HIS HEART PROVES DICHOTIC
"I would like to go on record and say that I don't like this idea," Lex Luthor grumbled.
Chloe grabbed the lapels of his black jacket and pulled the edges closer together. "You mentioned that," she replied, grinning. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. Her boyfriend looked suave in his clean black look. The black let up only with the monochrome gray shirt that he wore underneath. "Something's missing," she murmured. Her eyebrows furrowed as she nibbled on her lower lip. When the idea hit her, she brightened. Chloe turned swiftly around and jogged to the dresser.
"Now what? You already sprayed perfume on me." Lex sighed as Chloe rifled through his drawer. "Have I mentioned that I really hate this?"
"You're acting like a child, Lex," she said in a singsong. "Eureka!" She turned back around and walked over to him waving a shiny black pair of eyeglasses.
"No," Lex declared. "You are not pimping me."
Chloe gasped playfully. "Who's pimping who? I just want to make sure that you look your best when you drop off those golf clubs."
Lex placed his hands on both sides of her waist and drew her close. "You know what you're trying to do, Chloe. Why can't you just let it go?"
Chloe ran her hand smoothly over his head. "Well I know my dad certainly won't."
"Gabe didn't see anything."
She scoffed. "Right. That's why he suddenly made a 360-degree turn. He went from being a laidback, cool father to a sentinel."
"All right," Lex gave in. "Say that he does suspect." Chloe glared at him, so he revised. "Knows. Say that he knows. Your bright solution is to get the two of us hooked up with other people."
"That's the only way we can allay his suspicions," Chloe explained.
"And it never occurred to you that maybe we can just come clean." Her face morphed into one of absolute horror. "It's not that horrible being involved with me, is it, Chloe?"
"Well it is if my dad knows!"
"Your dad is a fair man."
"Who will string your most important parts and throw them in the boiling vats of crap in your own factory."
Lex shook his head. "You're overreacting. And I hate the idea of this."
"It's only for a while, Lex. And it's not like you're going to fall in love with the woman from the charity auction. Although," Chloe quickly amended, "if you do I want you to know that you are in under no obligation to me. I know that those women are gorgeous, sophisticated and totally in the same sphe-"
Lex muffled the rest of her words with a mind-blowing kiss meant to take her breath long enough so she would shut up for a while. "I'm not going to go falling in love with a woman I meet for thirty seconds when I've loved you for years, Chloe."
"See, if you're that close-minded, you really won't."
"Good." His hands wandered to the bottom of her patterned brown blouse. "Is this what you're wearing to school today?"
"Uhuh," she answered, feeling his warm skin on hers. "Right after we get Lana settled in."
"Isn't this a bit exposing?"
"I've always worn sexy outfits, Lex. You've never had a problem with them before."
"Well I've never seen you in them when you're planning to attract someone to detract your dad's suspicions. When you have that kind of garbage in mind, I don't trust you. And I trust the guys in your school even less."
Chloe gave him a lopsided smile, which seemed dimmer than the one he saw earlier. She bent down to drop a kiss on his forehead. "I love you," she said quickly, before maneuvering out of his arms and rushing out the door.
~~
Chloe checked her phone and saw that she had an unread message. She was still worried about Lex. After hearing the news from the people outside, she tried to call him over and over but his phone was unavailable. Before she picked up the tray, she clicked on the read button on the keypad.
So he found someone.
All she could wonder about was how badly he hurt himself. Spraying bits of glass could do a lot of damage.
But Lex had finally, no matter how reluctant he was, heeded her advise and was following the plan. It was her turn to be as dedicated.
"So. Perfect attendance, straight A's, and a class load that would make Einstein crack. You know what-forget the interview. Let's just call Ripley's!" she said brightly as she sat down with Ian at the table."
"It's kind of intense, huh?"
Chloe smiled and replied something that she knew was appropriate, but her vision immediately filled with images of Lex in the suit that she prepared for him, wearing those shiny black shades, furious under the sun as he slammed a golf club over and over, ramming the meter maid's car. The last word out of her mouth was apt though, "hot."
They continued their conversation, but Chloe was pretty sure she was blowing it. It was never a good idea to try to attract someone when you're preoccupied about a better, sexier man. So when Ian mentioned a deadline, Chloe immediately stood. That was when she noticed the Clark was calling her name.
On the other side of town, Lex walked into the Anger Management classroom. He really needed this class if he was going to survive the evening knowing that Chloe was socializing with a geek cum LuthorCorp scholarship applicant. His eyes sought one dark head. It was better to get this over with quickly so that he could go back to where he really wanted to be.
Lex approached the doctor and managed to look surprised. "Dr. Bryce?" The tight smile that the doctor gave him told him for certain what kind of woman she was. He hoped she wouldn't be too close-minded. Lex forced amusement in his voice. "I like your nametag."
His pleasantness paid off. Soon, Helen Bryce was chuckling along with him. It was not a bad sound, but he preferred Chloe's giggle. "I dropkicked an orderly."
Lex kept himself from rolling his eyes. He needed her. "Want to get together after class?" Say no.
"No."
But then he thought about Chloe, nibbling her lower lip, worried about her father's reaction to the truth. He pressed, "You got a thing about dating classmates?"
The things he would do for a girl. But he knew this was happening for a long time.
And he never wanted to stop it.
~~
Lex rushed after Helen Bryce. If Chloe was willing to go through the lengths that she did to throw people off, then it must mean something to her that he won't even try to understand. He knew what a kiss meant to Chloe. He was willing to come close.
He saw Helen Bryce in her figureless lab coat, standing in front of the nurse's station. She was really quite pretty, he recognized. And if he were not already too deeply involved with someone, he would consider dating her.
"Metropolis General. I was drunk, puking my guts out in the ER. You were the first year med student assigned to sober me up." To his surprise, it was actually pleasant to see her now. At least he got to see two people in completely different parts of his life. "You witnessed my, uh, self- destructive phase." It was a part of his life that he was happy to leave behind. He would never have considered touching Chloe had he not completely freed himself from that. Maybe Chloe was right. Maybe this woman could help.
"I'm off in ten minutes," she began, and Lex knew that he had won.
~~
Chloe stared at the computer screen, making faces of distaste. She could not believe she got desperate enough to kiss someone else. Lex was right. It was time that they came clean, at least to her father. Her dad loved her and Lex a lot and she doubted that he would be mad. Maybe he would be uneasy with the idea at first. But Gabe Sullivan would understand how they fell in love. If anyone knew just how alike Chloe and Lex were, it was her dad.
Her phone began to ring. Thinking that it was Lex, she quickly glanced at it. When she saw that it wasn't her boyfriend, Chloe sighed in exasperation. She turned off her cellphone. She did not need Clark telling her that she was stupid and wrong because she already told herself that a thousand times.
The door opened behind her.
~~
Lex picked up his phone and dialed Chloe's number again. He released a deep breath when he got the same unreachable message. He looked up at Helen, sitting across from him, and smiled. "Sorry."
"I have to admit, Lex, that I've never been out on a date when the guy found a phone more interesting than I was."
"Helen-"
"I know," she chuckled. "It's not a date. If you didn't intrigue me so much, I wouldn't even have come." Helen sat back in her seat and leafed through the menu. "So where is this girl you wanted me to meet?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out." Lex dialed once again and got the same message. "She was supposed to meet us here half an hour ago." Frustrated, Lex dialed Gabe's number instead. Although he knew that Gabe was still cautious around him after what he had seen, Lex had no other choice. Better get it over with rather than worry about why his girlfriend was late. Whenever he hasn't heard her voice for more than six hours, Lex tended to fear the worst-and for good reason.
"Gabe, where are you?" Lex massaged the bridge of his nose. "Not again. How is she?" He glanced quickly at Helen. "Could you tell her I'll be right there?" Lex heard the coldness that crept in the older man's voice. "I'll be bringing my girlfriend along if you don't mind."
Helen's eyebrow arched, and she smirked. "Something you want to tell me?" the doctor inquired when he hung up the phone.
"Chloe wanted to be the one to explain. Right now, I have to check on her. She's having a head wound cleaned at the hospital. Her father said it was minor, but I hope you won't mind if we cut the dinner short. Why don't I tell you all about it on the way over?"
To his surprise, Helen merely nodded and took her own phone from her bag. "You can talk in the car. Let me see if I can find out something about her from the nurses."
"Thanks." Lex walked ahead of her.
"I would like to go on record and say that I don't like this idea," Lex Luthor grumbled.
Chloe grabbed the lapels of his black jacket and pulled the edges closer together. "You mentioned that," she replied, grinning. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. Her boyfriend looked suave in his clean black look. The black let up only with the monochrome gray shirt that he wore underneath. "Something's missing," she murmured. Her eyebrows furrowed as she nibbled on her lower lip. When the idea hit her, she brightened. Chloe turned swiftly around and jogged to the dresser.
"Now what? You already sprayed perfume on me." Lex sighed as Chloe rifled through his drawer. "Have I mentioned that I really hate this?"
"You're acting like a child, Lex," she said in a singsong. "Eureka!" She turned back around and walked over to him waving a shiny black pair of eyeglasses.
"No," Lex declared. "You are not pimping me."
Chloe gasped playfully. "Who's pimping who? I just want to make sure that you look your best when you drop off those golf clubs."
Lex placed his hands on both sides of her waist and drew her close. "You know what you're trying to do, Chloe. Why can't you just let it go?"
Chloe ran her hand smoothly over his head. "Well I know my dad certainly won't."
"Gabe didn't see anything."
She scoffed. "Right. That's why he suddenly made a 360-degree turn. He went from being a laidback, cool father to a sentinel."
"All right," Lex gave in. "Say that he does suspect." Chloe glared at him, so he revised. "Knows. Say that he knows. Your bright solution is to get the two of us hooked up with other people."
"That's the only way we can allay his suspicions," Chloe explained.
"And it never occurred to you that maybe we can just come clean." Her face morphed into one of absolute horror. "It's not that horrible being involved with me, is it, Chloe?"
"Well it is if my dad knows!"
"Your dad is a fair man."
"Who will string your most important parts and throw them in the boiling vats of crap in your own factory."
Lex shook his head. "You're overreacting. And I hate the idea of this."
"It's only for a while, Lex. And it's not like you're going to fall in love with the woman from the charity auction. Although," Chloe quickly amended, "if you do I want you to know that you are in under no obligation to me. I know that those women are gorgeous, sophisticated and totally in the same sphe-"
Lex muffled the rest of her words with a mind-blowing kiss meant to take her breath long enough so she would shut up for a while. "I'm not going to go falling in love with a woman I meet for thirty seconds when I've loved you for years, Chloe."
"See, if you're that close-minded, you really won't."
"Good." His hands wandered to the bottom of her patterned brown blouse. "Is this what you're wearing to school today?"
"Uhuh," she answered, feeling his warm skin on hers. "Right after we get Lana settled in."
"Isn't this a bit exposing?"
"I've always worn sexy outfits, Lex. You've never had a problem with them before."
"Well I've never seen you in them when you're planning to attract someone to detract your dad's suspicions. When you have that kind of garbage in mind, I don't trust you. And I trust the guys in your school even less."
Chloe gave him a lopsided smile, which seemed dimmer than the one he saw earlier. She bent down to drop a kiss on his forehead. "I love you," she said quickly, before maneuvering out of his arms and rushing out the door.
~~
Chloe checked her phone and saw that she had an unread message. She was still worried about Lex. After hearing the news from the people outside, she tried to call him over and over but his phone was unavailable. Before she picked up the tray, she clicked on the read button on the keypad.
So he found someone.
All she could wonder about was how badly he hurt himself. Spraying bits of glass could do a lot of damage.
But Lex had finally, no matter how reluctant he was, heeded her advise and was following the plan. It was her turn to be as dedicated.
"So. Perfect attendance, straight A's, and a class load that would make Einstein crack. You know what-forget the interview. Let's just call Ripley's!" she said brightly as she sat down with Ian at the table."
"It's kind of intense, huh?"
Chloe smiled and replied something that she knew was appropriate, but her vision immediately filled with images of Lex in the suit that she prepared for him, wearing those shiny black shades, furious under the sun as he slammed a golf club over and over, ramming the meter maid's car. The last word out of her mouth was apt though, "hot."
They continued their conversation, but Chloe was pretty sure she was blowing it. It was never a good idea to try to attract someone when you're preoccupied about a better, sexier man. So when Ian mentioned a deadline, Chloe immediately stood. That was when she noticed the Clark was calling her name.
On the other side of town, Lex walked into the Anger Management classroom. He really needed this class if he was going to survive the evening knowing that Chloe was socializing with a geek cum LuthorCorp scholarship applicant. His eyes sought one dark head. It was better to get this over with quickly so that he could go back to where he really wanted to be.
Lex approached the doctor and managed to look surprised. "Dr. Bryce?" The tight smile that the doctor gave him told him for certain what kind of woman she was. He hoped she wouldn't be too close-minded. Lex forced amusement in his voice. "I like your nametag."
His pleasantness paid off. Soon, Helen Bryce was chuckling along with him. It was not a bad sound, but he preferred Chloe's giggle. "I dropkicked an orderly."
Lex kept himself from rolling his eyes. He needed her. "Want to get together after class?" Say no.
"No."
But then he thought about Chloe, nibbling her lower lip, worried about her father's reaction to the truth. He pressed, "You got a thing about dating classmates?"
The things he would do for a girl. But he knew this was happening for a long time.
And he never wanted to stop it.
~~
Lex rushed after Helen Bryce. If Chloe was willing to go through the lengths that she did to throw people off, then it must mean something to her that he won't even try to understand. He knew what a kiss meant to Chloe. He was willing to come close.
He saw Helen Bryce in her figureless lab coat, standing in front of the nurse's station. She was really quite pretty, he recognized. And if he were not already too deeply involved with someone, he would consider dating her.
"Metropolis General. I was drunk, puking my guts out in the ER. You were the first year med student assigned to sober me up." To his surprise, it was actually pleasant to see her now. At least he got to see two people in completely different parts of his life. "You witnessed my, uh, self- destructive phase." It was a part of his life that he was happy to leave behind. He would never have considered touching Chloe had he not completely freed himself from that. Maybe Chloe was right. Maybe this woman could help.
"I'm off in ten minutes," she began, and Lex knew that he had won.
~~
Chloe stared at the computer screen, making faces of distaste. She could not believe she got desperate enough to kiss someone else. Lex was right. It was time that they came clean, at least to her father. Her dad loved her and Lex a lot and she doubted that he would be mad. Maybe he would be uneasy with the idea at first. But Gabe Sullivan would understand how they fell in love. If anyone knew just how alike Chloe and Lex were, it was her dad.
Her phone began to ring. Thinking that it was Lex, she quickly glanced at it. When she saw that it wasn't her boyfriend, Chloe sighed in exasperation. She turned off her cellphone. She did not need Clark telling her that she was stupid and wrong because she already told herself that a thousand times.
The door opened behind her.
~~
Lex picked up his phone and dialed Chloe's number again. He released a deep breath when he got the same unreachable message. He looked up at Helen, sitting across from him, and smiled. "Sorry."
"I have to admit, Lex, that I've never been out on a date when the guy found a phone more interesting than I was."
"Helen-"
"I know," she chuckled. "It's not a date. If you didn't intrigue me so much, I wouldn't even have come." Helen sat back in her seat and leafed through the menu. "So where is this girl you wanted me to meet?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out." Lex dialed once again and got the same message. "She was supposed to meet us here half an hour ago." Frustrated, Lex dialed Gabe's number instead. Although he knew that Gabe was still cautious around him after what he had seen, Lex had no other choice. Better get it over with rather than worry about why his girlfriend was late. Whenever he hasn't heard her voice for more than six hours, Lex tended to fear the worst-and for good reason.
"Gabe, where are you?" Lex massaged the bridge of his nose. "Not again. How is she?" He glanced quickly at Helen. "Could you tell her I'll be right there?" Lex heard the coldness that crept in the older man's voice. "I'll be bringing my girlfriend along if you don't mind."
Helen's eyebrow arched, and she smirked. "Something you want to tell me?" the doctor inquired when he hung up the phone.
"Chloe wanted to be the one to explain. Right now, I have to check on her. She's having a head wound cleaned at the hospital. Her father said it was minor, but I hope you won't mind if we cut the dinner short. Why don't I tell you all about it on the way over?"
To his surprise, Helen merely nodded and took her own phone from her bag. "You can talk in the car. Let me see if I can find out something about her from the nurses."
"Thanks." Lex walked ahead of her.