ll fix this and you’ll look like the super star we know you are.”
Chloe’s face softened as she leaned in giving Mia a hug, “I know I’ve been going overboard with this lately…I just want to show Oliver I can handle this, and I know the boards going to be there…I really want just this one thing to be perfect for him you know?”
She pulled back from the smaller brunette and Mia nodded with a sideways smile, “Yeah I get it…now go I can handle this.”
Chloe nodded grabbed her purse, keys, and phone before throwing a thank you over her shoulder and taking off to go find the ice sculpture people.
______
An hour and a half later she was pulling up a run down dirt road practically in the middle of nowhere. She frowned at the medium sized building in front of her. This was the place she had ordered the sculptures from? That couldn’t be right.
She parked the car outside the building and checked the papers. Chloe frowned and looked away from the papers to the building. The address matched. She pushed the binder into the passenger seat knocking it into her purse accidentally.
The hit caused her cell phone to on the other side of the chair right before she grabbed her purse, pushed the door open and headed towards what looked like the front door. Chloe called out trying to see if anyone was around.
“Hello…I’m looking for Gemini Ice Sculptors…is anyone here.”
She was just about to pull the door open when a man pushed it open, his eyes roaming over her body before he sent a smirk her way as he wiped his hands on a greasy towel.
“What’s that you were saying?”
Chloe cleared her throat, “I’m looking for Gemini Ice Sculptors…is this the warehouse.”
He nodded his head, but didn’t move from the door, “It is…what can I help you with?”
She arched an eyebrow, “I had two ice sculptures that were supposed to be delivered today…one never left here apparently and the other no one knows. Do you have an office where we can speak?”
He pursed his lips and nodded opening the door wider for her, “Sure thing Blondie…give me a minute and I’ll get the guy you need to talk to. Just wait right over there.”
Chloe nodded and moved towards a small counter with a couch along one wall. She glanced around and it looked like the place hadn’t been used in years. A chill ran up her spine as she saw the empty beer cans and food containers.
Something wasn’t right. She moved forward towards the counter and started looking through old papers. The man watched her from around the corner before making his way into the other room. He picked up the phone dialed the number of his employer and waited. Three rings later the phone picked up.
“I thought I told you never to call me from this number.”
“I know…but she’s here…you never said she was gonna be here what the hell am I supposed to do with her?”
Cynthia glared at the phone in her hand before spinning around in her chair. “I don’t know…but do something so she doesn’t make it back here. Break her car, let out the gas in her tired…lock her up I don’t care just do something and do it quick. And don’t call me until the jobs done.”
The guy was met with a dial tone and he sighed before putting the phone down and moving towards the bathroom. He rummaged through the cabinet until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the bottle and poured the liquid onto a rag before making his way back out to what used to be the front lobby of the building.
Chloe heard footsteps and she quickly put the papers back. It was time for her to go. The man came back in and he smiled at her. "Sorry about that, he’s on an important call. I checked the back and there weren’t any ice sculptures. I think someone gave you the wrong information. Here I’ll walk you out.”
Chloe opened her mouth to tell him to back off, but decided against it. if he was trying to get her to leave that was fine with her she didn’t want to be there anyway. She gave him a tight smile. “Thanks.” He motioned for her to go first and the minute she turned, her back facing him she felt a strong arm grab her around the waist.
She opened her mouth to scream but his other hand came up holding the rag to her face. She struggled against him as her vision started to get blurry the smell of chloroform seeping into her body. The last thought that ran through her mind before everything went black was that someone was going to be very sorry when she managed to wake up.
______
Mia frowned at the computer as she sent another call to voice mail. Something was wrong. Chloe had been gone for three hours, and she hadn’t heard from the blonde since she left. She contacted Victor about thirty minutes ago and currently had him running the GPS on Chloe’s phone.
She was worried. The charity event started in two and a half hours and Chloe was nowhere to be found. Mia had managed to rectify a few small problems but nothing big enough to fix the whole event. She took a deep breath as the robotic voice sounded in the room.
“Incoming communication from Cyborg…”
Mia linked up the coms and spoke frantically into Chloe’s ear piece. “Well…what’s her status Victor?”
“I don’t know…I can only track her GPS when the phone is on and it’s not. She’s off the grid Mia…I think it’s time we brought Oliver in. He’s gonna be angry we left him out of the loop this long. I’ll check on a few more things and call you back…”
She sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. “Okay…”
She disconnected the link and right as she was about to pick up her cell phone and call Oliver the computers blinked again. “Incoming call from Queen, Oliver...”
Mia sucked in a large breath and accepted the call. “Oliver…hey…” Oliver frowned at the sound of the other voice on Watchtower's main phone, "Mia? Where's Chloe? She's not picking up her phone and today is not a good day for her to get caught up at work behind her computers."
Mia bit her lip, “Okay…so I need you not to freak out right now and I realize that’s the wrong thing to say to someone because then they automatically freak out, but work with me here. Chloe isn’t here…there were a whole bunch of problems that made no sense with the fundraiser today…so she left to go meet with one of the companies in person to see what went wrong.”
Something beeped in the background and she saw a message from Victor and muttered under her breath. “Crap…Okay so she left a while ago to take care of this stuff and now she’s sort of been…misplaced.”
Oliver clenched the phone so hard in his grip, he thought it might break, "Misplaced? Did you just say my wife has been misplaced?" His jaw locked in place as his stomach twisted in fear, "Define misplaced, Mia... Misplaced as in missing?!"
Mia swallowed hard, her voice taking on the stern tone that Chloe always used with him when he was getting crazy. “Oliver calm down. I need you to focus. Yes at this point in time I think it’s safe to say she’s missing, but I’ve got Vic on it and we’re in the process of tracking down her car. I need you to be calm people can’t see you freaking out okay?”
She paused, “It was really important to Chloe that this shindig went off without a hitch. She really wanted to make sure it was perfect for you. There are only so many places she could be…but with her phone off Victor can’t track the GPS…so it’s taking some time. We’re gonna find her though everything is gonna be fine.”
Surprisingly Mia’s voice sounded a lot more sure then she actually was. She was freaking out. The minute she couldn’t get in touch with Chloe she’d called Victor in a frenzy. Chloe and Oliver were all she had and with the way the two of them attracted trouble, it was usually a big deal when one of them went missing.
Oliver stole a glance at Jack Wilson waiting for him a few feet away and he sighed, "Mia..." He licked his lips nervously, fearful for Chloe and hoping Mia would understand the next words he was about to say. "Would it be impulsive to search everywhere?"
Mia got the message loud and clear. "I'll contact him and have him suit up. Don't worry we will find her and we'll meet you at the fundraiser...I tried to fix what I could...but that wasn't much. Something weird is going on, but I really can't multi-task like Chloe so I'm gonna have to drop the fundraiser stuff so I can focus on finding Chloe okay?"
Oliver nodded, forgetting she couldn't see him. "Yes, thank you. Keep me posted."
"Will do."
Jack watched Oliver hang up the phone and he raised his eyebrows. "Everything alright Oliver?"
"Afraid not..." He took a deep breath, hoping Jack didn't try to make a remark about Chloe. "My wife is missing, and it seems she set out to fix a few things that fell through with the fundraiser plans."
Jack pursed his lips together, hands slipping into his pocket. "Your wife is missing...or she decided planning a fundraiser was too much for her?"
Oliver was unable to stop his glare, "Chloe never misses anything important. I'd choose my words carefully if I were you, Jack. Someone might think you just insulted your boss's wife," he shook his head slowly.
Jack frowned, "I wasn't insulting her Oliver, merely making an observation. She hasn't really been involved with much of the company events over the years. Tonight is a big deal. We really need it to go smoothly."
He was about to continue when Cynthia moved into the doorway smile on her face. "Hey Daddy...Oliver..." She glanced between them brow arched, "Am I interrupting?"
Oliver stared at Jack coldly, "Please interrupt, I've had enough of your father's words regarding my marriage."
Cynthia shook her head and patted her Father's shoulder, "Leave Oliver alone Daddy...Chloe is a sweetheart. Now what's wrong why are you saying mean things about his wife and my friend? Hmm?" She glanced between the two men curiosity on her face.
Oliver gave her a small smile, "Thank you Cynthia... Have you heard from Chloe?" Concern etched into his features, "Some things didn't go smoothly when stuff didn't show up with their scheduled deliveries, and now she's missing."
Cynthia gasped lightly, hand going to her chest. "Oh my god...missing have you called the police?"
There was worry etched into Cynthia's face, but underneath she was wondering how Oliver found out Chloe was missing and wasn't just a no show. She was going to need to adjust her tactics slightly.
"Do you need some help with the fundraiser? I mean I know everything Chloe was going to do...but it's totally up to you Oliver...or maybe we should just reschedule and see about finding Chloe?"
Oliver shook his head, "Unfortunately there’s not enough time to inform all the guests." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Would you mind taking over and throwing everything unfinished together?--Just enough to make it look reasonable." He gave her a half smile, "I don't expect you to whip out a wand and zap everything to be perfect in less than an hour."
Cynthia grinned, "No worries, Chloe is like a super wiz and organized everything so I'm sure I'll be able to take care of it in no time."
She motioned to her Father, a stern look on her face, "You go home...get ready and leave Oliver alone...he's got enough to deal with, he's probably worried sick."
She nudged her Father and Jack who was outwardly sulking, was smirking inside at his daughter’s ability to manipulate situations to their advantage.
He nodded and waved them off before walking down the hall. Cynthia shook her head and moved towards Oliver's desk. She placed a hand over his, concern on her face.
"Are you alright? I'll take care of the fundraiser...Do you need anything else? Can I do anything?"
Oliver held up his hand, "No, no... Cynthia, you've been great so far, and I can't thank you enough." He exhaled slowly, trying to remain calm when his heart was hammering beneath his chest with worry for Chloe's safety. He knew he should be out looking for her, rather than stuck at the gala waiting to greet people.
"Thanks for not dragging Chloe's name through the mud," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't think I can deal with anyone else trying to toss her into a fire right now..."
She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand lightly. "Of course...she's your wife Oliver...and you're one of my oldest friends...all I need to know is that you love her...which makes her okay in my book."
She stood slowly, moved around the desk and pulled him up. "Come on... You don't need to be here right now. Go home shower, change and I'll have the limo pick you up in an hour and a half and by the time you get there everything will be perfect. I promise."
Her grin widened as she nudge him toward the door. "Thank you," he told her sincerely while trying to think of a way to get in and out of watchtower in time before the limo arrived at his house to pick him up.
______
Mia sat there staring at the screen as she waited to hear back from Victor. She had just ushered a very frantic Oliver out of Watchtower a little less than twenty minutes ago. The sight of him still had her stomach in knots. He had been pale and panicked as he linked up his com and yelled at Victor and Bart telling them the search was taking too long.
Mia had been able to see how short of a leash his control was on and she needed to get him out so the rest of the team could focus on finding Chloe. So she’d told him to cut it out and that Chloe would be beyond pissed if he wasn’t at that fundraiser holding down the fort until she got back.
He had stood there for a few minutes catching his breath before placing a kiss on Mia’s forehead and taking off. She had been worried for a few minutes that she wouldn’t be able to get him to leave, but in the end it had all worked out.
Her phone beeped and she glanced down a grin on her face. Coordinates from Victor. Mia pushed a few buttons and threw Watchtower into mobile mode the way Chloe had showed her how before grabbing her keys and sending Bart a text to bring Emil and their dresses to Watchtower while she was gone. It looked like she was finally gonna get to see how fast Oliver’s car really went.
______
Chloe groaned, her head pounding as she shifted and opened her eyes. What in the hell...she glanced around the small mostly empty room, a ton of garbage and debris littering the floor. She went to move her arms and winced. She looked down at her bound hands and frowned at the plastic tie wound around her wrists. It was cutting into her skin and she could see welts starting to form.
She pushed herself onto her knees and winced as she grabbed onto a pipe that was hanging out of the wall to pull herself up. Well this wasn't good. Her skirt was ripped, she could feel the side of her face throbbing and she could see a bruise forming on her upper right arm.
Chloe was pissed. Not only was she stuck in some rundown warehouse in the middle of nowhere, but she'd been played. When she was looking through the papers on the counter earlier she found a phone number on top of a pile of fake paperwork for the sculpture company.
A number she knew all too well. Cynthia...it all made sense now. All the looks and touches with Oliver, the house hunting...the offering to help with the fundraiser...Cynthia had been playing her all along and that bitch was going to be sorry when Chloe finally got the hell out of there.
It took her a good ten minutes to find something sharp enough to cut through the plastic on her wrists. She stood in the center of the room and levered the box cutter she found under the plastic around her wrists, the cool metal grazing against her skin.
Chloe took a deep breath and started sawing the blade back and forth against the plastic. She could feel the sharpened edge bite into her skin but she kept going. Two minutes later the plastic snapped and her hands were free.
She glanced around the room trying to find something to bust the door open with and caught sight of a small wooden beam in the back corner of the room. Chloe moved over to it and lifted the beam before moving towards the door and listening to see if anyone was there. No sounds were a good sign. She needed to get the hell out of there.
The door didn't look too sturdy so she slammed the beam into it, hissing at the pain in her wrists. It took three large smashes before the door broke open, her hands immediately dropping the beam.
She paused waiting to see if anyone was coming. When no one did she ignored her protesting muscles and ran out of the room heading for the exit. Chloe pushed the doors open and swore when she got to her car noticing the tires had been slashed.
She growled stomping her foot and letting out a frustrated sigh. "Damn it!" She glared at the sky as she yelled, "Can't I catch a god damn break?"
She yanked opened the car door and went through all her stuff looking for anything that could help get her out of this mess, but she was coming up empty handed. Chloe leaned back in the driver’s seat, door still open as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Her body was still aching and her headache was getting worse by the minute. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew it had to be late. The fundraiser had probably started and everything was most likely a disaster...but the worst part was Oliver was most likely being blamed for it all.
The sound of tires squealing pulled Chloe from her thoughts. She glanced up to see a silver sports car speeding down the road, dirt being kicked up around it. She frowned as the car stopped next to her open door. Chloe arched an eyebrow.
It took her a minute to recognize the car, but when she did her eyes widened as pulled her body slowly out of the car. The silver passenger side door was pushed open revealing a grinning Mia. "Looking for a lift?"
Relief filled Chloe's face as she slid into the car yanking the door shut behind her. "I've never been so happy to see you...how’d you find me?”
Mia swallowed hard as she took in Chloe's appearance, skirt ripped, shirt dirty, wrists bloody…thank god Oliver wasn’t there because he’d freak out. “Vic tracked the GPS on your car…you okay?”
Chloe nodded as she leaned back in the seat, wincing and closing her eyes, "Yeah…I’m fine. Thanks…we need to get back…and tell Oliver what’s going on.”
Mia nodded and shifted the car in gear. She nodded. "What do you mean? What’s going on? Oh and our dresses are back at Watchtower with Bart and Emil. We'll get you cleaned up and head straight there."
Chloe nodded, swallowing hard to moisten her throat as the car accelerated. “Cynthia is behind this…she’s been behind everything. I should have realized it…I didn’t like that woman from the moment I met her and my instincts have never lead me wrong.”
Mia frowned as she pressed her foot harder against the pedal. “Cynthia, Oliver’s friend? I knew that megaslut was no good…”
Chloe gave Mia half a smile at her words as she let out a long breath. As far as days goes this had not been one of her bests. She just hopped Oliver wasn't too upset with her about everything that has happened.
______
"Mr. Queen, the press is really starting to get anxious..."
Oliver turned around to see his secretary, Annabeth looking at him nervously and biting her lip. Sighing, he paced in front of her, "I know, I know..."
Cynthia had done an amazing job fixing things up and pulling everything together. She got a hold of a chef she used to go to school with and had all the catering filled in last minute, which was pretty much a miracle.
And she had enlisted the help of several other independently run companies that were looking for a little publicity, to supply the tables, decorations and chairs. Hell, she even managed to find a last minute jazz band...
But he couldn't let the press in for them to see him alone, without Chloe and then start their speculation. It had already been a known fact that the wife of Queen Industries CEO was responsible for this event, and no one had seen head or heel of Chloe all night.
"Five more minutes, Anna." Oliver took a deep breath, wondering why the hell Mia hadn't texted him back after saying they had located Chloe's car, "Just give them five more minutes..."
Anna nodded moving out of the room her boss was in and bumping into Cynthia. She glared at the younger woman.
"What are you doing here? Go make yourself useful and start talking to the press."
She handed her a sheet of paper, "Read the answers off of here and tell them we'll be letting them in shortly."
Anna glared at the women in front of her as she took the papers. "Not to be rude Ms. Wilson, but I don't work for you so in the future if you want me to something, you'll have to ask nicer or clear it with Mr. Queen."
She walked away leaving Cynthia scowling. Oh well once Oliver got rid of Chloe and came back to her his secretary would be the first person she fired.
She moved into the room watching Oliver pace like a wild animal. Cynthia reached out putting a hand on his shoulder, sympathy covering her features.
"Hey...Oliver I know this is really difficult, but we can't keep them out there any longer. Come on...I'll swim with the sharks with you...we'll say there was a family emergency...Mia, that's her name right? She's not here either...that works in your favor we'll tell them Chloe set this whole thing up, but there was a family emergency and she should be here soon."
She rubbed his shoulder lightly and right as she was nudging her head towards the door his phone beeped.
Oliver glanced down at his phone, flipping it open and reading a text from Mia, and he sighed in relief. "No need," He turned to face Cynthia with a calm expression he hadn't been able to show the entire night.
"Thank you again Cynthia, you've done so much," his eyes were full of gratitude. "But Chloe's on her way, and I don't want to be seen without her. You're welcome to head out there if you'd like while I wait for my wife though."
She rolled her eyes inwardly, but smiled. “That’s wonderful! I’ll go let the board know.” She patted him lightly before moving out of the room and grumbling under her breath as she pulled out her cell phone. Tonight had not turned out like she planned and someone was going to pay for that.
______
Mia and Chloe pulled up in the back of the building ten minutes after she texted Oliver. She glanced at Chloe’s pensive face and bit her lip, “You okay?”
Chloe pursed her lips and nodded. “A little tired…and severely annoyed. I can’t believe all this time I’ve been being nice to that…woman…and she’s been trying to find ways to make me look bad. She’s lucky the press are here or I swear I’d taser her ass…”
Mia chuckled and nodded, “Looks like you’re feeling just fine. You’re face looks mostly okay…can’t really see the bruise too much.”
Chloe nodded, “You did a great job with the make-up,” She looked over at the teenager next to her and her face softened as she squeezed her hand lightly. “I’m so proud of you…you did an amazing job today. Thank you for holding down the fort and keeping Oliver calm. You did a great job Mia.”
She shrugged and flushed lightly at the compliment before glancing back up a sheepish grin on her face. “It’s no big deal, come on let’s get in there before Oliver freaks out again.”
Chloe nodded and they made their way out of the car and in through the back entrance. Mia guided her to where Oliver would be and when they made their way to the doorway they saw him looking out the window. Chloe paused leaning against the doorframe as she spoke.
“Hey there stranger…someone told me you were missing a wife…thought I might be able to help you find her.”
Oliver spun around at the sound of her voice and his eyes softened, "Oh thank God..." He had her in his arms in mere seconds, "Are you alright? I want to know everything that happened as soon as we're alone..." His grip on her tightened, "I was so scared and felt so helpless, Chloe..."
Chloe winced, “Ollie calm down and stop squeezing me I’m still a little sore,” she chuckled lightly before wrapping her arms around him. “I’m so sorry about today…things seem to be fixed though,” she frowned. “Did you take care of it?”
"Are you kidding? I could barely function not knowing if you were okay..." He cupped his palm against her cheek, his thumb brushing just below her eye, "You said you're sore? Should we leave early and call Emil? Cynthia swooped in and threw everything together while you were M.I.A, so we could probably leave everything in her hands and leave early."
The look in Chloe’s eyes immediately changed, her body tensing beneath his hands. “Oh did she? Well that was just lovely of her…where is Cynthia…I’d like to talk to her.”
She looked around and Mia pursed her lips as she glanced between the two adults. Chloe cleared her throat as her eyes found Oliver again. “And no that’s what took us so long…Emil was waiting at Watchtower when we got back. Mia had Bart bring him over. He patched me up and gave me some meds…I’m good to go.”
"Good, don't scare me like that again professor." His arm dropped to his side, reaching for her hand, "Cynthia's with the press, we should make our way out there, they've been rowdy and anxious, and all around hard to control and keep at bay tonight."
She nodded, “Sounds like a plan…lead the way Romeo. You coming Mia?” She nodded and fell in step beside them as they made their way down the hall. When the doors opened and they walked into the main room there were several flashes as people threw question after question at them.
But the only thing Chloe was looking at was Cynthia. She was pretty sure that she was able to fix everything so quickly because she had been behind it getting ruined in the first place. Chloe should have made the connection sooner, hell her father was Jack Wilson and Jack hated her.
If Cynthia thought she could mess with Chloe and her marriage she had another thing coming. She followed Oliver’s lead and stayed by his side smiling answering questions and surprisingly working the room quiet well.
The press seemed pleased as Oliver and Chloe moved through the room answering questions and posing for photos. Chloe caught Cynthia heading towards the bathroom out of the corner of her eye and she turned to Oliver.
“I’m going to use the bathroom real quick…freshen up. Can you get me something to drink?” She placed a soft kiss on his lips before giving him a small smile and moving in the direction of the bathroom. She waded through the crowd and pushed the door to the bathroom open.
She walked into the room and caught sight of Cynthia in front of the mirror. Chloe leaned against the wall, arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the woman in front of her.
“Having a good time Cynthia?”
The red head glanced in the mirror at Chloe before turning around. “Oh thank god your okay. Oliver told me what happened, but don’t worry everything worked out. We’re so glad you’re okay.”
Chloe smirked, “We? Who might we be? You and your Father? Look you can cut the nice girl act now…I know you’re the reason everything went to hell and a hand basket today…I’ve gotta admit you had me fooled.”
She shook her head, “I really should have went with my first instinct on you…but knowing you were a friend of Oliver’s I gave you the benefit of the doubt…I won’t make that mistake again.”
Cynthia glared at the small blonde in front of her and shook her head, “He’ll never believe you…”
Chloe arched an eyebrow as she took a step towards Cynthia, a spark of fire in her eyes. “You have no idea who you are trying to screw with here…If you go near my husband again you’ll be sorry. Do you hear me?”
Cynthia chuckled, “I don’t take orders, especially not from you…Oliver can do so much better than you and I’m going to make sure he knows it…if you’re not up for the challenge…well…”
Chloe squinted her eyes, voice tense, “You don’t want to play this game with me Cynthia…you won’t win.” The other woman shrugged, grabbed her purse and brushed past Chloe. “Game on then…”
She gave her a smirk before making her way out of the bathroom. Chloe watched her go, anger in her eyes. The bitch wanted to play? Fine Chloe would show her exactly what happened when someone tried to steal her man.
______
Several hours later, after an extremely beneficial evening they arrived home finally, and Oliver exhaled slowly, loosening his tie from around his neck and collar as they walked into the house.
He glanced to his side at Chloe as Mia bid them goodnight and headed upstairs to her room, "You sure you're alright? I want to know everything that happened now that we're home."
Reaching out, he gently tilted her face slightly as he noticed a light patch of purple coming through her skin, "I want to know about all injuries, and we should probably grab a steak from the freezer for your cheek..."
She brushed his hand aside as they made their way into the kitchen. “I’m okay, a few bruises a headache that doesn’t want to quick apparently…it’s probably from the chloroform.” She winced as she removed the bracelets from her arms and showing him the neutral colored bandages there.
“I cut myself a few times when I was trying to get out of the plastic shit the guy tied me up with…and that is the extent of my injuries. No biggie…The car on the other hand needs all new tires. Oliver…”
Her face turned serious as she placed a hand on his arm, “I need to talk to you about something.”
Oliver sucked in a breath harshly as he noticed her wrists, "My god..." He lifted her hand tenderly, examining them with his eyes as he clenched his jaw, "Tell me you know who did this to you..."
She sighed, “I don’t know the guy…but I’m pretty sure I know who was pulling the strings…Ollie…the company I was going there to talk to was the ice sculpture company…the place I got from Cynthia…it wasn’t real. The company was a front for nothing…and when I was snooping around I found her number lying there on top of the fake paperwork…”
Chloe let out a frustrated sigh as she started to pace in front of him. “I know how this sounds…but this is her fault…the fundraiser falling apart…me being unexpectedly detained…the agreeing with you…I wouldn’t even be surprised if she was behind the birth control stunt…”
She paused and looked at him, “I didn’t like her when I first met her and instead of pushing away my instincts because she was your friend I should have listened to them, and then none of this would be happening.”
Oliver raised an eyebrow, "Okay... I'm not saying I don't believe you, I'm just confused..." He shook his head, "I mean, Cynthia didn't even try to take credit for saving the day... She told everyone you were behind everything, the whole fundraiser... She didn't try to look good in front of anyone. What motivation could she possibly have for being the cause of everything?"
Chloe shook her head, “She really is a conniving little bitch…” She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath relaxing her shoulders as she looked at Oliver. “Sorry…don’t you get it? It’s not about everyone else Ollie…it’s about you. She saved the night…takes no credit and looks like a big hero I your eyes…tell me you can’t see this?”
Oliver blinked, "Me? Are you trying to tell me, Cynthia is after me?" He let out a nervous laugh, "Chloe, no offense, but if she was after me, why would she switch out your birth control and risk me getting you pregnant?"
Chloe gave him an incredulous look, “Because she knew I’d freak out! Hello keep up Oliver. Maybe she thought I’d take off or something who the hell knows how her twisted mind works…why are you looking at me like that?”
She paused, opening and closing her mouth as she spoke quietly a hint of bafflement in her voice. “Oh my god…you…you don’t believe me do you?”
Oliver winced, "Don't say it like that...I'm just saying we should get all our facts straight before we go on this witch hunt."
She moved closer to Oliver and poked him in the chest, “I have all my facts straight finally. I can’t believe I was being nice to that…woman. How else can you explain today? Everything that happened with the fundraiser?”
"Okay..." He backed away from her finger before she could poke his chest again, "All I'm saying his you've had a hard day, and maybe all this work between Watchtower and the fundraiser was really stressful and too much..." He lifted a shoulder, "Maybe Cynthia didn't even know this company was shady and full of crooks."
Chloe pursed her lips, “Oliver…you know who you’re talking to right? It’s me Chloe…your wife? The woman who plans at least three covert missions for the team a week and has a back-up plan for her back-up plan…you think I can’t handle putting together a simple fundraiser?”
She let out a heavy breath and shook her head, focusing on releasing the tension in her body. She gave him a small smile. “Okay…fine you don’t believe me…I respect that…I supposed I can see things from your perspective…it’s fine. I’ll just have to show you that I’m right. Now that I know all of the crap happening lately hasn’t been my fault it actually makes me feel a lot better.”
Oliver shook his head and wrapped an arm around her waist, gently tugging her closer. "It's not that I don't trust you, Chloe...You know there is no one I trust more."
He let out a small sigh, "I just know between the move, watchtower, and the birth control incident and all this stress, you've had your plate full." He ran his hand through her hair, tucking a few stray strands behind her ear, "Let's catch her in the act before we accuse her of anything, okay?"
She placed a kiss on his lips and nodded giving him a reassuring smile, “Yeah sure…that’s fine whatever you say Oliver…”
She moved out of his arms and headed towards the stairs before pausing and glancing over her shoulder at him, “Oh and you can grab a pillow and blanket I wouldn’t want you to be cold in the guest room. Since that’s where you’ll be sleeping tonight…”
She shrugged, “See what happens when you don’t agree with your wife even when she’s acting a little crazy? Sucks for you to cause I was in the mood for some cuddling, but you’re being punished.”
There was a hint of amusement in her eyes, but her tone was stern. “For future reference just so we’re clear, when I tell you a story that might sound crazy as my husband you nod say yes and anything else I need to be placated at the moment and then in the morning once we’ve both thought things through you can attempt to be rational even though most times I’ll be right anyway.”
Chloe turned and headed towards the stairs as Oliver watched her go groaning as he trailed behind her.
Chloe stared at her phone before tossing it on one of the work stations at Watchtower. It was a little past noon and she’d spent the morning fielding calls about things that were going wrong with the fundraiser and she just didn’t understand it.
She’d spent months getting everything together planning things, hell she had finished planning early and now everything was falling apart. The wrong color table clothes were delivered, along with napkins with the wrong spelling of the charities name.
Apparently the ice sculpture people had delivered the bust to a warehouse instead of the venue and if she wanted it she was going to have to pick it up herself. Her phone rang again and she let out a frustrated growl before pinching her nose.
She grabbed the phone, took a calming breath and answered it, “Hello.”
“Yes, hello is this Mrs. Queen?”
She moved over to the computers as she attempted to search for the tracking number on the other ice sculpture that hadn’t been delivered anywhere.
“Yup, can I ask who’s calling?”
“Yes ma’am this is Eternity Foods…we’re supposed to be catering your event today.”
Chloe’s fingers paused against the keyboard her body freezing at his words, “Supposed to be?”
“There’s been a slight accident…”
Chloe closed her eyes as she listened to the man prattle on about how something spoiled and then the truck bringing in the new food was in an accident that left food spilling all over one of Star City’s highways. Main point…they were no longer catering.
She ended the call and took a deep breath before glancing up at the screens. She was utterly baffled at how things could unravel so quickly. She was Chloe Sullivan…Watchtower…she made back up plans for her back up plans and yet all the hard work that had gone into this event seemed to be for nothing.
She was in the process of looking through her paperwork to find the address of the company that made the ice sculptures when the door burst open. She turned her head and let out a sigh of relief at seeing Mia standing there.
“So…you sent out our specially designed distress signal…what’s up?”
“Thank god you’re here…can you hold down the fort while I go wrangle the idiots that live in this city and try to fix this distaster of an event in the next, “ She glanced at her phone, “four hours before it starts?”
Mia raised an eyebrow as she moved towards the computer screens, “Uh oh…what’s going on?” Chloe spent the next fifteen minutes explaining everything that had gone wrong so far. A frown colored the teenagers face as she glanced over all the paper work.
“That doesn’t make any sense though…I mean say your first choice backed out…things happen but your back up and the back up to the back up having something going wrong too? It’s kinda…fishy don’t you think?”
Chloe let out a sigh of relief, “Yes I do think so, I was starting to think I was being paranoid, but if I’m not the only person who see’s it then it can’t just be me. But I will salvage this night if it’s the last thing I do. I need to run to a few of these places, so if you could stay here and field things while I’m gone getting everything together that’d be a big help.”
Mia nodded as she shrugged of her light jacket and placed it over the chair, “No worries I got it you go do what you need to do and Chloe…just relax…everything is gonna be fine, we’ll fix this and you’ll look like the super star we know you are.”
Chloe’s face softened as she leaned in giving Mia a hug, “I know I’ve been going overboard with this lately…I just want to show Oliver I can handle this, and I know the boards going to be there…I really want just this one thing to be perfect for him you know?”
She pulled back from the smaller brunette and Mia nodded with a sideways smile, “Yeah I get it…now go I can handle this.”
Chloe nodded grabbed her purse, keys, and phone before throwing a thank you over her shoulder and taking off to go find the ice sculpture people.
An hour and a half later she was pulling up a run down dirt road practically in the middle of nowhere. She frowned at the medium sized building in front of her. This was the place she had ordered the sculptures from? That couldn’t be right.
She parked the car outside the building and checked the papers. Chloe frowned and looked away from the papers to the building. The address matched. She pushed the binder into the passenger seat knocking it into her purse accidentally.
The hit caused her cell phone to on the other side of the chair right before she grabbed her purse, pushed the door open and headed towards what looked like the front door. Chloe called out trying to see if anyone was around.
“Hello…I’m looking for Gemini Ice Sculptors…is anyone here.”
She was just about to pull the door open when a man pushed it open, his eyes roaming over her body before he sent a smirk her way as he wiped his hands on a greasy towel.
“What’s that you were saying?”
Chloe cleared her throat, “I’m looking for Gemini Ice Sculptors…is this the warehouse.”
He nodded his head, but didn’t move from the door, “It is…what can I help you with?”
She arched an eyebrow, “I had two ice sculptures that were supposed to be delivered today…one never left here apparently and the other no one knows. Do you have an office where we can speak?”
He pursed his lips and nodded opening the door wider for her, “Sure thing Blondie…give me a minute and I’ll get the guy you need to talk to. Just wait right over there.”
Chloe nodded and moved towards a small counter with a couch along one wall. She glanced around and it looked like the place hadn’t been used in years. A chill ran up her spine as she saw the empty beer cans and food containers.
Something wasn’t right. She moved forward towards the counter and started looking through old papers. The man watched her from around the corner before making his way into the other room. He picked up the phone dialed the number of his employer and waited. Three rings later the phone picked up.
“I thought I told you never to call me from this number.”
“I know…but she’s here…you never said she was gonna be here what the hell am I supposed to do with her?”
Cynthia glared at the phone in her hand before spinning around in her chair. “I don’t know…but do something so she doesn’t make it back here. Break her car, let out the gas in her tired…lock her up I don’t care just do something and do it quick. And don’t call me until the jobs done.”
The guy was met with a dial tone and he sighed before putting the phone down and moving towards the bathroom. He rummaged through the cabinet until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the bottle and poured the liquid onto a rag before making his way back out to what used to be the front lobby of the building.
Chloe heard footsteps and she quickly put the papers back. It was time for her to go. The man came back in and he smiled at her. "Sorry about that, he’s on an important call. I checked the back and there weren’t any ice sculptures. I think someone gave you the wrong information. Here I’ll walk you out.”
Chloe opened her mouth to tell him to back off, but decided against it. if he was trying to get her to leave that was fine with her she didn’t want to be there anyway. She gave him a tight smile. “Thanks.” He motioned for her to go first and the minute she turned, her back facing him she felt a strong arm grab her around the waist.
She opened her mouth to scream but his other hand came up holding the rag to her face. She struggled against him as her vision started to get blurry the smell of chloroform seeping into her body. The last thought that ran through her mind before everything went black was that someone was going to be very sorry when she managed to wake up.
Mia frowned at the computer as she sent another call to voice mail. Something was wrong. Chloe had been gone for three hours, and she hadn’t heard from the blonde since she left. She contacted Victor about thirty minutes ago and currently had him running the GPS on Chloe’s phone.
She was worried. The charity event started in two and a half hours and Chloe was nowhere to be found. Mia had managed to rectify a few small problems but nothing big enough to fix the whole event. She took a deep breath as the robotic voice sounded in the room.
“Incoming communication from Cyborg…”
Mia linked up the coms and spoke frantically into Chloe’s ear piece. “Well…what’s her status Victor?”
“I don’t know…I can only track her GPS when the phone is on and it’s not. She’s off the grid Mia…I think it’s time we brought Oliver in. He’s gonna be angry we left him out of the loop this long. I’ll check on a few more things and call you back…”
She sighed, shoulders slumping slightly. “Okay…”
She disconnected the link and right as she was about to pick up her cell phone and call Oliver the computers blinked again. “Incoming call from Queen, Oliver...”
Mia sucked in a large breath and accepted the call. “Oliver…hey…” Oliver frowned at the sound of the other voice on Watchtower's main phone, "Mia? Where's Chloe? She's not picking up her phone and today is not a good day for her to get caught up at work behind her computers."
Mia bit her lip, “Okay…so I need you not to freak out right now and I realize that’s the wrong thing to say to someone because then they automatically freak out, but work with me here. Chloe isn’t here…there were a whole bunch of problems that made no sense with the fundraiser today…so she left to go meet with one of the companies in person to see what went wrong.”
Something beeped in the background and she saw a message from Victor and muttered under her breath. “Crap…Okay so she left a while ago to take care of this stuff and now she’s sort of been…misplaced.”
Oliver clenched the phone so hard in his grip, he thought it might break, "Misplaced? Did you just say my wife has been misplaced?" His jaw locked in place as his stomach twisted in fear, "Define misplaced, Mia... Misplaced as in missing?!"
Mia swallowed hard, her voice taking on the stern tone that Chloe always used with him when he was getting crazy. “Oliver calm down. I need you to focus. Yes at this point in time I think it’s safe to say she’s missing, but I’ve got Vic on it and we’re in the process of tracking down her car. I need you to be calm people can’t see you freaking out okay?”
She paused, “It was really important to Chloe that this shindig went off without a hitch. She really wanted to make sure it was perfect for you. There are only so many places she could be…but with her phone off Victor can’t track the GPS…so it’s taking some time. We’re gonna find her though everything is gonna be fine.”
Surprisingly Mia’s voice sounded a lot more sure then she actually was. She was freaking out. The minute she couldn’t get in touch with Chloe she’d called Victor in a frenzy. Chloe and Oliver were all she had and with the way the two of them attracted trouble, it was usually a big deal when one of them went missing.
Oliver stole a glance at Jack Wilson waiting for him a few feet away and he sighed, "Mia..." He licked his lips nervously, fearful for Chloe and hoping Mia would understand the next words he was about to say. "Would it be impulsive to search everywhere?"
Mia got the message loud and clear. "I'll contact him and have him suit up. Don't worry we will find her and we'll meet you at the fundraiser...I tried to fix what I could...but that wasn't much. Something weird is going on, but I really can't multi-task like Chloe so I'm gonna have to drop the fundraiser stuff so I can focus on finding Chloe okay?"
Oliver nodded, forgetting she couldn't see him. "Yes, thank you. Keep me posted."
"Will do."
Jack watched Oliver hang up the phone and he raised his eyebrows. "Everything alright Oliver?"
"Afraid not..." He took a deep breath, hoping Jack didn't try to make a remark about Chloe. "My wife is missing, and it seems she set out to fix a few things that fell through with the fundraiser plans."
Jack pursed his lips together, hands slipping into his pocket. "Your wife is missing...or she decided planning a fundraiser was too much for her?"
Oliver was unable to stop his glare, "Chloe never misses anything important. I'd choose my words carefully if I were you, Jack. Someone might think you just insulted your boss's wife," he shook his head slowly.
Jack frowned, "I wasn't insulting her Oliver, merely making an observation. She hasn't really been involved with much of the company events over the years. Tonight is a big deal. We really need it to go smoothly."
He was about to continue when Cynthia moved into the doorway smile on her face. "Hey Daddy...Oliver..." She glanced between them brow arched, "Am I interrupting?"
Oliver stared at Jack coldly, "Please interrupt, I've had enough of your father's words regarding my marriage."
Cynthia shook her head and patted her Father's shoulder, "Leave Oliver alone Daddy...Chloe is a sweetheart. Now what's wrong why are you saying mean things about his wife and my friend? Hmm?" She glanced between the two men curiosity on her face.
Oliver gave her a small smile, "Thank you Cynthia... Have you heard from Chloe?" Concern etched into his features, "Some things didn't go smoothly when stuff didn't show up with their scheduled deliveries, and now she's missing."
Cynthia gasped lightly, hand going to her chest. "Oh my god...missing have you called the police?"
There was worry etched into Cynthia's face, but underneath she was wondering how Oliver found out Chloe was missing and wasn't just a no show. She was going to need to adjust her tactics slightly.
"Do you need some help with the fundraiser? I mean I know everything Chloe was going to do...but it's totally up to you Oliver...or maybe we should just reschedule and see about finding Chloe?"
Oliver shook his head, "Unfortunately there’s not enough time to inform all the guests." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Would you mind taking over and throwing everything unfinished together?--Just enough to make it look reasonable." He gave her a half smile, "I don't expect you to whip out a wand and zap everything to be perfect in less than an hour."
Cynthia grinned, "No worries, Chloe is like a super wiz and organized everything so I'm sure I'll be able to take care of it in no time."
She motioned to her Father, a stern look on her face, "You go home...get ready and leave Oliver alone...he's got enough to deal with, he's probably worried sick."
She nudged her Father and Jack who was outwardly sulking, was smirking inside at his daughter’s ability to manipulate situations to their advantage.
He nodded and waved them off before walking down the hall. Cynthia shook her head and moved towards Oliver's desk. She placed a hand over his, concern on her face.
"Are you alright? I'll take care of the fundraiser...Do you need anything else? Can I do anything?"
Oliver held up his hand, "No, no... Cynthia, you've been great so far, and I can't thank you enough." He exhaled slowly, trying to remain calm when his heart was hammering beneath his chest with worry for Chloe's safety. He knew he should be out looking for her, rather than stuck at the gala waiting to greet people.
"Thanks for not dragging Chloe's name through the mud," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't think I can deal with anyone else trying to toss her into a fire right now..."
She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand lightly. "Of course...she's your wife Oliver...and you're one of my oldest friends...all I need to know is that you love her...which makes her okay in my book."
She stood slowly, moved around the desk and pulled him up. "Come on... You don't need to be here right now. Go home shower, change and I'll have the limo pick you up in an hour and a half and by the time you get there everything will be perfect. I promise."
Her grin widened as she nudge him toward the door. "Thank you," he told her sincerely while trying to think of a way to get in and out of watchtower in time before the limo arrived at his house to pick him up.
Mia sat there staring at the screen as she waited to hear back from Victor. She had just ushered a very frantic Oliver out of Watchtower a little less than twenty minutes ago. The sight of him still had her stomach in knots. He had been pale and panicked as he linked up his com and yelled at Victor and Bart telling them the search was taking too long.
Mia had been able to see how short of a leash his control was on and she needed to get him out so the rest of the team could focus on finding Chloe. So she’d told him to cut it out and that Chloe would be beyond pissed if he wasn’t at that fundraiser holding down the fort until she got back.
He had stood there for a few minutes catching his breath before placing a kiss on Mia’s forehead and taking off. She had been worried for a few minutes that she wouldn’t be able to get him to leave, but in the end it had all worked out.
Her phone beeped and she glanced down a grin on her face. Coordinates from Victor. Mia pushed a few buttons and threw Watchtower into mobile mode the way Chloe had showed her how before grabbing her keys and sending Bart a text to bring Emil and their dresses to Watchtower while she was gone. It looked like she was finally gonna get to see how fast Oliver’s car really went.
Chloe groaned, her head pounding as she shifted and opened her eyes. What in the hell...she glanced around the small mostly empty room, a ton of garbage and debris littering the floor. She went to move her arms and winced. She looked down at her bound hands and frowned at the plastic tie wound around her wrists. It was cutting into her skin and she could see welts starting to form.
She pushed herself onto her knees and winced as she grabbed onto a pipe that was hanging out of the wall to pull herself up. Well this wasn't good. Her skirt was ripped, she could feel the side of her face throbbing and she could see a bruise forming on her upper right arm.
Chloe was pissed. Not only was she stuck in some rundown warehouse in the middle of nowhere, but she'd been played. When she was looking through the papers on the counter earlier she found a phone number on top of a pile of fake paperwork for the sculpture company.
A number she knew all too well. Cynthia...it all made sense now. All the looks and touches with Oliver, the house hunting...the offering to help with the fundraiser...Cynthia had been playing her all along and that bitch was going to be sorry when Chloe finally got the hell out of there.
It took her a good ten minutes to find something sharp enough to cut through the plastic on her wrists. She stood in the center of the room and levered the box cutter she found under the plastic around her wrists, the cool metal grazing against her skin.
Chloe took a deep breath and started sawing the blade back and forth against the plastic. She could feel the sharpened edge bite into her skin but she kept going. Two minutes later the plastic snapped and her hands were free.
She glanced around the room trying to find something to bust the door open with and caught sight of a small wooden beam in the back corner of the room. Chloe moved over to it and lifted the beam before moving towards the door and listening to see if anyone was there. No sounds were a good sign. She needed to get the hell out of there.
The door didn't look too sturdy so she slammed the beam into it, hissing at the pain in her wrists. It took three large smashes before the door broke open, her hands immediately dropping the beam.
She paused waiting to see if anyone was coming. When no one did she ignored her protesting muscles and ran out of the room heading for the exit. Chloe pushed the doors open and swore when she got to her car noticing the tires had been slashed.
She growled stomping her foot and letting out a frustrated sigh. "Damn it!" She glared at the sky as she yelled, "Can't I catch a god damn break?"
She yanked opened the car door and went through all her stuff looking for anything that could help get her out of this mess, but she was coming up empty handed. Chloe leaned back in the driver’s seat, door still open as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Her body was still aching and her headache was getting worse by the minute. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she knew it had to be late. The fundraiser had probably started and everything was most likely a disaster...but the worst part was Oliver was most likely being blamed for it all.
The sound of tires squealing pulled Chloe from her thoughts. She glanced up to see a silver sports car speeding down the road, dirt being kicked up around it. She frowned as the car stopped next to her open door. Chloe arched an eyebrow.
It took her a minute to recognize the car, but when she did her eyes widened as pulled her body slowly out of the car. The silver passenger side door was pushed open revealing a grinning Mia. "Looking for a lift?"
Relief filled Chloe's face as she slid into the car yanking the door shut behind her. "I've never been so happy to see you...how’d you find me?”
Mia swallowed hard as she took in Chloe's appearance, skirt ripped, shirt dirty, wrists bloody…thank god Oliver wasn’t there because he’d freak out. “Vic tracked the GPS on your car…you okay?”
Chloe nodded as she leaned back in the seat, wincing and closing her eyes, "Yeah…I’m fine. Thanks…we need to get back…and tell Oliver what’s going on.”
Mia nodded and shifted the car in gear. She nodded. "What do you mean? What’s going on? Oh and our dresses are back at Watchtower with Bart and Emil. We'll get you cleaned up and head straight there."
Chloe nodded, swallowing hard to moisten her throat as the car accelerated. “Cynthia is behind this…she’s been behind everything. I should have realized it…I didn’t like that woman from the moment I met her and my instincts have never lead me wrong.”
Mia frowned as she pressed her foot harder against the pedal. “Cynthia, Oliver’s friend? I knew that megaslut was no good…”
Chloe gave Mia half a smile at her words as she let out a long breath. As far as days goes this had not been one of her bests. She just hopped Oliver wasn't too upset with her about everything that has happened.
"Mr. Queen, the press is really starting to get anxious..."
Oliver turned around to see his secretary, Annabeth looking at him nervously and biting her lip. Sighing, he paced in front of her, "I know, I know..."
Cynthia had done an amazing job fixing things up and pulling everything together. She got a hold of a chef she used to go to school with and had all the catering filled in last minute, which was pretty much a miracle.
And she had enlisted the help of several other independently run companies that were looking for a little publicity, to supply the tables, decorations and chairs. Hell, she even managed to find a last minute jazz band...
But he couldn't let the press in for them to see him alone, without Chloe and then start their speculation. It had already been a known fact that the wife of Queen Industries CEO was responsible for this event, and no one had seen head or heel of Chloe all night.
"Five more minutes, Anna." Oliver took a deep breath, wondering why the hell Mia hadn't texted him back after saying they had located Chloe's car, "Just give them five more minutes..."
Anna nodded moving out of the room her boss was in and bumping into Cynthia. She glared at the younger woman.
"What are you doing here? Go make yourself useful and start talking to the press."
She handed her a sheet of paper, "Read the answers off of here and tell them we'll be letting them in shortly."
Anna glared at the women in front of her as she took the papers. "Not to be rude Ms. Wilson, but I don't work for you so in the future if you want me to something, you'll have to ask nicer or clear it with Mr. Queen."
She walked away leaving Cynthia scowling. Oh well once Oliver got rid of Chloe and came back to her his secretary would be the first person she fired.
She moved into the room watching Oliver pace like a wild animal. Cynthia reached out putting a hand on his shoulder, sympathy covering her features.
"Hey...Oliver I know this is really difficult, but we can't keep them out there any longer. Come on...I'll swim with the sharks with you...we'll say there was a family emergency...Mia, that's her name right? She's not here either...that works in your favor we'll tell them Chloe set this whole thing up, but there was a family emergency and she should be here soon."
She rubbed his shoulder lightly and right as she was nudging her head towards the door his phone beeped.
Oliver glanced down at his phone, flipping it open and reading a text from Mia, and he sighed in relief. "No need," He turned to face Cynthia with a calm expression he hadn't been able to show the entire night.
"Thank you again Cynthia, you've done so much," his eyes were full of gratitude. "But Chloe's on her way, and I don't want to be seen without her. You're welcome to head out there if you'd like while I wait for my wife though."
She rolled her eyes inwardly, but smiled. “That’s wonderful! I’ll go let the board know.” She patted him lightly before moving out of the room and grumbling under her breath as she pulled out her cell phone. Tonight had not turned out like she planned and someone was going to pay for that.
Mia and Chloe pulled up in the back of the building ten minutes after she texted Oliver. She glanced at Chloe’s pensive face and bit her lip, “You okay?”
Chloe pursed her lips and nodded. “A little tired…and severely annoyed. I can’t believe all this time I’ve been being nice to that…woman…and she’s been trying to find ways to make me look bad. She’s lucky the press are here or I swear I’d taser her ass…”
Mia chuckled and nodded, “Looks like you’re feeling just fine. You’re face looks mostly okay…can’t really see the bruise too much.”
Chloe nodded, “You did a great job with the make-up,” She looked over at the teenager next to her and her face softened as she squeezed her hand lightly. “I’m so proud of you…you did an amazing job today. Thank you for holding down the fort and keeping Oliver calm. You did a great job Mia.”
She shrugged and flushed lightly at the compliment before glancing back up a sheepish grin on her face. “It’s no big deal, come on let’s get in there before Oliver freaks out again.”
Chloe nodded and they made their way out of the car and in through the back entrance. Mia guided her to where Oliver would be and when they made their way to the doorway they saw him looking out the window. Chloe paused leaning against the doorframe as she spoke.
“Hey there stranger…someone told me you were missing a wife…thought I might be able to help you find her.”
Oliver spun around at the sound of her voice and his eyes softened, "Oh thank God..." He had her in his arms in mere seconds, "Are you alright? I want to know everything that happened as soon as we're alone..." His grip on her tightened, "I was so scared and felt so helpless, Chloe..."
Chloe winced, “Ollie calm down and stop squeezing me I’m still a little sore,” she chuckled lightly before wrapping her arms around him. “I’m so sorry about today…things seem to be fixed though,” she frowned. “Did you take care of it?”
"Are you kidding? I could barely function not knowing if you were okay..." He cupped his palm against her cheek, his thumb brushing just below her eye, "You said you're sore? Should we leave early and call Emil? Cynthia swooped in and threw everything together while you were M.I.A, so we could probably leave everything in her hands and leave early."
The look in Chloe’s eyes immediately changed, her body tensing beneath his hands. “Oh did she? Well that was just lovely of her…where is Cynthia…I’d like to talk to her.”
She looked around and Mia pursed her lips as she glanced between the two adults. Chloe cleared her throat as her eyes found Oliver again. “And no that’s what took us so long…Emil was waiting at Watchtower when we got back. Mia had Bart bring him over. He patched me up and gave me some meds…I’m good to go.”
"Good, don't scare me like that again professor." His arm dropped to his side, reaching for her hand, "Cynthia's with the press, we should make our way out there, they've been rowdy and anxious, and all around hard to control and keep at bay tonight."
She nodded, “Sounds like a plan…lead the way Romeo. You coming Mia?” She nodded and fell in step beside them as they made their way down the hall. When the doors opened and they walked into the main room there were several flashes as people threw question after question at them.
But the only thing Chloe was looking at was Cynthia. She was pretty sure that she was able to fix everything so quickly because she had been behind it getting ruined in the first place. Chloe should have made the connection sooner, hell her father was Jack Wilson and Jack hated her.
If Cynthia thought she could mess with Chloe and her marriage she had another thing coming. She followed Oliver’s lead and stayed by his side smiling answering questions and surprisingly working the room quiet well.
The press seemed pleased as Oliver and Chloe moved through the room answering questions and posing for photos. Chloe caught Cynthia heading towards the bathroom out of the corner of her eye and she turned to Oliver.
“I’m going to use the bathroom real quick…freshen up. Can you get me something to drink?” She placed a soft kiss on his lips before giving him a small smile and moving in the direction of the bathroom. She waded through the crowd and pushed the door to the bathroom open.
She walked into the room and caught sight of Cynthia in front of the mirror. Chloe leaned against the wall, arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the woman in front of her.
“Having a good time Cynthia?”
The red head glanced in the mirror at Chloe before turning around. “Oh thank god your okay. Oliver told me what happened, but don’t worry everything worked out. We’re so glad you’re okay.”
Chloe smirked, “We? Who might we be? You and your Father? Look you can cut the nice girl act now…I know you’re the reason everything went to hell and a hand basket today…I’ve gotta admit you had me fooled.”
She shook her head, “I really should have went with my first instinct on you…but knowing you were a friend of Oliver’s I gave you the benefit of the doubt…I won’t make that mistake again.”
Cynthia glared at the small blonde in front of her and shook her head, “He’ll never believe you…”
Chloe arched an eyebrow as she took a step towards Cynthia, a spark of fire in her eyes. “You have no idea who you are trying to screw with here…If you go near my husband again you’ll be sorry. Do you hear me?”
Cynthia chuckled, “I don’t take orders, especially not from you…Oliver can do so much better than you and I’m going to make sure he knows it…if you’re not up for the challenge…well…”
Chloe squinted her eyes, voice tense, “You don’t want to play this game with me Cynthia…you won’t win.” The other woman shrugged, grabbed her purse and brushed past Chloe. “Game on then…”
She gave her a smirk before making her way out of the bathroom. Chloe watched her go, anger in her eyes. The bitch wanted to play? Fine Chloe would show her exactly what happened when someone tried to steal her man.
Several hours later, after an extremely beneficial evening they arrived home finally, and Oliver exhaled slowly, loosening his tie from around his neck and collar as they walked into the house.
He glanced to his side at Chloe as Mia bid them goodnight and headed upstairs to her room, "You sure you're alright? I want to know everything that happened now that we're home."
Reaching out, he gently tilted her face slightly as he noticed a light patch of purple coming through her skin, "I want to know about all injuries, and we should probably grab a steak from the freezer for your cheek..."
She brushed his hand aside as they made their way into the kitchen. “I’m okay, a few bruises a headache that doesn’t want to quick apparently…it’s probably from the chloroform.” She winced as she removed the bracelets from her arms and showing him the neutral colored bandages there.
“I cut myself a few times when I was trying to get out of the plastic shit the guy tied me up with…and that is the extent of my injuries. No biggie…The car on the other hand needs all new tires. Oliver…”
Her face turned serious as she placed a hand on his arm, “I need to talk to you about something.”
Oliver sucked in a breath harshly as he noticed her wrists, "My god..." He lifted her hand tenderly, examining them with his eyes as he clenched his jaw, "Tell me you know who did this to you..."
She sighed, “I don’t know the guy…but I’m pretty sure I know who was pulling the strings…Ollie…the company I was going there to talk to was the ice sculpture company…the place I got from Cynthia…it wasn’t real. The company was a front for nothing…and when I was snooping around I found her number lying there on top of the fake paperwork…”
Chloe let out a frustrated sigh as she started to pace in front of him. “I know how this sounds…but this is her fault…the fundraiser falling apart…me being unexpectedly detained…the agreeing with you…I wouldn’t even be surprised if she was behind the birth control stunt…”
She paused and looked at him, “I didn’t like her when I first met her and instead of pushing away my instincts because she was your friend I should have listened to them, and then none of this would be happening.”
Oliver raised an eyebrow, "Okay... I'm not saying I don't believe you, I'm just confused..." He shook his head, "I mean, Cynthia didn't even try to take credit for saving the day... She told everyone you were behind everything, the whole fundraiser... She didn't try to look good in front of anyone. What motivation could she possibly have for being the cause of everything?"
Chloe shook her head, “She really is a conniving little bitch…” She pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath relaxing her shoulders as she looked at Oliver. “Sorry…don’t you get it? It’s not about everyone else Ollie…it’s about you. She saved the night…takes no credit and looks like a big hero I your eyes…tell me you can’t see this?”
Oliver blinked, "Me? Are you trying to tell me, Cynthia is after me?" He let out a nervous laugh, "Chloe, no offense, but if she was after me, why would she switch out your birth control and risk me getting you pregnant?"
Chloe gave him an incredulous look, “Because she knew I’d freak out! Hello keep up Oliver. Maybe she thought I’d take off or something who the hell knows how her twisted mind works…why are you looking at me like that?”
She paused, opening and closing her mouth as she spoke quietly a hint of bafflement in her voice. “Oh my god…you…you don’t believe me do you?”
Oliver winced, "Don't say it like that...I'm just saying we should get all our facts straight before we go on this witch hunt."
She moved closer to Oliver and poked him in the chest, “I have all my facts straight finally. I can’t believe I was being nice to that…woman. How else can you explain today? Everything that happened with the fundraiser?”
"Okay..." He backed away from her finger before she could poke his chest again, "All I'm saying his you've had a hard day, and maybe all this work between Watchtower and the fundraiser was really stressful and too much..." He lifted a shoulder, "Maybe Cynthia didn't even know this company was shady and full of crooks."
Chloe pursed her lips, “Oliver…you know who you’re talking to right? It’s me Chloe…your wife? The woman who plans at least three covert missions for the team a week and has a back-up plan for her back-up plan…you think I can’t handle putting together a simple fundraiser?”
She let out a heavy breath and shook her head, focusing on releasing the tension in her body. She gave him a small smile. “Okay…fine you don’t believe me…I respect that…I supposed I can see things from your perspective…it’s fine. I’ll just have to show you that I’m right. Now that I know all of the crap happening lately hasn’t been my fault it actually makes me feel a lot better.”
Oliver shook his head and wrapped an arm around her waist, gently tugging her closer. "It's not that I don't trust you, Chloe...You know there is no one I trust more."
He let out a small sigh, "I just know between the move, watchtower, and the birth control incident and all this stress, you've had your plate full." He ran his hand through her hair, tucking a few stray strands behind her ear, "Let's catch her in the act before we accuse her of anything, okay?"
She placed a kiss on his lips and nodded giving him a reassuring smile, “Yeah sure…that’s fine whatever you say Oliver…”
She moved out of his arms and headed towards the stairs before pausing and glancing over her shoulder at him, “Oh and you can grab a pillow and blanket I wouldn’t want you to be cold in the guest room. Since that’s where you’ll be sleeping tonight…”
She shrugged, “See what happens when you don’t agree with your wife even when she’s acting a little crazy? Sucks for you to cause I was in the mood for some cuddling, but you’re being punished.”
There was a hint of amusement in her eyes, but her tone was stern. “For future reference just so we’re clear, when I tell you a story that might sound crazy as my husband you nod say yes and anything else I need to be placated at the moment and then in the morning once we’ve both thought things through you can attempt to be rational even though most times I’ll be right anyway.”
Chloe turned and headed towards the stairs as Oliver watched her go groaning as he trailed behind her.
I hate Ollie for not believing Chloe... And Cynthia... ugh... Can you believe you guys created a character I actually dislike more than Dinah?
ReplyDeleteMuch love for this chapter. Ollie was an idiot in the end but like Chloe, I can see his point of view. Cynthia never showed interest until after he was married and she really is conniving. Can't wait for the next chapter (hint, hint).
ReplyDeleteCan I say that was a genius ending to the chapter! I can't believe Chloe kept that calm, I'd have had her head down the loo! LOL!
ReplyDeleteAwesome update and I can't wait for more!
Finally! Took long enough for her to figure it out! Though I'm pretty pissed at Ollie for not believing her. Hello why would she say something like that unless she knew it was Cynthia? hehe I like how she handled it though...making him sleep on the couch. Good for you Chlo! Sucks to be you Ollie lol! Great chapter! I wish Chloe would beat the hell out of Cynthia because she totally deserves it!
ReplyDeleteWell I'm glad she knows, but I hate Oliver know, she should have done a lot worse then make him sleep on the couch. I suppose she's avoiding fights, but in this instant, he totally fails, everything he said he makes a lie.
ReplyDelete