Part 3 Her Search for Him
3 years prior
2007
Lex Luthor hated schmoozing. It was the reason why he came to like Smallville, Kansas in his first incarceration. The exile that his father had chosen for him suited him perfectly because almost every citizen hated him already. He did not need to act friendly to anyone. It was perfectly understood that he was there against his will. He had to stay because it was his punishment. The people did not want him there either. They had to welcome him as much as they could because the livelihood of the community relied on the Luthors.
Now here in the business district of Makati, far on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, on his brilliant second exile, after he had unsuccessfully tried to displace his father from LuthorCorp, Lex was required to attend meetings with the business clubs and speak at length with the president in order to gain the access and licenses he needed to operate.
Why could Lionel Luthor not have dumped him in the European branch, which was already as established as the American mother company? No, Lionel, being the loving father that he was, threw Lex to Asia where LuthorCorp was almost unheard of. Lex was given the amazing responsibility of actually building up business contacts and winning contracts. LuthorCorp Pacific was nonexistent to the extent that Lex was choosing furnishings for the building being constructed even at that precise moment.
He had to face it. He had been sent to the Philippines where he stood out so that his father could embarrass him even from that distance. Lex was where he was now because his father knew that it would take him time to have new relationships here. He knew no one; he did not even speak the first language.
"Damn him and his control," he muttered as he waited for the elevator doors to open. He could not judge if he had impressed the business club with his speech. The suited executives nodded along with his statements but Lex knew that part of their attention was given because they were enthralled by his bald head. At least in America everyone was used to seeing him in papers and television that no one seemed shell-shocked by his appearance.
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he never saw the figure heading over to him. Lex bumped into the approaching person, sending papers and enveloped flying across the floor.
"Umph!" the familiar feminine voice broke through the haze of his murderous thoughts against his father. "Wait, no! Hold the elevator!"
The ding and flash of the red light indicated the doors closing. The woman kneeling on the floor gathered her documents, shaking her head.
"Miss Sullivan?" he asked in disbelief.
The woman looked up at him from underneath blonde bangs that covered her eyes. "Lex!" she exclaimed. "I mean, Mr. Luthor!"
Lex hurriedly helped her pick up her things. "Sorry about this. Bad day."
"Oh if I weren't so glad to see a familiar face I would have cursed you to death."
"What are you doing here?" he asked, extending a hand to help her up. Lex Luthor had not seen the girl since she had left Smallville for studies abroad. He grinned in appreciation. She wore a spaghetti-strapped flowered sundress that exposed the creamy skin of her arms and legs. At her feet, where he supposed it had fallen after their crash, there was a wide-brimmed straw hat with a sunflower design. Very tropical, true. But in a city like Makati, with skyscrapers and traffic that rivaled LA's, very out of place. No matter which part of the globe you placed Chloe Sullivan, it seemed that she would always stand out.
"You're asking me," she stated. "I just recently arrived. I'm a visiting journalism professor in the university over at Diliman," Chloe informed him, referring to the large main campus a few cities away. "I was going to present a proposal to the Makati Business Club. But it looks like I'm late. My class ran over time. I was speaking too much!"
Lex smirked and nodded to her clothes. "And you were presenting a proposal to the suits in that. Not that it's bad. You look delectable. Summery."
She leaned down and picked up her hat, her skirt inching higher on her things. "It's a roomful of men in stark black and white. I need financial support," she explained.
"I can imagine how that would work!" He took the heavy folders and envelopes from her. "I'd sign you as many checks as you want if you came to me in that too."
Chloe smiled gratefully when he lifted the load from her screaming arms. "Much good it did." When he started walking towards the parking lot, she did too.
"There's a meeting again on Thursday," he informed her. With a snide grin, he offered, "If you'll choose a strapless top then, I'll pick you up at the university and get you in."
Her jaw fell in surprise and then she whirled around to face him. "That's so generous of you! And if I weren't doing this for a cause, that is for my students to have better equipment for their project, I would have slapped you for being a pig. But I am and yeah." she trailed off. "Wait a minute. You never did tell me. What are you doing in Manila? You're a long way from your empire, Mr. Luthor."
"Lex," he corrected her automatically. "And I beg to disagree. Didn't you know that the Luthor empire has long passed the borders of America?"
"Ah yes," she nodded sagely. "I'm in the media, even though I'm more of a teacher than a practitioner now. But I didn't know you've reached this far. EuroLuthor, I know about."
"Well you're just in time to witness before your very eyes the rise of LuthorCorp Pacific." Lex shifted the documents on one arm and with his free one, led her out of the doors. He pointed to a tall building in the horizon, still being painted, but almost completely constructed. "Chloe Sullivan, you are looking at 2008's most prominent high rise."
She stared in awe at the ice blue glass from top to bottom. The LuthorCorp Pacific building was as elegant, if not more so, than the best buildings in New York and Paris, in London and in Belgium. "Lex, you've built your palace," she whispered.
"That's right," he agreed without false humility. "And much as I hate the exile, you're looking at a king."
"At least while your dad's in Metropolis."
"Come on. I'll drive you wherever it is you're staying." He took her by her elbow towards the one car that surpassed the rest. You can put Lex Luthor anywhere, and he'll always make sure his car is the flashiest. "Besides, I think my exile just got a little better."
Chloe smiled and walked briskly to the convertible that was the same ice blue as LuthorCorp Pacific.
The ride back to the university took a couple of hours along the main highway. Chloe decided that despite the pretty car, she really didn't like convertibles in polluted traffic. She ignored the fact that every half hour inhaling the smoke took off a year in her life. Lex was particularly chatty and she enjoyed listening to him. They had not really known each other that well back in Smallville. Now, being the only person he relatively knows in a foreign country, she was certain that she was going to become his closest friend and confidante. That fact scared her.
It scared her more that it seemed that whatever tension between them she thought she had imagined as a high school student was returning full force. Her proximity to him was making her skin crawl in the opposite of horror and distaste.
He stopped the car at the driveway of the College of Mass Communication, where she was still going to teach in a couple of hours. Before she opened the door, he grabbed her hand. "Is this class important?"
She took a deep breath and looked at his hand that closed over hers. "I'm giving them a written exam," she replied breathlessly.
"Can you get a TA to proctor for you?"
She met his earnest eyes. This was supposed to happen, but suddenly she didn't want it to. The two of them were playing exactly on the lines that some bastard had written. If she said no now, even if she was the only woman he knew here, she was never going to see him again. She could kiss Thursday goodbye. "Give me five minutes." She jogged her way to the department to leave her instructions.
Chloe walked to her office and let herself in.
"I see big bro's still got the best babies."
She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. Lucas Luthor was in her chair peering out of the window. Chloe left the papers on her table and hunted for her thin white sweater.
"It's hot out, babe. Why are you putting that on? You're not planning on skipping class, are you?"
"Leave me alone, Lucas. I'm doing what your dad sent me here to do, okay? So you just sit back and do what your dad wants you to and spy on me in silence."
The youngest Luthor gave her an arrogant smirk. "So you don't want to hear about dad? Yours and not mine, of course," he qualified. "Neither of us could care less if mine keeled over and died right now."
She turned around slowly and faced him. "Has there been any change?"
He pushed his chair back and walked towards her. "Not yet." Chloe leaned back against her bookshelf. He drew her into his arms to comfort her. "Don't worry. He's getting the best care possible. My dad can afford it."
She pushed him away quickly and picked up her bag. "I can afford it, you mean. Your dad's not getting mine treated out of charity or employee benefits, Lucas. Kindly remember I'm doing a dirty job for him so he'd better keep his end of the deal. And go to your class! Stop hanging out in my office." She had to hurry and stop at the restroom to make sure her makeup was applied evenly. She pushed back the guilty thoughts that nagged at her. It was all part of a job.
3 years prior
2007
Lex Luthor hated schmoozing. It was the reason why he came to like Smallville, Kansas in his first incarceration. The exile that his father had chosen for him suited him perfectly because almost every citizen hated him already. He did not need to act friendly to anyone. It was perfectly understood that he was there against his will. He had to stay because it was his punishment. The people did not want him there either. They had to welcome him as much as they could because the livelihood of the community relied on the Luthors.
Now here in the business district of Makati, far on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, on his brilliant second exile, after he had unsuccessfully tried to displace his father from LuthorCorp, Lex was required to attend meetings with the business clubs and speak at length with the president in order to gain the access and licenses he needed to operate.
Why could Lionel Luthor not have dumped him in the European branch, which was already as established as the American mother company? No, Lionel, being the loving father that he was, threw Lex to Asia where LuthorCorp was almost unheard of. Lex was given the amazing responsibility of actually building up business contacts and winning contracts. LuthorCorp Pacific was nonexistent to the extent that Lex was choosing furnishings for the building being constructed even at that precise moment.
He had to face it. He had been sent to the Philippines where he stood out so that his father could embarrass him even from that distance. Lex was where he was now because his father knew that it would take him time to have new relationships here. He knew no one; he did not even speak the first language.
"Damn him and his control," he muttered as he waited for the elevator doors to open. He could not judge if he had impressed the business club with his speech. The suited executives nodded along with his statements but Lex knew that part of their attention was given because they were enthralled by his bald head. At least in America everyone was used to seeing him in papers and television that no one seemed shell-shocked by his appearance.
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he never saw the figure heading over to him. Lex bumped into the approaching person, sending papers and enveloped flying across the floor.
"Umph!" the familiar feminine voice broke through the haze of his murderous thoughts against his father. "Wait, no! Hold the elevator!"
The ding and flash of the red light indicated the doors closing. The woman kneeling on the floor gathered her documents, shaking her head.
"Miss Sullivan?" he asked in disbelief.
The woman looked up at him from underneath blonde bangs that covered her eyes. "Lex!" she exclaimed. "I mean, Mr. Luthor!"
Lex hurriedly helped her pick up her things. "Sorry about this. Bad day."
"Oh if I weren't so glad to see a familiar face I would have cursed you to death."
"What are you doing here?" he asked, extending a hand to help her up. Lex Luthor had not seen the girl since she had left Smallville for studies abroad. He grinned in appreciation. She wore a spaghetti-strapped flowered sundress that exposed the creamy skin of her arms and legs. At her feet, where he supposed it had fallen after their crash, there was a wide-brimmed straw hat with a sunflower design. Very tropical, true. But in a city like Makati, with skyscrapers and traffic that rivaled LA's, very out of place. No matter which part of the globe you placed Chloe Sullivan, it seemed that she would always stand out.
"You're asking me," she stated. "I just recently arrived. I'm a visiting journalism professor in the university over at Diliman," Chloe informed him, referring to the large main campus a few cities away. "I was going to present a proposal to the Makati Business Club. But it looks like I'm late. My class ran over time. I was speaking too much!"
Lex smirked and nodded to her clothes. "And you were presenting a proposal to the suits in that. Not that it's bad. You look delectable. Summery."
She leaned down and picked up her hat, her skirt inching higher on her things. "It's a roomful of men in stark black and white. I need financial support," she explained.
"I can imagine how that would work!" He took the heavy folders and envelopes from her. "I'd sign you as many checks as you want if you came to me in that too."
Chloe smiled gratefully when he lifted the load from her screaming arms. "Much good it did." When he started walking towards the parking lot, she did too.
"There's a meeting again on Thursday," he informed her. With a snide grin, he offered, "If you'll choose a strapless top then, I'll pick you up at the university and get you in."
Her jaw fell in surprise and then she whirled around to face him. "That's so generous of you! And if I weren't doing this for a cause, that is for my students to have better equipment for their project, I would have slapped you for being a pig. But I am and yeah." she trailed off. "Wait a minute. You never did tell me. What are you doing in Manila? You're a long way from your empire, Mr. Luthor."
"Lex," he corrected her automatically. "And I beg to disagree. Didn't you know that the Luthor empire has long passed the borders of America?"
"Ah yes," she nodded sagely. "I'm in the media, even though I'm more of a teacher than a practitioner now. But I didn't know you've reached this far. EuroLuthor, I know about."
"Well you're just in time to witness before your very eyes the rise of LuthorCorp Pacific." Lex shifted the documents on one arm and with his free one, led her out of the doors. He pointed to a tall building in the horizon, still being painted, but almost completely constructed. "Chloe Sullivan, you are looking at 2008's most prominent high rise."
She stared in awe at the ice blue glass from top to bottom. The LuthorCorp Pacific building was as elegant, if not more so, than the best buildings in New York and Paris, in London and in Belgium. "Lex, you've built your palace," she whispered.
"That's right," he agreed without false humility. "And much as I hate the exile, you're looking at a king."
"At least while your dad's in Metropolis."
"Come on. I'll drive you wherever it is you're staying." He took her by her elbow towards the one car that surpassed the rest. You can put Lex Luthor anywhere, and he'll always make sure his car is the flashiest. "Besides, I think my exile just got a little better."
Chloe smiled and walked briskly to the convertible that was the same ice blue as LuthorCorp Pacific.
The ride back to the university took a couple of hours along the main highway. Chloe decided that despite the pretty car, she really didn't like convertibles in polluted traffic. She ignored the fact that every half hour inhaling the smoke took off a year in her life. Lex was particularly chatty and she enjoyed listening to him. They had not really known each other that well back in Smallville. Now, being the only person he relatively knows in a foreign country, she was certain that she was going to become his closest friend and confidante. That fact scared her.
It scared her more that it seemed that whatever tension between them she thought she had imagined as a high school student was returning full force. Her proximity to him was making her skin crawl in the opposite of horror and distaste.
He stopped the car at the driveway of the College of Mass Communication, where she was still going to teach in a couple of hours. Before she opened the door, he grabbed her hand. "Is this class important?"
She took a deep breath and looked at his hand that closed over hers. "I'm giving them a written exam," she replied breathlessly.
"Can you get a TA to proctor for you?"
She met his earnest eyes. This was supposed to happen, but suddenly she didn't want it to. The two of them were playing exactly on the lines that some bastard had written. If she said no now, even if she was the only woman he knew here, she was never going to see him again. She could kiss Thursday goodbye. "Give me five minutes." She jogged her way to the department to leave her instructions.
Chloe walked to her office and let herself in.
"I see big bro's still got the best babies."
She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. Lucas Luthor was in her chair peering out of the window. Chloe left the papers on her table and hunted for her thin white sweater.
"It's hot out, babe. Why are you putting that on? You're not planning on skipping class, are you?"
"Leave me alone, Lucas. I'm doing what your dad sent me here to do, okay? So you just sit back and do what your dad wants you to and spy on me in silence."
The youngest Luthor gave her an arrogant smirk. "So you don't want to hear about dad? Yours and not mine, of course," he qualified. "Neither of us could care less if mine keeled over and died right now."
She turned around slowly and faced him. "Has there been any change?"
He pushed his chair back and walked towards her. "Not yet." Chloe leaned back against her bookshelf. He drew her into his arms to comfort her. "Don't worry. He's getting the best care possible. My dad can afford it."
She pushed him away quickly and picked up her bag. "I can afford it, you mean. Your dad's not getting mine treated out of charity or employee benefits, Lucas. Kindly remember I'm doing a dirty job for him so he'd better keep his end of the deal. And go to your class! Stop hanging out in my office." She had to hurry and stop at the restroom to make sure her makeup was applied evenly. She pushed back the guilty thoughts that nagged at her. It was all part of a job.