Something Old, Something New
Chapter 7: Ground Rules
"Hey," Kate smiled warmly as her new group of friends walked through the glass doors, held open by a smartly dressed doorman.
Lex walked directly towards her, smiling broadly.
"Anyone would think they'd never been in a five star hotel," he remarked dryly, gesturing to the others as they craned their necks to take in every inch of the beautiful lobby.
Kate was greeted by the group, swarmed by hugs even though she had only seen them all the day before. She was continually impressed by the companionship of these young people – she had known them for little over a fortnight, and already she was drawn into their fold.
"How do you like the hotel?" she asked with a grin.
"It's amazing," Lana breathed, still looking around the room.
"Is there anything you need, Miss Finn?" the concierge asked, approaching the group.
"Yes," Kate smiled, enjoying her show of importance. "Will you find someone to take my friends' bags up to the penthouse?"
"Of course, Miss."
"Thankyou," she led the group towards the elevators. "Come on."
"We're staying in the penthouse?" Chloe was in awe.
"Of course," Kate answered. "And you can have anything you want while you're here, no charge. So, order room service, watch movies, eat in the restaurants – anything. Just charge it to the room. Okay?"
"Wow, thanks." Pete was practically jumping up and down in excitement as the elevator doors closed.
Kate hit the button marked 'P', and inserted a small passkey into a slot next to the button. The elevator began moving immediately.
"You need a special key to get up to the floor?" Clark asked in wonder.
Kate smiled at his farm boy ways, "It's so that we can't be interrupted without permission."
"So, who else knows has a key?"
"Only me and James, the concierge," Kate grinned. She reached into her pocket and pulled out five passkeys, "And now, all of you."
She handed the keys around, watching their faces light up at the gift.
"You're free to come and go as you please," Kate instructed. "I'm not your mother; you don't have to answer to me. That being said," she continued in her business tone, "it would be nice to get you home to your families without any damage done. So we all let each other know where we're going, and we won't have any problems. Okay?"
Pete nodded solemnly, and was mirrored by the rest of the group. Lex laughed a little at Kate's speech.
"I thought you weren't their mother," he jibed.
"Shut up, Lex," Kate said breezily. "I'm just making sure we have ground rules… One should always have ground rules."
He nodded with a hint of a sarcastic smirk as the elevator came to a halt.
"This way," Kate said. She led the way out of the elevator doors, and across the wide hallway. She unlocked the large wooden door in front of them using the elevator key, and strode inside.
"Wow," Clark breathed, looking around the living area of the penthouse.
"It's beautiful," Lana said softly.
Kate grinned with pride, admiring the room along with her guests. The far wall was all windows, with French doors leading onto a balcony that overlooked the city. A grand piano stood in a corner, and there was furniture and doors all over the place.
"Make yourselves at home," Kate invited, walking into the room and opening the French doors. A light breeze flowed through, and Kate smiled with satisfaction. She pointed at various doors as she turned to speak to the group, "The boys rooms are over there, Lex included; girls are on the other side, next to mine."
Lex nodded, pouring himself a glass of scotch and sitting comfortably on a plush sofa.
"So, can we go shopping?" Chloe asked.
"Of course you can," Kate laughed. "I have some work to do today, but we'll have dinner together tonight if you like."
"Okay," Clark held up his passkey confidently. "We'll be back later. You coming, Lex?"
"Not right now, Clark," he looked apologetic. "I have some work to do myself. I'll see you for dinner."
"Okay," Clark took Lana's hand and led the group out the front door, waving and calling goodbyes as they went.
"Phew," Kate laughed as the door closed behind them. "They're high energy!"
"They're just excited to be in a five star hotel in the big city," Lex said softly.
Kate noticed how tired he looked. Her heart went out to him, and she felt the familiar feeling of warm affection that he brought out in her.
"How's your plan to get LexCorp back?" she asked quietly, perching herself on the arm of Lex's sofa.
He shrugged. "I don't trust anyone," he said simply. He looked out the windows, able to feel her presence on the arm beside him. He was truly dedicated to torturing himself.
"You can't find anyone that you would trust to help you?" Kate wasn't entirely surprised.
"What I need is for someone to buy my companies from my father, seemingly against my will. Then I need to organise a payment plan with this person and make a deal where I still own the majority share of the companies while I'm paying for them."
Kate nodded, knowing that this was not a very good business opportunity for Lex's potential investors.
"The trouble is," he continued, "anyone I could find to buy my companies from my father is most likely to want to keep them. I have very profitable businesses, and I don't want to have someone buy them and then screw me over when I try to get them back."
Lex sipped his scotch grumpily. He had been through all of his business contacts, and there was no one that he would want to work with. His original plan was to ask Kate, but with his new found feelings for her, he couldn't bear to drag her into the complicated game of chess that was his relationship with his father.
Kate thought about Lex's dilemma, wondering if she should offer to help. She wasn't certain that she could afford to buy Lex's companies from his father, and was even less certain that she should get involved. She was desperate to at least give Lex some comfort, but stopped herself forcibly. She believed in having ground rules and she had made very clear rules on the subject of Lex Luthor – one heartbreak is enough.
The pair sighed heavily and sat for a while in silence, lost in their own thoughts.
Kate looked up at the sound of the elevator bell. There was a soft knock at the door, and she rose to answer it.
"Your luggage, Miss." The bellboy was young, but very professional. He smiled in a friendly manner, wheeling the luggage trolley into the room and stacking the bags by the door. "Would you like them taken to separate rooms, Miss?"
"No, thankyou," Kate smiled kindly. "I don't think we could figure out which bags are whose, anyway."
"Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No, this is wonderful, thankyou."
She gave him a tip and closed the door gently behind him, suddenly noticing Lex looking at her strangely.
"What?"
"You're just…"
"I'm just what?" Kate looked at him sideways, unsure of what he was trying to say.
"You're very nice, aren't you?" Lex observed.
"I like to think so," Kate laughed in confusion.
Lex seemed to lock this piece of information away in his mind before putting down his glass and rising to search through his bag for his laptop.
"I really do have work to do," he said. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
Kate nodded, wondering what she had missed in the conversation that had just occurred. She picked up his forgotten glass and took a small sip. One thing was for certain, it was going to be very difficult to obey her own rules knowing that Lex was so nearby.