Augustine86
1st October 2004, 00:26
Disclaimer: Surprisingly enough no, Smallville doesn’t belong to me. If it did, Clark would be a minor character in a plot artfully created to explore the chemistry between protagonists Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor, and he would probably get beaten by men with shiny green meteor rocks a lot more often, and in front of everyone, to enhance and improve his ultimate humiliation.
No, really.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Lex Luthor finally has enough with all the denial about his feelings one late night and a karaoke stage provides a unique way of finally letting some much needed steam out, much to everyone’s surprise.
Pairing: I refuse to answer this. I won’t insult your intelligence so blatantly.
Spoilers: Pretty much everything, but really no specific spoilers.
A/N: This was actually deleted so I am reposting, actually.
Downtown Girl
Alexander ‘Lex’ Luthor thought he had seen the worst of high class parties: the dirtiest, the tackiest, the shallowest… But he had forgotten he had yet to see the dullest of them all.
“And here it is, ladies and gentleman” he muttered under his breath as he nursed his brandy with both hands. He didn’t even know what had pushed him to attend the dinner party but he knew that he was regretting it faster than usual. The conversation was enough to make him want to drop dead right there and then and he had even considered climbing the stairs up to the magnificent terrace the Lexington’s were so proud of and try some bungee jumping without rope just to see if he wasn’t completely numb yet and could still feel pain.
Unfortunately his limbs had long ago lost the will to move. Damn.
“Oh, Lexie baby, I’ve been looking all over the place for you!” a voice cooed from somewhere near the crowd he was trying to escape and the man stifled a groan as he made a quick getaway slipping into one of the many balconies of the mansion he was in, just on the outskirts of Metropolis. Fresh air greeted his face and Lex released a sigh of relief, closing his eyes as he leaned into the rail.
He remembered it was karaoke night at the Talon, a new idea of Lana to try and snare people into the business so the books would show more satisfactory figures to him the next time he went to check them. At first the idea had sounded appalling to Lex but now, immersed into the most tedious, mind-numbing party ever thrown in the History of the whole wide world he was starting to reconsider.
The idea of lively company and laughter as people tried to sing to a tune seemed quite appealing just about then.
“Screw this” he finally said aloud, smashing his empty glass against a stone wall before swiftly walking towards the main hall, making his was through the sea of people, retrieving his long coat and, putting it over the tuxedo he was wearing, and storming out of the mansion and into his silver Porsche, a silent butler staring at him with slight disapproval, not that he cared.
He was past caring.
*****************************
“Please, Clark, be a good friend and grant me this teensy little favour”
“No, Chloe, I’m not doing it”
“Come on, Clark, don’t ten years of unwavering loyalty from my part mean anything to you? Please, pretty please?”
“For the last time, Chloe, I’m not going to knock you unconscious! You go and ask
Pete if it is really that important, but I’m not doing it”
Chloe Sullivan, snarky reporter extraordinaire, threw a Hell freezing look at her friend and future red-underwear superhero Clark Kent, who just shrugged apologetically before turning his attention to Lana Lang.
“You’d do it Pete?” Chloe asked brightly, while she tried to cover her ears so that she would hear the least possible from the girl who was, ironically, singing ‘Killing me Softly’. Indeed.
“Sorry, Chlo, but I think I’ll pass” Peter Ross replied with a small smile while his blond friend sipped a little bit of coffee “Besides, it ain’t that bad”
He was ogling the girl as he said that, his eyes focused on the girls… attributes. Both Lana and Chloe rolled their eyes at that.
“If her assets were as bad as her singing voice we would not be having this conversation” Chloe answered while placing a scowl on her features. The entire night she had felt uncomfortable as she was wearing a dress that resembled an ice-skating contestant’s: long, tight sleeves, short skirt and backless. Fortunately that came with boots and stockings and the dress was a lovely shade of deep green and made out of pressed velvet. It was the uniform Lana had designed for special nights at the Talon and, finding herself waitress-less Lana had quickly remembered Chloe and Chrissie (who, according to Chloe, could rot in Hell with her laryngitis for all she cared) were the same size, though unfortunately not the same height and as a result the dress looked rather risqué in the reporter’s eyes. Lana was wearing a similar one with a square neckline (unlike Chloe’s who had a heart-shaped neckline) and was done in the most frilly shade of soft baby pink Chloe had ever seen on her entire life and, of course, it brushed her knees.
She had served during the rush hour trying to fend off wandering hands and to ignore the lusty smirks coming from hormone-driven teenagers. Fortunately it was late and not only the number of clients had reduced but those who were still there were happily-in-love couples and her friends, so there was no more risks for her.
She had then taken a break seating in one of the boots by the counter while Lana counted the money near the cash register, looking happy. Clark was near her in one of the boots, smiling goofily while he listened to her endless chat about the success of the night while Pete shook his head at the two of them.
“They are never going anywhere” he complained in a hushed whisper “I’m getting tired of seeing them bump into the same wall over and over again”
“Tell me about it” the reporter huffed in reply, sipping more coffee “I got over the fact that they are together long ago and they still are not technically together. If they keep this up, I’m starting to drink Irish coffee, so at least I can pass out every now and then”
Her voice carried a serious threat and Pete eyed her doubtfully before patting her on the shoulder. He was glad she had gotten over Clark and wondered briefly how she had managed to do it so quickly, but he knew better than to ask questions. Clark, the farm-boy no matter how good he was, was definitely not her type after all. Maybe she had finally realized that on her own. In that case, good for her.
“Chloe, would you mind walking around the place to see if anyone needs a refill or something?” Lana pleaded sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes in a fairy-princes style. Chloe rolled her eyes, thinking that she was actually getting used to that and that it wasn’t *that* bad and got to her feet, grabbing the rounded silver tray and plastering a polite smile on her face and approached a young couple who seemed to want to get her attention. Twenty minutes lately she was still listening patiently as the aforementioned young couple discussed over the best dessert that they could order and finally when they made up their mind Chloe rushed out of their sight in case they would want to change their minds. Unfortunately at that moment the front door of the Talon opened with a little bell sound and, before she could prevent it, she bumped into a very hard torso, stumbling back in surprise.
Thankfully, or later as she would see it regretfully, a pair of arms reacted quickly to catch her by the waist and neck before she could have the imminent intimate date with the floor and an amused pair of blue eyes found her own and then
travelled the length of her body:
“Mmmm… Looking fine this evening, Miss Sullivan”
‘Oh, damn’ Chloe cursed mentally while she battled with her temptation to slap
Lex Luthor’s smirk right off his face. They had been at each others throats ever since they had met and took pleasure in bantering shamelessly, enjoying it while trying hard to hide it. It didn’t hurt also that the man was intelligent and drop-dead-gorgeous but she knew his appearance was not what kept her wanting another round of verbal judo with him. Ever since she had first met him and later on interviewed him she found herself wondering about him… The only man she had ever known with darkness and a sort of wickedness that matched her own. She had grown to care for Smallville but sometimes the country innocence got to her like nothing else and not even a trip to Metropolis satisfied her. She wanted wit and malice sometimes, and he was her constant source of it.
And now he was staring at her with that trademark evil-incarnate lopsided smile on his face and all she could think of was slapping him and…
Damned her crush. She knew she loved him, but also knew she didn’t have a chance and that really got to her.
“Well, you’re looking” Chloe licked her lips as she stepped away from his touched and looked him over “quite out of place, I must say. With that outfit I cannot help but think there are two things missing”
It was a bait and everyone near the counter groaned, knowing that Lex would never refuse her.
“And what, prey tell, are those two things?” he said smoothly, arching an elegant eyebrow and feeling as if they had played the same game all of their lives. It felt natural, like breathing.
“A flute of champagne on one hand of course and a brunette bimbo on the other. You know, just as you like it”
He titled his head in acknowledgement of her accurate blow but the devilish smirk still hung about his features.
“Oh, I never forget, Miss Sullivan how well you know me” he continued just as they both made their way to the boots “Down to my favourite brand of cereal, wasn’t it?”
She huffed at him, not really angered and wondered how it had all happened. How Lex Luthor had gotten inside her head. He knew her and, worst of all, he knew that he knew her.
“I’m never sharing anything else with you, Clark, if it gets to him”
It was an empty threat, but she needed to make it.
“And how is it all going?” Lex enquired politely towards the group, his eyes darting once or twice towards the blond girl.
“Spiffy, just spiffy” Chloe muttered cheerfully while her face contradicted her words. Lex’s grin widened and he lowered his head to whisper into her ear:
“The city girl is getting bored of all this country life on a Friday night, isn’t she?”
“What would the billionaire playboy know about middle-class *downtown* girls anyway?” she replied into his own ear before rising her voice “I don’t think Alexander Luthor’s mind works like that of the rest of us… You know, the poor folk, the commoners”
Her tone was flippant and she seemed more alive than ever that night. Lana smiled knowingly from her place on the other side of the counter, her female radar not missing a bit as Clark and Pete busied themselves talking about monster trunks and other manly teenage things.
“I know a great many things, Miss Sullivan. Besides, I can practically see your disdain for this quiet little town all over your face”
His words were so softly spoken that she had a hard time trying to catch them but when she did she snorted.
“Do not pretend to understand what I want or wish or think, Mr. Luthor. I’m not your average farm-town girl”
“I know that damn well”
The bantering stopped once the dessert for the indecisive love birds was ready to go. The group soon moved towards a table near the karaoke stage and watched the hours go by as they attempted to impart fair and just criticism on each singer.
As the night wore on Chloe stumbled tiredly into her chair, her legs sore from all the serving and the walking on high-heels but she was bored out of her mind more than anything else. It had been a quiet evening in town, but that usually didn’t bother her. The fact that Pete was busily on the phone talking to Chrissie, the sick waitress with a goofy smile on his face and that Lana and Clark were placidly engaged on small, awkward talk with furtive glancing. She was alone and it was not the fact that her friends were not paying attention to her that bothered the reporter; it was the fact that she would never ever find anyone that could be her match on that little town and would remain alone forever and ever.
‘Maybe I should just capitulate and try to go on a date with someone in this town.
I mean, the only one who I’ve ever considered a mental match is too rich, too handsome and too experienced to even notice me as anything else but Clark’s friend’ she thought silently ‘That way of thinking will lead me nowhere but to a bleak future as the town’s spinster’
But she wouldn’t compromise and Lex saw it all written over her face as he gazed at her over the rim of his cup of coffee. And though it made him ridiculously glad it also saddened him.
‘God, I love her so much’ he thought dryly, used to those kinds of phrases popping into his head and no more feeling out of character. Loving Chloe had become a fact rather that a supposition and denying it would have only led to problems. He had handled it pretty well so far, but as of late he had felt the urge to scream it aloud before the secret killed him inside. What a load of romantic rubbish…
But it was all true. And he was not about to blurt it out anyway.
“Errr, excuse me a sec Chloe, there is interference here so I’m going to move to a corner for a while to say goodbye to Chrissie” Pete apologetically smiled and shrugged at the same time “You don’t mind, do ya?”
A sigh was the answer and Lex rethought his decision.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so disastrous after all and, on the other hand, he needed a little fun just as much as her.
“That’s it!”
Everyone in the room looked startled as Lex Luthor removed his tuxedo jacket and loosened hi silver tie while marching with determination to the makeshift stage of the coffee house. As he flipped through the list of songs that were available on instrumental only he found the one he wanted, smirked self-assuredly and pushed the necessary buttons of the console.
“This might just be the stupidest thing I’ll ever do” he said into the microphone, his smirk still firmly in place “But I cannot honestly say I’ll regret it… Oh, and forgive me for the slight alterations of the song… Creative license is my only excuse”
And as the song started Pete hung up the phone in a dumfounded state, Lana and Clark tore their eyes away from each other and Chloe sat straight on her seat, her eyes wide and disbelieving as the most eligible bachelor in the whole of the United States begun to sing:
“Downtown girl
She's been living in her farm-town world
I bet she never had a high-class guy
I bet her mama never told her why”
Lana squeaked a very audible “Oh my Gosh” while her eyes darted towards Chloe with a happy expression on her face, her eyes dancing. Clark tried hard not to choke on his soda and then sat up quickly to restrain a furious-looking Peter Ross, who was quickly making his way to the stage with one clear purpose that involved his fists, a certain billionaire and a whole lot of bloodshed.
Lex stifled a laugh at seeing all that and smiled suggestively at Chloe, lifting an eyebrow in silent challenge and looking smug all the way. The blond reporter on her part closed her gaping mouth and threw him a perplexed look before switching her attention back to the song:
“I'm gonna try for an Downtown girl
She's been living in her small-town world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for an uptown man
That's what I am”
‘And how the Hell did he found out?’ Chloe wondered while choking back a gasp. Lex moved to the rhythm in a way she wouldn’t have thought he could before and his improvisation of the song was flawless, stripping her heart to the upbeat tune in a way that left her speechless. And a speechless Chloe was a rarity.
“And when she knows what
She wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind”
‘That sounded too close to an invitation for my sanity of mind’ Chloe muttered internally, her gaze unable to do anything but focus on the blue-grey eyes of Lex Luthor as he actually winked at her, making his proposition all too clear.
‘Oh, get a grip already, Sullivan’
“She'll see I'm not so bad
Just because
I'm in love with an Downtown girl
You know I've seen her in her small-town world
She's getting tired of her country toys
And all her presents from her small-town boys
She's got a choice”
Chorus: Oh…
Taking advantage of the presence of the chorus Lex Luthor came down the stage, microphone loosely grasped in one of his hands and made his way to the table were Chloe still sat, her eyes following him without even blinking. Taking no notice of the couple on another table starting to argue loudly he bent down to gently touch her chin and then take hold of one of her hands to make her stand up. As if in a trance Chloe let herself be guided, a tiny smile already on her face.
“Downtown girl
You know I can’t afford to buy her heart
But maybe someday when my ship comes in
She'll understand what kind of guy I've been
And then I'll win”
It was totally out of character and possibly quite silly but Chloe couldn’t help but think it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done to her, particularly since the level of humiliation that the task itself implied. She laughed out loud, her shoulders shaking and Lex smiled widely too, twirling her around out of a whim and then looking at her pointedly up and down before saying the next verses:
“And when she's walking
She's looking so fine
And when she's talking
She'll say that she's mine
She'll say I'm not so tough
Just because
I'm in love
With and Downtown girl
She's been living in her small-town world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for an uptown man
That's what I am”
It was all out in the open now and Clark had to put a hand over Pete’s mouth to muffle the profanities coming out of the young man’s mouth in an endless stream along with demands like ‘Get your fucking hands off of her, Luthor!’ and the like.
Lex bit back a laugh as Chloe shook her head in disapproval towards her friend and turned to him with one of her megawatt grins on her face and he realized it had all been worth it.
“Downtown girl
She's my Downtown girl
You know I'm in love
With an Downtown girl
My Downtown girl
You know I'm in love
With an Downtown girl
My Downtown girl”
As the song ended there were several people clapping loudly and some even whistling, in particular a slightly shocked Clark wearing a goofy grin in his face feeling happy that their friends, sans Pete, were happy. Lana sighed loudly, her head titled to a side and a huge smile spread across her features, thinking that it was all too cute for words (well, she is Lana Lang, not exactly known for her extraordinary grasp of English anyway).
“What was that all about?” Chloe managed to croak out, her voice a mere whisper “And don’t give me that Luthor mask or I swear I’ll slap it off your face”
She actually raised her hand to carry out her threat when one of Lex’s hands came up to encircle her wrist gently.
“Don’t ruin this for me, Chloe” he whispered before his lips captured hers, shutting her up effectively. Her parted mouth granted him the opportunity of a lifetime and he ran his tongue gently along her bottom lip before tenderly caressing her own tongue with gentle strokes, a hand coming up to her neck and the other going around her waist, pulling her closely in a possessive gesture. The whistles turned into catcalls as Chloe smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, kneading his nape in a loving gesture while she stood on tiptoes, not caring anymore about the length of her dress or the boredom that had attacked her earlier, or the fact that she was a city girl trapped in the middle of a country town plagued with mutant freaks and red and green tractors of all kinds.
For her, at that moment, it was heaven.
“The night is young yet, and I have no intention of letting it go to waste… Cared to join me on a trip to Metropolis? We could do anything you want”
There was more than a hint of a suggestion in his voice but his smile was open and honest. He looked breathless and thoroughly kissed, slightly bending over her while cradling her in his arms still.
“That would be great, actually” Chloe replied with a sigh as he nuzzled her neck.
Quickly pulling out of his embrace she hugged Pete and Clark and kissed Lana on the cheek as she grabbed her coat and headed towards the main door.
“Are you coming?” she asked coyly, intending to sound innocent. Chuckling lowly and shaking his head Lex grabbed his coat and joined her, linking his arm with hers as she described what she wanted to do.
“And to think that all it took to see you like this was a song… Gods, had I known I would have embarrassed myself a lot sooner” he muttered into her ear as they approached his silver jaguar, a roughish smile on his face. Turning deaf ears in Pete’s direction (he was standing just outside the Talon begin her to reconsider) she shrugged and snuggled close to him.
“I’m glad you did, I was just about giving up on hoping that you’d notice me. I was even considering dating someone from here”
He had known that but upon hearing her words he realized how closed he had come to loosing her and tightened his hold on her waist, a growling sound coming from the back of his throat.
“Not now, not ever” he deadpanned, kissing her deeply “You are mine as I am yours. It’s only fair, don’t you think?”
“A Luthor being fair, this is a first” she muttered before adding “And, off the record, I think I love you too”
He smiled then and quickly kissed her before breaking the hallmark moment with the appearance of one of his self-satisfied smirk and a proclamation that ‘he had known all along’. And, just before they drove off in the general direction of Metropolis, the last sounds that could be herd were the slight punch Chloe delivered to his arm and his barely-concealed laughter at her fake outraged expression.
The End... Or the beginning… Or whatever.
No, really.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Lex Luthor finally has enough with all the denial about his feelings one late night and a karaoke stage provides a unique way of finally letting some much needed steam out, much to everyone’s surprise.
Pairing: I refuse to answer this. I won’t insult your intelligence so blatantly.
Spoilers: Pretty much everything, but really no specific spoilers.
A/N: This was actually deleted so I am reposting, actually.
Downtown Girl
Alexander ‘Lex’ Luthor thought he had seen the worst of high class parties: the dirtiest, the tackiest, the shallowest… But he had forgotten he had yet to see the dullest of them all.
“And here it is, ladies and gentleman” he muttered under his breath as he nursed his brandy with both hands. He didn’t even know what had pushed him to attend the dinner party but he knew that he was regretting it faster than usual. The conversation was enough to make him want to drop dead right there and then and he had even considered climbing the stairs up to the magnificent terrace the Lexington’s were so proud of and try some bungee jumping without rope just to see if he wasn’t completely numb yet and could still feel pain.
Unfortunately his limbs had long ago lost the will to move. Damn.
“Oh, Lexie baby, I’ve been looking all over the place for you!” a voice cooed from somewhere near the crowd he was trying to escape and the man stifled a groan as he made a quick getaway slipping into one of the many balconies of the mansion he was in, just on the outskirts of Metropolis. Fresh air greeted his face and Lex released a sigh of relief, closing his eyes as he leaned into the rail.
He remembered it was karaoke night at the Talon, a new idea of Lana to try and snare people into the business so the books would show more satisfactory figures to him the next time he went to check them. At first the idea had sounded appalling to Lex but now, immersed into the most tedious, mind-numbing party ever thrown in the History of the whole wide world he was starting to reconsider.
The idea of lively company and laughter as people tried to sing to a tune seemed quite appealing just about then.
“Screw this” he finally said aloud, smashing his empty glass against a stone wall before swiftly walking towards the main hall, making his was through the sea of people, retrieving his long coat and, putting it over the tuxedo he was wearing, and storming out of the mansion and into his silver Porsche, a silent butler staring at him with slight disapproval, not that he cared.
He was past caring.
*****************************
“Please, Clark, be a good friend and grant me this teensy little favour”
“No, Chloe, I’m not doing it”
“Come on, Clark, don’t ten years of unwavering loyalty from my part mean anything to you? Please, pretty please?”
“For the last time, Chloe, I’m not going to knock you unconscious! You go and ask
Pete if it is really that important, but I’m not doing it”
Chloe Sullivan, snarky reporter extraordinaire, threw a Hell freezing look at her friend and future red-underwear superhero Clark Kent, who just shrugged apologetically before turning his attention to Lana Lang.
“You’d do it Pete?” Chloe asked brightly, while she tried to cover her ears so that she would hear the least possible from the girl who was, ironically, singing ‘Killing me Softly’. Indeed.
“Sorry, Chlo, but I think I’ll pass” Peter Ross replied with a small smile while his blond friend sipped a little bit of coffee “Besides, it ain’t that bad”
He was ogling the girl as he said that, his eyes focused on the girls… attributes. Both Lana and Chloe rolled their eyes at that.
“If her assets were as bad as her singing voice we would not be having this conversation” Chloe answered while placing a scowl on her features. The entire night she had felt uncomfortable as she was wearing a dress that resembled an ice-skating contestant’s: long, tight sleeves, short skirt and backless. Fortunately that came with boots and stockings and the dress was a lovely shade of deep green and made out of pressed velvet. It was the uniform Lana had designed for special nights at the Talon and, finding herself waitress-less Lana had quickly remembered Chloe and Chrissie (who, according to Chloe, could rot in Hell with her laryngitis for all she cared) were the same size, though unfortunately not the same height and as a result the dress looked rather risqué in the reporter’s eyes. Lana was wearing a similar one with a square neckline (unlike Chloe’s who had a heart-shaped neckline) and was done in the most frilly shade of soft baby pink Chloe had ever seen on her entire life and, of course, it brushed her knees.
She had served during the rush hour trying to fend off wandering hands and to ignore the lusty smirks coming from hormone-driven teenagers. Fortunately it was late and not only the number of clients had reduced but those who were still there were happily-in-love couples and her friends, so there was no more risks for her.
She had then taken a break seating in one of the boots by the counter while Lana counted the money near the cash register, looking happy. Clark was near her in one of the boots, smiling goofily while he listened to her endless chat about the success of the night while Pete shook his head at the two of them.
“They are never going anywhere” he complained in a hushed whisper “I’m getting tired of seeing them bump into the same wall over and over again”
“Tell me about it” the reporter huffed in reply, sipping more coffee “I got over the fact that they are together long ago and they still are not technically together. If they keep this up, I’m starting to drink Irish coffee, so at least I can pass out every now and then”
Her voice carried a serious threat and Pete eyed her doubtfully before patting her on the shoulder. He was glad she had gotten over Clark and wondered briefly how she had managed to do it so quickly, but he knew better than to ask questions. Clark, the farm-boy no matter how good he was, was definitely not her type after all. Maybe she had finally realized that on her own. In that case, good for her.
“Chloe, would you mind walking around the place to see if anyone needs a refill or something?” Lana pleaded sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes in a fairy-princes style. Chloe rolled her eyes, thinking that she was actually getting used to that and that it wasn’t *that* bad and got to her feet, grabbing the rounded silver tray and plastering a polite smile on her face and approached a young couple who seemed to want to get her attention. Twenty minutes lately she was still listening patiently as the aforementioned young couple discussed over the best dessert that they could order and finally when they made up their mind Chloe rushed out of their sight in case they would want to change their minds. Unfortunately at that moment the front door of the Talon opened with a little bell sound and, before she could prevent it, she bumped into a very hard torso, stumbling back in surprise.
Thankfully, or later as she would see it regretfully, a pair of arms reacted quickly to catch her by the waist and neck before she could have the imminent intimate date with the floor and an amused pair of blue eyes found her own and then
travelled the length of her body:
“Mmmm… Looking fine this evening, Miss Sullivan”
‘Oh, damn’ Chloe cursed mentally while she battled with her temptation to slap
Lex Luthor’s smirk right off his face. They had been at each others throats ever since they had met and took pleasure in bantering shamelessly, enjoying it while trying hard to hide it. It didn’t hurt also that the man was intelligent and drop-dead-gorgeous but she knew his appearance was not what kept her wanting another round of verbal judo with him. Ever since she had first met him and later on interviewed him she found herself wondering about him… The only man she had ever known with darkness and a sort of wickedness that matched her own. She had grown to care for Smallville but sometimes the country innocence got to her like nothing else and not even a trip to Metropolis satisfied her. She wanted wit and malice sometimes, and he was her constant source of it.
And now he was staring at her with that trademark evil-incarnate lopsided smile on his face and all she could think of was slapping him and…
Damned her crush. She knew she loved him, but also knew she didn’t have a chance and that really got to her.
“Well, you’re looking” Chloe licked her lips as she stepped away from his touched and looked him over “quite out of place, I must say. With that outfit I cannot help but think there are two things missing”
It was a bait and everyone near the counter groaned, knowing that Lex would never refuse her.
“And what, prey tell, are those two things?” he said smoothly, arching an elegant eyebrow and feeling as if they had played the same game all of their lives. It felt natural, like breathing.
“A flute of champagne on one hand of course and a brunette bimbo on the other. You know, just as you like it”
He titled his head in acknowledgement of her accurate blow but the devilish smirk still hung about his features.
“Oh, I never forget, Miss Sullivan how well you know me” he continued just as they both made their way to the boots “Down to my favourite brand of cereal, wasn’t it?”
She huffed at him, not really angered and wondered how it had all happened. How Lex Luthor had gotten inside her head. He knew her and, worst of all, he knew that he knew her.
“I’m never sharing anything else with you, Clark, if it gets to him”
It was an empty threat, but she needed to make it.
“And how is it all going?” Lex enquired politely towards the group, his eyes darting once or twice towards the blond girl.
“Spiffy, just spiffy” Chloe muttered cheerfully while her face contradicted her words. Lex’s grin widened and he lowered his head to whisper into her ear:
“The city girl is getting bored of all this country life on a Friday night, isn’t she?”
“What would the billionaire playboy know about middle-class *downtown* girls anyway?” she replied into his own ear before rising her voice “I don’t think Alexander Luthor’s mind works like that of the rest of us… You know, the poor folk, the commoners”
Her tone was flippant and she seemed more alive than ever that night. Lana smiled knowingly from her place on the other side of the counter, her female radar not missing a bit as Clark and Pete busied themselves talking about monster trunks and other manly teenage things.
“I know a great many things, Miss Sullivan. Besides, I can practically see your disdain for this quiet little town all over your face”
His words were so softly spoken that she had a hard time trying to catch them but when she did she snorted.
“Do not pretend to understand what I want or wish or think, Mr. Luthor. I’m not your average farm-town girl”
“I know that damn well”
The bantering stopped once the dessert for the indecisive love birds was ready to go. The group soon moved towards a table near the karaoke stage and watched the hours go by as they attempted to impart fair and just criticism on each singer.
As the night wore on Chloe stumbled tiredly into her chair, her legs sore from all the serving and the walking on high-heels but she was bored out of her mind more than anything else. It had been a quiet evening in town, but that usually didn’t bother her. The fact that Pete was busily on the phone talking to Chrissie, the sick waitress with a goofy smile on his face and that Lana and Clark were placidly engaged on small, awkward talk with furtive glancing. She was alone and it was not the fact that her friends were not paying attention to her that bothered the reporter; it was the fact that she would never ever find anyone that could be her match on that little town and would remain alone forever and ever.
‘Maybe I should just capitulate and try to go on a date with someone in this town.
I mean, the only one who I’ve ever considered a mental match is too rich, too handsome and too experienced to even notice me as anything else but Clark’s friend’ she thought silently ‘That way of thinking will lead me nowhere but to a bleak future as the town’s spinster’
But she wouldn’t compromise and Lex saw it all written over her face as he gazed at her over the rim of his cup of coffee. And though it made him ridiculously glad it also saddened him.
‘God, I love her so much’ he thought dryly, used to those kinds of phrases popping into his head and no more feeling out of character. Loving Chloe had become a fact rather that a supposition and denying it would have only led to problems. He had handled it pretty well so far, but as of late he had felt the urge to scream it aloud before the secret killed him inside. What a load of romantic rubbish…
But it was all true. And he was not about to blurt it out anyway.
“Errr, excuse me a sec Chloe, there is interference here so I’m going to move to a corner for a while to say goodbye to Chrissie” Pete apologetically smiled and shrugged at the same time “You don’t mind, do ya?”
A sigh was the answer and Lex rethought his decision.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so disastrous after all and, on the other hand, he needed a little fun just as much as her.
“That’s it!”
Everyone in the room looked startled as Lex Luthor removed his tuxedo jacket and loosened hi silver tie while marching with determination to the makeshift stage of the coffee house. As he flipped through the list of songs that were available on instrumental only he found the one he wanted, smirked self-assuredly and pushed the necessary buttons of the console.
“This might just be the stupidest thing I’ll ever do” he said into the microphone, his smirk still firmly in place “But I cannot honestly say I’ll regret it… Oh, and forgive me for the slight alterations of the song… Creative license is my only excuse”
And as the song started Pete hung up the phone in a dumfounded state, Lana and Clark tore their eyes away from each other and Chloe sat straight on her seat, her eyes wide and disbelieving as the most eligible bachelor in the whole of the United States begun to sing:
“Downtown girl
She's been living in her farm-town world
I bet she never had a high-class guy
I bet her mama never told her why”
Lana squeaked a very audible “Oh my Gosh” while her eyes darted towards Chloe with a happy expression on her face, her eyes dancing. Clark tried hard not to choke on his soda and then sat up quickly to restrain a furious-looking Peter Ross, who was quickly making his way to the stage with one clear purpose that involved his fists, a certain billionaire and a whole lot of bloodshed.
Lex stifled a laugh at seeing all that and smiled suggestively at Chloe, lifting an eyebrow in silent challenge and looking smug all the way. The blond reporter on her part closed her gaping mouth and threw him a perplexed look before switching her attention back to the song:
“I'm gonna try for an Downtown girl
She's been living in her small-town world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for an uptown man
That's what I am”
‘And how the Hell did he found out?’ Chloe wondered while choking back a gasp. Lex moved to the rhythm in a way she wouldn’t have thought he could before and his improvisation of the song was flawless, stripping her heart to the upbeat tune in a way that left her speechless. And a speechless Chloe was a rarity.
“And when she knows what
She wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind”
‘That sounded too close to an invitation for my sanity of mind’ Chloe muttered internally, her gaze unable to do anything but focus on the blue-grey eyes of Lex Luthor as he actually winked at her, making his proposition all too clear.
‘Oh, get a grip already, Sullivan’
“She'll see I'm not so bad
Just because
I'm in love with an Downtown girl
You know I've seen her in her small-town world
She's getting tired of her country toys
And all her presents from her small-town boys
She's got a choice”
Chorus: Oh…
Taking advantage of the presence of the chorus Lex Luthor came down the stage, microphone loosely grasped in one of his hands and made his way to the table were Chloe still sat, her eyes following him without even blinking. Taking no notice of the couple on another table starting to argue loudly he bent down to gently touch her chin and then take hold of one of her hands to make her stand up. As if in a trance Chloe let herself be guided, a tiny smile already on her face.
“Downtown girl
You know I can’t afford to buy her heart
But maybe someday when my ship comes in
She'll understand what kind of guy I've been
And then I'll win”
It was totally out of character and possibly quite silly but Chloe couldn’t help but think it was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done to her, particularly since the level of humiliation that the task itself implied. She laughed out loud, her shoulders shaking and Lex smiled widely too, twirling her around out of a whim and then looking at her pointedly up and down before saying the next verses:
“And when she's walking
She's looking so fine
And when she's talking
She'll say that she's mine
She'll say I'm not so tough
Just because
I'm in love
With and Downtown girl
She's been living in her small-town world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for an uptown man
That's what I am”
It was all out in the open now and Clark had to put a hand over Pete’s mouth to muffle the profanities coming out of the young man’s mouth in an endless stream along with demands like ‘Get your fucking hands off of her, Luthor!’ and the like.
Lex bit back a laugh as Chloe shook her head in disapproval towards her friend and turned to him with one of her megawatt grins on her face and he realized it had all been worth it.
“Downtown girl
She's my Downtown girl
You know I'm in love
With an Downtown girl
My Downtown girl
You know I'm in love
With an Downtown girl
My Downtown girl”
As the song ended there were several people clapping loudly and some even whistling, in particular a slightly shocked Clark wearing a goofy grin in his face feeling happy that their friends, sans Pete, were happy. Lana sighed loudly, her head titled to a side and a huge smile spread across her features, thinking that it was all too cute for words (well, she is Lana Lang, not exactly known for her extraordinary grasp of English anyway).
“What was that all about?” Chloe managed to croak out, her voice a mere whisper “And don’t give me that Luthor mask or I swear I’ll slap it off your face”
She actually raised her hand to carry out her threat when one of Lex’s hands came up to encircle her wrist gently.
“Don’t ruin this for me, Chloe” he whispered before his lips captured hers, shutting her up effectively. Her parted mouth granted him the opportunity of a lifetime and he ran his tongue gently along her bottom lip before tenderly caressing her own tongue with gentle strokes, a hand coming up to her neck and the other going around her waist, pulling her closely in a possessive gesture. The whistles turned into catcalls as Chloe smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, kneading his nape in a loving gesture while she stood on tiptoes, not caring anymore about the length of her dress or the boredom that had attacked her earlier, or the fact that she was a city girl trapped in the middle of a country town plagued with mutant freaks and red and green tractors of all kinds.
For her, at that moment, it was heaven.
“The night is young yet, and I have no intention of letting it go to waste… Cared to join me on a trip to Metropolis? We could do anything you want”
There was more than a hint of a suggestion in his voice but his smile was open and honest. He looked breathless and thoroughly kissed, slightly bending over her while cradling her in his arms still.
“That would be great, actually” Chloe replied with a sigh as he nuzzled her neck.
Quickly pulling out of his embrace she hugged Pete and Clark and kissed Lana on the cheek as she grabbed her coat and headed towards the main door.
“Are you coming?” she asked coyly, intending to sound innocent. Chuckling lowly and shaking his head Lex grabbed his coat and joined her, linking his arm with hers as she described what she wanted to do.
“And to think that all it took to see you like this was a song… Gods, had I known I would have embarrassed myself a lot sooner” he muttered into her ear as they approached his silver jaguar, a roughish smile on his face. Turning deaf ears in Pete’s direction (he was standing just outside the Talon begin her to reconsider) she shrugged and snuggled close to him.
“I’m glad you did, I was just about giving up on hoping that you’d notice me. I was even considering dating someone from here”
He had known that but upon hearing her words he realized how closed he had come to loosing her and tightened his hold on her waist, a growling sound coming from the back of his throat.
“Not now, not ever” he deadpanned, kissing her deeply “You are mine as I am yours. It’s only fair, don’t you think?”
“A Luthor being fair, this is a first” she muttered before adding “And, off the record, I think I love you too”
He smiled then and quickly kissed her before breaking the hallmark moment with the appearance of one of his self-satisfied smirk and a proclamation that ‘he had known all along’. And, just before they drove off in the general direction of Metropolis, the last sounds that could be herd were the slight punch Chloe delivered to his arm and his barely-concealed laughter at her fake outraged expression.
The End... Or the beginning… Or whatever.