Secret Identities
Chapter 19
Chapter 19
What happens to a dream deferred?
Chloe stood in front of the Daily Planet building, pulling her overcoat closed. Winter would be here soon, but the chill in the air was nothing in comparison to the chunk of ice that seemed to settle in her heart at this moment. She hadn’t been here since that night two months ago when Lex had fired her. Couldn’t bring herself to walk down this street, even though she could see the shining globe from the penthouse balcony every day. She tipped her head back, gazing up, trying to see the globe now. This place had been her dream for as long as she remembered. It had been something she’d worked for, lived for. She was a born investigative reporter. The Daily Planet had been her church, her sanctuary, but now… now, it was almost unrecognizable to her. Oh, the building was the same, and aside from Lex Luthor, the people who worked there hadn’t changed much. It was simply different now. Truth, integrity, heart… those things were missing from this building of stone, mortar and steel. No, it was no longer the Daily Planet to her, and her heart ached for what it once was, and what could be again.
Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?
Chloe felt large warm hands rest on her shoulders behind her. Pulling her back against the hard wall of his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head. She closed her eyes, causing tears that clung precariously from her eyelashes, to slip unceremoniously down her cheeks. When her breath hitched with emotion, she felt him move around from behind her, and cradle her face in his hands, his thumbs gently wiping away her tears. His warm lips pressed her forehead tenderly.
Or fester like a sore, and then run?
Recently, they had made their relationship more public, and Chloe was able to experience first hand what it was like to be the news instead of reporting it. It bothered her at first being touted as the newest conquest for the handsome billionaire playboy, but he was ever steadfast in his devotion to her, laughing off the tabloid article with the practiced ease of someone used to being in the public eye. She knew the playboy label was simply part of the façade, the mask he wore to hide a secret identity.
Had it been almost a year ago that he first came to her that night at the Talon apartment, asking her to do some work for him? She’d become his Watchtower, his Sidekick, his best friend, his lover. And yet, she’d hesitated. He’d insisted that she move into the penthouse, and she’d agreed, not wanting to live in an apartment owned by Lex Luthor. He’d hint at how much easier it would be for them if she’d move to Star City. She was good, he’d said, better than good, and they’d love to have a reporter of her caliber working for the Star City Gazette. And yet, she’d hesitated. How many times had he asked her to marry him in the last two months? How many times had she gently put him off? And here he was, ever patient with her, her rock when she needed him, her protector, her best friend, her lover. And now standing here with him, she knew why she’d hesitated. It wasn’t Clark, it wasn’t Lois. It was this place. This building that once housed one of the greatest newspapers in the world. This place she’d dreamed about, where she’d write the article that would win the Pulitzer one day.
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Chloe lowered her head, and buried her face in his chest, slipping her arms inside his long overcoat, wrapping them around his waist, clinging to him as she sobbed. He held her, as her shoulders shook and he let her weep silently. She felt his lips against the top of her head, offering her comforting kisses. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he’d buy the Planet for her, but she couldn’t, wouldn’t ever let him do that.
Or crust and sugar over, like a syrupy sweet?
Suddenly she realized why she insisted that they come here, and walk down this street, and stop in front of this building. She had to say goodbye. Because if she didn’t she’d never be able to leave, and she’d never be able to start over somewhere else, and she’d never be able to give the man she loved all of herself, if part of her heart was still here.
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
She needed to come here and have no regrets, no wonderings, no what ifs. She needed to know with all her being that there was nothing left for her here, nor ever would be again. Because there’d be no looking back, ever. Her tears subsided, and Chloe lifted her head once more to gaze into deep brown eyes full of love and concern, and there was pain there too. Pain for her. He lowered his head kissing her tears, her lips her eyes, as though he could erase her pain away with his kisses, and she knew what her answer would be, what it would always be.
Or does it explode?
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Yes?”
She watched his face as various emotions played over his handsome features in turn. First confusion, turning into hope at the realization of what she’d said, and then finally, joy.
“Yes,” she said with more conviction, smiling through her tears.
Chloe squeaked lightly as Oliver swung her around once, her feet still hovering over the ground as he covered her mouth with his passionately, sealing the promise of a lifetime, and the promise of a new life.
Before he’d left that night for Star City, he’d made love to her sweetly, tenderly, and held her as though he’d never let go.
Later that morning, she’d receive a delivery of multicolored tulips along with a familiar embossed card, written in familiar hand that said simply:
Thank you, and sorry.
Thank you for agreeing to spend the rest of your life with me. You’ll never be sorry.
Ollie
End Chapter 19
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