Chloe and Emmeline walked into the Talon and went up beside Lana at the counter.
"Chloe. Em," she greeted with a smile.
"Yes," Chloe said. "The two names you won't find on the list for Smallville's biggest event of the century." Lana smiled pitifully. "Don't worry. It's not like we're holding out for our fairy godmothers to bring us our glass slippers."
Lana laughed. "It's okay. I'm still not convinced Lex won't have me in a headset running around with ice buckets."
Chloe held up one of the invitations. "Is this what you were doing until 2:00 in the morning last night?"
Lana's eyes widened and she hesitated a bit before answering, "Yeah."
Emmeline could tell she was lying, but she chose not to say anything.
"Well, look, uh, I can't vouch for my calligraphy skills, but if you need any help just let me know."
Clark entered the Talon and joined them all at the counter. "Hey, guys. I'd like a double espresso please."
Chloe looked up at him to find him looking really worn down. "Whoa. Were you burning the midnight oil last night too?"
Clark looked over at Lana's whose eyes widened a little again. "I was…just working on a toast for Lex's dinner."
"Oh."
Now they were both lying. Judging from the looks between them, it was clear something happened the previous night that neither of them wanted to share with Chloe or Emmeline. It didn't take much to guess what the thing was.
Pete came up behind them and joined them all as well. "Chloe, Em, ready to go?"
Chloe didn't answer as she looked from Lana to Clark. All four of them sat in awkward silence as they looked at one another.
"Everybody okay?" Pete asked.
"Yeah."
"Fine."
"Great."
"Perfect."
Pete looked at everyone as the chorus of voices reached him. "Just checking."
"Right," Chloe smiled awkwardly as she hopped out of her chair. "Well, we better get going. We have ashes to sweep and wicked stepsisters to undermine."
On the day of Lex's rehearsal dinner, Chloe and Emmeline headed over to the Kent farm and listened as Clark went over his speech.
"Dear guests…No, there's got to be something else. Um…Friends and family."
The two girls smiled at each other and finally decided to make themselves known.
"The first line's always the hardest," Chloe smiled as she looked up at him.
"Hey, guys," Clark said. "What's up?"
"Big news. Your friend Dr. Walden woke up."
"I wouldn't exactly call him a friend of mine," he told them as he began to descend down the steps.
"Well, anyway, I was just wondering if you wanted to come out of retirement and do the story with us."
"Hey, I appreciate the offer, but now really isn't a good time."
"I didn't mean right this second, Clark." There was an awkward pause before she continued, "I wish things could be like they were."
"Yeah, me too."
"I just feel like there's this huge rift between us and no matter how hard I try, I can't get back to you."
"We'll get there, Chloe. It's just gonna take a little bit of time."
"Well, whatever happens, let's just promise to be honest with each other. I mean, you're a big boy, Em and I are big girls. I think we can handle it. As long as we tell the truth."
"I agree," Emmeline said. "Any good relationship is built on trust. Please just give us that."
"Okay, well, we'd better get going. You have your rehearsal dinner and we have the Torch. So…" Chloe started to walk away. "Break a leg, Clark," she called back.
"Let us know how it went."
The two girls headed to the Torch to do some late night work since they hadn't been invited to Lex's wedding.
"How are things with Pete?" Chloe asked.
Emmeline turned from her desk and looked at her friend with a playful annoyed face. "Not as icy if that's what you're asking. We got a coffee a few days ago and just talked. We're basically just starting back from where we began last year."
"Well that kind of sucks."
"Yeah…"
"I guess it's good that you're starting to repair things. It's better than nothing."
"I suppose."
They worked in silence for a few more minutes before they heard, "I certainly do admire your work ethic, ladies. Late at night, here you both are, still at it."
Emmeline turned around in her seat to find Lionel Luthor in the Torch office with them.
Chloe quickly switched whatever was displaying on her computer. "Yeah. Well, we weren't invited to the rehearsal dinner, so…"
"Yes, we have a lot in common. I spoke to the, uh, managing editor at the Daily Planet. It's all set. A weekly column on current affairs from the, uh, young person's perspective."
Chloe let out a small excited laugh. "I don't know how to thank you."
"Nurturing a promising young talent is a reward in itself. And I've, uh, I've got your first assignment." He sat on her desk and looked at her. "A complete investigative profile of Clark Kent."
Chloe's brow furrowed. "What possible interest could the Daily Planet have in a farm boy from Smallville?"
"This isn't for the Daily Planet. I'm sure they'll be in touch with you. No, this is for me. Just, uh, combine it with, uh, any research about his family you already have."
Emmeline knew that man was up to something. Lionel Luthor didn't do anything nice for someone for nothing in return.
Chloe scoffed and stood up. "Wow. I blew off my journalistic skepticism and allowed myself to actually believe that you were interested in just helping me."
"You're playing in the real world now, Miss Sullivan. You have to give to get."
Chloe leaned onto her desk and got quite close to his face. "Mr. Luthor, I don't know what your interest is in Clark, but you can take the job offer and shove it down your thousand-dollar pants."
Emmeline put her hand to her mouth to suppress a laugh. She absolutely loved Chloe more than anything in that moment. She got up from her desk and walked over to her best friend.
Lionel stood up from the desk. "Clark's very lucky to have a friend like you. All that integrity. I-I wonder, though, if he had to make a choice, would he sacrifice his dream out of loyalty to you?"
As Lionel shrugged and walked to the door, Emmeline called out after him, "I like to think that he would."
Lionel paused for a moment and then walked out of the office. Emmeline smiled to herself, proud that for the first time in a situation like this, she had gotten the last word.
Chloe and Emmeline rushed to Clark's house to warn him about what Lionel had told them. He needed to know that such a powerful man was looking for any means to get information on him.
But they were not prepared for what they walked in on.
The two girls froze when they saw Lana and Clark passionately kissing. It didn't bother Emmeline since she only liked Clark as a friend, but she didn't need to see the tears in Chloe's eyes to know that such a sight was basically killing her.
Emmeline put her arms around her and ushered her out of the loft and away from such a painful place.
She hugged Chloe tightly and let her best friend cry into her arms. She let out a large sigh as she looked back up at the loft sadly.
As much as it hurt, they had always seen this coming.
