"You're Lex Luthor?"  As soon as he announced who he was, Willow was kicking herself.  She should have recognized him sooner.  After all, she had seen his face in countless newspaper and magazine articles.  He wasn't exactly easy to forget with his bald head, and piercing eyes.  He was handsome enough in pictures, Willow thought, but in person he was breathtaking.

 

    "In the flesh," Lex answered, "and you are?"

 

    Realizing Lex was still holding his hand out; Willow quickly reached out and shook it. "I'm Willow Rosenberg."

 

    "It's nice to meet you, Miss Rosenberg."   Lex took in Willow's appearance.  She was beautiful, even with her coffee stained shirt.  It was her hair that really caught his attention.  It was a wonderful shade of red.  Still, the girl was young.  She didn't look like she could be much past high school.  He wondered what the hell she could have to do with his father.  Lex knew he would have to find out, he didn't like not being on top of his father's business activities.

 

    "Please, Miss Rosenberg, let me buy you a cup of coffee.  It's the least I could do after ruining your shirt."  Lex flashed her a smile, hoping she would find it as charming as most women seemed to.

 

    Willow nearly melted as a smile spread across Lex's face.  Since Oz's abrupt departure, no guys had really caught Willow's eye, but there was just something innately sexy about the man currently standing in front of her.  And if said man wanted to buy her coffee, who was she to say no.  She smiled back at Lex brightly.

 

    "Coffee sounds wonderful, but I should probably change out of this shirt first.  Where are the bathrooms in this place?"  Lex pointed them out to her, and after running out to her car to grab a shirt, she went to change.

 

    While Willow was changing, Lex snagged a table.  He was fairly pleased with himself. He would be having coffee with a pretty girl, and if he played his cards right, he would figure out exactly what kind of business she had with his father.  As he was waiting for Willow to come back, Lex spotted Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan enter the shop.  They noticed him and headed in his direction.

 

    "Hey, Lex."  Clark called.  "Mind if we join you?"

 

    Though in truth he would have rather had Willow to himself, Lex nodded.  He liked their company, and maybe Willow would to.  Not to mention that if anyone would be able to get information out of Miss Rosenberg, it would be Chloe.  The young reporter had the tenacity of a pit bull.

 

    "Sure, grab a seat.  Actually another young woman will be joining us."

 

    "Really?" Chloe asked, "Got a girlfriend, Lex?"

 

    "No," Lex answered, "She isn't my girlfriend."

 

    Clark raised an eyebrow, "So, who is she?" he asked.

 

    "Her name is Willow Rosenberg.  Turns out she's in town to see me father.  I accidentally spilled coffee all over her.  She's in the bathroom changing her shirt.  She should be back any second."

 

    On cue Willow walked up to the table.  Lex smiled at her again.

 

    "Ah, Miss Rosenberg, there you are."

 

    "Please, call me Willow."  She sat down next to Lex.

 

    "All right.  Willow, this is Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan.  Clark, Chloe, this is Willow.  Tell you what; I'm going to go get drinks for everyone.  What would you all like?"  Lex asked, standing.

 

    The three gave him their orders, and sat in silence for a moment.  Then Chloe's curiosity got the better of her.

 

    "So, Willow. What business do you have with Lionel Luthor?"

 

    Willow looked at the girl in surprise.

 

    "Chloe!"  Clark admonished. "I'm sorry about her, Willow.  It's her reporter instinct.  She can be a bit pushy sometimes," he explained jokingly.

 

    "I'm not pushy, Clark.  I'm just persistent. Anyway, with summer vacation I don't have The Torch to work on, and my internship at the Daily Planet doesn't start until next month.  I have to do something to keep in practice."  Chloe grinned at her best friend.

 

    Willow laughed. "It's okay, really.  I can understand your curiosity.  I mean, I just finished my freshmen year at college, I am pretty young to be meeting with Mr. Luthor."

 

    Just then Lex returned, "I gave Lana our order, she said she'd bring it over.  So what are you all talking about?"  he asked, once again taking a seat.

 

    Chloe grinned, "Willow here was just about to tell us why she's meeting with your father."

 

    Willow was quiet, wondering if she should tell them anything.  She didn't know why, but she really felt comfortable with them.  Well, she thought, it couldn't hurt just to tell them the very basics.

 

    "Actually, I'm here for a friend.  Mr. Luthor has a book that my friend is purchasing.  I wanted a vacation anyway, so I agreed to come out here and pick it up."

 

    Well, thought Lex, that isn't too bad.  It didn't seem to be anything that would concern him.  Lex was glad, he really wasn't in the mood to battle his father anytime soon, he had been doing that way too much lately.

 

    Willow was glad when there were no further questions.  She was worried that there might be, but right then a girl with long brown hair approached the table with a tray of coffee.

 

    "Lana! Hi!" Clark exclaimed, lighting up when he saw her.  "Lana this is Willow Rosenberg. Willow, Lana Lang"

 

    Willow had a hard time suppressing a smile; it was so obvious that Clark liked this Lana girl.  Willow glanced at Chloe, and could swear that a flash of pain had gone passed her face.  Willow recognized the look; she realized that it was probably exactly how she had used to look when Xander had mooned over other girls.  Willow felt a stab of sympathy for Chloe.  She wasn't sure, but she guessed that Chloe had a crush on Clark, and no one knew better than Willow how painful it was to have a crush on a friend that wasn't returned.

 

 "Nice to meet you, Willow. I haven't seen you around before, are you new in town?" Lana asked.

 

    "Actually, I'm here on vacation."  Willow replied.

 

    "Wow, I didn't think anyone would want to vacation in a town like Smallville."

 

    "Hey, I have an idea!" Chloe said.  "Why don't we take Willow on a tour of town.  I mean, there's not a whole lot here, but it could be fun."

 

    Willow smiled, she really liked Chloe, she seemed like a lot of fun.  "That'd be great."

 

    Lex nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a good plan. Clark, what do you think?"

 

    "Yeah, that sounds fun.  Wanna come with us, Lana?"  he asked hopefully.

 

    Lana shook her head, "Sorry, I can't.  I have way too much to do here at the Talon.  In fact, I should be getting back to the counter. I'll see you guys later.  It was nice to meet you, Willow."  With that, Lana left the table to get back to work.

 

    Clark looked disappointed, but Chloe was grinning, "All right guys, lets finish our drinks, then we can show Willow around.  Smallville may seem like a pretty boring place, but you wouldn't believe the weird stuff that happens here."

 

    The last part of what Chloe said caught Willow's attention.  "Really?  What exactly do you mean by weird stuff?"

 

TBC