Breakeven (5/9)
Nov. 4th, 2012 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serafina19Author: 
serafina19
Title: Breakeven
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: AU, but I dabble (and mess) with canon events.
Warning: Coarse language
Thanks to:
poetgirl925 who has been an amazing support system on this fic, and kachica for the beautiful banner.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 5
She had to admit, she looked good, even it did concern her that Oliver knew her measurements. Tonight, the plan was to keep it simple. Say hi, give a little background, move on. She was a technical officer after all, just because she bumped heads with the CEO didn't mean her station was any higher.
You’ve bumped more than heads with –
She pushed that particular thought from her brain, not wanting to think about that again. Her car would arrive any minute and she had to be professional Even if she had no idea what she was doing. When she came here, she thought it would be a board room full of people who made more in a day than she made in a year. But it wasn’t to be, as she had to walk through a room where Oliver was probably the only person she knew.
But she could do this. Maybe if she did this, if they liked what they saw, her life could go back to normal. So she left her hotel room, hoping for the best.
~0~
The car ride actually wasn't bad, as the driver easily relaxed her. It was getting out of the car and entering the event that caused the nerves to pile up. This wasn't the world she wanted to associate herself with and if she knew that stealing another person's drink order meant that she'd be here, she likely would have waited the ten minutes and ordered the drink herself.
Yet this had been part of her life, avoiding photographers by going out any door they didn't know about. Eventually, it got to the point where Chloe started going out the front door, because all of the photogs waited at the back. The stories were the same, wondering how on earth she ended up in a situation like this, but she didn't have answers for them when she hardly believed it herself.
One perk of that treatment was that the flashing barely fazed her now as she approached the door. She didn't bother responding to the people calling her name like she was some big-shot. All she did was walk, pose once or twice because she figured that was the thing to do, and then kept walking inside to safety. Calmly walking towards the elevator, Chloe took note of the man standing there, asking for her name. She gave it, and then was surprised to see two other workers inside the elevator to escort her there. She knew it wasn't personal service, but she thought it was a little overkill. Trying to talk to them was pointless too, as they kept their words to a minimum. So as she stepped out of the elevator, Chloe was just ready to get this over with.
As she entered the room, people were staring at her, not the majority, but enough to almost make her feel self-conscious. The dress didn't help, as apparently Oliver wanted her to stand out amongst the crowd. She made a mental note to berate to him about that later. While most of the women wore metallic and mild colours, here she was in a bright orange dress. She knew why Oliver picked the particular colour, but the joke had lost its humour before she even entered the building.
Working her way through the crowd, Chloe wasn't exactly sure where to start. She didn't know any of the faces around, nor was it likely she knew what they were talking about. Moving towards the window, she figured she could at least enjoy the skyline for awhile, or at least get her confidence back. Except half-way there, a hand reached on her shoulder, almost scaring Chloe in the process.
“Hey stranger,” a familiar voice called out. Turning around, Chloe spotted Julia holding a glass of champagne out to her. “You look like you could use this.”
Chloe tilted her head, acknowledging her point. Taking a sip as she glanced around the room, she asked, “He makes you come to these too?”
“Initially, but eventually the keys to the Ferrari and the odd piece of eye candy was worth the free dress.” Giving Chloe a proper look head-to-toe, she smiled. “I admit, I wasn’t sure how well you’ll survive, but Oliver didn’t give you much choice with this dress.”
“Don’t remind me,” Chloe said just before she downed most of her champagne. She had to admit that Julia looked incredible too, as her strapless dark blue dress complimented her figure well, from the streamlined bodice, to the textured bottom that carried to the floor with the smallest of trains. The dangling earrings and classic up-do only solidified the look. It was clear that she at least had a clue about what she was doing.
Seeing the gesture, Julia chuckled under her breath. “Keep in mind that he gave you that dress because he knows you have the confidence to pull it off. Getting through the door is half the battle and frankly, you did quite well.”
Julia meant every word, as this is a daunting situation for any person, especially for someone who would likely be anywhere else. “Stand straight, walk with purpose... nod at mostly everything and you’ll be fine. Between Oliver and myself, you won’t be alone. We’ve both been in your situation and trust me when I say... safety in numbers.”
“Thanks,” Chloe said slowly, straightening her back a little before taking a deep breath. The nerves had made a little appearance, but talking it through with someone like Julia made things a little easier to bear.
“No problem,” Julia replied, glad to see the blonde’s eagerness to get through this. Cooperation at this point was crucial if they wanted the people here to believe their story. Placing her drink on one of the waiter’s trays, Julia finally spotted Oliver in the crowd, as it bothered her that he wasn’t here to greet Chloe. But it seemed that there was another particular blonde keeping him busy, causing Julia to involuntarily groan in disgust. “God, I wish he wouldn’t humour them.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes after seeing Julia reach back for another glass, but it didn’t take too long to figure out what she was commenting about. “Hard to be a playboy if he doesn’t sleep with everything that walks.” And to think, for one night, Chloe let herself be one of those people.
Julia just smirked as she pointed in the direction where Oliver was standing. “Not everything. The girl chatting him up now believes that she’s entitled to an exclusive pass to his bedroom and I’ve seen her flirt with Oliver at every event in this town.” Taking a long sip for dramatic effect, she added, “He’s never given in.”
After a mild scoff, Chloe replied, “You can’t know that.” Sure the woman knew Oliver, but there had to be limits, right?
However, Julia shook her head with no hesitation, telling Chloe, “I can actually.” She knew that Chloe would be skeptical to her words, but Julia just shrugged, casually adding, “Let’s just say that I know when a woman has slept with Oliver Queen.”
Chloe almost choked on her drink, but was able to catch herself and swallow properly. “What?”
Julia missed the slip-up as she focused on Oliver placing a hand on her shoulder, all put sealing the fact he was going to walk away. The way women reacted around him... it was all the same. The ones that wanted him were all over him, the ones that had him wanted nothing to do with him. The ones who didn’t want him were pretty easy to spot too, based on their interaction. Chloe was the first women who made Julia question her rules, but the more she talked with her, the more she realized that Chloe could be was the exception.
To most women, he was a prize to be won, or a jackass, but with Chloe, Oliver was a human being. Nothing more, nothing less. These days, those people were rare in Oliver’s life, which is why Julia knew she had to help out.
“Despite what you think, besides the time I told you about, you’ll find that Oliver actually has standards.” Smiling as Oliver likely handed her the usual line before he walked away, Julia looked back towards Chloe. “He’ll flirt, he’ll have his fun, but his penthouse is a little more exclusive than you think.”
If that was true, then how had Chloe visited his penthouse three times?
After handing off her empty champagne glass, Julia reached to grab Chloe’s hand. “But you can’t stand here all day, you need to mingle.” Julia knew that Chloe had to show her strengths if she wanted to see peace from within the organization. Except Julia wasn’t going to make it easy on her, as she headed towards a trio of board members. If Chloe could get through this, the rest would be fine. “Good evening everyone. Chloe Sullivan, meet Roger Baigmann, Shirley Mak and Martin Wyatt.”
Chloe had her game face on, so she smiled widely. “Nice to meet you.”
Shirley had nodded her head, looking between her fellow board members. “The pleasure is ours. We were just speaking about the Chinese negotiations.”
It was something Chloe didn’t know much about, but before she had a chance to ask anything, she heard a groan from the woman beside her. “You know my opinion on that.”
Julia’s response resulted in a subtle chuckle from who Chloe assumed was Roger. “One you’ve managed to share with Oliver.”
“Everyone is flocking towards China right now, meaning they can name their price.” Julia knew this wasn’t her place, as it took years for them to take her seriously. But she was never one to hide her opinion and she wasn’t about start now. “A bidding war takes time and resources, with no guarantee that you’ll get the markets you want.”
And so it started, as Chloe watched Julia politely debate with the board members. She did what she had to, nodding, trying to absorb every part of the conversation she could. For a while, she thought everyone had forgotten about her, until Martin had turned to her and asked, “What do you think Chloe?”
She swallowed hard, but that was the only sign of nerves in her system. “I admit, I’m a little out of touch, but I think you’re rushing things and Julia may be right about risking opportunities in other emerging markets.” Their conversation had given Chloe the background she needed to respond properly and she was also grateful that she had experience with both products in the negotiations.
She explained how the new mobile processing software is still working through some fixable glitches. “But the problem is that they may misinterpret that for a lesser quality product. This software has been your key project for years, there’s no need to rush and get the wrong deal. Not to mention the firewall technology, which I tested last week, and I found it to be among the best I’ve seen.”
Sensing that she had been rambling a little, Chloe took a deep breath. “In the end, they should be wondering where they sign, not driving the negotiations.” Noticing Roger opening his mouth, Chloe pressed on, having a feeling that she’d regret ignoring him. “It’s not that easy, I know, but after all the resources you’ve put into making these... you don’t want to feel ripped off.”
Closing her mouth, Chloe grinned, waiting for someone to say something... anything. It was Martin who broke the silence. “Interesting perspective Chloe, thank you.”
From there, Chloe took that as her cue to nod and let the conversation take its natural course again. She would pipe up a few more times and fortunately not make a complete fool of herself. When she said goodnight, she noticed a few smiles and Chloe knew she had survived, so she felt herself sigh in relief when she was far enough away.
Julia patted Chloe’s back. “Well, you just had a great start.” In fact, she had to give the former reporter credit, she did much better than Julia thought she would.
“How so?”
She tried, but Julia couldn’t resist rolling her eyes, as Oliver finally decided to make an appearance. “Chloe just survived talking to Wyatt, might have even impressed him.” Turning to Chloe, she explained, “One of Queen Industries’ toughest board members.”
Her head jerking back, Chloe looked back to where she stood not that long ago. It was hard, but in comparison to some of the other things she had gone through, that really wasn’t that bad. “With a little business talk? Come on.”
“Humble too,” Oliver said with a chuckle. “There really is more to Chloe Sullivan that meets the eye.”
Noticing the way Chloe blushed and the way Oliver was looking at her, Julia realized that it was probably her cue to exit. “I’m... going to get something to drink,” she said quietly, slipping away with a smile on her face.
“What?” Chloe asked, noticing Oliver’s grin as well, “There’s nothing I just said that overly complicated.” The extent of her business knowledge was learned through Business 101 and practical experience. Then it hit her. “But they’re used to you bringing bimbos so they thought I knew nothing.”
“Not funny,” Oliver replied, all but confirming her comment. Sure, there may have been the odd exception, but the majority of the time, Chloe was right. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he was glad to finally catch up with her. The whole time she was here, Oliver found himself peering in her direction, the dress doing more than giving her justice, even if she would likely bother him about it. But the disadvantage of hosting an event was that everyone wanted to talk to him, so this was the first chance he had to talk to her, and he even missed her big moment.
“Come on... it is a little funny.” Chuckling under her breath, Chloe elbowed Oliver slightly, giving him a quick smile as she walked ahead of him. “You know, I’m really starting to question your sense of humour.” A wink later and she turned around into the crowd, leaving Oliver alone with what was becoming a familiar grin on his face.
“Oliver,” a voice called out to him from behind he briefly looked over his shoulder before turning around fully.
“Martin,” he said as held his hand out towards his board member, “It’s good to see you tonight.”
Martin nodded before pointing towards the direction where Chloe was walking. “Mind me asking again where you found her?”
Smiling as Chloe had found her way into another conversation, effortlessly charming the crowd, just like he thought she would. “The Kent gala last month,” he said calmly, as if he didn't know any better, Oliver would have thought she was a veteran in this crowd.
“And she’s a technical officer?” It was an entry-level position, but Martin had never seen anyone take it with as much pride as Ms. Sullivan, impressive considering she had held the position for such a short period of time.
“For now.”
“Good,” Martin replied as he tapped Oliver’s shoulder. “Because she can do better.”
~0~
Chloe didn’t need to go to the bathroom, or wash her hands, or powder her nose. She just needed a moment to breathe and fresh air required a paparazzi photo. Except peace wasn’t about to be found in the ladies room, as the flush went off behind her.
“You’re doing fine,” Julia said as she walked over to the sink next to her. “So stop worrying.”
“Who said I was worried?”
Chloe didn’t have to, it was written all over her face, which was crazy. Julia had watched as she survived quite nicely on her own whenever Oliver was whisked away. “Safety in numbers, come on.”
However, right before they went to leave, another bathroom stall opened, followed by a bitter statement of, “He’s not interested in you.”
Glancing up, Chloe vaguely recognized the woman as the one who was with Oliver earlier. “Look, I just work for Oliver. If you want to be next notch, I’m not competition.” With a shrug, she wanted to leave it at that, but instead, she accidentally blurted out, “But I don’t think Oliver’s interested in you either.”
Julia’s eyes had widened upon hearing that, but that was nothing in compared to the blonde’s reaction. “Excuse me?”
Not wanting to deal with the heiress, Julia stepped in between Chloe and Ivy and said, “I think you heard her just fine Ivy, unless your ears are inept due to all of your plastic surgery.”
It was safe to say that Chloe had expected a retort from Julia, but this clearly escalating more than she wanted it to. Tapping Julia’s shoulder, Chloe was hoping to calm the situation down. “Julia, I'm –”
“It’s none of your business,” Ivy interjected, increasing the already high amount of animosity.
But Julia wasn’t backing down, so she just shrugged. “It is when she speaks the truth.” Stepping closer to her, she added slowly, “Back off.”
Eyebrows raising, Ivy wasn’t satisfied with that. "When will you see that you’ll always be the bridesmaid, Julia?"
Julia never expected Ivy to back off, but that particular comment was the furthest thing she was expected. "Wow, just when I thought you couldn’t be any more dense." The papers had given up on their potential ‘status’ over three years ago, meaning that Ivy was just trying to get under her skin, but Julia was more than willing to use that to her advantage.
Counting down the seconds, Ivy predictably flung herself towards Julia. But before Chloe had a chance to blink, Julia twisted Ivy’s arm behind her back, causing her to scream, so Julia pushed her away.
“I could sue you for that!”
“You could,” Julia acknowledged as she mockingly swiped her hands, because she was more than used to Ivy’s threats, “but Oliver's lawyers against yours...”
She thought about finishing that sentence, but it wasn’t what Ivy needed to hear. Julia figured that what she was going to say would fall on deaf ears, but she had to try, “Your daddy's worth plenty of money, but one of these days, you have to learn to stand on your own two feet.”
It was a lesson Oliver had to learn quickly, but didn’t. Despite her mother’s best efforts, he still rebelled for years, and just before she thought he’d be the perfect CEO, he snapped. It was an understandable reason, but it had been a long journey back to respectability. However, those hardships probably were necessary for him to find his independence. Julia had nothing against Ivy’s father, which meant that apples could fall far from the tree, but if Oliver had been anything like Ivy... she would have left years ago. Yet that didn’t mean Ivy couldn’t change.
Unfortunately, Ivy huffed and left the bathroom, but not before giving Chloe a harsh glare. Chloe wasn’t about to goad the women, so when the door closed, she asked, “Do you think she'll-"
Both women stilled as they heard a loud shrill, “Bitch!” causing them both to fail holding back their laughter.
Once she stopped, Julia sighed as she looked towards the door. It wouldn’t surprise her if Ivy did sue her, as people had been sued for less in their world. However, regardless of what happened, she knew, “Oliver still has my back, which means more in the end.”
"I could have handled myself you know."
Julia had considered the possibility, so she quietly apologized. “That’s like a reflex when you’ve been dealing with this as long as I have. I know it looks petty... but it’s the only way.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes as she tried to understand, "Why stick it out then?"
With a shrug, Julia replied, "Because some people are worth the trouble." With Oliver, she was still his friend, and the board had warmed to her too. But the truth was that this was really all she knew. "I don't know about you, but I think I've had enough of the ladies room for awhile."
As they re-entered the room, they immediately noticed people turning their heads towards the door. Chloe shouldn’t have been surprised, as Ivy’s scream was a little over the top, but she hoped for a chance that people didn’t connect the dots.
However, Oliver was quick to step in front of them, escorting both women to an empty part of the room. "Do I even want to know what happened?"
"Not likely," Julia immediately replied. Seeing the waiter across the room, Julia realized that while she pretended to need one before, she really needed a drink after that. "Later you two."
"Was there that much of a scene?"
Oliver pursed his lips together as he remembered hearing the scream, even over the music in the room. "Ivy's a little bit of a prima donna.” Leading her to the dance floor, Oliver hoped that acting naturally would allow the room to return to their normal activities. “I was really hoping that you two wouldn't cross paths."
In hindsight, Chloe wished she had kept her mouth shut. But it wasn’t going to help her, so she just placed her hands accordingly, ignoring the way her head practically rested against his chest. “Who is she?”
“Heiress of an investment firm,” Oliver replied, ensuring that he lowered his voice as he added, “She’s annoying as hell, but I have no choice.”
Smirking at his comment, Chloe soon lifted her head. “Invite lists are what they are, I take it.”
“Exactly,” Oliver admitted, spinning Chloe before pulling her back close. They stayed there on the floor for at least three songs, almost oblivious to the room around them. Eventually, Oliver looked down at Chloe and asked, “Do you want to get out of here?”
Initially surprised by the question, Chloe was reminded about Oliver’s comment in the Ace of Clubs about leaving early. As she stared at him, she could sense something different in his eyes, but the truth was that she had enough of this for one night. “Yeah, I do.”
Chapter 6
Sera’s Scribbles: I’m am not a business/software expert, nor do I pretend to be. Dresses are below... and there will be more Chlollie ahead.
Julia’s dress
Chloe’s dress
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no subject
on November 4th, 2012 10:23 pm (UTC)Well, that went well :) I'm glad Chloe managed to earn boardroom's respect. Not that I ever doubted her.
For whatever reason my browser refuses to show Chloe's dress, but I love the one Julia is wearing. Oh, wait, here it is! Lovely colour, I've been thinking about buying something in this colour for a while now.
As always, looking forward to continuation!
no subject
on November 5th, 2012 05:42 am (UTC)The orange dress took me forever to find, whereas Julia's was easy (such is the perk of having actress photos).
But I'm glad you're enjoying. I'm hoping to post more soon.
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on November 4th, 2012 11:03 pm (UTC)no subject
on November 5th, 2012 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
on November 4th, 2012 11:31 pm (UTC)The confrontation with Ivy had me rollin'. Julia is badASS!!!
Awwww Oliver wanting to leave early and with Chloe. Dare I hope?
Awesome update.
Happy writing.
no subject
on November 5th, 2012 05:45 am (UTC)You can always hope, but I'm not spilling what happens after Chloe and Oliver leave. You'll just have to wait and see!
Thank you for the feedback.
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on November 6th, 2012 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
on November 4th, 2012 11:38 pm (UTC)no subject
on November 5th, 2012 05:47 am (UTC)no subject
on November 4th, 2012 11:54 pm (UTC)The ending was great, I can't wait to read the next chapter.
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on November 5th, 2012 05:48 am (UTC)no subject
on November 5th, 2012 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
on November 5th, 2012 05:52 am (UTC)Thanks for the comment!
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on November 5th, 2012 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
on November 6th, 2012 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
on November 15th, 2012 04:46 pm (UTC)Awesome update as always!! :)
no subject
on November 16th, 2012 03:00 am (UTC)