Blackberry
4th November 2004, 11:52
Author's Note: This just randomly formulated in my mind... I absolutely adore autumn and I think my surroundings sort of got the best of me... anyway, this is a rather sappy piece and this is assuming that Chloe's birthday is in October (if it's not... just pretend it is!). There will be a few general spoilers, but nothing mainstream spoiler-ish... (btw, this fic, like many of my other fics, is unbetaed...)
Summary: It's Chloe's birthday and everyone's forgotten... except one person that she would never have suspected to remember...
Disclaimer: I am but a poor fan of Chloe and Lex (can't say much about Smallville... :tease: ); if I owned Smallville you wouldn't see Lana on screen unless she was being tortured relentlessly by way of stapling her mouth together so she'd just stop blabbering on and on about her hypocritical views of lying and all that. *grumble* I didn't make money out of this fic either... so... no suing!
Autumn Leaves
Chloe sat in front of her computer at the Torch office, idly tapping the mouse. It didn’t matter that it was a beautiful crisp afternoon; that the sky was absolutely clear of clouds and the sun stretched itself across miles and miles of autumn ground. To her, the world was as grey as it would have been in the dead of winter. She pursed her lips and began tapping the mouse a little harder at the highest point of its arching figure, though she would have preferred to be a little violent and yank it out of its socket and throw it across the room.
Oh she had a fairly good reason to be in a foul mood. The truth of the matter was that they had forgotten. Not one person – not Clark, nor Lana, or even Pete – had remembered what today was. Lex’s name popped up in her head and she felt a shudder run through her at the thought of him. It had been a while since she had seen him, and given his absence from her life recently, she figured that he, too, wouldn’t remember why today was so special. October 15… ‘Happy Birthday to me, indeed,’ she thought darkly in her head.
With one last violent tap she began to move her cursor around and clicked on the Internet Explorer icon and typed in the address: www.livejournal.com/. One place where she could stay anonymous and yet be totally free about what she said was on the online journal she had. It was complete with an alias of sorts (Nelly Blye from San Francisco… surely the combination would be inconspicuous…) and her avatar was of something that would not seem to equate to her, but seemed to fit nonetheless: the silhouette of a wolf howling to the moon. Present on her online journal were random rants, concerns and articles; anything that was worth writing about and that she didn’t really want other people to know she wrote.
At that moment she chose to update her journal and once the text box popped up, her hands virtually began to type on their own volition.
You would think that they’d remember [she wrote, her fingers pounding the keyboard brutally] their own friend’s birthday. However, I’m lucky enough to be with friends who don’t really know I exist unless I’m needed to do some research or for random company if everyone else is too busy with other stuff. Well, my choice of friends goes to reflect my general bad taste in everything, huh? Guys, clothes… anything that I voluntarily pick is all screwed up.
It’s after school and they go about their usual activities – Ken does has football practice, Pinky… I have no idea what the hell she’s doing these days… and Bling – well, he hasn’t called from wherever the hell he is. I’d like to stay optimistic about the whole situation and believe they’re planning a surprise party for my birthday… but that’s highly improbable. They lack the wit to actually pull it off. I mean, they’re so obvious when they hold something back from me – their lies are written all over their face… and they actually believe that I’m stupid enough to take their petty excuses. Well, that’s no more. I refuse to take any of this crap.
I think I’ll just enjoy my birthday on my own… there has –
That was as far as Chloe got before a voice sounded from the doorway – one she had thought she’d never hear from again given the length of time they hadn’t spoken; one that was branded in her mind. “Take pity on your computer… unless it’s done you some recent wrong.”
She looked up and felt something tighten in her stomach; with a disbelieving smile upon her face she regarded her unexpected visitor. “Well, well, the owner of Luthor Corp. finally makes it a point to show his face around here.”
“Miss Sullivan,” he greeted with a smirk as he sauntered in.
“Mr. Luthor,” she answered back, drinking in his presence. He smelled of power, wealth and a hint of pleasant male cologne. “What brings you to my humble abode?” As he got closer she glanced at her screen and minimized the window of her recent Live Journal update.
When she looked up again, she saw him shrug nonchalantly and stop on the other side of the desk she sat at. “I’m not allowed to greet a friend on their birthday?”
She sucked in a breath in surprise. “How do you know?”
“I’m very thorough with my research Chloe… I know a lot of things about you; just as you know many things about me.” There was amusement winking in the grey depths of his eyes.
Chloe assessed him for a moment before looking back at her computer. A strange sense of melancholy washed over her and she had to breathe to squelch the urge to shed a few tears. “At least someone remembered…” she murmured in a low voice.
When he snorted, she glanced at him sharply. “I’m not just someone… I’m Lex Luthor,” he stated in his arrogant manner.
The blonde just had to laugh. “Ever the over-confident one.” She paused for a moment before she looked at him expectantly. “I assume you didn’t just come all the way here to give a verbal greeting… because you could have done that over the phone or even sent a little Hallmark card saying ‘have a great birthday; you’re old now’ in a very distant manner.”
“Perceptive as always,” he commented with a little smile.
After a little pause, he stepped closer and pulled out a hand that she had just noticed was in his pocket. With it came a perfectly coloured autumn leaf – a mix of golden yellow, radiant orange and a bit of red as well. He handed it over to her and she held it in front of her, twirling it slowly around. A small frown marred her face and she looked up to see Lex watching her intently.
“This is what you wanted to give me on my birthday…”
“I thought it fit you a lot more than flowers,” he commented lightly.
“I don’t understand… it fits me?” she questioned. “It’s rather cheap, don’t you think?”
“As feminine as roses and tulips and sunflowers seem, I find them to be boring and predictable as gifts. I never found flowers attractive anyway.”
“Okay, this really isn't your typical 'top 10 gifts to give someone on their birthday, so you got me there... but the non-attractiveness of flowers... this is coming from a guy who dates supermodels on a regular basis. Flowers are all about femininity, don’t you think?”
“Flowers are overrated; something that society cooked up to make women want to be delicate and protected…”
“So now I’m like an autumn leaf? What’s so special about autumn leaves?”
“They’re crisp and striking,” he answered almost immediately with great intensity lining his voice. “They are beautiful and stay that for a long time because the beauty they have isn’t something extremely fragile like flowers. Autumn leaves are unique in that the way they are coloured is varied; they’re interesting to watch – especially when they drift in the wind.”
Chloe stayed silent for a while; she had stopped twirling the leaf and was assessing Lex with her wide hazel eyes. If she was hearing this right, he had just called her beautiful, unique and striking…
“Plus,” he added quietly, “I rather like autumn leaves.”
Her heart palpitated in her chest and the colour flooded her cheeks. She could not tear her eyes off of him, however, no matter how much she wanted to. He shifted his weight from one leg to the next – as if he was uncomfortable by her unabashed gaze on him. It took her a while before she gained the ability to react properly. However all that came out of her mouth was a short hum and a blink. Lex tried to smile.
“That’s all I get in return? A ‘hmm’?” he joked.
When she shoved her chair back and stood up, he stepped back slightly, like he was unsure of her actions. He watched her as she set down the leaf upon her desk; as she walked around the furniture that stood between them, her eyes staying locked with his. He was caught slightly off-guard when her hand trailed up the lapel of his trench coat. When it cupped the back of his neck and was placing pressure upon it, he took it as the sign he was waiting for. Slowly their mouths came together for a kiss.
“Hey Chloe, I’m sorry I – whoa!”
The two jumped away from one another at Clark’s intruding voice before they were able to lock lips. Clark narrowed his eyes suspiciously on the two – Lex, who was quite stiff and glaring at him and Chloe who was beet red but glaring at him.
“What were you two doing?” he asked charily with a frown.
“I was fixing his lapel. It was kind of crooked,” Chloe answered in an off-handed manner. “Anyway, it’s all straightened out now, right Lex?” At his grunt, the blonde gave Clark a half-hearted smile. “Now what was it you were saying?”
“Uh, well, I was just apologizing for not seeing you at all today. Football practice was a real bitch and the guys wouldn’t leave me alone long enough for me to ask you if you wanted me to do anything for the Torch.”
She pretended to think a bit before she shook her head. “No, nothing in particular at the moment… thanks, though, Clark.”
The farm boy nodded with a little smile before something distracted him and he looked at the ground. “Oh let me throw that away for you,” he said cheerfully. Chloe looked at what he was doing and before he was able to get his hand on the object, she yelped in protest and swiped it away from him. He straightened up again and looked at her funnily when she threw a daggered look at him. “What? It was just a leaf. It probably came in through the window. It’s nothing special.”
“If you don’t think the autumn leaves are anything special, Clark, then you’re absolutely blind,” Lex interjected smoothly, stepping towards Chloe. “I particularly enjoy the sight of them.”
“Hmm… anyway,” Clark replied slowly, not comprehending what the heck the bald Luthor was talking about. “I’ve got chores to do. I’ll see you both around, okay? Bye!”
In a flurry of blue and red flannel, he was gone leaving both Chloe and Lex alone once again. The blonde breathed a sigh, still keeping the leaf close to her body. When her companion cleared his throat she looked up at him with eyes shining. She moved closer to him and he enveloped her body in a warm hug. All the while, she was careful to keep the autumn leaf he gave her safe.
“Thank you, Lex,” she murmured against his chest.
“You’re welcome,” he answered in a low voice. “However, I believe we still have some unfinished business to attend to. He felt her smile against him and she burrowed farther into his embrace. “Why don’t we take this to a more private place, hmm?”
“Sure” came her muffled reply.
Lex squeezed her a little tighter before pulling away. He slid his hand into her grasp and they both held the autumn leaf by the stem as they walked out of the office.
[fin]
-_-; I know... sap... toooootal sap... blame it on the damn leaves.... so purrrrdy *ogles at leaves outside*
Summary: It's Chloe's birthday and everyone's forgotten... except one person that she would never have suspected to remember...
Disclaimer: I am but a poor fan of Chloe and Lex (can't say much about Smallville... :tease: ); if I owned Smallville you wouldn't see Lana on screen unless she was being tortured relentlessly by way of stapling her mouth together so she'd just stop blabbering on and on about her hypocritical views of lying and all that. *grumble* I didn't make money out of this fic either... so... no suing!
Autumn Leaves
Chloe sat in front of her computer at the Torch office, idly tapping the mouse. It didn’t matter that it was a beautiful crisp afternoon; that the sky was absolutely clear of clouds and the sun stretched itself across miles and miles of autumn ground. To her, the world was as grey as it would have been in the dead of winter. She pursed her lips and began tapping the mouse a little harder at the highest point of its arching figure, though she would have preferred to be a little violent and yank it out of its socket and throw it across the room.
Oh she had a fairly good reason to be in a foul mood. The truth of the matter was that they had forgotten. Not one person – not Clark, nor Lana, or even Pete – had remembered what today was. Lex’s name popped up in her head and she felt a shudder run through her at the thought of him. It had been a while since she had seen him, and given his absence from her life recently, she figured that he, too, wouldn’t remember why today was so special. October 15… ‘Happy Birthday to me, indeed,’ she thought darkly in her head.
With one last violent tap she began to move her cursor around and clicked on the Internet Explorer icon and typed in the address: www.livejournal.com/. One place where she could stay anonymous and yet be totally free about what she said was on the online journal she had. It was complete with an alias of sorts (Nelly Blye from San Francisco… surely the combination would be inconspicuous…) and her avatar was of something that would not seem to equate to her, but seemed to fit nonetheless: the silhouette of a wolf howling to the moon. Present on her online journal were random rants, concerns and articles; anything that was worth writing about and that she didn’t really want other people to know she wrote.
At that moment she chose to update her journal and once the text box popped up, her hands virtually began to type on their own volition.
You would think that they’d remember [she wrote, her fingers pounding the keyboard brutally] their own friend’s birthday. However, I’m lucky enough to be with friends who don’t really know I exist unless I’m needed to do some research or for random company if everyone else is too busy with other stuff. Well, my choice of friends goes to reflect my general bad taste in everything, huh? Guys, clothes… anything that I voluntarily pick is all screwed up.
It’s after school and they go about their usual activities – Ken does has football practice, Pinky… I have no idea what the hell she’s doing these days… and Bling – well, he hasn’t called from wherever the hell he is. I’d like to stay optimistic about the whole situation and believe they’re planning a surprise party for my birthday… but that’s highly improbable. They lack the wit to actually pull it off. I mean, they’re so obvious when they hold something back from me – their lies are written all over their face… and they actually believe that I’m stupid enough to take their petty excuses. Well, that’s no more. I refuse to take any of this crap.
I think I’ll just enjoy my birthday on my own… there has –
That was as far as Chloe got before a voice sounded from the doorway – one she had thought she’d never hear from again given the length of time they hadn’t spoken; one that was branded in her mind. “Take pity on your computer… unless it’s done you some recent wrong.”
She looked up and felt something tighten in her stomach; with a disbelieving smile upon her face she regarded her unexpected visitor. “Well, well, the owner of Luthor Corp. finally makes it a point to show his face around here.”
“Miss Sullivan,” he greeted with a smirk as he sauntered in.
“Mr. Luthor,” she answered back, drinking in his presence. He smelled of power, wealth and a hint of pleasant male cologne. “What brings you to my humble abode?” As he got closer she glanced at her screen and minimized the window of her recent Live Journal update.
When she looked up again, she saw him shrug nonchalantly and stop on the other side of the desk she sat at. “I’m not allowed to greet a friend on their birthday?”
She sucked in a breath in surprise. “How do you know?”
“I’m very thorough with my research Chloe… I know a lot of things about you; just as you know many things about me.” There was amusement winking in the grey depths of his eyes.
Chloe assessed him for a moment before looking back at her computer. A strange sense of melancholy washed over her and she had to breathe to squelch the urge to shed a few tears. “At least someone remembered…” she murmured in a low voice.
When he snorted, she glanced at him sharply. “I’m not just someone… I’m Lex Luthor,” he stated in his arrogant manner.
The blonde just had to laugh. “Ever the over-confident one.” She paused for a moment before she looked at him expectantly. “I assume you didn’t just come all the way here to give a verbal greeting… because you could have done that over the phone or even sent a little Hallmark card saying ‘have a great birthday; you’re old now’ in a very distant manner.”
“Perceptive as always,” he commented with a little smile.
After a little pause, he stepped closer and pulled out a hand that she had just noticed was in his pocket. With it came a perfectly coloured autumn leaf – a mix of golden yellow, radiant orange and a bit of red as well. He handed it over to her and she held it in front of her, twirling it slowly around. A small frown marred her face and she looked up to see Lex watching her intently.
“This is what you wanted to give me on my birthday…”
“I thought it fit you a lot more than flowers,” he commented lightly.
“I don’t understand… it fits me?” she questioned. “It’s rather cheap, don’t you think?”
“As feminine as roses and tulips and sunflowers seem, I find them to be boring and predictable as gifts. I never found flowers attractive anyway.”
“Okay, this really isn't your typical 'top 10 gifts to give someone on their birthday, so you got me there... but the non-attractiveness of flowers... this is coming from a guy who dates supermodels on a regular basis. Flowers are all about femininity, don’t you think?”
“Flowers are overrated; something that society cooked up to make women want to be delicate and protected…”
“So now I’m like an autumn leaf? What’s so special about autumn leaves?”
“They’re crisp and striking,” he answered almost immediately with great intensity lining his voice. “They are beautiful and stay that for a long time because the beauty they have isn’t something extremely fragile like flowers. Autumn leaves are unique in that the way they are coloured is varied; they’re interesting to watch – especially when they drift in the wind.”
Chloe stayed silent for a while; she had stopped twirling the leaf and was assessing Lex with her wide hazel eyes. If she was hearing this right, he had just called her beautiful, unique and striking…
“Plus,” he added quietly, “I rather like autumn leaves.”
Her heart palpitated in her chest and the colour flooded her cheeks. She could not tear her eyes off of him, however, no matter how much she wanted to. He shifted his weight from one leg to the next – as if he was uncomfortable by her unabashed gaze on him. It took her a while before she gained the ability to react properly. However all that came out of her mouth was a short hum and a blink. Lex tried to smile.
“That’s all I get in return? A ‘hmm’?” he joked.
When she shoved her chair back and stood up, he stepped back slightly, like he was unsure of her actions. He watched her as she set down the leaf upon her desk; as she walked around the furniture that stood between them, her eyes staying locked with his. He was caught slightly off-guard when her hand trailed up the lapel of his trench coat. When it cupped the back of his neck and was placing pressure upon it, he took it as the sign he was waiting for. Slowly their mouths came together for a kiss.
“Hey Chloe, I’m sorry I – whoa!”
The two jumped away from one another at Clark’s intruding voice before they were able to lock lips. Clark narrowed his eyes suspiciously on the two – Lex, who was quite stiff and glaring at him and Chloe who was beet red but glaring at him.
“What were you two doing?” he asked charily with a frown.
“I was fixing his lapel. It was kind of crooked,” Chloe answered in an off-handed manner. “Anyway, it’s all straightened out now, right Lex?” At his grunt, the blonde gave Clark a half-hearted smile. “Now what was it you were saying?”
“Uh, well, I was just apologizing for not seeing you at all today. Football practice was a real bitch and the guys wouldn’t leave me alone long enough for me to ask you if you wanted me to do anything for the Torch.”
She pretended to think a bit before she shook her head. “No, nothing in particular at the moment… thanks, though, Clark.”
The farm boy nodded with a little smile before something distracted him and he looked at the ground. “Oh let me throw that away for you,” he said cheerfully. Chloe looked at what he was doing and before he was able to get his hand on the object, she yelped in protest and swiped it away from him. He straightened up again and looked at her funnily when she threw a daggered look at him. “What? It was just a leaf. It probably came in through the window. It’s nothing special.”
“If you don’t think the autumn leaves are anything special, Clark, then you’re absolutely blind,” Lex interjected smoothly, stepping towards Chloe. “I particularly enjoy the sight of them.”
“Hmm… anyway,” Clark replied slowly, not comprehending what the heck the bald Luthor was talking about. “I’ve got chores to do. I’ll see you both around, okay? Bye!”
In a flurry of blue and red flannel, he was gone leaving both Chloe and Lex alone once again. The blonde breathed a sigh, still keeping the leaf close to her body. When her companion cleared his throat she looked up at him with eyes shining. She moved closer to him and he enveloped her body in a warm hug. All the while, she was careful to keep the autumn leaf he gave her safe.
“Thank you, Lex,” she murmured against his chest.
“You’re welcome,” he answered in a low voice. “However, I believe we still have some unfinished business to attend to. He felt her smile against him and she burrowed farther into his embrace. “Why don’t we take this to a more private place, hmm?”
“Sure” came her muffled reply.
Lex squeezed her a little tighter before pulling away. He slid his hand into her grasp and they both held the autumn leaf by the stem as they walked out of the office.
[fin]
-_-; I know... sap... toooootal sap... blame it on the damn leaves.... so purrrrdy *ogles at leaves outside*