Powerful Women (R) FIN 12/3/08

[Linda]

Thank you for giving us another one of your wonderful stories. I love your work!

This is a very interesting idea. You have my imagination working overtime. I can't wait to see where you are going to take us.

[Impress]

Interesting start. I like the idea that it's Lilian not Lionel who survived.

[SVfan1286]

Interesting beginning! I love the what if.. of Lionel dying instead of Lillian. Chlex knowing each other as kids is awsome. I look forward to reading more!!

[superag]

A/N - Wrote this mainly on the trip to and from Dragon*Con because I can't sleep on planes. Anyway, a couple of notes. They 6 years does exist between them. It makes the dynamic different than if I made them the same. Also, I will be writing each chapter as a different age/grade level so it will progress. Thans for all the feedback; makes me want to write more!

Parents and Children – Chapter 2

Lillian sat at the computer in the Luthorcorp office and ran her hands through her hair. The board members were going behind her back, again. They thought she was just the one on Lionel’s arm at the Christmas parties. They were sorely mistaken.

Lillian Carlisle had not grown up poor or disadvantaged like her dead husband. Her parents were wealthy brokers in New York and her father sat on the board of two Fortune 100 companies before Luthor was even a name. She had been in offices higher than Lionel’s and had spent countless hours studying business reports from her dad while at Columbia. Lionel didn’t marry a pretty face; she had simply chosen not to use her skills.

But with the recent contract that crossed her desk, things would quickly change. She looked outside briefly at the corner of the window, barely able to make out the small fences going up for the daycare playground. The floor of copyrighters had not understood why they were moved to small quarters, but she had received numerous emails from employees about the cute daycare that was between floors from the bulk of the staff.

Looking back at the contract, the board had offered a buyout. They stated reasons like she could be at home with her son and their experience would keep the company afloat. She scoffed. Pulling out the personnel files of the board members, she realized two things: they were all male and all over 60. That made them ripe, incredibly ripe for retirement. She picked up the folder and walked into the boardroom, pulling Gabe from his office on the way.

“Gentlemen, I have an announcement. Mr. Sullivan is passing out the newly voted on Board of Directors contracts. You are also being supplied with the breakdowns of the items that have been altered. Mr. Milam, you have been on the board here for now 23 years. The original contract of your term was 20 years, but my husband never saw fit to have you be reelected to the post. You, Mr. Barren and Mr. Watters are also over the term limit. Now you have the option of running again or, if you read through your materials, your severance package is very adequate, including additional healthcare benefits for your lifetime. I understand Medicare is not adequate. Now, Mr. Soto. Your green card reflected some very interesting details involving your wife that you met three days before your re-election. I’m sorry to say but the United States frowns on immigration officers that are bought off and so do I. Your position has already been posted as vacant. You may need to get home and pack.”

The other three men she smiled at as they nervously waited for her to continue. “Mr. Morris, Mr. Michaels, and Mr. Yung, I have read extensively through your files, including all votes and decisions pertaining to Luthorcorp. You three abstained or voted against the most of the unruly decisions. Particularly the ones that disadvantaged the employees. Please see your new contract and package and understand Mr. Yung, you are up for vote next year.” Lillian stopped as the first three men continued reading through the package and saw her detail. Blinking back up at her, they realized Lionel had married a shark in a kitten suit.

“Mrs. Luthor, this is unfair and outrageous. The lawyers…”

“The lawyers wrote the airtight packages and new contracts. You will find that my offers are better than you can get elsewhere.” Lillian sat down at the head of the table and the men stared. Lionel had never sat down during a meeting.

“Who exactly are you planning on getting to replace us? The stockholders will go mad if your decisions eat into their profits.”

“I have thought about that. I assure you that even your holdings in your severance packages will be well taken care of. I have contact with several executives and board members from other prominent locations that could be an asset to Luthorcorp. You competition could be interesting.” She flipped through her notes on the ones interested in the positions open. A female from Intel, another female from Phillip Morris, another one Scholastic.

She had reviewed the voting logs that Lionel kept against company policy. Women didn’t vote even though he had kept an abundance of them around until they would get married. Hiring practice had to change too. Employees happy at home would be happy at work. She glanced at her watch and silently cussed to herself. “Gentlemen, we are dismissed.”

Gabe followed her out of the room and down the hall. “Anything I can do?”

“Not unless you can get me to the soccer match on time. Damn, I’m late.” She grabbed her materials and handed a stack to Gabe. “Please file these and retype the notes in the blue folder. I know that’s Kat’s job, but I don’t like her either. Maybe you could look into that for me too.”

She stopped and looked at Gabe. “Chloe is at the school’s program for another hour.”

“I’ll get her before I head over to the fields.” Lillian stomped out of the office and hit the elevator button over and over. Gabe wondered if she really took more upon herself than she could handle in the last year.

Lillian drove her car to the school and ran into the daycare area, “Chloe Sullivan.”

“Yes, Ms. Luthor. Gabe called and notified us.” Chloe appeared at the end of the hallway and waved as the older woman bent down to hug her.

“We’re going to see if Alexander breaks a leg today.” She was nervous for her son. Lionel had taught him fencing, which they continued. But Lex wanted a sport in junior high. The coach suggested the soccer team. He proudly marked up the marble floor in the foyer the night he got his cleats and successfully broke a second story window. But to actually see her son run up and down the field was something she looked forward to.

Pulling Chloe up next to her on the bleacher, she looked at the other parents in their casual dress and noted that she needed to still work on some fitting in. “There he is, #6.” Chloe pointed across the field as Lillian pulled her hand down.

Just as she looked up, Lex kneed the ball over an opponent’s head assisting in what became a goal. He turned around and waved at his mom. She hadn’t seen his smile like that since before he had lost his hair. The kids had accepted him at the school. He wasn’t as advanced as he would have been at Excelsior but he was happy. He could be a kid.

After the game was over, Lillian and Chloe met Lex at the end of the team meeting. They had lost by one point. Chloe let go of Lillian’s hand and ran across the grass, “Lex! Hey!”

Lex looked over at the little girl running across the field. “Is that your sister?” one of the other team members asked.

“No, she’s the daughter of one of my mom’s employees,” Lex casually tried to brush off as Chloe wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hey. Where’s your dad?”

“Working. Your mom picked me up.” Lex laughed and walked over to his mom and received a hug that the other guys tried to giggle at. Looking back at them, he gave them a smartass look and walked off.

“Gabe is working late for me tonight. Any idea what would you like to have for dinner tonight?” Lillian leaned over and pulled out her blinking PDA and read the text message from another employee. “Damn,” she whispered to herself.

“Mom?”

Lillian leaned over and hugged her son and smiled at him. Lex knew what that look was for. He had seen it before when his father would have worked late, but his mother never wanted to. “You mind looking after Chloe at the house? We’ve run into a little snag at work.”

Lex nodded disappointingly at his mom and knew there was no reason to argue. Still, he knew that regardless of what time she ever got in, she would always tuck him in. “Tell Mr. Sullivan she’s in capable hands.”

When Lex and Chloe were left at the house, he walked her into the kitchen and fumbled around. Things had changed in the Luthor household since his father’s passing.

The most noticeable change had been the lack of twenty-four hour help. The change had taken one month from his father’s death. The employees seemed to shuffle around the house right after his death and waited to find out their fate. Their pay was now the same, the hours finally reasonable.

Life with mom had changed for Lex too. Sunday was mandatory bonding time. His friends that he had made since at school made fun of him, but he for once found he didn’t care. Sundays were now trips to museums, zoos, and carnivals.

“So, what do you want?” Lex asked staring at the inside of the walk in pantry. “We have…”

“Can you make that?” Chloe pointed over his shoulder as Lex looked in the direction of the macaroni and cheese in a box. Pulling the box out of the pantry, he pointed her to a chair and started boiling the water. When the pasta was ready, he handed her the open bag and let her mix the rest.

“See, you’re a wonderful cook!” Lex genuinely smiled as he handed her a fork and they shared the bowl of pasta while watching the small television kept in the kitchen for the staff.

Lillian and Gabe walked into the living room several hours later to the sounds of Nick at Night blaring with two kids curled up on throw pillows in the middle of the floor. Smiling, Lillian looked over at Gabe. “It’s going to be something when Lex finally starts to grow up.”

“I know. I never thought I would have to worry about my daughter’s broken heart before her first boyfriend.” The two sighed and picked up their respective children. “Come on honey,” Gabe whispered as he waved good night to Lillian and walked out the door.

“Thank you Lex.” Lillian pulled a twenty out of her wallet and handed it to him. Looking at it strangely, he shoved the bill in his pocket while trying to focus his tired eyes.

“Good night mom. No problem.” Lex wandered off to bed, laying the twenty on his dresser. Staring at it, he realized that was his first honest work and he didn’t even need to be asked.

**********

“Lex! You’re going to be late.” Lillian yelled up hoping that he could hear her on the third floor. He was probably up there practicing again. She smiled when he first asked her to teach him to dance. He was nervous.

Walking down the stairs, Lillian had seen him in a tuxedo countless times at public functions that she felt he had to go to as a Luthor family member. But this suit for tonight with the simple maroon tie was something different for him.

Her name was Carrie. Her auburn hair reminded him of his mother but her cute dimples made her irresistible to Lex. She had been over at the house several times after his soccer games. Lillian approved after meeting her parents and trying to not make it a business partnership.

Carrie’s parents were in the oil business and made a profitable statement, making the temptation something more than remarkable. But Lillian promised that Lex’s personal dates would not cross the business lines.

They had met through one of the boys on the soccer team. Carrie was on a girl’s team that played at the same field on every other Saturdays. He had watched his father flaunt his money and his attitude on numerous occasions when his mother had never been around. But after meeting Carrie, he was nervous.

Their first date had been unnerving. The two shared a movie in town during a Saturday afternoon as his mother sat in the back of the theater just like any other mother.

Lex smoothly tried to move his arm around the young girl’s neck and embarrassingly stabbed her in the ear with his hand. Mortified, he sat in the seat with his hands between his legs until he felt a soft hand pull on his. He watched as the auburn haired girl glanced over, blushed, and took his hand in his.

For the second date, Lex had talked to Greg, one of the staff who married his high school sweetheart. Greg explained Lex’s precarious position of being a Luthor. Even girls at a young age learned where the money and lifestyle could come from. He warned him to watch her moves carefully.

Carrie came to the house for dinner and to watch a movie in the theatre room. The room door remained open and Lex noticed that more than once that Greg was instructed to pop in and interrupt them. Taking heed in Greg’s advice, Lex offered nothing out of the ordinary to Carrie to see what she asked for.

“How’s it going Lex?” Greg asked as Lex entered the hallway, excusing himself to the restroom.

“I think everything is going pretty good. She wants a coke though.” Greg nodded and patted Lex on the back.

That night, Lex sat on the front steps waiting for Carrie’s parents to pick her up from the house. Lillian watched from the window of her bedroom as her breathing became heavier. Lex’s first kiss, or so she hoped, was messy but they both smiled at each other after it.

“You look very debonair,” his mother commented as he came down the stairs and she straightened his tie. “Shall we be going?” Lillian held out her arm to her son as they exited from the house to personally drive him and his now steady to the Valentine’s Dance.

Across the street, Chloe sat in her window seat in her and her father’s new house and watched Lex get in the car dressed funny. “Dad? Why is Lex dressed like that?”

“Because honey, it’s Valentines and he has a dance tonight.” Chloe didn’t respond but looked at her box of valentines that she had brought home from school earlier in the day. She and Gabe had spent an hour writing her name carefully on all the little cards and shoving them in envelopes. “Time for bed.”

“But I forgot Lex. Will you help me?” Gabe groaned and tried to keep from rolling his eyes at his daughter’s little crush and sat down with one of the last blank ones to help her.

Gabe and Chloe walked over and met Lilian after she arrived back home. “Ms. Luthor, can you give this to Lex?” Chloe asked as she handed the little white envelope to Lillian.

“I will. He will see it as soon as he gets home.” The three bid good night and Lillian looked at the carefully drawn heart on the front of the envelope and shook her head.

**********

“Hey, I was wondering where you ran off to. I got you a drink,” Lex casually handed the glass of punch to Carrie and sat down next to her on the steps of the school. They had danced together for three songs. She felt strange though.

“Lex,” Carrie started by dropping her head and taking a sip of her drink and lowering it in between her legs of her knee length dress. “I really like you.”

“I really like you too.”

Carrie paused and waited to see if he was finished. She ran her fingers along the outside of the glass, pushing the sweat beads down onto her dress. “Todd asked me if I would go see a movie with him on Friday.”

Lex felt like he had been hit in the gut. Todd was the captain of the 8th grade football team and had just broke up with Amanda, the winter princess. Todd could have anyone in the school and happened to choose Carrie to use as his rebound.

“Lex?”

Lex looked in her direction and had no expression. He wasn’t going to cry in front of this girl. She didn’t deserve it; he had cancelled plans with his guy friends for the last two weeks to spend time with her and had spent his own money he earned from chores for the corsage that night. “What?”

“It’s just a movie,” she tried to plead with him.

“But we were steady.”

Carrie waited and eventually put her cup down and stood up. “But I like Todd.” Before trying to correct what she knew sounded like a flagrant insult, Carrie turned and disappeared into the gym.

For another hour, Lex sat alone on the steps of the gym and waited until his mother finally showed up. Running to the car, he climbed in the back and landed face first into the seat. “Honey?”

“Just drive mom,” she heard muffled from the backseat. She lowered her head and covered her mouth in disappointment. Lex’s first girlfriend was history and she had to deal with the disappointment. After listening to the muffled sobs for the trip home, she pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. “Lex?”

Saying nothing, he climbed out of the backseat and trudged up the steps to the house. Lillian caught him in the hallway by the shoulder and Lex looked at her. His eyes were now puffy and red. “Why?”

“Because girls are mean, and they don’t get better with age.” She hugged him and ran her hand over his scalp lovingly.

“You’re nice mom.”

“Only when it counts, but if I talked to Carrie…”

“Please don’t.” Lillian pulled her son into her again and felt another sob escape from his throat as his head sunk further into his shoulder.

“How about some ice cream?” Lex looked up at his mom and smiled. The worst night of his life was starting to look up. Wrapping his arm around his mother’s waist, he walked into the kitchen and sat on the stool. “Oh, Chloe came by and dropped this off.”

Lex picked up the small envelope and ripped carefully through the hand drawn heart on the back. Staring at it, he could tell her wobbly penmanship was getting better now in first grade. Smiling, it simply read, ‘Will you be Mine?’ Slipping the card back in the envelope, he shoved a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

“I’ll thank her tomorrow.”

***********

Chloe ran through the house and whipped open the front door the next morning and stood in her pajamas as Lex appeared on her front steps. “Come in!”

Smiling, he entered the house and handed her a small box. “I wanted to thank you for the nice valentine.”

Chloe motioned for him to follow her into the living room and he plopped on the sofa. Sitting down next to him, she ripped the paper off the small box and looked at the Hershey’s Kisses neatly taped in a heart shape inside the bottom of the box. “Don’t eat them all at once. I don’t want your dad coming after me when you get a stomach ache.”

Chloe grabbed him around the neck and squeezed. She kissed his cheek before ripping one kiss out and handing it to him.

Peeling the paper off, he smiled and popped the kiss in his mouth, thinking how a kiss from a 6 year old somehow could replace all the crap he had been through the day before. His best friend was a six year old.


TBC

[Kit Merlot]

This is an extremely awesome concept!

I love your version of Lillian, and how smart and powerful she is--fabulous.

And I love how motherly and loving she is with Lex--she's not pulling the "no emotions Son" crap. She's giving him a safe place to cry when he needs to.

Carrie's a bitch, but your Chloe is just adorable

Can't wait for more.

[lexie]

Lovely new chapter, superag. This is turning out to be one of my favourite stories coming from your pen.

Nice work. I´m looking forward to reading an update soon.

[hfce]

Aww that was so cute! I love how you have Lex having a normal life. I also love how he is taking care of Chloe. Carrie needs to die I hate her.

[dagney]

Its so wonderful to see Lex's life and times as a young boy in this fic. Chloe is cute and Lillian my heroine. Dagney

[tatie87]

Lex and Chloe as kids. Very interesting. How old is CHloe in the story, I don't know if I missed it or what? I can't believe Lex got dumped at a Junior High dance by some flake. All the better for Chloe. I really like the idea behind this story. Can't wait for the next chapter.

[Impress]

Awww...young Chloe and Lex are so cute. I'm with Lillian and Gabe, poor Chloe is going to have her heart broken in a few years when Lex gets older. Good update.