A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews. I hope everyone is enjoying the story. Sorry but this was written prior to Chloe's "Jimmy" revelation. Enjoy, and let me know what you think. Your words really mean alot and encourage me to write more.
Chapter 5 – And then
Chloe awoke on Sunday very late in the afternoon with her mouth so dry you could plant cactus and her head sounded something akin to an award winning drumline. Her whole body ached, even her toes as she tried to curl them up, and return to a full fetal position, seemed to protest her movements. Her mind was slow and groggy and she struggled to remember whether she was awake or asleep and really why she was supposed to care. Then she lit upon the moment, actually several, as they played through her mind. Lex's arms around her, his chest pressed next to hers, his lips moving on her skin, his tongue moving alongside hers. Oh God, she had been in heaven.
She shot upright in the bed, arms in the air. "Eureka it worked," she yelled loudly, then "FUCK," as every part of her body and soul revolted and she collapsed back on the bed.
Monday morning came too soon, but at least she awoke feeling human again. She felt like crap, but she felt that way every morning so things seemed back to normal. Except for the tension that was slowly eating her alive. 'Why the hell did I tell him that he could have a week, I am going to go insane. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You Chloe Sullivan should have stayed in that man's bed until the police were called in to drag you out kicking and screaming.' She had been having this argument with herself since she woke up on Sunday, and she still wasn't sure she hadn't made a terrible mistake. Then she remembered that Clark had been there, and staying wasn't really possible.
'Starting anything with Lex is going to be hard enough, if people know it will be nearly impossible' she reminded herself. She took a deep breath and left her room and headed for school.
School was actually pretty great, people who never talked to her were saying what a great party her birthday had been and they all wanted to come to her next party. 'Yeah right, they want to come to the next Luthor party.' She rolled her eyes at most of them, but smiled and enjoyed the attention. At least this was attention for something fun and not being called names or having footballs thrown at her head. She couldn't wait to tell Lex, he would get a kick out of being so popular among the teen angst crowd.
Later she sat at the Talon, alone, sipping her coffee and typing away when she heard a familiar voice.
"And how are we feeling today, Ms. Sullivan." Lex greeted warmly, his face the same as always but the tone of his voice held a richness that she seldom heard. He slid into the chair across from her, needing the distance to keep his mind focused.
She smiled that lazy smile she was beginning to use around him, the one that in her mind said, 'please take me right here'. "Mr. Luthor, I am feeling close to normal today, well as close as I ever come I suppose." Her voice trailed up at the end and ended with the cutest laugh he thought he had ever heard.
"I am glad to hear it, I thought you might have had a rough day yesterday," he said, hoping that her recovery was not too bad.
'God is that actual concern in his eyes, damn, I am really liking this thing we have here, whatever it is.' Her mind was whirling, and then all she could think was that this was day two. "So you are still going to make it to the dinner on Wednesday, right?" There was the slightest strain in her voice, like she was almost afraid to hear the answer. She hoped he hadn't noticed, but the way his eyes seemed to soften she thought that maybe he had.
"I wouldn't miss it, Chloe." His voice was lower and smoother now.
Just then his mind flooded back to the beginning of the week before and he was sitting in the exact seat he was in now.
Clark slid into the seat across from him, "Hey, Lex" followed by the farmboy smile.
"Clark," as he took another sip of his coffee.
"Uuummm do you need me to do anything else for Chloe's party?" Clark asked, secretly hoping the answer would be NO. He had no idea how to throw a party, let alone a birthday party for a girl. How had he ever gotten himself into this? Thank God Lex had volunteered to take care of most of it, or truth be told, really everything.
"Everything is taken care of, Clark," Lex replied in that even tone that could have implied he was talking about putting sugar in his coffee or dropping a dead body into a lake.
"Well good, I hope it wasn't too much trouble," Clark offered in a voice that screamed, 'better you than me.'
"It was nothing Clark, I have people to take care of most things." Another swig of his coffee to end the topic. Although, every little detail of the party was meticulously running through Lex's head. He was nothing if not the consummate planner. He knew every food item that was to be served, he had been personally involved in the selection process, the music, the set up of the furniture, decorations, all tasteful, understated, and absolutely no pink. He almost chuckled to himself at the thought of Chloe's face if everything was done in shades of pink. For a second he considered it, she was so fucking sexy when she was mad.
"So are you going to give her your gift at the party or wait till the dinner on Wednesday?" Clark asked. Clark's voice dragged Lex out of his daydream which featured a very irate Chloe ripping off a very clingy pink dress.
"Sorry Clark, what was that?" Lex offered absently.
"The dinner next Wednesday, you know the family thing her dad does." Clark explained.
Lex almost blanched before he caught himself. He quickly closed his mouth and shoved down the feeling that was rising in his chest. 'Yeah right, you know exactly what that feeling is, that is hurt you idiot, you weren't invited, because you aren't family.' His inner voice was merciless.
"I guess I wasn't invited, Clark," Lex's voice was low but the deadly tone would have been plain to almost anyone.
Though Clark missed it, Lana was a bit more perceptive. She refilled Lex's coffee, then leaned back up. "Do you need anything else, Lex?" she asked softly, offering him a smile.
He never saw her, his eyes never left the mug as he brought it back to his lips. " No, Lana, thank you." His voice even again now, but cold.
"Um, Clark can you help me with something" Clark heard her tone and looked up to see her motion with her head, so he followed her back to the counter.
"Clark, what are you doing?" There was now a cross between irritation and a whine in her voice, "Chloe hasn't invited Lex to her dad's dinner thing. You can't just bring it up like that." She chastised.
"Oh," was all Clark could manage. "I didn't realize, I thought they were friends, and he is throwing this party for her." He offered.
"She may still invite him Clark, but maybe with Lex being her dad's boss it would be weird, so just lay off okay." Then she turned and moved to where a couple was waving their arms for a cheque.
Just then Chloe made her appearance. Clark noticed that she seemed to look more carefree these days, and somehow more beautiful. "Huh, did I just think Chloe was beautiful, weird.' He shrugged as if to clear his mind and then moved his eyes back to Lana as she walked back his way.
"Well hello, Mr. Luthor," Chloe chimed from behind him then slid into the seat that Clark had vacated. As soon as she saw his face, her smile immediately faded as concern crossed her face; she almost reached out to touch him, but held herself in check.
"Lex, are you okay?" Her voice was low and worry laced her words. He met her eyes and heard the concern in her voice, but his own feelings were raging and he struggled to put his mask in place.
"I'm fine, Ms. Sullivan," he hid behind the formality and the calmness rolled over his expressions.
"Oh, okay." She knew something was wrong, but had learned that a direct attack never worked. She would change the subject and go looking for answers when his mood was a little better.
"So, um, I was wondering, um, well here." She couldn't look at him now, let alone, put together the words to say what she wanted, so she simply stuck out her hand with the ivory envelope clutched in it.
He raised his eyebrow, then set his coffee down and took the envelope from her hand, feeling the spark the brush of her hand set off down his arm. "For me?" the question in his voice with almost a playful tone, hoping the envelope held what he wanted.
"Yes." It was all she could get out, and it even sounded unsure, she wondered if it was too late to grab the envelope back. She held her breath.
Lex opened the envelope the heavy weight paper feeling good between his fingers. He slid out the matching card and noticed the initials on the front in a heavy platinum script C.S. He opened the card and inscribed there in a beautiful handwritten calligraphy.
'Alexander,
Please join me on Wednesday next for a dinner party to celebrate the occasion of the 18th year of my birth. I hope you will be in attendance at our family celebration. 8:00 pm. Sullivan house.
Yours truly,
Chloe'
He held his breath for a second, his right finger trailing over the words. He fought for control of his emotions at the thought of being considered family, and the 'yours truly' was wreaking havoc with his thoughts, as he heard her breathe the words in his ear in his mind. And then she had called him Alexander, no one did that except for her. She had never said it except when they were alone, it was a private connection he allowed only her. He waded through it all and placidly looked up, anyone watching would have thought he was reading the stock page.
"Chloe, I would be honored." His tone almost heated as the words dripped from his mouth. So warm in fact she thought for sure her shoes might be melting into the floor, not to mention the warmth that was pooling in the vicinity between her legs. She smiled, she couldn't help it.
"Good, well that is everyone then." She appeared as though she were ready to stand and leave and so he said the first thing that came to mind.
"The invitation is beautiful, where did you have them printed?" He asked hoping for just a few more minutes with her.
Her face contorted in mock hurt and her hand flew to her chest. "Printed? Mr. Luthor I wrote each of those out personally. And I have a wastebasket full of wasted stationary to prove it," she laughed at that. "My dad is going to freak at the stationary store charge on his next credit card bill, I had to go back three times." She was still laughing and Lex was smiling now. She loved that smile. She felt weightless when he looked at her like that.
"So the queen of the laptop generation actually writes in freehand?" he taunted.
"I like the idea of some old-fashioned ways Lex, it reminds me that it's important to take time and put effort into things, besides I just think it looks elegant, you know classy. I wouldn't want to just blast off an email or make a quick call about something so important." Her face was full of emotion and her eyes looked almost faraway as though she were dreaming of Camelot.
He couldn't seem to remove the smile from his face no matter how hard he tried. Her energy was infectious and he almost wished they were back at the mansion in his study where he could be closer to her without all the prying eyes. Although in all the nights she had come by to talk about her next article or have him read over her English assignment he had never once given in to his desire to graze his fingers across her face. Everything was coming together, he was so damn close. Realizing that right now he might just surrender to his weakness, he abruptly stood.
Chloe's face fell and she drew in a breath as Lex's abrupt movement seemed to suck all the air out the space around them.
"I need to go, I have an appointment at the plant," he lied smoothly, his features displaying none of the torment going on inside his head.
She saw the flash in his eyes, but misread his uneasiness for annoyance and stammered, "Uum, I'm sorry I didn't mean to keep you with my inane ramblings."
He heard the dejected tone in her voice and knew he was the cause; he bent down to say something to appease her and was struck by the tears he saw pooling in her eyes. His mouth went dry at the idea of hurting her and seeing it in her face was killing him.
"Chloe your ramblings are not inane, and I have found on many occasions they are the highlight of my day." His voice betrayed none of the furor that was brewing inside him, but he reached out and lightly squeezed her hand as it sat on top of her knee. He wasn't sure what made him do it, but the spark that shot through his arm at the feel of her skin made him feel so good he didn't care.
"Thanks," was all she could manage, her voice barely a whisper but her smile was radiant. He returned the smile, turned and was gone before she could manage to take her next breath.
Chloe sat back in her chair exhausted, she felt as if she had just gotten off a roller coaster. She had been nervous, then elated, then devastated, then rescued. 'God what that man can do to me in two minutes flat.' She sighed and couldn't form another cohesive thought for almost fifteen minutes…
Sitting across from her now it was strange how much had happened in the last week. He had known immediately how to contact her for the rendezvous they had agreed on. He would have liked to think that he could be a magnanimous guy and just take her out to dinner, and then date for a while before dragging her into bed. However, he also knew himself well enough to know it wouldn't happen and he would rather just admit it and move on to planning the perfect evening for her. He spent all day Sunday and half of Monday trying to figure out exactly what to do and how to say the perfect thing. Finally he had it down and the now was time to judge how well he had done.
He glanced around one last time to be sure that none of their friends were around then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. "For you, Ms. Sullivan". The smirk on his face was playful but the darkness in his eyes showed something completely different.
Chloe saw him reach into his pocket and produce the envelope, her stomach twitched, she stopped breathing and it was possible her mouth was hanging open just the slightest. At his words she started just a bit and then was lost in his eyes, as her hand reached out to touch the paper. She caressed the linen as she took it from his hands. The paper she had bought for her birthday party invitations was nice, but this was exquisite, you could have made cloth out of that fabric.
She glanced at the front and the words written there caused her breath to hitch. Her gaze flew up to his eyes, the mask was back but he was smiling, then he turned and walked out the door. Promises Kept. She studied the front of the envelope again, the black letters against the creamy textured background. She took a deep breath and opened the flap on the envelope. She slid the card out and opened it. She let the words flow over her body and then finally let out a breath she had been holding for far too long as her mind clung to the last line. Friday 6pm. – Rsvp… 555-9515.
Lex was doing about 100 mph trying to push the thoughts of rejection out of his head, he had wanted to stay and see her reaction, but the consequences were too high so he had bolted. Whatever the result, he had come too far to be denied now. Then he heard his phone ring.
"Luthor," he rasped out a little more harshly than he intended.
"Friday at six it is," came a silky female voice, then the line went dead. The smile that crept across his face as he put the phone back into his pocket was almost lethal. 'Almost there, yes, almost there.'
She closed her phone, closed her eyes, and leaned into the soft chair. 'Almost there, Chloe, you're almost there.' Then she let her mind wander into all the possibilities for Friday at 6:01.
