AN: Sorry for the lag time between updates, school is crazy and I ran into
some trouble when I was trying to convert episodes so I needed to find a
way around that, I did. This chapter is short but I wanted to do something
about the talk Lex and Lionel had in ch2. Alright read on.
Dinner at the Kent's went rather well. Jonathan and Martha both loved Paris. Jonathan had begun to warm up to Lex more due to the presence of the brunette spit fire. Clark enjoyed trading Lex stories with her and telling her about his freinds, Martha enjoyed hearing about her mother, she was an Yvonne DuPris fan, and about Paris's love of dance and gymnastics, Jonathan was amazed at the wealth of knowledge and humor that the young woman possessed. Truth be told Lex was a bit jealous that the Kent's immediately embraced his friend, but then again his father had burned enough bridges in this town and he had literally destroyed one. Plus knowing Paris as long as he had he knew that her spirit was contagious and that her life was not all wine and roses as she let people believe. Her mother died when she was fifteen, her father was never there for her, the only other family she had lived on an entirely different continent, she went into a deep depression after her mother died leaving her with emotional and physical scars, she had to more than compensate for her family name when it came to adversaries and critics who thought she was just some good looking girl with a powerful name and no brains, she was actually as smart as if not smarter than him he remembered many a time when she hacked into Excelsior's mainframe to fix his absences or someone's grades, the only constant friend she had was Lex and her father did his best to drive a wedge between them but the two teens but with the help of a few good friends managed to overcome that, when she was 18 he all but disowned her, and then there were the things Lex said and did to her and blamed her for when they broke up eventually she forgave him he still couldn't forget all the pain he had caused her, but somehow she always managed to keep a smile on her face, well at least when people were looking.
----Monday afternoon Lex's mansion----
Paris was on a conference call in the office Lex had set up for her when one of the servants knocked on the door.
"Come in." She called.
"Ms. Stratford your father is here to see you."
"Oh this ought to be interesting. Jeff, Mal I have to call you back, the furor is in town." She hung up with her call. "Please show him in." She sat back in her chair, crossed her legs at the knees and crossed her arms over her chest. She sat back and waited with a smug yet amused look on her face.
Malcolm burst into the room with a red face and an angry glare fixed on his daughter. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
She smiled slightly. "Nice to see you too father. I'm rather well, and yourself?"
"Very cute Paris. I warned you about Lionel but you just wouldn't listen to me."
"What are you talking about you diluted old Brit? Have you been in the cooking sherry?"
"Don't get smug with me. You know very well what you did. How long did it take for him to get you to tell him about Stein Fiber Optics?"
"I didn't tell him about them Lex told me."
"What?"
"Lionel wanted that company just as bad as you did, he also held almost all of the controlling stock. Lex did what he could to stave off the takeover but Lionel got to him. I guess the most ruthless man won."
"Nonsense."
"Come on dad do you really think I sat in Lex's office and divulged your deepest most secret business plans?"
"Truthfully I don't know Paris. You are so full of surprises, not to mention your history of lies and deceit."
"Of course because I'm the devil child, the constant disappointment. Your greatest failure."
"See telling the truth isn't that hard now is it?"
The weight of her father's statement hit Paris harder than if he had physically attacked her but years of experience taught her not to show it, 'no that would only satisfy the old bastard' she thought angrily to herself. "What can I say I have my moments. Lex is the one you need to be having the rest of this conversation with so why don't we go pay him a visit."
"Good I have my chauffer waiting."
"I'm not getting into a car with you. Your driver can follow me."
"Fine."
----Luthor Corp----
Paris and Malcolm walked to Lex's office.
"Has anyone ever told you that your driving is detrimental to one's health? How fast were you going on that road back there?"
"You should know dad, you always had to make sure my speeding tickets didn't actually get recorded. And I was only going 90 back there."
"Reckless youth." Malcolm shook his head.
They stopped in front of whom Paris could only assume was Lex's secretary. "Excuse me we have a meeting with Lex Luthor."
"Your name Miss.?"
"Stratford."
"Thank you." The secretary picked up her phone and called Lex. "Mr. Luthor, Miss Stratford is here to see you. Yes sir I will." She hung up the phone. "Mr. Luthor will see you now." She lead them to Lex's office and closed the doors behind her as she left.
"Paris, Malcolm what brings you here?" Lex asked.
"Well it seems that my father believes that I did the unspeakable and traded secrets with your father." Paris said in a chipper tone.
"Well that's just plain wrong." Lex said with a smile on his face.
"Will you two stop acting like children." Malcolm said impatiently.
Both of them rolled their eyes at him.
"Mr. Straford why don't you have a seat?" Lex motioned to the chairs in front of his desk.
"Thank you Alexander." Malcolm strode over to the chairs and took a seat.
"Would either of you like a drink?"
"No we're fine."
"Speak for yourself father dear." Paris walked over to the bar and poured herself 2 fingers of Lex's scotch. She stood silently as Lex and her fathers discussed business.
"Mr. Stratford I assure you that Paris has done nothing wrong. We were discussing a business venture of my father's and I told her about the company. He had almost all of the controlling shares and he wanted to dump them in order to get the company at below market price. I was trying to keep the company afloat. I had no idea that you were even interested in them until she told me that you were in negotiations with them. My father ordered me, more or less, to sell the stocks by this morning and I did."
"To whom may I ask?"
"Two people actually. Bruce Wayne he had the other shares that my father needed and he took mine also."
"And?"
Lex looked in Paris's direction and cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Paris?" Malcolm asked surprised. "But why?"
"I assure you that my intentions for the company are pure, I just needed to get the Luthor name off the controlling stock. My father wouldn't dare go after either Paris or Bruce."
"Did I forget to mention that? Must've slipped my mind when you started your verbal tirade on me. But I would be willing to sell part of my stock to you dad."
"And Bruce will be selling part of his to me. We will all have a quarter share in the company. What do you say Mr. Stratford would you be partners with the three of us?"
"Your father will have no part in this?"
"Not at all."
"Well as long as Lionel doesn't touch it I see no problem."
"Great I'll have my lawyers send the paperwork to your office."
"That will be fine." Malcolm and Lex both rose from their seats and shook hands.
Malcolm turned to walk out of the room and stopped in front of Paris. "Not much of a disappointment now am I dad?" She asked in a low stern tone, making sure Lex couldn't hear her, and with a serious look on her face.
Malcolm didn't say anything, he just strode past her and out the room leaving Lex and Paris to themselves.
"What was that all about?"
Paris shook her head. "Nothing."
"Don't lie to me, we're business partners now." Lex said with a playful smile.
"My father came into my office today and started accusing me of selling him out to Lionel. I asked him if he was serious. He accused me of lying and brought up my colorful past. I got cocky and said 'Of course because I'm the devil child, the constant disappointment. Your greatest failure.' And he said, 'See telling the truth isn't that hard now is it?' And I just sat there shocked for a second because he wasn't joking." She shook her head. "Maybe I'm just over reacting. I really don't care. I mean he's always alluded to that for years, and you and I we joke about it." She trailed off.
"But it's never been put into words?" Lex asked gently.
She nodded 'yes,' before quickly changing the subject. "Anyway, I should go. You have work to do and I have some calls to make Jeff and Mel are like lost without me and I probably have like 1,000 e-mails to answer. Thanks for the office by the way."
"No problem."
Paris put her drink down and turned to walk out the door. Lex watched her walk to the door.
"Paris." Lex called when she got to the door.
She turned around to face him. "Yeah?"
"I don't know who your father thinks he is but he's crazy for saying you're anything but perfect."
"Thanks Lex." She gave him a watery smile. "I'll see you tonight."
"Yeah, tonight."
She walked out the door.
In the back of Lex's mind he knew that his words, although true, had little to no effect on her. They had the same upbringing, anything less than their standard of perfection was utter failure in their fathers' eyes, including their children, and they took every opportunity possible to remind both of them of that.
Dinner at the Kent's went rather well. Jonathan and Martha both loved Paris. Jonathan had begun to warm up to Lex more due to the presence of the brunette spit fire. Clark enjoyed trading Lex stories with her and telling her about his freinds, Martha enjoyed hearing about her mother, she was an Yvonne DuPris fan, and about Paris's love of dance and gymnastics, Jonathan was amazed at the wealth of knowledge and humor that the young woman possessed. Truth be told Lex was a bit jealous that the Kent's immediately embraced his friend, but then again his father had burned enough bridges in this town and he had literally destroyed one. Plus knowing Paris as long as he had he knew that her spirit was contagious and that her life was not all wine and roses as she let people believe. Her mother died when she was fifteen, her father was never there for her, the only other family she had lived on an entirely different continent, she went into a deep depression after her mother died leaving her with emotional and physical scars, she had to more than compensate for her family name when it came to adversaries and critics who thought she was just some good looking girl with a powerful name and no brains, she was actually as smart as if not smarter than him he remembered many a time when she hacked into Excelsior's mainframe to fix his absences or someone's grades, the only constant friend she had was Lex and her father did his best to drive a wedge between them but the two teens but with the help of a few good friends managed to overcome that, when she was 18 he all but disowned her, and then there were the things Lex said and did to her and blamed her for when they broke up eventually she forgave him he still couldn't forget all the pain he had caused her, but somehow she always managed to keep a smile on her face, well at least when people were looking.
----Monday afternoon Lex's mansion----
Paris was on a conference call in the office Lex had set up for her when one of the servants knocked on the door.
"Come in." She called.
"Ms. Stratford your father is here to see you."
"Oh this ought to be interesting. Jeff, Mal I have to call you back, the furor is in town." She hung up with her call. "Please show him in." She sat back in her chair, crossed her legs at the knees and crossed her arms over her chest. She sat back and waited with a smug yet amused look on her face.
Malcolm burst into the room with a red face and an angry glare fixed on his daughter. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
She smiled slightly. "Nice to see you too father. I'm rather well, and yourself?"
"Very cute Paris. I warned you about Lionel but you just wouldn't listen to me."
"What are you talking about you diluted old Brit? Have you been in the cooking sherry?"
"Don't get smug with me. You know very well what you did. How long did it take for him to get you to tell him about Stein Fiber Optics?"
"I didn't tell him about them Lex told me."
"What?"
"Lionel wanted that company just as bad as you did, he also held almost all of the controlling stock. Lex did what he could to stave off the takeover but Lionel got to him. I guess the most ruthless man won."
"Nonsense."
"Come on dad do you really think I sat in Lex's office and divulged your deepest most secret business plans?"
"Truthfully I don't know Paris. You are so full of surprises, not to mention your history of lies and deceit."
"Of course because I'm the devil child, the constant disappointment. Your greatest failure."
"See telling the truth isn't that hard now is it?"
The weight of her father's statement hit Paris harder than if he had physically attacked her but years of experience taught her not to show it, 'no that would only satisfy the old bastard' she thought angrily to herself. "What can I say I have my moments. Lex is the one you need to be having the rest of this conversation with so why don't we go pay him a visit."
"Good I have my chauffer waiting."
"I'm not getting into a car with you. Your driver can follow me."
"Fine."
----Luthor Corp----
Paris and Malcolm walked to Lex's office.
"Has anyone ever told you that your driving is detrimental to one's health? How fast were you going on that road back there?"
"You should know dad, you always had to make sure my speeding tickets didn't actually get recorded. And I was only going 90 back there."
"Reckless youth." Malcolm shook his head.
They stopped in front of whom Paris could only assume was Lex's secretary. "Excuse me we have a meeting with Lex Luthor."
"Your name Miss.?"
"Stratford."
"Thank you." The secretary picked up her phone and called Lex. "Mr. Luthor, Miss Stratford is here to see you. Yes sir I will." She hung up the phone. "Mr. Luthor will see you now." She lead them to Lex's office and closed the doors behind her as she left.
"Paris, Malcolm what brings you here?" Lex asked.
"Well it seems that my father believes that I did the unspeakable and traded secrets with your father." Paris said in a chipper tone.
"Well that's just plain wrong." Lex said with a smile on his face.
"Will you two stop acting like children." Malcolm said impatiently.
Both of them rolled their eyes at him.
"Mr. Straford why don't you have a seat?" Lex motioned to the chairs in front of his desk.
"Thank you Alexander." Malcolm strode over to the chairs and took a seat.
"Would either of you like a drink?"
"No we're fine."
"Speak for yourself father dear." Paris walked over to the bar and poured herself 2 fingers of Lex's scotch. She stood silently as Lex and her fathers discussed business.
"Mr. Stratford I assure you that Paris has done nothing wrong. We were discussing a business venture of my father's and I told her about the company. He had almost all of the controlling shares and he wanted to dump them in order to get the company at below market price. I was trying to keep the company afloat. I had no idea that you were even interested in them until she told me that you were in negotiations with them. My father ordered me, more or less, to sell the stocks by this morning and I did."
"To whom may I ask?"
"Two people actually. Bruce Wayne he had the other shares that my father needed and he took mine also."
"And?"
Lex looked in Paris's direction and cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Paris?" Malcolm asked surprised. "But why?"
"I assure you that my intentions for the company are pure, I just needed to get the Luthor name off the controlling stock. My father wouldn't dare go after either Paris or Bruce."
"Did I forget to mention that? Must've slipped my mind when you started your verbal tirade on me. But I would be willing to sell part of my stock to you dad."
"And Bruce will be selling part of his to me. We will all have a quarter share in the company. What do you say Mr. Stratford would you be partners with the three of us?"
"Your father will have no part in this?"
"Not at all."
"Well as long as Lionel doesn't touch it I see no problem."
"Great I'll have my lawyers send the paperwork to your office."
"That will be fine." Malcolm and Lex both rose from their seats and shook hands.
Malcolm turned to walk out of the room and stopped in front of Paris. "Not much of a disappointment now am I dad?" She asked in a low stern tone, making sure Lex couldn't hear her, and with a serious look on her face.
Malcolm didn't say anything, he just strode past her and out the room leaving Lex and Paris to themselves.
"What was that all about?"
Paris shook her head. "Nothing."
"Don't lie to me, we're business partners now." Lex said with a playful smile.
"My father came into my office today and started accusing me of selling him out to Lionel. I asked him if he was serious. He accused me of lying and brought up my colorful past. I got cocky and said 'Of course because I'm the devil child, the constant disappointment. Your greatest failure.' And he said, 'See telling the truth isn't that hard now is it?' And I just sat there shocked for a second because he wasn't joking." She shook her head. "Maybe I'm just over reacting. I really don't care. I mean he's always alluded to that for years, and you and I we joke about it." She trailed off.
"But it's never been put into words?" Lex asked gently.
She nodded 'yes,' before quickly changing the subject. "Anyway, I should go. You have work to do and I have some calls to make Jeff and Mel are like lost without me and I probably have like 1,000 e-mails to answer. Thanks for the office by the way."
"No problem."
Paris put her drink down and turned to walk out the door. Lex watched her walk to the door.
"Paris." Lex called when she got to the door.
She turned around to face him. "Yeah?"
"I don't know who your father thinks he is but he's crazy for saying you're anything but perfect."
"Thanks Lex." She gave him a watery smile. "I'll see you tonight."
"Yeah, tonight."
She walked out the door.
In the back of Lex's mind he knew that his words, although true, had little to no effect on her. They had the same upbringing, anything less than their standard of perfection was utter failure in their fathers' eyes, including their children, and they took every opportunity possible to remind both of them of that.
