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Thread: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 56 (May 27, 2016)

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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 53 (June 24, 2014)

    thanks for great update

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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 53 (June 24, 2014)

    Chapter Fifty-four


    It was a good sign, Lex thought. He watched the careless way Chloe stirred her coffee, knocking the spoon noisily as she mixed in a flavour shot. She was eating and talking, pausing between bites to gesture in emphasis.

    "This union representative was mad I didn't phrase it exactly the way it was in the union handbooks," she said. "Never mind that I wasn't allowed to see a handbook and it was a direct quote he gave me personally. He came back to the office to complain I'd quoted him exactly instead of somehow psychically knowing the actual way he meant to say it."

    The platter of croissants between them was reduced to scraps sloppily cut with a butter knife as she tried each kind in sawed off chunks. There was an endearing crust of chocolate in the left corner of her mouth. She tossed her spoon down and gulped coffee, bracing herself for the rest of the story.

    "I get accused of lying," he said, "-but usually I can't play back a recording to prove I was telling the truth. What did you do with the union rep?"

    Chloe widened her eyes and looked to both sides, leaning in. "Landfill, obviously."

    Their first date without the dog had been painfully polite. She might have been tiptoeing her way through an etiquette lesson for a future queen. Her sips of coffee were tiny, and her bites even tinier. She stirred her cup without making a sound. Conversation hinged on weather and the upcoming mayoral campaign. She dabbed her napkin to her lips compulsively. Eye contact was an accident she corrected by staring at her hands. He had felt like he was holding her hostage.

    "I suppose we should all learn from Jimmy Hoffa," Lex said ironically. "Did you dig the grave by yourself?"

    "What kind of union rep doesn't have access to a backhoe," she replied.

    She was making jokes and complaining cheerfully about her work. They had shared memories of silly things the dog had done, or plots of movies they had seen together. Chloe knew which candidate he'd voted for mayor. She made fun of him for wanting to see a particularly bad action movie. She smiled at him, almost as freely as she smiled at Cara.

    It was tempting, even rational, to call it progress. He caught himself reaching for her hand or about to brush hair out of her eyes. He wondered about her in the middle of the day. Lex had a fairly good idea what he might give her for her next birthday, and for Christmas. He worked out the details of their dates meticulously, avoiding certain things that Chloe might not like. She didn't like his apartment, and he was working on a solution, but he needed her help.

    "As long as you're solving problems, can I ask a favour?"

    Her wariness was mild, a stiffening of her shoulders and an unaccustomed pause before she spoke. "What's the favour?"

    Lex picked up his wine and took a sip, trying to exude nothing more than slight irritation. "I've decided I need a house so the dog can have a yard. The realtor gave me a list of places, and I have appointments to see the top three I liked from the pictures. It would help to have a second person to feel things out," he said.

    She frowned, but Chloe dropped her shoulders and relaxed. "I don't think I can help. I saw my Dad's house before we moved, but I was really young. I've never picked out my own place to live before," she said.

    "Neither have I. The apartment I have now was arranged for me when I left college and started to work at LuthorCorp. I know what I want in a house, but I'm not used to accommodating other tastes. I'm investing in a home, except I never really focused on all the little things that entails. If you came with me you could point out issues from a woman's perspective and as a former dog owner. It might save me from buying whatever fruit a bad house becomes if you buy it."

    She smiled uncertainly. "A bad car is a lemon, so a bad house would be bigger. A watermelon," she asked.

    "A watermelon," Lex agreed. "I need you to save me from my own bad taste. I barely have the time to buy one house. I might just go the Howard Hughes path and camp out in a hotel for the rest of my life. I can let my toenails grow until they start to curl."

    "Ew!" She pushed away her coffee and hugged her stomach. "I'm eating!"

    Chloe's exaggerated eye roll eased a knot of guilt in his stomach. Lex knew he had to be assertive one, always making future plans while they were face to face. He had the sense Chloe dreaded seeing him but usually managed to relax once they were together.

    He was careful, painfully cautious of her moods, easily distracted by the merest hint of her dissatisfaction. The curve of her smile called to him, trying to trick him into taking more than she was willing to offer.

    They never touched. He tried helping her with her coat and she froze with a quivering look over her shoulder - at him. Lex never wanted Chloe to see him as a threat. He was trying hard not to be frightening. He was careful to be pleasantly, enthusiastically insistent he would like to see her again. He did not make demands. He was reluctant to suggest a meeting time more convenient for his work hours, because it gave her the option of cancelling their date entirely.

    Physically they were nowhere. He knew she looked at him, maybe wanted him in a very distant way he was unable to read accurately. Another woman might have used that mystery to tease his desire, test his patience to have sex with her, but not Chloe. She was placid on the surface but he was certain there was immense struggle inside her thoughts.

    "If you really don't want to help . . . " Lex told her.

    "No, I do. I just . . . I don't know anything about wainscoting or marble finishes," Chloe said softly. "I don't think I'll really help you as much as somebody else could."

    His frustration spiked at the hint of her poor judgement of her own skills. Chloe was talented, but meeker than she was meant to grow up. Lex wasn't even sure what to say, because low self-esteem was hardly a hurdle he had cleared.

    "You will help me," he assured her. "I value your opinions and I like your company. If we can both agree on a house, I'll be confident buying it is the right decision."

    There were no big reactions from Chloe, just tiny signals he obsessed over on the drive home after their dates. She nodded, smiling into her coffee as she drained the very last of it.

    "Okay. When do you want to look at houses?"

    "You have a half-day of class on Thursdays, right? Would that be okay," he asked.

    Lex often had to remind himself his impatience would be a thousand times more threatening to Chloe. He forced himself to react slowly, even moving at a fraction of his natural motions. When his shoulders bunched and he burned with a vague, irritated dissatisfaction, he went to the gym and did his best to work it off. He had to learn a kind of gentleness foreign to the rest of his life, and sometimes he felt he was misleading Chloe by managing it so well.

    "I'm free after one," she said, dimpling in one cheek. "Are you bringing Cara?"

    As a buffer, the dog was almost magical. Her presence was a distraction and a balm to awkward moments. It would be petty to resent Chloe's clear love for his pet, but something had to change if their improvised sex therapy was ever going to be more than all talk.

    "Cara's a big dog to bring into someone's house. I'd hate to spend money fixing up the houses I don't buy along with the one I do," he joked. "Do you think I should?"

    A glimmer of humour lit her face. "Unless you want to roll in the grass yourself," Chloe told him, "-we need a backyard tester."

    He had given himself just enough rope to hang, Lex thought. He had Chloe for coffee and movies, walks and conversations. They had planned at the beginning to have sex, at some point. Time and space had become a small but insistent barrier telling him he had to wait for some sign of readiness. There were moments he thought Chloe was looking for the same from him, and neither of them wanted to be the one to break the peace. He hoped the new house might allow them to be alone together in relative comfort, at least long enough to see if they might be physically compatible.

    "Whatever you want," he said easily. "Cara and I will meet you at 1 at the dorm. Thank you."
    Her soul is senstive like a finely made tuning fork. It vibrates and resonates with every little hint of trauma, evil and monstrosity that might be humming in the air, and channels it into expressions of fiction... or recomended websites - somethingeasy

  3. #783
    NS Full Member Rachet's Avatar
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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 54 (Feb 22, 2015)

    He is buying a new house so she doesn't have to go where the bad memories were made. Love his thinking.

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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 54 (Feb 22, 2015)

    love that he is buying a new house so she does not have go where bad memories are.

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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 54 (Feb 22, 2015)

    The house is a great idea, but I'm also impressed by the care Lex has taken not to frighten Chloe or make her too uncomfortable, even going so far as to slow his gestures and other movements, instead of letting his body move at the speed of his mind. Good on you, Lex!

  6. #786
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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 53 (June 24, 2014)

    So great to see an update!!! I love that Lex is trying to put the past behind by buying a new house.

  7. #787
    An Accused Heretic Senior Member Kit Merlot's Avatar
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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 53 (June 24, 2014)

    Good for Lex for wanting to improve his and Chloe's futures--they deserve a future where they can actually be happy and free from Lionel Luthor's influence.
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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 55(Updated April 3, 2015)

    Chapter Fifty-five


    "The kitchen has stainless steel appliances for very easy cleaning. The counters were replaced with marble slabs last year. There's even a pantry area that could be a space for the dog," the realtor ventured cheerfully.

    Chloe didn't like her. She was glossy, like a magazine ad brought to life. The house was pretty, but the way the realtor was talking it needed to be preserved under vacuum domes instead of lived in by anybody.

    She gave Cara a dirty look for doing absolutely nothing, Chloe thought. This is exactly the kind of person who won't get that Lex doesn't want to suffocate in fancy hermitage.

    "Cara eats with the rest of the family," Led said mildly, "-Ms. Hatcher, I wonder if my friend and I could walk around the garden. I wouldn't ask you to risk those beautiful shoes, of course."

    Ms. Hatcher frowned and immediately collapsed into bashful smiling. "With some landscaping you could have a wonderful patio. Let me know if you'd like to see some visualizations. Clients tell me they aid the imagination."

    "We won't be long," he said with same assurance he'd implied there was a wife and a pack of kids in his household.

    Chloe followed Lex outside, sliding the door decisively shut on the realtor. She let Cara's leash out longer and crossed her arms.

    Digging fists in his overly expensive pockets, Lex stood between her and the avidly watching realtor. "I can't tell if you hate Ms. Hatcher or the house," he murmured.

    "Both, kind of," she admitted. "She's fine. I don' t get her wearing million dollar shoes to walk around all day, but that's my issue. It's a nice house. For all I know she's found incredible bargains, too. None of the places are much different from your penthouse."

    Lex seemed oddly pleased by something she'd said, though Chloe couldn't guess how her complaint had charmed him. He strolled across the grass to scrub behind Cara's ears thoughtfully.

    "I assume my public image elicits a certain bland exclusivity. I can't blame her for trying to give me what she thinks I would want. I can imply you'll be moving in with me, and I'm sure she'd listen to your suggestions."

    The dog was clawing at the bottom of the fence and they pulled her away to walk circles side by side.

    "It should feel like you in your house," Chloe tried to explain. "The penthouse never felt like you, and this house doesn't. Your office should uphold your brand, just like Ms. Fancy-shoes in there dresses for her job. You're much more the man who has two muddy paw prints on his pants and doesn't care than the guy who rolls up to work in a town car. I don't have a way to explain you at home in the features of a house."

    "Well . . . I guess we'll just call this off until we have a better plan," he said thoughtfully. "I'm sorry I wasted your time."

    His face had something in it before he turned and dug out his phone, no doubt playacting a very important phone call to assuage the realtor's ego when he cancelled the rest of the viewings. Chloe watched, puzzled. Lex showed irritation readily, at least to her. He seemed almost disappointed.

    "Wait! We can work with this. She has to listen if she wants the commission, right? You have the day cleared to do this, and we should use the time," she said.

    He turned back and shrugged, but the phone slipped into his pocket. "What kind of house do I need to ask for to suit us?"

    He meant Cara and himself, but was looking directly at her. It gave Chloe an odd feeling of being included in Lex's small household, even when she didn't really belong.

    Reeling Cara's leash short, she occupied herself with wiping her perfectly clean sneakers on the grass. "I feel like . . . you'll know it when you're there. And Cara's butt slides on marble when she tries to sit down. There are lots of ways to make a nice house that can be a home. Usually the whole thing comes together less like a museum."

    He smiled, his happy expression that rarely saw light. Lex reached down to scrub his hands in the dog's ruff, then pushed the sliding door open.

    "Ms. Hatcher? I think I might have been unhelpful booking your services. Some men require a showroom of a house for entertaining and impressing women. I am a solitary person and I can afford to rent a ballroom now and again. I have a few people I value and none of them are impressed by wealth. I would like a home that can stand to feel messy without it feeling like sacrilege. My dog also has a hard time getting traction on marble floors. I can afford any house, but I'm glad to pay top commission for you to find the right house."

    He reached back and snagged Chloe's hand with the leash in it, drawing her inside with the wagging dog following.
    He didn't let go for a few seconds, and she felt her face go red as the realtor noticed the contact with a tiny squint.

    "Give me a few minutes with my computer and I'll get a new list ready," Ms. Hatcher said cheerfully.

    She gave a very slight dip of her shapely chin, directed at Chloe like conceding a contest. Cara started walking and Chloe lost the leash, uneasy at the things the realtor was assuming.

    "Easy, Cara," Lex said chidingly, pulling the dog back and letting go of Chloe's hand. "We're not in a hurry."

    A warm ache tickled along Chloe's recently stroked fingers, threatening to drift lower in her body. She needed Lex for his patience, but sometimes she wanted him to rush, too. It might be time to jump without knowing if she would land entirely safely.
    Her soul is senstive like a finely made tuning fork. It vibrates and resonates with every little hint of trauma, evil and monstrosity that might be humming in the air, and channels it into expressions of fiction... or recomended websites - somethingeasy

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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 55(Updated April 3, 2015)

    can't wait to see what happens next

  10. #790
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    Re: The Lesser of Two Evils - NC-17, Chapter 55(Updated April 3, 2015)

    Great to see an update. Patiently waiting for more Chlex goodness.

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