Life Can Be Deceiving

Chapter One

Chloe slid the dangly silver earring through her lobe as the finishing touch. Appraising herself in the mirror she made a crazy face and sighed. She hated blind dates. It was unfortunate that she was referred to as the workaholic single girl when discussed at the water cooler. The looks of pity and sympathy she'd been getting recently were just too much to bear. She was be perfectly fine not having a date every weekend. It didn't mean she didn't want love. It meant finding it was not her top priority. She had a career to pursue. She wasn't resting until she had her name, in brass, on a door a few floors up. She was young, for pete's sake! Being treated like an old maid at the ripe of old of twenty three is enough to make any sane woman crazy.

But if love found her... well, let's just say she wasn't completely opposed to happiness.

Which is exactly how she'd been roped into this in the first place. Her well intentioned colleagues were bound and determined to find her a man. After finding her at her desk late last Friday evening they pulled out all the stops.

**Flashback**

She heard the laughter cascading down the halls, growing nearer and nearer to her position. She turned off the desk lamp and ducked her head, hoping the visitors would pass by the entrance and she'd go unnoticed.

The tall redhead with crazy curled hair was teasingly berating her friend as they stepped into the bullpen. "I can't believe you left it here! I specifically told you not to forget it, and what do you do... Chloe?" Steph's boisterous voice stopped short.

She raised her head in feigned surprise. "Oh, hey guys. What brings you here this time of night?"

"Gwen forgot her house keys. I tell her every time we go out, 'put your car keys and house keys together', but no... It's two o'clock in the morning, why are you here, girlfriend?"

"The news stops for no man, or woman. I'm working that story on the new distribution center just outside the city. They're supposed to start breaking ground in a week."

Both girls gave her blank expressions. "That sounds... fascinating." Gwen played with her weave trying to disguise her disinterest. Why any girl as pretty as Chloe would choose to sit alone in the dark every evening was beyond her.

"There's more," Chloe protested.

"Like...?" Gwen asked, hand on her curvy hip.

"I'm still working on that- but it's there!"

Stephanie pulled up a chair and sat next to Chloe as Gwen leaned on her shoulder. "Look, I'm going to put this as nicely as I can. You're depressed and you don't even know it."

"I'm not depressed," Chloe replied with a laugh. "I'm not! I'm good. I'm dedicated to my goals- which right now happens to be work. And I still enjoy life outside, too. I stop and smell the roses, quite literally. What do you want? You want to hear about the new restaurant that opened down the street from my apartment? Or the plot of the latest movie?"

"Did you go to that movie alone?" Gwen asked pointedly.

"It was a last minute thing. Besides, I'm not going to let being single hold me back."

"And you shouldn't," Steph commended her. "Look, I know it threw you a little when your cousin got promoted before you did." Chloe bristled at the comment, but Steph held up her hand. "But that's not important now. You're one of the best reporters down here and your time is coming. Besides, timing in the newspaper biz is just that... timing. Luck. Chance. Lois had hers and you'll have yours. You just might have to wait a little longer. Meanwhile, working yourself into the ground and ignoring everything else is not going to make that moment come any faster."

"I know exactly what you need!" Gwen exclaimed. Doing a little dance she slid Chloe's chair over and started opening a web browser. Chloe's eyes widened nervously. She had a bad feeling about this.

Before Chloe could figure out what was going on Steph began clapping happily. "That's so perfect! I can't believe we didn't think of it before."

"I'm going to regret this... but what should you have thought of?"

"Six Degrees of Happiness," Gwen proclaimed presenting the homepage. "It's all the rage right now, everyone's on it. You put in your information and phone number to open the account. Then, you sync your phone and it analyzes all your contacts, finding everyone you know who's online. You answer a few interest and personality questions and presto! It finds a match for you, within six degrees of your social network. It's perfect."

"It sounds ridiculous," Chloe scoffed and turned to Stephanie. "I appreciate what you guys are trying to do, but trust me, this is not needed."

Stephanie ignored her, continuing her diatribe. "Okay, so after it finds you a match it sends you both an email. The first person to initiate contacts offers two or three possible meet times. You choose one and outline your terms. Dinner, movie, whatever. Your description will be online – Ms. Blonde Peaches 'n Cream- but there no photos. That's to keep things from getting too shallow."

"Yes, it's the epitome of class," Chloe said dryly.

"You can choose a codename you think describes you or something you love. Again, no names to add to the mystique. After all, you never know when your true love could be the copy boy you don't look twice at."

"So you'd consider dating the copy boy?"

"Hell no," she laughed. "But as I was saying, this ensures no early prejudice. We've both done it. It's great!"

"So you guys are both seeing someone from here?"

"We've seen lots of someones," Gwen giggled, eyes sparkling. "Here," she handed Chloe her cell phone.

"When did you take this?" she asked bewildered.

"Right before I set up your account. You are officially SnarkyReporterGirl. Give it a day or so and you'll get your recommendations."

"I can't wait." Her stony face told them she wasn't quite as pleased about this endeavor as they were, and there was no prospect for change on the horizon.

"See you tomorrow Chloe!"

Departing as quickly as they came the girls left behind one very confused female. How had she let them shanghai her? She took on the grime of the city, delving far beneath its crusty surface to find the scum that tried to stay hidden. She took on Lois Lane, self proclaimed army brat prone to walking through anything in her path. She took on Clark Kent, alien farmboy prone to brooding. Yet somehow, two sorority sisters managed to take her down in one fell swoop.

Maybe she did need to spend more time outside of work, but clearly it needed to be spent sleeping.

Saturday morning...

Coffee firmly in hand (and 2/3 gone) Chloe fought her way through the bustle of the morning. She loved this. Every Saturday morning it was like life began all over. For most people the week was coming to a close, but at the paper things were kicking into high gear. By five PM Saturday employees had either headed for the hills or were scrambling around trying desperately to make their deadline.

She hadn't even made it to her desk yet when she found two ecstatic grins pointed her way.

"You have a match!" Steph sung out.

"And he's tall," Gwen added. "I never get tall guys. Okay, so what's better Wednesday or Thursday?"

"For what?"

"For your date. Are you paying attention?" Gwen shook her head.

Chloe settled in at her desk reaching for inbox. Maybe if she ignored them they'd go away. It worked with the mouse in her apartment...

"Okay, so his mini-me says--"

She cut Steph off. "Mini what??"

"His mini me. You know, his bio. Okay, 6 foot 3- yeah! Blonde, says he's good looking, ambitious, a strong belief in right and wrong... I say sleep with him."

"I haven't met him! Everything on there could be a lie."

"You need to keep an open mind about these things."

"About sleeping with a man I've never met?"

"Fine, so I have a tendency to exaggerate. How do I put this in Chloe speak? Go have a have a free dinner with a man you've never met therefore you have no reason not to like. What's the worst that could happen?"

"You want me to regale you with stories of other blind dates?"

"I want you to talk to somebody just for the sake of talking. No deadlines, no articles, no reason other than initiating human contact. Better yet, think of it as a human interest piece. You get to reconnect with how somebody outside the news world views things and maybe get some new perspective."

Chloe bit her lip. She was beginning to think she had two options. Option A, deny them and deal with their whiny wrath for several weeks; or Option B, go on the date and get it out of the way. If it ended as badly as she presumed, the girls would keep their noses out of her business for a long time to come.

"Fine," she relented.

Gwen triumphantly held up a printout. "Be ready Thursday at seven. I told him you like sushi."

"I don't like sushi."

Gwen shrugged. "Two new experiences in one night. Welcome to a whole new world Sullivan."

"Hang on, did you give him my address?!"

"Including your apartment number."

"How did you--"

"You're too organized for your own good."

**End Flashback**

She sat nervously at her kitchen table, feet tapping and hands twitching. It had been awhile since she'd done this. She hadn't had a date in... eight months? And that had been a one time only deal. As for relationships... well, she'd dated Jimmy for a few short months, but that had quickly fizzled out and they had mutually gone their separate ways.

Not to mention she was kind of hard to impress. After dealing with a super-powered best friend from galaxies far far away and all the arch-villains that went along with that, regular joes just seemed a little... uninformed. It was hard to have a conversation with a guy who believes that everything is just as it appears. She often wondered how so many people could be so naïve. But she couldn't single-handedly change public perception, nor could she endanger Clark's identity.

And just because they were willing to take her words at face value, didn't mean she offered them the same courtesy. She hadn't been around the block, she'd been around the world. People will lie and deceive you. Somehow she had the feeling they wouldn't take the idea of her running background checks on them with a grain of salt.

She wouldn't trade her knowledge of this world for anything, but she had to admit she sometimes missed the innocence she'd once had. Who was she kidding? She'd craved the drama. She'd always sought out a story, sometimes where there wasn't one. She needed to be the person who got the scoop, the person who caught what everyone else missed.

The doorbell rang interrupting her musings. She stared at the doorknob long and hard before making a decision. She would try on this date. She might fail, but she would at least attempt to be sociable. Possibly even charming.

Besides, she thought with dark amusement, who had more lives than she did? Swallowing hard and breathing deep she pulled the door open.

"Hi. You must be HowardOfLocksley."

She received a melt your face off smile in return. "And you must be SnarkyReporterGirl. So, you like sushi?"

"Umm... I'll try anything once. Exploring new territory and all."

"You're in luck, I know a great place."

"So no chance for food poisoning, good to hear."

"No, none whatsoever. Are you ready?"

She grabbed her jacket from the hook. "Lead the way."

Author's Note: So I started writing this story because of a very specific scene. Then I realized I'd have to set up said scene. Which resulted in this chapter which, I know, unfortunately offered almost interaction. :( Let me assure you that the next chapter or two are planned with full Chlollie contact and I've got a couple great ideas up my sleeve. No idea how long this will be yet, I guess we're just going to have to see it play out!