Everything In This World
By Viv
Thanks again to be wonderful beta Filly! ;-D
*~*~ Part Twenty-Nine ~*~*
Chloe frowned at her somewhat glorified reflection in the mirror, pursing her lips in concentration.
She resisted the temptation to move for fear of dislodging the almost-perfect state of her dress, hair and make-up. This was about as close as Chloe would get to looking like what she had always wanted to look like, and she didn't want to disturb the image any more than she already was going to by doing all the normal motions of human behaviour, like talking or moving or breathing.
She scrutinised herself critically in the mirror, her eyes trailing down the length of her reflection.
Chloe had reluctantly shunted the famous Sullivan pride last week and had taken Lana up on her generous offer of going dress and full package shopping with her. Lana had managed to nicely manipulate Nell into chauffeuring them to the largest, most well-equipped mall in Smallville in order to sample as vast a range of appropriate accessories, make-up, dresses, shoes and bags as it was humanly possible for two slightly deranged Smallville girls on a mission like they had been.
It had been a huge revelation to Chloe, who hadn't ever done two straight days of intense shopping for anything in her life, perhaps due to the lucky coincidence that she hadn't really had a good female friend before. The entire experience had left her physically drained and honestly, if Lana hadn't been there to prop her up with motivational snippets like 'you want to look gorgeous for Lex, don't you Chloe?' and 'I think red really suits you, Lex will go crazy when he sees you', Chloe would never have been able to subject herself to so much exhausting girlie preparation.
So on reflection, it had been really nice of Lana to have pushed Chloe beyond her shopping limits, even though she had to endure more than a few 'monkeys flying out of butt' jokes in the process, which Chloe knew she kind of deserved. Besides, it had been kind of entertaining to hear 'butt' and 'monkey' come out of Lana's usually serious cherubic-like mouth.
All in all, it had taken the entire weekend of intense jockeying for position during convenient sales and a gifted intuition of bargains on Lana's part for them to have completed their mission - which was, as Lana had expositioned to a somewhat dazed Chloe during their first caffeine pit stop last Saturday, the dual conquests of a certain charming yet slightly clueless farm boy and a way too cocky bald-headed billionaire-to-be. The key to the mission, she had explained patiently, was in reducing the said individuals into two dribbling idiots at the mere sight of them in all their coiffed glory.
Lana was really one very, very scary individual sometimes. Chloe made a mental note to remind herself never to get into Lana's bad books. Chloe was kind of funny with the whole valuing her life thing.
Chloe hadn't known this before last weekend, but she had at last discovered something slightly deranged about Lana. The girl was surprisingly tenacious when it came to bargains and sales and also - she was really quite scary when it came to getting her way with men. In fact, Lana was kind of like a preternaturally gorgeous missile, capable of blasting people out of the way if they happened to be lodged in her path.
Chloe snickered to herself. She wondered if Clark had discovered that little diamond of a detail about his beloved fairy princess yet.
She shook off the less-than-generous thought and dragged herself back to the present. She conducted a last minute not-so-routine check of the state of Chloe, looking her reflection in the mirror.
Chloe shifted uncomfortably, adjusting her dress across her hips again. This was one of the things that she had been afraid of about the whole formal wear thing - that unique feeling like she had been cinched into a straight jacket by a particularly uncaring psychiatric nurse who wanted to discover whether it was possible for Chloe to burst the seams of her dress through the simple act of breathing. So okay, she loved the way she looked right now, but she wasn't entirely sure that the entire creation would not come apart as soon as she managed to ingest some food or say, breathe.
Chloe swallowed as she studied her reflection again. She wore an asymmetric crimson dress made of a shimmering, ethereal material that managed to accentuate what curves she had and make them palatable to the naked eye. It was cut simply and wrapped snugly around her body, highlighting the paleness of her untanned skin. She had accessorised the ensemble with matching shoes and a bag that hadn't threatened to cost both her arms and legs, and an imitation ruby-red necklace that she had snagged at a bargain price that glimmered in the light.
But what she was really unsure about was the final touch that had been Lana's crowning glory, or so the ex-cheerleader had enthusiastically proclaimed that afternoon when she had dropped it off at Chloe's house.
Chloe gingerly fingered the delicate adornment in her carefully bound hair, constructed from three entwined red roses that Lana had Martha Stewarted that morning. It seemed to be a little too much for a simple high school prom and really, was Chloe even the type to wear flowers in her hair?
She licked her lips in a rising torrent of anxiety. Did she look even slightly gorgeous, or at the very least, not horrendous enough to send grown men running away from her? Chloe didn't really have an inflated sense of her own modest feminine charms, but she hoped that she was at least registering on the hottie scale tonight. She frowned. It was kind of hard to tell when she was in this state of superheated excitement.
Unfortunately for Chloe, it wasn't physically possible for her to go to the junior prom with Lex and remain still and unmoving and marginally idolising her appearance in front of the mirror. She had to eventually take a step, and the critical moment had come when she had heard her dad's telltale voice announcing Lex's arrival.
This was it. The big unveiling of the once-in-a-lifetime picture perfect Chloe. She took a deep breath and tried to not concentrate on the rapid thumping of her heart against her ribcage and the way she teetered slightly as she tried to walk on higher than normal heels. She took another deep breath.
She was met by open astonishment as she stepped into the main living area. Go Lana, Chloe silently intoned to herself.
Her dad's eyes watered, although Chloe couldn't be sure whether it was from excessive pride or intense anxiety over allowing Lex Luthor to take her out for a night dressed like a million dollars and some change. Her eyes quickly travelled to Lex who stood beside her dad in the bright light of the room, blinking wordlessly in appreciation at her appearance. He looked suitably astonished, his pale blue eyes glittering with open marvel at her transformation.
All in all, their reaction was faintly flattering. Although as the seconds ticked by, Chloe became just a little bit worried by the conspicuous absence of actual speech.
She cleared her throat conspicuously. "So - how do I look?" Her breath hitched as Lex continued to stare. It wasn't the open gape of surprise from her dad, but something a lot more muted and piercing. A glint materialised in his eyes, a dangerous lustre that clouded the otherwise cognisant expression on the rest of his face.
Chloe swallowed nervously at his hungry expression. Not to mention the obvious fact that he looked even more suave and sexy-as-hell tonight, decked out in a streamlined designer tux that fitted him in all the right places. She licked her lips self-consciously, suddenly not knowing where to place her arms, hanging awkwardly at her side.
"Perfect." He whispered, seemingly lost in the sight of Chloe looking like the beautiful woman she would one day become. There was a slightly predatory look on his face which looked excruciatingly comfortable on his pale, unlined face, an expression that made Chloe smile tentatively, uncertainty running rampant over her features.
Oh boy. What had she gotten herself into?
It was now her dad's turn to clear his throat, faint disapproval at Lex's expression and intense pride at Chloe resulting in an odd tag team of emotions running across his face. He relaxed as she came to his side, giving him a faint peck on the cheek. "You have a great time tonight sweetie. Don't stay out too late."
"I won't." Chloe said simply, a blinding smile gracing her face.
Her dad gingerly smoothed an errant wisp of hair that had escaped Chloe's relentless ministrations and sighed somewhat in resignation. "I trust you'll take care of my little girl tonight Lex."
Lex's smouldering eyes remained glued onto Chloe's form as he replied. "Trust me Gabe, I will".
"Yeah, okay." Her dad frowned in half-disbelief but decided to keep his misgivings to himself, to which Chloe was eternally grateful. Who said her dad didn't have tact?
Chloe returned her gaze from her dad to Lex, and almost started at the intense come-hither look in his eyes. It scared her that he was suddenly displaying such an obvious physical interest in her, but it kind of excited her too. After all, Chloe was a red-blooded 17 year old American girl with teenage hormones like the rest of the species. It wasn't as if she had never entertained the idea of seeing what was so tastefully hidden under Lex's vast array of designer suits and tailored pants; even more intriguing was the idea of what Lex could do given his reputed experience with women. All of which combined to make Chloe slightly sweaty with apprehension and dare she say it, with excitement.
She shook her head in an effort to dislodge the not-so-pure thoughts out of her head. Firstly, she couldn't afford to sweat right now. Secondly - there was no secondly. No sweating and no sexy impure thoughts of Lex and his come hither eyes.
"Ready to go?" Lex smiled bemusedly down at her, and Chloe couldn't restrain a blush that crept steadily over her body at the embarrassing thought that he had somehow read her mind. Which given its occupation of the gutter right now was probably not going to be a good way to start the evening.
She nodded, swallowing several times. "Ready." She laughed nervously as he reached forward and entwined their hands together, almost tripping on her way out the door. She steadied herself against him breathlessly. "Ready as I'll never be, I guess."
He grinned back, his eyes shining in the moonlight. "Relax Chloe. You're going to have a great time tonight." He bent down and kissed her deeply, his lips burning with warmth and passion against hers as his tongue plundered the caverns of her mouth expertly.
If that had been Lex's way of calming her down - that was so the wrong idea. It left her as breathless as she had been before and really, was it any way to reduce the amount of impure thoughts that a wacky blonde was having about a certain follically challenged individual?
"Does that help?" Lex asked, retaining the good grace to smile at her flushed state.
Chloe grinned. "A little." A hint of mischievousness returned to her eyes as she took a deep breath, inhaling the delicious aroma of the warm night air. "Although, do I get repeated doses throughout the night as needed?"
She was distracted momentarily by the sight of the solitary limousine that stood silently in the yard. Lex smiled enigmatically as he opened the door for her, impatiently waving the chauffeur away.
"And before I forget." He smirked roguishly, his eyes twinkling with delight as he suddenly produced a tastefully bound corsage. "This is for you."
"Lex ..." Chloe's suddenly shaky voice trailed off into the warm night air as open surprise adorned her face. She was suddenly very touched. He had thought of everything, and despite this being a very lame high school junior prom, no detail had been too small to escape his attention. "Thank you." She managed to whisper as she looked up at him, heartfelt appreciation in her eyes.
Incredible. There wasn't any other word to describe this man who now stood in front of her. How could she have not seen this tiny but significant detail before?
"You're welcome." He winked assuredly at her as he ushered her into the limousine. He seemed to be taking her openly displayed emotion in his stride, but Chloe flattered herself in detecting a more than usual glittering in his pale blue eyes. She was again reminded of his incredible ability to cover up Titanic-sized emotions, but her flustered mind couldn't really grasp the significance of the fact as yet.
She was just content to sink down into the soft, leathery confines of the seat and to enjoy the delicious sensation of Lex melding his body against hers as he sat down beside her.
Chloe breathed deeply, settling into Lex's arms with a sigh. For once in her life, she understood what it felt like to be a princess in a fairy tale, her handsome prince by her side. The night was still young, but Chloe felt that whatever else happened, all her primping and strapping and the anxiety she had felt in tonight's build up had already been worth it because Lex was taking her to the prom.
(c) October 2002