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A Surprise Change
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Chloe and Lana sat chatting in the Talon, at a window seat to the left of the entrance, Chloe facing Lana, who had her back to the door. "So, to what do I owe the honour of a large cinnamon double mocha latte on the house?" asked Chloe after taking an appreciative sip of the hot drink. "I thought you might want a pick me up, and a chat. I want to help you with the Clark situation." Lana replied, giving Chloe a friendly smile. "Ummm. the Clark situation? Lana, there is no Clark situation. And there never will be!" Chloe answered unconvincingly. "Chloe. I know you have feelings for Clark, I've heard you rant about him too many times not to read between the lines and realise you care for him. You care for him a great deal don't you?" When Chloe didn't respond Lana continued. " I think you love him, don't you?" Chloe just took another sip and looked down at her napkin. Finally she gave a little nod and looked up. "Yes, but it doesn't matter, he only has eyes for.. for you." Lana didn't react, save to quirk her eyebrow. "I'm not so sure, Chloe. We're just good friends." "At the moment" Chloe mumbled. "That's all we'll ever be. I'm not interested in Clark as anything else. Believe me!" Lana replied earnestly, leaning forward. Chloe saw the honesty in Lana's face, and gave a little smile, but that withered as she replied "Clark doesn't know that and even so, he's not interested in me in any other way either." "I wouldn't be so sure. He's been asking me questions about you lately." "I'm sure he just wants to know if I'm still upset after the whole dance- thing" Chloe sighed. "No, I don't think that's it. He said he had a surprise for you soon. Didn't say what it was though. Sorry"
Chloe's reply was interrupted as she realised that Lana's attention was elsewhere. She was staring out the window at something Chloe couldn't see. Turning her head to see what had Lana's attention so completely Chloe caught a glimpse of a tall man walking past the window, and Lana's head rotating to follow him. In that glimpse she saw a broad back covered by a long black leather coat, going down to his ankles. Then he was gone. The door of the Talon opened and in strolled the man in black. Looking ahead he walked straight to the counter to order a drink, allowing Chloe and Lana to only see him in profile and from behind. Looking closer they noticed he has short-ish brown hair, slicked back with gel, an earring in his right ear and expensive shades hiding his eyes. The stranger also seemed to be carrying a book under his arm.
Lana and Chloe couldn't keep their eyes off the new customer, and began to gossip about who he could be and how good he looked.
Meanwhile the man had turned from the counter and walked to the right, towards a bunch of comfy chairs. Two pairs of eyes followed the man, watched him walk up to a familiar friend of theirs, Lex Luthor, who sat enthroned on one of the plush lounging seats.
Nearing Lex, the man in black finally spoke "Lex Luthor, what a surprise." At this, Lex looked up to see a tall, broad man with a long black leather coat, long black slacks, shiny black leather shoes and a thick white cotton turtleneck jumper on under his coat. Sitting down opposite Lex, the stranger crossed his legs and leaned back, sipping his drink and looking him in the eye. Lex just sat there, nonplussed. There was something about the man opposite him, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. The stranger suddenly leant forward and offered Lex his hand. With a puzzled yet frustrated look, Lex eventually replied "You know, I never forget a face and I swear I've seen you before, but I can't tell where. Care to tell me?" whilst shaking the proffered hand. The man just grinned into his coffee. "Well?" Lex extorted. "Lex, you really don't recognise me? at all?" Now Lex was starting to get annoyed. "No" he nearly growled. Chuckling the man replied "Ok, here's a hint...." and showed Lex the book he'd been carrying. Lex sat there slack- jawed as he tried to look into the eyes hidden by the sunglasses sitting under lots of slicked back brown hair.
The Girls had kept up with the whole conversation, even though they couldn't hear it. They were both intrigued by the stranger who could surprise even Lex Luthor, the normally totally unflappable. They watched the handshake, the interaction and the look of stunned recognition.
Lex mumbled the mans name, still not sure he had it right. "Yup. You like the new look? I kinda modelled it on you. I decided I needed to change my image a bit if someone was ever going to take me seriously." Lex still sat there a bit nonplussed. With a grin spreading across his face in understanding, he nodded his bald head toward the two girls at the window.
Seeing the grin and the nod, Lana and Chloe were prepared when the two turn towards them, and they got their first look at the strangers face. The stranger had an angular set to his cheeks, and a straight nose, light pink skin and a roguish smile on his face. Beyond that they couldn't tell because of the wrap around Raybans he was wearing. Turning back to face each other Lex and the stranger exchanged a few more words. Chloe and Lana glanced at each other and noticed the others shy yet coy smile. "Wow, and I thought all you were interested in was Clark!" Lana teased. "Hey, I can look around, besides, I'm not hung up on Clark" Chloe retorted.
"Well, to be fair, you certainly picked a hunk to drool over!". "Hey, I'm not drooling!. simply cooling my mouth after the hot coffee!" Chloe answered with a clever grin. Whilst the girls continued to banter over the stranger, he made his way over to their table. When he suddenly loomed over them they realised they had been so engrossed in chatting about him they hadn't noticed him getting closer. Hoping he hadn't overheard their more than friendly comments they look up at him.
With a slightly smirking grin the stranger looked at each of them and then studied Chloe more intensely. "Ms. Sullivan, Mr. Luthor tells me you're doing a story about the tornado that went through here a little while ago." He purred. Smiling at the words Chloe replied "Yes, buts it's just for my school paper, i didn't think Lex read it. Now, you are?" A strange smile on his face, the man continued for her without missing a beat "... interested in your story. I wondered what your thoughts were on the tornado and what will happen to this town now." Chloe was curious, and nothing is worse than a curious Chloe, except a curious Chloe that was asked about her latest story. With snark in her voice she replied "Well, I'd tell you but my friend Clark hasn't turned up to give me the prints for the story yet. 'til then i can't really comment." Smiling the stranger sat down next to Lana who was still staring at him, though not too openly. "Well, we can't have that, now can we?" the man replied, taking some papers out from inside the cover of the astronomy book he set on the table and placing them in front of Chloe. Looking down, Chloe stared at the prints of her story, weirded out that a stranger would hand her, her own story. Taking a deep breath and making a frown she demanded "Where Did You Get That!?!" Needing a hit of caffeine Chloe picked up her coffee and took a deep sip. Removing his sunglasses, the stranger replied "Why, I printed them for you Chloe." Chloe's eyes bulged out of their sockets and she gasped. Unfortunately she was in the middle of her sip of coffee, and ended up spitting warm cinnamon double mocha latte all over Lana opposite her. Lana barely noticed, she was now openly staring at the man next to her in open-mouthed amazement. Chloe finally got her breathing back under control and stopped choking long enough to croak "Clark?....." staring at her friends face. "Something wrong Chloe?" Clark replied with a smug grin on his face, a smile suddenly so much more familiar.
In the background Chloe could hear Lex laughing about the coffee-choking- spitting-soaking thing...... hysterically laughing....
Chloe and Lana sat chatting in the Talon, at a window seat to the left of the entrance, Chloe facing Lana, who had her back to the door. "So, to what do I owe the honour of a large cinnamon double mocha latte on the house?" asked Chloe after taking an appreciative sip of the hot drink. "I thought you might want a pick me up, and a chat. I want to help you with the Clark situation." Lana replied, giving Chloe a friendly smile. "Ummm. the Clark situation? Lana, there is no Clark situation. And there never will be!" Chloe answered unconvincingly. "Chloe. I know you have feelings for Clark, I've heard you rant about him too many times not to read between the lines and realise you care for him. You care for him a great deal don't you?" When Chloe didn't respond Lana continued. " I think you love him, don't you?" Chloe just took another sip and looked down at her napkin. Finally she gave a little nod and looked up. "Yes, but it doesn't matter, he only has eyes for.. for you." Lana didn't react, save to quirk her eyebrow. "I'm not so sure, Chloe. We're just good friends." "At the moment" Chloe mumbled. "That's all we'll ever be. I'm not interested in Clark as anything else. Believe me!" Lana replied earnestly, leaning forward. Chloe saw the honesty in Lana's face, and gave a little smile, but that withered as she replied "Clark doesn't know that and even so, he's not interested in me in any other way either." "I wouldn't be so sure. He's been asking me questions about you lately." "I'm sure he just wants to know if I'm still upset after the whole dance- thing" Chloe sighed. "No, I don't think that's it. He said he had a surprise for you soon. Didn't say what it was though. Sorry"
Chloe's reply was interrupted as she realised that Lana's attention was elsewhere. She was staring out the window at something Chloe couldn't see. Turning her head to see what had Lana's attention so completely Chloe caught a glimpse of a tall man walking past the window, and Lana's head rotating to follow him. In that glimpse she saw a broad back covered by a long black leather coat, going down to his ankles. Then he was gone. The door of the Talon opened and in strolled the man in black. Looking ahead he walked straight to the counter to order a drink, allowing Chloe and Lana to only see him in profile and from behind. Looking closer they noticed he has short-ish brown hair, slicked back with gel, an earring in his right ear and expensive shades hiding his eyes. The stranger also seemed to be carrying a book under his arm.
Lana and Chloe couldn't keep their eyes off the new customer, and began to gossip about who he could be and how good he looked.
Meanwhile the man had turned from the counter and walked to the right, towards a bunch of comfy chairs. Two pairs of eyes followed the man, watched him walk up to a familiar friend of theirs, Lex Luthor, who sat enthroned on one of the plush lounging seats.
Nearing Lex, the man in black finally spoke "Lex Luthor, what a surprise." At this, Lex looked up to see a tall, broad man with a long black leather coat, long black slacks, shiny black leather shoes and a thick white cotton turtleneck jumper on under his coat. Sitting down opposite Lex, the stranger crossed his legs and leaned back, sipping his drink and looking him in the eye. Lex just sat there, nonplussed. There was something about the man opposite him, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. The stranger suddenly leant forward and offered Lex his hand. With a puzzled yet frustrated look, Lex eventually replied "You know, I never forget a face and I swear I've seen you before, but I can't tell where. Care to tell me?" whilst shaking the proffered hand. The man just grinned into his coffee. "Well?" Lex extorted. "Lex, you really don't recognise me? at all?" Now Lex was starting to get annoyed. "No" he nearly growled. Chuckling the man replied "Ok, here's a hint...." and showed Lex the book he'd been carrying. Lex sat there slack- jawed as he tried to look into the eyes hidden by the sunglasses sitting under lots of slicked back brown hair.
The Girls had kept up with the whole conversation, even though they couldn't hear it. They were both intrigued by the stranger who could surprise even Lex Luthor, the normally totally unflappable. They watched the handshake, the interaction and the look of stunned recognition.
Lex mumbled the mans name, still not sure he had it right. "Yup. You like the new look? I kinda modelled it on you. I decided I needed to change my image a bit if someone was ever going to take me seriously." Lex still sat there a bit nonplussed. With a grin spreading across his face in understanding, he nodded his bald head toward the two girls at the window.
Seeing the grin and the nod, Lana and Chloe were prepared when the two turn towards them, and they got their first look at the strangers face. The stranger had an angular set to his cheeks, and a straight nose, light pink skin and a roguish smile on his face. Beyond that they couldn't tell because of the wrap around Raybans he was wearing. Turning back to face each other Lex and the stranger exchanged a few more words. Chloe and Lana glanced at each other and noticed the others shy yet coy smile. "Wow, and I thought all you were interested in was Clark!" Lana teased. "Hey, I can look around, besides, I'm not hung up on Clark" Chloe retorted.
"Well, to be fair, you certainly picked a hunk to drool over!". "Hey, I'm not drooling!. simply cooling my mouth after the hot coffee!" Chloe answered with a clever grin. Whilst the girls continued to banter over the stranger, he made his way over to their table. When he suddenly loomed over them they realised they had been so engrossed in chatting about him they hadn't noticed him getting closer. Hoping he hadn't overheard their more than friendly comments they look up at him.
With a slightly smirking grin the stranger looked at each of them and then studied Chloe more intensely. "Ms. Sullivan, Mr. Luthor tells me you're doing a story about the tornado that went through here a little while ago." He purred. Smiling at the words Chloe replied "Yes, buts it's just for my school paper, i didn't think Lex read it. Now, you are?" A strange smile on his face, the man continued for her without missing a beat "... interested in your story. I wondered what your thoughts were on the tornado and what will happen to this town now." Chloe was curious, and nothing is worse than a curious Chloe, except a curious Chloe that was asked about her latest story. With snark in her voice she replied "Well, I'd tell you but my friend Clark hasn't turned up to give me the prints for the story yet. 'til then i can't really comment." Smiling the stranger sat down next to Lana who was still staring at him, though not too openly. "Well, we can't have that, now can we?" the man replied, taking some papers out from inside the cover of the astronomy book he set on the table and placing them in front of Chloe. Looking down, Chloe stared at the prints of her story, weirded out that a stranger would hand her, her own story. Taking a deep breath and making a frown she demanded "Where Did You Get That!?!" Needing a hit of caffeine Chloe picked up her coffee and took a deep sip. Removing his sunglasses, the stranger replied "Why, I printed them for you Chloe." Chloe's eyes bulged out of their sockets and she gasped. Unfortunately she was in the middle of her sip of coffee, and ended up spitting warm cinnamon double mocha latte all over Lana opposite her. Lana barely noticed, she was now openly staring at the man next to her in open-mouthed amazement. Chloe finally got her breathing back under control and stopped choking long enough to croak "Clark?....." staring at her friends face. "Something wrong Chloe?" Clark replied with a smug grin on his face, a smile suddenly so much more familiar.
In the background Chloe could hear Lex laughing about the coffee-choking- spitting-soaking thing...... hysterically laughing....