Part 4
The small dinner party in Gabe Sullivan's small home in Smallville was an informal and relaxed affair. Clark, his parents, and Lana and Pete Ross were in attendance.
"It seems like only yesterday when you were all just teenagers attending high school," Martha commented wistfully. "Time does fly, doesn't it?"
"I agree. Sometimes when I pass by Chloe's graduation picture I can hardly believe that it's been what-seven years since they all went off to college." He turned to his three younger visitors. "How's Metropolis life treating all of you?"
"It's been great, Mr. Sullivan," Clark told the older man. "Working in a newspaper is pretty much what Chloe thought it would be-hectic and unholy. But it's still fun."
"Do you see Lex often?"
Clark shook his head. "Not as often as I used to. But then-"
"I'm sure that Lex must have a very busy schedule," Martha interjected, knowing how hard Clark took the loss of Lex's friendship over something that she believed Clark was helpless about.
"Oh I've read enough in the papers to know that Lex Luthor's days are crammed with activities, Mr. Sullivan. I bet he doesn't even go out that often anymore," Lana added.
"He's probably forgotten about everything to do with this little town," Pete said. "He's not even here, is he?" There was a trace of unmistakable bitterness in his voice. "I didn't think Chloe was that easy to forget."
Clark frowned at his friend. "Pete, you can't say that."
"Why? Isn't it true? He's not even here, Clark. I would have thought that if everything he was claiming a couple of years ago was true, he'd at least have paid his respects. It was his fault she died."
Clark felt his heart grow heavy at Pete's words. It had been his fault, not Lex's. Lana placed her hand on her husband's arm. "Pete, you know that's not true."
Pete nodded and speared another beef tip with his fork, hating that everything they said was true. But still angry that a man that he learned to trust only after a few years would disappoint an old man the way he did. It was then that he remembered Gabe's presence in the dinner table. He looked up guiltily at Chloe's father and saw him sadly nodding while eating. His wife smiled at Gabe and said softly, "I know that Lex is mourning in his own way."
~~
They clinked their glasses together and drank the champagne in celebration. Between them lay dozens and dozens of brochures and pamphlets containing tourist spots all over the world. It was Chloe who suggested that they go on vacation.
"You've been working so hard. I hardly see you anymore." Lex had closed his eyes to fully relish the warmth of her skin as she cupped his cheek. "The baby misses you a lot, Lex. And so does mommy." She had grinned in that typical fashion that she used, the smile that eventually paved the way for him to look at her again and see that Chloe Sullivan, who had once been an acquaintance because of his friendship with Clark Kent, had suddenly grown up and learned how to flaunt the combination of beauty and wit that took his breath away.
He pushed the stray thought that this was all part of a computer program he had had designed so he could visit Chloe's mind, still active even with the state the accident had pushed her body to, and that although this was he interacting with her, all the sensations that he was experiencing was nothing more than his own mind's creations, aided by the software that linked him to Chloe.
He watched her bite her lip as she sifted through the various leaflets and travel brochures before her, occasionally stopping to browse one or two longer than the rest. It would have been such a perfect life with her. He could have given her everything, fed all her curiosity and peaked her interest for more. And she in turn would have been the only exception out of all the women he had ever been involved with. Chloe would have known exactly what he was talking about, rather than simply smile and nod a vacuous head. She would have been the wife it would take to fill him so that he wouldn't ask or want for more.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a child's cries. Chloe turned towards the baby monitor beside their bed. "Alec is as loud as you are," she said lovingly. She put down the brochures on the sheet.
As she was about to rise, he closed his hand on her arm. "I'll check on him. When I get back, you should have decided where you want to go, okay?"
"I think I can manage that." She sent him off with a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth.
When Lex returned to the room carrying the little boy in his arms, he stopped stock still at the doorway. His wife had changed into a sheer powder blue nightgown and was lying at the center of the bed with smile on her face that hinted at secrets she couldn't wait to reveal. At the foot of the bed lay the discarded brochures. She held up the one leaflet that she had chosen.
He cleared his throat audibly at the sight. "You've picked one, I see."
"Oh I did," was her response. "And I just want to thank you in advance for agreeing to take a couple of weeks off in your busy schedule."
Lex moistened his lips. "I should get Alec back to his room."
That smile again. Lex took a deep breath. "I suggest you do that, Mr. Luthor. You wouldn't want your son permanently damaged by what's going to go on in this room tonight."
He hurried to tuck Alec in before returning to Chloe. He sat on the side of the bed, and his weight caused her to roll over and press against him. She reached up and pulled him down for a kiss, opening her lips to draw him in. Lex was lost in the web of passion that she wove around them. She pulled away for a breath, and he rested his forehead against hers as he struggled to calm his own racing heart.
Lex met her eyes and smiled down at her. She whispered a kiss on his cheekbone and said so softly he almost missed the words, "You've given me such a beautiful life, Lex. Sometimes I hardly think it's real." Looking back, he probably would have preferred that he missed her words because the next ones jarred him out to a point where he would not have been able to carry on. "The one thing that could make it even more perfect, Lex, is if we can make another baby tonight."
He pulled away from her and embedded her look of confusion into his brain. His eyes were stinging and his entire face burned with the effort to control his reaction. Without another word, he strode out of the bedroom and opened a door towards the yawning blackness that led to the doorway out of Bliss.
Lex paid attention to none of the employees who acknowledged him on the way to his office. Once there, he locked the door and proceeded to the hidden room where he sat on a freezing chair and looked at her face through the misty glass partition. It was only then that he shook his head in disbelief. "Even now, you still know just the right words to render me speechless, Chloe."
The phone in his pocket beeped continuously until he pressed the button to shut off the alarm. 9:48 pm. The exact moment that the car was pitched off the lane. He stood over her and touched the cold glass with his free hand. With the other hand, he pressed two on his speed dial and raised the phone to his ear.
"I knew you'd at least call," the voice was gravelly in his ear.
"I apologize," Lex replied. "Actually, no I don't. I don't consider spending a night of inane chatter as the best way I could have marked the day."
"I understand, Lex. I do wish that you would visit sometime. You don't even have to bring her flowers. Martha Kent does it regularly enough."
"I'll see what I can do, Gabe," Lex said quietly. "Bye." He ended the call before the older man had even responded.
The small dinner party in Gabe Sullivan's small home in Smallville was an informal and relaxed affair. Clark, his parents, and Lana and Pete Ross were in attendance.
"It seems like only yesterday when you were all just teenagers attending high school," Martha commented wistfully. "Time does fly, doesn't it?"
"I agree. Sometimes when I pass by Chloe's graduation picture I can hardly believe that it's been what-seven years since they all went off to college." He turned to his three younger visitors. "How's Metropolis life treating all of you?"
"It's been great, Mr. Sullivan," Clark told the older man. "Working in a newspaper is pretty much what Chloe thought it would be-hectic and unholy. But it's still fun."
"Do you see Lex often?"
Clark shook his head. "Not as often as I used to. But then-"
"I'm sure that Lex must have a very busy schedule," Martha interjected, knowing how hard Clark took the loss of Lex's friendship over something that she believed Clark was helpless about.
"Oh I've read enough in the papers to know that Lex Luthor's days are crammed with activities, Mr. Sullivan. I bet he doesn't even go out that often anymore," Lana added.
"He's probably forgotten about everything to do with this little town," Pete said. "He's not even here, is he?" There was a trace of unmistakable bitterness in his voice. "I didn't think Chloe was that easy to forget."
Clark frowned at his friend. "Pete, you can't say that."
"Why? Isn't it true? He's not even here, Clark. I would have thought that if everything he was claiming a couple of years ago was true, he'd at least have paid his respects. It was his fault she died."
Clark felt his heart grow heavy at Pete's words. It had been his fault, not Lex's. Lana placed her hand on her husband's arm. "Pete, you know that's not true."
Pete nodded and speared another beef tip with his fork, hating that everything they said was true. But still angry that a man that he learned to trust only after a few years would disappoint an old man the way he did. It was then that he remembered Gabe's presence in the dinner table. He looked up guiltily at Chloe's father and saw him sadly nodding while eating. His wife smiled at Gabe and said softly, "I know that Lex is mourning in his own way."
~~
They clinked their glasses together and drank the champagne in celebration. Between them lay dozens and dozens of brochures and pamphlets containing tourist spots all over the world. It was Chloe who suggested that they go on vacation.
"You've been working so hard. I hardly see you anymore." Lex had closed his eyes to fully relish the warmth of her skin as she cupped his cheek. "The baby misses you a lot, Lex. And so does mommy." She had grinned in that typical fashion that she used, the smile that eventually paved the way for him to look at her again and see that Chloe Sullivan, who had once been an acquaintance because of his friendship with Clark Kent, had suddenly grown up and learned how to flaunt the combination of beauty and wit that took his breath away.
He pushed the stray thought that this was all part of a computer program he had had designed so he could visit Chloe's mind, still active even with the state the accident had pushed her body to, and that although this was he interacting with her, all the sensations that he was experiencing was nothing more than his own mind's creations, aided by the software that linked him to Chloe.
He watched her bite her lip as she sifted through the various leaflets and travel brochures before her, occasionally stopping to browse one or two longer than the rest. It would have been such a perfect life with her. He could have given her everything, fed all her curiosity and peaked her interest for more. And she in turn would have been the only exception out of all the women he had ever been involved with. Chloe would have known exactly what he was talking about, rather than simply smile and nod a vacuous head. She would have been the wife it would take to fill him so that he wouldn't ask or want for more.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a child's cries. Chloe turned towards the baby monitor beside their bed. "Alec is as loud as you are," she said lovingly. She put down the brochures on the sheet.
As she was about to rise, he closed his hand on her arm. "I'll check on him. When I get back, you should have decided where you want to go, okay?"
"I think I can manage that." She sent him off with a soft kiss at the corner of his mouth.
When Lex returned to the room carrying the little boy in his arms, he stopped stock still at the doorway. His wife had changed into a sheer powder blue nightgown and was lying at the center of the bed with smile on her face that hinted at secrets she couldn't wait to reveal. At the foot of the bed lay the discarded brochures. She held up the one leaflet that she had chosen.
He cleared his throat audibly at the sight. "You've picked one, I see."
"Oh I did," was her response. "And I just want to thank you in advance for agreeing to take a couple of weeks off in your busy schedule."
Lex moistened his lips. "I should get Alec back to his room."
That smile again. Lex took a deep breath. "I suggest you do that, Mr. Luthor. You wouldn't want your son permanently damaged by what's going to go on in this room tonight."
He hurried to tuck Alec in before returning to Chloe. He sat on the side of the bed, and his weight caused her to roll over and press against him. She reached up and pulled him down for a kiss, opening her lips to draw him in. Lex was lost in the web of passion that she wove around them. She pulled away for a breath, and he rested his forehead against hers as he struggled to calm his own racing heart.
Lex met her eyes and smiled down at her. She whispered a kiss on his cheekbone and said so softly he almost missed the words, "You've given me such a beautiful life, Lex. Sometimes I hardly think it's real." Looking back, he probably would have preferred that he missed her words because the next ones jarred him out to a point where he would not have been able to carry on. "The one thing that could make it even more perfect, Lex, is if we can make another baby tonight."
He pulled away from her and embedded her look of confusion into his brain. His eyes were stinging and his entire face burned with the effort to control his reaction. Without another word, he strode out of the bedroom and opened a door towards the yawning blackness that led to the doorway out of Bliss.
Lex paid attention to none of the employees who acknowledged him on the way to his office. Once there, he locked the door and proceeded to the hidden room where he sat on a freezing chair and looked at her face through the misty glass partition. It was only then that he shook his head in disbelief. "Even now, you still know just the right words to render me speechless, Chloe."
The phone in his pocket beeped continuously until he pressed the button to shut off the alarm. 9:48 pm. The exact moment that the car was pitched off the lane. He stood over her and touched the cold glass with his free hand. With the other hand, he pressed two on his speed dial and raised the phone to his ear.
"I knew you'd at least call," the voice was gravelly in his ear.
"I apologize," Lex replied. "Actually, no I don't. I don't consider spending a night of inane chatter as the best way I could have marked the day."
"I understand, Lex. I do wish that you would visit sometime. You don't even have to bring her flowers. Martha Kent does it regularly enough."
"I'll see what I can do, Gabe," Lex said quietly. "Bye." He ended the call before the older man had even responded.