Chapter 7: Lionel the bastard
There was a pregnant pause, the gentle hum of the refrigerator seemed deafening in the silence. They all stood in a quiet triangle, each of them looking at different things. Lionel glanced from Chloe to Lex, smirking. He had a similar smile to Lex's, but there was no humour behind it, just icy amusement, daring anyone with a salary below six digits to approach him, and if they did, he would squash them like an insignificant insect.
Lex kept a hard gaze on his father. Half of him wanted to thank Lionel for stopping things before it got out of hand, but the other slightly larger half wanted to cause him serious bodily harm for the interruption.
Chloe looked at neither of them, she had a sudden and overwhelming fascination with the black and white hexagonal floor tiles below her feet. She had never felt so embarrassed in her life, Lionel Luthor aka her dad's boss aka most powerful man in Smallville aka Lex's dad had seen her and his son in one of the earlier stages of foreplay. She prayed that the lord create a hole in the ground so she could crawl into it and die. Stupid god. He never listens to anything.
"Skip your attempts at humour father, it grows tiresome after awhile" Lex said calmly. Chloe couldn't believe how relaxed he sounded, she envied how easily he could mask his real emotions, even his eyes gave nothing away. Not that Chloe was complaining, of course.
"Who is your little friend?" Chloe noticed how he put the emphasis on 'little' and glanced up for a fraction of a second. His smirk had grown in such a way that his teeth were bared and his features had more of the characteristics of a tiger about to pounce on it's unsuspecting prey than a human being. Chloe felt cold just knowing he was looking at her.
"Nobody, father" he replied, adopting a bored stance to match his facial expression.
"She looks familiar. Do I know you?" he said seriously, directing his question to Chloe. She gulped.
"I-I-" she still didn't shift her gaze from the floor, Lex stepped in and put his hand on the small of her back.
"She's nobody father" he repeated, steering her towards the door and around Lionel "Get over it"
Chloe grinned, coming up with an idea "Nobody?" she shrieked, trying hard to sound hurt "After what we did together? After all we've been through?" she covered her face to hide her laughter, but to the two onlookers it seemed like she was crying her eyes out. Lionel looked at her with cool collectiveness, obviously used to witnessing this scene between his son and his previous partners.
Lex was stunned for a few moments before catching on, and he put on his own charade for his father's benefit "Come on baby..."
"Don't call me baby!" she sobbed, moving towards the door
"Honey, you're not a nobody-" he tried his best to pretend like he was really sorry, but Chloe cut him off.
"It's him, isn't it?" she said, covering her face again as fresh streams of laughter threatened to blow their performance.
"Who?" Lex asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Clark Kent! I knew there was something going on between you-" it was Lex's turn to cut her off, a little annoyed at her emotional outburst.
"Honey" he said more icily than before "There is nothing going on between me and Clark K-" she held up her hand to silence his pleading of innocence.
"Don't say another word" she sobbed quietly, running out the door.
Lex stared at the slammed door for a moment, as if trying to comprehend that his 'baby' was gone. Lionel approached him, clapping his well manicured hand on his son's shoulder. Lex flinched at the unwelcomed contact, but didn't attempt to move it.
"It's all for the best son" he nodded sagely, causing Lex to almost laugh out loud but restrained himself.
"As if you know what's for the best, father" he said bitterly, shrugging off his father's hand.
"Of course I do son, surely you've figured that out by now?" Lex noticed how his emotionless grin never changed, despite his tone.
"I have yet to be proven so" he moved towards his office, intending to finish the conversation at that. But Lionel followed, unperturbed.
"You know I'm always right, son" he said angrily "You're a fool Lex, wasting your time with trash scraped off the streets. You can't them or yourself get emotionally attached"
"Love is a weakness, right?" Lex snapped, picking up the brandy decanter. Lionel snatched it off him and slammed it back on table.
"Precisely. And the sooner you wise up the sooner I can trust you again" he wandered over to the table and wiped some imaginary dust off with his bony forefinger "I can't deny men need to satisfy certain...urges" Lex tried not imagine his father satisfying these urges, it was all to disgusting to think about. Lex shuddered "But don't try satisfy it with some nickel-and- dime yokel"
Lex found himself getting a little offended on Chloe's behalf, she wasn't terrible looking and her breasts weren't that bad either. In fact, now he thought about it, Chloe was, in lack of a better word, hot. She had this up- front fieriness that attracted you, and then an alluring naivété that reeled you in the rest of the way. She matched his wit and kept him guessing, he liked that in a woman. Sadly many of the women he dated, or 'monthly bimbos' as Chloe christened them, were too afraid to show or just didn't have that extra spice that he craved.
"Father, you have no idea what flavours I prefer" he said, rubbing salt in the wound "So, for once, trust your instincts and stay out of it" Lionel looked ready to explode
"Grow up Lex, you aren't a little child any more"
"Then stop treating me like one" Lex replied through his teeth
"It's probably best your mother isn't alive to see you acting like this, Lex, no doubt she would be as disappointed in you as I am now" Lex's expression hardened but he didn't trust himself enough to say anything "And for god sakes" Lionel said disgustedly, walking to the door "Fuck some one a little closer to your age , next time, I've had enough with the scandal that seems to be permanently attached to your backside" and with that, he left, leaving Lex imagining his father in a momentous amount of pain, pain that he himself was causing.
There was a pregnant pause, the gentle hum of the refrigerator seemed deafening in the silence. They all stood in a quiet triangle, each of them looking at different things. Lionel glanced from Chloe to Lex, smirking. He had a similar smile to Lex's, but there was no humour behind it, just icy amusement, daring anyone with a salary below six digits to approach him, and if they did, he would squash them like an insignificant insect.
Lex kept a hard gaze on his father. Half of him wanted to thank Lionel for stopping things before it got out of hand, but the other slightly larger half wanted to cause him serious bodily harm for the interruption.
Chloe looked at neither of them, she had a sudden and overwhelming fascination with the black and white hexagonal floor tiles below her feet. She had never felt so embarrassed in her life, Lionel Luthor aka her dad's boss aka most powerful man in Smallville aka Lex's dad had seen her and his son in one of the earlier stages of foreplay. She prayed that the lord create a hole in the ground so she could crawl into it and die. Stupid god. He never listens to anything.
"Skip your attempts at humour father, it grows tiresome after awhile" Lex said calmly. Chloe couldn't believe how relaxed he sounded, she envied how easily he could mask his real emotions, even his eyes gave nothing away. Not that Chloe was complaining, of course.
"Who is your little friend?" Chloe noticed how he put the emphasis on 'little' and glanced up for a fraction of a second. His smirk had grown in such a way that his teeth were bared and his features had more of the characteristics of a tiger about to pounce on it's unsuspecting prey than a human being. Chloe felt cold just knowing he was looking at her.
"Nobody, father" he replied, adopting a bored stance to match his facial expression.
"She looks familiar. Do I know you?" he said seriously, directing his question to Chloe. She gulped.
"I-I-" she still didn't shift her gaze from the floor, Lex stepped in and put his hand on the small of her back.
"She's nobody father" he repeated, steering her towards the door and around Lionel "Get over it"
Chloe grinned, coming up with an idea "Nobody?" she shrieked, trying hard to sound hurt "After what we did together? After all we've been through?" she covered her face to hide her laughter, but to the two onlookers it seemed like she was crying her eyes out. Lionel looked at her with cool collectiveness, obviously used to witnessing this scene between his son and his previous partners.
Lex was stunned for a few moments before catching on, and he put on his own charade for his father's benefit "Come on baby..."
"Don't call me baby!" she sobbed, moving towards the door
"Honey, you're not a nobody-" he tried his best to pretend like he was really sorry, but Chloe cut him off.
"It's him, isn't it?" she said, covering her face again as fresh streams of laughter threatened to blow their performance.
"Who?" Lex asked, genuinely puzzled.
"Clark Kent! I knew there was something going on between you-" it was Lex's turn to cut her off, a little annoyed at her emotional outburst.
"Honey" he said more icily than before "There is nothing going on between me and Clark K-" she held up her hand to silence his pleading of innocence.
"Don't say another word" she sobbed quietly, running out the door.
Lex stared at the slammed door for a moment, as if trying to comprehend that his 'baby' was gone. Lionel approached him, clapping his well manicured hand on his son's shoulder. Lex flinched at the unwelcomed contact, but didn't attempt to move it.
"It's all for the best son" he nodded sagely, causing Lex to almost laugh out loud but restrained himself.
"As if you know what's for the best, father" he said bitterly, shrugging off his father's hand.
"Of course I do son, surely you've figured that out by now?" Lex noticed how his emotionless grin never changed, despite his tone.
"I have yet to be proven so" he moved towards his office, intending to finish the conversation at that. But Lionel followed, unperturbed.
"You know I'm always right, son" he said angrily "You're a fool Lex, wasting your time with trash scraped off the streets. You can't them or yourself get emotionally attached"
"Love is a weakness, right?" Lex snapped, picking up the brandy decanter. Lionel snatched it off him and slammed it back on table.
"Precisely. And the sooner you wise up the sooner I can trust you again" he wandered over to the table and wiped some imaginary dust off with his bony forefinger "I can't deny men need to satisfy certain...urges" Lex tried not imagine his father satisfying these urges, it was all to disgusting to think about. Lex shuddered "But don't try satisfy it with some nickel-and- dime yokel"
Lex found himself getting a little offended on Chloe's behalf, she wasn't terrible looking and her breasts weren't that bad either. In fact, now he thought about it, Chloe was, in lack of a better word, hot. She had this up- front fieriness that attracted you, and then an alluring naivété that reeled you in the rest of the way. She matched his wit and kept him guessing, he liked that in a woman. Sadly many of the women he dated, or 'monthly bimbos' as Chloe christened them, were too afraid to show or just didn't have that extra spice that he craved.
"Father, you have no idea what flavours I prefer" he said, rubbing salt in the wound "So, for once, trust your instincts and stay out of it" Lionel looked ready to explode
"Grow up Lex, you aren't a little child any more"
"Then stop treating me like one" Lex replied through his teeth
"It's probably best your mother isn't alive to see you acting like this, Lex, no doubt she would be as disappointed in you as I am now" Lex's expression hardened but he didn't trust himself enough to say anything "And for god sakes" Lionel said disgustedly, walking to the door "Fuck some one a little closer to your age , next time, I've had enough with the scandal that seems to be permanently attached to your backside" and with that, he left, leaving Lex imagining his father in a momentous amount of pain, pain that he himself was causing.