Lana had to work at the Talon from Thursdays to Mondays. She'd thought about quitting, but she wasn't sure what would happen to the site if she did; Lex had invested in the project, but he'd made some of the money back, and the land had appreciated.
Clark came by. He always did. He sat at a corner table by the window, smiled at her non-stop, and pretended he was there for a reason. She ignored the appeal in his eyes, and politely refused to join him.
She got through the next three days. She always did get by, promising herself extra sleep that she never seemed to get, promising that the next day would be just a little less wearying. She lied to herself a lot, lately, but she couldn't afford honesty.
On the third day, Lex came in for a cappuccino. It was close to closing, and he lingered over something that looked like work. He seemed distracted, and occasionally he'd glance in her direction, never quite meeting her eyes.
She flipped the sign while the stragglers finished their drinks, and wasn't surprised when she looked up a few minutes later to find everybody gone, and Lex waiting for her. He smiled an invitation, and she brought her coffee over.
Neither of them spoke for a while. Lana thought this was the nearest Lex got to awkward. She felt like she'd been hauled up in front of a teacher for a scolding.
"Have you been doing any better?"
Straight to the point. "I'm surviving."
"That wasn't what I asked."
She went for the coffee, but decided halfway not to let him intimidate her, and kept her eyes locked with his as she drank. "I don't think you have anything to worry about."
"That's not what you mean. You mean you don't want anyone worrying about you, because you're scared of what they'll see if they look too hard."
And that was--so close to the truth that she couldn't come up with a reply.
"Lucky you got me then, huh?"
Lex didn't feel the need for gestures; he let his eyes drop as he sipped his coffee. Lana wondered what he was working up to. There had to be something; he had been trying to set her at ease since the other night, and Lex never wasted effort.
"Do you like Smallville?"
Bewildering change of topic that, if she went by precedent, wasn't anything of the sort. "It's my home."
"Mm. It's not mine, and yet I choose to spend Christmas here every year. Do you like it?"
"I always have. It's a nice place, and the people are--" Not to Lex though, were they? "They've always been very kind to me."
Brush of fingers over his lips, and he looked far too amused for her peace of mind. Lana tried to decide if she wanted in on the joke.
"It must be difficult. They've known you all your life, they probably think that they have some sort of right to you, that you're public property. They probably--keep doing what I am now, forcing my company on you. I, at least, have a reason."
"I'd be interested in hearing it."
"It occurred to me--" His hand flipped over, spread in an unconscious offering. If anything about Lex wasn't calculated. "What we were just talking about. I thought that you might find it, ah, unrestful. I thought you might like to get away from it all for a while."
Lana wasn't sure what flew across her face, but it prompted Lex to continue speaking, or maybe he just hadn't been done.
"I've been told by more people than I care to count that a change of scenery is the best cure for stress, and while I'd generally dismiss the idea, I think the atmosphere of this town may be getting to you more than you realise. Too many people have too many expectations of you."
Lana tried to speak, as that seemed to be the purpose of the pause, but she couldn't force a sound from her throat.
"You have almost two months until school. I was thinking of a transfer."
"A transfer. For me."
He was nodding. "To Metropolis."
Lana was vaguely aware that Lex had branched out during the brief break with his father, but she hadn't thought that he had bought out Starbucks, or anything. It wasn't--it wasn't something that she felt inclined to turn down though, not without reason. And she could think of a thousand reasons if she tried, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to. She was sure that she should have been more shocked, but this was Lex, and he had been granting impossible wishes for years. It wasn't a stretch for him to deal with the unvoiced.
"To do what?"
"What you do now, for the most part. I own a small café, the focus of which is mostly on food--as I remember, the pastries are delicious--but you wouldn't be expected to make them, naturally. You wouldn't be expected to do anything but serve, in fact. The only difference would be the weight of the trays."
"But, I couldn't just up and move, just like that, could I?" Say yes. Please say yes. The idea sounded immensely appealing, so much so that she was a little ashamed of herself. It was too large to assimilate all at once, though maybe she was showing her timidity.
"You have been to Metropolis, haven't you? It's really not as depraved as the people around here may say."
"No, it's not that--It's just that I'd need to find somewhere to live, and I don't know anybody--" Oh, wait.
"I did say transfer, didn't I? There are several employees that I could blackmail into leaving the city for the summer, but there's one in particular that I have in mind. She has a roommate that I think you'd get on with, but it would be easy enough to get you your own place, if you'd prefer. It won't be a problem."
"Won't?"
He didn't attempt to explain himself, just looked extremely satisfied. "And doesn't Chloe still have a month with her mother?"
"Yes." And that, more than anything, was what decided it.