Marie lived up to Lex's description of her--frighteningly efficient indeed, Chloe thought, seeing the binders of information Marie had dropped off by ten. "Most of what's in here is public record or press releases, but it should be enough to get you started. Once again, if you have any questions, please call me. Mr. Luthor has asked me to help you in any way I can, since he won't always be available." She smiled and left.
"Trust Lex to find a personal assistant that's brilliant, more efficient than God, and beautiful, too," Chloe muttered, opening the first binder. Not that she was jealous or anything. Lex wouldn't be dumb enough to sleep with his assistant. And besides, the society pages had a full record of every woman he'd been seen with in the past year, and the lovely Marie Chambers wasn't among them.
Not that she'd looked.
Three hours later, she had masses of notes on the history of LexCorp (previously LuthorCorp) and enough of an idea about an outline that she decided lunch was a good option. That, and her stomach was grumbling loudly in protest about its lack of fuel. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. All right. Food time.
"You said something about Greek food, I believe?" Lex asked, appearing in her doorway.
"How do you *do* that?" she asked. "You show up just as I decide I need lunch, you show up just as I get off the phone--how do you do that?"
He smirked. "I came by around quarter after noon, but you were so engrossed in your work you didn't even notice me. So I decided to come back and forcibly remove you, if I had to."
She grinned and stood, grabbing her bag. "No force necessary, I'll come along willingly."
Lex smiled and ushered her out the door. "So where would you like to go?"
The little deli was a ten-minute walk from the LexCorp building; Chloe spent most of it wondering what the hell had gotten into her. It was silly, but she thought of the deli as 'her' place. She hadn't wanted to bring Clark there, even--and now, here she was, walking along with Lex. She was *so* screwed...
"Chloe!" the owner greeted her when she walked in. "You don't like us anymore?"
She laughed and ducked behind the counter to kiss him on the cheek. "I've been busy."
"Mm-hmm. So are you gonna introduce me to your friend?"
"Oh, right--Mr. Popolous, this is my friend Lex. Lex, this is Mr. Popolous, who makes the best gyros you'll ever eat."
Lex smiled and held out his hand for Mr. Popolous to shake. "Nice to meet you," he said politely.
"Please, it's Dimitri. So--you want the usual?" he asked Chloe, who had gone over to peruse the drinks.
"For two." Chloe snagged two bottles of iced tea and handed one to Lex, twisting the top off hers.
"Oh, Chloe--Paulette next door has your book. But you don't get it until you eat." Mr. Popolous pointed a spoon at her. "I say so."
"You say so, huh?" Chloe laughed.
"She doesn't eat enough," Mr. Popolous said to Lex, who smiled a little.
"I do so," Chloe protested, licking iced tea off her upper lip. She saw Lex's gaze drop to her mouth and flushed.
"Uh huh." Mr. Popolous handed her a bag. "There you go."
"How much do I owe you?" Chloe asked, taking it.
"Don't worry about it, just come back more."
"But--"
"Don't argue with me." Mr. Popolous grinned. "You'll be back. But this one's on me."
She sighed and put her wallet back in her messenger bag. "All right."
As they left the deli, Chloe handed Lex a foil-wrapped oblong. "I'm not sure if this is a souvlaki or a gyro," she admitted. "But eat it anyway." She took another one out of the bag and unwrapped it, biting into the pita hungrily. "Well, this one's a gyro," she said, swallowing.
Lex took a bite of his own. "This one's--not." He took another bite. "I see why you like this place."
"One of my first discoveries in Metropolis." Chloe took a swig of her iced tea and grinned. "And Paulette, who runs the bookstore next door, is just amazing. Speaking of which, I have to run in."
Lex nodded. "All right."
She ducked into the bookstore, exchanging a cheery hello with the girl behind the counter before Paulette came out. "Chloe! Your book's in. You want it now?"
"Yeah, please." Chloe grinned and took the wrapped package Paulette handed her. "How much?"
"Twenty," Paulette told her.
Chloe gave her a disbelieving look. "That's not enough."
"I got a good deal."
"Paulette--"
"It's twenty dollars, Chloe," Paulette said firmly. "Pay up."
Chloe sighed and dug out her wallet, handing Paulette two ten-dollar bills. "Thanks, Paulette."
"You want me to keep looking for the others?"
"Yeah, could you?"
"Not a problem. I'll call you if I find anything."
"Thanks again." Chloe tucked the package under her arm and left the store, blinking in the bright sunlight. "Hey," she said, seeing Lex leaning against a nearby signpost.
"Get what you needed?" he asked as they began walking back to the LexCorp building.
She grinned. "My guilty secret--I collect old mysteries. Not really old ones, but--like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden and all those. Paulette found me a couple I thought were out of print."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised you're a mystery reader," Lex commented.
"I have a one-track mind." Chloe smiled. "I like solving puzzles."
"Really," Lex murmured. "That could be interesting."
"We'll see if you still think that way after my article," she countered.
Lex just smiled and held the door for her.
The rest of her day was spent buried in research; she needed to be able to have a basic grasp of what Lex's scientists were up to before she started interviewing them. It was tough going, especially as she really didn't care for science. She ended up having to ask Marie for a dictionary just to look up some of the terms.
Around six, she finally packed up her notes and headed out, intending to stop back at her apartment and shower before meeting Clark for dinner. If she hurried, she'd have just enough time.
As it turned out, she was about ten minutes late. "Sorry," she said breathlessly, running up the steps to the building. "I had some hot water issues."
Clark smiled. "It's okay. Where do you want to go eat?"
They decided on a pub that had been one of their favorite spots in college. The beer selection was as excellent as ever, the burgers were hot and juicy, and the noise level was high enough they could have been trading national secrets and no one would have heard.
"So," Chloe said, gesturing with a french fry. "Where have you *been* these past three years?"
"Traveling. I know it sounds corny, but--I just kind of wanted to see the world. So I worked my way around. Trading labor for rooms, stuff like that." Clark shrugged. "It's been enlightening."
"I bet. You could probably write a fascinating series on your travels, too."
"Maybe. I hadn't thought about it." Clark swallowed a bite of his burger.
"Have you told anyone else you're back in town? Pete, Lana--Lex?"
"I called Pete yesterday, but Lana's out of town."
Chloe sipped her beer. "Not Lex?" she asked.
"I figured you'd have told him, since you're working with him."
"Clark, please. I wouldn't do that. And anyway, I'm trying to keep that strictly professional. So spill, how come you haven't told him?"
"I don't know." Clark shrugged again. "It's different now, you know? He's not the guy I knew back in Smallville."
"He's still your friend, though," Chloe argued. Clark didn't respond right away; she frowned and leaned over the table. "Isn't he?"
"Yeah. Yeah, he is."
For some reason, Chloe didn't find that statement to be reassuring. "So," she said brightly. "How's the Planet treating you?"
Clark walked her home after dinner; his building was apparently not too far from hers. "If you want to come by tomorrow for dinner, I can throw some stuff together," she offered, digging out her keys. "I hate cooking for myself, but with two..."
"Um--yeah, that sounds good." Clark grinned. "Can I trust you in the kitchen?"
"Hey!" Chloe swatted at him playfully and he ducked, laughing. "Be nice or I'll put peas in whatever I make."
"I can't believe you *remember* that!"
She grinned. "Never underestimate the power of a journalist's memory."
"I'll keep that in mind." Clark grinned back.
"All right, I've got to go--I have work to do before I sleep. Come by tomorrow around seven, okay?"
"See you then."
Chloe ran up the steps and unlocked the door to her building, waving at Clark before she headed inside. She had at least two hours of studying ahead of her before she could hope to have an understanding of what the new program actually *did*. "God, I hate science," she muttered, changing into pajamas and settling down to go through her notes.
She fell asleep somewhere around one, after barely remembering to set her alarm for six. It looked like it was going to be a double-espresso day already...
Buzz. Buzz. Chloe rubbed her eyes and stumbled over to the intercom, buzzing back before realizing that at--3:38am, the person on the other end was either a sadistic criminal or someone with really bad news.
"Chloe?"
Okay, that wasn't the voice of a sadistic criminal--well, unless Lex was up to things she didn't know about. She unlocked the door and let him in, blinking. "Lex, what the hell?" she asked, pushing hair off her face.
"Figures," he said cryptically. "I get to see you mostly undressed and I can't do anything about it." He stepped in, looking around. "Get some stuff together, you've got to go."
"Go where? Why?" Chloe looked down at her worn tank top that ended above her navel and the baggy cotton pants that started at her hips and flushed briefly. "What's going on?"
"There was a break-in at LexCorp tonight--an inside job, it had to be. Whoever it was took apart your office, apparently looking for notes. You're not safe here."
Chloe's brain took a moment to process that; while it did, her body went on autopilot and started throwing things into a duffel bag. "My notes weren't there," she said briefly, tossing in some toiletries on top of jeans and shirts. "They're in my laptop."
"I figured as much." Lex kept glancing around, as if making sure no one was there.
She pulled on a hooded sweatshirt and sneakers, slinging the duffel over one shoulder and picking up her laptop case. "So what's the game plan now?" she asked, grabbing her keys.
"I can provide security for you, either at a hotel of your choice or at my place. Unless you have someplace else you'd rather go."
"Um." Chloe thought for a minute. "Actually," she said slowly, "I have an idea."
If she'd been half-dressed, Clark was even less so. He answered his door in a pair of unbuttoned blue jeans and nothing else. Chloe repressed the small shiver that ran through her body at the sight of Clark shirtless--okay, it was horrible timing and she wasn't interested, but she was still *female*! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lex's mouth quirk briefly. Well, that wasn't a surprise either.
"Chloe?" Clark said sleepily. "What's going on?"
"Trust Lex to find a personal assistant that's brilliant, more efficient than God, and beautiful, too," Chloe muttered, opening the first binder. Not that she was jealous or anything. Lex wouldn't be dumb enough to sleep with his assistant. And besides, the society pages had a full record of every woman he'd been seen with in the past year, and the lovely Marie Chambers wasn't among them.
Not that she'd looked.
Three hours later, she had masses of notes on the history of LexCorp (previously LuthorCorp) and enough of an idea about an outline that she decided lunch was a good option. That, and her stomach was grumbling loudly in protest about its lack of fuel. She leaned back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. All right. Food time.
"You said something about Greek food, I believe?" Lex asked, appearing in her doorway.
"How do you *do* that?" she asked. "You show up just as I decide I need lunch, you show up just as I get off the phone--how do you do that?"
He smirked. "I came by around quarter after noon, but you were so engrossed in your work you didn't even notice me. So I decided to come back and forcibly remove you, if I had to."
She grinned and stood, grabbing her bag. "No force necessary, I'll come along willingly."
Lex smiled and ushered her out the door. "So where would you like to go?"
The little deli was a ten-minute walk from the LexCorp building; Chloe spent most of it wondering what the hell had gotten into her. It was silly, but she thought of the deli as 'her' place. She hadn't wanted to bring Clark there, even--and now, here she was, walking along with Lex. She was *so* screwed...
"Chloe!" the owner greeted her when she walked in. "You don't like us anymore?"
She laughed and ducked behind the counter to kiss him on the cheek. "I've been busy."
"Mm-hmm. So are you gonna introduce me to your friend?"
"Oh, right--Mr. Popolous, this is my friend Lex. Lex, this is Mr. Popolous, who makes the best gyros you'll ever eat."
Lex smiled and held out his hand for Mr. Popolous to shake. "Nice to meet you," he said politely.
"Please, it's Dimitri. So--you want the usual?" he asked Chloe, who had gone over to peruse the drinks.
"For two." Chloe snagged two bottles of iced tea and handed one to Lex, twisting the top off hers.
"Oh, Chloe--Paulette next door has your book. But you don't get it until you eat." Mr. Popolous pointed a spoon at her. "I say so."
"You say so, huh?" Chloe laughed.
"She doesn't eat enough," Mr. Popolous said to Lex, who smiled a little.
"I do so," Chloe protested, licking iced tea off her upper lip. She saw Lex's gaze drop to her mouth and flushed.
"Uh huh." Mr. Popolous handed her a bag. "There you go."
"How much do I owe you?" Chloe asked, taking it.
"Don't worry about it, just come back more."
"But--"
"Don't argue with me." Mr. Popolous grinned. "You'll be back. But this one's on me."
She sighed and put her wallet back in her messenger bag. "All right."
As they left the deli, Chloe handed Lex a foil-wrapped oblong. "I'm not sure if this is a souvlaki or a gyro," she admitted. "But eat it anyway." She took another one out of the bag and unwrapped it, biting into the pita hungrily. "Well, this one's a gyro," she said, swallowing.
Lex took a bite of his own. "This one's--not." He took another bite. "I see why you like this place."
"One of my first discoveries in Metropolis." Chloe took a swig of her iced tea and grinned. "And Paulette, who runs the bookstore next door, is just amazing. Speaking of which, I have to run in."
Lex nodded. "All right."
She ducked into the bookstore, exchanging a cheery hello with the girl behind the counter before Paulette came out. "Chloe! Your book's in. You want it now?"
"Yeah, please." Chloe grinned and took the wrapped package Paulette handed her. "How much?"
"Twenty," Paulette told her.
Chloe gave her a disbelieving look. "That's not enough."
"I got a good deal."
"Paulette--"
"It's twenty dollars, Chloe," Paulette said firmly. "Pay up."
Chloe sighed and dug out her wallet, handing Paulette two ten-dollar bills. "Thanks, Paulette."
"You want me to keep looking for the others?"
"Yeah, could you?"
"Not a problem. I'll call you if I find anything."
"Thanks again." Chloe tucked the package under her arm and left the store, blinking in the bright sunlight. "Hey," she said, seeing Lex leaning against a nearby signpost.
"Get what you needed?" he asked as they began walking back to the LexCorp building.
She grinned. "My guilty secret--I collect old mysteries. Not really old ones, but--like Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden and all those. Paulette found me a couple I thought were out of print."
"Somehow, I'm not surprised you're a mystery reader," Lex commented.
"I have a one-track mind." Chloe smiled. "I like solving puzzles."
"Really," Lex murmured. "That could be interesting."
"We'll see if you still think that way after my article," she countered.
Lex just smiled and held the door for her.
The rest of her day was spent buried in research; she needed to be able to have a basic grasp of what Lex's scientists were up to before she started interviewing them. It was tough going, especially as she really didn't care for science. She ended up having to ask Marie for a dictionary just to look up some of the terms.
Around six, she finally packed up her notes and headed out, intending to stop back at her apartment and shower before meeting Clark for dinner. If she hurried, she'd have just enough time.
As it turned out, she was about ten minutes late. "Sorry," she said breathlessly, running up the steps to the building. "I had some hot water issues."
Clark smiled. "It's okay. Where do you want to go eat?"
They decided on a pub that had been one of their favorite spots in college. The beer selection was as excellent as ever, the burgers were hot and juicy, and the noise level was high enough they could have been trading national secrets and no one would have heard.
"So," Chloe said, gesturing with a french fry. "Where have you *been* these past three years?"
"Traveling. I know it sounds corny, but--I just kind of wanted to see the world. So I worked my way around. Trading labor for rooms, stuff like that." Clark shrugged. "It's been enlightening."
"I bet. You could probably write a fascinating series on your travels, too."
"Maybe. I hadn't thought about it." Clark swallowed a bite of his burger.
"Have you told anyone else you're back in town? Pete, Lana--Lex?"
"I called Pete yesterday, but Lana's out of town."
Chloe sipped her beer. "Not Lex?" she asked.
"I figured you'd have told him, since you're working with him."
"Clark, please. I wouldn't do that. And anyway, I'm trying to keep that strictly professional. So spill, how come you haven't told him?"
"I don't know." Clark shrugged again. "It's different now, you know? He's not the guy I knew back in Smallville."
"He's still your friend, though," Chloe argued. Clark didn't respond right away; she frowned and leaned over the table. "Isn't he?"
"Yeah. Yeah, he is."
For some reason, Chloe didn't find that statement to be reassuring. "So," she said brightly. "How's the Planet treating you?"
Clark walked her home after dinner; his building was apparently not too far from hers. "If you want to come by tomorrow for dinner, I can throw some stuff together," she offered, digging out her keys. "I hate cooking for myself, but with two..."
"Um--yeah, that sounds good." Clark grinned. "Can I trust you in the kitchen?"
"Hey!" Chloe swatted at him playfully and he ducked, laughing. "Be nice or I'll put peas in whatever I make."
"I can't believe you *remember* that!"
She grinned. "Never underestimate the power of a journalist's memory."
"I'll keep that in mind." Clark grinned back.
"All right, I've got to go--I have work to do before I sleep. Come by tomorrow around seven, okay?"
"See you then."
Chloe ran up the steps and unlocked the door to her building, waving at Clark before she headed inside. She had at least two hours of studying ahead of her before she could hope to have an understanding of what the new program actually *did*. "God, I hate science," she muttered, changing into pajamas and settling down to go through her notes.
She fell asleep somewhere around one, after barely remembering to set her alarm for six. It looked like it was going to be a double-espresso day already...
Buzz. Buzz. Chloe rubbed her eyes and stumbled over to the intercom, buzzing back before realizing that at--3:38am, the person on the other end was either a sadistic criminal or someone with really bad news.
"Chloe?"
Okay, that wasn't the voice of a sadistic criminal--well, unless Lex was up to things she didn't know about. She unlocked the door and let him in, blinking. "Lex, what the hell?" she asked, pushing hair off her face.
"Figures," he said cryptically. "I get to see you mostly undressed and I can't do anything about it." He stepped in, looking around. "Get some stuff together, you've got to go."
"Go where? Why?" Chloe looked down at her worn tank top that ended above her navel and the baggy cotton pants that started at her hips and flushed briefly. "What's going on?"
"There was a break-in at LexCorp tonight--an inside job, it had to be. Whoever it was took apart your office, apparently looking for notes. You're not safe here."
Chloe's brain took a moment to process that; while it did, her body went on autopilot and started throwing things into a duffel bag. "My notes weren't there," she said briefly, tossing in some toiletries on top of jeans and shirts. "They're in my laptop."
"I figured as much." Lex kept glancing around, as if making sure no one was there.
She pulled on a hooded sweatshirt and sneakers, slinging the duffel over one shoulder and picking up her laptop case. "So what's the game plan now?" she asked, grabbing her keys.
"I can provide security for you, either at a hotel of your choice or at my place. Unless you have someplace else you'd rather go."
"Um." Chloe thought for a minute. "Actually," she said slowly, "I have an idea."
If she'd been half-dressed, Clark was even less so. He answered his door in a pair of unbuttoned blue jeans and nothing else. Chloe repressed the small shiver that ran through her body at the sight of Clark shirtless--okay, it was horrible timing and she wasn't interested, but she was still *female*! Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lex's mouth quirk briefly. Well, that wasn't a surprise either.
"Chloe?" Clark said sleepily. "What's going on?"