CHAPTER TWO

Disclaimers in Prologue I

A shoe flew over her lamp, missing it by just five inches.  A scarf followed suit, then a shirt, then another shoe, and a sock.  Gabe Sullivan entered the room after a soft knock on the door, and he ducked immediately as a high-heeled shoe was catapulted near his head.

"Chloe, sweetheart," he asked with concern.  "Are you alright?"

Behind a growing mountain of clothes, a head popped up.  "Dad?" Chloe said as she emerged from the pile.  "Yeah, I'm fine."

Her father furrowed his brows as he looked around the room.  "You sure?" he asked again as he shrugged to the mess around him.

Chloe smiled.  "I'm just trying to find clothes to wear for a date."

"Well, doesn't seem like you're lacking in that department," he joked, pointing out the explosion of clothing around him.  "Wait, a date?"

"Yeah," Chloe answered, still preoccupied as she searched the room.

"With who?"

"A-ha!" she jumped into the other corner and retrieved a pair of red heels.  She sat herself on her bed as her father waited patiently for an answer.

"I'm waiting," he finally prodded when he ran out of patience.

"Oh," Chloe remembered.  "Sorry, little preoccupied here.  It's, um.."

"Chloe," Lana interrupted, knocking softly before she opened the door completely to enter the door.  "Lex is here," she added, confused.

"Great!" Chloe replied with much animation.

Gabe's eyes widened with realization.  "Lex Luthor is your date?"

"You're dating Lex Luthor?" Lana echoed with disbelief.

"It's just dinner," the young reporter shrugged.  "I'll see you guys later!"

With that, she left the room, ran down the steps and greeted her date.

As they both left the house and stepped into Lex's car, the two observed them from Chloe's window.  The father was wrecked with paternal concern, given Lex's reputation.  His only comfort laid within his daughter and her uncanny ability to handle herself in these situations.

The friend was not as comforted, however.  But there was more than concern at play here; she felt betrayed that Chloe told her nothing about this.

Feeling helpless, she did the only thing she thought she could do.  She excused herself from Gabe's presence and went into her room.  Dialing the familiar numbers, she waited until someone picked up on the other line.

"Clark?"