The Boss (Lex Luthor)

Chapter 4

Suzette climbed up the last set stairs leading up to her apartment. As she rounded the corner, she jumped slightly.

"Boss? You startled me. What are you doing here?" Suzette blurted.

Lex turned towards her. His face quickly transformed into a sweet, concerned smile.

"I was worried about you, dear. I didn't hear from you after the situation this morning, so I thought I'd check on you." He explained. His face was still very sweet, but the tone of his voice was authoritative.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." Suzette replied, a hesitance to her voice.

Lex stepped forward a bit, so he was only about a foot away from Suzette.

"I'm pleased to hear that. I would hate to upset you. So what did you after you left?" He asked, a mixture of concern and curiosity in his voice.

Suzette stepped away from him, turning towards her door to unlock it.

"Oh, I just, y'know, went to the park for some fresh air. Talked with Clark, did that interview." Suzette said, as casually as she could.
"That's nice." Lex remarked, finally dropping the sickly sweet smile in favor of his usual sarcastic smirk while Suzette was unlocking her door.

She popped the door open and Darjeeling, her calico, ran out.

"Darjeeling!" Suzette gasped.
"Gotcha!" Lex scooped up the calico and placed her into Suzette's arms.
"Thank you." Sighed Suzette, relieved.
"Not a problem." Lex nodded.
"Would you like to come in?" Suzette asked, gesturing towards the open door.
"Oh, I can't. I'm running a bit late, but I just wanted to check on you. Sorry dear." He excused apologetically.
"Not a problem." Suzette shrugged.

Lex headed down the stairs as Suzette headed into her house. She closed the door behind and gently dropped Darjeeling onto the couch. Suzette then undid her hair loops so her onyx hair was loose around her shoulders. She pulled her heels off and neatly placed them on her shoe mat. Suzette proceeded to change into sweatpants and a tee shirt. She went to the kitchen and microwaved some takeaway. She ate in the kitchen, slowly and thoughtfully. Thinking about the eventful nature of the past three days. She tossed the takeaway box in the bin and got in bed with a book, not quite ready for sleep. But she couldn't focus on the story of the book and eventually threw it in frustration. Lex's words just kept coming back to her.

"Suzie, darling, you're different, you know that!"

He apologized, but she hadn't been called that in so long it was jarring and hard to forget. The last time she had been called that...

Cara. Cara Northcoast. Her beloved sister.

"I don't want to do this tonight." Suzette muttered to herself, clutching her head.
"I don't want this. I don't want to remember."

Suzie. Cara was the only other person who ever called her Suzie.

"Suzie.." Cara was chiding her.
"Suzie~!" Cara was playing with her.

Cara had been an angel in human form, while her mother, Suzette's aunt, was the devil in disguise. Cara wore her hair down, with two big side loops that Suzette thought was the pinnacle of fashion as a child.

Tears rolled down Suzette's cheeks. "I'm tired of crying." She croaked. But the tears came anyway.

Cara was a hippie at heart, although Suzette's aunt always pushed her dreams of being a ballerina onto Cara and Suzette. That was the only reason Suzette was a classically trained ballerina. But the pressure of perfection was too much for Cara, and she committed suicide at only seventeen years old. Suzette was only seven.
"Cara?" "Cara get up!"
Cara loved Suzette just for being herself. While Karen paraded Suzette around as her noble charity case, helping out her poor brother, Cara understood. She accepted Suzette as a living person, not a novelty. She treated her like a human, even though she wasn't.
"CARA!" "Suzette, hush. There's nothing screaming will do for her now." A hiccup. A sob. Why did no one else care?
Cara invested herself in learning Suzette's heritage and taught Suzette French so that if she did ever meet her father, they could communicate. Cara was the best person Suzette had ever known, and she was gone. The only attachment she had to humanity was gone.

Suzette was gasping for breath, so she sat up.

But now she had Clark, and Suzette hoped he would fill the hole Cara had left in her heart. That he would be a genuine friend, a confident. But maybe that was wishful thinking.

Suzette rolled onto to her side and tried to stop crying. "Just sleep." She told her self, heaving a shaky breath. "Just sleep."