"I'm so sorry, Mr. Luthor! I accept full responsibility for what happened at the lab. Give me another chance and I-"
"Give you another chance? Last night was a disaster! You're lucky all I'm doing is firing you after the mess you made. Now get off my property."
"But Mr. Luthor-"
"Leave while you still can. Anton, escort him out."
Anton, one of Lex's security guards, grabbed Dr. Fowler by the arm and led him out of the mansion. Once they had left the room, Lex walked over to his fireplace and screamed in frustration. A beautiful, red-haired young woman walked to Lex and tried to comfort him.
"Lex, don't let this one scientist's incompetence discourage you. You will find a way to perfect this cloning process. I know you will. You can do anything you put your mind to."
"You're right, Ms. Mercer. I can do this, because I'm not fooling around any more. I'm going straight to the best geneticist in the world. Get me Paul Westfield."
"Paul Westfield? He's the director of Cadmus Labs."
"I own Cadmus Labs. If I want him to do this, he will do it."
"Yes, sir. I'll get him started right away."
With that, Tess Mercer walked out of the room, eager to grant Lex's wishes. There was no one she respected more. She would do anything he asked of her.
Back at the Kent farm, Peter was having a rough time trying to accomplish the tasks Clark had asked him to do before he had left that morning. He was a city kid and had never been on a farm in his life. He was almost looking forward to starting his boring job of sorting mail at the Daily Planet. At least then he would get to see Chloe. Maybe she could answer his question of how Clark had gotten the lab as fast as he did.
Maybe Clark's a meteor freak, too. Or what if he's just like me. Even if he was, Chloe'd probably never tell me. She's fiercely loyal to her friends. And she's smart. And funny and caring and adorable. And…I need to shut up now.
As if to give him just the event to break up his thoughts, Chloe came pulling in.
"Hey, farm boy, thought I'd offer you a lift to your first day of work."
"Thanks, but I was planning on using my own method of transportation."
"When was the last time you actually rode in a car?"
"When I was trying to get my niece out of New York and escape my destiny of being an atomic bomb. Wow, I'm depressing to be around."
"It's okay. Changing subjects, where's Clark?"
"Not sure. He showed me how to do a few things around here and then took off without really saying where he was going. Is he always so cryptic?"
"Clark? Cryptic? No!"
They both shared a laugh.
"Get used to it. We've been best friends for years and even I don't know where he is half the time."
"Have you and Clark only ever been friends? I remember you saying you were going to the spring formal with him your freshman year, but you never really said anything else about it."
"That never really went anywhere. After the dance, he said he didn't want to ruin our friendship and, out of fear, I agreed. I expressed how I felt about him a few times after that, but alas, my love was unrequited. Gosh, now I'm sounding depressing."
"I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry."
"No, it's okay. It wasn't easy, but I'm over Clark now. I promise."
"Um, I'm gonna go take a shower. If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, I'd love to keep you company."
"Go. Shower away."
Peter went inside and put his shower on cold. Very cold.