Chapter 22-Secrets

Friday afternoon…

Lex sighed with relief as he left the conference room. He should be used to meetings by now. But, he still found them incredibly boring. At least it was over.

He just wanted to change into some more comfortable clothes and see Chloe for lunch. He entered his office. It was filled with wrapped gifts from the people who worked for him. All congratulating him on his engagement to Chloe. Lex was sure they really didn't care.

He came back out to see his assistant. "Mrs. Simpson, would you do me a favor and call my fiancee at her work place. Let her know I'll be by soon."

"Yes, Mr. Luthor," she said and proceeded to call Chloe.

Lex quickly changed and freshened up. A few minutes later he stepped out of his office. "Did you let her know?" He asked Mrs. Simpson.

"She wasn't there, Mr. Luthor."

"Excuse me?"

Mrs. Simpson looked nervously at him. She used to work for Lionel Luthor, so Lex was sure she probably was afraid of some angry outburst. "She…uh…they said she is off today."

Lex was silent. Chloe told him this morning she was going to work after class. He could be mistaken. But, he specifically remembered her telling him she'd be home at 4:45 from work. Yes, that's right. Lex remembered asking her to get some Chinese food because it was right next to the bank. She had said she would.

Lex looked over at Mrs. Simpson, "Yes that's right. She did have the day off," he told Mrs. Simpson. He wasn't going to let Mrs. Simpson think there was a problem. "Thank you, Mrs. Simpson." He said and walked off.

Lex climbed into his car and sat there in silence. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Chloe lied to him. It seemed unfathomable but it was true. She had lied to him.

It wasn't that Lex wanted to keep tabs on her. When it came to Chloe he wasn't the controlling type. But, Chloe offered the information this morning that she'd be at work and she wasn't. She had the day off. It was a deliberate lie. Which meant she was hiding something or doing something she didn't want him to know about. Lex had a pretty good idea what it was.

**

Chloe carefully walked through the woods of Smallville. She wanted to get to the lake. That's where she knew a lot of meteor rocks were. She looked at her watch. It was lunchtime and she was hungry. She decided once she had the meteor rocks she'd get something to eat.

She jumped when her cell phone rang. "God," she breathed. She took in a deep breath and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Chloe." It was Lex.

"Hey, Lex."

"Hey, you sound strange. Is something wrong?" Lex asked.

"The phone startled me. I didn't expect it," Chloe told him.

"Oh," there was a moment of silence. "So, what are you doing?"

"Oh…um…eating lunch," she lied.

"Really? I went to the bank to look for you. You weren't there," he said. "I was hoping we'd have lunch together."

"Oh, you must've just missed me. I'm having lunch with some of the other tellers," she lied again.

"Oh…I see. Well, I'll see you tonight then?" He asked.

"Yup," she answered. "I love you."

"You too," Lex answered. "Bye Chloe." He hung up the phone.

Chloe stared at her cell phone. That was odd. It wasn't like Lex to say 'you too' when she told him she loved him. He always said 'I love you too.' Chloe also couldn't shake the feeling that he sounded a bit strange on the phone.

She decided to put it in the back in her mind and continue looking for the rocks.

**

Lex hurried down the hallways of Metropolis University. He was angry with Chloe; there was no doubt. She promised she wouldn't research the meteor rocks, but she was doing it anyway. Behind his back no less. She told him she was working today but she had the day off. On the phone she said she was eating lunch with other coworkers, Lex knew that was a lie as well.

She had let curiosity get the best of her. That didn't excuse the lies. What hurt Lex the most was the fact that she had promised him she wouldn't do this. Yet she was doing it anyway.

Lex finally found the door he was looking for. He had to take a deep breath before he opened the door without even knocking. The teacher stopped speaking and looked over at Lex. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Yes, I need to speak to Clark Kent. It's important," Lex said.

The teacher looked to Clark and nodded an OK.

Clark scrambled to his feet and exited the classroom. "Lex, what's up?"

Lex grabbed his arm and led him outside the building.

"Lex, what's going on?" Clark asked, stunned to see Lex angry.

"Why don't you tell me?" Lex retorted.

Clark shook his head, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Chloe," Lex answered.

Clark looked confused. Then said, "Lex, is something wrong with Chloe?"

"Yes, and it's your fault," Lex said. He knew full well that Clark had some part in getting Chloe to research the meteor rocks.

"Lex, just tell me!" Clark exclaimed, getting impatient.

"The meteor rocks."

Clark got silent and thought about this. "Are you talking about the death in Smallville a few months ago?"

"Did you get Chloe to research the meteor rocks?" Lex asked.

"No, not the meteor rocks. I…I gave her…"

"You gave her what?" Lex was trying hard not raise his voice.

Clark sighed. "A couple of weeks ago I gave Chloe this folder. It had a some information and pictures that concerned a death in Smallville."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"I just…I thought Chloe could get back to reporting and investigating," Clark told him.

"You thought she'd do this with you, didn't you? You thought it'd help in getting Chloe back?" Lex asked.

Clark looked away.

"Clark."

Clark looked back to him. "Yeah, I did. But, she said she didn't want to do it. She didn't want to research it."

Lex huffed. He was so angry.

"Lex, Chloe has made it clear that she doesn't want anything like that with me. She doesn't love me." Clark told him. "I've come to terms with it."

"Have you?" Lex mumbled. He looked at Clark. "So, you're not in love with her?"

"I'm getting over it," Clark said, honestly.

"Then why did you get her to research the meteor rocks?" Lex asked.

Clark became slightly confused. "What?"

"The meteor rocks. You got her to research them," Lex said.

Clark shook his head. "No, no I didn't."

"You said you gave her that folder-"

"Yeah, I did. But, it was about a death. Chloe was supposed to just investigate the death. She wasn't supposed to research the meteor rock itself," Clark told him.

"What was in the folder?" Lex asked.

Clark shrugged. "Just some information about the death, some pictures…oh!"

"Oh? What?"

"It had pictures of the meteor rocks in it. They were pictured in the crime scene," Clark said. "Chloe said no to investigating the death. She said it was old news and if the meteor rocks played a part it in then it was a tabloid story."

Lex sighed, "Which is why she decided it'd be much more interesting to investigate the rock itself."

"I didn't think she'd go after the meteor rocks," Clark said honestly.

"How could you not think it!" Lex exclaimed.

"I'm sorry!" Clark yelled.

"It seems you've been saying that a lot lately," Lex muttered.

"What do you want me to do? I'm not perfect. Look at first I didn't think you were good for her so it gave me all the more motivation to try and win her heart. But, she loves you and you treat her the way she should be treated. I don't know what else to say," Clark said. "I'm truly sorry," Clark added.

Lex didn't respond.

"So, she's researching the meteor rocks?" Clark asked.

"Yeah," Lex said quietly. "And she's lying to me about it," he added quietly.

"You asked her not to."

"She promised me she wouldn't," Lex told him.

"Yeah, well Chloe's curiosity has a lot of power over her," Clark said.

Lex sighed sadly.

Clark felt bad for him. Lex after all used to be his best friend. He put a comforting hand on Lex's shoulder. "Don't take it personal, Lex."

"How can I not? I love her, you know?" Lex said.

"I know. But, this kind of stuff is Chloe's weakness. She'd never lie to you about something that could hurt you."

Lex looked over to Clark. For a moment he wondered why they stopped being friends. He nodded as he said, "OK. OK, I'm going to let her keep this secret. But, do me a favor Clark."

"What's that?"

"Don't let her do this alone. You and I both know these meteor rocks are dangerous. So, just watch her back. Make sure she doesn't get hurt," Lex told him.

"I will, Lex. I promise," Clark told him.

Lex gave Clark a small smile then left.

To be continued…