Lex enters his study, back from his morning in Metropolis. He walks over to the bar, fixes himself a drink; taking out his aggression on the defenseless ice cubes. The scotch passes his lips, the warm sting burning his throat. Closing his eyes he hopes the alcohol will erase the defeat of the day.
"Welcome back, Son," Lionel says, rising from the couch.
Lex lets the scotch bottle slip down to its resting place. "Hello Dad," he says, eyeing his father over his glass as he takes another sip of his drink.
"What could possibly bring you out to Smallville? Another Luthorcorp flunkie need his nose wiped?" Lex asks sarcastically, taking a seat at his desk.
Lionel grins, happy to spar with the younger version of himself.
"No no, I've got you to take care of such inconveniences," Lionel says from the bar, preparing a drink for himself.
Lex exhales a chuckle, never amazed at his father's seeming pleasure at their atypical father-son relationship.
"So, you decided to spend your morning in Metropolis I see," Lionel says, beginning his point, dropping the cubes into his glass as punctuation.
"I thought I had made it clear that you were needed at the plant this week," a sternness taking residence in his eyes. He looks to Lex, who simply returns the cold eyed stare, opening his laptop.
Lionel knowing his son well enough, realizes he's not going to share the events of his day with him. He decides to try and coax it out of him.
"I've become quite accustomed to you being insubordinate, but I can't quite say I enjoy you being indignant," Lionel growls.
Lionel walks over to the shelves near Lex's desk. He stops in front of the small painting poised on the shelf. He playfully caresses the frame with his fingers, his eyes sparkling.
Looking over his shoulder at Lex, he says, "This piece is extraordinary, son. How did you obtain it?" hoping to lure Lex in.
Lex hides his guilty smirk behind his scotch glass, simply offering, "It was a gift."
Lionel purses his lips, breezing past Lex as he leaves the mansion.
x X x X x X
Martha sighs, a little flushed with bewilderment. Never would she have imagined that Lex Luthor could capture the heart of a girl like Audrey. Granted Martha hasn't known her mysterious guest that long, but in that short time she deduced Audrey is no fool, nor is she the type of woman usually splattered across the tabloid magazines at the grocery store check out.
Martha does not doubt that Audrey is capable of catching any man she desires, but her demeanor whispers everything opposite to the eccentricities the Luthor name shouts.
Yet, the idea that someone could penetrate the seemingly cold heart of Lex as Audrey claimed she did, was something that intrigues Martha. Being a closet romantic herself, she wants to believe in the fairy tale.
Unfortunately, the final chapter has yet to be told.
Audrey sighs, dreamily leaning her hand against her face, wanting to stay in the beauty of her memories instead of living in the nightmare of her reality.
Longing to show Martha what she and Lex shared was more than just a typical night in Lex's life, she continues on with her tale, soothing herself with the memories that will never fade for her.
Audrey is perched atop a little folding chair, her eyes moving back and forth from the night sky to the little wooden easel before her. She is sloppily dressed, wearing an apron splattered with paint, her hair lazily twisted into a knot on top of her head. Lost in her work, she seems oblivious to the fact that Lex is standing right behind her, admiring both she and her work.
The piece she is creating is extraordinary, the elaborate strokes of color inviting him to step into the canvas. Despite his fascination with her skill, he feels the need to tease her.
"Now, surely you have something better to do on a Friday night than paint by number," Lex says, smiling with his eyes.
Shocked by what she thinks is a rude stranger, she spins quickly on her chair, ready to attack. Her wide eyes soften, recognizing a familiar face.
"Lex!" she says, jumping up to hug him, knocking over the easel.
He smiles, opening his arms to embrace her.
Realizing she's covered in paint she gasps, pulling herself back.
"Oh, I'm such a mess. I'm sorry. Look what I've done to your beautiful suit," she says, trying desperately to wipe the paint off of his designer jacket.
He stops her hands, holding them in his. He does not care about the suit. He looks deep into her eyes seeing that which he has longed for.
Her eyes invite him in, offering unconditional love, a sense of home.
Lex takes her into his arms, his lips exploring those of his love, savoring her sweetness.
Audrey falls into his kiss. Dangling over the edge of delirium, only able to hang on by his powerful hands, caressing the small of her back.
x X x X x X
Lex and Audrey walk into the atrium of Audrey's apartment building. It's late and everyone else has retired for the evening. Audrey has taken off her apron and let her hair down. Lex is carrying her sandals.
"I missed you tonight. Why weren't you there?" Lex asks.
"I'm never invited to those things. You know that crowd, they want the art, just not the people who create it," Audrey answers, regretting the words as soon as she speaks them. She looks to him, offering apologetic eyes.
His smile shows he understands.
"Anyways, I was there, remember?" she teases, spinning on her tiny bare feet.
Lex walks over to her, taking both her hands into his own. "I'm not sure, but I don't think painting in the parking lot is exactly what they had in mind when they planned the event," he says, twirling her around, his eyes dancing along with her. "Besides, I thought it was black tie," he adds, playfully teasing her back.
She looks down at her clothes, giggling. She grabs the end of his tie, flipping it with her fingers. "I guess maybe next time I can borrow one from you," she says grinning up at him.
He leans down, kissing her on the cheek. Driven by his feelings he nuzzles his way down to her neck. His hand cradles her head, his fingers losing themselves in her hair.
x X x X x X
Later that night the two are laying in bed in Audrey's apartment. Her tousled hair falling along his chest.
He kisses her head, smiling, content.
Audrey closes her eyes, trying to hold onto the moment. Savor this exquisite intimacy she fears cannot last.
"Lex..." she begins, taking in her breath. She ponders her next words, feeling their impact before she speaks them.
Gently he raises his head from the pillow, sitting up to comfort her.
Gathering herself into the sheet, she turns to face him. She takes his hands into hers, holding them near her heart.
"It's time for us to go back to the real world, Mr. Luthor," she says, searching his eyes, fearing their stolen moments must now come to an end.
"Audrey," he begins, picking up her chin with his hand. "It's not midnight yet," he whispers, and with a kiss he reassures her he too, is not ready to wake up from this dream.
x X x X x X
Suddenly the loud, deep rumbling of the tractor tears Audrey out of the beauty of her thoughts, startling Martha, who too, was entranced by the tenderness of the memory.
Trying to blink her way back into the present, Audrey straightens her back, swallowing down all the other precious memories that burden her heart.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure this all seems so trivial to you," Audrey says, looking down. "I probably should just let it all go."
Martha pounces on Audrey's last sentence, fearing that just her speaking it will make it so. "Oh sweetie," she begins, taking her hand into her own. "Love, the kind filling your heart, the kind you were so blessed to find and have returned, is something you can never give up on."
x X x X x X
Lex is poised over his pool table, gliding the cue through his shot slowly. Finally executing the shot with expert precision, the ball slams into the pocket. He rises, taking a drink of his swiss water. The afternoon sun casts a blue reflection from the bottle that climbs the wall as he drinks.
The heavy wooden door slices the quiet, as it echoes loud enough to announce the unexpected visitors, and disrupt Lex from executing his next shot.
"Clark. Chloe," he says, putting down his cue. "I'd ask you to join the game, but in my experience three makes for an uncomfortable pair."
Clark, embarrassed by Lex's comment looks over to Chloe, allowing her to take the lead.
"Lex, I was hoping you might be able to help me with a story," Chloe says, reaching into her bag for her folder.
"I thought Clark was supposed to start conducting the interviews?" Lex asks, taking another sip of his water.
Chloe flashes Clark an annoyed look, still not over the fact that he missed his deadline, again.
"This is for my article," Chloe answers, her tone serious.
Lex grins, amused by the backrest position Clark takes to Chloe. "How can I help you, Chloe?" Lex asks, his eyes sparkling as he prepares to play with her.
Chloe opens her folder, producing a document to Lex. "I was hoping you could tell me what connection your father has to Audrey Peyton."
Lex's eyes immediately change. He takes the document, scanning it as he sets back down his bottle of water.
"It's an eviction notice. It seems your father ordered her out of her apartment two days ago," Chloe says, her eyes wide in anticipation of his reply.
Lex offers none, covering his shock with a cool expression.
Chloe, anxious to find her story prods on with, "Why would he do that Lex? There's got to be an explanation."
Lex moves towards his desk, holding onto the document. With his back to them he replies "My father's business dealings often upset people's ways of life. That's nothing new, Chloe."
Chloe, seeing this as Lex making excuses for his father, marches the second document over to him. "I realize this may be old hat for you Lex, but I don't think a person's life being dismantled is trivial."
"Chloe!" Clark says, shocked by Chloe's passion towards the subject and frightened of her tone toward Lex, walks to her, hoping to stop her from making a mistake.
"No Clark!" she says raising her voice, stopping him with her hand on his chest. "This woman was on top of the world a few days ago, and now it's like she disappeared into thin air all thanks to the famous Luthor signature."
Lex takes up the document from his desk, seeing that it's the lease agreement on Audrey's gallery, he files away the information for his own personal agenda.
"As much as I respect your tenacity, Chloe, I don't see how the mundane real estate practices of my father affect the lunchroom crowd at Smallville high," Lex says, hoping to coax out her own agenda.
Chloe, standing by her right to the truth is not affected by Lex's condescending words. She does, however, bite on the bait he threw out to her, giving him a piece of information he can run with.
"I ran into her in The Talon two days ago," Chloe says.
Lex digests Chloe's words, able to hide the fact that this is a major revelation impeccably.
"I wanted to interview her about her art, her gallery in Metropolis. I thought it would be a nice addition to the career issue I've been working on," Chloe says, explaining. "But when she just happened to show up in Smallville, I couldn't help but wonder why. I started looking for her, hoping we could talk, that's when I found those," Chloe points towards the documents in Lex's hands.
"I can see how this would pique your interest about Ms-" Lex pauses, looking down at the name on the document.
"Peyton," Chloe finishes, her eyes searching his for information.
Lex smiles at her, revealing nothing with his sparkling eyes.
"I'm afraid I can't help you. My father signs hundreds of documents a week. I highly doubt he'd be able to recall the details of something as routine as a property eviction," Lex says cooly.
Chloe tries hard to not clinch her fists as her jaw can't help but tighten. Gritting through her emotion, she summons a sarcastic "Thanks Lex," as she snatches the documents back from him.
"Come on Clark, we'll just have to see what we can dig up on our own," she adds, flashing Lex a pair of determined eyes as she exits the mansion with Clark close behind.
x X x X x X
Lex walks over to the shelf holding the small painting. Gently he lets his fingers graze across the frame, as though caressing a delicate animal. His eyes dance across the canvas, searching. Softly he picks it up, returning to his desk without removing his eyes from the artwork.
Rubbing his temple with his forefinger, Lex gazes deep into the piece before him, losing himself in his thoughts.