"Morning Mr. Fordman. You look sharp today," Mrs. Porter said as Whitney stepped out of the elevator.
"Thanks, Mrs. P," Whitney replied, making the middle aged woman blush. He continued to his office.
A few minutes after he settled into his chair, she bustled in with coffee and his schedule. "Just the way you like it," she said, plunking the mug carefully onto his desk. "You have a meeting with Mr. Gloss at eleven, with Mr. King at two and Mr. Heinrich at four. And the Daily Planet called. They want to do another story on you and the company."
He took a sip of coffee to wake himself up then asked, "Why don't they just ask Chloe to do it?"
"Too much bias," said a male voice from the doorway.
Mrs. Porter screamed and spun around. "Oh, Mr. Luthor, you scared the bejesus out of me!"
"Good morning Mrs. P.," he replied, a smirk on his face.
"Good morning Mr. Luthor," she said, a bit more subdued, and quickly exited.
"You just love to sneak up on people, don't you?" Whitney accused, standing up to shake his hand. "Good to see you Lex."
Lex took the offered hand, shrugging. "Everyone has to have at least one useless talent…" He moved over towards the window to watch the snow falling down onto Metropolis.
"Not that I'm not happy to see you, Lex, but what are you doing here?" Whitney asked, rifling through some notes on his desk for his meeting with Mr. Gloss.
Lex turned back towards the younger man. "What are you doing for the Christmas break?"
"Huh?" he stopped flipping through the notes to look up at Lex. "Uh, well, Chloe gets two weeks starting today so we were planning on going out of town but we can't decide where yet… why?"
"Cara wants to spend Christmas at the manor. She's planning a rather large Christmas party. We wondered if you and Chloe wanted to come." He flashed a smile and added, jokingly, "All expenses paid."
"Well, if you put it that way…" Whitney said, smiling and sitting down in his chair, swinging it back and forth. "I'd have to ask Chloe," he added, more seriously.
"Ah the real power behind the throne," Lex quipped, walking towards the door. "Let me know then…"
"And so he invited us to come along…" Whitney finished.
They were sitting at home on the couch eating lunch and discussing Lex's offer.
Chloe crunched into a carrot stick. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Well, for our company, of course."
"Whitney!" she cried. "Stop kidding around! This is serious!" She gave him a shove.
He grabbed her and dragged her across him. "I am being serious!" he called back, laughing and tickling her. "You know Lex would want us there if he has to see all of Cara's friends for Christmas…"
"Stop! Stop!" she said, gasping for breath. She lay back against his chest, feeling his strong heartbeat against her cheek. "Okay, good point but I don't know if I want to go back. I mean, that's my old life… what if I go back and everything that I wanted to forget came back?"
He stopped laughing and looked at her. "Chloe, the minute you step into Smallville, you're not going to change back from what you are now to what you were then. You'll still be Chloe Fordman, smart, funny, brilliant reporter. It won't change. Besides, you have to go back. If you don't face it, it'll control you for the rest of your life…"
She punched him in the chest. "When did you get so smart?"
"Since I married you. I had to in order to keep up…" he smiled again and kissed her.
She smiled against his lips. "Hmmm…"
He was about to reply when he beeper went off. "Hold that thought." Checking the beeper, he groaned and sat up, holding Chloe in his lap. "I have a meeting," he said apologetically. "I have to go."
She sighed and got up, taking their dishes into the kitchen. "Okay," she called. "When are you coming home tonight then?"
"Before seven?" he said, knowing that he didn't really know. He started for the door, grabbing his keys and putting on his shoes.
"I have my first day of vacation and my husband runs off to work. What is the world coming to?" she asked, coming back out and kissing him goodbye.
"Not much," he replied, adding, "Seven o'clock."
"Promise?" she asked, pouting.
"Promise." He kissed her then left.
"We can take a helicopter or a limo to the manor," Lex said. "It doesn't really matter to me either way."
"Helicopter," Cara said, taking a sip of her drink.
Chloe and Whitney looked at each other and said at the same time, "We'll rent a car."
Lex raised an eyebrow. "You can take the people out of Smallville but you can't take Smallville out of the people…" he said, smiling. "Don't want anyone to know that you're coming?"
"Something like that," Whitney said, squeezing Chloe's hand under the table.
Lex shrugged. "Okay." He turned to Cara. "We'll leave tomorrow at one in the helicopter then, okay darling?"
"Okay," she replied sweetly.
Chloe watched the two and wondered what Lex saw in the woman. She was almost an exact replica of his other 'girls', blond, well proportioned, perfect. She shrugged. 'I guess that's the point. Can't get too close…'
"Okay, so it's settled then," Lex said as she tuned back in. He signaled the waiter over. "We're ready to order."