A/N: This is the sequel to my fic Nightswimming. If you haven’t already done so, read that first, then meet me back here.
OK, for the rest of ‘y’all, this one picks up seven months after that one ended but it flashes back to various points during that time gap. Flashbacks will be in italics. If you get confused by anything just send me a PM or post here and I’ll try to clear it up. Feedback is my life source. Comment early and often. Thanks.
Title: Life Less Ordinary
Author: newbatgirl
Rating: R for a couple of love scenes, maybe some language.
Pairing: Chlex (There’s something besides Chlex?)
Disclaimer: Time Warner/DC can have them back when I’m done. There might be a few scratches on Lex, though. Hee-hee.
Summary: Seven months after a chance meeting ignited their old feelings, Chloe and Lex are trying to make their long-distance relationship work. Again, not really a song fic but loosely inspired by the song “Life Less Ordinary” by the band Carbon Leaf. Apologies to my fellow REM fans. Also, I have never seen the movie by the same name so it was not an inspiration to me.
Live a life less ordinary
Live a life extraordinary with me
Live a live less sedentary
Live a life evolutionary with me
Chapter One
Offices of the San Francisco Chronicle…late afternoon…
Chloe tapped her foot impatiently as her editor skimmed over a hard copy of her latest story. Jen was perched on the edge of Chloe’s desk twirling a red pen in her hand and she seemed to be taking her damn sweet time about it as far as Chloe could see. And it was well after five, dammit.
Normally Chloe wouldn’t care what time it was, she wasn’t a clock-watcher and journalism wasn’t a clock-watching kind of job. But today was different. It was the Friday before a holiday weekend. A holiday weekend that Lex was coming to spend with her. He was planning to fly in that night, as soon as he wrapped up some important meetings. Judging from the last email he had sent her, he would arrive in a few short hours, giving her just enough time to finish up at work, fight the evil Bay Area traffic home, shower and change. So, of course, Jen-the-Anal-Editor-Thompson picked today of all days to be nitpicky about her diction!
Jen raised her eyes from the pages in her hand, and flicked her short brown hair from her eyes. “Am I keeping you from something, Sullivan?”
“Well, now that you mention it, it is getting kind of late.”
“Since when is…” Jen checked her watch, “five-oh-eight late for you? You work much later than this all the time. The layout staff swears you’re not human.”
Chloe moved things around on her desk. “Maybe I just have things to do this weekend,” she said vaguely. She had to be careful, Jen was not only her editor, she had become a close friend, and she could often tell when she was not being 100% truthful. Her relationship with Lex was not a secret, but it wasn’t something they wanted broadcast on the evening news either. So far the only people who knew were members of Lex’s staff who spoke to her occasionally…and Clark. Chloe hadn’t even told her father; that was something that didn’t sit well with her but she had her reasons.
“Hmmm, something or *someone* to do this weekend?” asked Jen, waggling her eyebrows.
“Oh, grow up, you perv.”
“Hey, watch your mouth there, young lady, I’m your boss, not to mention fifteen years old than you.”
“Fourteen.”
“Whatever, anyway, I’ve seen the signs. Hushed phone calls on your cell. Every once a while you, Ms. Workaholic, decide to cut out early, usually on a weekend. Then you come on Monday glowing like a Christmas tree, decorated, I might add, with a few love bites. Conclusion: you’ve got a guy stashed somewhere, am I right?”
“You have an overactive imagination.” Chloe retorted, trying and failing to stop herself from blushing. ‘Shit, I thought I covered those. Damn Lex and his lips anyway. OK, I sooooo didn’t mean that last part.’
“Hallelujah! Chloe Sullivan is being well and royally laid! So what’s with the secrecy? He’s not married, is he?
“No, he is NOT!” exclaimed Chloe then winced when she realized what she had all but given away. “Shit!”
Jen threw down the pages in triumph and wiggled a little against the desk. Chloe groaned. Her boss was thirty-seven going on twelve sometimes, particularly when it came to ‘hot scoops’ as she called them. Chloe realized that her personal life now qualified as one. ‘Shit.’
“Soooo…what’s his name, what’s he do?”
“Jeez, nosy much?”
“Ye-ah, a reporter, remember? We get paid to do the nosy thing here.”
Chloe looked at her watch again. “Well, this is my personal life, not a breaking story.”
“Sheesh, calm down, Chlo, I was asking as your friend, too? Why all the hush-hush?”
“Sorry, Jen. I know you care…it’s just…complicated. He’s kind of high-profile, so we really don’t want to shout it from the rooftops yet, you know?”
“OK, like that’s supposed to make me *less* curious! Now I need details. Define high-profile.”
“I’d really rather not.”
Jen pressed on, undaunted. “Movie-star high-profile or musician high-profile? Oh God, please don’t tell me he’s politician high-profile.”
“No, more like Fortune 500 high-profile.”
“Jesus, Sullivan, you’re dating a tycoon? Never would have thought that. Who is he?”
“Feyx fdoooother,” murmured Chloe.
Jen rolled her brown eyes. “Care to repeat that for us non-canines?”
“Lex Luthor.”
“WHAT!!!??”
“Shhhhh, please, Jen!”
“OK, OK, sorry. It’s just… You’re dating the head of Luthor Corp? Wow! How did you guys meet? How long have you been dating?”
“We’ve been dating about seven months now and how we met is…complicated.”
“Seven months! And you’re just telling me now? Sullivan, I thought we were friends!”
Chloe frowned. Now she felt guilty on top of everything. “I’m sorry, Jen…I had to…” She was interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone. She looked at the Caller ID, it read ‘Lex – Cell.’
“Hello?” she said into the phone, feeling Jen’s eyes boring into her head.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m calling to tell you that the meeting ran late. I’m still at the office. I’m leaving in a few minutes but I still have to get to the airstrip and everything.”
“Oh, OK. So what time do you think you’ll get in?”
“Not until late, but likely before midnight. We’ll probably have to scratch having dinner out, though. I’m sorry.” said Lex. He actually did sound apologetic and it made her feel better. Chloe liked going out places with him when he visited, it made their relationship seem more normal. He wasn’t well known on the West Coast so they didn’t have to worry about tabloid reporters as they would have to in Metropolis.
“It’s OK, don’t worry about it. Do you need me to pick you up?”
“No, I’ll take a cab like last time, I’ll see you soon, OK?”
“OK. Bye”
“Bye.”
Chloe pressed the ‘end’ button with her thumb and looked up at Jen.
“That him?”
“Yeah, he’s running late. Looks like I’m not in too much of rush after all. So feel free to tear that story apart.” Chloe slumped back in her desk chair and bit her lip. Then she looked back up at her friend, remembering what they had been talking about before Lex called. “Jen, I’m sorry about not telling you sooner…”
Jen ruffled Chloe's hair a bit. “Don’t sweat it, kid. I can tell this isn’t easy for either of you. I understand. How often do you get to see each other?”
“Every couple of weeks, if we’re lucky. Things have been crazy lately, though. It’s been almost a month since he last came out.”
“Well, from the look on your face and the way you snatched up that phone, he’s worth it, isn’t he?”
Chloe didn’t hesitate before she answered. “Yeah, he is.”
Jen looked at Chloe for a minute. “Listen, why don’t you just cut out now, go home and take a long bath and relax until he gets in? You’ve been killing yourself here. I’ll finish editing this on my own.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Now, go.”
Chloe’s face lit up and she quickly snatched up her purse and phone and grabbed her suit jacket from the back of her chair. “Thanks so much Jen, I owe you.”
“Damn right you owe me. You and I have an appointment next Friday with a quart of mint chocolate chip and you’re giving me A to Z on this great romance. You got me?”
“You’ve got a deal.” said Chloe. It would actually be nice to have to someone to talk to about this.
*****
Lex began stacking the files he would need for the flight into his briefcase. He tried to keep the work he did while he was with Chloe to a minimum. That was their time. However, he tried to make effective use of the time during the flights. The reality was there were never enough hours in the day to do all he wanted to do at Luthor Corp. He closed his briefcase and shut off his desk lamp. It was already after seven in Metropolis. Traffic should be minimal so he should be able to get to the airstrip in good time. He was relieved that he had thought to remind his staff to put his suitcase in the limo that morning. Having to stop at the penthouse again would only delay him further.
As he rode the elevator down to where his car was waiting, his cell phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket and checked the caller: ‘C. Kent.’
“Luthor.”
“Hi, Lex. It’s Clark.”
“Hi, Clark. What can I do for you?”
“Hey, do I usually ask you for something when I call?”
‘Yes, you do.’ “No, Clark, you don’t. Sorry, I’m just in a hurry to get to my plane.”
“Oh, I’ll try to make it quick then. It’s just that I’m sending out some resumes to some more newspapers and I was wondering…”
“You’d like to list me as a personal reference.” finished Lex.
“Well, yeah. What do you say?”
Lex sighed. This was the big difference between Clark and Chloe, Chloe would never ask him to do this and he respected her all the more because of that. Clark seemed to think nothing of it. Still, he did owe Clark a lot. When you got right down to it, his relationship with Chloe could be traced right back to Clark Kent, whether the younger man realized it or not. Which he probably didn’t.
“Sure, just give them my office number, not this one, OK?” The last thing Lex needed was Clark giving his private cell number to a newspaper of all things.
“Thanks, Lex. I really appreciate this. So…uh, where you headed?”
By this time, Lex was at his car and he paused as the chauffer opened the door for him and he folded himself in. “I’m heading to visit Chloe, Clark.” He waited for Clark’s inevitable clumsy reaction. Though he had told Clark about their relationship several months ago, he knew the younger man wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, no doubt in part because his own relationship with Chloe had become so strained.
“Oh, I see. Well…uh...tell her I said hi, OK?”
‘You could tell her that yourself if you weren’t such a coward.’ He almost said the words out loud but, really, he had had this conversation with Clark several times already. He really didn’t have the energy for it tonight. “I will, see you later, Clark.”
“OK, bye Lex.”
Lex tossed his phone on the seat next to him and leaned back. In just a few hours, he’d be with Chloe. And it would make all the difference in the world. Despite the distance and the obvious logistical challenges, with Chloe most things were surprisingly easy. They had just three rules: No extravagant gifts. No surprise visits. No interviews.
The first rule was hers and he was constantly trying to get a better handle on Chloe’s definition of ‘extravagant.’ His attempts to pull some strings to get her a larger apartment had resulted in their first real fight, and though the making up had been quite good he wasn’t willing to risk her wrath on that score again. Still, she accepted smaller gifts from him such as CDs or books he thought she would like, and, more frequently, lingerie. The latter because she insisted that it was a gift they could both enjoy. He certainly wouldn’t argue with her on that.
The second rule was his idea. He wanted her to know that he respected her privacy and her need to lead her own life. He knew how crazy he went when people invaded his privacy and he sensed that Chloe would feel the same.
The third rule was a mutual one. Chloe said she didn’t want to seem like she was exploiting their relationship to advance her career and Lex didn’t want to have to constantly be on guard about letting things slip in his conversations with her. Making it a rule was the obvious solution.
So with a few minor pitfalls along the way, things were working and they had been for seven months. A smile spread over his face as he recalled his first visit to see her, a little more than six months ago…
*****
Six months earlier…a private airstrip in San Francisco…
Lex looked at his watch for the third time. Chloe was late. Twenty minutes late. Five minutes was understandable, ten was a bit irksome. Twenty made him worry.
“Sir?” said his pilot from behind him, “Would you like me to call you a cab?”
“No, not yet. I’ll wait a little while longer…” replied Lex calmly. He was not used to waiting and from his last conversation with Chloe, he had thought she was as anxious to see him as he was to see her. She would have told him if she changed her mind…wouldn’t she? At least before he got on the damn plane and flew all the way… ‘Aw hell!’ he thought to himself. Lex was not used to self doubt. This would not do. He shifted a bit on his feet and checked his watch…again.
The sound of squealing tires caught his attention and he whipped his head around. Peeling towards him was a small red car, a modest, but sporty sedan. The blond hair visible through the driver-side window left no question as to who was behind the wheel. One of the airplane maintenance vehicles cut in front of the sedan in an attempt to get to the runway, and Chloe stuck her head out the window to tell the other driver exactly what she thought of the action.
“Sir, it looks like your ride is here.” said the pilot, trying very hard not to smile.
“Looks like.” replied Lex, dryly. “I’ll see you on Sunday…if I survive that long.”
“Good luck, sir” sad the pilot, before slipping away.
The car screeched to a halt a few yards from where Lex waited. Chloe popped out, talking a mile a minute and walking just as fast.
“Lex, I am soooo sorry I’m late. The mayor called a press conference late in the day and the reporter who usually covers the City Hall beat is on vacation and Jen asked me to do it and well, I couldn't really turn her down because she might not ask me again. So anyway, I did it and then I got caught in all sorts of hell trying to get out of midtown. Do you have any idea what traffic is like here at this time of day? Well, no, of course you wouldn’t but the point is…”
By this time she was right in front of him and he raked his eyes over her as she spoke. She was flushed and her hair was wild around her face, probably from speeding with the window open to get there. She wore a burgundy pantsuit and he could see the cream colored camisole she wore under the jacket peeking out just a bit. In short, she looked incredible. Even better than he remembered. Unable to stop himself, Lex caught her around her waist as she was mid-sentence and kissed her. Hard.
He felt her stiffen a bit then relax into the kiss, gripping his shoulders through his jacket. She opened her mouth against his, inviting him inside and he accepted immediately, pressing one hand against the back of her head to deepen the contact. She gave a soft moan and her hands drifted upwards to cup his face.
When she pulled back, he grinned at her. “You can finish telling me that story again whenever you want but I needed to give you a proper hello.”
Chloe was panting and even more flushed now. “Hello to you, too. Sorry you had to wait.”
His hands roamed over her hips. “It’s OK. You can make it up to me.”
They chatted about trivial things on the drive back to her apartment. Chloe pointed out landmarks, complained about traffic and shouted the odd obscenity at other drivers. Lex watched her.
When they arrived at her building, she parked and led him upstairs to her space on the second floor. She gave him a quick tour. Two bedrooms, one for her, the other converted into an office, kitchen, living room, decent view. Absolutely horrific Bay Area rent, she explained, but she was lucky since it wasn’t far from her office. She had decorated it nicely, as well. Colorful fabrics everywhere, overstuffed pillows on the sofa, several walls lined with brimming bookshelves and framed vibrant prints. Like Chloe herself, it wasn’t overly feminine but it was by no means a dull or streamlined space.
Chloe suggested that he shower and change while she made arrangements for dinner. Since Lex had been on the go since early that morning, a shower suddenly seemed like a great idea. It would unwind him enough to enjoy the evening out with Chloe no matter where they went. With that in mind, he pulled a clean dress shirt and pants from his suitcase, laid them on her bed and went to take a hot shower.
Some time later, Lex emerged, feeling much more relaxed. He wrapped a towel around his waist and went to Chloe’s bedroom to dress. She was nowhere to be found so he assumed she was still calling to get reservations for dinner or perhaps dressing herself. He pulled on his boxers, socks, pants and belt and then reached for this shirt…only to find it missing.
“Chloe? Did you see the shirt I left here?” No answer. “Chloe?” Lex listened more carefully. He could hear music coming from the living room so he walked in that direction, still shirtless and still sans his shoes.
He walked down the hallway towards the living room, now much darker than before. In fact the only light in the room seemed to be coming from two small table lamps flanking the sofa…and about a dozen small candles distributed around the room. Chloe was lighting the last of them, a large one in the center of the coffee table and she was wearing his shirt. And nothing else.
She raised the match to her lips and blew it out, then smiled when she spotted him in the doorway.
“Hi.”
“Hi, yourself. That’s my shirt.”
“So it is. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Won’t *I* be needing it?”
“I doubt it.”
“I thought we were going to dinner.”
“I thought it might be better if we stayed in…I ordered take-out. Should be here soon.” She rose and approached him, the French blue of his shirt contrasting nicely with her creamy skin. She stopped right in from of him and placed both hands on his bare chest. “We can eat out tomorrow. I’d rather stay in tonight and…make it up to you for this afternoon.”
“No argument here,” he whispered a second before covering her lips with his. They kissed slowly, savoring the taste and feel of one another and swaying slightly to the soft music playing, Lex ran his hands down her back, stroking her through the thin fabric.
When they finally parted, she grinned up at him. “Do you want your shirt back?” she teased.
“Nah. It looks better on you. You can keep it…for now. I make no promises about later, though.”
*****
Chloe’s Apartment…Later that evening…
Chloe shifted again on the sofa, a book open and virtually ignored on her lap. She had come home, and been bathed and dressed in one of her favorite *presents* from Lex for some time now. Chloe was not a patient person by nature. It was bad enough that she had not seen Lex for nearly a month but add in the fact that he was late and she was ready to crack.
Finally, she heard steps outside her door and a muffled knock. She was off the couch and in front of the door like a shot. She tore it open to reveal a rumpled Lex Luthor. He immediately stepped inside and set down his bag, then wrapped his arms around her. They stayed that way for a few moments, just holding one another.
“I’m sorry I’m late…” said Lex finally but she pressed her finger to his lips. “It’s OK. Do you want anything to drink? Some food?”
He shook his head. “No, just you.”
Chloe nodded. She slid her hands underneath the lapels of his jacket and pushed the garment off his shoulders. Catching it before it could fall to the floor, she tossed it on a nearby chair. Then she took his hand in hers and tugged on it. “Come, then.” He followed her without a word, letting her lead him to her bedroom, where they could shut out the rest of the world.
End Chapter.
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