loved that lex asked her to spend the week with him but cant what to see what chloe answer
loved that lex asked her to spend the week with him but cant what to see what chloe answer
A/N: Thank-you both!
Chapter Fourteen
Chloe gasped, her eyes widening almost comically in delight.
“So”, Lex asked, an arrogant smirk on his lips, “are you impressed?”
With affected nonchalance Chloe shrugged, “I’ve seen bigger”.
Lex stared at her in disbelief and Chloe tried to keep a straight face but a muscle in her cheek began to twitch. His keen eyes spotted the small movement and his eyes narrowed. “You have have you?”
“Um”, she murmured through lips clamped firmly shut.
“Mmmm”, Lex replied in kind, able to detect that she was a hair’s breadth away from breaking into giggles. He took a step towards her and held her gaze as he asked, “How much bigger?”
She shrugged, her lips almost fused together.
“Chloe”.
“A couple of square metres or so”, she relented, her face breaking into a grin as she admitted, “in a magazine. This is definitely the biggest hotel suite I have ever stayed in”.
“Good”, he didn’t like to come second in anything.
“You know, size isn’t everything Luthor”, she gave him an exasperated look.
“That’s what you say now”, he smirked.
Chloe just rolled her eyes at him before examining the suite in greater detail. It really was gorgeous, although she had never expected anything less from anything that Lex had chosen. They were in the centre of the old part of town, equidistant from everything they would be attending in the coming days, in what she knew had been one of the original buildings built in Metropolis and had originally been a library. The conversion had been done sympathetically and whispers of history and its former purpose were plentiful. There were stained glass windows, rows upon rows of historical volumes but with every modern luxury. Chloe loved it!
Lex studied her expression, he had thought that she would like it and was gratified to see that he had been correct. And not just because he always liked to be in the right. “I told them to put your luggage in this room”, he said leading her to the master bedroom, “it has the best view of the city and the park”.
“Its divine”, she gurgled with delight as he showed her.
“I’m glad that you approve”, he started slowly, “I thought that this would be more comfortable than my apartment”.
Chloe just nodded, not really sure how to respond to that. Or even if it actually required a response. She had never really given any thought to where they were going to stay when they got to the city, Lex had told her that he would take care of everything on that end of things.
Lex walked over to the large window to stare out at the view, it really was rather impressive. It wasn’t better than the one from his apartment, it was more traditional but not as vast. His apartment sat on the top of the LuthorCorp building, the tallest skyscraper in all of Metropolis, you could see for miles but couldn’t make out any of the buildings or landmarks the way that you could here. That wasn’t why he hadn't wanted her there though.
The LuthorCorp apartment which Lex used as his own when he was in the city wasn’t right for Chloe. It had been built where it had because that way it was only a four second commute away from the office. He didn’t want that for their week together, he wanted her to be able to enjoy herself away from work as well. He just hoped that she didn’t feel as if she weren’t welcome in his penthouse.
Chloe just nodded. “You don’t have to explain anything to me Lex”.
He looked over at her.
“I don’t know what you were feeling guilty about, but you were explaining yourself. You don’t have to, you know”.
He wasn’t sure whether to be incredibly angry, deny it, or laugh. Years spent under his father’s tutelage and Chloe could still see hints of what he was thinking.
“Don’t get all quiet and offended”, she told him, “I can’t bare sulking”. Scratch that, she could see right through him. Although, of course, he wasn’t sulking.
“I didn’t want you to be insulted because I didn’t take you to my apartment”, he finally got out.
“See, wasn’t that easy? Don’t you feel better now?”
“Don’t push it Chloe”.
She smiled at him. He had never known anyone who smiled as much as she did. “Don’t worry Lex, I know that Alexander Joseph Luthor never takes girls back to his apartment”.
He narrowed his eyes at her and yet she just continued to smile.
He shook his head, “I warned you not to push it Chloe”.
“What are you going to do Luthor?”
“You no longer get the master bedroom”, he declared.
“Ha, you’d never do it”, she flopped back on the bed.
Lex scooped her up and slung her over his shoulder and carried her out of the master bed room into the smaller, second, but still delicious bedroom and tossed her down on the bed. She smirked as she bounced.
“Hey, I’m not a sack of potatoes”, she complained, even as she giggled.
“You think that being punished is funny?”
She nodded.
“Right, you asked for it”, he leaped onto the bed tickling her ruthlessly. It was absurd, he had never done something as immature as tickle someone in his entire pre-Chloe life and yet he couldn't seem to keep his hands of Chloe.
She rolled around as she always did, trying to get away from him or tickle him back but unable to do anything to make an impact on him. Or so she thought. Her adorable protests made in between unabashed gasps of laughter pricked his heart.
“So”, he asked, finally giving into her pleas and stopping, pulling her close to him and wrapping his arms around her, running the palms of his hands over where he had tickled to rid her skin of the sensation, “are you going to stop teasing me?”
“Probably not”.
“Well, at least you are honest. So, I suppose that you can have the big bedroom”, he decided charitably.
“Don’t be silly Lex, I don’t care which room I have”, she patted him fondly.
“You are having the big room”.
“Lex -”
“Stop arguing or I’ll tickle you again”, he threatened from where he lay next to her.
“You evil man you”, she poked him with her foot.
“That’s what it says on my business cards”.
~*~
“Yes Daddy, I’m fine. Yes, the hotel is lovely. What? Yes Daddy, Lex is behaving himself”, she rolled her eyes. Only her father could think that this was all some elaborate scheme to seduce his daughter.
“No, of course I’m not rolling my eyes”, she surveyed her phone to see if there was a camera embedded in there or something but found nothing out of the ordinary.
“I ... Sorry, Dad, Lex is knocking at the door. I’ll call you again tomorrow, I’m fine, I’m happy, I’ve eaten”, she started to make her way to the door, “yes, I know that Metropolis isn’t Smallville, no I won’t go outside late at night by myself”, as if Lex would ever allow that, she opened the door to Lex just as her father’s final check came through. She answered without thinking, “Yes, of course I always put paper down first if I use a pubic restroom”.
“Good to know”, Lex said dryly.
She looked up into Lex’s smirking face.
“Dad, I’ve got to go now, love you. Bye”, Chloe said, giving Lex’s arm a warning poke. She wasn't going to be teased for taking proper precautions when relieving herself. You never knew who had been in there before you.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation with Gabe”, he apologised as he walked into her room.
“Don’t worry, you didn’t”, she smiled.
“I just came to give you your itinerary for the week. There was no need for you to get off the phone”, he said, even as he sat on her bed, “I just wanted you to know that you didn’t have anything to do tonight or anything early tomorrow morning so you could go out with your friends tonight if you wanted”.
“Oh okay, cool”, she beamed at that. She had been assuming that she would be spending the night in with Lex as usual but now that he was in the city maybe he wanted to meet up with his old crowd. She wasn't offended. Maybe it would do them good to have a night away from each other. “I’ll call some people up”.
“Right”, he didn’t stand up or make any other move to leave. “Do you want me to get you tickets to anything?”
She looked at him curiously.
“For you and your friends. For tonight, so that you have something to offer them?”
“Something to offer them”, she repeated, “you mean other than my sparkling wit and personality?”
He shook his head, “Something to do, I mean”.
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll just call and we’ll hang out or something”. She sat down next to him, as she searched through her phone considering who to call. “So, what are you up to tonight?”
“Nothing in particular”, he started, before realising that that sounded like he was angling for an invitation, “just dinner I think. Maybe some drinks afterwards, who knows?”
“Who knows”, Chloe wiggled her eyebrows at him.
“Not like that”, he informed her, although he didn’t know why; there was nothing wrong with that.
“So, we don’t need to work out some system with coat hangers on the door or anything?” She teased.
“Not on my account”, he gave her an arched look.
“Not on my account either”, she said, “well, probably not”.
He hoped she was teasing him. He thought that she probably was. She usually was.
“Besides, I suppose that you have to keep yourself pure and chaste for Lana”.
Yes, she was definitely teasing him.
“Lana is in love with Clark”, he said, more to remind Chloe not to start getting her hopes up again about the flannel coated farm boy.
“Very true”, privately she thought that if Lex were to turn on the charm he would probably change Lana’s mind but she didn’t say as much. She didn’t know why. It was just, Lex deserved so much better than someone who needed to be cajoled into loving him. He should have someone who wanted him desperately.
“What?”
She looked up.
“I know when something is eating you”, he reminded her.
She shook her head with a bemused smile. “Nothing. I was just thinking”.
“Thinking ...?”
“Thinking that it is lunchtime. Come on Luthor, get the lead out”, she bounced up before he could prod her more on the issue.
“Do you want to get room service, go down to the restaurant, or go out?” He listed their options.
“Out, there is this amazing café around the corner. You’ll love it”.
“Good to know”, he apparently didn’t have a choice in the matter, as was so often the case with Chloe.
“Come on, I’m sending you out tonight a few pounds heavier”, she patted his flat stomach, “It’ll give you a bit of a challenge”.
~*~
“Chloe Sullivan’s Guide to Metropolis, first stop the Princess Café”, Chloe sang as she bounded along the road ahead of Lex who continued to swagger, expensive sunglasses in place.
“You have to be kidding me.”
“Nope!”
“Chloe, it is pink”, he pulled his glasses down his patrician nose in a way that made him look like a model on a cover of glossy magazine.
“Really? That had completely escaped my notice”, she replied sarcastically.
“Chloe I am not going into a building painted that revolting shade of pink, and certainly not one called the Princess Café”, he said equal parts disgust and finality.
“Why not?”
“Because it is pink and called princess”, he was surprised that he had to spell it out for her. He was a boy. Boy’s didn’t do pink!
“And?”
“And I’m a man Chloe”, he expostulated.
“So be a big boy and come along”, she coaxed, “I’ll buy you are a really big cake”.
“No”. That simply wasn’t happening.
“A cookie?”
“No”, he repeated the negative syllable.
“Apple pie?”
“Chloe, no”, his tone was stern and rang with authority. The same authority which had lead him to his place as a captain of industry, the same authority with which he had battled his father, the same authority which made everyone do as he bad. In short, it was no match for Chloe.
She made her green eyes wide and innocent.
“Chloe, I said no, I have a reputation to maintain”, he said, sensing her protest coming.
“But it is my favourite, we always come here”, her eyes turned beseeching.
“You know one day that look is going to stop working”, he said with a huff.
“Sure it will”, she linked her arm through his and bounced through the door. Lex slipped his glasses back into place.
He wanted to go and sit in a dark corner, not that there were really any, but Chloe dragged him to a sit near the counter so that she could look around and see everything. He reclined in his seat, looking cool and aloof, not bothering to remove his shades. They might protect his eyes, he mused.
“Come on Lex, you don’t need those”, Chloe apparently didn’t agree.
“Yes I do, I need to protect my retinas”.
Chloe rolled her eyes and reached out to take them off but Lex parried her hand.
“You are being overly dramatic”.
“I ...”
“Chloe!”
They both turned to see a woman around Mrs Kent’s age with dark hair just beginning to be threaded with silver. Lex just caught a flash of Chloe’s delighted smile before her face was pressed into her shoulder as she attempted to hug her to death.
“Oh my little Chloe Pop, I’ve missed you so much. Gabe told me that you were back but I didn’t think that it could be true as I hadn’t seen you. Oh, you’ve just got so skinny. Don’t worry, I’ll feed you up”.
Lex removed his glasses, it was rude to wear them inside and he wasn’t going to be rude in this case. The woman who he took to be the patron of the Princes Café - he shuddered, he couldn't get over that name or walls’ distinctive hue - appeared to be very important to Chloe and that fact made her more important than his eyesight.
“Who is your young gentleman friend?” She wasted no time in asking.
“That’s no gentleman, that’s just Lex”, Chloe shrugged off the question as Lex stood to shake the woman’s hand thinking it odd that she didn’t know who he was. Without wishing to be conceited, he figured that it was more like that she was just trying to make a point than that she genuinely had no idea who he was.
He had barely got through making his introductions when the strange woman shouted for someone called “Fred”. Apparently Fred was the middle aged, portly cook who Lex guessed was also the lady in question’s husband. He too had enormous hugs for Chloe but was less impressed with her bald companion. Lex found himself being looked up and down before being informed that no one would bother to look for the corpse if they bribed them with cake.
“We’re getting cake?” Chloe broke in hopefully, trying to divert the attention from their death threats towards her new bestie.
“Not until after mains. Weren’t you taught anything? Honestly”, Lex was tisked before the elderly couple retreated.
Chloe gave him a smug look.
“I don’t know how I got into trouble”, he shook his head as he sat back down.
“Well, obviously I can’t”, she smiled angelically at him.
He rolled his eyes, “Is there anyone you haven’t got wrapped around your little finger?”
“You?”
He snorted and opened his mouth but shut it again when their lunches were brought to them, accompanied by smatterings of hugs and kisses for Chloe. Lex had no idea how that had happened when he hadn’t even been aware that he had ordered but he didn’t question it as Chloe looked happy enough and apparently hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary.
“So, how do you know them?” He asked once they had left.
“It is a Princess Café”, Chloe answered as if that should solve any confusion he had.
“You don’t like pink”. He had checked, he couldn’t be around yet another pink obsessed female.
“No”, she conceded, “but I did like princesses and more to the point my Dad wanted to give me all of the stuff that little girls always wanted”.
“Ah”, he pronounced the syllable with a soft smiled.
“We came here sometimes when I was little, because we lived nearby”, she continued to explain.
He raised his eye, he hadn’t known that, but didn’t interrupt her.
“But we really got into the habit the day after my Mom left, I came down to find my Dad trying to make waffles. It didn’t work. So he brought me here to eat. They really helped us out, just one look and they knew what had happened. They taught Dad to cook and helped with baby sitting sometimes plus they were a shoulder to lean on. They were really great”.
“Ah”, his vocabulary was becoming increasingly limited. He was glad that they had had someone, he had never thought about it before. He knew that Gabe was divorced and when he had seen Chloe in town with a woman once when he had been with Clark he had asked if that was her mom only to be told that it couldn’t be and never to bring it up. He hadn’t pressed the subject with either Clark or Chloe but had still assumed that she must have some contact with her mother. The thought that a mother could live and not do everything in her power to see her child was unfathomable to him.
Maybe the pink wasn’t so bad. Yes, it was. But he would put up with it if these people had been so kind to Chloe and her father.
~*~
“Feeling okay?” Chloe inquired politely.
“Yes”.
“Full?”
“Yes”.
“Uncomfortable due to the whole hugging incident?” Chloe delved a little deeper
His lips were clamped shut. He really hadn’t seen that one coming. He was Lex Luthor. People didn’t just come up and hug him just because he was sitting near someone they cared for.
“You shouldn’t have made such a good impression then, should you?” She teased.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder casually giving her a squeeze, “I wasn’t aware that I had”.
“Please, I saw you take your glasses off Mr Aloof, you wanted to make a good impression, admit it, admit it”, she poked his still firm, but now full, stomach.
“I admit no such thing, but I would like to see the next stop on tour”, he grasped her finger.
“Right, we can go to the park and then wave to my old apartment and that will be it for today”, she smiled.
“Why not?”
“That’s the spirit”, she lead them over the road.
“I thought that Metropolis Park and Nature reserve was in the other direction”, he pointed vaguely. It wasn’t somewhere that he had been taken often as a kid but he was still fairly certain that it was in the centre of the city.
“Oh it is, but that is a big trip”, she said knowledgeably.
“A big trip?”
“Yeah, Dad had to pick me up if we were going to go to the big park”, it was over a mile away. “This was our everyday park”.
“Your everyday park, how fancy”, he sounded a little sarcastic.
She stuck her tongue out but still conceded to take him to the park only a few streets away, “This is it”.
Lex looked around, in a little amusement. It was nice, but very very small. It looked less like a park and more like someone had stuck together what should have been several people’s back gardens in suburbia and stuck some swings and a few slides on it.
“That is my swing”, Chloe pointed to a bright red one.
“Your swing?”
She nodded, a boy had challenged her for possession of it once, once being the operative word. “So you will have to chose your own one”, she announced as she took off running for it and jumped onto it before Lex could decide that he wanted the red one. She didn’t remember it digging into her hips so much before. She wriggled around but was unable to get comfortable. Lex did not even make the attempt, he leant against the rail supporting the swings, his ankles and arms crossed, a look of indulgent amusement on his face.
“I don’t think that those are made for ...”
“For?”
“Adults”.
“You were going to say people with fat asses weren’t you?”
“Have you ever heard me be so rude?”
“No”, she admitted.
“I was going to say with such” ‘mature frames’, but that sounded rude too, “voluptuous assets”.
Chloe burst into peels of laughter.
Lex just shook his head and moved behind her to push the swing for her, he didn’t think that it was going to allow her enough movement to pump her her legs.
~*~
“Why did you let me do that?”
“Why did I let you?” He expostulated, “A) If I had ever tried to stop you doing something I would get an ear full”.
“True!”
“And B) I did suggest that it might be time to get off the swings several times, you were the one who insisted on staying on it”.
“Also true”, she said as he rubbed her hips as the walked along. It had really dug in. “But I’m still blaming you” , she told him.
“Well, it couldn’t have been your fault”, he was getting used to that idea.
“Of course not, besides you haven’t had time for your morning workout, I had to ensure that you didn’t lose your arm muscles”, she pointed out.
He smiled at her. “So, where are we off to next?”
“Walk passed our old apartment and then ... Where-ever you want. What time do you have to start getting ready?”
“Wait”, he interrupted, “you don’t want to go inside?”
“We don’t still own it, we can’t just go in”, she explained.
“Would you like to?”
“We can’t”.
“That wasn’t what I asked Chloe. Would you like to?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Do you have time?”
He glanced at his watch. No. “Sure, let’s go”.
Really great
I loved that he invited her and I'm loving their time together
Really curious about the whole talking with Blana when Chloe arrived
Malu
A/N: Thanks Malu!
Chapter Fifteen
“I remember it being bigger”.
“You were smaller”.
“No”, Chloe said considering the matter, “I’m fairly certain that it has shrunk”. She looked around the two bedroom apartment which had once belonged to her and her father.
“I know better than to argue with you”, Lex smiled and reached out place his hand on her shoulder and give it a bit of a squeeze and a rub.
“I should think so by now”, she examined the windows. They had definitely been bigger, more imposing, and not tacky PVC.
Lex shook his head, wondering how was it possible that someone now spoke to him like that? He was a scary man damn it! If he chose to take offence at her tone he could, he could, he could sit in the arm chair rather than on the sofa with her at night.
“This was my room”, she moseyed into the smaller of the bedrooms located off the living room. It was a small single to her, a tiny closet to Lex but it had a nice view of the park which she showed him.
“Not bad”, he confirmed, his hand still on her shoulder. He couldn't really imagine her in this plain white room he supposed that she could have painted it, “What colour was it?”
“What week?”
He stared at her.
“Well, okay, maybe we didn’t repaint on a weekly basis but we did repaint pretty frequently. A different colour for each wall, normally something nice and bright”, she grinned at the memory, her friends had all been so jealous; their parents would allow them to have a red wall.
“That sounds about right”, he looked around, still not entirely sure how Chloe would actually have fit in there. “Were you happy here?
“Very”. She smiled.
“Did you always live here?” He wondered, it seemed more like an apartment for a young couple rather than a family.
“I was born here and yes, we lived her for five years until a year after Mom left”, Chloe answered without thinking.
“Then what?” He persisted.
She shrugged.
“Chloe?”
“We had to sell”, she admitted.
Seeing that he was going to ask a follow up question. “Dad had really stretched himself to buy here because he knew that it was an up and coming area, it was only an apartment but it was going to be worth a house in a few years”, her expression froze for a second becoming almost ugly with angry. “Just before we could capitalise on that she not only left she decided that she wanted half of his assets even thought she never did a lick of work for them. We had to sell. Re-mortgaging at that point wasn’t possible”.
Lex’s lips pursed together, as a wave of anger washed over him. He controlled it only because he wanted to know more about what had happened to her after that, “You moved to Smallville?”
“Not for about eight years”, she sighed, “About five miles out there is a little suburb, Dad brought a house there. It was fine but it wasn’t in the heart of the Metropolis like this one. It wasn’t the one he had put years of his life into it”.
He nodded. He knew that he should let the subject drop but she had never spoken about these things before and he wanted to know. An obsessive thirst for knowledge had always been one of his major character flaws. “Do you ever see her?”
Chloe’s neck snapped around to stare at him.
“I was just wondering. I mean, I have never see her, not even a photo and you never speak about her”, it was only natural that such a lack of information would peek his interest.
She just continued to look at him.
“I saw you once, in Smallville, years ago, walking with a woman and assumed that it was your mom but Clark told me that it couldn’t have been”, he continued, feeling as if he had done something wrong even though he hadn’t, as far as he knew.
“What else did he tell you?” She demanded.
“Nothing”. He hoped for Clark’s sake that she believed him. Flannel boy’s charms may be about to suffer a considerable reverse.
“Lex”.
“He told me not to mention it, ever”, he said honestly. “It’s not a big deal Chloe”, he moved to her as if to embrace her but she would not allow it. He replaced his hands on her shoulders and massaged them lightly.
She nodded slowly, her body so rigid with repressed feelings that this seemed like a hugely difficult task.
“It’s the truth Chloe, you know that. Clark can be an idiot but he wouldn’t tell me something you didn’t want me to know you”, he moved one of his hands to the back of her neck, “I didn’t mean to upset you”.
“You didn’t”, she said in a such a tight voice that he was convinced that that couldn’t be true.
“Chloe, I’m ...” He tried to pull her into his arms.
She shook her head and made to step away from him.
He felt like he had been kicked.
“Oh, don’t look like that”, she permitted him to wrap his arms around him realising that he needed it, “I’m not mad. I don’t want you to feel like there is anything that you can’t talk to me about, this ... It just isn’t one of my favourite subjects”.
His arms squeezed her as his fingers did their best to rub the tension and upset from her body.
“My father was hurt”, she said out of nowhere after several minutes.
He nodded, “You too”.
“No”, she shook her head. “I really wasn’t”.
“You must have been”, he protested.
“No, honestly I wasn’t. I know that everyone always thinks that I must have been. That I must be repressing but I barely knew the woman. She was in the house (or apartment as the case might be) but we didn’t speak, didn’t love each other ... It was a relief to me once she was gone”.
In spite of her words he could feel the pain rippling off her and held her more tightly.
“Honestly, none of it bothered me until she came back and started to hurt my Dad. Until she”, she squeezed him tightly and hid her face in his chest. “She is a bad, wicked creature”, her voice wavered as she remembered the years of agony they had gone through because of her selfishness.
“It’s all right, it’s all over now”, he cradled her head against his shoulder. No one would ever hurt Chloe again. No one.
~*~
The feel of Chloe in his arms didn’t lessen with time. The story that she had told him about her mother and what his detectives had dug up since then had plagued on his mind all day long. That unnatural creature made Lionel seem loving and warm. Not words he normally associated with his father.
“It’s Egyptian”.
Lex’s head jerked up.
“My necklace, it is Egyptian. That is what has so captured your interest, right? Unless it was something else”. His date’s ample cleavage was only centimetres from the pendent Lex’s eyes had been unknowingly fixed on while he mused.
“It was the necklace”, he assured her, taking a large sip of his drink.
“Right”, she didn’t know how to take that. She twirled a long strand of mahogany hair around a taper finger in a manner which was supposed to be seductive, “So, how long are you in Metropolis for?”
“A week”.
“That’s nice”, she continued to try to make conversation.
“Yes”.
“Got any particular plans?” She pressed.
“Yes”.
“Care to elaborate?”
“No”.
It was a very one sided conversation. To be fair, most of the ones he had with his dates were but normally he did a slightly better job of dissembling and didn’t mind their inane prattle. Tonight, her tendency to witter on was bothering him more than he had expected. She hadn’t done anything that he now considered normal: she hadn’t invaded his personal space in that nice snuggly way; she hadn’t worried that he wasn’t getting enough vitamin C
She hadn’t made him watch some ridiculous TV show; and she was wearing actual perfume rather than fruit scented body spritz. Chloe had spoiled him for all other women and she wasn't even his girlfriend.
He took another swig, not much caring what it was that he was imbibing. Sometimes it was enough that it was alcohol.
“Sometimes conversation is overrated”, the brunette suggested in a husky voice, leaning over and placing her hand on his, her foot slipping out of its stiletto and finding its way into his lap.
He removed it without ceremony, “
“Have I done something wrong?” She finally asked.
He looked up at her, surprised by just how little he was capable of caring about another human being.
Chloe would be furious with him.
“No, of course not. We had a nice dinner, didn’t we?” He couldn’t remember but he seemed to think that they had. “I just have a bit of a headache and a very early morning”.
“Oh, okay”, her disappointment didn’t bother him as much as the thought of Chloe’s potential censor.
“Tell you what, I’d like to take a walk back to my apartment to clear my head a bit. Why don’t you take the limo, call a girlfriend and have a nice night out? No need for everyone to have a be as boring as I am”, he offered.
“You’re kind”, she cooed.
“No, I’m extremely selfish. Also quite terribly arrogant”, he said honestly.
“I don’t think so”. She was too kind for Metropolis.
“You don’t know me very well”, Chloe would have told him that he was arrogant to his face. Plus to cut it out. He smiled.
His date smiled back, “She’s lucky”.
He stared at her in confusion. He was about to correct her when he realised that he was blowing her off. It might be easier to accept that she wasn’t going to become the wife of a billionaire (or at least not of this particular billionaire) if she thought that it was because he was in love with someone else.
“Good night”, he said, as he stood up to help her up, pay the bill and show her to the limo. He couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel. He couldn’t couldn’t wait to see Chloe again.
~*~
“You are being ridiculous”, Lex chided himself, “she is not going to be in. You are going back to an empty suite”.
Still instead of going out to a bar, instead of finding that woman again ... Really must find out her name in that case. He was going up to mope around an empty room. No, not mope. Work. Possibly sleep. But not mope.
“God you’re pathetic!” He told himself as he opened the door and heard a laugh he honestly hadn’t expected to. A smile broke out across his face and he strode into the living room to see a collection of people sitting there, with Chloe in the centre, reclining on the sofa with her legs draped over a very handsome man. His smile disappeared. His guts tightened.
“Lex”, she greeted him merrily.
“You didn’t go out?” He asked in surprise. She had bloody well better not have gone out in that tiny little tank top and short shorts that she thought of as pyjamas.
“We did. I was all excited about going out and the second that we walked out of the hotel someone drove through the largest puddle you have ever seen -and no, I didn’t get the licence plate number - soaking me from head to toe. I came back in to get showered and changed and by then we had missed our reservation and didn’t want to go out any more. It is nice and warm in here so this is where we are going to hang out, if that’s okay?”
“Of course. I already told you to make yourself at home the best you can and order whatever you like - that goes for your friend as well”, he hadn’t meant to make her feel unwelcome or uncomfortable by coming back early. “But you should know that you can get reservations anywhere you like at any time you like, just mention my name”.
“I’ll have to remember that. Do you want to join us?” She wiggled her feet.
“No thanks, I’ve got some work to do”, he declined the offer.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes thank-you Chloe, have a nice evening. Order anything that you want from room service”, he repeated his wish that she not go hungry.
“Cool”, Chloe got up to give him a hug before going back to her friends, one of whom placed his hand casually on her leg.
Lex went back into his room to do some work, there was always something that he could do even when he didn’t actually need to. He turned on his laptop and sank down into a chair before it, able to hear the sound of frivolity coming from the living room. He was pathetic. He had spent his life alone and now he couldn’t spend the evening alone happily. Yep, he was definitely pathetic.
He considered getting a drink. No Chloe would kill him.
He has to get a friendless, a nice one. Lana came to mind. She would be ideal if it weren’t for Clark.
There was a knock at the door.
He perked up.
“Come and play, they are beating me in Pictionary!”
This is such an upliftinging yet heart wrenching rendition of a developing chlex relationship. I cannot wait for their obvious feelings to be recognized between them. However the beginning of the story also has me tied in knots as to how this will truly play out. Praying it has a happy ending. Please continue soon!!!
Thank-you so much for taking the time to read and reply, I hope that you will continue reading and won't be dissapointed.
Chapter Sixteen
“Come on, stop being a tease.”
“Stop pressuring me!”
“Well I wouldn’t have to if you stopped being such a tease.”
“Young man”, an elderly woman who had been listening into their conversation with increasing pursed lips broke in, “I think that you-”
“It’s all right, he’s just being silly”, Chloe’s head popped out from between the two dark green curtains which separated her cubicle from the rest of the dressing room.
“I’m not being silly, just come out and”, Lex broke off as he turned and saw her head hovering there, detached from the rest of her body and resisting the urge to chuckle. She grabbed his collar and dragged him inside before he could pass comment.
Lex found himself inside the large dressing room stall before he knew what was happening. He had been standing outside for over half an hour and his feet were killing him; someone else was already on the boyfriend bench. Not that he was her boyfriend but if he had to follow her around while she shopped he wanted to sit down. He had used his most ferocious glare on the man, but apparently a sleeping husband was impervious to it. He eyed the new sofa eagerly and deposited himself on it, shifting several thousand dollars worth of expensive fabrics to the side.
“Men, always thinking about their creature comforts”, she sighed.
“My feet hurt, I’ve been waiting for ages”, he complained before he finally fixed his eyes on her properly.
“You look shocked”, she observed.
“I am. I mean, I’m not. Wow”, he was not normally so inarticulate, in fact, he couldn’t recall the last time a woman’s appearance had left him speechless. It had probably been the centrefold of the playboy he had found when he was thirteen. She had been pretty impressive but he thought that Chloe could probably hold a candle to her, or at least she could in that dress. The dark crimson velvet revealed a lot of cleavage, clenched tightly around her stomach and then flowed down to the ground. A tantalising glimpse of leg from ankle to thigh completed the picture. She was a goddess.
“My confidence does not need boosting thank-you very much, Lex”, she informed him, she knew that he was just trying to make her feel better. It was sweet but she hated being patronised.
“I’m serious Chloe”, his voice was a little thing, adding authenticity to his words.
“Worth your sore feet even?” She surveyed herself in the mirrors on two sides. Her butt looked big.
“Well worth it”, he agreed. She wasn’t leaving their hotel suite like that but it was still well worth it.
“You know, you didn’t actually have to sacrifice your poor abused feet. I have been picking out my own clothes for several years now, dressing myself too”.
“I know you have and I’m very impressed, of course, but clearly I did have to come with you”, he pointed out, “I sent you out with strict instructions and you only came back with one dress”.
“Well, I don’t like spending other people’s money”, she defended herself.
“Are you sure that you are a girl? Ow!”
Chloe’s hand had smacked him on the arm as she declared: “Not all girls are like that!”
“No, just the ones I meet”.
“True”, she conceded, she was going to have to work on finding him a nice girlfriend at some point. One who wasn’t a money grubbing whore. “Now be good or your feet will get it”.
He smiled at her, “So have you tried anything else on or have you just been ogling yourself in that dress?”
“Mostly I have been waiting to see how long I could torture you for”, she continued to examine her ass.
“Really?”
She turned back to look at him, “No not really and I’m not ogling myself, I’m trying to see how this dress looks from the back”.
“Well then you need a man’s perspective, turn around and let me see”, he waited for her to do as he said before giving his verdict, “Hmm”.
“Is that a ‘good hmm’ or a ‘bad hmm’?” She craned her neck around to look at him.
‘It’s a ‘far too many men are going to be having inappropriate thoughts about bending you over and fucking you hmm’”, he elaborated.
“What’s inappropriate about that?” She tried to sound casual even as her cheeks flushed.
“It would make a terrible mess of the hors d'oeuvres”, he replied dryly. Reminding her, and more importantly himself, what it was that they were going to do and why they were getting her fancy dresses in the first place.
“True, and I do like fancy snack food”.
“You do”, he agreed. “So, did you try on anything else?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve tried on everything so far”, she made a general sweeping gesture to include all of the garments in the small room.
“And?”
“And”, she shrugged, “I don’t know”.
“Okay, we’ll just get this one and get going to the next shop then”, he offered, he wouldn’t try to force her to wear something she did not care for.
“Lex, I ...”
“Chloe, if they didn’t have price tags on would it have made a difference?”
She looked at him, a little guiltily.
“Chloe”, he stood up and cupped her face, “look at me. I know that you don’t like this. I know that spending money goes against the grain with you, but I am not doing this as your friend, I am not doing this to spoil you, I am doing it for the same reason that my secretary has a clothing allowance. I couldn’t care less if you go around in shorts and a t-shirt ...”
“Unless it is chilly”, he was always a stickler for her bundling up warm.
“Unless it is chilly”, he agreed, “but just with once, just for this week when you are being arm candy, let me dress you”.
“Fine.”
“Fine?” There seemed to be something that she wasn’t saying.
“Fine, but I can’t believe that I am saying this”, she sighed, “But you are going to dress me then”.
His eyebrows quirked up.
“Not physically, but you chose what you want then. You are paying for it, it is for your image, you chose”.
“Deal”, he stuck out his hand.
“Deal”, she agreed as she shook it firmly.
~*~
“Lex it is fine really”, Chloe assured him, placing her hand on his shoulder only to have it shrugged off again. “This sort of stuff happens all of the time to girls like me, it isn’t ...”
“Girls like you?” He repeated in a low and dangerous tone.
“Yes, you know middle height, middle weight, middle income”.
Lex grit his teeth.
“There is no reason to make a big deal out of this. You were outside taking a call, they didn’t see you. If they had they would never have done something like that it was directed at me not you”.
“I know that it was directed at you, what the fuck do you think that I’m so angry about?” They could look at him however they wanted, he didn’t give a damn, but it would be over his dead body that anyone ever treated Chloe like that again and lived a full and happy life.
“Sir, Mr Luthor, I’m so terribly sorry”, the manager came scurrying over, “is there some problem?”
“Some problem? Yes, I would say that there is some problem”, he mimicked the elder man’s affected tone for the last two words, “that bitch you call a sales assistant was rude to Chloe.”
He looked from the assistant to the woman he presumed was Chloe, she probably had been rude, but he feigned shock anyway. Then revulsion and commenced grovelling. Of course the woman would be fired without a reference. Of course he had no idea how such a thing could ever had happened etc etc. Lex was not appeased and told them to cancel his account before storming out with Chloe strangling along behind him. She had taken a moment to stick her tongue out at the former sale’s assistant.
Lex sat in the back of the limo fuming, almost silently.
Chloe reached over to place her hand on top of his, but he shrugged off the kindly gesture. Chloe pursed her lips, she should let him have his time and space. Should, but probably wouldn’t.
“You know a teacher when I was in the fourth grade was really mean to me”.
His head snapped to the side.
“She wouldn’t let me have the chocolate biscuit I had taken along side my carrot sticks for a snack. She said that it was junk food. We could go and threaten her if it would make you feel better”.
Her offer did nothing to soften his face.
“I’m sorry that I implied that you were looking out for yourself rather than me, I didn’t mean it the way that it sounded I just meant that regular mortals have to put up with stuff like that all the time”, she tried to explain.
“You’re not regular”, he pointed out.
“Well no, but sometimes my obvious greatness intimidates people”, she tried to joke him out of his mood.
He shot her a look.
“Or at least that is what I tell myself”.
He smiled, a tiny bit.
“You can’t change the entire world just for me, I know that you would like to be able to but you can’t.”
“Then what can I do?”
“Give me a hug before we have to go into another store?” She offered.
Lex pulled Chloe into his arms and held her tightly, ashamed at himself for having no hugged her sooner. Her soft, warm weight nestled against his body perfectly and he inhaled her fragrance. Some fruity body spritz scent underpinned with wholesome Dove soap. It was pure Chloe.
“We will have the designers come to us at the hotel”, it wasn’t a secret where it was staying and he wasn’t exposing Chloe to that again.
She gasped, “I get it now, this isn’t about what she said to me, she doesn’t really think that I am too ugly and fat to wear their clothes, you set it all up so that you could sit down, didn’t you?” She accused.
“She called you ugly and fat?” Lex demanded, his arms tightening around her possessively.
“What did you think that she called me?” She wondered.
“Nothing, but the look that she gave you wasn’t that pleasant”. He had seen it, and hadn’t liked it. “Turn this car around, we are going back to he shop”, he called to the driver.
“Lex, really there is no need”, Chloe attempted to reason with him but the car was already turning.
~*~
“Come along drama queen”, Chloe called to Lex as they finally got back to the hotel suit, her weary trudge coming to an abrupt halt. “What’s all this?”
“Oh, I thought that it would save time if instead of going through the whole you trying on and then deciding that you won’t buy anything because it is all too expensive. My secretary called every upper scale clothing provider in the city and brought everything that was in your size,” he explained.
Chloe gaped at him, “You are kidding, right?”
“Nope”, he collapsed onto the couch. “So, how about a fashion show to decide what you are going to wear tonight?”
Chloe looked out at the sea of bags in front of her, every single available surface was covered with them, Lex was even sitting on them.
“I don’t think that we have that much time!”
Love this story. Just got an opportunity to catch up and I want more.
A/N: Thanks trcky.
Chapter Seventeen
Chloe manoeuvred around the huge pile of bags she still had yet to unpack, dressed for the first time that week more casually in a pair of faded jeans and a hoodie and cap which both proclaimed her to be a fan of the Metropolis Sharks.
“Didn’t find the designer jeans yet I take it?” Lex asked from where he stood in the doorway.
“You brought me designer jeans too?” Chloe asked incredulously, “seriously Lex, at least 90% of this has to go back tomorrow”.
“No”.
“Yes”.
“No”.
“Yes!”
“Chloe”, he started in a warning tone, “don’t make me put my foot down”.
“You? Put your foot down?” Chloe irrupted into peals of laughter, the image of Lex even trying to firm too preposterous to even fully envision.
“It’s not that funny”, he protested.
“Yes, it is”, Chloe couldn’t control herself, she held onto her sides and flopped back onto her bed.
“I have put my foot down lots of times”, he sat next to her, observing the quivering, tittering mass.
“Oh yeah, when?” She challenged.
“Well”, he considered the matter, “I can’t think of any times with you recently but I must have done at some point”.
“You keep telling yourself that”, she reached out to pat his arm affectionately.
“Yes, well you should just know that it is there, big and can be put down at any time”, Lex announced as he lay back down next to her, linking his fingers behind his head as he did so. He also raised one foot and gave it a wiggle just to prove his point.
“Very impressive”, it was a surprisingly elegant foot considering its size. “I know, you are big and powerful and very scary”, Chloe assured him, patting his chest before laying her head on it and wrapping her arms loosely around his lean middle. “Is that what you’re wearing?”
“No, it is a hologram”.
“I mean”, she poked him, “to the game? Are you wearing that or are you going to change before we get going?”
“I was planning on wearing this”, he answered. “Why?”
“Because I think that we need to go shopping for you soon if that is the most casual attire that you have”, she stroked her hand over the soft fabric of his suit jacket. It was very Lex like, but it couldn’t be as comfortable for him as a nice sweater.
“It doesn’t have a tie”, he pointed out.
“No, no it doesn’t”, she rubbed her cheek against him in a comfortable, snuggly way.
“And it’s a sports jacket and trousers”, that wasn’t formal.
“It’s okay, I will introduce you to sweaters and this magical thing called denim”, she said in a consoling manner.
“Fine”, he sighed, there was no point in arguing with Chloe, “but I draw the line at flannel”.
“Ah, you know how I feel about men in flannel. What about Timberlands?”
“No”, he wasn’t even sure what those were, but the answer was no if they were in any way associated with flannel.
“Tractor accessories?”
“No.”
She giggled.
“What about a nice woolly hat to keep your head warm?” She reached up to stroke a hand over his head.
“It would probably look a bit weird with a suit”, he took her hand and replaced it on his chest. He didn’t mind her touching him but it felt odd in that situation, with them there, lying on a hotel bed.
“I thought that you said that it was a sport’s jacket trouser combo?” Chloe demanded his attention once more.
“It is, but it would still look weird”, gone were the days when he constantly wore a hat everywhere he went just to hide his head.
“Tomorrow, jeans and woolly jumpers”, she rubbed his tummy.
“What is your obsession with rubbing my stomach?” He asked with a laugh.
“What?” She raised her head slightly, “Was I doing it again?”
“Yes”.
“Oh, well”, she shrugged, “that’s just what you do when you are cuddling with a teddy bear”.
“I am not a teddy bear”, he gave her a squeeze to cut the harshness of his words.
“Yes you are!”
“No I’m not!” How did he get into these arguments?
“Well then how do you explain the fact that we are cuddling and that your tummy keeps getting rubbed?”
“My best friend is a psychopath?” He tried.
Chloe shot bolt upright.
“Chloe, I didn’t mean, I was just joking”, he sat up immediately too, the relaxed slightly drowsy feel from a few seconds ago replaced by panic.
“I’m your best friend?”
Lex’s eyes widened slightly, “I didn’t mean it like that”.
“No, no Luthor you can’t back out of this now. Did you or did you not call me your best friend?” She demanded, she couldn’t believe that there was anything wrong with her ears.
“Well, it is a little juvenile”, he tried to avoid the conversation.
“I don’t care”, he should have known that that wouldn’t work, she was like a terrier with a bone when she got her teeth into something. “That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
He sighed, realising that there was no way out of this. “Well, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am, but I didn’t think that you would have worked it out yet”, she went back to hugging him happily. Her best friend. “When did you know?”
“Hmmm?” He wondered, his body slowly relaxing now that he thought that the conversation was over.
“When did you figure it out that I was your best friend and that you now like me more than Clark?” Chloe enquired.
“What?”
“Well, a girl likes to know these things”, she rubbed her cheek against him.
“Chloe, I haven’t the faintest idea”.
“Oh, okay”, she sounded disappointed.
“You were definitely my best friend by the time that Clark came back around”, Lex decided after a moment. He hadn’t even considered Clark’s feelings that day at the corn fair.
“Okay”, that was nice and early. It wasn’t something he had just decided.
“So ...” He prompted.
“So what?”
“Aren’t you going to tell me when you worked out that I was your best friend?” If she was going to be needy then she should at least tell him too. Rather than answering him, she paused. “Chloe?”
“I’m not sure either”.
“A vague time frame?” Scientific curiosity got the better of him, he would like to know what it had been that he had done to make her decide that she was his best friend.
“Ummm”, she couldn’t think. The truth was that of course she was his best friend, but was he hers? He was definitely one of her best friends but she had Lois, and Clark and her Dad. Besides she had always been warned against having best friends as it would always end up with someone’s feelings getting hurt.
“I’m not your best friend, am I?” He voice the concern slowly, as the realisation dawned on him.
Chloe closed her eyes as a bolt of pain flashed through her. His tone was cool and aloof but she knew that she had hurt him, knew how much that meant to him. She should never have brought it up.
He moved her gently to the side in spite of her protests and stood up, “We have to get going in half an hour but I can make your excuses if you ...”
“No Lex”, she called after him and wrapped her arms around him from behind, “don’t get mad”.
“I’m not mad”.
“Well, don’t get hurt or offended or ...”
“I am none of those things and I really don’t think that you have any right to tell me how I should or should not be feeling”, he said in a tight voice as he tried to detach her. “Chloe, let go, I don’t want to hurt you”, he told her as his fingers prised at hers.
“Not until you promise that you aren’t going to run off and lock yourself in your room and not talk to me”, she all but begged.
“Chloe, I’m hardly a child”.
“Promise”.
“I hardly think”, he tried again but was once again interrupted.
“Promise!”
“Fine”, he huffed, “I promise”.
Slowly and unwillingly she released him, there wasn't enough room between him and the door for her to squeeze into and he refused to turn around, only shrugging off her hand when she tried to turn him or at least hold onto his hand.
“Please don’t be mad”, her voice wavered.
“I have already told you that I am not mad, I just want to leave”, he strove to keep his tone calm. He tried once more to free himself of her but she wouldn’t allow. She plead with him, she could hear the pitying pain in her voice and it struck him in the heart, but not for the right reasons. “Chloe, why did you want to be my friend in the first place? Wanted something out of me or was it just pity?” The last word was barely a whisper.
“Fuck you Lex”, Chloe pulled a disgusted face. “You know damned well that I didn’t want anything from you and as for pity. The only person who pities you is you sitting there going ‘Oh I’m Lex, my Mom’s dead and my Dad doesn’t love me’”.
“Don’t you mention her”, Lex growled in warning.
“And I lost my hair and Clark isn’t my friend any more. Yes crap has happened in your life. Everyone has their problems. But you know that you are great you know that you are funny and kind and intelligent and interesting and fun to be around. You know that the only reason that I hang around with you outside of work is because I want to and if I hear any more of this crap I will be forced to kick your ass”, Chloe poured forth her wrath on him but Lex looked unimpressed.
“I’m sorry that I brought up the best friend thing. And I’m sorry that I cannot give you an assurance that you are my number one bestist best friend who I want to be my partner in all school projects from now until the end of time. I have a Dad and cousin who I love but yes, you are right up there. You count as a member of my family so whatever hang ups you have get the hell over them”.
“Are you finished?” He finally turned around.
“Yeah, pretty much?”
“I am not going to be threatened with any more bodily harm if I open my mouth?”
“That depends on what you are going to say”.
He stepped closer to her so that their bodies were touching, he placed his finger under her chin until it was raised enough for them to make eye contact and practically snarled, “However angry you are, however justified you feel, never bring up my mother to win a point or an argument again”.
Guilt crept up up through her settling in a hard ball in her throat. She blinked rapidly but couldn’t tear her gaze from Lex.
“A warning from your best friend”. He left and Chloe tried not to cry.
~*~
“Lex?”
“Chloe?”
She stared down at the blue denim of her jeans as she rubbed her sweaty palms against it, “Are you still angry with me?”
“Do I seem angry?”
For the first time since their argument she dared to look over at him. She had been ready and waiting by the limo before he had even come out of the hotel and had slipped into the car discreetly; afraid that he might leave without her. Since then she had been keeping resolutely silent and to her side of the back-seat. It was dark but she could make out his face. A stone mask. “No, but what does that prove?”
The corner of his lips quirked up, ever so slightly.
“So, are you?”
“Yes, a little”, he admitted, “but it will pass”.
“It will?”
“Yes”.
“You are sure?”
“Yes Chloe, after all who else would spend ten hours in a board room with me and actually pay attention to every single scrap of information and trip up the opposition?” He asked.
“I don’t like people trying to take advantage of you”, she said, feeling oddly as if she needed to defend herself.
“I know”, he had been impressed by her abilities, “not even the statisticians would have caught that last one”.
“I don’t think that they were trying hard enough”. She had spoken to some of Lex’s other advisors and wasn’t statisfied that they were doing their jobs of looking out for his interests well enough.
He smiled at her, reached over and squeezed her hand, “And who else would save me at the opera?”
~*~
“Oh, I’m so excited”, Chloe giggled as she entered the Metropolis opera house on the arm of the most handsome of escorts.
“Really? All of that bouncing around in the car didn’t give it away”, Lex teased her good naturedly.
“Well I’m sorry Mr Fancy Pants”, she bumped her hip into his, “but this is exciting to me”.
Lex smiled at her, a warm, genuine expression. A lot of the dull things he had been raised to do had taken on a new life over the last few days. Metropolis seemed to sparkle when Chloe smiled. The stupid things people said were suddenly forgiveable just because it meant that she could mock them. “It is exciting tonight”, he agreed.
She nodded, pleased with herself. Determined not to miss a thing, she ripped her eyes away from her dashing date to survey their surrounds with what she hoped was an air of disinterest bordering on ennui until she burst out in an excited whisper, “Oh, oh look Lex. Is that who I think it is?” She stopped herself just short of actually pointing.
“Probably”, he smirked at her exuberance, “this is opening night at the Metropolis opera”. He couldn't remember the last time he had been excited at the prospect at seeing any member of this crowd.
“I read an article about him in last weeks’”, Chloe was about to tell Lex all about it when she stopped herself and attempted another look of bored hauteur. She hoped that she didn’t look constipated.
“Last weeks’, what?” Lex asked, trying not to tease her about her latest expression.
“It doesn’t matter”, she said with a shake of her head which luckily transformed her features back to normal. She looked up at him and, upon noting his expression, continued, “Really, it doesn’t”. His expression did not change one whit and stated very clearly that she was going to tell him.
“I’ll tell you later, it’s not important now”, she removed her arm from his so that she could turn around to see more.
“If it’s interesting tell me now”, he took her by the hips to bring her back around to face him. He wanted to know what she had been about to say, she was fast making this the most interesting pre-opera time he had ever experienced. However, that wouldn’t be difficult.
“No, later”, she placed her hands on his arms without thinking about it.
He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him as he joked, “What’s going to happen later”, and wriggled his eyebrow at her.
“I am here as your arm candy”, she raised up on her tie toes so that he could hear her as she whispered conspiratorially, “to make you look good. I will save my need to tell people off until later”.
“Chloe, you don’t have to not be yourself”, he frowned down at her.
“I’m not ‘not being myself’. I’m just behaving better so as not to make it more difficult for you”, she defended herself.
“You don’t have to behave either”, he whispered in her ear, pulling her even closer.
Chloe blinked, as she found herself smooshed against him.
“Lex Luthor, as I live and breath”, a husky female voice interrupted them.
Chloe’s head snapped to the side, shocked for a second she hadn’t realised that they had been the centre of anyone’s attention until that second. Lex clearly had though. She had to give it to Lex, he was a good actor. If he wanted to ensure that other women didn’t bother him too much, he was doing a good job making it believable. He continued to hold her close even as Chloe turned to get a better view of who had interrupted them.
She was tall, brunette (or poopie haired, as Chloe liked to this of it), and looked like she hadn’t eaten in about two years. Possibly more. Considering the amount of collagen and silicon inserted into her frontage it was a miracle that she was still standing upright. Just Lex’s type.
Or maybe not. Lex’s hand found its way to Chloe’s stomach and stroked over it gently and absent-mindedly. At least it appeared so to the casual observer but Chloe knew better. Still, she leant back against him and stared up at him fondly.
“Penelope”, he said suavely with a nod before transferring all of his attention to Chloe. “Darling, this is Penelope Daniels, you met her brother David at the meeting yesterday”.
“Oh yes”, Chloe had had fun destroying the smarmy bastard. She had known that she didn't like this girl, it was no wonder when she considered the family traits. Among her and her brother’s worse habits was the tendency to shoe horn her way into conversations which were nothing to do with her and not take subtle hints. Finally Lex just stopped responding, seemingly unable to take his eyes off Chloe, and asked, “Darling, have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”
“Not thoroughly enough for my liking”, he had in fact mentioned it but Lex was always polite.
He raised an eyebrow.
She smiled up at him and he inclined his head as if he were about to kiss her and Chloe wondered just how far he was willing to go to get rid of this woman. She needn’t have worried, Lex was always in control. Just before his lips could reach hers, a chime sounded to indicate that it was time to make their way to their seats.
“We had better get going”, he told her, taking only a second to look up and say to Penelope, “it was nice to see you again”. Before she could reply, Lex’s hand was on Chloe’s lower back ushering out of the foyer and up the stairs. Once they were out of hearing, he hissed, “Never leave me alone with that woman”.
“I didn’t!”
“I could feel you pulling away”, he kept his hand on her back as they continued along their way.
“You’re paranoid”, she rolled her eyes.
“I’m not”, he huffed.
“No, then what are you?” She challenged.
“Cautious”, she looked unimpressed, “She is the kind of woman who goes after men with money”.
“Aren’t most, according to you?” She was going to have to do something about that perception at some point.
“Yes, but there is a difference. She wants a baby to trap someone forever”, he explained.
“Shame”, patted his chest, “but I’ll protect you”.
“Good”, he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it gently just as they reached their own private box.
Chloe blushed at the attention and felt a little odd until she realised why he had done it, there was an usher waiting to help them in. She smiled at both of them, turning to Lex once they were alone and teasing him,“Only the best, I see”.
“Of course”, he smiled back.
It really was the best. She transferred her attention back to the view from the box. She could see down over everything but no one could see in. They were cocooned in their own private world. She loved it.
“Do you like it?” He checked, sounding almost anxious.
“I love it”, she enthused, throwing her arms around his waist in a hug as she did so.
“I’m glad”, he returned the embrace, “Do you like opera in general?”
“I don’t know”, she finally released him and sat down.
“This is a rather good one”, he smiled and sat down next to her, placing his arm around the back of Chloe’s seat as the lights dimmed and the orchestra began to warm up. She didn’t know if that was standard opera protocol.
~*~
“So, did you like it?”
“It wasn’t bad”.
“Wasn’t bad?”
“No, why do you look surprised?” Chloe inquired mildly as rotated her head to observe her companion.
“Because of this”, he scooted to the edge of his seat and perched there with an expression of rapped wonderment and his hands clasped.
“I did not look like that”, Chloe elbowed him.
“You did!”
“Chloe, you didn’t even move during intermission”.
“There was an intermission?” He was making that up, wasn’t he?
“Yes sweetie, it was a quarter of an hour”, he had sat there chuckling at her.
“Well, you are supposed to be looking at the stage, not at me”, she huffed.
“I prefer looking at you”, he answered with a shrug.
“Why?” The show had been really good.
“I have never seen someone enjoying it so much before. Everyone else I know pretends but you, you really loved it did you?”
“I did”, she beamed.
“Good”, he gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Are you ready to get going then?”
“Sure, although I would like to powder my nose first”. See she was already fitting in, she hadn’t see ‘Go for a tinkle’. Her invitation to Buckingham Palace was probably in the mail already.
“Right, the ladies’ rooms are over there”, he said as he walked her out of the box.
Chloe was practically bouncing as she made her way into the room, even it was fancy all marble and gold and skipped back out in search of Lex only to find him being cornered by the horrible woman from before. Couldn’t she tell that Lex was uncomfortable? He was almost cringing, poor baby. Chloe to the rescue.
She ran her hands down her dress even though she already knew that it was wrinkle free - she had checked in the bathroom - and sauntered over to him and, not opting for the subtle approach, pinched his bum.
“Woah”, Lex jumped slightly and Chloe giggled before wrapping her arms around his middle.
“Just trying to get your attention, you have been neglecting me terribly”, she pouted.
“How terrible of me”, he slipped his hand down onto her hip, “How can I make it up to you?”
“Oh, I can think of some ways”, she raised up onto her tiptoes to whisper once more.
A few seconds later Lex made a very convincing display of dragging her out of the opera.
~*~
“Well, that last one was obviously a gold digger”, Chloe huffed.
“I know”, he gave her hand another squeeze.
“Oh, we’re here”, Chloe smiled as they pulled up to a halt.
“Are you going to be sad to go back to Smallville tomorrow?” Lex wondered, voicing something he had been considering that day pre-fight.
“No, I mean don’t get me wrong I’ve had a great week but I like Smallville”, she reached over to hug his arm, “I don’t have to share you so much there”.
Lex smiled. He liked that too.
A/N: Do you think that their friendship will survive their fight?
can't wait to see what happens next.loved end of chapter where both lex and chloe liked that the don't have to share the other so much in smallville
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