A/N: Sabby. We apologize to all the people having a thing for Thai food and hope you enjoy this chapter none the less.
A/N: Blue: It's father/child bonding time! And it goes super well. Ok, I just lied but what are you going to do about it? Enjoy!
Picking up whatever it was that was perched on her fork Chloe wondered how her father would react if she suggested that they make a break for the door. She was sure that the food was good…if you liked Thai, that was. Which, apparently, she didn’t.
She had tried it years ago and it hadn’t agreed with her. But, she had reasoned that it was just the place that she had gone to. Now, she wasn’t so sure.
Chewing slowly, she looked up at her father. They had been making polite chit chat for the past half hour or so and she just wished that he would get it over with already. It was clear to her that the only reason they were there was to discuss Teddy.
At least he’d be pleased to hear that they had broken up. Chloe couldn’t help the petty childish part of herself that was a little upset over it. She had been looking forward to this showdown. Her father needed to grasp the concept that she would date who she wanted. He no longer could control her, she was an adult.
Gabe observed Chloe over his plate, more poking at the food than actually eating it. One thing was for sure, this was the first and last time he'd have a meal at this place. Thai apparently just wasn't his thing. He took a sip of his drink, swallowing the heavy taste of saffron.
They'd been traipsing around the bush for the last half hour, him desperately trying to find a subtle segue into what she'd been pissed about last night and her current relationship, hoping that they were related. She meanwhile had done everything to prevent the conversation from turning onto this topic. It was time to bite the bullet.
“So, how are things with Teddy,” he asked as nonchalantly as possible.
Chloe shook her head and grinned over at her father. She always found it amusing when her father displayed a trait that he had clearly passed down to her. The blunt question asking technique was definitely one of them.
When she wrapped her hand around her glass of water and noticed it was empty she gestured to the waiter that she needed a refill. Her fifth already.
Leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest she stated, “Over.” A blunt question deserved a blunt response.
The waiter came over and refilled her glass and her father just blinked over at her. Clearly that wasn’t the response he had been expecting.
Gabe blinked. There really was no eloquent response for that in his brain other than, “Oh.”
Of course it made things easier for them. It removed a whole point in the plan. Taking care of the significant other. Well at least on his side, that was. Now he'd only have to make sure Chloe didn't hook up with the next 'Teddy' before Lionel and he got her together with Lex. Damn. That could get complicated. He couldn't wait to see what Lionel would come up with though. It was sure to be creepy, but hopefully, also effective.
Speaking about Lionel. Gabe checked his watch, then gave the room a quick glance. Shouldn't he have shown up already? They'd agreed that the Luthors would have lunch and oh so coincidentally, in the same restaurant as Gabe and his daughter. He didn't spot the man yet, which meant he had to focus back on the conversation and say something else, preferably fast.
“I won't pretend I'm sorry to hear that, but I am sorry if you are hurt because of the break up,” he voiced honestly.
She hated it when her father did that thing that he did so often. She wanted so badly to be able to defend her choice in men to him but she couldn’t do that when he was being all supportive and decent about it. True, he had gotten more heated about her not dating a ‘cavalcade of losers’ as he called it, but he never seemed to judge her for it.
Exasperation was the best word she could come up to describe it. Chloe supposed that every father thought the man that his daughter ended up with wasn’t good enough and there wasn’t anything wrong with that. She had just never been good with people judging her. Whether they really were or whether it was just in her head.
She shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not hurt. I broke up with him.” Looking up at him, she decided to be honest. “I realized that I couldn’t really have a conversation with him about anything important.” She thought about what Teddy’s parting words had been to her.
Her father was still watching her carefully and she could tell that he was truly interested in what had happened between them. It had been a long time since Chloe had honestly spoken with her father. The fact that it was of her own doing wasn’t lost on her.
“I think that it didn’t work because I wasn’t straightforward with either him or myself about what I wanted, or needed, from him.” Chloe took another sip of her water before saying, “So, any fatherly advice you want to impart on me?”
Smiling, she said, “It’s a one time offer so I’d jump at it if I were you.”
Gabe gave her a small smile, knowing that she was using the sarcasm as a shield. The Sullivans had always been apt at that. But what advice could he give her that he hadn't already imparted once, ten times over? More importantly, how would he have to word the advice to give her a nudge in the right direction, namely, towards the Luthor heir? Well here went nothing.
“All I can advise you to do is to look for someone who's not only supplying for one of your needs, but someone who will give you the whole deal. It'll involve fighting, and in your case, possibly not only in the verbal sense. But it'll also be someone that will see you for who you really are, and not just 'fed up' with your less admirable traits, but actually take them as part of you.”
~~
Lionel had been ignoring his son for the better part of half an hour. Firstly, Lex had informed him that he was not hungry. Then, Lex had told him that he didn’t have time for lunch. Lastly, he had told him that he did not eat Thai and would not be accompanying his father. And yet, here they were.
As they were seated, Lionel caught sight of Gabe and Chloe sitting at a table on the other side of the restaurant. Lionel would be able to see them from where he was sitting but Lex would not. He saw Gabe spot them, Chloe’s back was to Lionel, and he sat down.
Keeping the smug look off of his face was a difficult feat to accomplish and Lionel wasn’t sure if he was successful with it or not.
He could feel the anger and annoyance flowing off his son in waves and it struck Lionel as particularly funny. He was just trying to do what was best for the boy. Well, Lex would be able to show him his gratitude at a later date. There was a particular archipelago a few hundreds yards off the coast of Siberia that he had his eye on that would do quite nicely as a thank you gift.
“Lex, it’s a wonder that Skylar,” he sneered her name out, “stays with you if you display such unpleasantness in going to a restaurant as you have with me.”
Lex arched an eyebrow at his father, waving the waiter away as he approached with a menu. He'd joined his father, but he wouldn't eat anything. You could force a horse to the water, but... and how pathetic was it to think of himself as a horse, using a farming proverb. In any case, here they were and his father either had no idea what had happened last night, or he was playing pretend to heighten Lex's embarrassment. Only, Lex had nothing to be embarrassed about.
“Really dad, haven't you been reading the newspapers? A man in your position can't afford to be ignorant. I've decided to end the relationship with Skylar, she moved out last night,” he retorted in a smooth, slightly derisive tone.
The article in the Inquisitor hadn't been friendly, and Skylar would have a hard time picking up the shreds of her pristine reputation. Lex didn't care one bit. The bitch had decided to go looking for greener pastures and had planned on dumping him as soon as she was secured. It served her right. The only downside was that now he'd have to look for a new prospective bride. He was slowly but surely starting to make a fool of himself and he didn't like it either. But what had to be done, had to be done.
A chuckle rumbled out of Lionel’s chest. “Lex, I wouldn’t call the Inquisitor a newspaper. If I believed everything I read in there, well,” he spread his hands, “I’d be an alien now, wouldn’t I?”
He had seen the piece and had been overjoyed at it. After a little digging he had found out that it was, indeed, true. But, he wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. (If one author is going to use that particular analogy, the other author will run like a cheetah with it).
When Lex chose not to respond, he said, “I would give you my regrets but we both know that they would be hollow.” As the waiter approached, Lionel fixed him with a look and the man changed the direction that he was heading in.
“I suppose that the tryouts for the new, future ex-Mrs. Luthor will begin as soon as humanly possible, as well.” Lionel picked up his napkin and placed it across his lap. “I can’t wait to see the next girl you bring home. I wonder if you’ll ever learn that marrying vapid women will never bring you what you seek.”
Lex stifled a snort, a small smirk gracing his face as he regarded his father. The man was almost as self-righteous as the late Mr. Kent and even more possessed by himself. They could have gotten along great if they hadn't been enemies from the start.
“What I am looking for, dad, is a woman that won't be inclined to kill me, or let herself be blackmailed, bribed or seduced by you. These two criteria unfortunately narrow down my options,” he shot back. Of course he'd prefer a more intelligent woman, but he didn't want to spend his future having to control and survey every move of his wife to make sure he didn't end up dead or penniless. Never mind the fact that his family would end up equally dysfunctional as the one he grew up in if that were to be the case.
“Those criteria actually help you more than hurt you, I would think.” Lionel was enjoying this more than he should be, but he didn’t feel guilty about it. He had struck a chord with Lex, that much was certain. The boy was already on the defensive and they hadn’t even ordered yet.
“You should have learned from those experiences. And yet,” Lionel sighed, “you continually surround yourself with women who would fail on those criteria.” He locked eyes with his son.
“I would hope that you would realize that I no longer have a desire to interfere in your relationships.” At least not in the way he thinks, Lionel said to himself. He saw Lex’s jaw tighten at his words. Clearly, they still had some trust issues. He’d deal with that later. Lex’s taste in women was a more important topic of discussion.
“Having said that, do you really believe that Skylar, or any of the last three women you pledged your troth to would repay the favor if I dangled a huge check in front of them?” When Lex remained silent, no doubt trying to figure out how to quietly kill him with his fork, Lionel smirked.
“I think not. The only way to avoid them failing you is to make better choices.” He picked up his menu and murmured, “I wonder what is actually edible here.”
If Lex hadn't already hated Thai food, his appetite would have vanished right that moment. Truth be told it didn't matter. The women he'd married wouldn't try to kill him, but Lionel was right, at least two of them would have been susceptible to bribery, if Lionel had hit the right sum. Looking back at it, his tactic hadn't gotten him anywhere. So there was only one more thing left to do.
“You're right, dad,” he said blandly, waiting for Lionel's reaction.
He'd already made his decision and he was sure his father wouldn't like it. Would maybe even have a heart attack. One could wish anyway.
Lionel peered up and over his menu. Lex was sitting there, looking far too calm for his liking. His countenance coupled with the words that had just come from his mouth made Lionel decidedly uncomfortable.
However, it could just be the paranoia that Gabe accused him of having so he tried to shove it away. “I’m glad to hear you say so, Lex,” he said, evenly.
“Does that mean that I can look forward to your next relationship to be with a woman more appropriate for you?”
Lex smirked, leaning forward in his chair, closer to Lionel. “What it means is, that since taking a woman of low standards isn't serving the purpose, and applying high standards didn't work either, you can resign yourself to the fate that the father of Bruce Wayne would have had, if he'd survived to see it. As far as an heir to the Luthor line goes,” Lex shrugged a shoulder, “I guess you'll have to depend on Lucas for that one. I'm out of the game.” With that, he got up from the table, intending to leave and maybe get a sandwich before it was back to work.
“I think now is a good time to end this farce of a family get together,” he said, “I'll see you at work, dad.”
He'd just live his life as the eternal bachelor, fuck who he chose, when he chose, and tradition and family were two words he'd completely strike out of his dictionary. He didn't need it to be successful, so why bother anyway. It had been a delusion to think he could have it anyway. The regular Joe could live his life like that, but he was a Luthor, so it was either a marriage based on mindfucking and control, or nothing at all. He took nothing, thank you very much.
While the turn of events wasn’t all that unexpected, it still vexed Lionel. If Lex was in that mindset, it may be hard to get him out of it. But, if anyone could do it, it was Chloe Sullivan.
The more Lionel thought about her, the more pleased he was with his choice. Lex might be able to tell himself that he would be happy without anyone but once he realized that Chloe would make life much more interesting with her around, Lionel thought he might reconsider. That and his son wasn’t blind. She was a fine looking woman.
Lex didn’t give him a chance to respond, he just threw his napkin down on the table and stalked out of the restaurant. Lionel thought back to a tantrum that the boy had had when he was three. The behavior was strikingly similar.
When Gabe caught his eye, Lionel shrugged. They had gone to the same restaurant in the hopes of accidentally on purpose bumping into each other. It seemed now as if that was not to be. Leave it to Lex to be uncooperative without even knowing that he was doing so. Hopefully, Gabe would be able to lure Chloe back to LuthorCorp. That way they could come up with a Plan B.
Gabe's jaw clenched as he watched Lex stalk out of the restaurant. Trust Lionel to say something that would make his son up and leave because he couldn't stand being in the other man's company for one more minute without committing patricide. Sighing, he turned back to Chloe, pasting a smile on his face.
“So, what did you say you were doing after lunch,” he ventured.
Maybe if he could get her to come back to the office, they could arrange another meeting between Chloe and Lex. Give the two a chance to talk and maybe rib about their old men. Something like that anyway. Though he wasn't so sure if it wouldn't be pushing it to invite Chloe to come with him then send her off for some hair brained purpose to wonder the office grounds on her own the second time in three days.
Chloe didn’t fancy coming up to her Dad’s office for a myriad of reasons. But, the most pressing one was the way that she was currently feeling. She hadn’t eaten the same dish the last time she went to a Thai place, but it was having the same effect.
“I didn’t have any plans,” she said, concentrating on not throwing up. She could feel the tell tale signs presenting themselves. She was breaking out in a cold sweat and she felt kind of numb.
“However, I now think that they will involve me trying to keep anything in my stomach.” Chloe got up quickly and practically ran away from the table in search of the bathroom.
Gabe watched his daughter make a mad dash for the bathroom and threw his napkin on the table. “Should have made us go to the Italian after all,” he muttered.
Their plan had been utterly thwarted. Lex and Chloe hadn't even so much as noticed that they were in the same restaurant, let alone spoken to each other. Chloe wouldn't be coming back to the office and it could possibly be days, or even weeks until they could set up something like this again, if they didn't want to get suspicious. “Damnit,” he muttered.
Looking towards the bathroom first, Gabe seriously hoped that Chloe was ok. He ordered a large glass of water from the waiter, then turned towards Lionel who was still sitting at his table. He looked like he was plotting something, which couldn't be a good sign. Standing up, Gabe made his way over to the other man, stopping in front of him at the table.
“That failed spectacularly,” he commented.
“I have a tendency to agree with that interpretation of the situation.” Lionel felt calm even though it seemed as if everything was blowing up in their faces. When obstacles were thrown in his way towards a goal, it always made him rededicate himself.
“Lex just informed me that he had no intention of ever getting married again.” He saw the look on Gabe’s face. “Don’t worry, not yet at least. I think that we’ve been going about this the wrong way.”
He stood up and glanced in the direction of the bathroom. From the way Chloe had run from the table he didn’t expect that she’d be out any time soon but one couldn’t be too careful.
“We need professional help.”
Lionel realized what he sounded like he was implying. He decided to rephrase himself. “I mean that we need to go about this more scientifically. We can’t continue to have ‘secret meetings’,” he made air quotes with his finger, “in my office in order to come up with ways of throwing our children together. I’ve managed hundreds of hostile takeovers and this one won’t be any different.”
He threw some bills on the table even though they had not ordered anything. “I’ll contact you soon, Gabe.”
Gabe stood at the table, watching Lionel's retreating back with growing trepidation. He had a feeling that Lionel was going to jump the gun in the big way, the Luthor way, and fuck things up spectacularly, because he just couldn't give things their time. He didn't want their children to be together any less, but he knew that such things couldn't be broken over the knee. However, how to get that into the thick skull of Lionel Luthor was a different matter entirely.
Still shaking his head, he made his way back to the other table, waiting for Chloe to return from the bathroom. He'd make sure they never had Thai food again and he'd definitely check in with her tonight. Taking a sip from his drink, he eyed his own plate warily, then pushed it away from him enough to not have to smell the odors coming from it directly.
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Originally Posted by BlueSabby
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