Fic: Falling Through the Rabbit Hole: Coffee, Chaos, and Contracts
‟I suppose congratulations are in order,” she suddenly said, causing him to blink. It seemed like only yesterday that he had said the same thing to her on her birthday, but that had been weeks ago — and yet, the memory of that evening still lingered. ‟Or, maybe condolences… It's difficult to keep track of this, uh, whirlwind romance.” He stilled for a second. Of course, she must have read the headlines. They had been everywhere. Not just the gossip rags and local newspapers, but the major ones. He gave her an amused shrug, ready for another round of verbal ping-pong. ‟Hey, I always did have a talent for hasty, nearly fatal decisions.” But instead of a quick-witted retort, she kept looking at him — with that unsettling stare she reserved for people she considered hopeless cases. The same look she had given him the first time they met. But they were past that, weren't they? ‟I would've sent a wedding gift, but by the time I heard about the nuptials, the shops had closed — and by the time they reopened, the marriage had already been annulled.” She clicked her tongue and shrugged her shoulders, her tone exaggeratedly light. Lex shifted in his chair and adjusted his cuffs, glancing around the room. That was one way to describe the brief disaster he called a marriage. ‟So, you, uh, heard about it, then.” He instantly felt like an idiot for saying it. ‟Metropolis has newspapers. And internet access. Also, people talk — a lot.”
Chapter 11 is now available on AO3
