A/N: Hello, Clexakru! This is my first official foray into Clexa fanfiction. I love these two :) Hope you enjoy!
This is my submission for Clexa Week Day 1: Enemies to Lovers. Please excuse my poor knowledge of public office and politics. Clearly, I am incapable of less than 5k.
(Also, it's 1am. Any mistakes are mine.)
Disclaimer: I do not own the 100 :(
PART 1
Clarke was ready and waiting for her boss in the boardroom. It was an important day for both of them. The budget had just been approved for the year and they had a big project that they had been working on for the better part of a half a year. She was beyond excited to get a start on making their dream a reality.
"Morning, Clarke."
"Good morning, Mr. Kane," Clarke replied with a smile.
Marcus Kane rolled his eyes. "At what point are you going to remember that I've known you since you were in diapers?"
Clarke chuckled. "While you and my parents may go way back, I am still your employee and it's important that my colleagues can see that I'm here because of my own hard work, not because of who I am."
Marcus frowned. "I am sure that no one here thinks that, Clarke. You have proven yourself over the last three years. Even if I had hired you because of our familial connection, you would still be here on your own merit."
Not everyone seems to think so, Clarke thought ruefully, starting a doodle of the planets.
The duo were silent for a moment as Clarke waited for her boss to get himself ready.
"If anyone is giving you trouble, Clarke-"
"No, no, that's not what I meant by that comment, Mr. Kane. Honestly, it wasn't." Liar. "I've just seen how Wells gets treated in the media and it's horrible."
"Yes, it is unfortunate that his name isn't as respected as it once was."
Clarke huffed. "Hardly his fault that his dad's a douche."
Marcus looked bemused. "A douche that you are going to need to sign off on the relocation of Polis."
"Don't remind me," Clarke groaned. She couldn't help but grin, though. "I can't believe that we actually got funding for this."
"Are you really?" Marcus sat down at the head of the table and smiled. "Your never-say-die attitude convinced the mayor that this project is going to benefit the city for years to come."
"Decades," Clarke corrected. "And it will. If we do it right, Polis will become a beacon of hope for those who have lost their way."
Marcus nodded his approval and his smile widened at someone entering the room. "Ah, Lexa. Glad you could make it."
Clarke froze, grimacing internally. Of all the people…
"Good morning, Mr. Kane," the newcomer greeted quietly. "How can I be of assistance today?"
"I swear, between the two of you, I feel more like a Chancellor than a social worker." Marcus laughed. "Clarke, you know Lexa, right?"
The blonde forced a tight smile onto her face and glanced briefly at the woman standing on the other side of the table. "We've met."
Lexa had the same air of disinterest that she seemed to permanently walk around with. It boiled Clarke's blood that she thought she was so much better than everyone else.
"Right, now that I have you two present, we can get started."
Wait, what?
"I'm not sure I understand, Mr. Kane," Lexa queried.
"For the past six months, Clarke and I, along with some other advisors, have been looking to relocate Polis. I know that you are familiar with the centre and its surrounds. We have received sufficient funding from the mayor's office and need to go through all the legalities of bringing this project to fruition."
"That sounds wonderful, Mr. Kane, a truly noble cause," Lexa commented and it sounded to Clarke like her voice was strained. Interesting. "I'm afraid I do not understand how I could be of service."
"Well, I had hoped with your personal attachment to Polis, you may offer invaluable insight into how best to achieve our goals."
Aw, shit.
"Uh, if you think that it is best, I shall endeavour to do my best, Mr. Kane."
Marcus clapped his hands joyfully, startling Clarke. "Excellent. I'll leave you to it."
"Mr. Kane, I can handle this myself," Clarke began, trying to desperately regain control of her project. "My other work will not suffer because of this project."
"Oh, I have no doubt," Marcus replied with a wink. "This is, however, a very prominent project. The chances are that this will get some media attention – preferably more favourable attention than what Wells is being subjected to – and if we didn't utilise Lexa's knowledge, we would be doing ourselves and this project a huge disservice."
What the hell does Lexa Woods know about Polis? Clarke fumed silently. She'd be damned if Commander Lexa was going to swoop in and take credit for all her hard work. The project was all her. Lexa had done nothing and Marcus was giving her praise for something she hadn't even done?
"Perhaps we should rethink this, Mr. Kane," Lexa offered. "I am not familiar with this project at all and if Clarke needs help with it-" Fuck her. Fucking fuck her. "-then I am certain there are colleagues more suited to this task than myself."
What a bitch.
"I want the two of you pioneering this," Marcus said, his usual jovial disposition becoming serious. "You both have grown up in this town and you know how it works. You both have a lot to bring to the table on this and I want it done right."
Fuck my life.
"Understood, Mr. Kane," Lexa said, and Clarke could tell she was annoyed.
"Clarke?" He looked at her expectantly.
The blonde sighed. "We'll send you weekly updates."
"Good. You have exclusive use of this room for as long as you need it."
"Thank you," the women chorused before their boss walked out of the door.
For a few moments, there was an icy silence in the room.
"So, how do you want to do this?"
Lexa Woods could not think of anything worse than being forced to spend days upon days working with Clarke Griffin. It was bad enough that they hadn't been able to escape each other in middle school, high school, even college. By some cruel twist of fate, they'd even landed up in public office together.
Fate really hates me.
Granted, they did live in a small town where it was fairly difficult to escape people. Everyone pretty much knew everyone.
Why, oh why did I not take that job in Chicago? Lexa chided herself as she walked to her own office to grab what she would need for what was certain to be a Monday from hell. It had been the offer of a lifetime, and Lexa had turned it down. Her sister had been pretty pissed, but once she'd heard Lexa's reasoning, Anya relaxed and had simply told her how proud she was.
On tougher days, Lexa remembered those words and repeated them in her mind, willing her sister's strong spirit to encourage her to keep going.
Working in public office wasn't an easy job. It certainly wasn't easy for Lexa, who had seen the worst side of what happened in a failing system. Her difficult childhood had driven her to prove that she could create her own destiny, that she wasn't shackled by the community she lived in.
She'd risen above it all.
And yet she'd remained, fighting for kids just like her, so that they would never have to experience the horrors that she had been subjected to.
Taking a deep breath, Lexa gathered what she was going to need – even though she didn't really know what her role was meant to be – and took a quiet moment to regain composure. Working with Clarke Griffin was certainly going to test her patience.
She'd been testing Lexa's patience since middle school.
Princess Clarke.
Lexa scoffed. The Griffins were pretty much royalty in their small town. Well off, gorgeous and ridiculously intelligent, the Griffins had everything that anyone could possibly want – and they knew it.
They flaunted their high society lifestyles around town, throwing lavish parties and making a big show of holding fundraisers and galas to help the poorer areas.
What a joke.
Her community had never seen a cent of that money. The few people that knew what was going on higher up had said that no one had even smelled the profits of those events. They had no idea where the money was.
Abby Griffin had acted so surprised and aghast when Lexa's sister finally cracked it. Anya had confronted them about funnelling the money back into Jake Griffin's company – the same company who had hosted the fundraiser, while taking a nice percentage of the tax break with it.
Lexa knew better. And she knew that the Griffins had done something to make Anya suddenly want to leave town. One minute she was there, the next, gone.
Clarke was just as bad as her parents. She was all talk, using her name to get what she wanted, and she knew nothing about living a hard life.
I'm curious as to who did the work for this project, Lexa mused as she reluctantly headed back to the boardroom. Was it Raven? Maybe Emori or even Lincoln?
She guessed that Lincoln probably had done most of it. He was so inherently good like that. He couldn't turn anyone away.
Of course, it didn't help that his fiancée's best friend was one Clarke Griffin.
It was going to be one hell of a week.
Clarke could hear Lexa enter the boardroom once more, but she was too focused on getting her work space sorted out. She was writing up a checklist on a white board, glancing back down to her notes every now and then. Once that was done, she tacked up a map of the town on another board. She picked up her red marker and started making little circles over potential sites for the new centre.
"You can't go anywhere on the south side," she heard Lexa say.
The grip on her white board marker tightened. "And why not?"
"South of the river is gang territory. All of it. Not only will you never get any construction company to build anything there, it's the most unsafe place in the entire town."
Clarke spun around, seething. "Let's get something very clear, Woods. I have worked my ass off to get the budget for this project, and your holier-than-thou attitude is not going to stop me from getting this done."
Lexa's brow arched. "You worked your ass off?" She scoffed. "That'll be the day."
"Why are you like this?" Clarke asked in exasperation. "I don't know what you have against me or my family, but it's ridiculous."
"Oh, please. All you need to do is whisper your last name and everything lands at your feet," Lexa snapped.
"That's not-"
"You have no right to be interfering with Polis."
That got Clarke's temper rising. "And why not? Is it exclusive to you?"
"No, of course not. But you have no idea what it's like in that part of town."
"And how do you know that?"
Lexa's eyes narrowed. "Have you lived there?"
"No, I-"
"Have you spent an afternoon in the park?"
"No."
"Have you ever walked home from school and hoped that you wouldn't hear a gunfight? Or that you wouldn't get home to find your house totally ransacked?"
Clarke blinked. "What?"
The brunette on the other side of the room just shook her head. "You say I'm holier-than-thou? You have no idea what real life is like, living up in your golden tower, Clarke Griffin. Whoever did all the leg work on this project deserves a lot of praise, but they should be the ones in this room, not you." She pointed a long finger towards Clarke. "Not you."
"You have a lot of nerve coming in here and tearing apart my hard work," Clarke said in a low, dangerous tone. "Believe it or not, I actually do care about this town – all of it. You cannot hate me or blame me for how I was raised."
"And yet that courtesy never extended to me."
"Jesus, Lexa, we barely spoke in school. What the hell gives you the right to judge me like this?"
"You think that this is about school? This has nothing to do with school, Clarke. And the fact that you think that just shows that you really have no clue."
Clarke didn't know whether to scream or cry. Lexa Woods just completely frustrated her. She fell into the closest chair and rubbed her hand over her face. She definitely hadn't expected her Monday morning to be so damn…volatile.
Regardless of the history that she had with Lexa, which wasn't much, even though they had known each other for a good ten years, Polis was too important to her. She couldn't let her personal feelings get in the way of doing things right.
She owed it to her father, and she owed it to Aden.
Clarke swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and stood up again. "Look, I know that we haven't ever really seen eye to eye." Her voice came out a little strangled and she tried to clear it quietly. "Whether you want to believe it or not, this project is my number one priority. I have done every bit of research and made thousands of phone calls to get us to where we are now. I don't really care if you hate me, whatever your reasons may be, but for the sake of professionalism, could we act like two adults during this process? Please?"
She didn't really care if she came off as slightly begging. The project was so important that she was willing to set aside a long-standing feud with a girl that she had sort of known for a while.
Lexa looked at her, expression carefully blank. Finally, after what felt like hours, she spoke, "Very well, Clarke. You have your alliance." She lifted her chin. "For the duration of this project, we will be equals and you will consult me on everything. If you think that this project is important to you, it pales in comparison to what it would mean for me and the people that I know as family."
Trying to hide her surprise at Lexa's powerful words, she simply nodded. "Truce?" she asked, holding her hand out to the brunette.
Once again, Lexa studied her before reaching across the table and shaking her hand in a firm grip. "For now."
It didn't take long for Clarke to bring Lexa up to speed on everything that the project entailed. As Marcus had hinted, Lexa had a very good knowledge of Polis, its surrounding areas and even the families in the area. Clarke was finding the information very useful.
Their first week flew by in a blur of creating a plan of action. Lexa turned out to be a master strategist, something that didn't actually surprise Clarke. She remembered how a young Lexa had dominated the debates in high school. She'd won the race for Student Body President by a very large margin. That admiration hadn't lasted very long, when Lexa had made a not-so-subtle remark about the Princess of the school and her white carriage. Clarke loved her Range Rover, and she knew it was a gas guzzler and ridiculously bad for the environment, but she felt safe in it. Still, Lexa's comments had sparked some nasty comments about her car and had led to some vandalism.
"Clarke, are you listening?"
"Hmmm?" She snapped back to the present. "Sorry."
Lexa glanced at her watch. "Let's just get the diary organised for next week and then we can call it a day."
"Sure thing." She focused on the task at hand and half an hour later, the two women were getting ready to leave.
"Hey, do you want to grab a drink with some of us?" Clarke asked as Lexa pulled the boardroom door closed behind them.
Lexa wrinkled her nose. "Some of us?"
Clarke struggled not to roll her eyes. "Yes, us. Work people. From the building. We grab a drink at Dropship before heading home."
"I appreciate the invitation, but I still have work to do." Lexa continued towards her office instead of turning towards the elevators.
Clarke could only gape in disbelief. Lexa Woods was an infuriating mystery.
Lexa arrived at work the next Monday morning, complete with two coffees. She greeted her colleagues with a polite smile and headed for the boardroom. She wasn't surprised to see Clarke already there, going through some files, her brow furrowed adorably.
Wait.
What?
WHAT?
Lexa physically shook her head to get rid of the thought. There was absolutely nothing adorable about Clarke Griffin. Nothing.
Nope.
Nothing.
"Morning, Lexa," Clarke greeted with a small smile. "How was your weekend?"
"Uh, fine. It was fine," Lexa replied, handing the blonde a cup of coffee. "Um, yours?"
Pleasantries? Really? Ugh. How mundane.
"It was good, thanks." She lifted the coffee. "And thank you for this. The coffee machine in the cafeteria is really crap. Almost as bad as hospital coffee." She took a sip and hummed in satisfaction. "There's nothing worse than hospital coffee."
"How would you know?" Lexa asked before her brain could stop herself.
Clarke glanced up at her. "My mom worked a lot of night shifts after my dad died. I would go and keep her company on her rounds a few times a week if I didn't have too much homework. I think we both just needed to be around each other."
Lexa, like the rest of the town, had heard the news of Jake Griffin dying. For her, it hadn't been that big a deal. She did remember how distant Clarke had been from everyone, though. It wasn't difficult to notice the most popular girl in school suddenly all but disappear.
"I, uh, I'm sorry, Clarke. About your father," Lexa said quietly. What the hell was she doing? "We never really spoke in school, but I am, uh, sorry."
Lame. So fucking lame.
"Thank you, Lexa. That means a lot," Clarke murmured, twirling the pencil in her hand. "Um, are your parents still around?"
That question was enough to straighten Lexa's spine and remind her of her boundaries. "No," she stated simply.
Clarke seemed to read the finality in her tone and dropped the subject. They spent the morning prepping their presentation to Polis, which they were due to give the next day. After a short lunch break, Lexa couldn't help but smile a little when she returned from a bathroom break to find a fresh cup of coffee from the café on the corner waiting for her.
The presentation went better than Clarke could have expected. She and Lexa had deviated from their original plan of her taking point. Once Lexa started speaking, Clarke had been mesmerised and a small nod had encouraged Lexa to continue with the entire thing. Indra, the centre director, had also been very impressed. She offered some suggestions, which Clarke and Lexa were happy to take on board. Artigas, Indra's son, offered to take Clarke on a tour and she didn't have the heart to tell him that she had already been to the centre many times. It did offer a new perspective, seeing Polis through the eyes of a teenager.
Through the experience of a teenager.
It gave Clarke some things to mull over. She asked Artigas about what he felt the centre needed to make kids and adults want to go there.
After a really good talk with the teenager and armed with a memo on her phone full of ideas, Clarke headed back to Indra's office. She slowed her walking and leaned against the wall outside the office as raised voices were heard.
"You can't just turn your back on them, Lexa."
"I have not!"
"This is the first time that I have seen you in months. How do you think they feel?"
There was a moment of silence. "I am trying to make things better for them, Indra."
A sigh. "You haven't learned, have you? You can't take on the weight of the world, Lexa."
"I'm not," she protested. "They just deserve better."
"Better than you?"
"Better than what I had."
"Never in all my years have I seen someone shine as brightly as you do, Lexa Woods. I just wish you would let yourself see that."
"I think you may be going senile."
Clarke couldn't help but smile at the teasing tone in Lexa's voice.
"Careful. I can still take you."
"I don't believe I will test that theory."
"Wise decision, child. Now, I expect you back here on Saturday."
There was a long pause and Clarke could only picture Lexa wringing her hands. She had a bad habit of doing that when she was thinking hard about something.
Wait, what?
Clarke shook her head. Where had that come from.
"I'll be here," Lexa said quietly.
"Good. Bring Costia."
"Uh, she and I…"
"Oh?"
Silence again. Clarke found her curiosity spiking. Who was Costia? And who was she to Lexa?
Who cares? You don't, remember.
Right. She didn't care. She could barely stand Lexa, after all.
Right…
Clarke tapped her foot restlessly. Normally, she relished her relaxing Saturday mornings. Her mother took Aden out for breakfast every Saturday morning, allowing Clarke some much needed alone time.
Only, she wasn't relaxed.
She wanted to know what Lexa was doing at Polis.
Why?
Exactly. Why the hell did she want to know? It didn't matter.
After another hour of pretending that she didn't care, Clarke pulled on some jeans and a hoodie over her sweatshirt and walked out of the house. She texted her mom about the change of plans and climbed into Chariot. She had taken to calling it that after the vandalism had been fixed. Some days, Clarke appreciated the sardonic humour behind Lexa's comment.
But only some days.
Clarke found herself getting nervous as she approached Polis. Would Lexa be mad? Things had been kind of fine between them for the remainder of the week. They'd scouted three more locations and discussed the possibilities of each with the mayor and head of Parks and Rec. Lexa had even told Clarke to enjoy her drink before they'd parted ways the previous day.
She pulled into the small parking lot, immediately noticing the dirty looks being thrown her way as she climbed out of Chariot.
Hoo boy.
"Clarke!"
She glanced at the entrance and smiled at the excited look on Artigas' face.
"Hey, Art," she greeted. "How are you?"
"I'm great! Lexa's back today too!"
"Oh, really?" Clarke feigned surprise. "What a coincidence."
Artigas didn't waste time pulling Clarke through the building. She glanced around, smiling as they passed room after room that had something going on. Polis was buzzing with activity and Clarke couldn't wait to grow it even more.
"This is the art room. Lexa said that you're a really good drawer," Artigas said, his smile big.
"Lexa said that?" Clarke asked, her voice a little high.
Artigas nodded. He pulled her into the small room and Clarke had to smile at the familiar smell of paint. Supplies were stacked against every wall possible to have enough space for desks that were nowhere near big enough for an art room.
"Clarke?"
She turned to the entrance and smiled in confusion. "Lincoln?"
"What are you doing here?" he chuckled in amusement, giving her a brief hug.
"Oh, I was bored at home and thought I'd see what this place looks like on the weekends," Clarke half-fibbed.
"Pretty different, huh?" Lincoln murmured, looking around the room.
"Linc, are we gonna paint today?" Artigas asked.
"Yeah, we might be able to," Lincoln replied, glancing at the supplies. "We'll have to see what we have, Art."
That sentence just about broke Clarke's heart. For years, she had taken for granted the fact that she had everything at her disposal, even something as miniscule (in her world) as art supplies. Polis was a place for kids and adults to feel safe and to partake in activities that would make them valuable to society. They could learn new skills and really feel like part of a community.
"Clarke, are you okay?" Lincoln asked, his brow furrowed.
The blonde wiped her eyes, realising that she had unwittingly started crying. "Um, yeah. I'm fine. I just…I'm realising how easy I had it."
Lincoln smiled softly and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Most of the kids that come through these doors have had a tough life. People like you are helping to change that."
"Thanks, Linc," Clarke sniffled.
A sharp whistle pierced the air and a loud cheer erupted. Artigas whooped in delight and dashed out of the art room. Lincoln chuckled while Clarke was just utterly confused.
"Come on. I'll show you the real reason this place is so full on a Saturday."
Clarke followed Lincoln, eager to see what lay ahead. She congratulated herself on a good decision to visit Polis that morning.
She stepped outside and her mouth dropped open.
Quite possibly one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Oh, shut up.
Lexa Woods, dressed in camo pants and a black tank top, was walking in front of a long line of children, all standing to attention.
"Good morning, troops.!" She heard Lexa call out.
"Good morning, Commander."
So that's where the nickname comes from.
"It has been a while. I expect you all are weak once more."
Clarke's eyebrows lifted. Harsh.
"No, Commander!" twenty-odd kids shouted back.
"We shall see."
Lexa stood to one side and led the kids through some hardcore drills that made Clarke tired even just watching them. Lexa pushed them hard, no matter how old they were and Clarke had to admire their resilience. When a kid did fall back or stumble, Lexa was quick to kneel next to them and whisper some words into their ear. Within a few moments, they were back up and doing the drills with a renewed energy.
Clarke looked around and saw adults – parents, she assumed – all watching the exercise with smiles on their faces.
This is something really special, she determined. People here look up to her. They respect her.
Clarke found herself wondering if she had ever really bothered to find out who Lexa Woods was.
After ten minutes of commanding her little troops, Lexa had realised how much she missed them. She missed picking them up when they faltered, she missed seeing the determined looks on their faces, and she missed the incredible sense of pride that flowed through her. Indra was right. It had been far too long.
"Relay teams!" she barked.
Within twenty seconds, five teams were set up.
"Flagpole and back, full sprint." She held the whistle to her lips and blew.
The crowd around them started cheering and it made Lexa smile. She glanced at the parents and one familiar pair of blue eyes caused the smile on her face to freeze.
Fuck.
What the hell was Clarke doing there? She wasn't meant to find out how deeply Lexa's personal connection to Polis went. During their two weeks working together, Lexa had successfully managed to deflect any questioning headed down that line.
Jaw clenched, Lexa straightened her back and awaited the outcomes of the relay team. She continued through the drills as she would normally, pushing the older kids to be that much better.
She never taught them how to fight, or combat of any kind. It was all core strength training, building fitness and stamina. She figured that was why the parents allowed their kids to partake, even the younger ones.
As she set the kids off for their next relay, she subtly glanced to where she'd seen Clarke before and wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed that the blonde was gone.
Clarke worried her bottom lip as she awaited Lexa's arrival on Monday morning. She wasn't sure if she was going to get the angry Lexa she'd become used to for so many years, or the passionate and strong Lexa that she'd come to know over the last few weeks.
As soon as Lexa had spotted her in the crowd, her reaction had prompted Clarke's quick departure. That look had told Clarke a lot. She had encroached on Lexa's space. Polis was Lexa's domain, her stronghold. Clarke was an outsider and maybe not as welcome as she had initially thought.
What she had seen on Saturday had given her some really good ideas for the design of the new building. She just hoped that Lexa would be willing to hear them.
Familiar heels clicked down the hallway and Clarke held her breath. She was too worried to realise that she had memorised the way Lexa walked.
"Good morning, Clarke," Lexa greeted as she walked in. She handed Clarke a cup of coffee.
"Uh, m-morning. Good morning, Lexa." Jesus, get it together.
"Is everything alright?" the brunette enquired.
Clarke frowned. "Yeah, I guess."
"If you are uncertain about that, perhaps something is the matter?"
"Maybe. I, uh, I just want to make sure that we're okay."
Lexa looked up at that. "What does that mean?"
"Well, you obviously have a lot of history with Polis and that's awesome. I mean, not because of the fact that you had to go there – not that it's bad to go there, obviously." Clarke cringed. "It was clear to me that people respect you there. Not only at Polis, but in the community. That's something special, Lexa."
Clarke kept a careful eye on her colleague. Lexa swallowed hard and nodded sharply.
"Polis is special."
"You make it special, Lexa."
She scoffed and sat down. "I'm no one special."
"Your accomplishments would state otherwise."
"Are you saying that my strength of character is based on what I have achieved in my life?"
What?
"I didn't say that, Lexa."
"Then say what you mean, Clarke."
Where the hell is this coming from? Maybe she actually is mad.
"I'm trying to! It's clear that Polis is important to you, but you are just as important to Polis, if not more so. I wanted to apologise for overstepping. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable in any way on Saturday."
"Do not flatter yourself by thinking that your presence affected me whatsoever."
Don't rise, don't rise.
"Okay, fine. Noted."
"Good."
"Good."
Clarke rolled her eyes to herself and stared hard at her laptop screen, adding in the ideas that she had come up with over the weekend.
"What are you doing?"
Clarke tried to ignore the accusatory tone accompanying the question. "I thought up some expansions to the creative block for the new design."
"We don't have the budget for expansions, Clarke."
"I know that. I'm going to talk to my mother and see if she can-"
"If she can what? Finally give up the money that she owes Polis? Masquerade theft as charity?" Lexa spat out.
Whoa.
Don't rise, don't-
Fuck that shit.
"What the hell did you just say?" Clarke asked, barely keeping her anger at bay.
"Use some of that stolen money to go and see an audiologist," Lexa replied with a smirk.
Nope. Nope. This bitch is going down.
Clarke stood up. "Explain what you mean instead of vaguely insulting me and then pretending that I'm the idiot when I have no idea what you're talking about!"
Lexa rose out of her chair too. "Tell me, Clarke, were you coached on your acting ability? Because I have to say, the lost and confused look is quite convincing."
"Lexa, for fuck's sake, will you please just tell me what you're talking about?"
Lexa laughed in disbelief. "Wow. You're going to actually stand there and pretend that you know nothing about the two million dollars that was meant for Polis but somehow vanished into your father's company?"
Clarke bristled. "Never insinuate that my father was a thief. He was the most generous man I have ever known."
"And exactly what counts as generosity to a princess? A white Range Rover instead of a green one?"
She knew Lexa was trying to get a rise out of her. In the short time they had worked together, Clarke had developed a strong will against doing that. As a result, their work on the project had flourished.
That could all be going to hell, though…
"What two million dollars are you talking about?"
"Stop playing dumb, Clarke. It's an insult to both if us because you're not actually stupid."
Deep breath. "Lexa, what two million dollars are you talking about?" She tried again.
Lexa almost growled. "I'm talking about the two million dollars supposedly raised by your father's company four years ago at a fundraiser. I'm talking about the whereabouts of that two million dollars. It was meant to go to Polis, but instead found its way into your father's company's bank account!"
"What?" Clarke whispered. "That… How…"
"You Griffins are not infallible," Lexa sneered. "My sister found out about your secrets and exposed you. Instead of admitting to it, you just blamed it on an accounting error and forced my sister's boss to have her transferred to another state!"
Clarke's head was spinning and she fell back in her chair. What the hell was happening? Four years ago? She didn't remember any fundraiser four-
Oh.
Fuck.
"Wow. Speechless. Can't say I'm surprised. Did you think that I would just forget about it, Clarke? Polis was my home and that money could have made a real difference."
"Lexa, I don't…" Clarke couldn't even finish her sentence. She honestly couldn't think of what to think, let alone say.
She knew someone who would know. Rising so far out of her chair that she almost lost her balance, Clarke made a beeline for her boss' office. She was going to get some damn answers.
A/N: Halfway-ish mark. Mostly because I have work in the morning and I can't write anymore…
Hope to post the conclusion tomorrow, as well as Day 2 :)
-H