"Is it me or does Lex Luthor look like he's pouting?" Chloe's hands were shaking just a little bit. Out of all the times her dad had told her about Lex's visits she'd never been awake to see him. Now she did, and, well . . . His lip was still puffy from her kiss inflicted wound.
Letting just a sliver of laughter loose, Lex's fingertips met his lip. He was due to have the stitches taken out next week and he was just getting his confidence back, but leave it to the queen of snark to knock his ego down a few notches. Chloe slid her chair out and took a seat, leaning over onto the table as if she were about to tell him an important secret. No secret escaped her mouth, though.
"How did they treat you?" Lex took another sip of his latte, wondering silently why Chloe looked so anxious.
"Decently; no bed sores, bruises, or insults." Smirking, Chloe tilted her head just enough to break the eye contact that, to her, seemed unbearable.
"I have to ask, what was it like being under the influence of that flower?" This was Lex's backwards way of seeing what Chloe remembered. He'd prayed that she'd forgotten breaking into those archives, but he wasn't so sure about what he thought of her sadistic antics afterward.
"Oh . . . I wish I knew." Chloe got a confused look from Lex and she began to elaborate on her statement. "I don't remember a thing." Lex merely nodded, though he had a sudden urge to sigh in relief. Nothing to cover up; No innocent people getting mixed up in bad business. All was well on the home front, or so he thought.
"Hey, uh, Lex . . . " Her eyes still hadn't found their way back to his. She'd felt a need to bring up the paper.
"Hm . . . ?" He'd been sipping the last of his latte, but acknowledged her still.
"You know regular ol' household brand herbicides? The kind an average Joe might use in his herb garden?" Finally, Chloe had looked up. Her eyes had the look of a psychologist; Analyzing every gesture that Lex made . . .
"Why?" Lex had nodded. Chloe knew that he wasn't ignorant of everything outside of his own pool room and she had expected him to know. She didn't expect his mood. He seemed oddly calm and even clueless as to what she was alluding to. Chloe wasn't sure anymore if Lex had anything to do with this environmental scandal, but she was still determined to find out.
"Do you think that, um . . . Maybe . . . " Scrunching her face, searching her mind for the right phrasing, she trailed off. Chloe was bright, but she'd taken anatomy specifically to avoid taking chemistry. She couldn't exactly explain what she thought she knew.
"Maybe it could be helpful in other ways? Helpful for the farming industry, I mean. Maybe something could change it. I mean, chemically . . . " Every muscle she thought she kept hidden tensed up. If she couldn't grimace at what she thought was a stupid question, her stomach, calves, and fists would do the job for her. As soon as he was sure her mental dribble had found its end, Lex answered.
"Well, seeing as herbicides kill the weeds, I suppose it *would* help the farming industry. In fact I'll bet that the farming community is already using something like what you're talking about." Lex smirked. Now he, too, was asking himself questions. Had she found something? Lifting his hand, Lex looked at his watch.
"You know, I have to go. We'll discuss chemistry another time, then." He smiled and stood, and Chloe could have sworn that she saw him wink at her before he walked away. Maybe it was just the tension getting to her.
----------------------------------------
Maybe it was arrogance that kept Lex in denial. He didn't think that he was going to be caught by his father red-handed and snooping around LuthorCorp's hardcopy file archives. Lex couldn't use the Nicodemus flower as his excuse. His excuse was flimsy and fueled by a burning curiosity hand-dipped like a strawberry in what seemed to be a developing attraction to the snarky, young, blonde reporter.
LuthorCorp's methods of securing files were usually much more high tech, but these paper and ink files didn't seem very threatening. The paper and color of ink they were on prevented any Xeroxing and faxing. Even the copying seemed unlikely as nobody thought about getting into the room. Well, that was what they'd thought. Now they were researching new methods of securing the files, as they had told the Inquisitor. The honest intentions of LuthorCorp were to destroy the files and Lex wanted to know why.
This was it. The tub Lex slid out from a shelf was the tub that Chloe had been tampering with. It had been resealed only partially. Any employee would fear for their job had their results been anything less than perfection.
Lex carefully transferred the subsection that was in slight disorder. He'd wanted to see what Chloe had been insinuating, if it had been anything at all, at their coffee date. He imagined he could uncover something.
Sliding the tub, perfectly sealed, back into its place, Lex breezed out of the ominously darkened room full of dirty little secrets.
----------------------------------------
The air was tight with the kind of tension only a good book could provide. Chloe was hoping to temporarily forget about the piece of paper she'd hidden underneath her dresser; Well, taped underneath her dresser with scotch tape so she wouldn't rip the paper or have anyone slide it out and read it... Her father, for example, well--
All of the sudden, Chloe was startled by the most unexpected event of the evening - A phone call. She wasn't a social butterfly and Clark reserved her number for those special occasions when people were mysteriously ending up in jail, hospitals, or graves. Knowing that seven in the evening was too late for telemarketers in farmtown to be hassling her, she answered the phone.
"Hel-lo?" Expecting a message from her father and instructions to do whatever chores he would be missing, Chloe dog-eared her page and set the book aside on a nearby night stand.
"Chloe, it's Lex. Listen, I think that you might have something very crucial to my current investigation." Chloe's free hand went to her mouth. Her stomach tightened and her heart dropped to the knot of muscle that it had become. She forced herself to give her undivided attention to Lex.
"Oh, um... What do you mean? If it's about the Nicodemus..." Trailing off, Chloe gave a small effort to cover up her uneasiness. For all she knew he could have been talking about the Nicodemus flower. If that was the case it would be easy as pie to cover up since she didn't remember anything she'd done during that brief period of time.
"No, it's related to what you were talking about earlier." She thought she heard the shuffling of paper. Chloe's eyes closed for a moment, preparing for the next white lie she was probably going to tell.
"What do you mean? What did you find?" Her stomach tightened even more and she was beginning to feel nauseous from the pressure.
"Just some old files..." Lex paused for a fraction of a second. "Why did you bring up herbicide earlier today?"
Oh, great...
"It's something that's been bugging me. I think I might have" Oh, great. How was she supposed to phrase it? Her heart started to beat a little faster than it had been before.
"Figured something out about your dad." She swallowed the knot in her throat, knowing that what she'd just said wasn't very wise.
"Really?" He didn't give her enough time to answer. "I'd like to see you, then."
"Oh. Alright." Her voice was coming out in squeaks.
"Great, then tomorrow? At the mansion. Unless you have something else you're doing."
"No!" A rare blush came over her entire face, making her glow with a little pink light. "No, I'm not doing anything at all. What time do you want to meet up?"
"Two in the afternoon is good for me." She was surprised that he answered so quickly. Someone as busy as Lex should have taken at least a few seconds to check his schedule. It was almost as if he'd been expecting her to say it was alright; As if he'd already set time aside for meeting with Chloe. That was kind of unnerving.
"Two is good for me, too." Chloe smiled to herself. Maybe the two of them, together, could figure out what his father had been doing. That thought calmed her a little.
"Good. I'll see you then. Thank you, Chloe."
"Oh, it's no problem. Bye."
"Goodbye."
Click.
Chloe hung up the phone after she was sure Lex had hung up first. She rolled onto her bed with a huge sigh. It seemed as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulder just because she'd made a little appointment with a guy who might be willing to fix things. She knew that no one, not even Lex Luthor, would want to let things like this slide. Why would he want to follow in his father's footsteps?
All of her questions would be answered tomorrow.
Letting just a sliver of laughter loose, Lex's fingertips met his lip. He was due to have the stitches taken out next week and he was just getting his confidence back, but leave it to the queen of snark to knock his ego down a few notches. Chloe slid her chair out and took a seat, leaning over onto the table as if she were about to tell him an important secret. No secret escaped her mouth, though.
"How did they treat you?" Lex took another sip of his latte, wondering silently why Chloe looked so anxious.
"Decently; no bed sores, bruises, or insults." Smirking, Chloe tilted her head just enough to break the eye contact that, to her, seemed unbearable.
"I have to ask, what was it like being under the influence of that flower?" This was Lex's backwards way of seeing what Chloe remembered. He'd prayed that she'd forgotten breaking into those archives, but he wasn't so sure about what he thought of her sadistic antics afterward.
"Oh . . . I wish I knew." Chloe got a confused look from Lex and she began to elaborate on her statement. "I don't remember a thing." Lex merely nodded, though he had a sudden urge to sigh in relief. Nothing to cover up; No innocent people getting mixed up in bad business. All was well on the home front, or so he thought.
"Hey, uh, Lex . . . " Her eyes still hadn't found their way back to his. She'd felt a need to bring up the paper.
"Hm . . . ?" He'd been sipping the last of his latte, but acknowledged her still.
"You know regular ol' household brand herbicides? The kind an average Joe might use in his herb garden?" Finally, Chloe had looked up. Her eyes had the look of a psychologist; Analyzing every gesture that Lex made . . .
"Why?" Lex had nodded. Chloe knew that he wasn't ignorant of everything outside of his own pool room and she had expected him to know. She didn't expect his mood. He seemed oddly calm and even clueless as to what she was alluding to. Chloe wasn't sure anymore if Lex had anything to do with this environmental scandal, but she was still determined to find out.
"Do you think that, um . . . Maybe . . . " Scrunching her face, searching her mind for the right phrasing, she trailed off. Chloe was bright, but she'd taken anatomy specifically to avoid taking chemistry. She couldn't exactly explain what she thought she knew.
"Maybe it could be helpful in other ways? Helpful for the farming industry, I mean. Maybe something could change it. I mean, chemically . . . " Every muscle she thought she kept hidden tensed up. If she couldn't grimace at what she thought was a stupid question, her stomach, calves, and fists would do the job for her. As soon as he was sure her mental dribble had found its end, Lex answered.
"Well, seeing as herbicides kill the weeds, I suppose it *would* help the farming industry. In fact I'll bet that the farming community is already using something like what you're talking about." Lex smirked. Now he, too, was asking himself questions. Had she found something? Lifting his hand, Lex looked at his watch.
"You know, I have to go. We'll discuss chemistry another time, then." He smiled and stood, and Chloe could have sworn that she saw him wink at her before he walked away. Maybe it was just the tension getting to her.
----------------------------------------
Maybe it was arrogance that kept Lex in denial. He didn't think that he was going to be caught by his father red-handed and snooping around LuthorCorp's hardcopy file archives. Lex couldn't use the Nicodemus flower as his excuse. His excuse was flimsy and fueled by a burning curiosity hand-dipped like a strawberry in what seemed to be a developing attraction to the snarky, young, blonde reporter.
LuthorCorp's methods of securing files were usually much more high tech, but these paper and ink files didn't seem very threatening. The paper and color of ink they were on prevented any Xeroxing and faxing. Even the copying seemed unlikely as nobody thought about getting into the room. Well, that was what they'd thought. Now they were researching new methods of securing the files, as they had told the Inquisitor. The honest intentions of LuthorCorp were to destroy the files and Lex wanted to know why.
This was it. The tub Lex slid out from a shelf was the tub that Chloe had been tampering with. It had been resealed only partially. Any employee would fear for their job had their results been anything less than perfection.
Lex carefully transferred the subsection that was in slight disorder. He'd wanted to see what Chloe had been insinuating, if it had been anything at all, at their coffee date. He imagined he could uncover something.
Sliding the tub, perfectly sealed, back into its place, Lex breezed out of the ominously darkened room full of dirty little secrets.
----------------------------------------
The air was tight with the kind of tension only a good book could provide. Chloe was hoping to temporarily forget about the piece of paper she'd hidden underneath her dresser; Well, taped underneath her dresser with scotch tape so she wouldn't rip the paper or have anyone slide it out and read it... Her father, for example, well--
All of the sudden, Chloe was startled by the most unexpected event of the evening - A phone call. She wasn't a social butterfly and Clark reserved her number for those special occasions when people were mysteriously ending up in jail, hospitals, or graves. Knowing that seven in the evening was too late for telemarketers in farmtown to be hassling her, she answered the phone.
"Hel-lo?" Expecting a message from her father and instructions to do whatever chores he would be missing, Chloe dog-eared her page and set the book aside on a nearby night stand.
"Chloe, it's Lex. Listen, I think that you might have something very crucial to my current investigation." Chloe's free hand went to her mouth. Her stomach tightened and her heart dropped to the knot of muscle that it had become. She forced herself to give her undivided attention to Lex.
"Oh, um... What do you mean? If it's about the Nicodemus..." Trailing off, Chloe gave a small effort to cover up her uneasiness. For all she knew he could have been talking about the Nicodemus flower. If that was the case it would be easy as pie to cover up since she didn't remember anything she'd done during that brief period of time.
"No, it's related to what you were talking about earlier." She thought she heard the shuffling of paper. Chloe's eyes closed for a moment, preparing for the next white lie she was probably going to tell.
"What do you mean? What did you find?" Her stomach tightened even more and she was beginning to feel nauseous from the pressure.
"Just some old files..." Lex paused for a fraction of a second. "Why did you bring up herbicide earlier today?"
Oh, great...
"It's something that's been bugging me. I think I might have" Oh, great. How was she supposed to phrase it? Her heart started to beat a little faster than it had been before.
"Figured something out about your dad." She swallowed the knot in her throat, knowing that what she'd just said wasn't very wise.
"Really?" He didn't give her enough time to answer. "I'd like to see you, then."
"Oh. Alright." Her voice was coming out in squeaks.
"Great, then tomorrow? At the mansion. Unless you have something else you're doing."
"No!" A rare blush came over her entire face, making her glow with a little pink light. "No, I'm not doing anything at all. What time do you want to meet up?"
"Two in the afternoon is good for me." She was surprised that he answered so quickly. Someone as busy as Lex should have taken at least a few seconds to check his schedule. It was almost as if he'd been expecting her to say it was alright; As if he'd already set time aside for meeting with Chloe. That was kind of unnerving.
"Two is good for me, too." Chloe smiled to herself. Maybe the two of them, together, could figure out what his father had been doing. That thought calmed her a little.
"Good. I'll see you then. Thank you, Chloe."
"Oh, it's no problem. Bye."
"Goodbye."
Click.
Chloe hung up the phone after she was sure Lex had hung up first. She rolled onto her bed with a huge sigh. It seemed as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulder just because she'd made a little appointment with a guy who might be willing to fix things. She knew that no one, not even Lex Luthor, would want to let things like this slide. Why would he want to follow in his father's footsteps?
All of her questions would be answered tomorrow.