Claire had a few plates and forks from the Plant cafeteria on her desk – this was the first time that anything of this nature had happened in this office. She found it odd that she knew Rhone Chade would have water, but had no idea what the man she worked for would have. He never had her get coffee or, well, anything. She didn't know how he took his coffee, and she was his secretary – administrative assistant.
She had a Coke and a Sprite, hopefully covering as many potential possibilities as she could with a mere two bottles – she would just take the one that he didn't pick up. …I must have stood in front of that vending machine for ten minutes; she shook her head softly.
She had been sitting across from him for a few minutes now. They were in the lesser-used couch section of Lex's office. They had been pretty quiet since they left the restaurant, a few thank yous from Rhone when he did something polite for her, like opening the car door. She wondered if Claire noticed and that was why she opted to stay at her desk to do some filing.
"I'm sorry that I embarrassed you, Mr. Luthor," she broke the silence. Had she ever apologized for anything like that before?
He set his bottle of Sprite down on the low table in front of him with a furrowed brow -- he didn't drink soft drinks but once and a while. "It's alright," embarrassed wasn't exactly how he would describe it – more like disappointed that he couldn't… Couldn't what? Buy her things to make her like him? It worked so well on, everyone else – almost everyone else. And that was all he knew how to do…
"No, you live in this town. I've never had to be – image conscious before," she admitted.
"I really don't care what the girl at the Chinese take out place thinks of me," he swirled some of the food on his plate. I care about what you think, he thought to himself.
Rhone squinted for a moment. "Wait," she said after a moment, "You were upset because I paid?" She pointed to herself and then to the plate of food she was holding.
"I wasn't upset…" he began.
She laughed, "This isn't the 1950's you know."
"I'm well aware of the current decade," he pointed out.
"I thought I upset you because – I don't know – I made a public spectacle of myself," she was shaking her head with a vague smile.
"If you were anyone else, I would say that the things you do – those chances you take – are," he didn't really know how to say it, "Well, careless. …The bank, the guy that stole the purse…"
She looked at the floor and nodded; he was right. It wasn't her job to bring in common thieves. But, she had to…
"But, you're like Clark," he added, "You can't help it."
"Is that a compliment?" she shook her head with a faint grin.
Lex smiled widely and exhaled loudly in a quasi laugh, "I admire Clark -- so, yes."
In a way, she admired Clark too. From what she had read and the things Clark and his parents had told her, he did great things, saved people, and never had to – eliminate anyone. …Clark was definitely worthy of admiration. "I'm way more masculine than Clark," she joked under her breath.
He chuckled. …Did she really think that? He watched as she leaned forward and began to gather the dirty dishes from their take out food. He leaned over and helped her. Maybe she was a little masculine, but he thought of it as more self-reliant – a much more attractive quality than masculine.
She picked up their dishes and stood. He quickly stood and reached for the plates, realizing that no one would be coming to clear them away. He could always tell Claire to do it…
"I've got it," Rhone turned to the door with a smile.
"I'll help you," Lex picking up the two empty bottles on the table and turning to open the door for her.
"I think that I can manage," she joked as she walked through the door.
She didn't hesitate this time, he noticed. It felt so right to do that for her and to have her just glide through it while she smiled at him. It was like they were…
"I can't allow that. You're a guest of Luthor Corp., and we treat our guests with the respect they deserve," he said dismissively, his usual smirk gracing his pale face.
Rhone pictured a young Lex sitting in front of a huge television, watching a Luthor Corp. orientation video instead of Sesame Street. She smiled at him. However, when she walked through the door, the image caused a dull ache in her heart that made her furrow her brow and shake her head softly. The image probably wasn't that far from the truth.
Claire was on the phone, typing on the computer keyboard before her. She heard her boss's door open, but didn't turn from the monitor. She cast a glance at Rhone when she heard the empty plate at the corner of her desk clank against two others. Claire smiled as the girl cleared her plate and mouthed, "Thank you."
Lex followed Rhone out the door, presumably to the cafeteria to discard the dishes. Claire vaguely wondered at the level of intimacy that Rhone and Lex had shared, but felt guilty about wondering – for a minute, anyway.