Part eight: Little Red Riding Hood


"Miss Sullivan."

Chloe jumped as an all too familiar voice sounded from behind her. Whirling around, she came face to face with a smirking Lex Luthor. "Could you be any more scary?!"

Plastering a look of shook on his face, he layed a hand over his heart. "You think of me as scary?"

The blonde scoffed slightly, turning back towards the counter. "Not scary, per se. More like creepy." This time, Lex didn´t have to fake his hurt, but instead of letting it show, he quickly covered it up with curiosity. Leaning against the counter, he studied her as she waited for her order.

"And what quality of mine, if I may ask, places me on your creep-list?"

"Okay, let´s see.... unshady past, hangs out with teenagers, Clark Kent´s guru, meteor contact, and let´s not forget that I got thrown out of a window at your manor," she pointed out, waving a little finger at him. "But I said that you were creepy, not a creep, and therefore, you´re still on my indifferent-list."

An eyebrow arched as Lex looked at her in amusement. "What does it take for me to get promoted, Miss Sullivan?" As her latté arrived, she was about to pay, when the billionaire layed a few bills on the counter. He caught the look she was throwing at him, and grinned. "Let me. It´ll be good for my ego."

"As if your ego really needs a boost, Luthor," she shot back, then muttered, "It already rivals the size of Texas." The last part wasn't meant for anybody else's ears, but as she gazed to her right, she could see his eyes gleaming with mirth.

"I like to refer to it as confidence," he responded. Chloe took a large gulp of her drink, seemingly not even noticing the scolding temperature, and rolled her eyes at him.

"You're not exactly known as Mr Popular, are you? So that confidence, as you've so fondly dubbed it, can be the cause of social friction."

A wicked grin formed on his perfect features, and she silently wondered if the devil looked like this just moments before stealing away your innocence. "Are you saying that there can be some social friction between us, Miss Sullivan?" He winked at her playfully and his grin turned into a smirk as he received his desired effect out of her.

Chloe could feel the blush rising to her cheek, and was about to make a snarky reply as she felt a hand on her lower back. Without looking, she already knew who it was and could just stop herself from sighing in relief. She was glad for the interruption, because her little chat with Lex had taken a wrong turn, and although the x-rated thoughts about them having some friction were not a new occurance, it was something else entirely when you're actually standing across from the man.

"Jarod," she said, turning slightly to smile up at the guy beside her. "I thought I said I could survive a trip towards the counter on my own."

Jarod praised the smile with one of his own, and took her moving closer to him as a good sign. Smoothly, he slid his arm around her waist, trying to resist the insane urge to kiss her beautiful face, now so close to his. "And I have total faith in you, but it seems that the big, bad wolf has set his sights on you." He shot a threatening glare towards Lex, who was returning it with full force.

"Are you implying that I'm a little girl in red and that Lex is trying to eat me?" An angered blonde demanded, poking a small finger in her friend's chest. She didn't like being referred to as a helpless girl. Jarod pulled his gaze from the other man and grinned at the sight of a slightly flushed Chloe in his arms.

"You're anything but little," he said, letting his gaze trail down her body in an appreciating manner. Unfortunately for him, she took it the wrong way and tore herself away from him, setting her cup down on the counter to place her hands on her hips and letting her eyes shoot daggers at him.

"Are you saying that I'm fat, Russell?"

His eyes grew wide and he shook his head furiously. "No, no, of course not."

Lex smirked as he watched the scene in front of him, thoroughly enjoying the boy's desperation.

Jarod carefully took a small step forward, not daring to come too close to her in case she might bite his head off. "Chlo, please," he urged her. "You're beautiful." Turning towards the corner booth, he yelled: "What's Sullivan?" in his friends' direction.

"Hot!" Both Whitney and Jamie shouted, followed by an "Ouch!" as Ace whacked her boyfriend across the head and Fordman starting laughing. "Ouch!" Ace sat back contently when the two guys were pathetically whimpering in front of her.

"See," Jarod pressed, grinning slightly. Even Chloe couldn't contain her amusement towards their idiotic, but sweet nevertheless, friends.

"Okay," she relented. "But no more fairy tales!"

"I promise." Glancing at his watch, he almost freaked when he saw the time. "Sh#t! We're late for practice. Coach is gonna kill us!" He was already at the door, dragging the others along, when he realized that they were short one member. "Chlo, weren't you going to catch a ride with us?"

She sighed dramatically, and grabbed her bag from the booth, then walked back towards the Luthor, who seemed shocked. "What?" she snapped in irritation.

"I never thought you would actually go to a football practice for fun," he said, quickly masking his surprise.

"You're right, I wouldn't. But I'm supposed to interview coach Reynolds about why the Smallville Crows are going to win the state finals this year." She made a face. He nodded in understanding. "Well, Mr Luthor, it was a pleasure."

He grinned wickedly, "The pleasure was all mine, Miss Sullivan"

After flashing one last bright smile, she disappeared from the Talon, leaving the billionaire staring after her. He just stood there for what seemed like forever, untill something suddenly sprang to mind. Clark and Pete. He'd totally forgotten about them. Walking over to their booth, he joined them yet again.

"Well...," Pete finally spoke up, breaking the silence that had ensued.

Lex frowned. "Well what?"

"How did she react when you told her we miss her?" Clark nudged, also impatient.

'Huh?' "She misses you too."



~TBC~

Did you like this chapter? Well, did ya? Then you know you have to do, don't ya?

***Save humanity! Feed the Chlex-obsessed fanfiction-writer!***