Summary: Chloe ran away from Metropolis three years ago with some very special memories but the past comes back to haunt her. Lex finds himself in a quandary. Is he willing to sacrifice everything, including happiness, to close a deal ?
Disclaimer: all Superman and Smallville characters belong to DC Comics and Gough & Millar. The characters from Batman's universe belong to Bob Kane and DC Comics. No Infringement's intended.
Author: lexie
A/N: Here are the first two chapters of my latest Chlex fic. Remember that the single quotation marks are used for internal monologues.
Now, on with the story! Don't forget to review when you're done. I love feedback.
HOPE AND HAPPINESS
CHAPTER I: Choices
The sun was setting in Metropolis and Lex Luthor was standing by the panoramic window of his office, his hands in the pockets of his expensive black trousers, surveying the city landscape with a pensive air.
His private meeting with seventy-five-year-old Rocco Ferrucci to negotiate the acquisition of the exclusive ' Speranza ' department stores had produced an unexpected result and put Lex in a quandary. In fact, the old man's condition for the sale had taken the young billionaire by surprise, and he wasn't a man easily stunned. However, Lex wasn't going to allow a ' small ' detail to stop him from purchasing one of the leading companies in its field. Lexcorp needed to enter a business such as this in order to acquire respectability in the eyes of the consumers. God knew the world tended to identify his young corporation with his father's and the fishy business Lionel had always seemed to be involved in.
Lex made use of all the acting tools he had learnt to master as a Luthor and, with his habitual poker face, lied through his teeth. He had to plan his strategy and his response had helped him buy the time he needed. Lex's mind was working at full speed because he knew the Italian-American couldn't be fooled for long. The blantant lie he had told the old man about the press vultures wasn't far-fetched, but if Ferruci hired a PI to do some digging, the truth would come to the surface and Lex couldn't afford that.
Several courses of action took shape in his mind, but most of them entailed jeopardising Lexcorp and his own personal fortune. Lex weighed the economic variable and thought it could be solved by his team of lawyers and someone willing to sign the papers. However, there was one aspect which he found difficult to come to terms with- was he willing to sacrifice himself and any possibility of ever being happy to close this deal?
GOTHAM CITY-CHLOE'S FLAT
Gotham's skyline was dark and oppressive even in daylight and now that it was almost nightfall, it seemed more so. Chloe had always been a cosmopolitan girl who enjoyed the beat of the city, its rhythm and even its smog. However, she missed the clean and indescribably blue skies of Kansas. Gotham wasn't Smallville, and it was a far cry from Metropolis- the city she loved for what it had given her and from which she had run away a little over three years before.
Funny how things can change overnight, how a seemingly simple undercover assignment for The Daily Planet could put a life upside down. It had taken one night- or, rather, a few hours- to truly know herself. Although it had been a glimpse, she couldn't or wouldn't forget it; it had meant too much and it had made her the woman she was now. She wouldn't have changed a thing about that night. True, she had run away, afraid of the consequences, but she had no regrets. All of her had been there, still he didn't know. He shouldn't know.
Chloe looked out of the window once again, trying to make out the stars and constellations she knew were there, but saw only the light that appeared to illuminate the cloudy skies of Gotham almost every night- the bat signal. She wondered what kind of man would patrol the streets and skies of that city dressed like a flying rat. Somehow, she couldn't picture him as someone like Clark- he had to be a darker character, a hero more appropriate for a gloomy city such as Gotham.
She closed the curtains and walked towards the fireplace on whose mantelpiece lay an invitation with embossed gilded letters. She had got it a month before and had had internal arguments over the wisdom of attending the soirée. She had even drawn up a list of pros and cons which had decided her not to come until she walked by a shop window and saw the perfect dress to wear to the do. After a week of debating with herself, she had caved in and entered the exclusive shop to buy the garment, as well as an expensive pair of shoes and a matching bag.
She had stopped thinking about herself just when she had discovered what it meant to be truly alive. It had been a conscious choice which had brought about a different kind of happiness. But now, it was time to start being a little selfish again.
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I really like how you've started this one. I wonder what Lex will do on the date. I envy Chloe! loL! 
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