CHAPTER 5: Cousins
MONDAY 1 p.m.- THE HERALD´S BULLPEN
Chloe had finished proofreading her editorial for the morning edition when her extension rang and brought her out of that state she was starting to think of as a Lex O.D.
¨Metropolis Herald. Sullivan speaking, ¨she answered, twisting the cord around her finger as she fidgeted with the small purple envelope and the initialised card she had got alongside a massive bunch of tulips- her favourite flowers.
¨Good afternoon, Cinderella. You promised to call your Fairy Godmother first thing in the morning, remember? What happened? The carriage turned into a pumpkin before you got home? ¨complained a grumpy voice.
¨Hi, Lo´!¨laughed Chloe.
¨Don´t ´Hi, Lo´!´ me, missy! I´ve been holding my horses all morning, thinking maybe it was better not to call you on your cell phone just in case I interrupted you love birds in the middle of some action... ¨barked her cousin.
¨Lois! ¨hissed Chloe. ¨Tell me you aren´t talking from the newsroom of The Planet where everybody can hear you. ¨
¨Don´t worry. I´m calling you from the elevator, and I don´t know any of the guys, ¨she told Chloe, casting a glance around her. ¨ What are you looking at? Hasn´t your momma told you it´s bad manners to eavesdrop? ¨
¨God, Lois! Who are you talking to? ¨exclaimed the blonde reporter, locking herself up in the photocopier room.
¨Some walking steroids in a suit, ¨she murmured, getting out of the lift on the ground floor of Metropolis´ leading newspaper.
¨You should be careful, Lois. One of these days you´ll piss somebody off with your big mouth. For Pete´s sake! I´m starting to think Clark was right about insisting you take a leave of absence now that you´re entering the third term, ¨Chloe responded, closing the blinds.
¨And who´d be covering the news while he´s gallivanting around the world doing his thing? I swear if Junior doesn´t make his appearance soon, I´ll seriously consider wearing a chastity belt and closing shop, ¨ranted the eldest cousin.
¨Those are your hormones speaking, Lois. You know you already love this baby and the whole maternity thing. ¨
¨Come on, Chlo´. Who are we kidding here? You´re the one who was born to be a mother. Look at you around Uncle Fester´s kids! Let´s face it, I´ve never been the nurturing kind. What the hell do I know about raising a kid- least of all a kid who shares Clark´s DNA? Remember how things turned out with Lucy? I screwed it big with her, Chloe, ¨sobbed the brunette.
¨Lois, take a deep breath, ¨replied Chloe with a soothing voice, trying to calm her hyperventilating on the other side of the line. ¨What happened with Lucy wasn´t your fault. ¨
¨Yeah, tell that to Lex and all those people she robbed blind, ¨ she said, blowing her nose. ¨I´ve failed her and dad. What kind of a model does that make me? ¨
¨Lois, raising a child can be a daunting enterprise, and I understand your fears better than anyone, but you have to stop blaming yourself for the choices your sister has made. You can´t keep paying for her mistakes. ¨
¨Oh! My quota of daily tears is up. God, I hate being pregnant! Now, how the hell did we end up talking about me and Junior? This phone call was supposed to be about you. So tell me, Chlo´, did the billionaire live up to his Sex God reputation? Don´t spare me any details, please, ¨she continued.
¨Lois, we went out to see a play and have dinner, ¨laughed Chloe.
¨Well, yes, I know... that was the enticement- and let´s not forget the dress. I can´t believe a man like him would remain indifferent to that masterpiece of haute couture and the natural curves that went with it. We´re not talking about my husband here... Clark would have turned red like Sup´s cape, then frozen like an ice statue and left it to me to make all the moves, but not Lex. Come on, cuz! Don´t keep me in suspense!¨
¨I told you, Lo´, we saw a play, had dinner... at Les Escargots... ¨
¨Les Escargots? Wow! That was quite an upgrade to my table for two at Enrico´s , but I can´t think of a better scenario for a seduction. So... what did you do over dinner? Did you feed each other a sinful chocolate mousse with a spoon? ¨
¨No! You know I´ve given up sweets, and chocolate was at the top of the list. ¨
¨Oh, sweetie. Then, tell me you didn´t go home empty-handed. You know what they say about chocolate. ¨
¨He played the piano for me. ¨
¨The piano? Not that boring classical stuff that was always blasting from daddy dearest´s stereo, right? Because that´s the best recipe to kill the mood- mine, at least. ¨
¨I can assure you if you had been there, your musical tastes would have changed. When someone plays with so much feeling and lets himself be so exposed... ¨said Chloe emotionally.
¨You cried. The bastard made you cry playing the piano. ¨
¨I never felt closer to him than when he played that Schubert´s Impromptu, Lo´.¨
¨OK, so we´ve established cue ball can move an audience with his piano skills. Now I want to know what happened to that dress you were wearing. Does it still qualify for a refund? ¨
¨God, Lois! What do you take us for? Sex maniacs? We just kissed. ¨
¨Kissed? After nineteen months of abstinence on his part and twelve years of repressed passion on yours you made do with a few stolen kisses? ¨she asked outraged.
¨Could you please repeat what you´ve just said? ¨asked Chloe tersely, starting to boil up.
¨What would you like me to repeat? That I can´t believe he passed on the opportunity to make a woman out of the only female specimen who hasn't approached him either to fleece or murder him? Or that you got cold feet and denied yourself what I´ve seen with my eyes is already yours? ¨
¨How could you? ¨responded through clenched teeth.
¨How could I what? ¨
¨You´ve had him investigated behind my back. How else could you know ... ¨
¨That he hasn´t been with anyone since Lilly was conceived? ¨
¨What gives you the right to go digging into something so private, Lo´? ¨
¨Love. ¨
¨You´ve overstepped your boundaries this time, Lois. ¨
¨I wasn´t going to let you fall deeper for a man who could be either seeing someone else or engaging the services of some call girl or other. Be honest, Chloe, have you ever seen Lex alone since you met him in Smallville? The guy screams sin just by walking into a room. ¨
¨That´s not the point; I wasn´t expecting him to have remained a monk after Lana. ¨
¨But deep inside you wanted him to keep his marriage vows even after the bitch had passed away. I can´t blame you, Chloe, if something similar had happened to Clark and I found out he was getting attention elsewhere, I would have felt devastated. I had to make certain Lex was a hundred percent clean and unattached before handing him my little cuz on a silver platter. ¨
¨You might have helped me choose a dress for a night out, Lois, but it was me who decided to let Lex back in my life again. ¨
¨Chlo´... ¨
¨I´m mad at both you and Clark, Lo´. ¨
¨Sweetie, I just wanted to make sure he wouldn´t hurt you again. ¨
¨I don´t need guarantees. There are no guarantees he won´t hurt me, or I him, and I don´t want any. It´s enough for me to know that he loves me just as much as I love him. We´ll brave the storms as they come, alone- that´s what a committed relationship is like. Don´t ever try to interfere again, ¨she spat at Clark´s wife before hanging up on her.
Chloe closed her eyes and leant against a filing cabinet, hating the way her playful conversation with Lois had morphed into an argument. She hated even more the fact that Lois was right... she was overjoyed at the realisation that Lex hadn´t slept with anyone- not even with his adulterous wife- after Lilly was conceived. However, that knowledge was accompanied by a sudden pang of guilt when she recalled their ride back home and how hard Lex had fought to restrain his ardour. At the restaurant, when they were discussing what to order she had told him she was ready, but the truth of the matter was she felt grateful for the control he had relinquished to her in the back of the limo- a concession which went against his nature and upbringing.
He was still a Luthor- brooding, at times dark and manipulative. He hadn´t said the three big words, but he had shown her and that was more than she had ever dared dream of.
CHAPTER 6: The World Outside (Part 1)
LUTHORCORP PLAZA- LEX´S PRIVATE OFFICE
It was close to twelve on a Thursday morning and Lex had angled his swivel chair to admire the city landscape from his office on the top floor of LuthorCorp Plaza. Today they celebrated their first month as a couple, and Lex was finding it hard to believe they had reached that landmark without any mishaps.
He had tried hard to walk the line and, so far, he had succeeded. Still, his fatalistic nature- or rather, experience- kept telling him reality would intrude into the cocoon they had created. Lex Luthor was expecting the ´bomb´- whichever that bomb was- to fall on his lap.
Even though Chloe had made him believe in love again, Lex had seen everything good in his life eventually come to an abrupt and painful end too many times to take things for granted. He was aware that this month of romantic limbo would finish sooner or later; neither he nor Chloe had ever been the fairy tale type- they were too down-to-earth for that- but it felt good to enjoy being normal if only for a short while.
The previous Friday they had been to the speech therapist with Lilly and the baby had uttered her first word- which had sounded a lot like ´dad´ to the three pairs of ears. The triumph of hearing his daughter´s voice for the first time had made him seek refuge in the toilet to regain the composure the two women in his life seemed to be determined to make him lose. As much as he loved what Chloe was helping him build, he couldn´t afford to let all his defences down because he knew he´d need them when the time came to shelter them from the hostile world out there, a world which couldn´t stand to see a Luthor happy.
¨Luthor, ¨said Lex, taking a deep breath as he answered his mobile phone, knowing the day he had dreaded was finally there. ¨You´ve been paid very well to erase any trace that might lead back to me. It doesn´t matter that I resigned my candidacy; there´s a lot more at stake now than then. How´s this possible? All right, here´s what I want you to do. I want you to go over every file you compiled and dig up some more. Something must have been overlooked during your investigation... No, no! I want your report on my desk tomorrow evening. I don’t care! Buy all the coffee in Brazil to keep you awake- you can afford it with the money I´m paying you by the hour. You and your team will have to work non-stop because I can´t afford losing everything over a stupid slip. Have I made myself clear? Good. I´ll see you tomorrow, ¨he seethed, slamming his mobile shut.
No matter how hard he´d worked at redeeming himself, the past was always coming back to haunt him. If only it had waited a little longer. Lex grabbed an onyx paperweight and, hurling it across the room, smashed the glass of the only framed picture he had of him and Lana holding Alex a few minutes after he was born. Almost on cue the intercom buzzed.
¨Yes? ¨he asked after taking a swing at a bottle of Tŷ Nant to pull himself together.
¨Miss Sullivan´s here to see you, sir. Should I tell her to come in? ¨ answered the cool professional assistant he had hired after Lionel´s death.
¨Give me a couple of minutes and send her in, Jessica, ¨he told the middle-aged woman, collecting the scattered shards and throwing them into the wastepaper basket. He removed the photo and, discarding the frame, stashed it away in the top drawer of his desk where he spotted the black velvet case he had there since last week. He looked at it and, pressing his lips together, slipped it into the left pocket of his jacket.
¨Hi! ¨beamed Chloe, crossing the threshold and meeting him halfway.
¨Hi, ¨he replied softly, threading the fingers of his left hand through the silken tresses of her shoulder-length hair to bring her closer for a kiss.
Chloe dropped the shopping bags she was carrying on the sofa to her left and opened her mouth to his gentle probing. She could taste the trace of vintage bourbon when their tongues mated and she wondered what demon was now chasing him. Almost a year ago, when they had resumed their friendship, they had reached an agreement: he wouldn´t resort to alcohol again to drown his sorrows or hide from pain, and he had kept his word until then.
The blonde reporter raised her hand and, touching his scalp, let her fingers graze the bump on the back- a move which never failed to get a sexy moan out of the in appearance unflappable Lex. The billionaire felt the caress of her hand on him and realised that he´d lose his tight control soon if he didn´t finish the kiss immediately. The previous week their make-out sessions had started getting progressively longer and more heated. He couldn´t but feel proud that he was the one teaching her to explore her sexuality and to feel comfortable with her own body. However, keeping his restraint when all he wanted was to get lost in her and consummate the love he felt for her- a love which made him want to be the man he knew he´d never be- was driving him crazy.
¨Lex, what´s wrong? ¨she asked breathless when he cupped her face and ended the kiss. ¨I could swear I heard glass breaking when I was outside your office, and you´ve been drinking, ¨she added, placing her hand on top of his.
¨Chloe... ¨he began.
¨Lex, I know there are things you´ll never share with me, things that you don´t want me to know about, but something tells me this has nothing to do with business, ¨she cut him off, locking his stormy blue-grey eyes with hers.
¨I´m in the middle of a big deal, Chloe. I´m a bit stressed out, that´s why I poured myself a bourbon today. There´s nothing to worry about... ¨
¨Well, I worry about you, Lex. And, because I worry about you, I came her to make sure you eat properly, ¨she said, picking up the bags she had dropped on the sofa and taking out several cartons of Thai food, napkins and everything they needed for an improvised meal at the office.
¨That was nice of you, Chloe, ¨he smiled tiredly when she finished setting the things down on the coffee table. ¨Come here, ¨he murmured, wrapping an arm round her waist from behind. ¨What would I do without you in my life? ¨he added next to her ear, pressing a kiss on her pulse.
¨Keep being your brooding, tortured self; continue making plans for world domination and taking to bed that crowd of brunettes that are always trying to leave you without a penny and kill you, ¨she chuckled.
¨I renounced brunettes and one-night stands a long-time ago, ¨he mouthed, nuzzling her neck and tightening his hold on her.
¨Lex, what´s bothering you? ¨she croaked.
¨That our food´s getting cold, ¨he responded, closing his eyes and burying his nose in her lemon-scented hair.
TBC
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I do like that Lex wants to take things slowly with Chloe--it shows how much he cares for her.
I loved the entire Chlo-Lo interaction but this was just *cackles* awesome!!!.jpg "tatie87's Avatar"){kind=avatar}
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