Chapter 13:
"Lex Luthor, why haven't you returned my calls?"
Luthor took in her figure as he slowly walked up to her. The strapless, off-shoulder, midnight blue gown was absolutely stunning on her, and though he'd seen her in more lavish attire— and at times seen her in much less than the gown that hugged her curves in just the right way— he found his breath still taken away by her beauty. He took her hand and kissed it gently. "I can assure you, my darling, I'll never make that mistake again."
She rolled her eyes as he lead her to the dance floor immediately, starting to sway gently with the soft waltz music. "Stop playing coy, Lex. I'm serious."
Luthor's face softened from the grin it previously held into a look of concern for his still-hopeful-future-fiance. "What's the matter, my dear?"
Lois keeps her voice low but the urgency wasn't toned down any. "I've been trying to get ahold of you all day—"
"I'm sorry. I've been busy preparing for tonight. Nigel hadn't informed me that you'd made any sort of contact."
She waved a hand through the air, brushing away his concern. "It doesn't matter. I was calling to warn you—"
"Warn me?"
"Yes," she spoke through her teeth, irritation rolling off her in droves. "It's about—"
"Mind if I cut in?"
Lois and Lex's movements ground to a halt as Clark's smooth voice drifted over them. Lex fumed, and saw that Lois’ reaction wasn’t far behind his. The man didn't have the gall, did he? Lois’ voice dripped with polite rancor when she spoke. "We're dancing here, Clark."
Clark broke out into a smile. "Yes, I know. That's why I asked to cut in."
Lex's brow furrowed slightly at the hostility Lois was showing to the interloper, and turned to calm things down. "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've been properly introduced yet. Lex Luthor," he held out a hand, which the man opposing took heartily.
"Clark Kent."
"Now why does that name sound so familiar to me?" he wondered aloud, a small smile on his face. Lex knew exactly who he was and seeing the reaction on the younger man's face was worth all the trouble.
Lois begrudgingly reminded him. "Lex, Mr. Kent is the man I was just about to tell you about. The one who bought the Daily Planet?"
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Ah! Clark Kent of CK Enterprises, of course! A pleasure to finally meet you." Clark nodded and smiled, and Lex could see that his request still stood. Clearing his throat, he placed a quick peck on Lois' cheek. "Later then?" he asked, and as she nodded in response, Lex went off to let them dance.
A jealous expression crossed Lex's face as soon as he had departed from them. He went directly over to Nigel, standing in the shadows of the room, keeping a close watch over everyone. He nodded slightly as Luthor approached.
"Nigel," he started voice low and jealous eyes glued on the man currently dipping his intended. "What else do you know about Mr. Clark Kent?"
An eyebrow quirked slightly upward, but that was all. "No one seems to know much about him, sir. His latest purchase of the Daily Planet is the first really public thing he's ever done. Up until that point, few people even knew his first name, or what he looked like."
"Well, he certainly looks different from what I expected," Lex murmured. "I thought he was some rich older man in his fifties, and those glasses?"
"Apparently, they're apart of his trademark."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that. I just think they make him look ridiculous."
Nigel almost smiled. Almost.
"You'd think he'd have a little decorum, at least. He's a guest at my home, my party, and he waltzes in and comes up to steal my girl away from me. How did a man like that ever get to own a third of Metropolis' real estate? How could anyone trust that lying face?"
Nigel nodded and answered the first part of his boss' question. "Through subsidiaries and puppet companies mostly. It's really hard to decipher the man though from his business practices. He's practically a recluse. This is entirely out of character for him to be in the spotlight so suddenly." His tone took on a more reflective quality, and Lex glanced at the butler with a slight frown. Nigel shook his head and shot him a forced smile. “Not sure why it bothers me so.”
Lex had to agree, it was most definitely a bold switch. He watched as Lois suddenly pushed away from the billionaire and strode firmly out of the ballroom. Lex smiled slightly at the little triumph, when the younger man seemed to smile to himself and— shocking Lex— followed her path out of the room.
A flare of jealous rage sprung up inside him. With a taut smile to Nigel, he excused himself and followed the two of them.
*****LnC*****
"Kent, you idiot!" Lois' whispered voice was heated and harsh. "I said I didn't want to dance with you like two songs ago! Do you know how close I am to just wringing your neck right now?"
Clark, seemingly amused at her small threat, grinned and pulled her body flush against his as they begun their dance. "This close?"
A flush of heat washed over Lois' cheeks and chest at the closeness. She could certainly feel everything... She swiftly pushed him back several inches, keeping their distance appropriate. Besides which, Lex was now looking back over at them from his perch with Nigel. "Cut it out. What do you want?"
Clark chuckled slightly. "Two billionaires want to dance with you within moments of each other and you're not flattered? Why, Ms. Lane, you're practically the belle of the ball!"
She was about to retort when suddenly he dipped her. She clutched desperately at his arms, then felt stupid for doing so. His dark chuckle came back and his hot breath washed over her skin as he leaned in close to whisper in her ear.
"Don't worry. I'll never drop you."
Her skin crawled with what she assumed was anything but arousal— because there was no way in hell that's what it was. "Well, as much as I appreciate that, I'd rather stand on my own two feet, thank you very much."
He lifted her back upright with a lopsided grin. "No problem, Miss Lane."
They danced on in silence for a few moments longer before Lois finally blurted what's been on her mind. "I just don't understand what you want to do with me."
A frown crinkled his brow. The simplicity of his answer shocked her. "I like you. Nothing wrong with that."
"And what about your date? Bambi, was it?" She stuck out her chin in defiance, challenging him.
He just shrugged and smiled. "Tiffani. And she's still dancing somewhere."
Lois snorted. "It doesn't bother you that she ditched you?"
"First of all, no. I mean, it's not like we're in any way exclusive. And secondly, I left her to come dance with you, now that you've decided to dance. Is that a crime?"
Lois stared into his chocolatey brown eyes, drowning in them. They were so interesting, so full of so much that they were practically unreadable. She didn't know how that made her feel...
Then her thoughts jolted her to a stop. How it made her feel? She was in a relationship, for Pete's sakes! She shouldn't be having any thoughts of the sort. Quickly she snatched her arms out of his grasp and stormed out of the ballroom, not caring what she looked like to anybody else.
She just had to get away and clear her head for a few seconds.
*****LnC*****
Clark stood there confused for a moment before taking off after her with a small smile.
He caught up to her quickly, thanks to some judicious use of x-ray vision, in what he assumed to be Lex Luthor's study. When the door closed behind him with a click, Lois jumped. She scowled at him after collecting herself. "Kent, what are you doing in here?"
He grinned. "What are you doing in here? The party's out there."
"I'm getting away from you," she retorted.
Clark pouted slightly. "Is that any way to treat your new boss?" He took a step closer, going for playful intimidation. He leaned casually against the wall with one arm, trying to stay outside her personal space bubble so as to not set off any major alarm bells. He wanted information, he didn’t want a lawsuit. Although what he wouldn’t give to have her.
Lois suppressed a shudder and huffed out of exasperation, pushing past him. "First of all," she ticked off each of her fingers as she went on. "You are not my boss. My boss is Perry White. That has not changed just because you bought the newspaper. Secondly, this has gone well past the line of creepy and even bordering on sexual harassment. And finally, even if I were interested— which I am not— I already have a boyfriend, thank you very much. So, if you know what's good for you, you'll back off."
Clark, who had been regarding her quite seriously while she said her piece, suddenly grinned. She took a step back, physically thrown off balance by his shift in demeanor. He saw himself through her eyes for a moment, and realized he might be coming off a little more predatory than he’d intended. Perhaps Lex’s personal office wasn’t the right place for this, wasn’t setting the right tone. Harassment wasn’t his plan, but she couldn’t know that. He took a step back himself and kept up his smile to put her more at ease.
“What?" she snapped harshly.
"My apologies, Miss Lane," he continued to grin as he stepped away to peruse the room. "I did not intend for you to feel threatened or harassed in any way. You are a bright, beautiful young woman, to be sure. But it was never my intention to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry if you thought I was... coming onto you at all. I can assure you that is not the case."
She gave him a suspicious once over, a hint of uncertainty and a flash of disappointment striking across her delicate features. Better. Her posture loosened suddenly, less on guard, and it seemed she’d decided to believe him. "Okay. Good. But what is your intent, then?"
He flashed her another quick grin. "That's a question for your boyfriend, as you called him. I've actually been trying to talk with him." He let that statement hang in the air before considering a moment and turning away. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it."
He turned and walked into the next room, more of an outer area of Lex's study, filled with a collection of rare artifacts and trinkets. Lois remained in place in the other room, standing as though torn about what just happened. Clark pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and continued to stroll around the office, examining the quite impressive collection. He crushed the little tingle of excitement he felt at actually being inside Lex Luthor’s quarters. This was the closest he’d ever been to the man in the past seventeen years. If he lost focus now it wouldn’t have been worth all the trouble. He listened patiently as footsteps approached from the distance.
Suddenly the sound of metal scraping prompted him to turn around. Clark's eyes went wide as he felt more than saw the cool metal of a sharp blade pressing against his chest. He swallowed down the brief chill that ran down his spine and met the eyes of his would-be aggressor.
Lex held his gaze firmly for a few moments, neither being the one who wanted to break the silence first and end whatever competition that had just been started. Finally, Clark spoke, letting Lex think he had won this round. He nodded down at the sword without taking his eyes off of the man before him. "Macedonian?"
Lex smiled politely, if not a tad bit menacingly, before pulling back and hefting the weapon in his hands. "It belonged to to Alexander the Great. A brilliant tactician." He looked at the blade almost lovingly before passing it over for Clark to examine. "Alexander's strategy was simple— always control the high ground. It was with this sword that he—"
"—Defeated Darius the Third, and was proclaimed King of Asia."
Lex looked at his opponent with a calculating eye, evaluating him. "You know, you surprise me, Mr. Kent. I'm not often surprised. Then again, I suppose it makes sense. One doesn't always meet face to face with a man who was, until the last couple of weeks, practically a ghost."
Clark smiled tightly, the expression never quite meeting his eyes, and he quickly moved to change the subject. "You have quite the impressive collection here. I hope you don't mind my looking around."
"Well, normally I don't let just anybody go waltzing through my private study..."
"Of course, of course. I was just curious. It's not every day that I get an invitation to another billionaire's home."
The flare of Luthor’s nostrils told Clark that he’d caught the insult hidden in the words “another billionaire”, and Clark’s bright, fake grin grew to be a little more genuine. Lex bristled at the sight and squinted his eyes at his opponent, sizing him up. "You know, I'm curious. For a man such as yourself, never coming out of hiding— this is a very different approach. Why the sudden change?"
"Why, Mr. Luthor, I think Lois was wrong. You'd be an excellent newsman. That's a very solid question." Clark took amusement in Lex's glare, but didn't answer the question. "You know, Lois is a very smart woman. You're very lucky to have her. A man like yourself? Must not be easy."
Anger flashed through Luthor's eyes and he stepped closer to Clark. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing at all, I assure you," he spoke smoothly, voice taking on a soothing tone.
"That's not nothing," Lex practically growled, leaning in menacingly and not buying a second of it. Clark backed towards the wall as Lex advanced on him. The sword was still in his hands, but the blade was no longer pointed at his body at least. "Do you have some sort of problem with me that I'm not aware of?"
Clark smirked. Oh, how much you're not aware of... "Not yet."
"Well, good. Because I'm warning you, Mr. Kent— I might seem like a nice, harmless philanthropist on the outside, but I'm more than capable of handling myself. I've got lots of contacts in this town and I know you think you can just waltz right in and make a big show of everything you do and swoop everything out from under me, but I assure you, my business over the years has more than earned me a little loyalty. I will fight for everything I've got and more, and that extends to Lois. She's mine. As much as LexCorp is mine, and this building is mine— Lois Lane is mine. And while you may have been able to make your money incredibly fast overseas, you're on my turf now. So quit playing these little games with me, because you can't win."
Clark chose now to dart his eyes towards the door, where Lois stood there gaping at the scene before her. She must have heard that last bit of Lex's speech. Good. Lex followed his gaze and immediately the tough guy act he had been putting on melted off as he scrambled to recover. "Lois? What— uh, when—"
Clark clamped down on his initial reaction of grinning smugly at his opponent and instead pretended to be genuinely threatened by the man. He straightened up and moved away from Lex, dusting off the front of his jacket with a note of finality. "Well, I'd better be going. My date's going to start wondering what happened to me," he said loudly, slipping away and out of Lex Luthor's study with a sigh of relief.
He had no idea how long he'd been holding his breath. Tonight was the first time he'd come face to face with Lex Luthor since... he didn't know when. He couldn't really count the time when he walked past him and out of the Metro Club. He'd spoken to him in passing, followed from a distance, kept an eye out on him. But to actually speak to him? The thrill of it all made a shiver run down his spine. This was it. This was really happening now. He grinned to himself as he strode out into the ballroom.
He found his date relatively quick. "Hey," he greeted with a grin and a smooth arm slipping around her waist. The bubbly blonde turned to smile at him, glad to have someone by her side again.
"Hi, there. Where'd you go just now?"
He batted her question out of the air with a wave of his hand. "Just had to talk some business. You want to get out of here?"
Her brow furrowed slightly, as though that question took a lot of thought. Clark barely managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes at her. It would be nice if he could stop dating these ditzy blondes and skinny models and actually have a conversation with someone. It would be even nicer if Lois were that person.
"But they just said they're going to be making the big announcement in a few minutes. Don't you want to stay for that?"
"Tiffani," he chided, rubbing slow circles on the small of her back. "I can always find out what happened here later. I just had to be seen. And models don't usually care about this sort of news." A brief hurt reflected in her eyes, but he kept talking to keep her attention. "Now, all I'm saying, is that we could go and do something more fun, somewhere else. What do you say?"
Tiffani ran her eyes up and down his body languidly, and Clark smiled devilishly. He had her, and he knew it.
"I say we should go, then."
Clark pressed a light kiss to her cheek before leading her out towards the elevator. He collected their coats, helped his date into hers, and together they headed out of Lex Luthor's penthouse.
He couldn't keep the grin off his face. Clark was satisfied with the amount of chaos he created tonight. He'd gotten Lois' attention, got the chance to face off with Lex, and now he was going home with a beautiful woman— not his first choice, but he was playing a long term game here. He could bide his time. Besides, things were going to move fast from here on out. If there was any fun left to be had, now was the time.
The White Orchid Ball was a phenomenal success.
