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View Full Version : [Christmas] Black Friday (Secret Santa Fic for Kit Merlot)PG-13



Minty Revolution
25th December 2010, 21:32
Title: Black Friday
Author: Minty Revolution
Rating: PG-13
Spoiler: None that I can think of.
Summary: Santa teaches Lex a thing or two about Christmas.




Black Friday

The holiday lights meandered through the rungs of every railing and bejeweled fashionable mannequins smiling behind glass windows. Real wreaths with perfectly tied red velvet bows hung with care on every other pillar that held up the three-floored Macy's. There was cheery Christmas music playing over the intercom when the very last Swarovski crystal ornament was placed on the twenty five and a half foot pine tree by a very pretty blond elf.

Lex was waiting high above it all in a protected nook on the third floor looking out toward the entrance. Santa Claus, without his woolly hat, joined the young bald man with a silence that belied his size.

“You have it easy, you know, not having to deal with the Christmas rush.”

“Sean, I didn't see you come up,” Lex remarked, backing away from his vantage point and smoothing his scalp with a gentle hand.

“Santa, please. Or St. Nicholas. I like to stay in character before the show,” said the man, jolly as could be.

“Right,” Lex commented skeptically as he checked his gleaming wrist watch, then added with a cold smile, “well, I would hate to keep you from your difficult job. You might want to get down there before the doors open.”

“I know, I know. I was just coming up to ask you what you wanted for Christmas. You seem to be the first one here.” When Lex didn't answer, the man shrugged and moved along.

The fully costumed man bent over and with a whisper of a grunt, hefted a velvet sack over his shoulders. Lex knew that there were prettily wrapped Styrofoam packages meant to decorate the giant red thrown where children would greet the actor, so why did they seem so heavy? Lex had the urge to reach out and take the sack from the other man, just to check the weight, just to make sure there wasn't anything of value within.

“Peace of mind,” Lex mumbled when the man was well out of ear shot.

Every floor had at least ten security guards, all of whom were connected to one another with walkie talkies. Lex had a clumsy black radio that caught the transmission, and although the technology was a bit dated, it served its purpose. They were appropriately dressed in dark blue uniforms with sullen faces and felt reindeer antlers, standing like pillars at their designated areas. Some elves unlocked the door to Macy's and quickly ran out of the way.

“Front doors are now unlocked. Christmas has officially started,” came a voice over the raspy radio. Lex adjusted it a little bit to improve the quality but gave up to get the first look at the chaos below.

The first fall was credited to an over zealous woman with two children trying to reach Santa before anyone else. Needless to say, she didn't make it. The woman was a signal to the mob that they must no longer be civil. Ten seconds after the doors opened, the screaming and shoving started. The fights were so petty and continuous that even the security guards were losing their patience.

“Why do you do this, Lex?” Chloe asked, setting a fragrant brown bag on the table next to the radio. Without asking, she clicked the noisy thing off even though it didn't really cut down on the cacophony down below and all around them.

“Chloe, shouldn't you be tending to Santa Claus?” Lex asked, favorably surprised to have her company. She was dressed like an elf and was pulling her pig tails out with a grateful sigh.

“I only get paid to do that for six hours a day. By the way, thanks for getting me this job, I really needed the money.”
Lex didn't acknowledge the thanks, instead, he returned his gaze back down to the aggressive shoppers. Had six hours already gone by? Lex never liked feeling lost in general, but this was a controlled fixation with Hell. He was so close to the fray and yet, so removed, so far above it all.

“Earth to Lex! Hello Lex!” Chloe sang and waved a green gloved hand over Lex's eyes. She could see that he didn't appreciate that sort of familiarity and regretted the action immediately. When Lex turned to her again, annoyed, Chloe motioned to the brown paper bag filled with Chinese from a little take-out place down the street.

“I-I got you your favorite?” Chloe managed and pulled out a container of rice and many other containers of chicken and broccoli, shrimp with lobster sauce, and sesame chicken. The feast was meant to be a show of her gratitude, but Chloe felt the situation was pretty far removed from the intention.

“I don't think you know my favorite,” Lex said as he walked over to the table and wearily picked up a container and sniffed it, his expression controlled, careful not to reveal whether or not he approved of a certain dish.

“I don't. I was just saying it to get you interested,” beamed Chloe.

“It worked. I'll take the chicken and broccoli. But for future reference, I like Singapore Mei Fun from The Golden Long,” Lex responded with one of his real smiles.

“Noted,” Chloe replied and pulled up a chair. There was a moment of fumbling over words and chopsticks before they settled into a quiet companionship. Chloe didn't want to start a real conversation by yelling over the bustle below and she was sure that the cacophony was pleasurable to him in some way and didn't want to interrupt.

When there was no space left in her belly, and the noise was becoming painful, Chloe wrapped up everything. Lex finished some time ago and was politely sitting, making chit chat with her, and every now and then, glancing down into the pits of Hell with a look of self righteousness. Chloe stood and grabbed her bag with one hand and the garbage with the other, thinking of departing words that didn't sound too cheery.

“I'll see you tonight,” Lex said over his shoulder, returning to his perch. Chloe felt dismissed even though she was the person that initiated the departure. How did he do that, Chloe thought with a tight smile.

“Yeah,” she answered back and hurried out of the store through the truck loading ramp behind the mall. It wasn't until she was half way home that Chloe realized that she had answered blindly. Tonight? Lex's fancy shmancy Christmas Party? Chloe hadn't gotten an invitation to this party but had heard through the grapevine that there would be at least five Victoria Secret models there.

The contents of her closet swirled through her brain and Chloe was positive that she didn't have a damn thing to wear. By the time she got back to the apartment she shared with Regina, the roller derby queen, Chloe was sure that the invitation was too informal to be serious and she shouldn't bother going. By the time she slipped into her pajamas, Chloe made up her mind to go. If it wasn't going to be fun, it should at least be educational about the lives of the well-to-dos. Also, Chloe had quite the curious appetite.

As for what she had to wear, it couldn't possibly matter because if she had the Alexander McQueen light blue tea dress on, she still wouldn't be on the radar standing next to five Victoria Secret models. With that in mind, Chloe picked out her best little black dress, her best high heels that also happen to be her most painful, and a little red hair clip.


Chloe didn't expect it to be like going clubbing, but there it was, a warehouse with a gigantic line and a huge guy with a comically tiny clip board with what Chloe expected to be a list of names. And apparently, no one in the line was on that list. She didn't know whether or not she should risk being denied entry or just break in. Chloe knew a thing or two about breaking into a warehouse but it would certainly be a pain in the ass in heels and a dress.

When Chloe headed for the front of the line, she noticed the dirty looks from the wannabe-patrons. And the looks got dirtier still when the bouncer's face lit up with recognition and moved aside with only a smile and a “Miss Sullivan, welcome.”

It didn't take long for Chloe to spot those super models or the other celebrities for that matter. However, Lex Luthor was no where in sight. Chloe searched for him for the first ten minutes of the party and decided that he had not yet arrived to his own party. She never heard of the host being fashionably late before, but Lex was a billionaire, he could do whatever he wanted.

Liquid courage and some youthful vibrancy was all it took for Chloe to make friends with one of the pretty models. She'd only meant to ask her how it felt to know that the world knew her as a partially nude sex symbol, a question that would make more enemies than friends, but the girl was very well read and patiently explained to Chloe the intricacies of eroticism in America. The other girl was a tall willowy knock out by the name of Chanel. Chloe was a little dubious of the name but didn't push it.

Some time between midnight and two, Lex finally showed up to his Christmas party dressed casually in slacks and a dark gray sweater. Upon entering there was chaos. Not the sort that he was familiar with earlier that morning, or the flocking chaos of paparazzi at his arrival, but something else entirely.

Chloe and one of the gorgeous models were standing on the band platform with microphones singing Christmas carols off key. And every one else was either singing along or happily humoring the duet. The closer he got the the singers, the worse they got. He could even understand what they were saying, which did nothing to improve their skills. Everyone here must be nicely liquored up if they could so kindly accept the butchering of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

“Hey! Those aren't the right words! Where's the figgy pudding?!” Chloe squealed at the television screen that prompted the singers with lyrics. “Where the HELL is the figgy pudding?!” She emphasized before her eyes landed on Lex Luthor. She smiled and waved him up to the stage. When he refused, like she thought he would, Chloe tugged on Chanel's arm and said she could take the next song with Erika, the other Victoria Secret model.

“Lex, you made it! Did you hear me sing? They got the words wrong, they didn't even mention the figgy pudding! Isn't that awful?” Chloe asked. She didn't slur her words but she spoke very quickly and with a weird high pitched voice.

“Yeah, just awful,” Lex agreed with a grin. He didn't remember anything about renting a karaoke machine, and he was certain that there was better karaoke equipment out there.

“Are you insulting me?” Chloe asked, her eyes widening with a look of horror and anxiety. In her drunken state, she seemed more like the eager girl she reserved only for Clark Kent. How could the boy not be charmed by that? Lex was certainly finding her hard to resist, as if she was a magnet for smiles. She'd always been interesting to him before now, but never so vulnerable and that was all it took to cinch the deal.

“No, never. Or at least, not an easy jab. I prefer the underhanded compliments,” Lex replied. He had her hand in his and was shocked to see how gentle he was with her when she was in this state. He'd never been quite this gentle before, he held her like a beautiful glass sculpture. And though he knew that Chloe wasn't usually like this, Lex couldn't help but hope she could wait a little longer to sober up or retain a little of those wide open eyes for him from time to time.

“What time is it?” Chloe asked as she pulled Lex's wrist to her face and squinted at the hands.

“It's not that late,” he lied. Lex could tell she couldn't read it in this light and in her state. The last thing he wanted was for her to stumble home just as he was arriving, but that was how it always was with them, she was always on her way out.

“I feel like I've been her for hours and you feel cold,” she said as she placed a warm hand on his cool cheek, “I think you just got here.”

“You don't always have to be an investigator, Chloe,” Lex replied, leading her to a place they could sit comfortably.

“No, I don't. But don't you think it's amazing that I can after...1,2,3-4,5 martinis?” Chloe laughed at herself and dragged Lex into her happy vortex.

“I'm impressed.”

“Really?” Chloe asked, with bright eyes and martini-flushed cheeks. “I've always secretly sought your approval. I don't know why. You just always look at me expectantly, I want to deliver,” Chloe confessed.

“I've always been impressed by you, Chloe,” Lex said honestly. He had assured her many times before for different things from the case against his father, from her feelings for Clark, or her journalistic skills, but never had it felt more sincere.

“Will you take me home? I drove here and I don't know where my purse is or else I'd catch a cab,” Chloe asked, changing the subject out of an inability to concentrate on the one before, or that was what Lex guessed to be the case.

“Sure,” Lex said, and stood them both up. He shouldn't try to hold on to her like this. It always started out like this, a spark that ignited an obsession, a crazed possession, and then the destruction. He didn't want to destroy Chloe nor did he want to possess her, but only because he knew she couldn't be possessed.

Lex helped her get on her jacket, spent a moment half-heartedly looking for her purse, and then took her outside. Neither of them were worried about all the information or money in her purse because the guests weren't in any desperate financial situation by any means. If it turns up, it turns up, if not, Lex would be more than happy to replace everything. After all, he was very wealthy and and he could easily help out a friend.

“I'm sorry to make you leave your own party. You just got there,” Chloe said as Lex helped her into the car. She wasn't a stumbling drunk, but she also wasn't a fighting drunk so she didn't argue when he reached across her body to buckle her into the passenger seat. It was nice of him to think of her safety.

The ride home was riddled with stories of Chloe's new friendship with Chanel and her worries of the what the morning after would be like for them. Drunken friendships always look different in the light of day. Freshman year at Met U taught her that.

She spoke so quickly and endlessly that Lex found it hard to link one story with the next. He wouldn't exactly call it babbling, it was just very fast eloquent talking. By the time they reached her neighborhood, Chloe's speeched slowed down drastically to a few errant thoughts every minute or so.

“How are you getting in without your keys?” Lex asked as he let her out. Chloe thought about it for only a moment.

“Regina might be home. She's got a game tomorrow and she likes to take it easy the night before,” Chloe replied then asked, “can I borrow your phone?”

“Sure,” Lex supplied the shiny black phone and a few sluggish moments later, a very physically fit Asian woman opened the building door in nothing more than a tank top and her skimpy underwear.

“Hey Chloe...Try to keep it down, okay?” Regina asked when she saw that Chloe had a guy with her.

“Oh no, he's not staying,” Chloe supplied with an incredulous look that made Lex cringe. Was it so hard to even fathom the idea that he could come up? Not that he would, of course, not with her like this anyway.

They said their farewells without much flourish and off she went, into the protective arms of a very nice and very strong looking roommate. She was always on her way out.

The night after the party proved to be of no real consequence other than the fact that the party was a big hit and the city was buzzing about this incredible blond only known as Chloe. Lex received several emails asking who she was and invitations that he would need to forward to the mysterious blond because no one knew her and everyone saw him leave with her without returning.

Lex was amused to find how popular she had become in such a short time and wondered why she wasn't quite as popular in high school. As he pondered this in his office, his office phone beeped and his secretary's scratchy voice came over the little intercom.

“You have a call on line three, Mr. Luthor. It's a Jacob Riley Macy's emergency?”

“Thank you, Rachael.” Lex waited a few calming seconds before he finally hit line three.

“Hello, Jacob, how can I help you?” Lex greeted smoothly and cautiously.

“Hey Lex, I'm at Macy's. We've been calling Sean and we can't find him anywhere! Everyone's panicking and we don't know where to find a replacement Santa. And the store'll open soon and people are screaming and my head is KILLING me. Please, please do something!”

There was some commotion on the other end and the line disconnected. Lex would have replied with something along the lines of “hire a new fat guy.” The best thing about being your own boss was the ability to take the day off.

The store was open when he got there was a lot of yelling. Many people were there to shop so the lack of a Santa wasn't an issue. But for those who came with throngs of children, lugging their own cameras, budgets, and a time limit, they were pulling out their hair with disbelief that Santa was missing. Lex could easily pick a large man from the crowd and pay him a grand to sit in the chair all day but that seemed a little too easy. He wanted to know is Chloe had any smart ideas.

And she did. After calling Lex a few times, she ended up calling all of the new friends she made the night before. Her phone was buzzing nonstop with Facebook requests to go somewhere and text messages and desperate voice messages to hang out. Apparently she was a hit last night. Too bad last night was so fuzzy.

When Lex found Chloe, she was in the middle of at least a dozen hot elves. Not too indecently dressed, but obviously very sexy super model elves that were meant to be more naked than they were now. Chloe was smiling and bent over a blueprint of the mall. She was with a few other people Lex didn't think she would know, but she did, like the son of the Dove soap corporation, and the entire cast of Entourage, also dressed like elves.

“Hey Lex! What're you doing on the ground floor?” Chloe asked, stepping away from her new friends for a moment. She as, by far, the cutest elf.

“I got a call that Sean wasn't here,” Lex said simply. The roar of people was so much louder down here that he yearned to be far away from it like the day before when he was up there eating Chinese food with Chloe.

“I've got it under control. Sean said he'd be in later today, he had some things to see to. He told me to remind you that you were suppose to take his place? I left a message, but I didn't think you'd show up,” Chloe replied. And then added, “I have the suit in Santa's cabin?” I can hold off the crowd for another twenty minutes with celebrity autographs, but you really need to be out here to take over soon.”

Chloe shoved Lex into Santa's Cabin and shut the door. He was left alone with a mirror, a chair, and a rack that had a beautiful Santa suit. It took him well over twenty minutes to dress because he was considering just walking out. He didn't have to do this, he was Lex Luthor. And Chloe wouldn't think less of him if he didn't want to wear the hat and smile at children.

But then it hit him that while she might not think less of him if he refused to do it, if he chose to suffer through it, she might think more of him. And he found in that moment before he put the ridiculous beard on that he often sought Chloe's approval, that it was human nature to seek approval of those you find important to you and that it was okay sometimes to go out of your way to try.
Chloe didn't wait to hear if he was still in there, she just opened the door and anxiously looked inside for Santa. Her pretty eyes brightened with laughter and relief that he didn't disappoint her.

“Okay, Santa, let's get to work, you've got a HUGE line,” Chloe exclaimed.

After thirty minutes, Lex hated sitting there. It was a literal pain in his ass. He stood to wave and the crowd to ease his butt and stretch his legs, and had to deal with disgruntled parents and their bratty children. Chloe was there with him every step of the way, easing his hardships with a vibrancy that even the grumpiest Grinch couldn't resist.

When it was time for him to take a break, Lex took off the suit in the Cabin and laid on his pillowy belly to take a nap. Children had such a strange ability to drain your energy, he should really look into that. He told Chloe to wake him when she needed him again, but other than that, he needed time to rest his eyes.

When he awoke, he saw Santa, adding rouge to his cheeks with such precise expertise. At first he thought he might be dreaming, because the man said something very low and he couldn't quite hear. And before he left, he winked at Lex with a weird secret smile. If it was a dream, he didn't understand it.

Chloe came back in a little later to help him dress, not that he needed it. But he was sore in places he didn't think would be sore from doing so little moving.

“Why are you helping me again?” Lex asked when Chloe reached to tight his shoes for him.

“Um...Sean told me to come in and help you?” Chloe offered, but obviously not sure why she was compelled to do all these menial tasks.

“Really?”

“Actually, he asked me to give you some peace of mind...And then he winked at me?” Chloe cringed, and asked, “do you know what he meant by that?”

And then it dawned on him what Santa/Sean must have mumbled to him on his way out. “I hope this taught you something, Lex Luthor. Merry Christmas!”

Kit Merlot
25th December 2010, 22:57
This was just adorable--thanks for the lovely story:grin3:

starmoon
25th December 2010, 23:45
i loved it that was so cute and sweet.

LexGirl
26th December 2010, 03:37
This was a sweet, adorable story and I liked it a lot! I loved it actually! :)

Zannie
26th December 2010, 15:28
This was a very cute story - I'm always a huge fan of getting Lex in a Santa suit! Thanks for posting this.