"Chloe's gonna flip when I tell her I met Bruce Wayne."
"Who? Did you say Chloe?"
"Yeah. Chloe. That blonde girl. Set new standards in evil eye as she walked out. That was Chloe."
"What's the matter Wayne? Can't you hear?"
Bruce's flesh went cold. The one person he, until this point, had successfully avoided was standing right behind him. Lucius had warned him to watch his back….
"Lex. It's been a long time."
"Oh, what's wrong, Bruce? You don't sound excited to see me."
"Your father eulogized my parents and then tried to take over my father's company less than 2 months later. Forgive me, but I couldn't be less excited to see you."
"I'm not my father, Bruce."
"No, you're not, but the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Now, if there's nothing else I can help you with, I'd like to continue my conversation with Pete here … alone."
"That's fine. Just remember Bruce; this isn't Gotham City. You're not in your protective little cocoon here. What you say and do here could have dire consequences…."
Bruce watched out the window intently as Lex got into his sleek Porsche and sped out of sight. He was so angry he was shaking. He had expected his eventual encounter with Lex to be tense but it had been far worse. He was even angrier with himself for not even noticing Lex Luthor was sitting just ten feet away the entire time.
"What was that all about?"
"Let's just say Wayne Enterprises and Luthorcorp don't have the best business relationship."
"He was right, though. He's not his father."
Bruce narrowed his eyes, clenched his jaw and gave Pete a look so cold it made him take a step back. Chloe had given him a bad look, but nothing compared to this.
"Whose side are you on, Pete?"
"Uh…I don't take sides. I'm neutral, man. Just like Switzerland."
"Uh-huh. Whatever. Where can I find Chloe?"
"She has journalism last hour. You can find her at the Torch office at school then."
"Thank you. And Pete,"
"Yeah?"
"You can forget about telling Chloe, because this conversation never happened. You can forget about the spoon too."
"What spoon?"