Paris is Always a Good Thing - Chapter 9
Chloe sat out on the balcony of the garage and watched her father clean the Ferrari that Lucas owned and watched him drive dates back and forth in. She continued to think about Lex's request to come into the city. It was business he had stated in no uncertain terms. She saw through it. This was the payout. She wondered how much he would offer her to leave this time. Sadly, this time she might as well take it.
She loved her father but with the wedding nearing, she didn't think the sight of seeing Lucas walk down the aisle with Mrs. Luthor would be something she could stomach. Whatever Lex offered now would be acceptable.
Even so, her face saddened thinking that within a few days, if not hours, she could be leaving her father and the house forever, without anyone. She just couldn't read Lex. One moment he was lovely and charming and the next, a cold hearted snake. She wondered if she just suggested that he let go, if he even would. Or did he just see her as the child above the garage and a general nuisance to the family's future plans.
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"Miss Sullivan to see you sir," Mac announced as Chloe stood stoically by in the lobby area of his office. Hearing footsteps, she pasted on her smile and looked up from the floor. "You may go on in."
Chloe took a deep breath and entered the large office, caught off guard by the door that shut behind her. "Lex?" She questioned as she turned around to the door that closed and was wrapped in his arms.
"Good morning," he whispered in her ear as he kissed her neck. He could feel her body loosen in his arms and traced his hand up into her hair as their lips met. She tasted so good it was hard to imagine he had to act the feelings out and then let them go. The best relationship he had in years was a complete fake and he had to treat it as such.
Pushing against her body, he guided her to the couch through the still unwavering kiss and choked back a moan as her hands ran down his chest and he felt her tongue slide around the bottom layer of his teeth.
Pulling out of the kiss, she ran her hand down his face and stared at him. "Business?"
Lex still ran his hand through her hair and down the exposed collarbone of her overly sexy sweater she had worn for their meeting. He felt her breath hitch at the small touch and caught the smile on her face. "Actually, yes. Well, partially." He continued the graze across her body watching her slightly shift into the touch of his fingers working down to her knees.
Chloe's eyes finally opened feeling the couch cushion shift and turned to see Lex now back at his desk. What a fool she must have looked like getting lost in his touch and not paying attention to the moment at hand. "So, what did I need to come down here for?"
Lex walked around the edge of his desk and picked up a folder to hand to her. He sat down on the couch next to her and took her hand in one of his, kissing her cheek as he sat. He watched Chloe's eyes as he dropped the folder on the side table and stared at her. She was incredible and smart. And a business deal. He looked down and saw her run her hand along his thigh and up his chest, never leaving his eyes. "Tickets," he whispered through her fingers that caressed his face.
Pulling her back into him, he brushed his lips to hers and felt her mouth part almost achingly wanting to taste him. He kissed her again, this time harder and felt him sink into the couch, running his hand along her arm as her tongue felt more tangled with every second of them locked together. Chloe moaned and then processed what he had said, pulling out of the kiss. "Huh?"
"I want you to come to Paris," he whispered, still caressing her face and running his hands through her hair.
"You mean go to Paris," she corrected, knowing the ploy was to get her away from the house and away from Lucas. She wondered if telling Lex that Lucas wasn't who she wanted would matter at this point.
Leaning over to her ear, he whispered so seductively her skin shivered, "No, come to Paris with me." Chloe's head shot up and her eyes doubled in size. Something she never expected.
"You're really going," she stammered unbelievingly.
"It's your fault," he continued, still running his hands along her face and body, taking in every inch of her. "You convinced me that were some things missing in my life."
"Like what?" she tried to keep her composure feeling his fingers tingle against her skin.
"A life."
She gazed into his blue eyes and smiled, almost laughing, "I didn't think you were listening."
"So, will you come?" She didn't respond. He sounded nervous, frightened that she would reject him. "Say yes now," he seductively demanded.
Chloe's thoughts were confused. She was sure she was having a check written to disappear when she walked into the office. She wanted what had just occurred to happen. The simple desire to be swept up by Lex finally caught up to her as she baited for lost breath, "Lex."
Lex squeezed her hand more firmly, hoping to prove his intentions were real and that he was convincing. "We would leave tomorrow."
Chloe's mouth dropped. She would have to pack and say goodbye to her father and to Lucas. Lucas. The reason for all of this occurring in the first place. She tried to gain control of her breathing as she felt Lex continue to wait out her answer patiently by drawing funny circles up and down her arms with his fingers. She looked back in his eyes and he hadn't broken the stare he had of her. "I have to talk to Lucas."
"Just leave with me; he'll get the idea in a week or two." Lex moved even closer to her and fisted his hand in her hair, "I want this … for us."
"You are formidable aren't you?"
"What will you tell him?" Lex could feel a nervous pang in his stomach as he was afraid that she hadn't said yes yet. He traced his fingers back down to her hand and held it in anticipation.
Chloe watched his hand move through to her fingers and leaned into him. Closing her eyes. She had nothing to say. She didn't know how to explain to Lucas that she had found out that he wasn't the one she wanted to chase after all. She had grown up and found someone that was grown up with her. Without answering him, she eased to his lips and kissed him.
"Excuse me sir." Mac stood in the doorway and waited. Chloe looked up as she felt Lex pull from her grip and stand. "Here are the other things that you asked for." Mac stopped and handed Lex the envelope and glanced at Chloe without smiling.
Lex set down the envelope and saw Chloe as she opened the folder on the side table that revealed the tickets to Paris. There was her proof. There were two. She turned and smiled at Lex before grabbing him around the face and kissing him over and over. "Dinner?"
"No, I just don't understand what happened. I hardly know you; you're my father's boss. I wasn't even remotely interested in you," she prattled. "I was interested in Lucas and then I escaped and wrote in my stupid journal and cut my stupid hair and I came back stupider than ever." Chloe laughed while she wrapped her arms around Lex's neck.
He kept his arms around her waist but felt a sudden pain his chest like he had his heart just broken by the strange rambling Chloe had just finished. Then his fear was squelched, "Lex," she whispered. "You have made me so unbelievably happy."
He pulled her back and kissed her again before she pulled from his embrace. He couldn't do it to her. Taking a deep breath, he pushed her away from him and shook his head. He watched her happiness and color fade from her face as he ran his hand over his head and visibly shook at the soon to be end of the fairytale.
He turned away from her. He couldn't look at her the way he knew this was going to turn out. He was the ruthless businessman and had made a deal with himself about how this would play out. He couldn't be emotionally involved. This was for money; now not just for Lucas' sake but his own. He couldn't get lost in the fairytale.
"You were right all along. I could tell you know from the beginning. This was all a lie." Chloe watched him straightfaced and cold. How could he just turn off the passion in his eyes so quickly. "Everything I said to you from the moment I brought the champagne into the solarium."
Chloe had felt something. They had lost their breath kissing on the couch, against the store window. He couldn't fake that, "I don't believe you."
"I sent myself to deal with you. And I did a hell of a job. There was a marriage and a merger. You got in the way." Lex shoved his hands in his pockets and tilted his head as if he was laying down business plans to clients. Chloe couldn't believe she was taken. He could have simply told her upfront without breaking her heart. "The plan was to take you to Paris then leave to get you out of the way."
"Bastard," Chloe let slip from her lips as she turned and fingered her ticket to Paris. Her mouth quivered as tears started to well up in her eyes. She heard Lex walk away and into the private restroom to have a moment to himself or for her to leave. Sitting down, she couldn't help but cry. He had no heart after all she had found out.
"Chloe…"
"What are the things that are being taken care of?" she quietly asked as he came back out of the washroom.
"An apartment for you in Paris or wherever you want. A bank account, 500,000."
"Your first offer was better," she answered coldly.
"You can have as much as you like." Lex stood behind her, not able to witness the look on her face. He couldn't very well tell her that he really wanted to go, that he was as happy with her as he was with him.
"I don't want any," she responded, standing to face him. She was visibly upset but could hide her sadness almost as well as Lex could. He was impressed her stature. Most women would continue to crumble afterwards. "You went to all that trouble just for me? The helicopter and the jet and the tickets."
Lex stared at the floor, "It was no trouble."
"Was I really so bad for Lucas, so wrong? Even for you Lex?" She questioned him, making eye contact with a complete straight face. Her sadness gave way to curiosity.
"It's about a piece of plastic." Lex said confidently and stared at her.
"Plastic?" Chloe questioned unbelievingly.
"Nothing personal."
"Sure, it's business. Always." She stared at the tickets and glanced back over her shoulder at Lex as she took one of the tickets and placed it in her purse. "Europe is always a good idea. I was happy there." She longingly looked at Lex, whose face had not changed from the sad business stare he carried so often. "You would have been too."
Lex watched as she closed the door behind her and sunk into his chair behind the desk. He stared at the other ticket and rubbed his temples before pouring him a long stiff drink from the bar behind the desk. Throwing the drink back, he ran his hand over his head gently and closed his eyes, feeling the touches of her fingers to his face and scalp through his thoughts. Business deals sucked.
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Chloe trudged up the stairs late in the evening and leaned against the doorway of the parlor room above the garage. She watched Lucas repeatedly miss the same shot on the table and tried to find humor in it. "He shall have music wherever he goes."
Without looking up, Lucas lined up another shot and tried to focus on something other than Chloe. He knew what was going on. "Hi."
"You're better."
"Much better. Stitches come out tomorrow," he responded, again not making eye contact. Chloe nodded as Lucas finally acknowledged her presence. "How about you? I thought we were going to have that talk. I was planning a big stitch removal celebration. Thought we could go down…"
"I was with Lex," she cut him off as her eye rolled thinking back to the tragedy that had been.
Lucas halfway smiled and downed the glass of wine. "You know of all the girls I've known, and I have known some…you're the only girl I danced with only once."
"Twice," she corrected as a hint of a smile appeared. "I was 8 and you were taking dancing lessons. And I was homework." She paused and caught his smile as he started to approach her.
Laying the pool cue down, Lucas approached her and took her hand. "Homework?" he whispered as he took his other arm around her waist and started pulling her into him. "Well, was I any good then?"
Chloe didn't answer but just started breathing heavier as Lucas twirled her slowly around and smiled. Pulling out of his grip, she pushed him away. "I leaving town Lucas. I'm moving on and you should to. I won a ticket to Paris."
"Lucky. One way?" Lucas was concerned now. Lex was ditching her before she even left. The bastard had hurt her. He could see her face. And ultimately he knew he was the fault. Chloe nodded and smiled. Lucas reached up with his hand and caressed her soft face. "Have a good trip," he whispered as he kissed her on the cheek.
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Mac walked into Lex's office and watched as he threw water on his face and redid his tie. Coming out of the bathroom, he noticed her standing in the doorway and immediately started in. "Call Stanley Bryce and the Ron's and say there is an emergency meeting on the merger at 10. Call Tokyo and Singapore and have them stop construction on the projects there. Take the ticket for me and transfer it to the name of Lucas Luthor."
Mac watched as Lex threw proposals that had taken weeks to detail and build and threw them out. "Yes sir."
"Also, I need to see my father as soon as…"
"Lex!" Lucas called through the hallway and repeated as he walked into Lex's office. He looked around, briefly surprised by actually being in an office. Mac looked up and excused herself quickly, closing the door behind Lucas, who looked strangely dressed as if he belonged there.
"I've got a surprise for you," Lex stated as he rolled up his sleeves. He looked at Lucas and smiled. "I think you're going to like it." Lucas continued to approach Lex without changing his demeanor.
"Really? I got one for you too." Lex looked up from his sleeves just in time to see Lucas's fist connect with his chin. Falling back against the chair, he stared up at Lucas.
"What the hell?"
"I saw you do business for years and I thought there was a limit to how sick you could…how low you could…How could you Lex? How could you do what you did to me and to her? How could you go that far? What the hell gives you the right?"
Lex turned and dabbed the blood from his busted lip and stared at Lucas. "Habit." Lucas stared at him, ready to take the other side of his jaw. "Listen, I tried something and it didn't work. It backfired greatly. I mean it worked, but it didn't really work. I want you to go to Paris today with Chloe."
Lucas stared at Lex and shook his head confused. "What?"
"This whole thing was a business tactic that got out of hand. Lost my true focus and screwed up everything. Hurt you, hurt Chloe. I just want things to work themselves out now." Lex sat down at his desk and sucked on the remainder of the already swollen lip.
"I just don't want her to be alone. She loves you; she's always loved you. Go to Paris and be with her. Things will work out and she'll make you happy."
Lucas approached the desk and looked at the strange sadness in his brother's face. This wasn't about a business deal anymore. He thought he had seen it before in the parlor when they talked, but he hadn't realized the extent of Lex's feelings. The man actually did have feelings. "You'd blow a billion dollar deal for this?"
Turning in his chair, Lex waved him off and continued to stare out the window. Lucas watched his face grow bare and sad before he left the office. Closing the door behind him, he stood and met his eyes with the secretary and thought for a moment. "Mac, meet me in my office in five minutes." She nodded as he started off. "Where is my office?"