Story 3: Exposed
He hated owing favours because it made him vulnerable and that was the way he felt where Chloe was concerned. Despite the distance he’d tried to put between them, the bond which their temporary allegiance had created still survived. Yes, the invisible tie was there; a signal of how vulnerable he’d let himself be. In fact, more than a tie it was an actual chain to which he’d inexplicably added a new link a few months ago.
The latest security breach had convinced him one of these days his most personal and secret project might get in the wrong hands. What would happen if they were her hands? She’d come knocking at his door crying havoc. At least, she’d come back to him in some way.
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Almost four months ago she helped Clark clear Lex’s name and save the billionaire from ending up in jail for a murder he hadn’t committed. She’d done it because, despite everything, she felt she owed it to him and because… Well, it was high time she put that behind her now. After all, he’d proved what he really thought of her not so long ago when his evil half had tried to kill her and Clark at Luthorcorp.
She hated herself for being so weak and so stupid as to still hope he could look at her differently. Her overwrought imagination and loneliness while in hiding had made her see things reflected in his eyes that hadn’t actually been there. She’d even gone so far as to think that she’d have a date for her Senior Prom. She’d have shown everyone she wasn’t a freak or a loser who couldn’t attract a sexy intelligent guy and keep him- not that she needed a man to be someone. But, hey, wouldn’t it have been nice to rub it on the faces of all those empty-headed cheerleaders?
Chloe looked at the screen of her laptop and sighed.
You’re pathetic, Sullivan. Look at what the lack of a love life’s done to you.
“Good morning, Lana,” said the velvety voice Chloe had been daydreaming with while reading the sultry romantic e-book she’d bought with Lois’ credit card. “I’ll have the usual,” he told the brunette with a practiced smile as he sat a few tables away from Chloe, who seemed to be engrossed in her research.
“Sure, Lex,” blushed Lana, still uncomfortable around her partner after his evil half kissed her in her apartment a few weeks ago.
”Don’t forget the whipped cream,” added Lex with a smug smile, looking at Lana’s receding back.
Oh, it was fun making the Princess embarrassed!
He grabbed the latest edition of The Daily Planet and raised his eyes to clash with a pair of green ones, surprising a fleeting heated look in them.
Chloe felt her heart hammering and loathed the way his voice and his trademark innuendo could make her body react.
“Damn!”
“Chloe, are you OK?” Lana asked worried on seeing her former housemate spill half her coffee on the tablecloth.
“I’m fine,” she smiled, slamming the laptop shut. “Blame my clumsiness on my lack of sleep. I’ve been working non-stop on the last edition of The Torch. I’m sorry about the tablecloth,” she said hurriedly, getting up and grabbing her things to leave before she made a fool of herself. “Send me the cleaners’ bill,” she added, pressing the stack of folders strategically against her chest so that she didn’t have to suffer the indignity of having to cross the café in her current state of arousal.
Lana squeezed Chloe’s upper arm and gave her one of her usual saccharine smiles.
“Forget it, Chloe.”
“Lana…” she started to answer before a patron entered the almost deserted coffeehouse and walked straight to where they were both standing.
“Good morning. I wonder if you could help me…” said the attractive brunette in her thirties whose wardrobe and style screamed Metropolis or some big city.
“Good morning,” chirped Lana.
“I’d better leave now. I have a zillion things to do,” Chloe excused herself and rushed out of the door. There was no way she’d stay a minute more in the coffee house to see Lex salivate over another woman.
“Don’t forget to pick up my gown!” shouted Lana to Chloe’s back. “Sorry… Prom Dance,” shrugged Clark’s eternal flame, looking at the older woman apologetically.
“I know what that was like,” smiled the outsider.
“How can I help you?”
“You can pour me a cup of mocha and tell me where I can find Ms. Chloe Sullivan.”
“Oh, you’ve just missed her! It was the petite blonde that breezed away. ”
“Well, I suppose I can wait a couple of hours. I need a restoring cup of coffee and a short nap,” she sighed, sitting down on a bar stool. “I’ve been driving from Gotham non-stop.”
“The Black Knight’s homeland,” smiled Lana, prepping the espresso machine.”What brings you to our leafy little hamlet? You don’t mind my asking, do you? We rarely get visitors from Metro or Gotham. Smallville can be hardly described as a magnet for tourism.”
“I’m here on business. I’m afraid I can’t tell you much. I’ll be staying at Smallville’s Inn. Could you tell Miss Sullivan that Jackie Morris would like to meet with her? Here’s my personal card.”
“Sure,” said Lana, eying the card with curiosity.
Jackie Morris was in Smallville.
Lex folded the financial section of The Daily Planet, left a ten-dollar bill on the table and, greeting his partner goodbye, headed towards the entrance of the popular coffee shop.
There was no use putting this off. Fate always had a way to laugh in Lex Luthor’s face. Well, it was to be expected. He wasn’t a fool; he knew he’d unconsciously asked to be found out from the very beginning, and he didn’t need a shrink to know why he’d set the wheels in motion.
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Chloe was putting the final touches to the last edition she’d supervise when she heard the door of the office open and a pair of expensive shoes step inside.
Lex.
She wondered when God would stop taunting her with what she couldn’t have.
“If you’re looking for Clark, I’m afraid he isn’t here. He’s got a tendency to disappear when deadlines are approaching,” she said ironically, keeping her back to the door.
“Actually, I was looking for you. I need a favour.”
A favour. That was the only thing she was good for. She was tired of being invisible.
“I’m sorry, Lex. If you need your own personal search engine, I’ve run out of favours to grant till next Christmas. What happened? Daddy Dearest close your bank accounts and you’ve been reduced to resort to an amateur sleuth?”
A pregnant silence fell on the room
You’re a bitch Chloe. That was a low blow. It’s Lionel you hate, remember? Lex isn’t the Devil incarnate; he just …
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, turning around.
“No. I deserved that. I haven’t been much of a … friend these past months. I’ve never been good at this…” he tried to explain. “I’ve got a confession to make. It might be better if I just showed you this.”
Chloe took what look like a legal document from Lex’s hands and perused the contents with a growing look of disbelief.
“This is in my name. ”
“I know. I should have asked for your permission but … In any case, I didn’t think this pet project would end up being such a smashing success.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“Every dime generated has been deposited in an account in your name. And any future revenues will be signed to you of course. “
“Why?”
“You’re the only one who’s given in this… relationship.”
“That isn’t true, Lex.”
“It is. I just wanted to… thank you in the only way I know, but I thought you’d have said no if I’d simply offered you the money to help pay for your college education, so I looked for a more creative solution. ”
“I kind of like my pen name. I have a very steamy imagination.”
“I thought you were only into non-fiction,” he smirked.
“I read the occasional sultry novel. And your… my… historical romances are damn good. Actually, I’ve been reading Roman Temptress again.”
“Was that what you were reading at The Talon this morning when you looked so flushed?”
“So… why are you confessing now?”
“The editor’s in town. She wasn’t supposed to show her face and ask to meet with you; it was one of the conditions when the contract was signed.”
“How long do we have?”
“Less than two hours.”
“Pull up a chair. Boy, wish I were working for The Planet…”
“Chloe…”
“Kidding. I won’t let the world know about Lex Luthor’s penchant for writing erotica, but you’ll have to agree to my terms.”
She smiled mischievously.
Oh, yes! Think about all those brainstorming sessions. This is going to be a very interesting partnership indeed.
THE END
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