The Editorials – Chapter 20

Chloe crawled out of bed and stared at the clock, 9:30. She glanced over and saw that Lana was still fast asleep. Chloe snuck around the room and got dressed. She picked up her bag and headed out the door.

Walking down the stairs, she suddenly felt dozens of eyes looking in her direction and whispering. She walked into the downstairs lounge and saw several girls sitting around watching the news reports from her and Lex's shopping escapades. They whispered and pointed in her direction. A couple of them giggled and another few shook their heads yes. Exiting the building, more women and a few men passed her and made comments, such as 'way to go.'

She was completely taken back by the sudden burst of attention. She wrote the article and of course garnered a few eyes but had never expected this much attention from a simple argument being splayed on live television. She actually was very surprised that Lex hadn't bought all the television stations just to keep them from airing it. What the heck is everyone's problem?

She walked up to the counter in the student union and ordered a coffee. The young woman that looked up gazed at Chloe and her eyes got bigger. She stammered through the repeating of the order and seemed flustered serving her. Mandy had served her for weeks now every morning. "Mandy, are you ok?"

"I'm fine. How are you?" Chloe examined the girl's quizzical look. Her asking wasn't as strange as the way she said it.

"You got a paper yet? You need to read the editorials." Mandy handed her the coffee and copy of the Daily Planet for Sunday. Chloe looked around at the other patrons and suddenly felt like she was being dissected. She folded the paper up and shoved it in her bag to the chagrin of the patrons. She nervously walked to the library, avoiding any more people if possible.

Lana woke up to the noise of banging on the door. She shuffled across the floor, glancing over to see Chloe had already split. "Clark, it's Sunday." He pushed past her and threw the paper down on the desk.

"Have you seen it?" He unfolded the paper and let Lana read the editorial that he circled. She just stared at him with same look as everyone else on campus.

Lex flipped through the pages of the editorials that either wished him luck in his new venture to asking for him to give his child up for adoption for the good of the child. He closed his eyes, trying to push out the thoughts in print. He had not exactly given the best impression yesterday and most of the comments were probably warranted after his embarrassing public spat.

He walked over and sat down on the busy blanket that Chloe had purchased for Julian. Lex had Julian dressed in a blue and red pant suit that had a picture of a train on it. It was simple and, in fact, something Chloe had picked out in her shopping trip. He hoped she would notice. It actually made perfect sense now. Julian could only wear it for another month anyway and while teething, he was messy. Why pay 200 dollars for something that is useless in three weeks. He nodded at the practicality of it all.

He spun the little car around that was attached to the play blanket as Julian tried to scoot across it. He lifted him up and sat him the bouncing seat and rocked him. Breathing a sigh of nervousness, he questioned Julian, "You think I'm crazy?" He waited but all Julian responded with was a small 'da' which Lex had convinced himself was the beginnings of the word, dad. "Yeah, that's about right – duh." Lex rocked Julian a little more before going back to work.

Jonathon and Martha had not expected Lex that early in the morning but Jonathon ventured he might be by early after reading the paper. Welcoming him into the hotel room, they sat together for a few minutes in silence. They went over pleasantries of the visit and on Julian's overnight stay. "Go ahead." Lex knew they were dying to ask.

"Are you sure about this?" Jonathon looked at Lex and then at Julian in his arms.

"Positive."

Martha wrapped her arms lightly around the two of them before Lex got up and started toward the door. "The service will be by to get the rest of his belongings later. The helicopter will take you back to Smallville at 2. You are welcome to stay until you are ready to leave – just leave the key in the room. Thank you for everything, everything." He reemphasized, knowing that he owed them more than he owed his own parents for hopefully a small chance of raising Julian in a normal family. When Jonathon closed the door, Martha gazed at Jonathon.

"You think she's going to be ok?"

"Actually, I would worry about him." Jonathon somewhat giggled and wrapped his arms around Martha.

Chloe went to the study carrels in the back of the library's top floor. 'Thank God no one is around.' She took the paper out and sipped on her coffee. Flipping directly to the editorial sections, she shook her head at the derogatory comments left by people that obviously didn't know anything about Lex. They called him callous, unfit, no better than his father. She knew that one would hurt when he saw it. She continued reading, and something caught her eye. At the bottom of one of the pages, an editorial to her. She had expected it since she wrote the article but was under the impression that Lex would probably garner the entire section's hatred and her's would be reserved for the paper later in the week.

To Miss Chloe Sullivan,

After reading your well written article on the surprising addition to the Luthor family, I have to say I am impressed in your ability to understand the feelings that Mr. Luthor is going through. Coming from a home that was not exactly stable, I understand his fears on parenthood in general mixed with his own experiences. I appreciated your candor and letting us as a viewing public get a little glimpse into the private Luthor interworkings.

As a reader, standing away from the situation, I have come to a better understanding of Mr. Luthor's hardships that are surprisingly similar in many aspects to the rest of us. Even if he believes he is, he really is not untouchable. He is human like the rest of us. Hopefully, with your and his close friends' help, Julian will live out the life that he should have with family and friends, and Mr. Luthor will finally find passion for something other than business. You seemed to have taken a giant first step in helping him to that goal. Money doesn't make the world go round; he still needs to learn that. Hopefully with your continued help, patience, and compassion, he will.

She flipped to the next page. She had never seen an editorial that was printed on two different sides of the page but assumed they were pressed for space. She thought about the man's perception of her and Lex. She never quite understood even after reading her own article how much she had put into it. It had been admittingly been a hack job at a puff piece to boost his PR and her career. She wasn't planning on it making the impact it had then she read the last line.

And perhaps someday he'll make his son proud and be a good enough man for you to marry.

Lex Luthor

Smallville, KS

THE END