Chlexville
Season 1
Episode 7 : GOTTA STOP CRAVING YOU
She's going to kill me sometime soon. I swear by all that I trust in this world, which is not a lot, that Chloe Sullivan will kill me.
That is, if this aberration that the doctor speaks of does not do it first.
Everywhere I turn, she's there—grinning like the child she really is. And it makes it that much more appalling, this thing that I will not name. Giving it a name right now will make its presence undeniable. Much like baptizing a child will make its existence that much more difficult to ignore.
If this continues, I'm going to slip up and Clark will hate both of us for not telling them that we know each other. It's getting too hard to ignore her when she's like a damned mushroom popping up wherever you least expect her to.
"So Lex…"
Her perky voice still makes me jump, when I should have been aware that she was loitering around. After all, the house was full of decorators. Chloe thrived on people watching, no matter how much she pretended to disdain the 'normal society.' I mean, how much of a loner would you expect yourself to be when your very ambition relies on moving them?
I look up and see her walk to the chair in front of my desk. "Chloe, I am not surprised to see you."
She gives me a patronizing smirk that I am very sure she ripped off my own slew of facial expressions. I should be irritated. Really. But I never do with this kid. I have to repeat that to myself over and over again so I won't forget just how young she is.
"Right," she tells me. "That's why you almost dropped your briefs when I greeted you."
For someone who had been so sensitive and caring on our last one on one, Chloe was typically the antithesis of drama again. She was such a breath of fresh air I wanted to breathe her in… or something. "I don't wear briefs," I inform her with a straight face.
"Fine," she sighs. "Don't get your panties in a twist."
That makes my lips curve. "You know I'm a boxer type of guy." Ah! To be rewarded with a blush. I think that's a score for me in this round. But who's keeping score?
"Big birthday bash here," she comments in what she believes is a manner I will take as disinterest. But what I love… like, like… like about Chloe is that she can never feign anything. It makes me feel safe that I never have to worry that I'm being taken for a fool around her. "Lana must be thrilled."
"You'd be surprised. Ms Lang hates the idea."
She mocks a look of surprise and grabs at her chest, which of course brings my attention now to the hand over her breast. Is she taunting me? But then that open face again quashes all my suspicions. "Warn me before surprising me, Lex," she scolds with wide eyes. "Do you want me to drop my panties too?"
I blink. Searching for words that would not be a croak.
I blink again.
"Lex, you are doing a huge favor for Lana and I'm jealous."
Talk about straightforward.
"I'm doing this because Nell Potter asked for it, Chloe."
She rolls her at me and I want to warn her that they might stay that way. But she is far from seven. "You're still doing it for Lana," she grumbles.
"Do you want a party too, Chloe?" I ask her carefully. I want to open my drawer and take out my little Chloe calendar that tells me in discrete red circles the days when I must tread on eggshells around the girl. I've started keeping it since my first trip home from school and I ran into the twelve-year-old girl hissing and scratching and biting at me for no apparent reason. I discovered that there was actually a reason when she started walking away from me and presented her backside in full view, her formerly pristine Metropolis Academy skirt screaming at me to go get Mrs. Watson. I've taken to starting the calendar again since moving back. I have learned that you can never be too safe when it came to this Sullivan. I remember though that the eggshell days were not for two more weeks, so I don't know how to handle this particular episode. "I can—"
"I do not want a party, Lex! Do I look like a five-year-old?"
Absolutely not. "So this is going someplace that I will discover in hopefully a few minutes since I have an appointment."
Chloe stands up now, a bit red in the face. This color I understand just like I understand the circles in three to five days in the Chloe calendar. I have managed to piss her off. "You let Nell have a party for Lana Lang here, telling all of Smallville that you know her and are actually fond of her, but you still refuse to be seen in public with me. I feel like a mistress without the perks!" she bursts out, leaving me gaping after her when she storms off.
Was I not just thinking about how to slowly incorporate he into my known life? Granted, I was thinking about Clark's reaction before our small chitchat. But she beat me to the punch again. My mind is snagged on that last thing she said though. A mistress without the perks meaning that she would have been happy being a mistress if it had perks. I know that I should not read Freud into a little thing, but that would be a nice quote to bring up when I need to hone my judo with her.
I really have no idea why Chloe insists on this. It's not like it would help her reputation with these narrow-minded people when she is finally grouped with me. She already complains about feeling like an outsider.
Come to think of it, here in Smallville she really is only comfortable with Pete and Clark. And if she has to pretend to be an outsider when I'm hanging with one of her best friends, then that doesn't leave her much comfort zone.
I am racking my brains trying to think of a plausible way to 'meet' Chloe Sullivan. Maybe I should get some coffee and mull it over while imbibing caffeine. As had been my habit, I surf to Chloe's newspaper website before I turn off my laptop and scan through the page.
Of course. The one thing anyone would go specifically to Chloe Sullivan for.
It solves the problem. We finally meet on a fairly reasonable situation. I see her in her turf. Since I did not consult with her first, she will treat this as a present. I hope this will surprise and delight Chloe enough to drop her—
Dammit, Lex!
fin