Clara Kent Superwoman

Chapter 39: Interaction with Lex

Lex flipped through the e-mails on his blackberry while swivelling his plush desk chair slightly from side to side. Swift was slobbering happily on a bone by the fireplace, one of his favourite spots, but made sure to look up to check on Lex every couple of minutes. The dog had taken to following him around like Mary's little lamb when they were in the house, Lex didn't mind, he liked the company. Lex had never bonded with a pet before, his father had only allowed horses and they couldn't curl up with you on the couch. The only person Swift liked as much as him was Clara, whom Lex suspected he associated with walks and cuddles. Lex scrolled past an e-mail from his PA informing him of next week's schedule, when Swift suddenly froze, sniffed the air, and then barked excitedly before scrabbling on the wooden floor into the corridor. Lex watched him with interest, Swift must have heard something, and it was a positive something. Lex lay his phone down on the desk and rose, walking across the room and noting that Swift had taken his bone with him. The corridor was empty and there was no sign of his canine companion. Maybe he'd heard an animal outside? Shrugging, he went back inside the living room, only to be startled as the oak double doors slammed behind him, accompanied by a strangely familiar whooshing sound.

Lex turned and looked behind him, trying the doors and finding them locked. He was on alert now, something was wrong and his gun was in the draw of his desk. Being raised a Luthor taught him if something felt wrong, it was probably an assassination attempt. Lex turned, ready to make a dash across the office for his weapon and was completely stunned by what he saw. There, sitting cross legged on his desk, in a powder blue dress and bare feet, was Clara. But it didn't seem like the Clara he knew, the natural, sometimes shy and relaxed girl. This Clara had the aura of a predator about her, her hair was windswept, as if she'd been in a convertible with the top down, dust covered her pale feet, and her cheeks and lips were flushed with colour. Her position on the desk looked posed, nothing like her usual natural stance. Something was up.

"Clara...this is a surprise, how did you get in?"

Clara's lip twitched and Lex found himself fixated on the whiteness of her teeth in contrast to the rosy hue of her lips.

"I kind of squeezed through the bars" she said smoothly, her voice so unlike Clara's usual cheerful and excited tone.

"In that dress?" Lex asked in disbelief, the dress in question had full skirt which touched Clara's knees and reminded him of photographs he'd seen of the 1950's. He couldn't imagine it getting through his fence unscathed, but it looked pristine as ever, it had not suffered the dirt blemishes that peppered her legs and feet.

"What? -" said Clara, pouting uncharacteristically, standing up and wobbling slightly as she gained her balance.

"Don't you like it?" she asked coyly, cocking her head to the side and spreading the skirt out. Something was definitely wrong, Clara didn't act like this.

"Yes" said Lex. He had to admit she looked beautiful, like some kind of vintage Hollywood Starlet, even with the bare feet. Lex had a sudden vision of Clara in a Grecian white dress, standing barefoot on a hilltop in the height of summer, flowers in her flowing hair. He could imagine her getting married like that...wait...where had that come from? He needed to focus, something wasn't right. Back to the basics of Luthor life, interrogation of the target.

"Why the visit, I thought you had your Winter Formal today?"

"Oh I did, but it's no fun going stag" she said, walking forward slowly and carefully, as if she was afraid of stumbling and coming to stand less than a foot away from him.