Lucas Learns the Family Business – Chapter 10

Chloe sat and stared at the empty closet shelves that now adorned her wall. She felt like she had just unpacked her bags and now she was repacking them all over again. This time, she wouldn't be back. She glanced over in the doorway at her father. He was strangely distant but had a hint of a smile on his face.

"Dad, I'm so sorry that I caused all this. I never meant to get in the middle of a business deal. I didn't even know I was in the middle of it."

Gabe stood firm in his ground and smiled wider. "But you were always someone's center of attention around here." He took her hand and sat down with her on the side of the bed. "I remember when you were younger, the Luthors had a simple dinner party and your mother was cooking that night. You ran through the kitchen and knocked over a tray of appetizers that were about to go out. You mother tried to scold you, but you wanted to make it right. You went into our pantry, cut up Vienna Sausages and put them on Saltines and paraded around the formal living room in your Easter dress with them on a tray."

"I remember that. I never remember what my punishment was though." Chloe laughed at the small memory of Mrs. Luthor's then. She wasn't appalled, just shocked she remembered.

"Mrs. Luthor told us not to punish you because the sausage went over better than the patte." Gabe hugged her and handed her a envelope. "This is for some expenses."

Chloe didn't open the envelope but thanked her father. "You and mom were happy here, weren't you?"

"We were. I still am. We were the perfect compliment to each other in the house. But Mr. Luthor senior never closed the partition in the car between us. I may have had the chauffeur's salary, but I learned some things."

Chloe raised an eyebrow at her father, "What are you saying? You learned enough from the Luthors to make a million dollars?"

Gabe pulled her daughter into him and hugged her while chuckling, "No honey. A little over two million." Chloe pulled from her father and her mouth dropped. Ripping the envelope open, she saw the check in her name for one million dollars.

"Dad…"

"We always wanted to do this for you. We exceeded our expectations, but then again, you have always exceeded mine. Take it. There is more to be made and easily saved." Chloe ran her hand along the check with so many zeroes, still in awe of her father's listening in on the business. Her father was a smart man. Hugging him, she put the check into her bag and noted she would take care of it first thing.

************

"Look, I know what Lex's instructions were, but I'm giving you new instructions. There's been a change of plans," Lucas barked into the phone as he slid his feet of his desk. "I want…" Lucas paused as his office door flew open to reveal a somewhat irritated fiancée. "Just get started, I'll call you back."

Lucas stared at Helen as her hand flew up to her hip and her head cocked in mild irritation and amusement. She said nothing, but her face looked concerned. She knew about Lucas' antics with women before she got involved with him. Having him call her at the office and request her presence immediately sounded like the perfect way to end a relationship.

"Thanks for getting here so quickly," Lucas slowly spoke as Helen kept a nervous grip on the door handle. Lucas rounded the desk and walked over, kissing her gently on the cheek as she tried to pull away. Her heart was screaming that it was over. All the rumors had to be true. "Come in. I need to tell you a story. And I need for you to tell me how it's going to turn out."

Helen took his hand and sat down across from him in the overly stuffed chairs in the office and waited for Lucas to start. "There was this woman, Chloe, who lived at the mansion with her father…"

"Lucas," Helen stopped him mid-sentence. She wanted to hear one thing before he continued. "Do you still love me?"

Lucas moved over to the couch beside her and ran his hand down her face. She was scared, but he hadn't seen it before. He couldn't understand how a piece of plastic could twist a person's emotions out of whack. Business was a cruel world, and now he was knee deep into it. Running his hand through her hair, he kissed her neck, "Of course I still love you, and we're going to get married."

"And Chloe?"

"Let me finish." Helen kissed Lucas lightly on the lips and sat back more comfortable in the couch, holding his hand and listening to what Lucas had planned.

***********

The Ron's and the Bryce's stared at each other form across the small coffee table in the waiting area outside of Lex's office. "Honey, it's going to be ok," his wife kept repeating at Stanley continued to look over numbers that involved what other companies were offering for their little piece of hardware.

Stanley was sure that he would get up and walk out of the office and never look back as soon as he saw his daughter with even mist in her eyes. Sure, the deal was all business for the Luthor's; there was no heart there, but his daughter's happiness was at stake. Hearing the elevator ding, Stanley stood up and glared at Lionel.

"What the hell is the emergency?"

"I'm sure there is perfectly good explanation. We will just have to see," Lionel tried to calm Stanley's nerves as he followed Lionel into Lex's office.

"What the hell is going on? I thought we already had a deal about everything," Stanley started in as soon as he entered Lex's office.

Lex sat behind the desk and continued looking over several papers, motioning to the ones joining him in the office. "Have a seat," he ordered everyone as Mac entered after setting down an overnight bag behind her desk.

"What are we waiting for? And what's with the Bopsy twins here?" Stanley questioned as he pointed at the uptight lawyers that followed them in the room.

Lex got up from his chair and sauntered across the room, motioning for Mac to close the door and start the meeting. "Ok, we've known each other for a long time. We've played all kinds of hardball for years, but we have respect for each other in the business world. We saw the potential of this merger and I don't doubt that it would have been an incredibly successful venture."

Stanley turned and stared at Lex and then at Lionel. "Would have been?"

"The purpose of this meeting Stanley, is to inform you that my brother Lucas is…"

"Late as usual," Lucas smiled as he walked in with Helen's hand in his. Smiling at Stanley and Lex, "Sorry everyone."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Lex glared at Lucas and then noticed his hand in Helen's.

"Helen and I have decided to elope and cut the whole wedding shit. I think it would be easier…" Lucas smiled and kissed Helen on the cheek.

"Lucas, where's Chloe?" Lucas looked at his brother, whose face had drawn with concern.

"So are we merging or what?" Lucas continued ignoring Lex's comment, but heard Helen's mother asked who Chloe was, curious how another name had been left out of the equation for so long.

"You didn't go with her?" Lex raised his voice as he moved closer to Lucas.

"Well, obviously, that would be hard since I'm standing right here. She's probably having her beverage service right now."

"Who is?"

"Chloe, the chauffeur's daughter." Stanley interrupted his very confused wife. Rolling his eyes, he wondered what kind of performance the Luthors were putting on.

"Don't call her that," Lex interrupted as Helen started to explain to her mother what the situation was. Lucas eyed Lex as he pointed and angrily corrected Stanley. A smile broke across his face knowing that Lex was taken.

"She was after Lucas but then apparently switched to Lex after some scheming and now she's on a plane to Europe by herself. She decided that Lex was the one with the power, but left without either one of them." Helen looked and smiled in Lex's direction, seeing Lex still fuming from the whole charade in his office.

"IS that what he told you?" He barked back at Helen.

"He told me everything Lex." Helen smiled and then looked back at Lucas and grinned.

"And you didn't see her before she left? What the hell Lucas, she wanted you."

"Sure, I said goodbye and wished her luck." Lucas gazed over at Helen and then back at Lex. "I told her I was kind of ashamed to accept my brother's hand me down's and don't take it personally, and you've always been very generous to your women and that she would be more than compensated for … whatever," Lucas finished with a sly smirk as Helen grinned at Lionel.

**POP**

"See," Lucas pointed in the direction of Lionel, "I told you he loves her," he finished as he rubbed his chin where Lex popped him.

"Who?"

"Chloe," Stanley repeated and rolled his eyes. Lucas stood up and motioned to Mac to grab the other things outside the office.

"Is he packed?" Lucas asked.

"Is who packed?" Lex bitterly asked.

"One bag, just the essentials. Although there was the slight delight of touching your unmentionables. It was like touching the Shroud of Turin." Mac smiled as Lionel watched Lex's face change from angry to confused and angry again.

"Look, just sign this and we can discuss the details when you return. And this, for the raise of the new position I'm assuming," Lucas shoved the contract into Lex's hand along with a pen and waited. "Come on, your plane is waiting."

The rest of the room stared at Lex as Lucas rattled off the rest of details for his trip and was waiting for his signature. Lex glanced at Lionel, who comfortably sat back in the chair, crossing one leg on the other. He grinned at Lex, knowing that he would try to save face and not leave. "Lex, I love you and all the work for this company, but I think it's time you ran away from home."

Lex stood in the middle of the room and glanced at all the faces and then back at Lucas. His thoughts about Chloe flooded his system, remembering their kisses and her touch along his body, however slight. His body felt warm all of a sudden as he could feel her touch without her even in the room. A void that had been filled and then disappeared the day before.

Lucas slapped his brother slightly on the back, "Bro, you can dream about her on the plane. Sign them." Lex broke his concentration and looked at Lucas.

"She must absolutely hate me," Lex stammered.

"She'll get over it son, we all do." Lionel joked.

"You expect me to drop everything and just walk out on this?"

"Running would be better," Lucas interrupted as he handed Lex the pen.

Signing the documents, he handed them back to Lucas and tried to form words in front of the captivated group. "If you excuse me, I see I have a previous engagement." Lex whispered through the strange silence that fell on all the people in the room with happy grins on their faces.

Lex followed Mac out of the room and took his bag from her. "Good luck." Lex nodded and looked back at the closed doors as he heard Lucas start to prattle off details about the merger he never though his brother was paying attention to. Maybe things wouldn't fall apart while he was gone.

***********

Gabe sat and stared at his boss from the driver's seat as he watched Lex process how he was going to break the news to Chloe when he finally got there. "You don't deserve her."

"You're right." He whispered.

"If you hurt her again," Gabe started.

"There won't be an again." Lex mumbled, knowing her father was right to criticize him. "I need her or I don't need anything." Gabe looked back in the rearview mirror and sighed.

"You could walk there faster sir. You have three blocks to the helipad." Gabe stopped the car in the middle of the traffic and popped the trunk. Handing Lex his bag, he wouldn't let it go.

"I want to make her happy," Lex smiled as Gabe let go of the bag.

**********

"Miss Sullivan, your two o'clock is here." The secretary outside her small office at the international AP office announced. Chloe looked over her notes that she had been briefed on by her boss. It was supposedly an interview that would either make or break her career in international journalism. It was undoubtedly a test of her ambition since her boss had not given her any name to go with the questions.

She heard the door open and then shut as she gathered the few things together and started toward the chairs in the office. "Have a seat," she politely said.

Lex watched as she moved about the office with him undetected. She hadn't made eye contact. He wondered if the scam he had set up with her boss was up and she was playing him, trying to knife him for hurting her. Sitting down in the seat across from what he guessed was hers, he silently tried to put words together. "I heard about this little Indian restaurant from a friend that is really good in town."

Chloe stopped and dropped the file and paper in her hand on the table behind her desk. She breath hitched at his voice. She sat on a plane for hours next to his empty seat. Her chin quivered at his voice. Her hands shook but she couldn't turn around. She listened to the leather in the couch shift and her breathing became more pronounced as she gasped for air that seemed to disappear.

"I told your father I needed you, that I could make you happy." She heard to the voice closer to her and hitched another breath, grabbing the edge of the table behind her desk as the chair moved to the side. He was behind her. "I know you know I love you," he whispered in her ear as he ran his hands down her shoulders and arms.

Chloe closed her eyes, taking in his scent and the words he whispered so close to her ear. "I love you," she whispered at nothing but she choked at his continuous touch. "Lex," she gasped as she turned around and stared into his cool blue eyes. There was something different about them, like a pleading for her. Putting her arms around him, she buried her head in his chest as he ran his hand over her back and through her hair.

Pulling her out of his chest, he lowered his lips to hers, gently first caressing every indention on them with his own, carefully teasing them with his tongue until they parted. Sliding past hers, he closed his eyes and moaned as her quivering body clung tighter to his as they increased the kiss. Chloe Sullivan had saved him, and helped him repossess his heart.

THE END