bluengreenswmer
12th March 2005, 06:34
(A/N: Same story, put I posted the title wrong.)
Chapter One: Armani Suits and a New Printer
“What!” Chloe said out of sheer annoyance. “He did what? Urg I cannot believe him.”
“Well believe it. Lionel Luthor closed down the Torch. He got a fire marshal in there to say the old equipment wasn’t safe, no doubt that conclusion was drawn with the assistance of a couple Franklins, but anyway, his men came and confiscated all of the computers and such this morning. I’m very sorry Miss Sullivan. Unless you have a way to raise about 10,000 dollars for new equipment, it will stay closed if Lionel Luthor has anything to say about it, and he does.”
“Where am I going to get that kind of money, Principal Reynolds?”
“Like I said, I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything about it. All the school’s extra money went into a new Torch office after the fire. There isn’t a cent left, not even enough to throw the seniors a graduation party, and believe me, they are just as mad as you are. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to be attending to.”
Chloe got up out of her chair and left the office, still raving mad about her own private haven being destroyed by none other than Lionel Luthor. ‘I cannot believe him. This is absolutely, absolutely something,’ not being able to find the right words for how she felt at the moment. ‘It was my own private thing. Mine. My baby. And Lionel Luthor has to come and take it away. Why did he want to close down a high school newspaper, anyway? Its not as if I was writing about his dirty business dealings, but come to think of it, if I wanted to, I could. That would be some article.’
Chloe was so absorbed in her own rants that she did not even notice the bald son of the man currently at the top of her most wanted list staring at her intently as she sat on the bench outside the administration office.
Of course, little known to her, he was the reason her baby had been shut down. His father had seen the longing in his son’s eyes when he looked at the girl, and he was sick of it. He was going to force them together if it was the last thing he did, and it very well could be. Even from jail he had quite an influence on people, and he was going to use that to help his son. Lionel deserved to be in jail, he knew. And after that episode with Clark Kent’s body, he truly did have and epiphany and was going to help people. An old man had a lot of free time in jail, and he used this time to formulate one last scheme. The liver disease had returned, and he was dying once more, not even his wealth could save him from that. But his memory of Lillian was what kept him alive now, holding on to his last thread of life to see his son happy. Lex might hate him, he had every right, but nevertheless, he was his son, and he was going to everything in his power to make him happy, and thankfully, he had quite a lot of power.
Lex just stood there, watching Chloe sort out her thoughts. She was oblivious to him, and he was sure she was thinking about the Torch. He knew she would be absorbed for a while; the Torch was her baby. He took this opportunity to show his feeling for her in his eyes, something that he rarely did in her presence. No, Chloe meant a lot to him, although she would never know it, and he couldn’t stand to see her sad. But knowing her as well as he did, he knew only an obscene amount of caffeine could cure this.
“A latte for your thoughts?” He sat down on the couch beside her. She turned to him, grabbed the cup and downed it in one gulp.
“Ah, caffeine.” Chloe said, the taste of her little bit of heaven still on her tongue. “How did you know I needed it?”
“The fact that you always need caffeine in you, Miss Sullivan.”
“Right.” Remembering who had killed her baby, her voice lost all brightness.
She was upset about something.
“Chloe, what’s wrong. Don’t you dare tell me nothing, it’s something.”
When she didn’t answer, he tried again
“Chloe, come on. Spill.”
“I..I..He..He…” she started to speak but found she couldn’t. She immediately broke down crying into his purple silk shirt.”
Seeing she was upset, and knowing it was probably Clark or Lana related, he settled on comforting her, knowing that if he assumed too much she would most likely hit him, and hard.
“Shh, Chloe, it’ll be okay. Shh,”
He pulled her closer to him, and let her cry. Man, was she upset. He doubted that Clark could have made her this upset, no, she was crying too much for that. ‘What could make her more upset than Clark Kent? Ahh, it must be that newspaper of hers.’ He had wondered why he found her out here instead of in her own personal haven.
She was sobbing uncontrollably now.
‘I cannot believe I’m crying. Me, crying. Who am I? A certain obsessed-with-pink-perfect-princess that was the object of Clark Kent’s affection? Wait. Who’s holding me?’
Then it hit her. ‘Ohmigod, Lex Luthor. I am sitting here, crying into Lex Luthor’s way too expensive purple silk shirt.’
He pulled her into his arms. Her crying seemed to be slowing. Tears still rolling down her cheeks, she looked up at him.
“Thanks, Lex.”
Her crying ceased now, her body pumped with caffeine, he felt it was a good time to ask why she had been crying.
“What’s wrong Chloe?”
“Your dad. He..he shut down the Torch. He had a fire marshal come in and certify the computers ‘unsafe’. Why would he do that Lex?”
“I don’t know.” He let her just sit there for a while; she was still in his arms, and he loved the feeling; he could really get used to it. “Chloe, do you want me to take you home?”
“Yeah. Thanks Lex” When they stood up, she noticed the large wet spot in his shirt. “Oh, look what I did to your shirt.”
“Chloe, its fine, really. I have plenty more.”
He rested his hand lightly on the small of her back and walked her out to his car. She was still pretty shaken up, he could see. He opened the door for her and helped her inside. He drove cautiously to her house, opened her door and helped her inside. Seeing she was falling asleep, he picked her up and laid her upstairs on her bed. He pulled her comforter up on top of her, turned off the light and retreated downstairs. He closed the door to her house gently and flipped out his cell phone.
“Yes, Gabe? Chloe broke down at school, and I took her home. She’s resting now. Consider this a day off for your outstanding work. Ok. Ok.”
He got into his Porsche and sped away from the Sullivan household. ‘He knows. He just has to know. He wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Oh, shit he knows. I’m going to pay for this.’ Remembering Chloe’s saddened face, he thought, ‘No, he is the one to pay. I cannot believe him. He whipped out his phone again and was quickly connected.
“I’m taking a personal day. Oh, and I’m going to need you to set up an appointment with the prison.”
He hung up and put his foot down on the gas some more.
‘When my warden notified me that I had a visitor, I knew he found out. Perfect. If he’s furious, which he will be, it will confirm the fact that he loves that reporter girl.’
Lex came flying into the prison, furious, his coat drifting behind him.
“How could you dad? What would possess you to close down a high school newspaper? Its not like she’s publishing your dirty dealings, though if she wanted to, she probably could write one hell of an article. Why dad, why?”
“Are you finished son?”
“Yes dad. Just tell me why.”
“Why? The fire marshal should have told you. The computers weren’t safe.”
“Oh cut the crap dad. We both know that there was another reason.”
“You’re right, there is.”
There was a pause.
“Care to share that reason?”
“No thank you, I’d like to keep that to myself.”
Lex slammed his fist down on the table at his father’s response.
“Watch it Lex, they just might put you in here for violence.”
Lex turned to leave, furious. He was halfway out the door when Lionel felt the need to confess something.
“You’ll thank me when this is all over son.”
That just made Lex madder, as Lionel knew it would. ‘Good, now he has proper motivation.’ The warden informed the man he had another visitor. Lionel welcomed him and said, “It’s time.”
Lionel praised himself at the brilliance of his plan and how well it was working. If there was one thing he knew well, it was that people are easily manipulated, Lex and the girl he loved were some of the easiest. Lex would find out how much money would be needed to reopen the newspaper. He would call the bank to withdraw it, and when he did he would find his account had been frozen. If he called Lucas, he would find the boy’s funds very unreachable. Yes, Lucas had been eager to participate in this scheme. He too, had been tired of his lovesick older brother and had used immortal words, ‘They need to just get on with it.’ Yes, Lucas was a big help in this project.
“Ah, young love,” Lionel said to no one in particular.
Lex was fuming by now. ‘The nerve of that bastard. The nerve! That man was going to pay for doing this to his Chloe. No, not HIS Chloe, not yet. No, not ever. She’s too young. Plus, what would Gabe think? God he liked her though.
‘Oh please,’ the voice in his head said, ‘You don’t just ‘like’ her.’
‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Lex asked his mind.
‘Its supposed to mean that you more than like her. Face it Lex. You just ran furious out of the prison because your dad shut down a high school newspaper that she just happened to be the editor of.’
‘No, I don’t. I’m concerned because she’s Clark’s friend.’ Oh, god he was debating in his head. Great. He’d better stop before he needed to get himself an appointment with a phsychiastrist. But he had to win the debate. Lex Luthor doesn’t go down without a fight.
‘Lex, you’re not fooling anybody.’
‘I do not more than like her.’
‘Then why won’t you say the ‘L’ word then Lex? Why is that? One word. DENIAL!
‘I can say the ‘L’ word. In fact, I’ll say it right now. I do NOT l..l…l…ok, you may have a point. I do not l.l.l. You have a major point. Lets try it this way. I love Chloe Sullivan. Ah. There, I said it.’
‘Do you not realize what you just admitted?’
‘I said ‘I love Chloe Sullivan.’ Pause…..the lightbulb lights.. ‘Oh my god.’ “I love Chloe. I’m in love with her. Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Crap, crap, crap.”
Lex was now in his office physically talking to himself. Rather loudly.
There was a knock on the door. When Lex didn’t answer, Gabe opened the door an inch. “I love Chloe.”
“Um, Lex?”
“Gabe!” ‘What if Gabe heard what I said? He might think I’m a weak person or something. Crap, crap’
“Did you just say ‘I love Chloe?’
Lex’s face turned bright red. “Um, no Gabe, I said um, ‘I’m above Joey, the janitor. Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“Ok, well, I just wanted to thank you for bringing Chloe home, and that I’ll be here the rest of the day. She’s doing okay now, and Lana took a shift off at the Talon so she could help Chloe recover from shock.”
“Ok, Gabe, I’m glad she’s doing okay.”
Gabe turned and left the office, still mulling over what he had heard. He had heard right, that he knew, mostly because his hearing was impeccable and the tiny fact that Lex’s face turned the color of a tomato when he said it, and Lex blushing is a rare sight. Lex, loves Chloe? Impossible. He was a billionaire playboy and she was, well, a middle class high school reporter. Nope, not possible. He shook the thought and took the elevator to get back to work.
‘Great, now Gabe thinks I’m this sissy, lovesick teenager. Wonderful.’ Lex sat in his office chair, his head resting on his hands. Then it hit him. “Gabe is Chloe’s father.”
For not the first time today, he cursed, loudly.
Chapter One: Armani Suits and a New Printer
“What!” Chloe said out of sheer annoyance. “He did what? Urg I cannot believe him.”
“Well believe it. Lionel Luthor closed down the Torch. He got a fire marshal in there to say the old equipment wasn’t safe, no doubt that conclusion was drawn with the assistance of a couple Franklins, but anyway, his men came and confiscated all of the computers and such this morning. I’m very sorry Miss Sullivan. Unless you have a way to raise about 10,000 dollars for new equipment, it will stay closed if Lionel Luthor has anything to say about it, and he does.”
“Where am I going to get that kind of money, Principal Reynolds?”
“Like I said, I’m sorry, but I can’t do anything about it. All the school’s extra money went into a new Torch office after the fire. There isn’t a cent left, not even enough to throw the seniors a graduation party, and believe me, they are just as mad as you are. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some business to be attending to.”
Chloe got up out of her chair and left the office, still raving mad about her own private haven being destroyed by none other than Lionel Luthor. ‘I cannot believe him. This is absolutely, absolutely something,’ not being able to find the right words for how she felt at the moment. ‘It was my own private thing. Mine. My baby. And Lionel Luthor has to come and take it away. Why did he want to close down a high school newspaper, anyway? Its not as if I was writing about his dirty business dealings, but come to think of it, if I wanted to, I could. That would be some article.’
Chloe was so absorbed in her own rants that she did not even notice the bald son of the man currently at the top of her most wanted list staring at her intently as she sat on the bench outside the administration office.
Of course, little known to her, he was the reason her baby had been shut down. His father had seen the longing in his son’s eyes when he looked at the girl, and he was sick of it. He was going to force them together if it was the last thing he did, and it very well could be. Even from jail he had quite an influence on people, and he was going to use that to help his son. Lionel deserved to be in jail, he knew. And after that episode with Clark Kent’s body, he truly did have and epiphany and was going to help people. An old man had a lot of free time in jail, and he used this time to formulate one last scheme. The liver disease had returned, and he was dying once more, not even his wealth could save him from that. But his memory of Lillian was what kept him alive now, holding on to his last thread of life to see his son happy. Lex might hate him, he had every right, but nevertheless, he was his son, and he was going to everything in his power to make him happy, and thankfully, he had quite a lot of power.
Lex just stood there, watching Chloe sort out her thoughts. She was oblivious to him, and he was sure she was thinking about the Torch. He knew she would be absorbed for a while; the Torch was her baby. He took this opportunity to show his feeling for her in his eyes, something that he rarely did in her presence. No, Chloe meant a lot to him, although she would never know it, and he couldn’t stand to see her sad. But knowing her as well as he did, he knew only an obscene amount of caffeine could cure this.
“A latte for your thoughts?” He sat down on the couch beside her. She turned to him, grabbed the cup and downed it in one gulp.
“Ah, caffeine.” Chloe said, the taste of her little bit of heaven still on her tongue. “How did you know I needed it?”
“The fact that you always need caffeine in you, Miss Sullivan.”
“Right.” Remembering who had killed her baby, her voice lost all brightness.
She was upset about something.
“Chloe, what’s wrong. Don’t you dare tell me nothing, it’s something.”
When she didn’t answer, he tried again
“Chloe, come on. Spill.”
“I..I..He..He…” she started to speak but found she couldn’t. She immediately broke down crying into his purple silk shirt.”
Seeing she was upset, and knowing it was probably Clark or Lana related, he settled on comforting her, knowing that if he assumed too much she would most likely hit him, and hard.
“Shh, Chloe, it’ll be okay. Shh,”
He pulled her closer to him, and let her cry. Man, was she upset. He doubted that Clark could have made her this upset, no, she was crying too much for that. ‘What could make her more upset than Clark Kent? Ahh, it must be that newspaper of hers.’ He had wondered why he found her out here instead of in her own personal haven.
She was sobbing uncontrollably now.
‘I cannot believe I’m crying. Me, crying. Who am I? A certain obsessed-with-pink-perfect-princess that was the object of Clark Kent’s affection? Wait. Who’s holding me?’
Then it hit her. ‘Ohmigod, Lex Luthor. I am sitting here, crying into Lex Luthor’s way too expensive purple silk shirt.’
He pulled her into his arms. Her crying seemed to be slowing. Tears still rolling down her cheeks, she looked up at him.
“Thanks, Lex.”
Her crying ceased now, her body pumped with caffeine, he felt it was a good time to ask why she had been crying.
“What’s wrong Chloe?”
“Your dad. He..he shut down the Torch. He had a fire marshal come in and certify the computers ‘unsafe’. Why would he do that Lex?”
“I don’t know.” He let her just sit there for a while; she was still in his arms, and he loved the feeling; he could really get used to it. “Chloe, do you want me to take you home?”
“Yeah. Thanks Lex” When they stood up, she noticed the large wet spot in his shirt. “Oh, look what I did to your shirt.”
“Chloe, its fine, really. I have plenty more.”
He rested his hand lightly on the small of her back and walked her out to his car. She was still pretty shaken up, he could see. He opened the door for her and helped her inside. He drove cautiously to her house, opened her door and helped her inside. Seeing she was falling asleep, he picked her up and laid her upstairs on her bed. He pulled her comforter up on top of her, turned off the light and retreated downstairs. He closed the door to her house gently and flipped out his cell phone.
“Yes, Gabe? Chloe broke down at school, and I took her home. She’s resting now. Consider this a day off for your outstanding work. Ok. Ok.”
He got into his Porsche and sped away from the Sullivan household. ‘He knows. He just has to know. He wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Oh, shit he knows. I’m going to pay for this.’ Remembering Chloe’s saddened face, he thought, ‘No, he is the one to pay. I cannot believe him. He whipped out his phone again and was quickly connected.
“I’m taking a personal day. Oh, and I’m going to need you to set up an appointment with the prison.”
He hung up and put his foot down on the gas some more.
‘When my warden notified me that I had a visitor, I knew he found out. Perfect. If he’s furious, which he will be, it will confirm the fact that he loves that reporter girl.’
Lex came flying into the prison, furious, his coat drifting behind him.
“How could you dad? What would possess you to close down a high school newspaper? Its not like she’s publishing your dirty dealings, though if she wanted to, she probably could write one hell of an article. Why dad, why?”
“Are you finished son?”
“Yes dad. Just tell me why.”
“Why? The fire marshal should have told you. The computers weren’t safe.”
“Oh cut the crap dad. We both know that there was another reason.”
“You’re right, there is.”
There was a pause.
“Care to share that reason?”
“No thank you, I’d like to keep that to myself.”
Lex slammed his fist down on the table at his father’s response.
“Watch it Lex, they just might put you in here for violence.”
Lex turned to leave, furious. He was halfway out the door when Lionel felt the need to confess something.
“You’ll thank me when this is all over son.”
That just made Lex madder, as Lionel knew it would. ‘Good, now he has proper motivation.’ The warden informed the man he had another visitor. Lionel welcomed him and said, “It’s time.”
Lionel praised himself at the brilliance of his plan and how well it was working. If there was one thing he knew well, it was that people are easily manipulated, Lex and the girl he loved were some of the easiest. Lex would find out how much money would be needed to reopen the newspaper. He would call the bank to withdraw it, and when he did he would find his account had been frozen. If he called Lucas, he would find the boy’s funds very unreachable. Yes, Lucas had been eager to participate in this scheme. He too, had been tired of his lovesick older brother and had used immortal words, ‘They need to just get on with it.’ Yes, Lucas was a big help in this project.
“Ah, young love,” Lionel said to no one in particular.
Lex was fuming by now. ‘The nerve of that bastard. The nerve! That man was going to pay for doing this to his Chloe. No, not HIS Chloe, not yet. No, not ever. She’s too young. Plus, what would Gabe think? God he liked her though.
‘Oh please,’ the voice in his head said, ‘You don’t just ‘like’ her.’
‘What is that supposed to mean?’ Lex asked his mind.
‘Its supposed to mean that you more than like her. Face it Lex. You just ran furious out of the prison because your dad shut down a high school newspaper that she just happened to be the editor of.’
‘No, I don’t. I’m concerned because she’s Clark’s friend.’ Oh, god he was debating in his head. Great. He’d better stop before he needed to get himself an appointment with a phsychiastrist. But he had to win the debate. Lex Luthor doesn’t go down without a fight.
‘Lex, you’re not fooling anybody.’
‘I do not more than like her.’
‘Then why won’t you say the ‘L’ word then Lex? Why is that? One word. DENIAL!
‘I can say the ‘L’ word. In fact, I’ll say it right now. I do NOT l..l…l…ok, you may have a point. I do not l.l.l. You have a major point. Lets try it this way. I love Chloe Sullivan. Ah. There, I said it.’
‘Do you not realize what you just admitted?’
‘I said ‘I love Chloe Sullivan.’ Pause…..the lightbulb lights.. ‘Oh my god.’ “I love Chloe. I’m in love with her. Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Crap, crap, crap.”
Lex was now in his office physically talking to himself. Rather loudly.
There was a knock on the door. When Lex didn’t answer, Gabe opened the door an inch. “I love Chloe.”
“Um, Lex?”
“Gabe!” ‘What if Gabe heard what I said? He might think I’m a weak person or something. Crap, crap’
“Did you just say ‘I love Chloe?’
Lex’s face turned bright red. “Um, no Gabe, I said um, ‘I’m above Joey, the janitor. Yeah, that’s what I said.”
“Ok, well, I just wanted to thank you for bringing Chloe home, and that I’ll be here the rest of the day. She’s doing okay now, and Lana took a shift off at the Talon so she could help Chloe recover from shock.”
“Ok, Gabe, I’m glad she’s doing okay.”
Gabe turned and left the office, still mulling over what he had heard. He had heard right, that he knew, mostly because his hearing was impeccable and the tiny fact that Lex’s face turned the color of a tomato when he said it, and Lex blushing is a rare sight. Lex, loves Chloe? Impossible. He was a billionaire playboy and she was, well, a middle class high school reporter. Nope, not possible. He shook the thought and took the elevator to get back to work.
‘Great, now Gabe thinks I’m this sissy, lovesick teenager. Wonderful.’ Lex sat in his office chair, his head resting on his hands. Then it hit him. “Gabe is Chloe’s father.”
For not the first time today, he cursed, loudly.