Chapter Three

"Have you seen Lex?" Chloe walked carefully up to the butler, a silver tray balanced on her hands. Walden nodded.

"Yes Miss, he's in his study," he informed her.

"Ah, of course he is," she rolled her eyes and Walden's lip quirked slightly in response. "Has he requested that you bring a bed in there for him yet?"

"Not yet Miss," Walden smiled openly now. "But we're on alert. I've already set aside some linens."

"Good," she laughed. "Well, hopefully when we get back on Monday he'll be...well, sane again."

"I'm sure the trip will do him good Miss," Walden agreed.

"Has he been asking questions yet?" she bit her lip.

"No Miss, I think he's been rather distracted with work."

"He'll hate that," she shook her head in false sympathy. "Thanks Walden."

"Your welcome miss," he nodded again. Chloe continued down the hall on the way to the study. Since her hands were full, she knocked on the door with her foot once she'd reached it.

"Don't kick the doors Chloe," Lex called from inside. She rolled her eyes and pushed the door open, making her way inside. Lex set down his pen when she approached. "Did I miss dinner again?"

"Probably, I'm not sure," she set the tray down on the desk. "I just got back." Lex leaned back in his chair and sighed, checking his watch.

"Is it really midnight?" he ran a hand over his head distractedly.

"Yes it is," she pushed the tray towards him pointedly. Lex rolled his eyes but indulged her, lifting the heavy cover off. On the expensive silver tray Chloe had placed a chocolate cupcake, with chocolate icing, and a blue candle in the middle. She pulled a lighter out of her pocket and quickly lit the candle. "Happy Birthday," she beamed. Lex's lip quirked briefly before he too broke into a grin, amused by her excitement.

"Thank-you," he told her sincerely. Chloe continued to smile at him, and for a minute they both just sat there, looking at each other. She began to feel self conscious, and mentally cursed him for never being the one to look away first. She sighed and walked around the desk, perching on one of the corners so he had to turn his chair if he wanted to keep staring at her.

"Well?" she laughed. "Don't you rich kids get cakes?"

"It's not really a cake," he pointed out, teasing.

"Yeah, yeah," she rolled her eyes again. "You'll get a real cake tomorrow. So...go on! Blow out the candles."

"Fine," he was clearly amused, because his eyes twinkled a bit when he looked at her, but he dutifully leaned forward, ready to blow—

"Oh!" she put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "And make a wish!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because you're supposed to."

"Luthor's don't make wishes Chloe," he told her gravely, the twinkle still there though.

"You have to want something Lex," she sighed and ran her fingertips over the flame quickly, hypnotized by memories of fire licking her skin, only vaguely aware that this time it didn't hurt. "World peace, a new car, something."

"I don't wish for things to happen, I make them happen," he insisted. Chloe set her jaw and kept her attention locked firmly on the flame. This time he caved first, lasted only a half a minute before he sighed and pulled her hand away, so she wouldn't get burnt. Chloe locked eyes with him while he leaned forward and blew out the candle.

"Did you..." she trailed off. When he blinked back at her, a strange look in his eyes, her grin returned. "You did! I knew you could think of something."

"You're a mastermind," he deadpanned. Chloe shrugged again and watched quietly as he plucked the candle out of the icing and sucked the frosting off of the wax.

"Lex?"

"Chloe?" he asked her, eyes flicking up to hers once again.

"I know it's your birthday," she began timidly. "But I was hoping that you would do something for me. It's important."

He nodded quickly, concern evident on his face. "What is it?"

"Put those papers away and go to bed," she stressed the last three words. He looked almost relieved...almost. He shook his head.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you about crying wolf Chloe," he muttered. "It's not funny."

"Yeah, and I'm not laughing," she replied seriously. He adopted his patented blank face, the default one that he wore for business and brush-offs. Before he could flat out tell her no, she reached out and grabbed his arm, fingers tangling in the deep purple silk, and forced him to look at her. "Lex."

She saw his features soften almost instantly, all the while searching her face for something...maybe sincerity. Finally he nodded. "I think I'm done for the night anyway," he told her, clearly lying about the enormous stack of paper on the desk. Chloe smiled contently and slid off of the desk.

She waited while he closed the papers in his briefcase and picked the cupcake up off of the desk, and then he followed her out of the study. "It's really very kind of you to demand something from me on my birthday," he teased, following her up the stairs to the wing with the bedrooms.

"What can I say?" she shot back over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of him taking a bite out of the cupcake. "I'm a giver."

Friday, October 15th

The rhythm that the pencil was tapping sounded suspiciously like the Mission Impossible theme, and it was getting on Chloe's nerves. Stupid Clark. She didn't yell at him though, not just because her math teacher would probably yell at her for talking, but because she knew he was just anxious. It was the same reason that she kept gnawing on her left thumb nail and checking the large clock above the blackboard every two seconds. It was the last class of the day, and they were eager to get out of there. By the time Clark got home Pete would already be waiting there, and Chloe would be waiting at the mansion so they could all head to Metropolis. She stifled the small squeal that threatened to come out and would undoubtedly make her look like some kind of brain dead, pom-pom toting, special ed case.

She was so fixated on the clock, with only five minutes until the end of the day, that she didn't notice the guy beside her, whispering her name. When he reached out and tapped her shoulder she jumped, startled, and dropped her pen to the floor. Clark looked over at her in amusement but she ignored her friend and turned to her right. Cute, red hair... "Cooper," she whispered. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," he blushed an adorable shade of red that kind of clashed with his hair and made his freckles stand out. "I guess you didn't hear me."

She blushed now too, realizing that he'd been calling her name...and probably for some time too. "I didn't," she admitted, accepting the pen he was holding out to her. "What's up?"

"I was...I was just wondering," he swallowed awkwardly and his eyes seemed to try to land on anything but her face, before finally settling on a point on her shoulder. "I was wondering if you have plans tomorrow. I was sort of hoping we could get together and...go to a movie or...something." He finished off a little hurriedly, still not quite meeting her eyes.

Chloe felt her cheeks heat up again, and her lips quirked into a smile before she even realized it. Cooper paled when she smiled and he probably thought that she was going to laugh. "I'm going to be out of town this weekend," she whispered back. He nodded quickly, looking like he'd been slapped, and she immediately felt bad. If they weren't going away that weekend she would have probably said yes. She didn't really think about Cooper when he wasn't around, but she enjoyed his company, and it had been a while since a boy had wanted to go out with her...besides as a publicity stunt, or to kill her, or because he was oblivious...

"Oh okay," he replied quickly. "I shouldn't have...it was really short notice...I didn't mean to—"

"Cooper," she cut him off, putting a hand on his forearm to silence him. He looked back at her with one of the prettiest pairs of blue eyes that she'd ever seen, which was really something considering she spent a lot of time with Lex Luthor and Clark Kent. "I'm out of town this weekend, but if you still...next weekend, I'll be here. If you still want to..."

"Yes!" he nodded eagerly, a grin jumping to his face now. "I mean... yeah sure, next weekend would be great." Chloe grinned back and they both blushed. She hadn't felt that way around a guy in a long time...since Justin. The thought clouded her mood only a little, and before she knew it the bell was ringing.

She gathered her books together quickly and crammed them into her backpack. "I have to go," she explained to Cooper. "Got a plane to catch."

"Sure," he was still grinning. "I'll see you next week. Have fun."

"I will, thanks," she blushed again and gave him a little wave before turning around and crashing into—"Clark! Don't do that." She looked up at her friend, standing directly in front of her, and rubbed the shoulder that had hit his chest. It felt like she'd run into a wall.

"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly. "Are you ready to go?"

"You bet," she beamed at him and they hurried out of the class, towards the lot where he'd parked his truck.

"So," Clark tried to sound casual...tried. "What did Cooper want?"

"What?" she averted her eyes and pretended to be watching the passing scenery intently. "Oh, he was just wondering what I was doing this weekend."

"Oh," Clark muttered quietly. "Did you tell him you were busy?"

"Yes," she really didn't want to be having this conversation with him now, but knew it was pointless pretending that it hadn't happened because Clark had probably seen the whole thing anyways.

"So did he ask you out?" Clark blurted. She felt her mouth gape open and managed to nod her head slightly. "Oh, that's...um, did you say yes?"

"I told him I won't be in town this weekend," she said vaguely, wondering why he even cared, and why she was so reluctant to tell him.

"This weekend..."

"I said I'd be here next weekend," she told him, hoping that he'd get the hint and realize that she didn't want to talk about it, at least not with him. Clark didn't answer this time, and when she looked over out of the corner of her eye she noticed that he was clutching the steering wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white.

Finally, Clark sighed and turned into the mansion driveway. "Chloe I—"he broke off in shock, staring out the window and into the driveway. She followed his gaze and felt the same sense of shock wash over her. Clark parked the truck and they both climbed out warily, staring at the flashy black car waiting in the driveway. It wasn't one of Lex's.

He had two duffle bags at his feet and was wearing a pair of thousand dollar sunglasses, a lot of leather, and a self-satisfied smirk. "You should have been more specific Sullivan," he gestured to the duffle bags. "I didn't know what to pack."

"I wasn't worried Lucas," she assured him, walking over and picking up one of the bags. She turned back to Clark. "You'd better go and get your stuff Clark."

"Right," Clark nodded, snapping back to attention and forcing himself to stop gaping at Lucas. "Pete's probably there already. I'll go get him and we'll be back here by four." Chloe nodded and began to walk into the mansion, Lucas following behind her, duffle bag in hand.

"I know I'm early," he began arrogantly. "But you seemed to want me here so badly..."

Chloe rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long weekend.

The whirring propellers created a strong wind on the rooftop of Luthor Corp Plaza. The breeze whipped harshly at Chloe's clothes as she climbed out of the helicopter. "We'll meet you at the airport," she called to Clark over the noise of the blades and through the hair that kept sweeping into her face. Clark nodded and gave her thumbs up, indicating that he heard. "Don't forget to put the luggage on the plane Clark." He rolled his eyes at that and she smirked back briefly.

Chloe gave a quick wave to the pilot and ran off of the launch pad, hurrying over to the elevator and pressing the button to summon one of the lifts. She watched the helicopter take off, and returned Pete's wave, until they were almost out of sight. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Chloe walked in and pressed the button for the top floor, where the executive offices were located. She tried to smooth out her hair and blazer using the mirrored walls...just in time for the doors to open on her desired floor.

Lex's secretary greeted her as soon as she stepped out onto the marbled floor. "Hi," Chloe grinned. The girl smiled back.

"Hello Ms. Sullivan," she replied perkily. Chloe's grin became strained but she didn't correct her; by now she knew that Lex's people wouldn't call her Chloe, no matter how often she asked them to.

Chloe shot a quick glance at Lex's office, ensuring that his door was closed. "Did you take care of it?" she whispered. The secretary nodded eagerly.

"Yes," she showed her The Day Planner, which Chloe was pretty sure was not supposed to be eye candy for anyone except Lex and his people. Then again, Chloe was one of his people now... "All of his Monday appointments have been rescheduled for Tuesday, and his latest Daily Planet interview is now a lunch date on Wednesday. He'll be free all day."

"If I could give you a raise I would," Chloe assured her gratefully. The girl seemed to think the compliment was raise enough, because another Barbie-esque smile appeared on her face.

"Thank-you," she chirped. Chloe smiled back and secretly wondered why Lex hired her in the first place; either she had some real hidden depths, or she was willing to do anything for her boss. Shaking that disturbing image out of her head, Chloe tried to get a glimpse into the office, but all of the walls were made of privacy glass.

"Is he in there with anyone?" she asked the girl.

"Nope, just him," the girl shook her head and Chloe could swear that she heard something rattle. "You could probably go in if you like."

Chloe checked her watch. "Yeah...why not," she shrugged. It wasn't quite five thirty, but then he was the boss. "It's about that time." She almost skipped to his office, liking the way her heels clicked on the marble floor, and knocked firmly on the large, imposing doors.

"Come in," Lex called out. He didn't even look up when she entered; he was too busy going through what looked like a very thick contract. "Miss Sharp do you have another copy of the Edinburgh proposal?" Chloe raised her eyebrows. When she didn't answer, he looked up; the way his eyes widened, almost unnoticeably, told her that he was obviously surprised to see her there.

"I could ask her," Chloe offered, walking into the office more and closing the door behind her. Lex shook his head.

"Chloe," he set the contract down. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was you."

"That's fine," she smiled.

"What can I do for you?" he leaned back in his chair and looked at her appraisingly. She struggled not to roll her eyes.

"Are you done?" she asked him. His forehead wrinkled in confusion and she elaborated. "For the day; are you all finished here? It's five thirty."

Lex checked his watch. "It's actually five twenty-five," he clarified.

"I think you should write a letter to the Rolex people Lex," she shook her head. "They run a little slow." He rose and eyebrow at that and stared her down.

"What's going on Chloe?"

"Surprise Lex, big plans, lots of fun...but I need you to come with me," she grinned. He frowned again.

"I don't like surprises Chloe," he told her seriously.

"That's because you've probably never had a good one before," she walked over to a coat rack in one of the corners and removed the black coat that he'd hung there.

"Chloe—"

"Lex," she cut him off and gave him a very pointed, very serious look. "Is there really anything here that can't wait until after the weekend? Really?" He hesitated.

"I really should..."

"No Lex," she realized that she was getting very close to whining now but she didn't really care. She walked back to his desk and stood directly in front of it, so he was forced to look at her. "You're working really hard to prove yourself and get the company back on its feet, and I get that Lex, I really do. But you're not going to do anyone any good if you burn yourself out in the process. Do you not realize that you're the boss here? If you want to leave the Edinburgh whatever until next week who here can really do anything about that? You've already proved yourself to everyone that matters. Luthor Corp will be just fine if you take the weekend off. Now get your stuff together and let's get out of here, because it's your birthday and the people that care about you want to celebrate."

She draped the jacket over his desk and turned around, marching straight back out into the reception area, and calling the elevator up to their floor.

One minute later he joined her, briefcase and jacket in hand, pointedly not looking at her. She'd been honestly worried that he would yell at her, or worse, pretend like she'd never even gone into the office at all. But he was there now, and he wasn't talking...

"I shouldn't have—"

This time he cuther off. "No Chloe," he shook his head, turning his gaze to hers. "You were right. The company will survive without me for one weekend."

"Okay then," she beamed at him. The elevator arrived and the doors opened, letting them walk inside. Lex's secretary walked by holding a stack of files and flashed them both a plastic smile.

"Have a good weekend Mr. Luthor," she chirped. "We'll see you Tuesday."

The doors slid shut before Lex could say anything. He turned to Chloe with raised brows. "Tuesday?"

She shrugged. "Fine, they can do without you for a long weekend," she clarified snarkily.

Lex stared out of the limo window at the passing buildings...familiar buildings. "Are we going to the airport?" he asked Chloe, unable to restrain himself. She'd been right before, he didn't like surprises because he'd never had a good one. But Chloe had no reason to lie to him, and he was trying to trust her now.

"Yes," she nodded, her head bent low and peering into the refrigerator. She sat back against her seat, pulling two blue bottles of water out with her and handing one to him.

"Chloe," he sighed, opening his drink. "Do you think you could tell me why you're taking me to the airport?"

"Because that's where the plane is," she told him slowly, opening her water as well.

"Oh, of course," he rolled his eyes and took a long gulp from his bottle. She sighed.

"Lex, I know that you hating not knowing every little thing that's going on around you," she tried placating him, only resulting in pissing him off a little. "But you've really just got to trust me. We've planned—"

"We?" he cut her off. "Who's we? You and Clark?" She obviously didn't like the way he'd said Clark's name, a little hostile and more than a little paranoid.

"Yes," she stared back defiantly. "Clark and I planned this...and for the record it was actually his idea to not throw you a huge party—"

"Remind me to thank him then," Lex muttered, immensely glad that he hadn't gone home to the mansion after a long week and found a hundred of his most important business associates waiting in his lounge.

"Oh look," she said brightly, completely ignoring his last comment. "We're here." Lex looked out the window, realizing that she was right. They were just pulling onto the runway access roads and he could see his plane sitting on one of the runways, engines already running and clearly just about ready to go.

"We're taking my plane?" he was actually surprised that she'd managed to convince his pilots to fly without his okay first...not that he would have said no if she had actually asked to use his plane. Apparently she took it the wrong way though...

"I didn't think you'd go if we had to fly commercial," she shrugged.

"Do you really think that I'm that big of a snob Chloe?" he asked a little sharply, stung that she seemed to believe that. It's not like he'd always had a private plane; Lionel didn't but it until Lex was three...

"You know I don't," she assured him, her eyes already twinkling, as the limo got closer to the plane. The car came to a stop on the runway and they could hear the engines running even over the running car.

"Chloe I don't have my passport," he blurted suddenly, feeling like an idiot. He should have seen something like this coming; she'd been talking about his birthday for the last two weeks now. But he'd been really busy lately, hadn't paid much attention to her, and its not like he carried a passport around with him...

"I packed it," she laughed. "It's on the plane with your luggage." He nodded, feeling immensely relieved; now that he knew that they were getting away for a few days, the idea didn't sound so bad. "You have got to relax Lex, you're acting like no one's ever done anything for you before. When we get on board we'll get you a scotch okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine," he shook his head. "And for the record, usually when people do something for me they want something in return...or they want to kill me."

She blinked at him in surprise. "I don't want anything from you Lex," she assured him. "And I promise that I'm not trying to kill you."

"You promise?" he goaded, sharing a grin with her.

"Promise," she made a cross motion over her heart and then grabbed his hand. "Now let's go." He fumbled to put the lid back on his water and just managed to drop it on the seat before she pushed the door open and jumped out, pulling him out with her. She snatched the briefcase up off of the seat before he could. "You can have it back on Monday, when we get home."

He tried to fix one of his most terrifying glares on her but she just raised and eyebrow and turned around, pulling him along behind her like some kind of...Clark Kent. "Cut it out, I'm not afraid of you," she called back over her shoulder, the sound of the engines drowning out most of her words.

"What?" he yelled back. She shook her head.

"Nothing!" They reached the plane and she released his hand, hurrying up the stairs. He sighed and followed behind her, poising himself to greet Clark and whoever else she had decided to invite along. If Bruce Wayne was there...

Chloe disappeared into the plane and he followed a couple of seconds later. Chloe paused at the cabin door and he bumped into her, reaching a hand out to steady her. "What's wrong..."he trailed off and followed her gaze to where Clark, Lucas and Pete had somehow managed to hook a video game system up to Lex's big screen TV. Angry cries filled the room, but they weren't coming from the game.

"Hey it's my turn!" Clark tried to pull the game controls out of Lucas's hands. Pete was looking back and forth between them, clutching his controls protectively.

Lucas pulled back. "I don't think so Jethro! Pete called winners, and I won!" he tugged again.

"Because you cheated!" Clark pulled even harder. "You're going to break it! Why don't you go back and harass the pilot again?"

"Because he won't tell me anything! And you're the one who's going to break it!"

"Hey, guys!" Pete called out desperately, pushing his controls in their direction. "Why don't you two have a rematch and I'll play whoever wins—"

"But I won!" Lucas glared at Clark. "He just can't stand to loose."

"You cheated," Clark practically whined.

"You cheated," Lucas mocked.

"You did!" Clark said defensively. "You unplugged my control."

"It's just a game man," Lucas laughed.

"Come on guys, this is pathetic!" Pete rolled his eyes and dropped his control in frustration. "What would Chloe and Lex say if they saw you?"

"He'd probably ask me why I didn't hire a babysitter?" Chloe supplied. Pete grinned at her and Clark and Lucas both froze in their struggle.

"Chloe..." Clark seemed at a loss for words. "Lex...Chloe he cheated! It was my turn and—"

"Oh shut up," Lucas rolled his eyes and thrust the controller into Clark's hands roughly. Clark grinned triumphantly for a second before they all climbed to their feet and made their way over to shake hands with Lex.

"Hey," Pete greeted a little awkwardly, shaking his hand last. "Well...Happy Birthday."

"Thanks," Lex smirked.

TBC...