Quick
AN: Dates are used briefly in this chapter, and in order to dispel
and confusion Paris was born in November 1979, making her 15 in
December 1994. Lex was born May 1980. So they all could be part of
the same grade just king Paris in that weird borthday category.
On
with the show!
Paris sat chin in hand staring blankly out of
the cabin window. When she was a child the mere thought of this act
would have scared her into tears but as she grew older her fear of
flying melted into distaste, although she still avoided it as much as
possible. Now looking out the window of the empty cabin allowed her
time to reflect and sort out various feelings and thoughts.
The
day after the party Bruce and Lex delighted in teasing her about her
about puking on her father, part of her wanted to laugh at the
absurdity of the entire thing and part wanted to cry about the harsh
words that had been spoken and the weight and truth behind
them.
Then Helen came over which did nothing but compound her
crappy mood. She had a leery feeling about Helen and Helen had no
qualms about making Paris feel unwelcome in the house, she veiled
these feelings in woman code so they would fly right over Lex and
Bruce's heads but Paris caught the message loud and clear, 'Stay
away from my boyfriend or I will destroy you!'
She and Bruce
retreated to the garden to find her shoes before he left. It took
them over an hour and climbing a tree to find both shoes, apparently
at one point in their drunken evening they decided to find out how
aerodynamic Manolo Blahniks actually were. Judging from the branch it
landed on, not very thankfully.
After Bruce left Paris felt
uncomfortable being in the house alone with the happy couple so she
decided to go apologize to the Kents and Sullivans about the night
before and the scene they witnessed at the dinner table and then
having to see them drunk later on. Chloe and Clark both just shrugged
it off, chalking it up to adult stress. Gabe told her that although
he revered his bosses that he was impressed with the way she took on
both Lionel and her father, he had never heard anyone tell a Luthor
off and not pay dearly for it. Martha did the mom thing and told her
that she understood and if she ever needed someone to talk to about
these things, someone who wouldn't psychoanalyze her, that she
could always come to her and then she offered her a piece of
pie.
Paris was initially taken aback by Martha's gesture,
especially since for all intensive purposes she was a stranger to her
world, and then she felt comforted by the motherly attitude that
Martha exuded toward her. She now knew why Lex was so drawn to her.
Besides her close resemblance to Lillian she was as nurturing and
loving as their mothers had been. Upon sitting down and talking,
really talking, woman to woman to Martha Paris realized that her
knowledge and ability to relate and comfort extended beyond the
normal motherly understanding of what someone was 'going through'.
She had a feeling that Martha was regarded as a bit of an outcast in
her own family, especially due to her extensive knowledge of
Metropolis and many facets of corporate life, yet she was a farmers
wife in Smallville. Paris decided to not breech the subject.
On
her way home from the Kent's Paris had to fight to see straight
because of the tears that were welling in her eyes, she had not felt
motherly love for so long that the emotion was almost too
overwhelming for her.
When she finally got home she barricaded
herself in her office for a few hours, to tie up some loose ends
before she left for the holidays. 'Yeah right tie up loose ends, it
had nothing at all to do with Lex and Helen,' She thought bitterly
to herself. Then she went to her room and watched television for the
rest of the night.
The next day she boarded a plane for
France. She didn't even tell Lex that she was leaving for fear that
wherever he was Helen was sure to be in toe, he knew where she was if
he needed her. Her grandfather's private jet picked her up at five
o'clock in the morning, and it was where she spent the rest of her
morning, alone.
"Ms. Stratford." A hand on her shoulder
and a soft voice in her ear snapped Paris out of her
thoughts.
"Yes."
"Ms. Stratford we will be
landing in the next five minutes, if you would please put your
seatbelt back on."
"Very well." Paris studied the two
pieces of seatbelt in her hand. 'I still don't understand the
reasoning behind seatbelts in these things. Even during turbulence
I've never felt the need to be strapped in. You're sitting down
in a giant Pringles can for god sakes. Cars it makes sense, keeps you
from going face first into the windshield. It definitely wouldn't
help in the event of an in air collision.' She shook her head and
began thinking in a sarcastic inner voice, filled with fake cheer.
'Well I'm in flaming wreckage, plummeting thousands of feet to my
death, but I'm strapped in so it's okay maybe I can float on
what's left of my seat in case I land in the water and don't die
on impact. Then I can die of dehydration and exposure.' Paris
laughed at the ridiculousness of the notion, back to the cynical
inner voice. 'Yeah that's if I wasn't killed on the impact when
the 747 ripped through. No, no if my plane gets ripped apart I'm
freefalling all the way down baby, I'm going out in a blaze of
glory, not strapped to a piece of furniture.' She smiled wryly at
the macabre thought. 'Oh I'm a fucking loon.' She settled back
in her seat and prepared to land.
----The DuPris
manor----
The historic DuPris estate put Bruce and Lex's
houses to shame. It had been in Paris's family for 6 generations,
historians wrote books about it and the goings on there over the last
400 years. The Large main house, two guest houses, servants quarters
off the south garden, a large formal courtyard and 3 large outdoor
gardens sat atop the property that overlooked an orchard, complete
with the DuPris family winery, private woods containing a lake and a
stable, on the far west side of the property was the family's
private cemetery. Altogether it was about 10 square miles.
Paris
walked in and smiled broadly, it felt good to be home.
Jessica,
her grandfather's maid rushed up to her and hugged her.
"Oh
Paris. Vous me permettre de regarde." She held the
younger woman at arms length. "Oh mon, vous paraissez grand. Si
beaucoup de comme votre mère."
(Translation):"Oh
Paris. Let me look at you. Oh my, you look great. So much like your
mother."
Paris smiled at the elder woman.
"Merci
Jessica. Comment avez-vous été?"
(Translation):
"Thank you Jessica. How are you?"
"Bien, Bien. Et
vous?"
(Translation): "Good, good. And you?"
"Je
suis bien."
(Translation): "I'm good."
"Bon,
parce que nous nous se soucions de vous êtes jusqu'ici loin.
Mais votre grand-père garde nous a mis à
jour."
(Translation): "Good, because we worry about
you being so far away. But your grandfather keeps us updated."
"Où
le grand-père est de toute façon?"
(Translation):
"Where is grandfather anyway?"
"Dans son bureau. Cet
homme toujours travaille." Jessica shook her head and let out
an exasperated sigh.
(Translation): "In his office. That man
is always working."
Paris chuckled. "Oh Jessica
c'est l'histoire de ma vie. Je vais aller l'ennui
lui."
(Translation): "Oh Jessica it's the story of my
life. I'm going to go bother him."
Jessica shook her head
and laughed. "Bien, vous vous amusez cher."
(Translation):
"Alright, you have fun dear."
"Bien, je vous verrai
Jessica ultérieur."
(Translation): "Alright,
I'll see you later Jessica."
Paris bid Jessica a good
evening and took off down the hall towards the wing her grandfather's
office was in. She didn't even need to think about where she was
going, she could walk the corridors of the old mansion on her hands
backward and blindfolded. She'd spent most of her childhood running
full speed through the halls chasing and being chased and as she got
older doing back flips and Pirouettes. Paris smiled at the memory of
her happy youth and innocence, no matter how fleeting or long ago it
was. Paris wound up outside her grandfather's office in a matter of
minutes she knocked before entering.
"Vous pouvez
entrer." Came from the other side.
(Translation): "You
may enter."
Paris walked in. "Well I should hope so."
She said in a teasing voice.
Gustave looked up from his work.
"Oh my Paris. When did you get in?"
"Just a little while
ago." She plopped herself in one of the overstuffed leather chairs
in front of his desk.
"Are you tired my dear?"
"A
little bit."
"How was the flight?"
"Long. How
are things here?"
"Quiet mostly. How was the party?" He
smirked at her.
"Oh you know don't you?" She covered her
face in embarrassment.
Gustave chuckled.
"Who told
you?"
"I promised I wouldn't
say."
"Grand-pere."
"Fine, Alexander told
me."
"When did you talk to Lex? And remind me to do great
bodily harm to him when I get back."
Gustave smiled and
shook his head in amusement. "Don't hurt the boy, because I know
you can. He called to tell you that your BMW arrived today and that
it is in the garage waiting for you. I asked him how the party was
and he told me."
"Oh it was quite the affair." She said
in a light hearted tone.
"You threw up on your father." He
said pointedly.
"Not voluntarily." She countered.
"Paris,
I thought you stopped those kinds of things." His voice was sincere
and concerned.
"I know. Look it was just a bad overall
evening, Victoria was there and you know I hate her, and dad was
there and he started in on me and we were sitting with these people
who are really nice but barely know me and you know how dad is. We
started arguing at dinner and I snapped. And since when is drinking a
capitol offence in this family, am I wrong or do we not own a
chateau?"
"No Paris you are correct and drinking is fine,
in moderation, but drinking to excess is never in good taste."
"Yeah
well it doesn't taste too good coming back up either." She smiled
slyly.
He let out a low chuckle and shook his head. "I do
enjoy your logic."
"So have you talked to dad?"
"That's
why I asked Alexander how the party was."
"I don't
follow."
"Your father cancelled on us for
tomorrow."
Paris looked down briefly. "Yeah, we got into
it pretty bad before I showed everyone my dinner."
"How
bad?"
"I believe the subject of disownment came
up."
Gustave shook his head in anger at his son in law.
"It's late are you hungry?"
"No I ate earlier. I think
I'll just turn in for the night. Are you going to sleep?"
"I
have a few calls to finish up and some reports to look over."
"It's
almost ten o'clock I don't want you working so late. I mean it
mister, I bed by ten thirty." She teased.
"When did you
become the adult in the family?"
"Since I'm apparently
the last one with a modicum of sense about her."
He put his
hands up in surrender. "Alright. I will leave these reports until
tomorrow evening." He smiled at her, grateful to have a grand
daughter like her.
"Night grandpere." She got up and gave
him a kiss on the cheek before walking out.
"Good night
dear. I'll see you in the morning."
"Not before
9:00."
"Would I ever be so cruel?"
"No."
"And
why is that?"
"Because I'm your favorite."
"Very
good dear."
----The next day----
Paris knelt in front
of her mother's headstone. She placed the bouquet of white roses in
the vase. She traced the words gently.
Yvonne Sarah
DuPris-Stratford
April 18, 1957 – December 20, 1994
Loving
wife and mother.
"You are gone from us but your spirit lives
on within us all."
Paris sat down Indian style with her
elbows on her knees. She spoke softly. "Hi mum. It's been awhile,
that's my fault. It's been a really long, bizarre, shitty year
and I just let everything get crazy. I'll tell you about it. I did
voice work for Disney, that was actually pretty cool. My production
company has done 3 movies and we put a bid in on a fourth. I won my
first Oscar but you knew that, again that was cool. I moved to Kansas
and I'm living with Lex, it's nice there and he's doing pretty
well, seems a bit lonely though. He works with Lionel but he has his
own company under Luthor Corp., I know that's the last thing we all
thought he would ever do but Lex fucked up big time in Metropolis,
blood loss was involved, anyway Lionel got pissed at him last year
and made Lex into the business instead of Med. School. Like that was
a shock. We pissed Lionel off which was fun and profitable. Gran's
doing well, she's still nutty as a fruitcake but we love her, and
they don't let her use live ammunition when she hunts anymore which
we are all grateful for. Albert and I are going to Fiji with
grandpere for the next 2 weeks." She took a few deep breaths before
starting the next part. "Now onto the bad things. Well I got into a
fight with Elizabeth last Christmas, things were thrown, hair was
pulled fingers were broken stitches were gotten, so now I'm banned
from aunt Jane and Uncle Ben's place until further notice. My show
is over, which is good and bad. I left my fiancée because he
was a jerk and I know that if you were still here I never would have
gone out with him. I'm fighting with dad again, we got into a fight
at a Christmas Party at the Luthor's house, it was bad. Words were
said, alcohol was consumed, threats and accusations were made and I
threw up. Lex has a girlfriend and she hates me and takes every
opportunity to come by the house and make sure I'm not sleeping
with him. Ablert was sure she was just some flavor of the week but he
was wrong." She started crying. "Mum I'm so confused and angry
and I keep fucking things up. I don't know what to do and I don't
know what I'm doing or where I'm going and I need you."
----The
next day----
Paris left Gustave's the next day and flew to
England to get her cousin Albert so they could spend a few days in
Kansas before Fiji.
Albert Stratford was tall, lean, with
sandy blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes.
Albert stepped out
of the limo and was shocked at what he saw. "Dear god Paris, when I
heard Luthor lived in a castle I thought it was exaggerated. But he
actually lives in a bloody castle."
Paris came next to him.
"No it's a real castle. Complete with drafts and weird noises.
Lionel had it brought over here from Scotland brick by brick. It is
pretty cool though."
Albert looked at her and raised an
eyebrow. "Brick by brick? The man is certifiable."
"I
believe the proper terminology is eccentric."
They made
their way into the house.
"Show me where it happened."
Albert said gleefully.
"Where what happened?"
"You
know the scene of the awkward moment."
She looked at him
with a smirk. "You actually want to see where I wrecked Lex's
mojo? You're bent."
"I know I'm a gossip whore now
show me." He grabbed her by the hand and dragged her toward one of
the hallways.
"Well if we keep going this way the only thing
you're going to see is the garage. Come on." She led him the
other way.
They made their way through the house until they
stopped in front of Lex's office. Paris knocked before entering.
"Lex?" She called through the door.
"Oh Christ Peanut."
Albert pushed past her and opened the doors.
"You do know
that going in there without Lex's knowing is a punishable offence."
She said not kidding.
"Yeah, yeah he'll get over it when
he sees that it was his favorite old chum. So this is Lex's
office." He walked around in the large room.
"Yep."
"It
gives the aura of sex and capitalism. That's Lex to a T."
"I'm
sure he'll be pleased to know that." She said dryly.
"Well
look at the juxtaposition of the furniture. I mean come on. Black
leather couches, and a glass top desk. If that doesn't scream money
and orgasms I don't know what does."
She shook her head in
amusement. "Can we please get out of here? You know how Lex is
about his privacy."
"Alright."
"I'll show you
the rest of the house and then we can get some coffee."
"You
mean to tell me that Podunk has a Starbucks."
"No we have
a Talon."
"I can't believe that you moved here." He
said sarcastically.
"Shut up." She retorted.
----The
Talon----
Paris and Albert walked into the Talon and walked up
to the counter
"Hey Lana." Paris greeted.
"Hey
Paris. Who's this, new boyfriend?" Lana asked jokingly.
"Dear
god we may be British but we're not royalty." Albert said
sarcastically.
"I'm sorry Lana, this cynical snob is my
cousin Albert Stratford. Albert this is Lana Lang, she is co-owner of
the Talon with Lex."
"Hello Ms. Lang. Nice to meet you."
Albert took Lana's hand and kissed the top.
"Oh, hello.
Nice to meet you Mr. Stratford."
Albert smiled and shook his
head. "Please call me Albert. Mr. Stratford is my father."
"Right,
Albert. So what can I get you two to drink?"
"Two coffees
please." Paris ordered for them.
"Alright, well have a
seat and I'll bring them over."
"Thanks Lana."
"Thank
you, Ms. Lang." Albert said.
"Please call me
Lana.
"Alright, thank you Lana."
Paris and Albert
walked over to a table near the back and sat down.
"Why are
we sitting here? I mean this can seat 5."
"Because school
let out an hour ago and in about 5 minutes we'll have
company."
"And you're okay with that? Miss. I Need My
Privacy."
"I like these kids don't worry. Oh and please
stop flirting with the local girls."
"I'm not flirting
I'm being polite."
"Whatever I just don't want to have
to nurse any broken hearts when the girls find out they're not your
type." She teased.
"And what type would that be?" He
retorted.
"Male." She dead panned.
"Yeah
well."
Lana walked up with their coffees. "Here you
go."
"Thanks Lana." Paris said.
Lana walked back
to the counter.
Chloe and Clark walked in and spotted Paris
immediately.
"Hey guys. Have a seat." Paris said
cheerfully as the two teens came over to her table. "Chloe
Sullivan, Clark Kent this is my cousin Albert Stratford." Paris's
eyes gleamed with mischief as she introduced her cousin.
"You're
Albert Stratford. The Albert Stratford." Chloe was in shock.
"Yes
I am." Albert smiled and nodded once.
"I never put 2 and 2
together." Chloe said in disbelief. "I saw your film, the one
from The Cannes film festival."
"Thank you. Please will
you two have a seat." Albert gestured to the two teens to sit
down.
"I have so many questions to ask you."
"Chloe
he just got here and he's Paris's cousin. Be good." Clark
teased his friend.
Albert noticed the Torch in Chloe's hand.
"Are you a reporter Chloe?"
"Yep. This is the Christmas
issue of the Torch. It's just the high school newspaper, but I
applied for an internship at the Daily Planet." She put a paper on
the table.
"Her 'Eat Crow' column this issue is about
the over commercialization of Christmas." Clark added.
"Well
it's true, the commercials, and the specials do nothing but set the
holiday up for failure." Chloe defended her column.
"Yeah,
but Chloe it's a fun holiday. Not to mention decorating the tree,
and the snow."
"Clark have you looked outside recently?"
Chloe gestured toward the windows. "It's December 22nd, that's
three days till the most over hyped holiday of the year and there's
not a flake on the ground."
"Yeah, but there's supposed
to be a storm this week."
"I agree with Chloe, the hype
takes away from the holiday. It should just be a nice day spent with
family." Albert added.
"So what are you all doing for
Christmas?" Clark asked.
"We're meeting my grandfather
in Fiji and spending Christmas on the beach surfing and getting a
tan."
"But doesn't that take away from the
holiday?"
"No. Christmas doesn't have to spent cooped up
inside with your family because it's too cold outside to escape
them. No thank you. Besides December 25th isn't even the actual
birthday of Christ. Scientists have proven that he was more than
likely born in the early summer. No one knows why the Christians
chose December 25th as the holiday. Historians think it's because
all religions out of the east around Greece and Rome borrowed heavily
from each other. The Mithariasm religion declared December 25th to be
it's holiest day and it was a very popular religion in the early
Roman Empire. And since Christianity borrows from almost every major
religion since the early Sumerians it's likely that they chose that
day based on the popularity of the religion. Especially since
Christianity started a mere 300 years later."
Clark looked
dismayed at Paris's dislike of his favorite holiday.
"I
agree, if I hear the Chipmunks sing that stupid Christmas song one
more time I'm going to deck the next Santa I see."
"Damn
Chloe, that's harsh."
"Am I wrong or did I just hear the
Paris Stratford 'I hate Christmas' speech?" Lex asked playfully
as he walked up to the table.
"No that was it in all it's
glory. You do really need to lighten up Peanut. It is Christmas after
all."
"Albert how are you?"
"I'm fine Lex.
And yourself?"
"No worse for the wear." Albert got up
and embraced his long time friend before they sat down.
"Peanut?
That's new." Chloe said.
Lex chuckled at the use of
Paris's hated nick name.
"It's a horrible childhood
nickname born out of a deadly food allergy. And these two assholes
think it's a riot." Chloe and Clark chuckled at her.
"Peanut
allergy." Chloe surmised.
"It's not that bad Paris.
You're such a bloody dramatic."
"My throat closes and I
swell like a blowfish. It's called anaphylactic shock. I call at
deadly."
"I'd have to agree with her on that one."
Clark agreed.
"How come you never said anything about it
before?" Chloe asked.
"When you're me it's not
something you make public domain. I'm just careful about what I
eat, and I always have an epi pen on me and a medic alert tag of
sorts when I'm out." She pulled out her medic alert chain from
inside her sweater.
Lex was perusing the Torch and spoke up.
"Favorite Christmas movies, by Clark Kent."
Clark turned
beet red. "Yeah I was tardy on my last two articles so Chloe made
me do the student poll."
"So what's your favorite
Christmas movie? Or does Lex Luthor not believe in such
trivialities?" Chloe teased.
"No Chloe, unfortunately even
I am not impervious to holiday cheer. I've always enjoyed Holiday
Inn. You?"
"I'm an old fashioned Charlie brown Christmas
girl." Chloe declared.
"I like A Christmas Story." Clark
said.
"I never could make it all the way through that
Charlie Brown one." Paris said.
"It's like 45
minutes."
"No, I know that. I just feel so bad for Charlie
Brown because they're so mean to him and he tries so hard. And
don't even get me started on that Lucy bitch. I can't watch past
the first 15 minutes before I get into a shouting match with the
TV."
"And that children is what happens when you drink
before noon." Albert said jokingly.
"Oh shut up. And this
is what happens when you drink before noon." She lifted her chin
and pointed to a hidden, barely there, scar.
"How'd you do
that?" Clark asked.
"We were like 16 and drinking one
morning during Christmas break and decided to go snowmobiling. One
minute I'm riding along, the next I'm landing on a giant chunk of
ice and bleeding everywhere, besides it was you who crashed into
me."
"Dare I ask what you two like to watch?" Chloe
asked.
"I've always enjoyed Miracle on 34th Street and
Scrooged." Albert said.
"Diehard." Paris said
offhandedly. Everyone looked at her like she was nuts. "What it's
a Christmas movie. Fine, fine the Poseidon Adventure." She said
with a wry smile.
"You, cousin have absolutely no Christmas
spirit."
"Shut up. Alright I do like National Lampoon's
Christmas Vacation."
A man in a black trench coat walked up
to the table. "Excuse me are you Paris Stratford?"
"I'm
sorry all interviews need to go through my publicist."
"No
Miss. Stratford I'm not a reporter." He reached into his pocket
and retrieved some folded papers and handed them to Paris. "You
have been served. Happy Holidays."
Paris looked up from the
papers stunned. "Yeah right." She said numbly.
"Who is
it from?" Lex asked.
"My ex. He's suing me for $15
million."
"On what grounds?" Albert asked.
"I
don't know I'm only one page in." Her phone rang before she
could say anything else. "Hello." She said curtly.
"Hello
sweet cheeks." A deep male voice said.
"What do you want?
And don't call me that."
"Enjoying your present?"
She
got up and started looking around her shocking all the table's
occupants in the process, luckily the Talon had few customers .
"Where are you? You know you're not allowed within one mile of
me."
"No, I wouldn't dare violate your little
restraining order. Just calling to say happy holidays."
"Go
to hell."
"Don't be so defensive, Paris. Just give me
what I want and you'll never hear from me again."
"I
already gave you the ring back." She sniped.
"You threw it
at my head."
"You still have it and you know you'll
never get anything from me. I have more money than God and more
lawyers than OJ. I will bury you in paperwork and then when you're
at your weakest and most vulnerable I will take everything you have.
And I will burn it and do a happy dance on the ashes."
"I
won't make this easy on you Paris."
"I'll fight back
harder than you ever thought possible. How'd you find me
anyway?"
"I Googled you. Imagine how surprised I was when
The Torch came up with an article about Smallville's newest
resident."
Paris scowled in anger and resentment. "Using
the internet to stalk your ex, isn't that a little beneath you?
Well now that I think about not much is beneath you, you're the
lowest there is." He voice was laced with anger and
sarcasm.
"Speaking of beneath, you fucking baldy? I mean
that is where you are right, you ran back to the hairless
wonder."
"Leave him out of this. But if I was it'd be a
welcome change from you. Tell me, has your secretary realized how
badly you suck in bed yet?" She said with a smirk.
"Goodbye
Paris."
"Go to hell." Paris closed her phone and sat
back down.
"Was that who I think it was?" Albert
asked.
"Yes." Paris folded her arms and dropped her head
on them."
"How'd he find you?"
"Google. The
Torch on-line came up."
"I'm sorry. I never should have
asked you to do that interview." Chloe said sadly.
"No
Chloe it's not your fault. He wanted to punish me for leaving him,
he would have found me either way. I'm sorry I have to get home.
Lex can you take Albert back?"
"No problem."
"Thanks."
She grabbed her stuff and ran out of the coffee house.
----Paris's
office later that night----
Paris was sitting at her desk on
the phone with her lawyer. "Yes Jerry I am quite aware of the
upcoming holidays but I AM BEING SUED! I expect you to
actually earn the obscene amount of money I pay to keep you on
retainer. Fine we'll file an injunction after the first. Bye."
She slammed the handset back into the cradle. Sitting in her chair
she grabbed her red Nalgene water bottle and took a sip.
"You
know there are easier ways to deal with this problem." Lionel said
from the doorway.
She looked over the top of her bottle and
sighed. "Hi Lionel, do come in. My day couldn't get any
worse."
"Your warmth touches me." Lionel said as he sat
down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.
"Excuse me
if I seem less than thrilled to see anyone right now."
"I
see Lex has set you up with proper accommodations."
She
closed the bottle and started to swirl the water around inside
creating a tornado, looking disinterested in conversation. She pursed
her lips together, in a slight pout. "Um hm. Lionel I know you
aren't one for small talk so what's up?"
Lionel made
himself more comfortable, he crossed his legs and rested his arms on
the armrests. "Well I inquired as to why you weren't at dinner
tonight and your cousin filled me in on the details of this
afternoon's little legal dispute."
"What time is
it?"
"8:00."
"Wow I lost track of time. My
little legal dispute is nothing more than my ex being a vindictive
ASS. Thanks for your concern though."
"Like I said
before there is an easy way to settle this." He gave her a knowing
smirk.
"And what would that be?" She asked raising an
eyebrow in inquiry.
"How do you New Yorkers say it? Oh yes,
have the prick whacked."
Paris chuckled, losing the
seriousness in her face. "Thank you that did brighten up my day.
But you really do need to lay off the Sopranos."
Lionel
merely smiled at her. "Just thought I'd float the idea boy you. I
must be leaving. Good night Paris."
"Night Lionel."
Lionel got up and started toward the door. "Lionel?"
"Yes."
"You
were joking right?"
"One should never joke about murder
Paris." With that Lionel walked out of the office leaving Paris
stunned.
Paris made her way out of the office and up to her
room a few hours later.
"Damn I haven't even packed yet."
She said tiredly. "Oh well, better get started." She tossed her
water bottle on the bed, changed into her pajamas and made her way
into her closet.
Lex walked in as she was zipping up her
suitcase after putting the last of her clothes in for vacation.
"Hey." He said quietly, to not startle her.
"Oh, hey
Lex. What's up?" She smiled at him.
"Nothing I just came
to see how you were. I hadn't heard any glass breaking so I figured
you were plotting his death." He joked.
Paris chuckled. "You
know, oddly enough your dad did offer to have him offed for me."
"He
did?" Lex's eyebrows shot up in surprise and amusement.
"Yeah,
he even tried to be all New York about it, his exact words were 'Have
the prick whacked.' It was cute."
Lex chuckled this time.
"That may actually be the nicest thing he's ever done."
"Yeah
but I thought better of it. I don't want Lionel to have anything on
me for the rest of my life. Not that it wasn't a tempting offer."
She gave a playful smirk.
"So do you want to tell me the
rest of the story yet?"
She shook her head. "It's not
important."
"Alright, but if you want to I'm down the
hall."
"Yeah and up the stairs and around the corner and
down that hall..." She teased him.
"It's a big house."
He countered. "I almost forgot why I came down here. Have you
looked outside yet?"
"No, not really why?"
"Well
it's already snowed 6 inches."
"Are you kidding me?"
Her face fell in disappointment.
"Nope. It's not supposed
to stop until late tomorrow and the airport is clooosed." He strung
out closed.
"Fuck! Could this week get any worse?" She
asked as she dropped onto her bed.
"My dad's here until
the roads are cleared."
"This is going to get gory isn't
it?"
"Probably."
"Alight well I have to call my
grandfather and get stuff sorted out. Did you tell Albert
yet?"
"Yeah."
"How'd he take it?"
"Not
bad. The crying was minimal." He said joking.
She chuckled
and ran her hands over her face. "Night Lex."
"Night
Paris."
----The next morning 8:00 Am----
Paris's
stereo turned on and, Boom Boom Boom came blaring out. "BOOM, BOOM,
BOOM, LET ME HEAR YOU SAY HEY OH! GIRL YOUR BOOTY IS SO
ROUND...."
Paris shot up and fumbled tiredly for her remote
to turn it off. "Oh I am going to kick his ass." She said as she
dropped her head back down on her pillows. After a few minutes she
made her way to the breakfast room where Lex and Albert already were.
She walked in silently, still in her pajamas with her hair in a
ponytail, and slapped Albert in the back of his head as she made her
way to her seat.
"Ow!" He said rubbing his head. "What
the bloody hell was that for?"
"You set the alarm on my
stereo and I almost had a heart attack." She said then she rested
her head on her arms on the table.
"Oh that." Albert
chuckled. "I did it before we left yesterday. I didn't want you
to oversleep."
"I have an alarm clock now shush. You're
disturbing my sleep." She mumbled sleepily.
Lex looked up
from his newspaper. "Shouldn't you be doing that in your
room?"
"Are you new around here? Logic has left this part
of the hemisphere and won't be coming back for a long, long time.
Now quiet, I'm sleeping." Lex just shrugged his shoulders,
knowing not to argue with her, and went back to reading his
newspaper.
Lionel walked in and sat at the other head across
from Lex. "Paris will you please get your head off the table,
people are eating."
"Humph." Paris let out a sigh and
sat back in her chair. A servant set down food in front of her,
pancakes, sausage and eggs. She took one look at it and her stomach
turned. "I'm not hungry, I'm going back to bed." She got up
and as she walked past Albert she slapped his forehead.
"What's
your damage Heather?" Albert said snarkily.
Paris whirred
around and stalked back to the table, talking frantically the whole
time. "Uah!" She let out an exasperated yelp. "What's my
damage, what's my damage? You, I, lawsuit." She couldn't form a
coherent sentence through her anger. She stopped next to his chair
and started talking emphatically. "I think this is what a stroke
feels like. Take a look around you Toto! We are stuck in fucking
Kansas during a blizzard, I am being sued by my ex-fiancée for
no actual reason accept that he wants me to suffer worse than I
already have. My father isn't talking to me. Our family despises my
very existence. I should be lying on a beach getting lightly tanned
in the noon day sun drinking mai tais. But NOOOOO I'm here
stuck in the house that dysfunctionality built and I can't do a
thing about it and you think it's hysterical. And to top it off you
are using quotes from a dark 80's cult comedy to make me look like
a bitch. You are such a Stratford sometimes." She grabbed a glass
of orange juice from the table and dumped it on his head. "I'm
going back to bed only come in if you have prescription drugs and
vodka." With that she pulled the hood of her sweatshirt on her head
and walked out of the room.
"Well she's quite pleasant
this morning." Lionel said as he put his napkin in his lap.
"She
never was a morning person." Lex said offhandedly.
"No one
cares that I'm sitting in orange juice?" Albert asked.
"You
had to see it coming, she's done it before." Lex pointed
out.
----Paris's room that afternoon----
Albert
walked into Paris's room and hopped on the bed next to her making
the large bed bounce.
"Be nice to me." She grumbled. She
smelled his head. "You don't smell like orange juice."
"I
showered. It's noon, you haven't eaten all day and I'm not
going to let you spend the rest of the week in bed."
"I
wanna go to Fiji." She whined.
"I know. Let's go watch
TV or something."
"Can I at least stay in my
pajamas?"
"Change them or we're going to start calling
you Emily Dickinson."
"Will not."
"Will too, we
took a vote."
"Since when do you and Lex have to power to
out vote me?"
"We don't, but we can annoy you."
"I
don't like this plan."
"Be changed and downstairs in ten
minutes or we're sending Lionel in to talk to you."
"I
hate you all." She said pulling the covers over her head.
"But
we love you. Now get moving, the clock is ticking." Albert got up
and left her room.
----The TV Room----
Paris did just
what she said and changed into a different pair of pajamas and she,
Albert and Lex were on the couch watching TV in the media room.
"I
still don't know why we're watching Buffy." Lex
grumbled.
"Because there's a marathon. You used to like
this show and you know it. Unfortunately it's the last season and
Sarah's my friend. Now shush or I'm going back to my room."
"Did
you skin a Muppet for those?" Lex asked pointing to her blue fuzzy
socks.
"They're warm and cozy. What's wrong with them,
are they not something Helen would wear?"
"What does that
mean?"
"Nothing, forget I said anything."
"Fine.
But can we please turn this off."
"Fine." She turned the
guide on and scrolled through. "Let's see whose E! True Hollywood
Story is on."
"Will you two stop bitching, you sound like
my parents."
Paris Turned E! on and there was a news break
going.
"Great E! News. Let's see whose getting divorced
this week." Albert said.
"I can't believe I'm watching
E! with you two. Ever hear of the history channel?"
"Shush,
they're saying something about Paris."
"Hi, I'm Steve
Kometco for E! news live. As we mentioned earlier Jeremy Fitzpatrick,
TV writer and, ex-fiancée of actress Paris Stratford has filed
a lawsuit against the 23 year old actress citing destruction of
property and abuse by Stratford. E! recently caught up with
Fitzpatrick and he declined an on camera interview but he did say
that Paris became increasingly verbally and physically abusive to him
at the end of their 2 year relationship. He also said it was probably
a side effect of her recent bout with alcoholism and drug abuse. We
weren't able to get a hold of Paris at this time."
"BECAUSE
YOU DIDN'T CALL!" Paris yelled at the TV. She got up and
began to pace. "I can't believe this. Did you two hear what he
just said? Millions of people just heard that. Your sister just heard
that. Holy shit, every studio in Hollywood just heard that. I'm
screwed."
"Paris calm down, it's Christmas week how many
people do you actually think were watching that?" Albert tried to
calm her down.
"We were!" She said back. "Oh my god, he
just turned me into Liza Minelli." Paris said frantically.
"You
can release a statement." Lex tried to help. "You can take a drug
test. And surely your psychiatrist would help clear you of any
alcoholism allegations."
She was near tears. "That's not
how it works, you should know that. Anything I do right now will make
me look like I have something to hide. Besides it's not like I
don't have a history of indiscretions."
"Do you think
someone would bring that up? I mean it was years ago, you were 16."
Albert asked.
"YES they'll find it and bring it up.
For god sakes Albert I spent 2 weeks in a psych ward because I went
on a bender and tried to kill myself!"
"But your
doctors..."
"My doctors won't tell them, they're too
afraid of my father, but someone will. I wasn't exactly a low
profile kid."
"You were depressed."
"And HIGH!
I was higher than a freakin' kite! The doctors told my dad that the
mix of alcohol and drugs in my system could have killed a linebacker,
not to mention the blood loss. I got lucky."
"But you were
depressed when you started using, that has to count for
something."
"Jesus Albert are you new to this game? Have
you learned nothing from our time together? A: I wasn't depressed
when I started using drugs, just when I started abusing them, and
there is a difference. B: I used my wrists as a fucking cutting
board! And C: I'm rich therefore my problems don't matter, they
may get good ratings but they don't matter. As far as normal people
are concerned I am just another example of an Upper East Side brat
who had too much cash to spend and too much time on her
hands."
"Well that all happened what, 7 years ago. If
someone was going to make news out of it wouldn't they have done it
by now."
"No. My father had it kept out of the media. Your
parents didn't even hear about it for, what, two months after, and
we're family. Not totally functional but family nonetheless."
"Oh,
well that does provide a bit of a quandary. Questions will be asked
as to why this wasn't brought to light before."
"Uh,
yeah!"
"Paris calm down, you're getting too worked
up."
"Don't fucking tell me to calm down Lex! I am being
sued and my ex is committing serious slander via television, and it's
going to be all over the papers by morning. My career is in serious
trouble here. I have a company that I could very well lose. People's
careers depend on me!"
"We know you don't use drugs and
you're not an alcoholic. What about the destruction of property?"
Albert tried to get her to think about anything but the TV.
"When
I caught him with her, IN MY BED! I kicked them both out. And later
that night after half a bottle of wine I got all of his stuff that I
could find and brought it outside. I was having the pool cleaned, so
it was empty. And I threw all his clothes and music and books and
whatever else I found in and poured a decanter of his Cognac on top
and torched it."
"Okay so if that's all the property you
destroyed he won't get much for it. And the allegations of abuse, I
mean come on whose actually going to believe that you would hurt him
for no reason at all."
"You don't understand he doesn't
deserve anything from me. This is his fault he started this. He
cheated on me, he hi-hurt me, okay not the other way around!"
Lex
and Albert both looked at her in stunned silence.
Paris
realized her slip. "I'm going to go work out. I'll be done, I
don't know when I'll be done."
----The Gym----
Lex
stood behind the observation glass of the gym watching Paris on the
gymnastics equipment, she had started on the mats, then the horse and
spring board and was currently exercising on the uneven
bars.
"Doesn't this border on voyeurism son?" Lionel
asked as he walked up next to Lex."
Lex never took his eyes
off Paris. "Hardly, I'm just making sure she doesn't hurt
herself." Lex never took his eyes off her.
"But you're
in here and she's out there."
"She made it clear that
she didn't want any company."
"I heard the news report.
It seems our dear Paris has taken quite the hit."
"Don't
refer to her as 'our.' I heard about your offer though."
"It
still stands."
"Why do you care so much?"
"As
hard pressed as you are to see it, I do have a heart. I've always
thought of Paris as one of my children."
"No wonder she's
monumentally screwed up." Lex said sarcastically.
"Very
nice Lex. Anyway if I did have a daughter I would like her to be like
Paris. I've enjoyed watching her grow over the years and seeing the
woman she has become and her screw you to her father was just an
added bonus." Lionel smirked.
"Are you sure? I mean she
doesn't listen to direct orders and she has an uncanny habit of
thinking for herself. And if she were actually your kid that screw
you would have been at you." He said without a hint of joking in
his voice.
"I know, but what can I say. Besides it's not
like you're not here to carry on the legacy."
"If you
like Paris so much then why did you insist that I break up with her?"
Lex asked coolly.
"I told you before son her father would
have come after my company and I have worked too long and hard to
lose my company to Malcolm Stratford. Why do you care now, I mean you
do have Helen."
"What did you do to him dad?"
"To
Malcolm? Nothing that he wouldn't have done to me."
"I
hope you are proud of yourselves, using your children as pawns in
your twisted game of chess. If it weren't for you two this wouldn't
be happening to her."
"You would have left her eventually
son, and it would have been worse than it was."
"How can
you be so sure?"
"Because if there's one thing you can't
do, it's interpersonal relationships."
Lex watched as
Paris went to make the jump from the top bar to the bottom and
overshot the bar, losing her grip and landing face first on the
mat.
"I wonder where I learned that from. If you'll excuse
me I'm going to go see if she's still breathing." Lex stalked
away from Lionel.
Lex walked into the gym and walked up to
Paris who was lying on her back on the mat staring at the
ceiling.
"I was wondering how long it'd take one of you to
come in here." She said neutrally.
"I came to see how you
were doing."
"Like you weren't watching me from behind
the glass."
Lex reached a hand out to help her up.
"It's
not safe for you to use this equipment without a spotter."
"I
don't need a spotter."
"I saw you fall. Come on let me
help you up."
"Fine." She grabbed his hand and let him
hoist her to her feet. She walked over to the bench and started to
put her sweats over her leotard. "So what." She took off her
ankle braces and put a pair of sweat socks on. Then she grabbed her
water bottle and took a sip.
"Excuse me."
"What'd
you come in here to say to me?" She took another sip.
"Nothing
I just came to help you up after that face plant."
They
walked out of the gym and to her office. "I've taken worse. I got
a voice mail from Chip Schrek. He just called to welcome me back to
the world of those who are footloose and fancy free 24/7. He asked
when you were going to come back."
"Oh that Chip, never
misses a chance to screw with us." Lex said with fake fondness in h
voice.
"I hate him."
"As do I my lithe little
friend."
Paris sat down behind her desk and passed the
bottle from hand to hand, and Lex sat in front of it.
"What'd
he do to you Paris?"
"What do you think he did?" She
kept looking at the red lexan plastic and not at Lex.
"I
want to hear it from you."
"Why, so you can go kill
him?"
"No, because I don't think you should carry these
things around forever."
She looked up at him and put the
bottle on the desk. "Well look who's playing Freud. He hit me
alright."
Lex's face darkened in anger. "How many
times."
"Just the one time, no one gets the chance to hurt
me twice. The day I caught them. We started arguing and he hit me. I
threw him out and filed the restraining order. And I called you the
next day."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Why?
Why didn't I tell you? I had no idea that this effected you so much
Lex, I didn't realize how selfish I was being withholding this
information from you."
"I could have..."
She cut
him off. "What could you have done? You couldn't have done
anything Lex. I know you have this instinct to protect me but you
couldn't have stopped this from happening. And I didn't need you
getting thrown in jail for doing something dumb. I didn't tell you
because I didn't want you to think that I couldn't take care of
myself, besides it's not exactly something one wants to
broadcast."
"I understand. I wouldn't have done anything
to him if you had told me not to."
Paris's phone started
ringing. She looked at the screen and recognized the number. "Hold
on a minute." She answered. "Hey Mackenzie. How's
Hawaii?"
"It' great but that's not why I called. Oh my
god Paris I just saw E!. That dickless wonder has some nerve
spreading those rumors about you. What are you going to do?"
"I
don't know, were already filing an injunction after the first, now
I can counter sue. The words gag order may even come up."
"You'd
better counter sue the asshole. Take him for all he's worth. Do
your lawyers know what they're doing?"
"Mack your dad
recommended them to me, two of their partners came out of his firm. I
doubt that Elijah Rosenberg would steer me wrong."
"Well I
think you should go for twice the amount he's suing you for, wait,
push for community service too. Seeing him pick up trash in an orange
jumpsuit would provide hours of entertainment."
"Dear God
I'm so glad that I'll never have to face you in court. You must
send them ducking for cover in law school."
"What can I
say, litigating is in my blood. So what all happened. What started
this whole 'Parisgate' saga?"
"Mack I don't want to
talk about this on the phone right now. How about this? When you get
back to New York I'll fly back and we'll get brunch at the Plaza
and I can tell you the whole story."
"Okay."
"Later
Mack."
"Later Strat."
Paris closed her phone and
put it back on her desk. "Well Mackenzie's ready for the fight of
the century, you'd swear she'd passed her bar already. She's
going to take some man for all he's worth one day."
"Are
you?"
"Going to take him for all he's worth, nah, I have
more money than I could spend in two lifetimes." She joked.
Lex
smiled. "You know what I meant."
"I can take him. I can
take him, and the press and whatever else they throw at me. It's my
dad I worry about."
"How do you think he's going to take
this?"
"He'll make the Punic wars look like a school
yard fight."
"So he'll side with you on this."
"No,
it's not about me. He'll do what's best for the company. And
he'll be pissed at me for starting it." Paris's phone rang
again, this time it was The Imperial March from Star Wars. She sat
staring at it for a second.
"The Imperial March?" Lex
asked with a smirk.
"It's fitting. Besides I heard the one
you have for your dad, 'You're a Mean one Mr. Grinch.' You win
in the dorkiest ringer category."
"He's
waiting."
"Grrr." She answered. "Hi dad. How are
things in England?"
"Paris what have you done?" He
barked on the other end.
"Dad I didn't do anything. He's
just out for a little revenge."
"Don't lie to me Paris.
When did all this start again? I will have you in rehab so
fast."
"Dad I'm not on anything."
"And it
won't be one of those posh L.A. rehab centers either, I'll send
you to a convent in Siberia where you can't do any more
damage."
"Dad are you listening to me? I'm not on drugs
this isn't about drugs. He just said that crap to make me look less
credible. You know I haven't done anything like that since I was
16."
"I don't believe you Paris. And besides do you know
what this is going to do to my company. If my stock shares fall,
because of this I swear young lady you just may get that disownment
you've been waiting for. I cannot believe you Paris. Do you have
absolutely no regard for anyone but yourself? Do you know how much
money this is going to cost to clear up? Let alone what kind of
father this make me look like."
"No dad it'll make you
look like the greatest father to all of them. You will be the hero
who comes to rescue his daughter from her big bad ex. Meanwhile I'm
the only person who knows exactly what kind of father you actually
are."
"Oh and what kind of father am I?"
"Just
off the top of my head. Distant, unloving, selfish, hypocritical,
relentless, discontented. Give me an hour and I'll come up with
more. You won't even give your own daughter the benefit of the
doubt."
"I can't give you the benefit of the doubt
because you are my daughter. I know your past."
"Right,
and as we all know people never change." She snapped her phone
shut. "AHHHHHH!" She screamed at the top of her
lungs.
"Feel better?"
"Not even close." She
opened her hone back up and snapped it in half. Then she picked up
her laptop and smashed the phone to pieces. Once she was breathless
from smashing her phone she sat down, boneless, in her chair. "Now
I feel better."
"You killed your cell phone. Plus you did
some serious damage to your computer."
She closed her eyes
and held a finger in front of her lips. "Shhh. Don't ruin the
moment. And if you do that I'll have to beat you to death with the
unbreakable water bottle."
"Paris this is going to get
worse before it gets better."
"Don't say that. I've
changed my mind, I don't want to be an adult. Is it too late to
hitch a fairy to never never land?"
"I have a surprise for
you. Have your snow clothes on in twenty minutes."
"Since
when did everyone start ordering me around? When did it stop
snowing?"
"Since it's for your own good. It stopped an
hour ago."
"How do I know this?"
"Have I ever
steered you wrong?"
"No."
"Twenty minutes, meet
us in the foyer now go."
----Twenty minutes later----
Paris
walked into the foyer, dressed for the snow like Lex instructed.
The
doorbell rang a few seconds later so she answered it. "Hey Clark,
Chloe, Lana. What's up?" She asked as they walked in.
"No
clue, Lex called us up and said to dress for the snow. But he was
pretty cryptic about it." Clark said.
"And that's a
change from any other day." Chloe said skeptically.
"I
wasn't cryptic I was secretive." Lex said walking into the foyer,
followed by Albert.
"And there's a difference?" Lana
asked.
"Slight. We're not here to argue semantics.
Everyone follow me." Lex motioned for the group to follow him. Lex
led them to the garage. When they entered they went to the lower
level where six snowmobiles awaited them.
"Lex these are
awesome!" Clark exclaimed.
"I know Clark, that's why I
bought them. Everyone grab one and follow me. You three wear
helmets." Lex pointed to the three teens.
"Do we have to?"
Chloe asked.
"Yes, because I don't need to be sued by your
parents if anything happens to you."
"Really Chloe, one
lawsuit a week is enough." Paris said with a wry smile. Everyone
just looked at her shocked. "Oh come on someone had to say
it."
Albert shook his head and chuckled. "It was funny.
You're twisted but it was funny."
"Come one let's go."
Lex motioned for everyone to pick a snowmobile, he of course picked
the purple and black one.
Ten minutes later after a debate
between Chloe and Albert about who was going to get to ride the burnt
orange snowmobile. Chloe won after Paris intervened on her behalf,
the group was speeding along, behind Lex, on the back paths through
the woods and cornfields of Smallville.
Lex stopped in the
middle of a large open field and got off his snowmobile, everyone
else followed suit. Clark and Lana knew where they were, but Clark
didn't know that Lex knew where it was.
"Lex why are we in
the middle of McGregor's field?" Clark asked
skeptically.
"Because we needed a little outing. How long
has it been since any of us have had any real fun?"
"Lex
mate is that a trick question? Because if it is I'm going home, I'm
freezing my bits off."
Paris swatted his arm. "Shush, no
one wants to hear about your bits."
"I'm just
saying."
"I know what your saying now...." She was cut
off by a snowball hitting her in the side of the head. She looked in
the direction where it came from and smiled broadly. "You Luthor
are so dead." She grabbed a handful of snow and whipped it at Lex,
hitting him square in the chest.
"Is that all you've got?
You throw like such a girl." Lex teased her.
"I'm going
to kick your ass." Paris tore off after Lex and chased him with
another snowball in hand.
Lana picked up a chunk of snow and
nailed Clark in the head.
"You do know this means war." He
said as he bent down to grab some snow.
"Oh no you don't."
Chloe whipped another snow ball at the boy.
"What don't I
get any love?" Albert asked dejectedly. Five snowballs flew at him,
all direct hits. "Thank you." He said whipping snow off his
sunglasses.
The group spent the next hour and a half in an all
out war, boys vs. girls snowballs flying everywhere. They were having
the time of their lives.
Lana ducked behind a tree to take off
her hat and shake some of the snow off, Albert snuck up behind her
and was about to nail her in the back with a snowball when he was
stopped. Paris stepped in front of Lana. "Lana duck." She called
to the young girl. Lana looked at her wide eyed but did as said
letting Paris hit Albert.
"You think you're so smart don't
you." Lex's smooth voice called from behind her.
Paris
turned around to face her friend. "And what if I do?" She said
walking toward him.
Lex tossed his snowball in the air and
caught it, not taking his eyes off the brunette stalking toward him
like a jungle cat. "Maybe I'll have to do something about that."
Lex said as she got within arms reach of him.
"Are you gonna
throw that at me or are you content to play with your balls all day?"
She said candidly.
"Oh Paris, the queen of the double
entendre." Lex said with a sexy smirk. He dropped the ball and
grabbed Paris then threw her in the snow.
"Oh you are sooooo
going down for this. I am going to put bananas in the tail pipes of
all your cars."
"You wouldn't dare."
"Give me
evidence to the contrary."
"Fine." He held his hand out
to help her up but she pulled him down in the snow next to her, then
she quickly got him on his back and sat on his chest. "You are so
predictable."
"You are so easily duped." She said
sticking her tongue out at him.
"Well now that you've got
me down here what do you plan to do?"
"Oh I dunno." She
smiled as she brought a large snowball into his view. "This might
look nice on your head or down your pants." She passed it from hand
to hand. Lex got impatient and grabbed her wrists yanking them above
his head causing her to drop the snowball. Paris lost her balance and
fell forward her face stopping mere inched from Lex's. A few
strands of snow covered hair fell over the sides of her face and
dangled between them. Stormy gray blue eyes met sparkling emerald
green. Lex licked some melted snow off his lips. Paris's breath
caught in her chest. Their friends stood silently watching the
exchange a few yards away. Something stirred inside Paris but she
knew she couldn't embrace it, although the idea of kissing Lex was
quite attractive to her. "Oh god." She muttered. She quickly
yanked out of Lex's grasp and go off him. She quickly walked over
to her snowmobile, not making eye contact with any one on the way.
She started the engine with a roar and took off toward the house. No
one said a word to her or Lex.
Lana and Albert were standing
by the tree watching the whole thing. "What just happened?" She
asked quietly.
"Don't worry luv. Things just got a little
too real for Romeo and Juliet."
Oh no I left you hanging.
Guess you all will just have to wait for part 2.
