Chapter 9
"Remy, I need to go to classes today," Chloe informed the little boy, stooping down to give him a hug and kiss on the forehead. "It will only be for a few hours, then I'll be back before you know it."
The boy's eyes fell at the idea of being a whole day without his usual companion. It was a big place and only Chloe seemed to be able to know just what to do with all the space they had… the fun stuff that is. He gave a small nod, as if saying, I allow you to go. She couldn't stop the smile from forming on her face. He was so adorable, even when he was sulking.
"Sweetie, I won't be gone long, don't worry. Besides, you have Mimi here with you." Mimi was their code-name for Misao. There was no telling what Lex would do if he found out the true identity of the new maid so just to keep him from knowing, they called her Mimi… it wasn't so far off from Misao, of course, but it sounded oriental enough to suit her and not cause any suspicion.
Now, after saying what she did, Chloe pushed herself up to stand straight and began to walk off turning just as she was walking out the door to wave at him one last time. She could feel her heart fluttering in her chest as she did. It was the worry again. She had felt this way when she had first allowed Pete to take care of Remy and it didn't go away until the fifth time he had brought him to her friend's apartment to be babysat. Pushing down the impulse to run back and stay with him, she got into the car that Luthor – she still wasn't comfortable with using his first name… too much familiarity in doing so – allowed her to use and sped off into Metropolis.
In the meantime, Remy stared at the now closed entrance and bit his lip. Now what would he do? Mimi should be around somewhere. The idea of hanging out with his aunt seemed bland, however, as her idea of fun would be playing scrabble and drinking some hot beverage. Just thinking about it made him make a face. No, he didn't want to do that. With an intent look on his face, he turned and began making his way around the house. There just had to be someone interesting to be around… then a mischievous thought crossed his mind. He was, after all, still four and it bothering someone was always fun. He began to hurry along the corridors, searching for the person he was looking for.
Lex was engrossed in his work. He had only started a few hours ago, so he was going at a good pace. There were a number of documents he still had to look over that he had just been given before he could call it a day. He didn't think it would take the entire day to finish, but it would take a good chunk of time before he could be sure that everything was perfectly to his liking. After that, he needed to meet with some of the managers of the smaller firms that he now had control over now that he was in charge of LuthorCorp.
Regularly, he'd notice whether someone was entering his study at his home because of the courteous knock that would come before it. However, he was given no previous warning. He didn't see it open a fraction of the way open. The body that came in was too short to be seen over the screen of his slim computer. He didn't even notice when the small body came around to his right side with a curious piercing gaze…
He did, however, feel odd and felt a shiver run through him and he looked up from the screen, first scanning the left side of the room. When he turned his head to the right he felt himself jolt a little when he found Remy staring intently at him. At his reaction, the boy let out a childish giggle and covered his mouth.
"Remy, has anyone ever taught you to knock before you enter a room?" Lex asked sternly, feeling his palpitating heart slow down and the annoyance course through him.
"Yes," the child answered dutifully, but his lips turned up in an impish grin. "I scared you!" he squealed and began to laugh again.
"That wasn't nice at all!" Even as he said, it he could feel the contagious cheer of the boy – his… son – affect him and he too ended up smiling a little. After a while, it died off and they were left looking at each other, Lex feeling uncomfortable with such a piercing pair of eyes regarding him. "So, what is it you wanted see me about?" he finally asked Remy.
The boy, in turn shrugged. "I want someone to play with," he answered frankly. "Chloe went to school. Mimi is working."
"I'm working, too," Lex reminded delicately. "I have to finish these documents and meet with a few other men."
"What's it about?" The childish curiosity was a wondrous thing. It allowed them to overcome a person's initial fear and inquire and speculate over things that they were wondering about.
Lex sighed. This was going to take a while. "Well, it's about money and gaining and losing and how to balance everything out."
"So it's like seesaw?"
"Um… not exactly… look, Remy, I really need to work right now. When I'm done I'll come around and… and play with you," he finished lamely.
The spark in Remy's eyes grew dim, causing Lex to panic. He didn't like seeing disappointment. He had seen enough from all the faces that had expected so much from him – his father, the public – and to get it from this innocent child – his child – tore him to pieces. "Hmm… actually, now that I think of it, I believe I have some time to waste. What do you say about a game of…" Lex searched the room for something that they could do "… um…"
"Let's play cards!" Remy squealed enthusiastically, clapping his hands and smiling broadly.
The older man raised a brow. "Okay… what games do you know?"
"I know – I know how to play Big Two!"
Lex instantly felt stupid. He was a big cards player, but this particular game seemed very foreign to him. "Are you sure that's for this kind of deck of cards?" he asked rummaging through his desk drawer and bringing out a set of playing cards – 52 and 2 jokers.
The boy nodded, his raven hair moving fluidly with his jerky movements. "Uh huh! Chloe showed me! Let me show you!"
Small hands quickly grabbed for the deck and startled the bald billionaire at the speed at which the boy could move. He was used to seeing kids his age move awkwardly, but there was this certain amount of litheness to the boy that awed and unnerved him. Still tentative about being around his son, he pursed his lips together and got out of his seat to follow the child.
"… and you'll have to read chapters 24-26 by tomorrow and answer questions 1-25 as well. Have I made my expectations clear?"
Chloe looked down at what her science professor was jotting down on the small post-it. The man had to write sideways in order to fit everything he wanted onto the piece… and he had used both sides. When he handed it to her, she closed her mouth that had been hanging slightly ajar and gave a weak smile to him. "I understand, sir."
"You know, I lost my mother when I was in college, too," he informed her, propping his elbows in his desk and leaning forward. "My teachers didn't 'cut me some slack', however. I'm quite happy that they didn't because it gave me the needed distraction to prevent me from mourning for an extended period of time. I'm only trying to help you, Miss Sullivan."
The blonde nodded. "I understand, sir," she said once again in a mechanical voice.
Upon leaving the classroom, Chloe exhaled heavily. Each and every professor she had visited – six in total – had piled her up with an excessive amount of work that was all due in that week. She had requested that she get time off again to catch up on all the work she missed and they piled her up with even more work in return.
Feeling drained already, Chloe trudged down the hallway towards the girl's bathroom to freshen up. She felt herself perk instantly when she heard a familiar and welcome voice. "Hey, Chlo'!" She turned and found Pete jogging to catch up with her.
"Pete!" she practically squealed and once he was close enough, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. "Oh I'm so glad to see you!"
He chuckled and hugged her back just as ferociously. "How've you been? I know you called already yesterday to tell me that you guys are alright but still."
She pulled back and bit her lip. "I'm so screwed for my classes," she murmured with a wince.
"Well at least you've been studying even though you were out, right?" She nodded at his question. "Well then you're not so screwed! All you got to do is the work and you're set."
She took out the sheaves of paper that held all her homework and showed it to her friend. "Yeah, you try doing all this in the span of the week!"
Pete frowned down at the pile and shook his head. "I see a lot of 'reading' work but not a lot of actual work. You're fine. You're just in shock of seeing how much you missed in school."
Chloe shrugged in response. "Okay, maybe you're right." Her eyes snapped up to his face and gleamed. "Now, you have to tell me about this girl that you keep talking about. What's her name? What department is she? Come on, I have to know all the gory details!"
Her friend laughed and linked his arm with hers. "Okay, come on, let's go to the café and talk about it."
As it was, the story of his new girlfriend didn't last very long. There was only so much that one could talk about when it came to their relationship with someone. However, the tables did turn and it ended up being a conversation about Chloe's experiences – that she hadn't told Pete of over the phone – regarding Lex.
"I'm starting to get confused now, Pete," she confessed. "I mean, he used to be so cold. Or at least that's how he had been for the longest time I've known him. No wait, that's not right…" She rubbed her temples then started again. "The thing is, for the longest time after he had… well, fired Dad, I had always seen him as the cold-hearted bastard – the spitting image of his own father. Now, however… well, he's still aloof in many ways, but I see him softening up so much to Remy."
"What does Luthor do with him?" A small frown was on his brows.
"Well, actually, nothing special. They don't play or anything if that's what you're asking. But he sometimes talks to him. And it's evident in his eyes that he actually sees him more as his own kin now. The way he smiles Remy, or looks at him with obvious admiration."
"And how does he act with you?" Pete's eyes were narrowed and Chloe rolled her hazel ones.
"He's not trying anything on me," she informed him. "I mean, sure I catch him watching while Remy and I are playing, but I think he's looking at his on son more than me. Maybe if I looked more like Lana – your typical pretty brunette and damsel in distress – then he'd notice. But I'm not looking for that."
During the drive back to the Luthor mansion, however, Chloe's mind drifted back to what she had told Pete just less than an hour before… in fact, she reviewed everything that had happened in the past two weeks that she and Remy had been with Lex Luthor.
The first week was awkward, Chloe told Pete as they sat in the café near Met U. Waking up in a foreign place that first morning there was strange and shocking. Then there was the lascivious meals that made me drop my jaw. Was it proper for us to be there, I kept thinking as I sat down at that table with both Luthor and Remy (it's hard to believe that Remy's actually a Luthor…). Then there were the mazes of hallways and the actual expanse of the grounds.
The sprawling gardens, the humongous garage with all those expensive Porsches, Mercedes and Ferraris, the library that was tiny in comparison to the one that was in the Luthor Mansion in Smallville; they were all so wondrously dreamlike. Remy and I spent three days just exploring. Hours on end we had drifted from one room to another, got lost and had to ask the help that had been close by to help us find our way.
During one of our bouts around the place, we had ended up playing a little game of getting to the next room first and seeing exactly what was inside. That was the day that we found out exactly where Lex's home office was. We were running down the hall and I got to the doorknob first, not really noticing that there were sounds coming from inside – mind you, they weren't those kinds of sounds – and stopped in mid step and laugh as I found myself face to face with Lex Luthor himself, with the speaker phone droning on with men's voices.
He had stopped whatever he was saying and stared at me for a moment before he quirked a brow in question. Remy's squeals came closer and stopped just as abruptly as mine did when he ducked underneath my arm and found Lex there as well. At that point I bit my lip to stop most of my smile from coming out and said my apologies and then pulled Remy with me. Before I turned away, however, I thought I noticed a bit of envy in his eyes.
Now that was the beginning of many little looks that were akin to envy, hidden amusement and jealousy for what Remy and I did. I noticed them in the next week and a half that I have been virtually stranded in the monstrous 'everything's breakable and you'll die if you wreck one piece' place. I don't think Lex noticed he let those feelings escape, but it reassured me that I was safe as it denoted a sense of humanity; that he wasn't just doing it out of charity for a son he had neglected for over four years, but he genuinely wanted a hand in what I had: a role in the growth of Remy.
Perhaps it was during the course of those two weeks that a little spark of attraction had grown. If she would have been asked about it at a later time, she would have probably said that she had already been attracted to him when she pissed him off the first time she saw him when the two had moved in, but in truth, she didn't know. That was the mystery in chemistry.
It was hard to really pinpoint when exactly the two elements reacted to one another. It could have already been when they were separate; or when they were a millisecond from touching each other or at the initial contact between the two… or after… All one could say was that the attraction was there… and potent. And Chloe knew she felt it with him, despite the fact that she didn't want to.
To be continued...