Gift of Fate Chapter 1 (2/?)
Summary: Oliver has been missing for two years, ever since his boat went down in a sudden storm. Chloe is still grieving for him. What will it take for her to move on and live her life again? What happened to Oliver? Will he ever come back? And who's behind the mysterious disappearances in Star City?
Rating: PG-13 for the most part, however there are sections that are NC-17 (my first attempt, for the record) for sexual content. This fic contains violence and language. Chapters containing sexual content will be preceded by a warning.
Spoilers: The entire series, basically. The basic setting is season six with a twist, but anything is fair game if it works for this fic.
Warning: Again, this is AU and is a continuation of my fic Twist of Fate, which you really need to read first or this isn't going to make any sense. There will sexual content and violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, I'm just playing around with them.
Previous Chapters: Prologue
Banner by geek_or_unique
Author’s Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the prologue. I am honestly a little stunned as to how well it was received. That was a major confidence booster. Thank you so, so much.
Chapter 1
“I never should have let Lois talk me into this,” she grumbled under her breath, swirling her water in her glass.
The dim lighting and soft music of the restaurant created a decidedly romantic atmosphere that was completely at odds with the way Chloe felt at the moment. It had been almost a year and a half since Oliver’s boat had been lost in a storm. Several of the board members had been found, clinging to drift wood, but Oliver hadn’t been among them. For the past six months, ever since her graduation from high school, Lois had been trying to convince Chloe to go out. Her cousin argued that Oliver wouldn’t want her to put her life on hold because he was dead. And while Chloe didn’t exactly find anything wrong with that argument, she just wasn’t ready.
Yet here she was, sitting in the hot new restaurant, the Ace of Clubs, in the non-alcoholic section since she was just nineteen, waiting for Jimmy Olsen, her date of the evening. He was a sweet guy. A photographer for the Daily Planet, he was about as normal as they come and honestly his bow-ties and sweater vests were endearing in a nerdy way. Though she’d been slow on the uptake, Chloe could see that he was completely head over heels for her. Lois had been kind enough to point that out to her. So when Chloe had finally decided to go out, to get back on the bandwagon as it were, she’d asked Jimmy if he wanted to go out to dinner with her. He seemed harmless enough.
She was seriously regretting that decision. She’d only been there for ten minutes, Jimmy hadn’t arrived, and he wasn’t even late, but she already felt guilty, as though by simply being there she was betraying Oliver. Chloe rubbed her neck tiredly.
The sound of a chair being pulled across the floor jolted Chloe out of her thoughts. Jimmy grinned down at her, oblivious to what was going through her mind.
“Hey, Bright-eyes.”
She had to force herself not to cringe at the moniker. Under any other circumstances she would have considered it cute, but considering she was definitely still hung up on Oliver, it was just annoying.
“Hey Jimmy,” she said, smiling demurely.
“Have you ever been here before?” he asked, looking around almost nervously.
Chloe shook her head. “No. But my cousin says it’s good.”
Flashing her another nervous smile, Jimmy turned to the menu.
Later that night, Chloe leaned against the door of her apartment. That had been the worst date of her life, including the jock who’d tried to suck the heat out of her body. She’d spent the entire time wishing that it was Oliver sitting her, that the shy smiles Jimmy was giving her were the more flirtatious smiles Oliver had always dazzled her with. After living in Smallville and being best friends to Clark Kent, Jimmy was almost too normal for her.
Wiping the tears from her face, she walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the mattress, for once actually welcoming the dreams that would bring Oliver back into her life.
***
That had been the first and last date. Chloe had given him the excuse that she had some things going on and that she’d thought she was ready, but she wasn’t. Jimmy had taken it well and had promised to give her a little space.
After that, her dreams had changed, becoming more like the ones she’d had the night before. As heartbreaking as they were, the dreams had actually made Chloe feel as though she was closer to Oliver, like he was still in her life. She was willing to miss a little sleep over that.
She suppressed a yawn and flipped through the acceptance letters she received. She’d decided to take a year off of school to deal with every thing. But it was time to get her life back on track. As much as she missed Oliver and she was sure she still loved him, Chloe knew that it was time to move on.
Her vision blurred slightly, exhaustion threatening to overcome her. Chloe groaned and dropped the papers on her desk. As she turned back to the computer, her eyes fell on the sole picture on her desk. It had been taken at Crater Lake. Lois had dragged Chloe, Oliver, and Clark down to the beach as soon as the weather was warm enough. Being from California, Oliver had opted not to get in the water. Chloe had kept him company. They’d been laying on a blanket, talking quietly, when Lois snapped a picture of them. For a candid shot, it was actually wonderful. Oliver was looking down at her with an adoring expression, his eyes twinkling and a small smile on his lips. She was looking up at him smiling as well. Their fingers were entwined and rested on his chest.
It was Chloe’s favorite picture, a memento of a happier time.
Sighing, she tore her gaze away from the image, back to her computer and to the article she was supposed to be writing, but her mind drifted back to the year before.
She’d been getting ready for bed, waiting for a call from Ollie. It had been a few days since the last time he’d called. Despite his promise to call every day, business had kept him from keeping in touch several times. When her phone rang as she turned out the light, Chloe had seized it off the dresser without even looking at the caller ID.
It hadn’t been Oliver. It had been the coast guard. They’d received an emergency signal from Oliver’s ship when a fierce storm had cropped up out of nowhere. It had been lost soon after and while rescue workers had been dispatched immediately, Oliver had never been found.
The next few months had been horrible. At first, she’d been out of her mind with worry, doing everything she could to help with the search. Clark had run across the ocean and back at least two dozen times searching for Oliver and she’d called in help from Bart Allen, the speedster who’d passed through Smallville just before Oliver had moved to town. They’d both come up empty. So Chloe had taken to hacking every database she could, hoping that Oliver had turned up on one of the nearby island nations and that there would be some record of him. But she’d hit a brick wall.
That was when it had really hit her that Oliver was gone. And though she’d refused to fully give up hope, she knew it was pretty much pointless. She’d sunk into depression, throwing herself into the various meteor freaks she and Clark were working to take down. She stopped hanging out with anyone outside of class. Lois and Clark had gotten worried.
In the end, her dad had been the one to force her out of her depression. Gabe Sullivan had been oblivious to his daughter’s social life, mostly because he was never home. To Chloe’s supreme misfortune, her father had happened to answer the phone when George Masters called to offer Chloe his condolences and support. Apparently Oliver had talked about her so much when he was in Star City and she had so impressed him at the meeting three years before when she’d defended Oliver’s honor, that Mr. Masters wanted to extend an offer to help her in any way he could. Gabe Sullivan hadn’t taken the news that his daughter had been dating the billionaire playboy heir to Queen Industries well.
Gabe Sullivan had ended the call and stormed into Chloe’s room, where she was crying on her bed. It was the day that Oliver had been officially declared dead. She was completely heartbroken and lost. Ignoring that fact that his daughter’s boyfriend was missing and officially dead, Mr. Sullivan came charging in, yelling at the top of his lungs, reading her the proverbial riot act. The shouting had been enough to snap Chloe out of her stupor and she’d began yelling back. In the end, Chloe had walked out and the Kents had given her a place to stay until she moved to Metropolis for work.
Pulling her thoughts back to the present and the Daily Planet, Chloe attempted to focus on her story. Despite her stellar skills as an investigative reporter, she was stuck writing obits since she had no college degree and would have to work her way up from the bottom. It was partly because she was channeling most of her energy into helping Clark and some of the people they’d met who’d decided to follow in his footsteps. She got a real sense of pride and accomplishment, of rightness, helping take down evil meteor freaks. It also helped her stay connected to Oliver. He’d always gotten a rush out of helping people.
A shadow fell over her desk. She looked up and found Clark standing beside her. He smiled and handed her a cup of coffee.
“You are a god,” she moaned, seizing the cup and taking a long gulp.
He smiled gently and pulled over a chair. “You okay?” he asked without preamble.
Chloe shrugged. “I’m dealing. It’s two years ago today that I said goodbye to him.”
Heart aching for the pain he knew his friend was feeling, Clark put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer. “Maybe you should go home, Chlo. You shouldn’t be at work today.”
“I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts,” she admitted.
Clark nodded, completely understanding. When his dad died of a heart attack, several months previously, he’d done everything he could not to think and not to feel. He could only imagine what things were like for Chloe. She’d never even really gotten an answer to the question of what had happened to Oliver.
“Was there something you needed?” she asked, breaking through his thoughts.
He shook his head. “No. I just wanted to check on you.”
A sad smile tugged weakly at Chloe’s lips. “Thanks, Clark. But I’m all right, all things considered. I’ll see you later, okay? I really just need to work.”
“I’ll stop by after my patrol,” he promised.
The smile grew. “No you won’t. You’ll go spend time with Lois.”
“She’ll understand,” Clark protested. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
“Do it for me,” Chloe murmured. “Be with her while you can, huh?”
The pain in her eyes almost killed him. But he nodded and stood, pressing a friendly kiss to her forehead. “Call me if need anything, Chlo. I’ll be there anytime.”
“Will do. Now get out of here. Metropolis needs it’s great hero.” She turned back to her computer.
Realized that he was being dismissed, Clark sped out of the newsroom, only to stop in the shadows where no one would notice him and just looked at Chloe. She’d lost weight over the past two years. She was paler and there were circles under her eyes, as though she hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in months. She barely went out unless she was going to work or following a lead or helping him take down a meteor freak. The only people she regularly associated with were Clark, Lois, and Mrs. Kent. Clark knew that losing Oliver had been hard on her and he hated seeing her like that. But he knew there was nothing he could do except wait and let her deal in her own way.
The sound of sirens caught his attention. His hand automatically reached for the collar of his shirt. With a sigh and one final look at Chloe, Clark sped away.
Across the room, Chloe was typing mechanically, finishing an obit for someone named Todd Greenly. He’d apparently died of natural causes after a long life. But she wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone that. Chloe wasn’t really paying attention to what she was doing.
“Hey bright-eyes.”
Chloe suppressed a groan before painting a weak smile onto her face and turning in her chair to see Jimmy Olsen grinning nervously at her. He was wearing his perpetual sweater vest and bow tie. He was fiddling nervously with his camera.
“Hey, Jimmy,” he said softly, keeping her voice even.
He fumbled with his camera again. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me this Friday. We had a lot of fun a couple of months ago.”
“Jimmy,” Chloe sighed. “I’m sorry I...I can’t. I think we’re better off as friends.”
“Why?” he protested. “I thought we had a lot of chemistry and I thought we had fun.”
“I just can’t do it.”
“Why not? You’re the one that asked me out in the first place.”
“And it was a colossal mistake,” Chloe groaned. “I thought I was ready to get back out there, but I’m not. I’m not even close to being ready. I should never have asked you out. It was wrong of me to lead you on like that. I thought I was ready.”
“I don’t get it,” Jimmy muttered angrily. “I really thought you liked me.”
“And I do,” she said miserably. “But not like that. I shouldn’t have done anything to make you think otherwise.”
“What changed? Why is idea of dating me suddenly so repulsive?”
Groaning, Chloe grabbed Jimmy’s arm and dragged him to the copy room. She was not about to have that conversation in the bull pen where everyone could overhear her.
“What are you doing?” Jimmy demanded, wrenching his arm free.
Chloe closed the door and locked it before pulling down all the shades. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to Jimmy who was glaring at her.
“Listen to me,” she hissed, “I’m not interested, Jimmy.”
“I thought you were,” he mumbled.
“Well I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I didn’t mean to lead you on. My cousin pretty much forced me to go out and I managed to convince myself that I was ready when I wasn’t.”
“Why did you chose to go out with me?”
“You’re a nice guy, Jimmy. I thought you were the kind of person I needed. I thought that if I was going to placate my cousin and my own conscience that I might as well hang out with someone I could possibly have a decent conversation with. I didn’t expect things to go much further.”
“Chloe, you were flirting with me!”
She almost groaned. She had been flirting a little, trying to salvage the evening. She hadn’t really meant any of it, but of course he didn’t know that.
“No I wasn’t!” she snapped. “I was trying to be pleasant.”
“You were hardcore flirting with me,” Jimmy said stubbornly.
“Well, it wasn’t on purpose!” Chloe retorted, even if if really kinda had been. “I’m honestly not interested and I need you to back off because I’m not ready either.”
“Can you at least tell me why?”
Chloe sighed and ran a hand through her hair, feeling slightly guilty for losing her temper. She was on a short fuse, had been for two years, especially when it came to any subject that might even tangentially concern Oliver. For the briefest minute, she entertained the idea of telling Jimmy everything, but then she pushed the thought away. She and Oliver had kept their relationship a secret from anyone outside of Smallville for a reason, so that they could have their privacy. He’d given up a lot so they could do that. She wasn’t going to disrespect that.
“It’s none of your business,” she said flatly. “All you need to know is that I’m not ready .”
“We haven’t even tried,” he protested.
“Look,” she hissed, deciding to give him a few of the details. “I was dating a guy who went missing. He’s been gone for a long time and I thought I was getting over and while it may not hurt as much, I’m not ready and I need you to drop it.”
Jimmy’s jaw tensed. “Fine. I’ll just go.”
Chloe watched as he stormed out of the copy room. She felt horrible. Jimmy really was a nice guy. He was as sweet as they come. And completely innocent and naive. She could see the way that he looked at her, almost the way Oliver used to. That was the problem. In any other life, Chloe would have been happy with Jimmy. But after she met Oliver, she knew there was someone out there who was willing to be with her despite the crazy things that happened in her life. Jimmy would never be able to deal with meteor freaks or aliens, not the way Oliver had. Jimmy would never be able to stand beside her and fight the freaks that wanted to kill her. Not the way Oliver had.
It was official. Oliver had ruined her for other guys. Now that she’d met him, she doubted she would meet anyone that would ever have a chance of measuring up.
Chloe allowed herself to sink to the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest. Tremors wracked her body for several moments before she managed to regain control of her emotions. The pain might have been dulling, but it was always there and she didn’t think it would ever go away.
Wiping away the few tears that had escaped down her cheeks, Chloe stood and walked back into the newsroom. She had work to do. Oliver wouldn’t want her to lose her dream job because she was pining over him. In fact she had a feeling that if he knew, he’d chew her out. Some days, that knowledge was all that kept her going.
Author’s Note: For the record, I know nothing about sailing or weather, or anything else that has to do with a boat wrecking in a storm and people surviving it. I have no idea if there is such a thing as an emergency beacon or signal that you can use to call the coast guard or even if that is who you would call. I’m just making it work for the story.
Chapter 2
Rating: PG-13 for the most part, however there are sections that are NC-17 (my first attempt, for the record) for sexual content. This fic contains violence and language. Chapters containing sexual content will be preceded by a warning.
Spoilers: The entire series, basically. The basic setting is season six with a twist, but anything is fair game if it works for this fic.
Warning: Again, this is AU and is a continuation of my fic Twist of Fate, which you really need to read first or this isn't going to make any sense. There will sexual content and violence.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, I'm just playing around with them.
Previous Chapters: Prologue
Banner by geek_or_unique
Author’s Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the prologue. I am honestly a little stunned as to how well it was received. That was a major confidence booster. Thank you so, so much.
Chapter 1
“I never should have let Lois talk me into this,” she grumbled under her breath, swirling her water in her glass.
The dim lighting and soft music of the restaurant created a decidedly romantic atmosphere that was completely at odds with the way Chloe felt at the moment. It had been almost a year and a half since Oliver’s boat had been lost in a storm. Several of the board members had been found, clinging to drift wood, but Oliver hadn’t been among them. For the past six months, ever since her graduation from high school, Lois had been trying to convince Chloe to go out. Her cousin argued that Oliver wouldn’t want her to put her life on hold because he was dead. And while Chloe didn’t exactly find anything wrong with that argument, she just wasn’t ready.
Yet here she was, sitting in the hot new restaurant, the Ace of Clubs, in the non-alcoholic section since she was just nineteen, waiting for Jimmy Olsen, her date of the evening. He was a sweet guy. A photographer for the Daily Planet, he was about as normal as they come and honestly his bow-ties and sweater vests were endearing in a nerdy way. Though she’d been slow on the uptake, Chloe could see that he was completely head over heels for her. Lois had been kind enough to point that out to her. So when Chloe had finally decided to go out, to get back on the bandwagon as it were, she’d asked Jimmy if he wanted to go out to dinner with her. He seemed harmless enough.
She was seriously regretting that decision. She’d only been there for ten minutes, Jimmy hadn’t arrived, and he wasn’t even late, but she already felt guilty, as though by simply being there she was betraying Oliver. Chloe rubbed her neck tiredly.
The sound of a chair being pulled across the floor jolted Chloe out of her thoughts. Jimmy grinned down at her, oblivious to what was going through her mind.
“Hey, Bright-eyes.”
She had to force herself not to cringe at the moniker. Under any other circumstances she would have considered it cute, but considering she was definitely still hung up on Oliver, it was just annoying.
“Hey Jimmy,” she said, smiling demurely.
“Have you ever been here before?” he asked, looking around almost nervously.
Chloe shook her head. “No. But my cousin says it’s good.”
Flashing her another nervous smile, Jimmy turned to the menu.
Later that night, Chloe leaned against the door of her apartment. That had been the worst date of her life, including the jock who’d tried to suck the heat out of her body. She’d spent the entire time wishing that it was Oliver sitting her, that the shy smiles Jimmy was giving her were the more flirtatious smiles Oliver had always dazzled her with. After living in Smallville and being best friends to Clark Kent, Jimmy was almost too normal for her.
Wiping the tears from her face, she walked into her bedroom and collapsed on the mattress, for once actually welcoming the dreams that would bring Oliver back into her life.
***
That had been the first and last date. Chloe had given him the excuse that she had some things going on and that she’d thought she was ready, but she wasn’t. Jimmy had taken it well and had promised to give her a little space.
After that, her dreams had changed, becoming more like the ones she’d had the night before. As heartbreaking as they were, the dreams had actually made Chloe feel as though she was closer to Oliver, like he was still in her life. She was willing to miss a little sleep over that.
She suppressed a yawn and flipped through the acceptance letters she received. She’d decided to take a year off of school to deal with every thing. But it was time to get her life back on track. As much as she missed Oliver and she was sure she still loved him, Chloe knew that it was time to move on.
Her vision blurred slightly, exhaustion threatening to overcome her. Chloe groaned and dropped the papers on her desk. As she turned back to the computer, her eyes fell on the sole picture on her desk. It had been taken at Crater Lake. Lois had dragged Chloe, Oliver, and Clark down to the beach as soon as the weather was warm enough. Being from California, Oliver had opted not to get in the water. Chloe had kept him company. They’d been laying on a blanket, talking quietly, when Lois snapped a picture of them. For a candid shot, it was actually wonderful. Oliver was looking down at her with an adoring expression, his eyes twinkling and a small smile on his lips. She was looking up at him smiling as well. Their fingers were entwined and rested on his chest.
It was Chloe’s favorite picture, a memento of a happier time.
Sighing, she tore her gaze away from the image, back to her computer and to the article she was supposed to be writing, but her mind drifted back to the year before.
She’d been getting ready for bed, waiting for a call from Ollie. It had been a few days since the last time he’d called. Despite his promise to call every day, business had kept him from keeping in touch several times. When her phone rang as she turned out the light, Chloe had seized it off the dresser without even looking at the caller ID.
It hadn’t been Oliver. It had been the coast guard. They’d received an emergency signal from Oliver’s ship when a fierce storm had cropped up out of nowhere. It had been lost soon after and while rescue workers had been dispatched immediately, Oliver had never been found.
The next few months had been horrible. At first, she’d been out of her mind with worry, doing everything she could to help with the search. Clark had run across the ocean and back at least two dozen times searching for Oliver and she’d called in help from Bart Allen, the speedster who’d passed through Smallville just before Oliver had moved to town. They’d both come up empty. So Chloe had taken to hacking every database she could, hoping that Oliver had turned up on one of the nearby island nations and that there would be some record of him. But she’d hit a brick wall.
That was when it had really hit her that Oliver was gone. And though she’d refused to fully give up hope, she knew it was pretty much pointless. She’d sunk into depression, throwing herself into the various meteor freaks she and Clark were working to take down. She stopped hanging out with anyone outside of class. Lois and Clark had gotten worried.
In the end, her dad had been the one to force her out of her depression. Gabe Sullivan had been oblivious to his daughter’s social life, mostly because he was never home. To Chloe’s supreme misfortune, her father had happened to answer the phone when George Masters called to offer Chloe his condolences and support. Apparently Oliver had talked about her so much when he was in Star City and she had so impressed him at the meeting three years before when she’d defended Oliver’s honor, that Mr. Masters wanted to extend an offer to help her in any way he could. Gabe Sullivan hadn’t taken the news that his daughter had been dating the billionaire playboy heir to Queen Industries well.
Gabe Sullivan had ended the call and stormed into Chloe’s room, where she was crying on her bed. It was the day that Oliver had been officially declared dead. She was completely heartbroken and lost. Ignoring that fact that his daughter’s boyfriend was missing and officially dead, Mr. Sullivan came charging in, yelling at the top of his lungs, reading her the proverbial riot act. The shouting had been enough to snap Chloe out of her stupor and she’d began yelling back. In the end, Chloe had walked out and the Kents had given her a place to stay until she moved to Metropolis for work.
Pulling her thoughts back to the present and the Daily Planet, Chloe attempted to focus on her story. Despite her stellar skills as an investigative reporter, she was stuck writing obits since she had no college degree and would have to work her way up from the bottom. It was partly because she was channeling most of her energy into helping Clark and some of the people they’d met who’d decided to follow in his footsteps. She got a real sense of pride and accomplishment, of rightness, helping take down evil meteor freaks. It also helped her stay connected to Oliver. He’d always gotten a rush out of helping people.
A shadow fell over her desk. She looked up and found Clark standing beside her. He smiled and handed her a cup of coffee.
“You are a god,” she moaned, seizing the cup and taking a long gulp.
He smiled gently and pulled over a chair. “You okay?” he asked without preamble.
Chloe shrugged. “I’m dealing. It’s two years ago today that I said goodbye to him.”
Heart aching for the pain he knew his friend was feeling, Clark put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her closer. “Maybe you should go home, Chlo. You shouldn’t be at work today.”
“I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts,” she admitted.
Clark nodded, completely understanding. When his dad died of a heart attack, several months previously, he’d done everything he could not to think and not to feel. He could only imagine what things were like for Chloe. She’d never even really gotten an answer to the question of what had happened to Oliver.
“Was there something you needed?” she asked, breaking through his thoughts.
He shook his head. “No. I just wanted to check on you.”
A sad smile tugged weakly at Chloe’s lips. “Thanks, Clark. But I’m all right, all things considered. I’ll see you later, okay? I really just need to work.”
“I’ll stop by after my patrol,” he promised.
The smile grew. “No you won’t. You’ll go spend time with Lois.”
“She’ll understand,” Clark protested. “You shouldn’t be alone.”
“Do it for me,” Chloe murmured. “Be with her while you can, huh?”
The pain in her eyes almost killed him. But he nodded and stood, pressing a friendly kiss to her forehead. “Call me if need anything, Chlo. I’ll be there anytime.”
“Will do. Now get out of here. Metropolis needs it’s great hero.” She turned back to her computer.
Realized that he was being dismissed, Clark sped out of the newsroom, only to stop in the shadows where no one would notice him and just looked at Chloe. She’d lost weight over the past two years. She was paler and there were circles under her eyes, as though she hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in months. She barely went out unless she was going to work or following a lead or helping him take down a meteor freak. The only people she regularly associated with were Clark, Lois, and Mrs. Kent. Clark knew that losing Oliver had been hard on her and he hated seeing her like that. But he knew there was nothing he could do except wait and let her deal in her own way.
The sound of sirens caught his attention. His hand automatically reached for the collar of his shirt. With a sigh and one final look at Chloe, Clark sped away.
Across the room, Chloe was typing mechanically, finishing an obit for someone named Todd Greenly. He’d apparently died of natural causes after a long life. But she wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone that. Chloe wasn’t really paying attention to what she was doing.
“Hey bright-eyes.”
Chloe suppressed a groan before painting a weak smile onto her face and turning in her chair to see Jimmy Olsen grinning nervously at her. He was wearing his perpetual sweater vest and bow tie. He was fiddling nervously with his camera.
“Hey, Jimmy,” he said softly, keeping her voice even.
He fumbled with his camera again. “Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me this Friday. We had a lot of fun a couple of months ago.”
“Jimmy,” Chloe sighed. “I’m sorry I...I can’t. I think we’re better off as friends.”
“Why?” he protested. “I thought we had a lot of chemistry and I thought we had fun.”
“I just can’t do it.”
“Why not? You’re the one that asked me out in the first place.”
“And it was a colossal mistake,” Chloe groaned. “I thought I was ready to get back out there, but I’m not. I’m not even close to being ready. I should never have asked you out. It was wrong of me to lead you on like that. I thought I was ready.”
“I don’t get it,” Jimmy muttered angrily. “I really thought you liked me.”
“And I do,” she said miserably. “But not like that. I shouldn’t have done anything to make you think otherwise.”
“What changed? Why is idea of dating me suddenly so repulsive?”
Groaning, Chloe grabbed Jimmy’s arm and dragged him to the copy room. She was not about to have that conversation in the bull pen where everyone could overhear her.
“What are you doing?” Jimmy demanded, wrenching his arm free.
Chloe closed the door and locked it before pulling down all the shades. Taking a deep breath, she turned back to Jimmy who was glaring at her.
“Listen to me,” she hissed, “I’m not interested, Jimmy.”
“I thought you were,” he mumbled.
“Well I’m sorry,” she sighed. “I didn’t mean to lead you on. My cousin pretty much forced me to go out and I managed to convince myself that I was ready when I wasn’t.”
“Why did you chose to go out with me?”
“You’re a nice guy, Jimmy. I thought you were the kind of person I needed. I thought that if I was going to placate my cousin and my own conscience that I might as well hang out with someone I could possibly have a decent conversation with. I didn’t expect things to go much further.”
“Chloe, you were flirting with me!”
She almost groaned. She had been flirting a little, trying to salvage the evening. She hadn’t really meant any of it, but of course he didn’t know that.
“No I wasn’t!” she snapped. “I was trying to be pleasant.”
“You were hardcore flirting with me,” Jimmy said stubbornly.
“Well, it wasn’t on purpose!” Chloe retorted, even if if really kinda had been. “I’m honestly not interested and I need you to back off because I’m not ready either.”
“Can you at least tell me why?”
Chloe sighed and ran a hand through her hair, feeling slightly guilty for losing her temper. She was on a short fuse, had been for two years, especially when it came to any subject that might even tangentially concern Oliver. For the briefest minute, she entertained the idea of telling Jimmy everything, but then she pushed the thought away. She and Oliver had kept their relationship a secret from anyone outside of Smallville for a reason, so that they could have their privacy. He’d given up a lot so they could do that. She wasn’t going to disrespect that.
“It’s none of your business,” she said flatly. “All you need to know is that I’m not ready .”
“We haven’t even tried,” he protested.
“Look,” she hissed, deciding to give him a few of the details. “I was dating a guy who went missing. He’s been gone for a long time and I thought I was getting over and while it may not hurt as much, I’m not ready and I need you to drop it.”
Jimmy’s jaw tensed. “Fine. I’ll just go.”
Chloe watched as he stormed out of the copy room. She felt horrible. Jimmy really was a nice guy. He was as sweet as they come. And completely innocent and naive. She could see the way that he looked at her, almost the way Oliver used to. That was the problem. In any other life, Chloe would have been happy with Jimmy. But after she met Oliver, she knew there was someone out there who was willing to be with her despite the crazy things that happened in her life. Jimmy would never be able to deal with meteor freaks or aliens, not the way Oliver had. Jimmy would never be able to stand beside her and fight the freaks that wanted to kill her. Not the way Oliver had.
It was official. Oliver had ruined her for other guys. Now that she’d met him, she doubted she would meet anyone that would ever have a chance of measuring up.
Chloe allowed herself to sink to the floor, drawing her knees up to her chest. Tremors wracked her body for several moments before she managed to regain control of her emotions. The pain might have been dulling, but it was always there and she didn’t think it would ever go away.
Wiping away the few tears that had escaped down her cheeks, Chloe stood and walked back into the newsroom. She had work to do. Oliver wouldn’t want her to lose her dream job because she was pining over him. In fact she had a feeling that if he knew, he’d chew her out. Some days, that knowledge was all that kept her going.
Author’s Note: For the record, I know nothing about sailing or weather, or anything else that has to do with a boat wrecking in a storm and people surviving it. I have no idea if there is such a thing as an emergency beacon or signal that you can use to call the coast guard or even if that is who you would call. I’m just making it work for the story.
Chapter 2