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Thread: The Great Deception (NC17) Updated 6th November 2015

  1. #11
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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    I don't like when I see that Lana is comforting Lex in Chloe's absence, but I'm glad Lex saw her for what she is and is throwing her out.

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    Spunky Chick Senior Member hfce's Avatar
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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    EEWWW Blana. Why? Of all the women her barf. Why is she running from Lex? What did he do to her? Why would blana help? I don't believe her.

    P.S. I am still looking for work. It is hard not easy.
    "Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. "

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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    Cbrunberg: Thank-you.

    Trckyrcky: Me neither. Yep, he did, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she is completely out yet. I know, I'm evil, but I have to amuse myself somehow.

    Hfce: I know, I know. He he you'll find out ... at some point. I don't believe her either. Shall I let you in on a secret? *looks around and whispers* I don't like her either, so I doubt that it is going to end well for her. I'm sorry to hear that you are still looking, the market is terrible right now. I'm looking for parttime work while I am a student and starting to panic about finding a real job NEXT september 2015. Hope that it gets better for you.

    Note for everyone, my harddrive on my laptop is apparently about to die - great isn't it, just when everything is going crap you have to part with an extra 60-70 pounds. Anyway, this means that I probably won't be around much for the next ... not sure. Two weeks probably. However, I will be trying to read through Accidents once more and sending it off to a publisher by the end of this month - on my other computer. So I won't be idle and will be refused probably in August but at least I will have tried. Anyway, I won't have stopped Chlexing, just silly harddrive.

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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    Chapter Three

    Lex was lying stretched out on the chaise longe the following morning. His eyes were closed, his head was pounding, and his mouth tasted like he had licked a hairy sailor's arm pit. The reason for this stood neatly by his side, lined up neatly like little empty soldiers, four decanters in total.

    “Ah Alexander my boy, nice to see that you are embracing your role as a captain of industry”, a dark haired man said, as he strolled into the office and tugged open the curtains unfeelingly.

    “Do you have no sympathy for the afflicted?” Lex groaned, his hands going over his face to hide it from the glare of the sun.

    “Not in the slightest”, he marched over to his son, pulling his hands from his face and said, “Wakey wakey”.

    “Oh God”, Lex groaned. “What the hell do you want? Are you here just to torment me?”

    “No, not just”, Lionel walked over to the side board, “I actually came in for a drink, but I see that you beat me to it. Honestly Lex, I know that you have a freakishly strong immune system, but this is ridiculous”

    “Your concern is touching Dad”, he croaked dryly. He really needed another drink.

    “I am concerned”, there was a note of truth in his voice, it would have been touching had Lex's head not been so sore. Lionel poured out two glasses of water and took one over to his son, “Drink this before I am tempted to pour it over your head, you idiot”.

    Lex grunted, but knowing his father's temper did deign to drag himself up and take the glass glugging the clear liquid down. He pulled a face.

    “You're probably just not used to the taste of water”, his father noted unfeelingly.

    “You're one to talk”, Lex snorted.

    “I never let myself get into such a pathetic condition”, Lionel reclined in the chair opposite Lex, regarding his son closely.

    “You've never loved anyone let alone lost them”.

    “If you say so”, he wasn't sure of that, but he wouldn't argue the point. “I am quite fond of my company though”.

    “Hmmmm”, he made a non-committal sound.

    “The stocks are doing well”, Lionel started, “everyone is happy with your performance”

    “Yup”, he was starting to wish that he had another glass of water - as foul as it had tasted, he hadn't realised just how dehydrated he was until that moment -, but he wasn't going to get up. Chances were that he would fall over and he had already displayed far more weakness in front of his pater than he ever wanted to.

    “Imagine what you could do if you were actually focused”, Lionel continued, as if absent-mindedly.

    “What are you trying to get at, Dad?” Lex asked, finally looking over at his father. The man didn't look much like him, they were similar builds with noble features but that was where the similarity ended. The abundance of chestnut waves which fell in Lionel's face as he laughed compared to Lex's sleek bald head only served to highlight the difference.

    “Dad ...” He tried to pull his father's attention back to the matter at hand when it seemed that he had no intention of interrupting his chuckling.

    “I heard about what happened”, Lionel cut in, his mirth at an end.

    Lex's head snapped to attention. The world swam around him.

    “Lana isn't very good at keeping secrets and I got the rest of the information from your man”, Lionel explained.

    “Well, as he doesn't have any new information ...”

    “Oh Alexander my boy”, Lionel tutted, “still so much left to learn”.

    “What do you mean?” The younger man ground out, in no mood for these games.

    ”Such a soft little boy”.

    “Dad”, he barked.

    “Men tend to be rather more forthcoming when they are dangling from one foot from the roof of an extremely tall building”, Lionel informed his son, conversationally.

    “What!?”

    “There is a car waiting out front, the driver is ready because clearly you are not in any condition to drive yourself”, he gave him a disgusted look.

    Lex jumped to his feet but couldn't move any more than that. He just stared straight at his father. This had to be a trick.

    “Son, just promise me that after today you will make a choice. Either bring her back her with that boy, or move on with Lana but stop doing this to yourself”, he indicated to the area around him. He took a slip of paper out of his pocket and held it out to him – even though the driver already had it.

    After so long, it was within his grasp but Lex just stared, unable to force himself to move. “This isn't a joke is it?”

    Lionel sighed, “No son, I promise you, this is no joke.”

    As Lex tore out of the mansion Lana crept into the study.

    “Lionel?” She asked in a whisper as she crossed the room to watch Lex's car screeching out of the gates next to where Lionel now stood, staring out of the window.

    “Don't worry my dear”, he said as he turned to her with a smile, “I told you that I would take care of everything”.

    She bit her lip.

    “Ah darling, what's wrong, did you not sleep well?” He asked, cupping her face and running his thumbs across the dark circles under her eyes.

    “I was up all night”, she admitted with a shaky breath, “I was terrified that Lex was going to kick me out”.

    “Ah, well that explains it. But you should know that I would never let that happen, princess”, he wrapped his arms around her. “Things have got out of control and it's time for me to take the reigns once more”.

    ~*~

    “Can't you go any faster?” Lex demanded from the back seat. Were he behind the wheel, they would have been there by now.

    “Not really, sir, no”, the nervous reply came from the front of the car.

    This was absurd, they were only forty miles away from Smallville, it hadn't been worth getting the helicopter as it would have taken too long. All of this time and she had been so fucking close. He was trying not to leap out of the car and attempt to out run the fucking thing.

    “Come on”, he slammed his fists against the seats.

    “We are travelling at 100 miles per hour, sir. If we get caught ...”

    “I'll buy off the cops”, he growled and continued to do so until they pulled up and he almost cried. There was no way that this was the correct address.

    They were in a town that was so small that it made Smallville look like Metropolis, a handful of houses, no schools but oddly enough a semi-delapedated boarding house which only seemed to get any custom because it was near the free-way and people just couldn't manage to go any further. Chloe couldn't be there.

    “This has to be wrong”, he muttered.

    “No sir, this is definitely the right address”, the chauffeur opened the door for him and waited as the dazed billionaire climbed out of the car on legs which were suddenly shaky.

    He took in the three story house from the peeling paint on the wooden surfaces to the untidy garden. They couldn't be living there. They just couldn't.

    As if in a daze he struggled forwards. Looking back on it in the years to come, he would never know how he managed it without his legs buckling or his heart giving out from the strain but somehow he made it inside. Against all reason, he found himself expecting to see Chloe standing there babe in arms, ready to greet him and answer all of his questions. What actually met him as the sight of a small reception area with a kindly old woman sitting there.

    “Chloe”, he croaked. In a voice which he didn't recognise as his own.

    She smiled at him oddly but nodded her head and beckoned for him to follow her. He did so, up the winding staircase and then down a dark hallway. The place as run down: the wall paper was old-fashioned and was not always smooth against the walls which seemed to bow a little in places; there was a smell of must which clung to the place like the thin layer of dust and occasional spider's web; and the antique floorboards creaked beneath his Italian designer shoes, but he didn't notice any of it. Lex was focused on one thing, the door in front of which the little old lady had left him.

    He stood there. His heart was thudding in his chest. His mouth was as dry as the desert. His palms were wet with sweat. And he was petrified. He raised his fist and knocked at the door which gave worryingly under his knuckles.

    “Come in”, a voice which he remembered only too well floated over to him. After a year and a day of searching, he had finally found her and yet he was unable to move. It as all that he could do to breath.

    “Penny, is that you?” Chloe called through the plywood, “Did I hear someone pulling up outside? I've just given the room a once over and ...” She opened the door. “Oh God”, she whimpered.

    There she was, the love of his life standing before him in a small double room which was just as run down as the rest of the house if a little cleaner. It contained a small, slightly warped window - through which filtered a small quantity of light, but not enough to fight off the general gloom of the place -, a bed, wardrobe, Chloe and nothing and no one else. He remembered her so well, her small ripe figure, her creamy skin, her large green eyes which stared up at him in shock.

    Chloe peddled back inside, the colour draining from her face. Her mouth was open but no sound was forthcoming. Her hand still on the door tried to close it but he forced it open as he advanced into the room.

    “Chloe”.

    He strode in from the darkness. She scurried backwards into the light. She was even smaller than he remembered, no longer able to fill out her now heavily worn clothes. Her creamy skin was almost too pale. Her large green eyes were as gorgeous as ever but had bruises beneath them. He stared at her. She was still gorgeous.

    “Darling”, the word came out of him without thinking. “Come here”. He reached out his hands, Chloe peddled back until she found herself against a wall and could move no further.

    “Chloe, darling, I can't believe it. I have been looking for you for so long. Here”, he finally reached her and extended his hand to caress her soft cheek. He couldn’t believe it, she was real. He had finally found her.

    “God, please tell me that this isn't a dream”, he groaned. He stroked his hand through her hair.

    She placed her hands on his chest, pushing him back. He glanced down to see cleaning products still held in her delicate fingers. This definitely wasn’t a dream, he couldn't have dreamed something like that.

    “What is going on?” He asked, taking the products from her.

    “You are the one who just burst in here”, she reminded him feebly, leaning back against the wall as if it were the only thing keeping her up.

    “I've been looking for you for a year, Chloe”, he growled, throwing the stuff to the side, “do you have any idea what it has been like?”

    She shook her head.

    “Tell me Chloe”, he grabbed her shoulders. “Why did you run away? Why did you take my son? Why didn't you call? Why have you been hiding from me? What is going on?”

    “When Lana told you that he wasn't yours you were so angry you ...”

    “Chloe you can't be afraid of me, you know that I would never hurt you. Either of you. Come on”, he ran his hands down her arms, “let's just get little Alexander and we can get going. I realise that you are upset, I'm not feeling too well myself, this is a lot to take in. We can work out everything when we get home”.

    “Lex, I ...”

    “I know, I know maybe you never loved me. I don't know what made you do it but that doesn't change anything. I promised to protect both of you and that's what I'm going to do. You can stay in the guest house if you prefer, if you don't feel comfortable exactly living with me. You can have anything you want, I’ll build you a separate house in the grounds if that is what it takes but let's just get our son and ...”

    “Our son?” She repeated the words in a questioning, nervous tone, having yet to move.

    Lex made a noise, as if someone had plunged a knife into him, “I know that he is not biological my son and I promise that I won't confuse him by saying that again”, he had no idea how he was going to manage that when that was how he still thought of him, but if that was what it took then he would do it. “I won't. I'll control myself just please ...”

    She shook her head, as her eyes filled with tears.

    “Chloe ...”

    “I … I can't”, she finally choked out.

    “What?” He let go of her, “What do you mean you can't? Of course you can. Is he at nursery?” He cast another glance around the room, searching for the baby, not that he honestly thought that there was any chance that he had missed him.

    Her restraint snapped and huge fat tears spilled from her eyes. She slammed them shut as if suffering from a mortal blow, her face turned completely red, her chest heaved, her breath came in strangled pants and she began to shake.

    Somehow, in spite of everything, two words made it through her blood less lips. Soft, shaking, but just about distinguishable. “I. Can't.”

    He froze, panic and realisation coursing through his veins. The child was gone. He couldn't believe it, couldn't wrap his mind about it. Over the last year he had been tormented by nightmares, images of both of their broken bodies amongst the worst of them, but he had never truly believed that his son could be gone.

    His son was gone. He had to know how. Was it the crash that he had caused? Another complication? Had she given him up? Or, he felt his blood running cold at the thought, had she been forced to take a more permanent solution?

    “Oh God no”, Lex couldn't get any more out. The pain was radiating off her in waves. He turned, he stumbled, he ran. He couldn't do this. He couldn't hear that his boy was gone. He was barely back inside the car when he broke down in tears, the first time since his mother's death over a decade ago. There was no hope, no future, Alexander was gone.

    The chauffeur had the sense to stay outside the car until Lex had calmed down and the door opened from the inside. He billionaire, looking a good decade older than he had that morning, thrust into his hand an envelope with Chloe's name scrawled onto it. It contained a cheque which he had just written and with the driver’s help found its way inside and into the young woman's possession. One hundred thousand dollars. It would look after her. It would … it wouldn't do anything important.

    He wanted to die.

    He actually thought that he might. The chauffeur had returned and started to drive away when he was hailed to stop. Lex he barely got out before he threw up. Violently. His body jerking forwards. Veins bulging in his head. Water running down his cheeks.

    His boy was gone. His darling was destroyed and it was all his fault.

    As he finally straightened up, wiping his mouth on his expensive suit cuff he looked around. He could go back to her, he burned to go back to her, to hold her but he wasn't strong enough. He was just going to cause her even more pain and suffering. He staggered back into the car. He was going to do what he was supposed to have done all along, marry Lana, settle down and be the head of a major cooperation but he would never produce an heir. There was only room in his heart for one child, and he was dead.

    He would speak to his Dad, he would know how to take care of Chloe without her ever having to see him again. He would never hurt her again. No one would. She deserved the chance to move on with her life, find someone she actually wanted to be with, who would love her, worship her, with whom she could have more children.

    He broke down.

    ~*~

    Chloe slumped down to the floor as she watched the love of her life leave along with what little remained of her strength. What had she done?

    “Chloe? Sweetiepie?” Penny poked her head around the door, “Oh, sweetheart, don't cry”, she came in armed with the envelope she had taken on her young friend's behalf and another little present nestled in her arms.

    “I thought that you might need this, I checked in on him. He is still fast asleep but I don't think that he would mind you needing a little cuddle”.

    Chloe managed a small smile. She was shaky, tired, heart broken, but he was the one thing that made it all worth while. “Adrian”.

    A/N: So, what do you think?

  5. #15
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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    looking forward to see what happens next

  6. #16
    Spunky Chick Senior Member hfce's Avatar
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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    Why did she lie?
    "Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. "

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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    Cbrunberg: Happy to hear it.

    Hfce: Well if you look closely she didn't actually lie ... unless I wrote it wrong. But the reason why will appear ... eventually. How many more times can I use ... in one answer ...?

  8. #18
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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    Chapter Four

    Several years earlier …

    Chloe shifted uncomfortably in her tiny seat, trying not to elbow the person sitting next to her in the ribs as she did so. She had been in this God awful contraption for the last three hours and she was fairly certain that her spine was now severed for life. If only she could stretch her legs, just a little bit … she didn't think that she could bear this for another thirty minutes.

    “Are you going to squirm for the rest of the flight?” Complained the owner of the rolls of fat which continued to spread across the dividers and into Chloe’s seat, rather impressively while continuing to chew her gum, noisily, smacking her lips and spraying the back of the seat in front of her just as she had since they had taken off from Boston.

    “Yeah, probably”, Chloe said, as she planted her feet and attempted to lever her hips slightly, hoping that that would take the excessive pressure off her spine. How was it possible that someone as short as she was couldn't even sit without their knee caps pressing uncomfortably into the back of the hard plastic seat in front of her? Well, she supposed that this was what you got when you tried to get a flight for 300 bucks. There wasn't even enough space for her to get her laptop out; added to everything else, she was going through withdrawal symptoms.

    She turned her head – the only thing that it was possible to turn in the excuse for an aeroplane - and stared out of the window. Nothing but darkness. That was what happened when you got a flight at two on a Tuesday morning just to keep costs down, she supposed. A ping, accompanied by a light with a picture of a fastened seat belt brought her attention back to the flight and, with a suppressed groan, she complied. She really hated flying.

    By the time that she got off the plane, almost bent double like an old woman, she was ready to drop to her knees and kiss the ground. She cradled her bag holding her beloved laptop as she staggered over to the baggage claim and heaved her three enormous suitcases off the conveyor belt. As large and cumbersome as they were, it was still rather depressing that they could (and did) contain everything that she owned in the world.

    She heaved them up onto a little buggy and took the occasion to twist herself into several odd contortions until she heard a rather satisfying series of clicks and cracks and felt herself grow a few inches. That was much better. Or at least, she thought that it was until she caught a glimpse of her reflection. She looked like terrible.

    This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She had been away at University. She wasn't the same girl who had left: the one who had been unappreciated and in love with her best friend. She had graduated maxima cum laude from Harvard for God's sake; she was supposed to return to her home state in a tidal wave of glory. Not like this.

    She wasn't even exactly sure why she was returning, everything was different now. There was nothing tying her to Kansas really, she hadn't been back since she had started college (as her father had moved away to Florida for the climate), but after graduating – at the top of her class – she had still found that jobs were scarce. Ones which actually paid the rent even more so. With the world as her oyster, she discovered that she was allergic to shellfish. She had grades, extra-curricular activities, a certain amount of experience, references and bucket load of determination but a thousand applications later, only one real job had opened up.

    A low, demeaning, degrading job as someone's assistant in a field only remotely connected to what she wanted to do but with the possibility of advancement. Still, she had lugged her suitcase from her college dorm to a dingy 25m2 apartment if it could be called that in a suspect neighbourhood with something close to enthusiasm. A month later, she was heaving that same luggage out of her apartment which she could no longer afford to her friend’s car on their way to the airport. Life was a bitch and there was absolutely no gratitude. She had worked her ass off at something she was over qualified for and they promoted someone else just because they were willing to sleep with the boss. She had looked for another job but no one was hiring. Finally, she had been forced to accept the reality of the situation.

    She had barely enough money to survive for a fortnight in Boston, which would stretch to about a month in Metropolis. She walked out into the main hallway of the airport and saw someone holding a sign with her name on it: “Chloe Sullivan”.

    She breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't expected any of her friends to come to the airport, they didn't even know that she was coming, but if this one person hadn't come she would have been royally screwed. They greeted each other and he led her outside to a beat up, rusted out old car that she was going to pay for on instalments.

    “So, you staying in Metropolis?” The man asked.

    “No, hoping to get a job here but living a little way out”.

    “Oh, where?” He asked conversationally.

    “Smallville”, she said, with a smile, and handed over the first instalment of the money and gratefully accepted his help in loading up the vehicle. Fortunately, although it sagged significantly, it didn't collapse.

    Her money would stretch to about four months in Smallville, even with the extra expense of commuting into Metropolis. Hopefully one of her old contacts there would pay off. It was with that thought that she climbed into the car and headed off to the town she had once called home.

    The journey seemed to take forever as she travelled through field after field of golden corn. She could remember when her father had first taken her out there to show her where they would be living for her High School years, she had not been impressed. In fact, she had been so desperate for a glimpse of Metropolis at times that she had accomplished this journey twice a week at some points during her High School career, it shouldn’t be so bad. Besides, Smallville had grown on her.

    Finally, she started to see more sights that she recognised, that meant that she was getting closer. She sped passed the small brightly coloured farm houses and the one and only Luthor Castle towards the town. She almost giggled at the thought of calling it a town; it was so tiny, comprised mostly of row after row of minute quintessentially small town shops which she didn't think had changed at all since she had last seen them four years ago. In fact, as she past the cake shop, she was fairly certain that they had exactly the same pastries in the window.

    Her car crept along for another minute or two and she found herself in the ‘downtown’ area, where she could see that there had been some alterations. The refurbishment project which had started with the opening of a coffee shop called The Talon had obviously continued as it all looked much smarter. She was momentarily concerned but remembered her research which confirmed that this was still the cheapest area in Smallville – unless she wanted to live about fifteen miles in the wrong direction in a small house without running water, which she didn't.

    She pulled up just outside The Talon, mostly because she couldn't believe that it was still there now that Lana wasn't there to preside over her little endeavour. She left her car in a parking space, marvelling at the idea that it would remain safe even with three suitcases in. Still, she couldn't quite break her big city habits; when she went in, brought a very small black coffee and picked up one of the free newspapers she positioned herself by the window so that she could still keep one eye on her rusty old banger.

    Chloe opened the paper and began to sift through the various offers. She would have liked to have had this all sorted out before she arrived, but it appeared that the greater part of Smallville (and even local firms in Metropolis) had yet to embrace the internet, which made searches in Boston difficult. She read through the offers of apartments without much luck, then she turned over the page to the jobs section. Even worse. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She would just have to compromise. She wasn’t going to ask her father for money, he had done more than enough for her over the years.

    “Temporary jobs, temporary jobs”, she searched the next column. The only apartments which were available were pretty diabolical but she would have to choose one of them; she could always just rent by the week as long as she got some sort of job.

    She wasn't going to be a stripper. She wasn't going to be 'an interpretive performer (clothing optional)', she wasn't going to be part of a sex chat line. How was it possible that the only jobs in Metropolis which would actual pay enough to make the gas money worth it were all sex based? The recession had hit Kansas hard.

    “Over we go to Smallville”, she thought. If she was going to get a short-term employment for minimum wage, she might as well save herself the commute at any rate.

    “And there is a big fat load of nothing”, she sighed. This was ridiculous, she wasn't that proud. She wasn’t asking for a six figure job with benefits or anything that she was actually qualified to do, just something to pay the rent.

    “What you doing?” A sing song voice came from just behind her causing her to jump out of her skin and send her coffee cup flying over the table, narrowly missing a waitress who waved off her apologies and got to cleaning it up. This was not Chloe’s day. Or the waitress’ apparently.

    “Oh God Chloe, I am so sorry”.

    Chloe turned to see a smiling brunette. “Lana, hi, how are you?” She attempted to cover her surprise as best she could.

    “I'm great thanks”, the smaller girl wrapped her arms around the other in a slightly awkward embrace. “I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to give you such a fright. I just came downstairs, saw you, did a double take and then couldn't resist”, she added with a shrug as she released her, apparently having picked up on the stiffness on Chloe’s part.

    “Oh don't worry about it, it's so great to see you”, Chloe injected more enthusiasm into her voice and stood up to hug her former best friend again, before rubbing her hands up and down her arms. “You look exactly the same”, she said, without much tact. Lana had always been the loveliest girl at Smallville High, the ‘it’ girl, with long flowing chestnut locks, dainty frame, flawless skin, a heart shaped face and eyes so large that they almost looked unnatural. Whilst Chloe, at an inch taller than her and a good ten pounds heavier had always been curvy on a good day, a little chubby on a bad one with an unfortunate tendency to cover it with brightly coloured ‘eclectic’ clothes and odd hairstyles. She would always lack Lana’s innate grace and winsome aspect. Chloe probably would have hated her had she not always been one of the kindest people she knew.

    Lana gave a soft laugh, “That’s so odd. I was just about to say that you look so different”. She tried not to be someone who always judged by appearances and certainly never to comment on them, but the change in Chloe was remarkable. Gone was the puppy fat of youth and the awkwardness which had accompanied it. Her hair, allowed to remain its natural shade of honeyed blonde, fell down to her shoulders, better highlighting her delicate features and now crystal clear, even if she did display signs of having travelled a long way.

    “It’s been a long time”, Chloe commented as she sat back down and seeing Lana hesitate waved her hand to indicate that she might sit if she wanted.

    “Yes”.

    Chloe was relieved to see that Lana appeared only to have been waiting for an invitation rather than being unwilling as she took her seat after placing her hand on a passing waitress’ arm and whispering something to her. She was always so proper.

    They sat in silence for a few seconds, neither entirely sure what to say to the other until they both blurted out at the same time, “I didn’t know that you were back”. They laughed and Chloe admitted, “I guess that we haven’t talked for a while”. She tried to think of the last time she had actually spoken to her old friend. She thought that it must have been a year, but it couldn’t have been that long. It wasn’t as if they had had a falling out or something of that ilk, they just somehow stopped talking both too consumed with the other things which occupied their lives. She was embarrassed by that oversight.

    “No, it must have been”, Lana racked her brains, “a year?”

    Chloe nodded.

    “It can’t have been”, she rechecked her maths. No, it had been a year. “Well, that is awful. We will have to make up for lost time, ah”, she smiled as the drinks she had ordered appeared.

    They tried their best to make up the time, discussing absolutely everything that was of no importance until Lana grabbed the newspaper which Chloe was leaning on.

    “So, what was it that you were staring at so secretively when I came in?” She demanded, “And why were you doing the casual lean?” She had lived with the Sullivans for long enough to recognise Chloe’s slightly too casual leaning on a piece of evidence lean.

    “Oh it’s nothing”, Chloe said dismissively.

    “Really? It looks like a newspaper”, Lana said, snatching it from under Chloe’s elbow before she could react and starting to read it. “You are looking at apartments? And temporary jobs?”

    “Um ... Yeah, something like that”, Chloe said, extending her arm to take it back.

    Lana move it out of her reach. “Something like that, or actually that?” She had seen Chloe talk around people before without ‘actually’ lying to them, you had to be crafty when dealing with a Sullivan; they were too clever by half.

    “Yeah”, she scratched the back of her neck, “that”. She felt herself colouring up. That was one of the worst things about being pale. She blushed at everything.

    “That’s great”, Lana enthused but then added, staring at her, “but why? I mean, you graduated from Harvard, right? Shouldn’t you be in Boston? Or New York? Or London? Or Paris? Or Rome?” Her voice grew with excitement with each new city name. She had always wanted to travel, she had imagined herself at 21 strolling along the Boulevards of Paris, not sitting in a coffee shop in Smallville

    “Yes, I should”, she tried to put a brave face on it, “but that isn’t how things worked out so”, she broke off with a shrug.

    “That’s great!”

    “I beg your pardon?” Chloe gasped.

    “I didn’t mean it like that”, Lana tried to explain, “it’s just ... Well, you were always the one who was going places”.

    “You wanted to travel too”.

    “Yeah, and I lasted exactly four months away from home and have been pretending ever since”. She had been ashamed to let Chloe, her most successful friend, know of her abject failure. “Everything I just told you was well not a lie exactly. I mean, I did come back and retake over the running of the The Talon but ... It isn’t exactly what I dreamt of as a child”.

    “Life never is”, Chloe agreed taking a sip of a coffee.

    “So”, Lana said after a few seconds, “where are you going to live and work? A newspaper?” She couldn’t imagine that there were actually any Chloe-level jobs in Smallville.

    “No and I don’t know”, Chloe tried to keep her voice calm, even as her heart-rate increased, as it always did when she thought about her future recently. “There are a couple of options and I’m only looking for a temporary job at the moment, until something else turns up”.

    Lana wrinkled her nose with disgust as she scanned the appropriate columns. “You have to be kidding me. Chloe, you can’t take any of these. They are so beneath you”.

    The blonde girl sighed, not enjoying this conversation at all. Privately, she agreed with her friend but she couldn't say that she was too desperate not to find work somehow.

    Although she tried to look brave and stoic, something in her expression must have tipped the smaller girl off as she exclaimed, “I have a solution”.

    “Considering that the particular page you are now looking at contains mostly sex related businesses and the apartment without the toilet, I’m not sure that I want to hear it”, Chloe tried to joke, finally having retrieved her newspaper.

    “You should live with me and work at the Talon!”

    Chloe stared at her in shock. That hadn’t occurred to her.

    “Come on, it is perfect”, Lana enthused, “It is a nice apartment, you know that I’m not an axe murder”.

    “Although you did once try to kill me with an axe”, Chloe reminded her.

    Lana looked uncomfortable, “Well, it is a nice apartment and you know that I would never have tried to hurt you if it hadn’t been for ...”

    “I know”, Chloe assured her, “and it is really kind of you but ...”

    “No buts”, she said with more decision than Chloe had ever heard coming out of the small girl, “It will be fun. I know that it’s not what you dreamed of, but at least this way you can go to every single job interview that you get and quit as soon as you want, you can have whatever hours you need to make sure that you get on your feet and a clean apartment until then too. See, it works”.

    “It’s a great offer but I don’t want to be an imposition and ...”

    “You wouldn’t be”, Lana broke in, “besides I lived with you and Gabe for over a year”.

    It was true, Lana had lived with them rent free for that long. It had been exceptionally kind seeing as they hadn’t even been friends at the same time and competing for the same man - a competition which Chloe had basically forfeited by enabling Lana to stay in the area rather than having to follow her aunt to the city.

    Chloe considered the matter.

    “I’m not going to take no for an answer”.

    She really didn’t have any other options. No where to go. No job. Pride be damned, she was moving in with Lana Lang for the second time in her life.

    “Great”, Lana could read her expression, “and remember, when you are big successful business woman attending soirées I want to tag along”.

    ~*~

    Chloe looked around the apartment above The Talon in a kind of awe. She had been up there before of course, she had visited Lana when she had lived there in her final year of High School but she couldn't believe it now. It was about fifty times bigger than her last apartment, without the smell of mould, a working bathroom, a kitchen and a window. It was amazing how time changed ones perspectives, when Lana had first come back off holiday after her eighteenth birthday, she had felt sorry for her as she had decided to live there rather than back at home with Chloe; now the apartment seemed close to being a palace. There was just so much space. She stretched her arms out and twirled around, just because she could before collapsing back onto the couch which was going to be her bed until she could get a proper one.

    “So much space”, she sighed contentedly as she looked around the apartment. 150 dollars per month (utilities included) was nothing and she would be earning eight dollars per hour for serving coffee. That meant that working 10 hours per week and she should be able to make ends meet and add a little to her bank account, leaving plenty of time to get a job, maybe even an internship if that was how she had to start out. Although, as much as she like the apartment, she would have to be careful not to get too used to this. If the apartment weren’t comped she would never have been able to afford it and she wasn’t going to trespass on Lana's hospitality for too long. Chloe always had been the girl who needed to stand on her own two feet. Speaking (or rather thinking) of which, she grabbed her laptop and entered the internet code and opened her Skype.

    “Hello Dad”, she said cheerfully.

    “Hello sweetiepie, is everything going okay? Are you eating properly? I got your email a few days ago saying that you were travelling for work, did they give you the full-time job? You know I don't like you working somewhere without a full-time contract”

    “Well, that isn't something that you need to worry about now Daddy”, she assured him, always keeping in him his heart condition. It was minor but there was no denying that he was a worrier. “I am actually back in Smallville, I have a good apartment and steady employment, it isn't exactly what I want to do but it is absolutely secure and it will give me an importunity to climb the ladder, especially in Metropolis”.

    “Oh”, Gabe paused, “what aren't you telling me? Nothing is wrong, is it?”

    “No Daddy, of course not. I promise, I have everything sorted out”.

    “Good, so have you been eating properly? You look tired”

    She smiled, “Thanks Dad, I love you too and yes I am quite tired, I had to catch a very early flight and yes I have eaten, I saw Lana and she treated me to the biggest muffin you have ever seen.”

    “Oh, that's nice. Give her my love, won't you? And try to eat something at least semi-healthy for dinner. I'd love to talk more but I think that I had better let you have a nap, you look exhausted pudding”.

    “All right, I'll PM you later”.

    “Afternoon afternoon”, he said with a smile.

    She looked at him quizzically.

    “Instead of night night as it is the afternoon”, he explained.

    “She turned her computer of and put it gently on the coffee table before kicking off her shoes and lying down, “I am really too old for an afternoon nap”, she told no one in particular as she drifted off.

    “Chloe”.

    “Wah?” She demanded grumpily. Since when did her alarm clock have a voice? She forced her eyes open and peered up.

    A tall manly vision with dark curly hair, pretty blue eyes and a boyishly handsome face stared down at her.

    “Clark”, she croaked before closing her eyes again. Oh great, she was back to having those pathetic High School dreams about her old best friend, that he would come to her desperate to tell her of his love and burning passion and ….

    “I'm sorry”.

    “I know, you're sorry and you love me blah blah balh”, she murmured to her dream trying to turn back over and continue sleeping.

    “Um, no”, the deep voice sounded hesitant, “I'm sorry for waking you up”.

    “Huh?” She turned around, rather impressively, her back cracking all of the way down her spine, her head craning around.

    “Damn, are you all right, Chloe?” Clark demanded as he rushed to her side and helped her move slowly around to a more normal sitting position and sat down next to her.

    “Yeah, sorry, I'm just I thought that you were one of my old housemates, always waking us all up in the morning with false declarations of passion”, she tried to cover her ass metaphorically, but she did glance down to ensure that her actual one hadn’t slipped out of her jeans during her nap.

    “Right”, he nodded, he had heard of him. Chloe had mentioned him in an email. “But I thought that you said Clark?”

    “Did I?” She looked shocked. “How odd”.

    Clark looked relieved but confused as he stared down at her. “It's so good to see you again Chlo”, he pulled her into a hug, “Lana told me to come up because she had a surprise for me, but I didn't think that it would be this good”.

    “A surprise hmm”, Chloe gave him a knowing look.

    “Not like that”, he blushed slightly.

    She grinned. She adored him. Not in the way that she once had, but in the cute little puppy who was just so good. She loved that he still blushed, deciding so see just how red she could make him go, she gave raised an eyebrow at him, “My my Clark, I'm shocked that you got the implication”.

    “I … um ….”

    Fushia. Interesting.

    “Don't worry about it Clark”, she gave his hair an affectionate ruffle.

    He flushed an even darker hue. He looked down at his hands, “So, um”, he returned his gaze to her face, “are you here for a visit? No one told me that you were coming”.

    “Not exactly, hey why are you smiling like that? Do I have couch head?”

    “Ummm … a little”, he reached out and ran his fingers gently through her hair. “There”, he smiled, “you are less fluffy”.

    She smiled and surreptitiously wiped her mouth with the back of her hand to check for drool. Hardly any.

    “So, you are here visiting Lana. Why didn’t you tell me? I would have come with her to get you from the airport, how long are you staying for?” He asked, leaning back against the couch.

    “Lana didn't know that I was coming either, I didn't know that either of you were in the area. Last I heard you were both in Metropolis”, Chloe explained.

    “Things change”, he said awkwardly, “Last I heard, you were in Boston”.

    “Things change”, she said in an equally evasive manner.

    “Chloe, you're not in trouble are you?” He asked, “You haven't done something, made somebody powerful angry?”

    “No Clark”, she laughed, “i don't do that any more. I … Things didn't exactly work out”

    His brow furrowed.

    “When I graduated I could only get one job, well more of a paid internship for one month really, after which they got rid of me to replace me with someone who would sleep with the boss. Smallville is much cheaper than Boston but still near enough a major city (Metropolis) to make it a good option to live in. I hoped that one of my old contacts in Metropolis might be able to help me out. Lana very kindly said that I could stay here with her and gave me a part time job at The Talon to see me through”.

    “Oh, I'm sorry”, he felt an inexplicable sense of guilt.

    She held up her hand, “Don't be. I'm in a much better position than most graduates, the average is six months to find any job. That's just the way it is. Besides, I'm not defeated”.

    She gave him her most winning smile.

    “The world isn't fair”, Clark complained. He had his fair share of problems but he had always just assumed that everything would work out perfectly for Chloe as soon as she left High School; she had worked so hard and suffered so much loss in her childhood. She deserved things to go right for her for once.

    “No, it's not. Some people are starving in war torn countries”, she pointed out.

    “I guess, but I'm still mad”.

    “I know”, she patted her arm before admitting, “me too actually”. It really wasn't fair after she had worked so hard, she was supposed to have more than this. Still, what she had was more than most.

    “Well, as you are going to be here. We might as well make your stay as comfortable as possible”, Clark decided, standing up. “So”, he looked around, “where is the rest of your stuff?”

    “This is pretty much it”, she indicated to her three large suitcases and laptop and bag.

    “Oh”, he said thoughtfully. Then looked back around. “Where are you going to sleep?”

    “You were sitting on it”, she patted the sofa, “until I buy a bed, and wardrobe, and chest of draws and well, you get the picture”. She had briefly run the figures in her head so far and after working to pay rent etc and not dip into her almost non existent savings, paying for the car, job hunting, saving for and finding an apartment of her own, possibly finding an internship, and rebuilding her savings, she had worked out that she would have to work four days per week – leave three to job hunt – and be very sparing with what furniture she brought, and from where.

    “You can't sleep on the couch, you'll get a terrible back. We have a spare bedroom set, bed and all of that stuff”, Clark said.

    “That's nice Clark but I can't accept it”, she already felt uncomfortable enough about living with Lana. That was as near to charity as she was planning on getting.

    “Why not”, he used his puppy face, “it is just sitting there gathering dust as it is”.

    “Clark”, she didn't believe him for a second, “your parents have a two bedroomed house, how do you have an extra set of furniture?” She wasn't going to let him by her furniture and then pass it off as just something that he had lying around.

    “No, honestly Chloe”, he didn't look entirely honest, “for wood work in High School I made an entire bedroom set, remember?”

    Now that he mentioned it, she did remember hearing something about it and that it was only fit for giants and so ugly that it had been stored somewhere in their barn.

    “Okay, you are sure that it won't be putting you out?”

    “Chloe”, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders, “I promise. No problem and no cost, just stuff that I already had lying around”.

    “In that case, thank you Clark”, she threw her arms around him.

    “Any time”, he returned the embrace, “I've miss you so much Chloe”.

    “I've missed you too”, she assured him.

    “Good, I'll be back soon”, he promise, breaking away from her and heading for the door. When he got there he called back, “Oh hey, I just thought, we have this really huge wedge of material left over from something my mom was making for someone, we were just going to throw it away but you could use it to corner off that area over there”, he pointed to a square space free from anything else, “to make it into your bedroom”.

    “Double check with your mom first”, she advised before asking, “do you want me to come with you?”

    “No no, it will be easier by myself”, he said her before giving her a sunny smile and bounded off.

    Small towns really aren't so bad, Chloe decided as she went to wash her face and check her hair before heading down to see if there was anything that she could do to help out. She wasn't due to start work until the following morning, but that didn't mean that she couldn't lend a hand.

    Hey Chloe”, Lana smiled at her and beckoned her over, “going out to explore and see what has changed?”

    “No, actually I was wondering if there was anything that I could help with or observe or something so that I can hit the ground running tomorrow”, she offered as she watched the other young woman carrying a huge tray of coffees around the place, distributing them with a smile.

    “Oh, that's so nice but um ...” she looked around, “I think that I have it covered for the moment. The only thing which is causing problems at the moment is some paperwork”.

    “Well, I can do that if you like”, Chloe offered and Lana gratefully accepted. She was good with people but hated forms with a passion which was odd considering that she was a manager.

    “Really? Chloe, you are a life saver”.

    When Clark returned with his Dad carrying a bed, then various other items of furniture into the room along with linen and some cakes from his mom Chloe was halfway through an inch stack of papers.

    “Wow, that's a lot. Thank-you so much, are you sure that none of this is stuff that you are going to miss?” She asked after she had greeted them both.

    “Only when I don't bang into them”, Mr Kent assured her. “Clark's over zealous building has been rather a hindrance”.

    “Well I am very grateful for it at least”, she smiled as she saw it all. It was very good actually, plain and quite masculine and large but neat and sturdy.

    “Martha was delighted to hear that you are back and demanded that I invite you to dinner very soon”, Mr Kent continued as he wiped the sweat from his brow before they started arranging the double bed, mattress, bedside tables, double wardrobe, bookcase and desk.

    “Happily, whenever is convenient”, she beamed. There were definitely things that she had missed about small town life, and Mrs Kent's cooking was one of the main ones.

    ~*~

    The next morning when Chloe ambled down the stairs to The Talon, the wedge of papers from the night before tucked under her arm, she realised that she actually felt better than she had in several months. She wasn't where she wanted to be, but she was comfortable and safe and there was some distant, glimmering ray of hope for her future. Things could definitely have been worse.

    She placed the stack on the counter as she went to turn on the coffee maker and start about Lana's check-list of things to do before opening up. Chloe had insisted upon letting her friend have a break from always doing the earliest shift for once. It was the least that she could do.

    She went about her work quickly and was just about to go and open the front door for the five-thirty crowd – which didn't actually exist – only to be shocked to come face to face with The Talon's owner. Still, she took the key out of her pocket and opened the door for him, stepping aside to let him enter.

    Her astonishment was nothing compared to his. “Chloe?” He exclaimed and looked around behind her to see if something else out of place.

    “Good morning, Mr Luthor”, she greeted pleasantly.

    His brow furrowed, “Since when do you call me Mr Luthor?”

    “Since I started working here”, she had thought that she had been very polite.

    He raised an eyebrow at that and Chloe felt the bottom of her stomach dropping, “Does Lana have to ask your permission?” She couldn't lose this job.

    “No no”, he shook his head, “Lana can make any decisions like that that she wants, I just thought that she might have informed me”. He gave her a tight, little smile as he headed over to the bar along side Chloe who busied herself with getting a cup out and asking him what he wanted to drink.

    He didn't know what on earth Lana had been thinking to give Chloe a job there or why the hell she would have accepted it. She was a Harvard graduate last he had heard, although Lana didn't really talk to him any more.

    “Expresso, please. Is Lana around?”

    “No, she is in bed. I insisted”, Chloe explained, as she prepared his beverage.

    Lex just stared at her. She had changed. He had first met her when she was a fourteen year old who had been far too smart for her own good, stomping around in overly large shoes, clothes so bright that they hurt his eyes, but with an odd fixation for business jackets, with almost bleached blonde hair which stuck out at odd angles. Over her four years at High School she had matured, slimmed down a little and lost her need to hide behind her clothes but still, she hadn't looked like this.

    The young woman standing before him was completely different. Well, no, not completely. She was still obviously intelligent, determined, she had that spark about her but even making coffee she was as confident as hell. Hardly wearing a scrap of make up allowing her features to speak for themselves, her hair pulled back into a messy bun and dressed simply in a black t-shirt and jeans. What the hell was she doing there?

    “Here you go”, service with a smile. That was the key.

    He blinked, out of practice dealing with her blinding smile.

    “Thank-you”, he handed over the money. It might have been his establishment but he still always paid, and always tipped.

    “Thank-you”, she deposited the money appropriately.

    “So”, he took a sip of the coffee and blinked. It was much better than normal, much stronger too. He might have known that Smallville's resident coffee-o-holic would know how to make an excellent cup. “Lana isn't around?”

    “No, why, did you want?”

    “Um, we were supposed to go over some numbers and she was going to give me some paperwork. Quite important actually”.

    “Ah”, Chloe pushed the papers towards him, “would this be what you are looking for?”

    He scanned the first page and confirmed that it was. The small, precise writing covering it did not belong to Lana.

    Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, it was a good job she had brought it down with her to put in the safe, she hadn't known that it was due today. “Everything all right?” She asked as she noticed the clouds drawing over his expression.

    “Absolutely”, he gave her that small tight smile again.

    She didn't like it.

    “If I have just poisoned you or something, it might be helpful to know, Mr Luthor”.

    “Lex”, he corrected her, “and I doubt that you would care”.

    It was her turn to look shocked. She knew that things had cooled between what was left of the Smallville gang and their former friend but surely he didn't think that she would attempt to murder him.

    “I mean, this isn't your career, right?” He clarified.

    “Ah”, she nodded understandingly.

    Not satisfied with this answer he briefly considered being polite before his curiosity got the better of him and he was compelled to ask, “You went to Harvard right?”

    “Yep”, the blonde nodded as she checked that all of the handles on the mugs were facing the right way.

    “What did you study?

    “Business, politics and economics”, she answered easily. She knew what he was getting at, but she didn't have to admit anything.

    “And yet you are here?”

    “As you can see”.

    He nodded thoughtfully.

    A/N: Phew, there you go, that was a long one. I'm sleepy.

  9. #19
    Spunky Chick Senior Member hfce's Avatar
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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    That was a long one but a good one. I liked the back ground info on how they started.
    "Everyone seems normal until you get to know them. "

  10. #20
    NS Senior Member Senior Member HotCrossedBunny's Avatar
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    Re: The Great Deception (NC17) Posted 26th June 2014

    A/N: Here are the updates, thank-you to SkyBlue for pointing out that I hadn't posted Chapter Five before Chapter Six, so here it is. *blushes* Hope that everyone is still reading and enjoying.

    Chapter Five

    Lex Luthor had many, many faults. Some would have argued that he was comprised of nothing but faults. But his principle one was curiosity. Ever since he had walked into his local coffee shop to witness a Harvard graduate working behind the bar and apparently filling out forms for the supposed manager, he had felt that familiar gnawing at the pit of his stomach. There was a mystery that needed solving.

    So it was that at lunchtime, rather than having his personal chef whip him up something or going out to a restaurant as he frequently did, he was striding back into the now crowded hot spot in search of a coffee, a sandwich and answers.

    He made his way to the bar.

    Lana was there by that time. He had the impression that she was studiously avoiding his eye; the second that he had entered she had scurried off to ‘take care’ of some customers who hadn’t called her and didn’t seem to appreciate her zeal. Yes, she was definitely avoiding him. This didn’t bother him particularly as she strolled over to the bar and looked around for a particular blonde head, demanding to know her location from one of the other waitresses when he didn’t immediately find her.

    “Oh, she's in back”, he was informed with a friendly smile and a point in the direction of the stock room.

    He nodded his head at her. She was one of the regular waitresses and much more the type to be working in this place; sixteen and saving up for a car over the summer, not an Ivy League graduate. He wasn't even an Ivy League grad, unfortunately they didn’t give out BAs in partying.

    With a nod and a word of thanks he headed in Chloe's direction. He pushed his way through the swinging doors into the kitchen, enjoying the smell of baking and strong coffee until he reached the narrow corridor which led off it. It was small, and dark and always had an odd slightly musty smell. Lex crinkled his nose but reached the stock room to see the object of his search sitting in the centre of the room, at a small table, bent over a stack of papers in the glow of one flickering light-bulb. That could not be good for her eyes. Or her back.

    “Good afternoon Chloe”, he greeted.

    “Lex”, she sounded slightly surprised as she straightened up, her hand going to her lower back the only sign that she had probably been there quite a while.

    He smiled, at her return to familiarity.

    “Is there something that I can do for you, was something wrong with the forms?”

    “No, nothing at all”, he gave her a reassuring smile. It was an understatement of considerable magnitude. Even if he had not recognised that the neat small writing hadn’t belonged to Lana he would have realised that she had nothing to do with it once he had read the forms. He had been chasing the paperwork for six months and had only been hoping that it had actually been filled in, he had never expected the depth that she had gone into. “What are you up to?”

    “Oh, you are being gouged by some of your sellers and your energy bills are horrendous. You do know that, right? I am complying a way of you saving about half of your running costs”, she explained.

    He raised an eyebrow.

    “This amazing brand of solar panels which came out only a few weeks ago, they are far more effective than any previous ones. It is an investment but a tax deductable one so ...”

    Lex sat down across from her and beckoned for her to hand him the papers. He scanned them quickly and let out a low whistle as he read the bottom line. “That is impressive. It would be worth doing even if it weren't tax deductable”.

    “Yes, but seeing as you pay a whopping 5% tax per annum, I thought that you needed to get it down”, she said archly.

    He shot her a look, “Something that you would like to say, Miss Sullivan?”

    “Not at all Mr Luthor”, she replied pleasantly.

    “Don't call me that”, he snapped, before adding uncomfortably, “it reminds me of my father”.

    “Right back at you”.

    He raised an eyebrow at that, “Miss Sullivan reminds you of Gabe?”

    “No”, she rolled her eyes, “your father is wont to refer to me as Miss Sullivan”.

    “Ah, I see”, he murmured thoughtfully, his eyes straying back to the piece of paper in front of him. 50% was definitely a saving he wanted to take advantage of. “Do you think that this could be implemented in the factories and other office blocks?” He asked. More to himself than Chloe, but she answered anyway, detailing several ways that it could be and what the probable savings would be.

    He was impressed by her but annoyed that his experts had yet to come up with it and said so.

    She just shrugged, “They probably either didn’t bother actually looking. Either that or they could be getting back handers”.

    “Yes”, he agreed. He would have to do some investigating himself, “Although, that does bring me back to my point for coming”.

    “This wasn't a social call?” She feigned shock.

    “If you were this cheeky to your old boss then I can see why you got the sack”, he shot back.

    “I wasn’t”, she had been a perfect paragon of virtue in that office, even if the boss had been an idiot who could have done with being taken down a peg or fifteen.

    “Sorry”, he said gruffly, “I know that you wouldn’t have been”. She was generally very polite.

    “I wasn’t”, she continued to defend herself, “I graduated at the top of my class in three subjects, I had an internship, excellent letters of recommendation and then I worked my ass off for that company”.

    “I know”.

    She looked at him.

    “I thought that it was odd that you were back here and working at The Talon, so I researched you”, he answered, not entirely sure why he was explaining himself, other than the fact that she was about to save him a hell of a lot of money. “As I understand it you accused the company of corruption, one of its CEOs of taking bribes and of their business model being horrible because they were using another CEOs brother-in-law's supply company rather than a competitor”.

    “Well, accuse is a little strong. I wrote a letter and left it on the head of the board's desk”, she explained, “and all of those things were true. I not only provided the addresses of my citations, I included articles and everything. The proof was there in black white and yellow. I highlighted bits of it”.

    “I don't doubt it”, he laughed, “still not the kind of thing that they wanted to hear”.

    “Well, that's stupid. You would think that someone would want to know if they had a traitor in their midst or if someone was taking money from them. Wouldn't you want to know?” She demanded.

    “Indeed I would, which is why I am here”.That got her attention, he waited a beat before continuing. “I was actually thinking about offering you a job”. He studied her expression, wondering what she thought of that possibility; he hadn't been getting on well with their mutual friends recently.

    Chloe’s face acquired an interested expression, tinged with scepticism before she finally answered, “Lex, technically I already work for you”.

    He laughed, “I meant”, he clarified, “in something you are a little more suited for”.

    “Meaning?”

    “Meaning that as much as I like your coffee, I think that it might be a little too strong for other people. It isn't your job to manage the place either, it's Lana's. You've done more than enough already to earn whatever your hourly wage is”.

    “Eight dollars”.

    He curled his lip in disgust. About $40 for saving his business thousands of dollars per year and doing six months of back paperwork was absurd. He wasn't a philanthropist but he did believe in paying his workers a fair wage, and that was decidedly unfair.

    “I don't accept charity Lex”, she informed him, which seemed odd considering the position that she was in.

    “Good, because I'm not offering you any”, he informed her, thinking that she was the oddest woman he had ever met. Most people couldn’t wait to take his money.

    “Promise?”

    Honestly he had never had to work so hard before to get someone to take a lucrative job from him. With a huff of irritation he stooped to explaining his motivations, “Chloe, I promise. I am offering you this job because I need someone smart, capable, and utterly trustworthy”. He found himself staring deep into her eyes and felt rather uncomfortable.

    Chloe appeared to have the same sensation and broke the tension with a joke, “Well, my Dad always did say that I was the smartest person in the whole planet”.

    Lex smiled, “I know, I worked with him for several years”.

    “You poor thing”, she returned his smile before asking, , “So, when do you want me to start?”

    “First thing tomorrow morning”, he said decidedly, “but come along now and I will show where everything is and what you need to do”.

    “I can't, I promised Lana that I would finish this and I can't let her down. Maybe if you wrote it down I could memorise it all tonight and ...”

    “Your faithfulness is touching but let me worry about Lana, besides, you are fired so you really don't have a choice”. Honestly the woman was so much trouble, why couldn’t she just come and work for him without all of these morals and scruples?

    “That makes the second time in less than a week, this is not going to be my self confidence any good”.

    He smirked, “I thought that you were maintaining that your contract just wasn't renewed, not that you were fired”.

    “Well, technically it was the contract thing, but it amounts to the same”, she shrugged.

    He nodded, privately thinking that the company had been full of idiots and they deserved to fail if they not only let someone like Chloe slip through their fingers but actually propelled her on her way.

    Chloe stacked her papers neatly as Lex took the report she had prepared for him and opened the door for her on their way out. It was a relief to be outside of the cramped overly warm stock room with only that tiny flickering light. He blinked several times as they moved out and back into the bustling centre.

    He scanned the area and his green eyes fell on Lana who had evidently noticed him as well and ducked down behind the bar as if she were looking for something.

    “Just one thing before we get going”, he placed his hand on Chloe's lower back as he guided her over to the bar and pulled out a seat for her. “Lana”, he called down over the other side of the bar.

    “Oh hello Lex”, Lana said, a little too brightly as she popped back up. She appeared to be addressing him, but her eyes kept straying over to Chloe who was smiling a little suspicious, something was obviously going on to which she was not privy. She didn't like being out of the loop.

    “I see that you have met our newest employee”, she announced sunnily, hoping that he would not object, “Chloe came back and ...”

    “Ex employee”, he corrected her, before anyone who might be passing by could hear anything more. It was a tough economy, there were thousands of talented graduates out of work praying for an unpaid internship and a chance, it was unfortunate that Chloe comprised one of that number (or had before he had found out) and that her one previous chance had been for someone so unscrupulous. But there was no reason for anyone else to know about it.

    “I'm sorry?” Lana blinked.

    “I said ex employee”, he repeated slowly and quietly, “I just fired her”.

    “Lex”, Lana's eyes focused on his face, “I realise that this is your business but I really don't think that you should be coming in here and firing people”.

    “Oh, you don't, do you?” His face adopted the passive, unreadable mask which always made her uneasy.

    “No”, she took a deep breath, nervous, but unwilling to back down when Chloe's future was at stake. “I'm sorry but I stand by my decision to offer her a job and I think that ...”

    “It's all right Lana”, Chloe assured her with a laugh, touched that her friend was willing to stand up for her like that.

    “I fired her because I have a very important task for which I can imagine no one better suited than Chloe”, Lex explained and felt his heart melting a little for the brunette was a genuine smile of relief suffused her face.

    “That's great”, she grinned.

    “We think so”, Chloe answered for both of them.

    “Well, what are you handing around here for then?” Lana demanded, “Stop sitting around slacking and get to work”, she made a brushing motion with her hands to get them out of the door.

    Another laugh escaped Lex. “We stopped by to inform you of my intention and to grab something nice for the road”.

    “Right, what do you want?” Lana asked.

    “Two coffees, back for me and whatever Chloe wants and two of those muffins”, he pointed to a display, “to keep our strength up until lunch”. Now that she was in his employ, there was no need for him to slum it, his chef could prepare their lunch.

    “Okay great, mocha latte with almond-flavoured syrup and extra whip cream?” Lana checked with Chloe.

    “Actually could you make mine decaf, caramel, java-chip, white-chocolate mocha with three shots, please?” Chloe requested her favourite drink of the moment – or rather of several months before when she had still been able to afford it – and reached back into her purse, it was a celebration after all and she was in full time employment now. Even though she didn't know for how much or how long. She was sure that she could afford her coffee and didn't want Lex to pity her.

    “Quite a sophisticated palate you have there”, Lex chucked before telling her, “Don't even think about it”, as he saw her hand going for her purse, “this is a business lunch or rather a pre-business lunch snack”, he handed a large bill over. “And what muffin did you want?”

    “Oh, okay, thanks. Umm …”, she wasn't sure which flavours they sold now and didn't want to waste everyone's time asking and deciding, “Whichever, I don't mind”.

    “Okay, one whichever and a banana nut one”, Lex ordered as he watched Lana making both drinks and bringing them over.

    “No problem”, she scurried off again, seeming not to be too fond of Lex's company, even after her little pro-Chloe outburst earlier.

    “So, do you want to tell me more about this job?” Chloe inquired, conversationally.

    “I'll fill you in over lunch at the mansion”, he assured her, then it clicked and he laughed, “More than 8 dollars an hour I assure you. It will be a step up”.

    “I assumed that it would be”, she coloured slightly, not wanting him to think that she had thought that he would ever even consider underpaying someone for their efforts or contriving to force her into a lower paying job.

    They were saved from having to say anything further by Lana's reappearance with two pastries.

    “One banana nut muffin for you”, Lana handed it to Lex, “and one quintuple chocolate muffin for you, Chloe”.

    “Wow, thanks. Quintuple”. She looked at it, yep, quintuple looked about right.

    “Yes, it was Martha's invention. Cocoa powder in the mix, with white, milk, and dark chocolate chips and chocolate fudge sauce running through the middle and on the top”, Lana explained.

    “Wow, that is impressive”, Chloe said, as she held the still warm treat in her hand.

    “And here I was choosing the healthy option”, Lex said taking possession of his own treat, briefly wondering whether they were getting any back handers from local dentists.

    “Don't kid yourself. Martha taught me to make her original muffin recipes including banana and nuts, it has even more butter and sugar than the other ones to make up for the healthiness of the bananas and the nuts”, Chloe gave him a superior smirk.

    “You see, this is why I need you and your unflinching honesty”, he smiled, without taking offence. “Should we get going?”

    Chloe nodded and waved goodbye to Lana as they headed for the door.

    “My car is just over here”, he pointed to his car.

    “I would never have guessed”, she teased him. He was the only resident of Smallville with an Aston Martin, not to mention the only one with the number plate “XL”.

    “Were you going for your fortieth car or the word excel?” She wondered.

    “It is way more than my fortieth”, he said, without bragging but also without sensitivity. “And I was going for an excel vs XL combo”.

    “Subtle”, she snorted.

    “It’s a good way of telling people apart”, he shrugged.

    “What, between those who believe that everything they read is true and those who think that if you have to advertise you are probably a little insecure?” She inquired with an expression which was far too innocent to be believable -at least not on her face.

    “You definitely weren't this cheeky before”, he said, not without admiration. “Shall we get going?”

    “Sure, I'll follow you in my car”.

    “All right”, he agreed, understanding that she liked her independence. “Where is it?”

    “Right over there”, she pointed at the car which was just about in view around the corner of the Talon.

    “You have to be kidding me”, he gaped, “I was considering asking someone to have thing removed”.

    “Hey”, she protested.

    “It is an eyesore, it can't be good for business to have that sitting there”.

    “It is a classic”, she argued.

    “Chloe, I know about classic cars. I have an entire garage dedicated to them”, he ignored the raised eyebrow she gave him, at the idea of multiple garages holding dozens of cars. “A 1904 Rolls-Royce 10 HP is a classic car. That”, he couldn’t even deign to acknowledge it by pointing to it, “is a wreck. The only thing holding it together is the rust”.

    She bristled. “Well, it is mine so get used to it”, she strode over to it.

    “Come on Chloe, get in mine. You can eat your muffin on the way if you aren't driving”, he tried her lure her into this luxury vehicle. She was so much more work than anyone else.

    “But then I wouldn't be able to get back”, she pointed out.

    “I will get a driver to bring you back”, he offered.

    “Lex Luthor”, she turned to him, “you are going to have to learn that I am the kind of girl who likes to be in the driver's seat”.

    He laughed, loud and long, a sound which caused passing pedestrians to turn in surprise. It had been a long time. “Touché”, he relented, “but I will see if they have some rope somewhere for when I end up having to tow you”.

    “Snob”, she rolled her eyes at him.

    He laughed again and she went to get into her car as he did indeed go and procure a length of rope from a shop on the same street.

    Chloe rolled his eyes at his armature dramatics, but was pleased that he wasn’t around as she stuck the key in the ignition. Nothing happened. “Come on”, she tried again and this time got a slightly spluttering sound. “Oh for pity's sake, please start”, she begged the car as she turned her key once more and rocked back and forth trying to urge it into life. “Oh thank God”, she groaned with relief when it finally chocked into life. She didn't want to be even more humiliated in front of Lex Luthor of all people who was just strolling back out with a rope in his hand.

    He waved it at her in a friendly manner. She resisted the urge to wave something else back at him and off they went. It took slightly longer than it would normally have to get there, thanks to Chloe's car rattling terribly if it went much above thirty but their snacks were still warm when they seated themselves in Lex's study and he ordered dinner to be prepared.

    “So, I should probably tell you a little more about the job”, he said with the faintest of smiles, seeing that she was already almost bouncing up and down in her seat.

    “I have recently acquired a new company and I need to clean house. It is a pharmaceutical company in Kansas which was causing me quite a few problems and I knew that there were some”, he paused, “unsavoury links between some of the members of my companies and others”.

    “Right”, that didn’t surprise her.

    “So, I need someone to go through the companies records work out what is what etc”, he tried to judge her reaction to the job.

    “I get the drift”.

    “So, I need someone that I can trust. This job has been waiting for months because I didn't have anyone like that”, he confessed, “it would be better for me never to open the company again than allow it to continue with that level of corruption, which is a shame as it is in a great source of revenue”. He knew that he had to stress just how much money he stood to make from this, otherwise she might refuse the offer, “We are talking a minimum of 500 million per year profit from the company, but if we can clean it up and with a bit of luck closer to 5 billion”.

    Chloe was relieved that she had been saving her drink and snack for after the meeting. It would have been terrible to either choke and die or spit hot coffee all over the Luthor scion. As it was, she managed to just nodd and look semi professional.

    “This job is secret, partially to make it easier all around but also because I don't want anyone to ever have negative associations with you. So, while you will be doing this you will be titled as … what title would you like?”

    Chloe had to think for a second.

    “Well, never mind, we can think of that later. We will just put 'job' on the contract and then we can change it later. Obviously there will be a LuthorCorp job waiting for you after this is finished but I will also support you going into anything else you want and we can change the title to reflect your future aspirations best”, he continued.

    “That is a very kind offer”, she was aware that a personal letter of recommendation from Lex Luthor was worth more than gold.

    “No”, he corrected her, “it isn't. I am never kind, merely practical”.

    “Good to know”.

    “So, on to the practical matters. This job is 9 until 5 with one hour lunch break and a couple of fifteen minute coffee breaks throughout the day. You will work here at the mansion in your own office – the room where the documents were currently being stored – and you won't take any single paper or copy of a paper out of Luthor property”, he was firm on that, “you also won't talk to anyone about the details of this job. Is that clear?”

    She nodded.

    “Good, I'm not sure exactly how long this job will last, between four and five months I would guess but it is difficult to say. As I said before, when you finish there is always another job ready for you here. I had my people draw up the normal contract for you”, he pushed it across his desk, “holidays, health care, bonuses, privacy policy and all that sort of thing”, he explained.

    Chloe nodded once again as she began to read the contract, all much as she had expected from a contract and gave her very good rights. She could get pregnant if she wanted to, not that she planned on doing so.

    Finally she turned it over and gasped upon seeing the final sum.

    “Is something wrong?” Lex inquired, already having a fair idea of what it might be.

    “Lex”, she lifted her head up to look at him.

    “Remember, this is a project which will spell millions if not billions for LuthorCorp and which has been on hold for months so far”, he spoke calmly. Now that he thought about it, she was perfect for this job and he was excited for it to get under-way. She was going to sign that contract whether she liked it or not. He thought ruefully that this was probably the first time in his life that he had had to convince someone to take more money rather than less.

    300 dollars per day was more than she had ever dreamed of. She could have done a little dance, but instead she signed the contract and handed it back to her boss.

    “Great”, he filed it away, “now, let me show you to your office”.

    Chloe was so excited that she could hardly stand it, an emotion which only increased as she was faced with her new office. A room about the size of her new apartment dressed in an elegant style but covered in boxes upon boxes of papers.

    “See, I told you that it wasn't charity”.

    Chloe grinned. Security. Home comforts. Her own office. Good prospects. The chance to snoop and actually use her education. Plus, a quintuple muffin and coffee which were still warming her hands. Lex was right, that car wasn't safe, it had clearly exploded and sent her to Chloe heaven.








    Chapter Six

    At some point between leaving Chloe happily ensconced, devouring her muffin and highlighting a document and going back to inform her that lunch was ready Lex received a call summoning him to Metropolis and so, what was supposed to have been a business lunch ended with him telling her to have whatever she wanted, passing her his business card, and making her promise to call him if she had any problems.

    He had been out of town for three days when he returned to find Chloe, seated in her office in the centre of the thick Persian rug, surrounded by boxes which were now stacked neatly with papers fanned out around her and a large piece of card in front her upon which she was drawing what looked to be a rather complicated chart.

    He tapped the open door lightly.

    Chloe looked up, her face suffused with delight. It was the way that she used to look when she was hot on the heels of a major story.

    “Good afternoon”, he greeted her.

    “Good afternoon”, she replied, climbing to her feet and carefully making her way through her leaves of paper.

    “I see that you have been extremely busy”, he noted the organised chaos which surrounded them.

    “Yes”, she agreed following the direction of his gaze, “but I'm afraid that I don't have anything concrete for you just yet. I'm ...”

    “No no”, he shook his head with a smile, “don't worry I wouldn't have expected you to. I’m impressed that you have just managed to make so much headway with organising the boxes. If you need any help just call the butler, he can get someone to do any lifting that you might need. This is just a social call to check that you are okay and not having any problems of any sort”.

    She smiled back at him. “Thank-you everything is great and Baxter has been in several times to check that the boxes aren't too big etc”.

    “Right”, he clapped his hands together, not sure what else to say but not wanting to leave just yet. “So, are you settling in well?”

    “Absolutely”, she waited for a second after pronouncing the word, but upon seeing that that it hadn’t been a mere pleasantry continued, “It is so strange to be back but it is nice and Dad is so happy now that I can tell him that I have a stable job with benefits and a large roof over my head and my own Clark shaped body guard to keep dropping off pieces of furniture that he finds”.

    Lex smiled a little brittlely, he was happy for her but he missed the days when Clark had been his friend too. When he could have taken part in their easy camaraderie. “I take it that Gabe hasn't heard anything about your car yet then?”

    “Hey, there is nothing wrong with that car”.

    “Chloe, there are scrap yards that wouldn't touch that thing”

    “Snob”, she shot back without any real animosity.

    “It is horrendous Chloe, I am fairly sure that our property value has plummeted just by having it parked out front”.

    Chloe rolled her eyes, “Please, as if it could be any lower”.

    “Excuse me, this is a one of a kind Scottish castle”, his father had had it brought over stone by stone, pretentious sod that he was.

    “Oh come on Lex, you know how the market works: supply and demand. It is lovely but no one else in the world with the money to buy and maintain this place would want to live in Smallville, you didn't even want to live in Smallville”, she reminded him.

    He had to acknowledge the truth of that statement.

    “And it isn't as if we need a hotel or anything”, she pointed out. “So ...”

    “Okay okay I get your point”, he put his hands up.

    “Good, so stop bashing my car. I bet that I could get a buyer for it before you got a buyer for this place”, although it probably would have to go for parts or scrap.

    “Possibly you could, if you only charged 50 cents and flashed your cleavage and a smile at a teen-aged boy”, he smirked.

    “I resent that”, she placed her hands on her hips.

    “Oh please, I know that a good proportion of your stories were got through fluttered eyelashes”. It was as if she had forgotten the time that he had walked in on trying to get information out of one of his interns.

    She tried to deny it, but she couldn't. Boys had always been more willing to talk to her about the strange things that they have seen if she flirted a little bit. “So what if I did? I bet that the great Lex Luthor has at least attempted to flirt a nugget of information out of a secretary at some point”, she challenged.

    “Certainly, but … wait, only attempted?”

    She shrugged. “What can I say, I doubt that you have my skills”.

    “Oh really?” He raised an eyebrow.

    She couldn't maintain the charade. She giggled, dimpling deliciously.

    He shook his head. “You really enjoy pushing my buttons, don't you?”

    “It's just so easy”, she defended herself, “You always rise to the bait”.

    “Right back at you”. He had always taken a certain amount of dark delight in his ability to rile her up.

    She just laughed.

    “So anyway, I had better get to work as I have lots to do. Remember just call if you want or need anything and”, he looked around, “keep up the good work”.

    “Will do boss”, she saluted.

    With another laugh and shake of his head he felt the room, closing the door softly after him. She really was something else.

    He found his mind wandering back to Chloe several times during the course of what was otherwise an extremely boring afternoon. Her joy, her zest for life, he decided that he had spent enough time cooped up in his office for one day. He got up, stretched his legs and went in search of some sustenance to make up for his lack of lunch and was just passing the front door when he saw his former friend entering.

    “Clark”, he greeted him with surprise. “What are you doing here?” He would never have admitted it, not even under threat of (or actual) torture but his heart quickened a little as he thought that maybe he needed his help or had come to make friends again.

    “Lex”, Clark said, a little stiffly. “I’m here to see Chloe”.

    Lex brow furrowed. “It is after five Clark, she will have left for home by now”. He found it very odd, he was certain that Chloe wouldn't have invited a friend to visit her during working hours so he had to assume that it was Clark's own idea, which seemed to suggest that they were a little more than just friends.

    “I know”, Clark said curtly, “she called me about quarter of an hour ago when she couldn't get her car to start. I said that I would come and pick her up”

    “Oh”, Lex looked concerned and hurt. “She should have said something”. He turned on his heel and marched along to Chloe's office, Clark looking around a little, feeling a unsure of himself before following along.

    “Chloe”, Lex called, tapping lightly on the now open door, “is there something that you forgot to tell me?”

    “Oh hello again Lex”, she smiled up at him from her position kneeling on the carpet as she tided her diagrams away for the evening. “Tell you? No, I don't think so. Why?”

    He walked into the room allowing Clark to do the same.

    “Oh, Clark. Right, you two aren't”, she stopped herself just before she said 'getting along any more, are you?' and complimented herself on her tact. “You weren't expecting me to just have someone else come into your house. I'm sorry, my car broke down so ...”

    “You are perfectly welcome to have someone come and meet you after work, I was just surprised that you didn't think to inform the butler, or me, that you were having car trouble. We could have arranged for someone to drive you home”, he said stiffly.

    “Right, I know, thank-you but I was going over to Clark's anyway so …” She trailed off, feeling awkward, “It is really nothing to worry about, I'm sorry to have bothered you”.

    “No bother”, he assured her smoothly, “so, how bad is it?” For once he refrained from making comments about the banger.

    “I don't know”, she shrugged, “it wouldn't start and I know that there is enough petrol in it - which is about the limit of my technical knowledge -, so I called Clark”. She didn't have the money to call a mechanic, she didn't get paid until the end of the week and even then she had a horrible feeling that it was going to be thousands of dollars.

    Lex nodded, “Well, don't let me spoil your evening but I will have one of my mechanic look at it, if I can bribe him enough to touch it”, he gave her a knowing look, “and will make sure that a car is there to pick you up tomorrow morning”.

    “It's ...”

    “I insist”, he would brook no further arguments on the matter, “if you need a car to take you home from the Kents’ then call this number”, he grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled the number down before handing it to her, “and Chloe, if you do need something, please do call them. I don't like to find out things from other people”.

    “I'll be fine Lex, I promise”, she took and pocketed the note. “Nothing will stop me from getting to the bottom of a mystery”.

    “Right, the case”, he smiled and let her go, locking the office after her and Clark. He could hear her bell like after tinkling down the hallways after her as she left him to an empty and echoing mansion. He went back in search of sustenance.

    ~*~

    “God Clark, your family are hilarious”, Chloe giggled as she staggered out of the Kent family home on his arm.

    “Not normally that funny”, he replied, his eyes watering.

    “I swear your Mom was trying to set me up with everyone in the greater Smallville area and attempting to feed me up for the next year”, she indicated the boxes which Clark was carrying over to his truck.

    “Not every man”, Clark said with a laugh.

    “Well no”, she considered, “but every one with a degree and good prospects”. Martha’s list of requirements for anyone dating Chloe had been rather intensive.

    “Well, she likes you and knows that you can't cook”, he beamed down at his friend fondly.

    “Hey”, she protested, “you don't know that I can't cook”.

    “Um Chloe as much as a I adore you, I have tried your attempts at cooking before. Take it from me, you can't cook”, he shook his head with a laugh.

    “That was four years ago Clark, you don't know, I could have changed, I could be a master chef now!” She reasoned.

    “”Well, are you?” He asked with a knowing smile.

    “I might be, I don't know. I haven't tried”, she had been living off instant noodles for the last month since she had left her catered dorm room, a fact that neither her father nor Martha Kent were ever going to discover.

    “You think that you might just magically have become a wonderful cook?”

    “Stranger things have happened, especially around here”, she said as she watched him packing the boxes in the car. He really was a very fine specimen of a man; very tall, with extremely broad shoulders, a hard body, lovely arms, dark curly hair, chiselled features and soft blue eyes. Plus he was so kind and a gentleman. Besides, he wasn't stupid. He had done quite well at college. It was no wonder that her little teenaged heart had fluttered every time she drew near him. He had a nice ass too from this angle.

    She smiled at him in the pale evening light as he turned back around and opened her door for her. “Thank-you”.

    “Well, you are a big city woman now, we have to prove that the Heart Lands still have something to offer”, he teased, he had actually always opened doors for her. It was one of the things which had made her fall for him.

    “Gentlemen?”

    “Exactly”.

    ~*~

    It was five o'clock in the following evening when Chloe finally looked up from her work for the day. She put everything away and was just standing up and stretching when there was a familiar soft knock at the door.

    “Come in Lex”, she called, grabbing her bag and turned to smile at him.

    “Hello”, he greeted her, entering and closing the door behind himself. “Everything going all right?”

    “Yes, thank-you”.

    “Good, I had my mechanic look at your … car”, he couldn't use more precise language at that moment, in the presence of a lady. “He says that it is dead and needs to be put to rest”.

    “Oh”, she groaned, she had feared that that might be the case but had been hoping that it wouldn't be. She saw his expression of concern so tried to joke, “So, you did manage to threaten/bribe him into touching Clunk”.

    “Clunk?”

    “I named him Clunk”.

    “You named him Clunk?” He repeated slowly. The woman was brilliant, intelligent but also quite possibly insane.

    “Yes, he is quite clearly a male”, she said, as if that explained everything.

    “Clearly”, he conceded, with a huff of amusement.

    “And Clunk seemed to be a fitting name”.

    “Indeed, well Clunk is well and truly defunked”, he summed up.

    “Hmm”, she considered, “that was almost funny”.

    That was funny, at least to him.

    “Anyway, I've come to give you the bad news but then the good: which is that you left all of the documents in the glove compartment so my mechanic made some calls, and put the fear of God into the jack ass who sold it to you so you will get your money back and can start putting it towards a more suitable vehicle when you are quite ready to do so. And”, he stressed the word, “for as long as you are working on this project for me a Luthor car will always be at your disposal”.

    “That's very kind of you Lex but I can't put you out like that, I will work something out. Not to worry”, she smiled at him bravely, “Wait, how did he get into my car? I've got the only set of keys”.

    Lex gave an arrogant smirk.

    “Don't tell me that you employ reformed car jackers”. She wouldn’t put it past him.

    “Hardly”, he snorted, “The door was so rusted that not only was the lock even to get around, the door came off its hinges”.

    “You are kidding?” It hadn’t been that bad.

    “No”, he remained straight faced.

    “Well … he shouldn't have been so heavy handed then”. She hadn’t ripped the door off its hinges.

    “Sure, that was the problem”, he didn’t roll his eyes but his tone gave the impression that he would dearly have liked to.

    “Oh well, at least it got me here”, she said philosophically.

    “I suppose so”, he felt his smile returning, “Anyway, I am heading into Smallville so I came to see if you wanted to ride with me or go by chauffeured car like this morning. I know that you don't like what you think of as 'fuss'”.

    “That would be very nice, thank-you”, she glanced around just to check that she hadn't forgotten anything.

    “You are more than welcome”, he didn’t add that he wouldn’t mind the company. They walked outside and over to one of his favourite cars, which he opened he door of for her. Kansas men really were gentlemen.

    She glanced over at the body of her car which was still sitting in front of the mansion.

    “Don't worry Chloe, I have called someone to tow it away so you don't have anything to think about”, he assured her.

    “Thank-you. So”, she got herself settled and fastened her belt, “what have you been up to in the last four years?”

    He laughed. “Habits of a lifetime can't be broken I see”.

    “Are you implying that I am being too nosey and impertinent and that you would prefer some silence?” Only a tiny touch of insecurity in her tone, which she did well to hide with humour.

    “Not at all”, he answered as he started up the car and took off far slower than normal, allowing them to enjoy the cool night air after a hard day's work. He had a fair few questions for the diminutive blonde himself, but oddly enough didn’t feel like asking them at that moment. They ended up just chatting about random things until the reached the Talon and he accompanied her inside. Lana was nowhere in sight.

    “So, do you want to come up?” Chloe asked as they came to a stop, “I mean, unless you have something else to do. Oh, you do, that is why you were coming into town in the first place”.

    He stared at her, shocked. At first not sure if she had offered only because she knew that he couldn't take her up on it, but as he stared at her eyes he knew that that wasn't why she had done it. She was just that sweet.

    “Sure”, he gave her a smile, “the only thing I had to do was get an invoice from the Talon”, he explained, “I can do that on my way out”.

    “Right”, she smiled, privately thinking that he could have asked Lana to drop it off for him, it would have saved him a trip. “Come on up”. She skipped up the steps ahead of him and opened the door for him. “Welcome to Chez Lana plus Chloe”.

    “Chez Lana plus Chloe, nice name. Very … European”.

    “I thought so”, she ushered him inside and he looked around, he hadn’t been up there in a while.

    It was still a rather odd shade of gold with some artistic, if inaccurate, hieroglyphs adorning the walls. The large open plan space was laid out pretty much as he remembered it, with the exception of one corner - which he took to be Chloe’s - filled with large, very solid looking furniture and was a curtain drawn to the side. As if to highlight the difference between the size of the furniture and her own diminutive stature, Chloe rushed passed the re-straightening the cushions which had already seemed fine to him. He knew from Gabe that she wasn’t normally that neat. He guessed that she was trying to be considerate as she was someone else’s guest. He smiled slightly as he observed her buzzing over to the kitchen like a bee with a belly full of honey.

    “So, what would you like for dinner?” She inquired, “We have home made soup, homemade lasagne, homemade chips, homemade apple pie and homemade ice cream”, she rattled off the list as she examined the contents of the fridge freezer, enjoying having one more than she had ever thought possible.

    “Homemade?” He queried the word, “You mean that you brought a microwavable pouch and heated it up all by yourself?”

    “No I don't”, she peeked her head up over the door so that he could fully appreciate the expression she was giving him, “these are made from scratch”.

    “You cooked?” He gaped at the miffed face before him.

    “Did I say that?” She scoffed, “Of course not, I went to dinner at the Kent's and this is what is left of my left overs”.

    “So your culinary abilities have in no way improved from your Ivy League education?” he teased, moving around behind her to see how much food was counted as leftovers.

    “No, I was a little busy studying”, she admitted. “Besides”, she added with a shrug, “my scholarship included full board in the dorms. I still have no idea how to cook. Wait, how did you know that I couldn't cook?” She had never subjected him to her culinary exploits before.

    “Chloe, your culinary skills are legendary”.

    “Seriously?” Something about the way he said it, didn’t sound good. She wondered how and what he had heard and from whom. Her Dad? Clark? Or plant employees from that time she had almost killed an entire family at the LuthorCorp picnic with her brownies a few years before Lex took over? Honestly, how was she supposed to know that she should have broken up the nuts first? It wasn't obvious, whatever anyone else said. “So, what would you like?”

    “You don't have to feed me Chloe”, he said politely.

    “But I want to, unless ...” she trailed off. She supposed that it was odd that he was there, in her new apartment with her trying to feed him. She didn’t really know how they had got there, it had just felt natural until that moment.

    “No”, he assured her quickly, recognising the flash of hurt and rejection which passed through her big, green eyes. It was what he had experienced every time the Kents hadn’t invited him to dine with them when he had been visiting Clark dinner time. “I was just being polite. I want the lasagne followed by apple pie”.

    “Good man”, she took the appropriate containers out of the refrigerator and was immediately relieved of them.

    “Thank-you”, she said with a smile as he put them in the oven.

    “You're welcome”, he said, feeling a little uncomfortable in the presence of what appeared to be genuine warmth after being without it for so long, he tried to direct the focus away from himself. “I especially like the fact that Mrs Kent has even gone so far as to write out the reheating instructions on a note on top of it”, he smiled, making sure that they were no longer affixed to the lasagne when he closed the oven door.

    “You are really having fun mocking my inability aren’t you?” Chloe demanded, her hands on her hips.

    “Of course”, he straightened back up with a smile, “it's so rare to find something that you do not immediately excel at”.

    “Well”, Chloe started a little unsettled, “I doubt that you can cook either”.

    “Shows what you know”, he set the timer as per the instructions, “I am an excellent cook. I can prepare an entire five course meal in under an hour”.

    “Really?” That didn't fit with her image of him.

    “Of course”, he paused for dramatic effect, “you do include making reservations or ordering the cook to prepare something as me doing it, right?”

    “Um … no”.

    “Damn”, he still gave her a smirk until he caught sight of something on the counter top. “Please tell me that that is Lana’s, not yours”.

    “What?” She followed his line of vision, “Ahh”.

    “Ah”, he acknowledged.

    “Well, you see actually this”, she picked up the pink kitty timer with sparkles, “is a treasured possession which I ...”

    “You know Chloe, you really need to work on your lying”.

    She shot him a scathing look.

    “It is very obvious”, he said with a shrug.

    “Fine”, she set the timer and returned it on the counter before crossing her arms, “all right, what gave it away?”

    He leant back against the counter, crossing both his ankles and his arms and fixed her with a questioning look.

    “Come on Lex”, she huffed, “you are a great liar”.

    “I think that I am insulted”, he didn’t look it.

    She rolled her eyes, “When you want to be and that was not convincing. Come on, be a mentor”.

    “I’m not sure that I want to corrupt you”, he claimed, before reconsidering that statement.

    “Oh come on”, she complained.

    “Chloe, no”, he tried to sound stern.

    “Lex”, she turned big, very obvious puppy dog eyes on him.

    “Does that ever work?”

    “Yes”, she batted her eyelashes and he laughed.

    “Fine”, he relented.

    A brilliant grin suffused and bounced a little.

    He thought that his face might split in two, “But only”, he stressed, standing up straight, pointing a finger at her, “because you weren’t even remotely trying to manipulate me”.

    “Or”, she grabbed his finger and moved it out of her face, “possibly by being so obvious I was lowering your guard for later ... Oh my God, you have already thought of this possibility, haven’t you?”

    “Of course”. He suddenly felt hot, then cold, and embarrassed and out of place and he didn’t know what else. He always evaluated every single option.

    “Dude, you need to learn to relax or your won’t see forty”.

    “I ... I don’t know how”, he found himself saying uncomfortably, not knowing why he was revealing these things to her.

    She was silent. That was a first. “Well”, she placed a hand on his shoulder, it felt weird but it was what she would have done with any other friend or acquaintance in that situation, “first you take the pink girlie timer, then you come over to the sofa with me, then you teach me to lie better”.

    He took the timer, with a look of disgust, but followed her over to the settee and sat where she patted. “Okay”, he started, feeling that he needed to take back some control of the situation, “first of all, unless absolutely necessary, don’t lie”.

    She raised her eyebrow at him.

    “If it is something clearly unbelievable”, he continued.

    “Unless you are as good as you are?” She asked sweetly.

    “Sure”, he had no idea why he let her speak to him like that. “As you already admitted that you have no idea how to cook ...”

    “So I would need a creative back story”.

    “Exactly”, he smiled, “and”, he reached out to cup her face, the pad of his thumb ran along the sides of her eyes, “you crinkle when you lie”.

    “I crinkle when I lie?” She demanded in horrified accents, her hands going to the same place and brushing against Lex’s as they were removed uncomfortably.

    “Yes, like a little girl who is trying not to laugh when she is about to do something naughty”, he felt an almost overwhelming urge to tweak her nose.

    “I do not”, she protested, slapping him lightly on the arm.

    “You do”, he said, holding his hands up, in mock surrender. “I’ll prove it”.

    She stopped hitting him long enough to say, “Okay”.

    “I will ask you some questions, you tell the truth sometimes, and other times, lie”.

    “Okay”, she drew out the word with a grin that would have made a Cheshire cat envious.

    “Lie!”

    “What?”

    “You are lying, you are planning to tell all the truth or all lies to prove that I am wrong”, he scolded her.

    She remained silent.

    “See”, he shook his finger at her.

    “Fine, ask your questions”.

    He grinned, she was cute when she was grumpy. A grumbling sound coming from the region of her stomach, indicated the probable reason for her feelings. “Name?”

    “Chloe Ann Sullivan”.

    Well, at least she was allowing him to have a control; that was definitely her name.

    “Height?”

    “5,5”, that looked to be about right.

    “Weight?”

    “Mine your own business”.

    He smiled, no crinkle.

    “Favourite ...” Oh the possibilities. She shot him a warning look. “colour”. That was boring.

    “Pink”

    She crinkled.

    “That one wasn't a fair test”, he smiled, he would have guessed, even without the crinkle.

    “Favourite ... Sport?” He raised an eye.

    She rolled her eyes, “Football”.

    “Because of all of the hunks?”

    “No”

    “Oh, a blush and a crinkle. A clear lie”.

    “No, you just ...

    “I just what?” He leant over, so close that she could feel his breath on her skin.

    The timer went off. It was strident for something so small and pink.

    ~*~

    “So”, Lex said, as they repositioned themselves on the sofa with large plates of lasagne - they didn’t have a table to eat off - and he negotiated how to actually eat his food like that.

    “You okay there?” Chloe inquired politely, seeing that he wasn’t accustomed to such undertakings.

    “Yes, thank-you”, he finally managed it. “Wow, this is really good!”

    “Yup”, Chloe agreed, taking an enormous mouthful of her own dinner. “Everything Mrs Kent cooks is an amazing!”

    “I’ll say”, it has been ages since he had anything this good.

    In fact, it was so good that he forgot what he was going to say and just ate as Chloe turned on the TV, “Do you like Whose Line is it anyway?”

    He gave her a blank look.

    “Right, you probably don’t watch TV. I think that you will like it”, she decided and was pleased to see that it was on as a marathon.

    “I will endeavour to do so”, he said nobly.

    “You do that”, she reached over to pat his arm in a deliberately patronizing manner before returning her hand to her fork. Lex shook his head with a silent laugh, he didn’t think that anyone else would dare treat him like that. He was surprised to find that he didn’t mind as much as he had though he would.

    They ate their meal in silence as they watched Ryan and Colin compete for points and Lex, being far more domestic than she was even in someone else’s house, took the plates over to the sink rather than just leaving them on the coffee table.

    “You’re so domestic”, she teased him as she followed him over as the adverts came on and reached for the dish towel as she saw him start to wash up.

    “Don't tell anyone”, he said with a grin, stopping as he looked at her.

    “What’s wrong?” She wondered.

    “You really like Martha’s lasagne”, he stated mildly.

    “Of course”, she said slowly, who didn’t?

    “I mean, you really like it”.

    “Lex, you are being really weird”.

    He smiled and shook his head. “Come here”, he said even as he took a step towards her and ran his thumb slowly over her lower lip, removing most of the tomato sauce.

    “Oh God, is it really that bad?” She asked, she had always had that problem.

    “Just a little left”, he pointed and her tongue poked out to get it.

    “There, perfect”, he tousled her hair with his non tomato covered hand.

    She groused and pushed him away. “Get cleaning Mr”, she use the towel to whip him slightly.

    “I didn’t know that you were that kind of girl, Miss Sullivan”, he winked.

    There is a lot that you don’t know about me, Mr Luthor”, she teased although she couldn't keep the blush from her cheeks.

    He raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed even more although she didn’t know why. She dried and put away the dishes as Lex towelled off his now soapy hands and they made their way back over to watch Whose Line after the commercial break ended. They watched the next instalment, Chloe’s eyes glued to the screen, unlike before when she had been looking over at him every two seconds to see if he found the same things funny as she did. He had clearly actually embarrassed her and found that her silence bothered him.

    “Oh”, he got her attention, “I just remembered what I was going to ask you”.

    She looked over at him hesitantly.

    “Do you like it here?”

    “Um”, she thought for a second, “yeah”. She folded her leg underneath herself as she turned to him, apparently realising that he wasn’t disgusted with her or anything. “I mean, this is absolutely not where I expected to end up but yeah. I am surrounded by some really great people, I have a degree of security, and I mean”, she grinned, “have you seen my furniture?”

    “I take it that that stuff is yours?” He hand noticed it and guessed that it wasn’t Lana’s but hadn’t wanted to pry.

    “Sure, come look”, she bounded off the settee and over to her ‘bedroom’.

    “My my Miss Sullivan, so anxious to get me into your bedroom?”

    She chucked a teddy bear at him, learning not to take him too seriously.

    He caught the fluffy individual easily and turned it right side up. It was a greyish purplish hippo who had obviously been well loved over the years. From over her enormous nose, she smiled up at him.

    “Where’s her ear?” He took it to be a female judging by the tutu, although now you couldn’t be sure.

    “Don’t ask”.

    “Ah”, now that he thought about it he vaguely remembered one of Gabe’s stories including Lois as well as Chloe when a little boy had attacked one of her teddies and the girls had been forced to retaliate in such a way that had landed the boy in hospital. He had never been sure just how serious that had been though seeing as there had been several teenaged boys close by at the time (sons of other workers) and Gabe, in true father form, had been want to include several subtle threats whenever teenaged boys were concerned.

    He handed the plush back to its rightful owner lest the same fate befall him as he entered her room and looked around. “Nice, where on earth did Lana find this furniture though?” He remembered when she had originally sent him the bill for doing up and furnishing the apartment - as it was his after all - and had complained about the difficulty of finding anything in Smallville.

    “Oh, Lana didn’t, this is mine”.

    He raised an eyebrow, “It must have cost you a packet to move all of this with you”.

    “No, I mean that it is mine now. Clark came by and saw me on the settee and mentioned that he had the stuff that he made back in High School for wood-shop and that I was welcome to it and that Mrs Kent had some material”, she pointed to her curtain, “so now I have all of this stuff”.

    “He made this in shop?” Lex inquired disbelievingly.

    “Yeah, it’s impressive isn’t it? Is a little well, Clark sized, I’m so happy because I would never have been able to afford a full set like this otherwise”, she sat on her bed contentedly. She loved having so much space.

    “Very”, he agreed, especially as he had seen the stuff that Clark had made in shop class and knew that this was not it. Still, he knew that Chloe would refuse it if she knew that so he said nothing, although the cold shoulder would have to thaw between him and Clark as he was going to have a little talk with the farm boy. “But, you are happy, here I mean? There are no problems or anything?”

    “Nope”, she smiled, “you are such a good landlord”.

    “Yeah”, he returned the smile, although he hadn’t been thinking of himself in that regard, just as someone who didn’t want a former acquaintance of his to be ... uncomfortable. It wasn’t kind, or good of him, it was just pure practicality. It would cost nothing to him to have anything fixed and it would make her happy, which would make her work better which would bring him greater profits. That was all that it was.

    “Although, I have to say Lex, for a ruthless businessman you really don’t make enough of this space”.

    “Meaning?”

    “Well, it is a good apartment and fits two comfortably but the price is so low, not that I am complaining, of course, but you could easily get five times more than you are receiving at the moment”, she hypothesised.

    “Than I am receiving at the moment?” He repeated the words dumbly.

    “Sure, well more probably because what we are paying includes utilities etc so ...”

    “And of course you are paying your half of this figure?” The idea that she was talking about the rent she paid suddenly clicked.

    “Of course”, she looked insulted at the idea that she might be doing otherwise.

    “Of course”. It was strange as he hadn’t been aware that Lana had been paying him any rent of any kind.

    “But you aren’t going to be staying here forever?”

    “Tired of me already?”

    “I mean here, with Lana, you’ll want your own space eventually?”

    “Oh yeah, I mean, I’m going to be saving up for that”, she answered, wondering if there was something going on between Lana and the billionaire, that would explain the odd behaviour of each around the other.

    “Well, when the time comes let me know”.

    She cocked her head to the side, couldn’t he wait to make a booty call to the lovely Miss Lana Lang? Surely she could just go to his place.

    “I know a lot of people in real-estate, they will be able to find you something good”, he explained.

    “Thanks Lex, but look I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or anything and I know that this is ridiculous considering that I am living in Lana’s apartment, with Clark’s furniture with a job that you gave me on a whim”.

    He opened his mouth to object.

    “Really not fishing for compliments here Lex”, she interrupted him, “I don’t want anything more from you or anyone else really. I just want to stand on my own feet”.

    He held up his hands, “Fine, just trying to be helpful”.

    “I know”, she got up, “Have you seen my chest of draws?”

    “No”.

    She walked over to them and pulled out of the draws and he burst into laughter. It had a suitcase in it. “We think that it was exposed to meteor rock and grew”, she explained closing it again and heading back over to the settee.

    “That would seem to be the most logical explanation”, it really was huge.

    Even though her teasing tone he could make out the slightly smitten smile which touched her lips and knew that she valued them highly and the thought which had gone into giving them to her. He found himself lowering down to the sofa with a little less than his usual grace, drawing her attention back to him.

    “I’m stuffed”, he confessed.

    “Me too”, then after a beat, “I want something sweet. I’ll get the dessert”. He watched in wonderment as she made her way back over to the kitchen with an unconscious sway to her hips. Well, that explained where she put all of that food.

    He grinned.

    A/N: I'm sleepy!
    Last edited by HotCrossedBunny; 15th August 2014 at 19:33.

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