Three weeks later, Eve was working for The Hendricks Corporation. The typing lessons and clothes that Lex had supplied her with had more than paid off, and by her first day, she felt like a total professional. Her hair had been dyed brown, she walked without an exaggerated hip wiggle, and she could even hear the phrase "take dictation" without giggling. She knew it would be impossible explaining to Lyds and everyone else at The Bobcat that she had miraculously gotten a job at one of the major corporations in Metropolis, so she told them as much of the truth as she could, and let them assume what Lex was up to. If Mr. Priver was bothered that she was getting an indefinite paid vacation, he certainly didn't let her or Lex know.

She could tell from her first interview that Mr. Hendricks was going to be easy to fool, considering how obviously smitten he was with her. Using the excuse that she couldn't read his handwriting, she meticulously copied down his schedule, including the names and numbers of everyone he was meeting with, and took note of everyone who entered his office, everyone who called, and every word they said.

During her first lunch break, she stood outside the building, not sure where to go. It wasn't a part of Metropolis she usually went to, and she didn't want to get lost in the labyrinth of office buildings.

"Hi, you're new here, aren't you?"

She turned, grateful to hear a voice that wasn't Mr. Hendricks' for once that day. It belonged to a man about her age, possibly a little younger, in an ill-fitting suit and thick glasses. He was handsome, though, with curly blond hair and a sweet, if slightly awkward smile.

She nodded, smiling back and extending her hand. "I'm Lauren McAfee. Mr. Hendricks' new secretary."

"Brian Freeman." Of course that was his name.

"So, Mr. Freeman, where can a girl have lunch around here?"

"Well, I was going to the Davis Diner; it's not exactly the best place in town, but it's fast and cheap, and honestly, most other places near here are priced for executives."

"The Davis sounds perfect." She sidled next to him and they started walking. "You been working here long?"

"Nine years, at this point. I started as an intern in college, thinking it would be temporary, but before I knew it, I was an employee, so I've been here ever since."

"I had that at my last job. You think you'll just do it until you find something else, and then eight or nine years go by!"

"At least you got out of it. What was your last job?"

"Also secretary work. With Senator Vauxhall."

She certainly wasn't going to tell him or anyone else about The Bobcat, especially since she was trying to forget about it herself; just one day of secretary work made her never want to go back.

"That must have been great! I've been so out of touch with politics recently, I just have no idea what's going on. You should get me all caught up!"

"Oh, no. It's all pretty boring, really. I just wrote things down and never really got involved."

"That's probably the smart thing to do when it comes to politics! It can get so frustrating sometimes. I think Hendricks will be a lot less stressful."

"I hope so. I'd really love some stability at the moment."

"Yeah, I think that what happened to Miss Thompson was the most dramatic event in the history of the the company."

"Who's Miss Thompson?"

"You didn't know? She was Mr. Hendricks' old secretary. She fell out of her seventh story window a few days ago; that's why the job was open."

"Oh my god! Holy… That's terrible." She felt herself turn pale and almost started to cry.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know it would upset you so much. I'd assumed you knew."

"No." She tried to smile. "See, a friend of mine found the job for me, and he tends not to fill me in on a lot of important stuff like that." She put on her stage smile, But I'm not usually so sensitive, first day jitters, you know."

They continued talking throughout the lunch break, and she quickly ascertained that he wasn't married or involved with anyone. When they left to go back to the office, he helped put her sweater back on, and subtly but palpably kept his hand on her a few seconds longer than necessary. She smiled in approval as they walked back together. If she was going to work in an office, she might as well do it properly and sleep with a coworker. Besides, she reflected later while typing out a letter, Brian was her type. It was boys like Brian she had always wanted, and boys like Brian who had always turned her down before. It was a boy like Brian she was going to marry someday; that was one of the reasons she came to Metropolis in the first place. And Lex, Lex didn't mean anything to her. No, how could he? He killed people. He was only nice to her when she did what he told her to. That was all it was, just rewarding her so that she'd keep going along with him. He didn't love her, which was good, because she didn't love him. She hated him, wanted to—

Her typing became more fast-paced and noisy, and her face contorted into an agitated frown until she noticed Mr. Hendricks looking at her.

"Everything all right, Miss McAfee?"

"Yes, Mr. Hendricks, I just can't believe how people make so many demands on you. It's not fair."

"Oh, don't worry about that; I know how to deal with it at this point." They smiled lamely at each other and she went back to work, forcing herself to stop thinking about Lex, and instead think about Brian.

Eve and Brian saw each other during every free instant they had together. She wasn't quite sure how to treat him at first, whether to flirt and potentially scare him off, or act cool and potentially hurt his feelings. Eventually, she found an appropriate balance, being attentive and excited about everything he had to tell her, but never becoming too forward or suggestive. Her strategy seemed to work, as he eventually gave her a peck on the cheek after one coffee date, and a peck on the lips the next. They even started going on real dates to movies, restaurants, and eventually to his apartment.

It was nice. Not earth-shattering or anything, but nice. Nice enough to make her forget about Lex completely. Brian was what she really wanted. Brian was what any girl in her right mind would want, and he was good. He'd tried so hard to please her. Lex probably would have just taken what he wanted from her, and not given her anything in return. Or he would have been wonderful and smug about it. That was probably it. He'd manage to tease her to the brink, then finally make her come just by lightly touching her. She could just see it; he probably wouldn't even make time to sleep with her, he'd just finger her while he was reading or working on something else, stopping occasionally to tell her to be quiet. He'd manage to be so good, though. Good enough that she wouldn't mind what he was doing, good enough to make her forget-

"What are you thinking about, beautiful?"

"Oh, nothing." She quickly propped herself up in bed and kissed Brian on the cheek. "I'd make you breakfast, but I don't know how."

He kissed her on the lips. "I hope you like scrambled eggs."

"Love them."

He left the room and she got dressed, still contemplating how glad she was to be rid of Lex at last. Well, romantically, at least; she still had to visit him every so often to update him on everything that was happening at the office, and to deliver whatever documents she was able to copy surreptitiously, the documents that he was going to use for whatever—she paused, her stocking halfway up her leg. She didn't know what he was going to do with the information he gave her, but it certainly wouldn't be good for the company, and that meant Brian could be out of a job. Knowing Lex, everyone would somehow end up in jail after being implicated in some seedy business she would inadvertently uncover.

She knew what she had to do, and that night, she went to Lex's. The way there had become familiar to her, since he stopped coming to the club, and she stifled any nervousness by immediately knocking on the door.

Philip opened it, smiling when he saw who it was. He led her to Lex's office, telling her all about their plans to move somewhere, from the way he talked about it, it sounded like a subway station, and how she could have a key so she could visit all the time. Lex was less overjoyed at her presence, and quickly shooed Philip out of the room.

"What do you have, Miss Teschmacher?" He barely looked up at her from whatever he was writing at his desk, and she had to remind herself that she didn't care enough to be upset or to notice how cute he looked in his reading glasses and new hairstyle.

"Nothing. I can't do it anymore." She said it flatly and resisted the urge to run out of the room.

Lex took his glasses off and finally looked at her, leaning back in his chair.

"Miss Teschmacher, I'm not in the mood for this. I'm certainly paying you enough to do the job, and I have to say, you've demonstrated a certain, I might not go so far as to call it aptitude, but at the very least a capability for the job. There's absolutely no reason for you to quit."

She bit her lip before continuing. "Yeah, there is. Remember that guy Brian I told you about?"

He sighed dismissively. "If he knows anything, he can be easily gotten rid of. Though I would like to keep him around; from what you've given me on him, he could easily be framed for what we're doing, and that way you could continue to work for me without-"

"Lex, it's not about that; I love him."

He stared at her openly, going so far as to take off his reading glasses. "I'm sorry, Miss Teschmacher, you're going to have to repeat that."

She rolled her eyes. "You heard me, Lex; I love him. And that means I can't work for you anymore. I don't want him to lose his job, and I just want to be, I dunno, I want to be the person I think he deserves to be with."

"Miss Teschmacher" his voice became dangerously low "do you seriously mean to tell me that you're willing to give up everything I can offer you because you love somebody?"

"Yes" she stated, proud of her resolve.

"Miss Teschmacher, even you're not infantile. Just think about what you're doing, think about what you're giving up. And for what? To protect someone you barely know?"

"I don't 'barely know' him. And besides, he loves me too, so we'll probably get married. I mean, I'm almost thirty-five; if I don't have a baby soon, it might be too late."

"Is that really what you're worried about, Miss Teschmacher? Is your mind so small that you can only focus on the most basic, primitive human instinct? You can't think about the bigger picture?"

"And what is the bigger picture, Lex? Money? It seems like that's all you can focus on."

He gave a disgusted sigh. "Does he even know your name?"

"He doesn't have to."

"So, you intend to get married under a fake name, constantly afraid that someone's going to recognize you?"

Eve bit her lip, as she hadn't thought of that. "I'll come up with something. And don't worry, I won't rat on you, I won't tell him a thing about what we're doing."

"Does he know you're a hooker?"

"No, but he wouldn't care. He loves me no matter what."

"Then why don't you tell him?"

"Because" she faltered "No one says I have to tell him. It's a part of me I'd rather forget anyway, and it'll be nice being with someone who doesn't know and doesn't associate me with…things like that."

"Miss Teschmacher, I am not going to allow you to give up everything I can give you for the sake of a make-believe life with a man who doesn't even know your name."

"Well, you don't have a choice, do you? Look, I'll pay you back for the typing lessons if you really want, but you can't stop me."

As she turned to go, he got up and grabbed her arm.

"Miss Teschmacher, please. I—don't do this to me."

She had to ignore how pathetic he looked, the way he stared levelly at her but was unable to control the little crack in his voice. She'd never seen him like that and under normal circumstances would have believed his sincerity, but with her heart still pounding, she extricated herself from his grasp and he made no further moves to restrain her.

"You'll be back, Miss Teschmacher."

"Don't bet on it," she grumbled as she walked out the door.