Illusions of Grandeur - Matchmaker Style
Rated PG-13
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Previously:
Back in Metropolis, on a large walled estate, two young boys had just come out of the mansion into the early fall sunshine. They were laughing and joking as they descended the steps to the lawn. When they reach the bottom, one of the boys, Nick a skinny boy with long straight brown hair shouted, “Race you to the tree!” and took off running.
Chris, a slightly heavier lad with curly light brown hair and glasses reacted quickly, but not quickly enough and try as he might, Nick got to the tree and tagged it a second before Chris.
Nick threw up his arms and started dancing around like a winning prize-fighter and shouted, “I’m faster than a speeding bullet!”
Chris shouted, “No way!”
Both boys were out of breath from the run and collapsed to the ground.
Nick relented, “Okay. But I’m faster than
you. And stronger too.”
Again Chris rebutted, “No way!” and tackled Nick. The two boys, apparently best of friends were rolling around on the ground having a friendly wrestling match when something, out of place, caught their eyes.
There was awe in his tone as Chris asked, “What is it?”
Nick, being very practical asked, “How should I know?”
Their wrestling match completely forgotten the two boys got up and slowly approached the object.
It was a large box, like a steamer trunk, painted a shiny black with white moons and golden stars painted on it. Across the top there was a line of text in gold.
Chris read, “Open the lid and step inside, and you'll go on a magic ride.”
Nick suggested, “Maybe your dad sent it from his trip.”
With a look of wonder, Chris said, “Yeah, cool.”
Apparently the bravest of the two, Nick reached for the lid and opened the box. When the two boys peered inside all they saw was … nothing. It was totally empty.
Seeing this apparently harmless empty box, Nick challenged, “You wanna get in? Or are you scared?”
Replying to this challenge with one of his own, Chris asked, “Aren’t you?”
Not one to refuse a challenge or admit to being scared, Nick replied, “No way.”
Suiting his actions to his words, Nick climbed over the side of the box and stood inside. He looked around, up and down and then voiced what was happening, in a disappointed tone, “Nothing’s happening.”
Chris suggested a possible solution, “Maybe you have to close it.”
Nick nodded his agreement, “Okay.” He ducked down as Chris closed the lid.
Chris stood there for some seconds watching, but nothing appeared to be happening. Eventually he asked Nick, “Do you feel anything?”
Thinking that Nick just couldn’t hear him when in the box, because Nick didn’t answer, Chris shouted, “Nick? Hey, Nick!”
When Nick still didn’t answer Chris threw back the lid of the box. To his total amazement Nick was nowhere to be seen. The box was as empty as when they first opened it. Chris looked around at the surrounding area walking all around the box looking for a back door that he just hadn’t seen. Not being able to find Nick, Chris finally became really scared and started running for the safety of the house just as fast as his legs could carry him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Later, back in Metropolis, Lois and Clark were discussing their time in Smallville with his parents.
“Clark, I really love your mother. The more I get to know her, the more special I see that she is. I can see how you turned out the way you are. They have to be the best parents in the world.”
“I don’t think I need to tell you that they think a lot of you too. Dad loves you like a daughter, the daughter that they never had before. They have always told me that I was an answer to their prayers for a child, well, you are the answer to their desire for a daughter.”
“I’m glad that things have worked out this way. I’d hate it if they didn’t like me or if they were like my parents. I couldn’t bear that. I’m glad we can visit them on the spur of the moment that way. We couldn’t do that with my family.”
“You want to know a secret?”
“You know I always do.”
“When Mom called us when we were at the Lexor, she wasn’t calling me. She wanted to talk to her favorite daughter.”
Clark didn’t need his super vision to detect the tear that formed at the corner of Lois’s eye and he was sure that it wasn’t a tear of sadness either.
And Now
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 2
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Clark awoke a few seconds before the alarm was set to go off. He and Lois were spooned in the bed and he gently, so as not to wake her prematurely, pulled Lois back against his body. Once he had her where he wanted her he started kissing the back and side of her neck. After the second gentle caress she let out a contented sigh and whispered, “Mmmmmmmm, now, that’s the way to wake up in the morning. No raucous alarm, gentle kisses. How did I ever live before you came into my life? I’ll tell you, I didn’t live. I existed. This is living.” She rolled over so that she was facing him and started a real kiss just before the alarm started to sound, interrupting them.
She let out a frustrated, “Drat that machine! It must be time to get up.”
“I guess so.” He got up and strolled to the bathroom doing his morning stretch. He knew that they had an early story meeting so he didn’t tease Lois by disrobing in front of her. A few seconds after the door closed behind him he came out showered, shaved and dressed for the day. He said, “Your turn.”
As she slipped out from under the covers, Lois quipped, “What took you so long?”
In a deadpan fashion, he replied, “I had to trim my nails.”
“Really?”
“Really. Hurry up and get dressed, Perry called for an early story meeting this morning. I’m going to go start breakfast.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Daily Planet staff was starting to gather for the story meeting. Lois and Clark sat next to each other with their travel mugs on the table in front of them as other members of the staff drifted in, in ones and twos.
As he was heading to the meeting, Jimmy heard the chime of the wire-service machine signaling a new article. He changed direction and stopped at the machine. As he read the story he started to get excited. Smiling, he ripped the story from the roll and almost literally ran to the conference room.
Perry entered just before him and as Perry was looking around, counting noses, Jimmy burst in and shouted, “Chief, I’ve got a good one!”
Perry shook his head and said, “Now son, I told you you'd get an assignment when the time is right.”
Jimmy started to pitch the story like an infomercial ad-man, “The Queen of England, in the middle of a State dinner, walks out into the garden and starts dancing in a fountain with one of her Beefeaters. My angle: 'A Royal Cry for Help.'”
With a look of disgust, Perry replied, “Come on, Olsen. This is a newspaper, not a check-out rag. The Queen's peccadilloes after a few too many port Sherries is not my idea of a 'good one.'”
With a dejected air, Jimmy withdrew and said, “Yes, sir.”
Perry turned to the rest of the staff, his head count all but forgotten, and asked, “Now, how’re the real stories coming?”
Clark was probably the second closest to Jimmy of all of the staff, the closest being Perry and his heart ached for Jimmy and they way Perry had shot his idea down. As he was taking a sip from his travel mug, Jimmy slumped into a chair.
While Clark was watching Jimmy, Lois brought Perry up to date on their story.
“There are still no leads on those kidnappings. The children of seven wealthy families have been taken in the last three months. All of them were returned safely after huge ransoms were paid, but none of the kids remember anything about what happened to them.”
Clark added, “Lois and I tried to interview the parents but we're talking very high profile here. CEO's, rock stars, politicians, no one wants the publicity because their kids are involved. “
Perry was taking it all in as Lois and then Clark spoke and then replied with a shake of the head, “I can understand that but we need a good story. How many more times can we say there's no new information?”
Suddenly the entire staff was distracted by the entry of Catherine Grant. Cat’s usual attire could stop traffic, but what she was wearing had an equal effect on the staff. In place of her normal tight, very tight, almost spandex tight, short, short skirts with slits and peek-a-boo openings, she was wearing a very conservative, and not, Cat conservative, Lois conservative, business suit. It was beige in color and consisted of pants with a jacket over and the jacket was buttoned up all the way to her neck. To top everything off she was wearing white dinner gloves. Her hair was done up in a top do and she was wearing glasses. To say that her appearance was a surprise would be to utter an understatement.
As she entered, she started peeling off her gloves and as she selected a banana from the fruit bowl said, “Sorry I’m late.”
Lois, ever one to needle Cat quipped, “Yeah, Halloween was a month ago.”
Perry decided to take the high road and asked, “Did someone … pass on?”
As Cat dropped into one of the empty chairs across from Lois and Clark she started peeling her banana and asked, “Can't a girl get dressed up without sending out a press release?”
Recently, Clark had been seeing the softer side of Cat and thought that she was trying to change some things. He decided to encourage her, “I think you look very nice.”
Giving Lois a smug look, Cat said, “Thank you, Clark.”
From the side, Jimmy quipped, “Kinda like a librarian fantasy I had once ...”
Lois made one of her leaps of logic and challenged, “Okay. Who is he? You never do anything this drastic unless there's a man involved.”
Actually happy that Lois had guessed what she was doing, Cat proudly proclaimed, “As a matter of fact, I happen to be having lunch with Arthur Chow this afternoon.”
Jimmy was startled and said in an awed tone, “Whoa. He's even richer than Lex Luthor, isn't he?”
Cat sprawled back in her chair as if it were a throne as she said, “Second richest man in the world. We're on the same charity committee together and we're going over some last minute details for tomorrow night's "Magic of the Night" ball which I hope you're all planning to attend.” As she said this last she looked significantly around the room.
Thoughtfully, Clark asked, “Arthur Chow. Isn't he a little ... conservative for you?”
Cat smiled and said, “He and I have a lot in common.”
In reply, Lois quipped, “You mean those little green pieces of paper with dead presidents on them?”
Cat stifled a laugh as she said, “Ex … actly!”
Perry was finally catching on and asked, “Now wait a second. You're going to bamboozle this guy into thinking you're a straight arrow?”
With a sly look she replied, “That’s my plan.”
At her confirmation, Perry started to smile and said, “Heaven help him.” He looked around and said, “Now, who's up next? Biederman, how about that piece you were doing on Attention Deficit Disorder? Sounds like a real nineties disease. Biederman? You listening?” Clark started to snicker because it looked to him as though Biederman was giving an imitation of the disorder he was supposed to be writing about.
Suddenly, Clark’s superhearing picked up the sound of a woman softly crying. Looking around he found the source, a woman sitting at his desk. Instinctively, Clark stood and started to move in her direction.
Seeing Clark’s movement, Lois grabbed their coffee mugs and rose to follow him.
The woman appeared to be in her late thirties and pleasant looking, though not a beauty. What she was wearing caught Lois’s eye. It appeared to be something along the lines of a maid’s uniform, not a ‘French' upstairs maid uniform which was the subject of so many men’s fantasies to be sure, a modest utilitarian uniform.
Clark approached her with Lois close behind. He knelt next to the woman and asked, “Can I help you?”
Startled at his approach, she asked, “Clark Kent?”
Clark replied, “Yes, I’m Clark Kent,” turning to indicate Lois he continued, “and this is Lois Lane, my partner.”
Introducing herself, she said, “My name is Rose Collins. I need you to write a story.”
Reaching past Clark, Lois grabbed a tissue and offered it to Rose.
As Rose wiped her eyes, Clark asked, “Is there something wrong?”
She sniffled and said, “It’s Nicky, my little boy. Someone’s made a terrible mistake.”
Lois’s intuition was making one of its famous leaps, seeing the uniform told Lois that this woman worked for someone wealthy. She said a mistake had been made. This had to have something to do with the story they were working on. Her curiosity had been aroused and she asked, “What kind of mistake?”
Rose looked at Lois and asked a question, “You've both been writing about the kidnappings, haven't you?”
Lois smiled at this confirmation of her supposition as she replied, “Yes, we have.”
Clark asked, “Has your son been kidnapped, Mrs. Collins?”
Already on the edge, emotionally, this blunt statement of the fact as a question pushed her over the edge and Rose started to cry as she nodded her agreement.
Seeing her reaction, Clark asked, “Shouldn’t you be taking this to the police?”
A look of stark fear overtook her features as Rose shook her head and said, “I'm not supposed to tell them or Nicky will be ...” Her voice faltered and she couldn’t complete the statement.
Clark attempted to comfort her by patting her shoulder as he said, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Lois asked, “How can we help you?”
Rose wiped a tear and said, “I work for Mr. and Mrs. Mark Moskal.”
Lois nodded in understanding as she asked, “Mark Moskal the developer?” Lois felt somewhat smug at this confirmation of her supposition.
Rose nodded and said, “Yes.”
Lois said, “He's practically built every other building in Metropolis.”
Rose nodded in agreement and took up her story, “I take care of their house. Nicky and I live on the estate. He and their son Chris are both six and they always play together and ...” Again her voice failed her.
Clark voiced his surmise, “And the kidnapper took the wrong kid.”
Rose finished her plea, “The note demands five million dollars by tomorrow night. The Moskals are en route from their safari but ... all that money ... how can I ask them? Could you write something? Tell the kidnapper he's made a mistake. Please. Help me.” She finished with a tone of desperation in her voice.
Lois and Clark exchanged a look and Lois said, “We could write a story, but I don’t know how much good it will do. Would it be possible for us to examine the scene of the crime?” Lois was hoping that Clark’s supersenses would be able to pick up something.
After Rose said that she would take them to the house, Clark told Perry that they were heading out to follow-up on a lead for their story.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Lois and Clark were in the Jeep following Rose as she drove her aging sedan to the ‘house’ as she called it. As they drove through the gate and got a glimpse of the mansion that sat in the middle of the grounds, Lois quipped, “So ... this is the other half that I've heard so much about. This place even puts Luthor’s penthouse to shame.”
After they parked, Rose led them to the back lawn and the area that the boys had been playing in. She went into the house to retrieve the note.
While they waited, Lois spotted some statuary and flippantly, picking up a small statue and waving it around said, “I'll bet this is worth enough that it could pay our rent for a few months.”
Clark looked at it and replied, “More like buy a small home in the suburbs. It's a Remington bronze.”
Quickly, but carefully Lois placed the statue back on the pedestal she had removed it from, being careful not to drop it.
She quickly stepped away lest she knock it over and stood close to Clark as they saw Rose coming toward them accompanied by a boy with curly hair and glasses.
Clark greeted him, “Hey, you must be, Chris.”
Chris was almost literally holding onto Rose’s skirt as evidence of how scared he was and he just nodded his agreement to Clark.
Looking down at Chris Rose reassured him, “It's okay. They're going to help us find Nicky.”
Chris looked at Clark and said, “My daddy is coming home and he'll take care of it.”
Trying to win him over, Clark said, “I know he will. But until he comes back we're going to see what we can do.”
Rose handed the note to Lois and she read it aloud, “'I have your son. If you want to see him alive again, bring five million dollars to Hobs River Carnival at midnight tomorrow. Come alone. No authorities, or the boy will be ...'” Lois just couldn’t finish reading it so Clark used his supervision to finish reading it to himself.
Lois turned to Chris and asked, “You were with Nick when this happened?”
Chris nodded in response.
Seeing his nod, Lois asked, “Can you tell us what you saw?”
Chris started describing what he had seen, “It was a magic box, with moons and stars.”
Lois looked at Rose for confirmation.
Rose said, “He has a pretty active imagination.”
Lois didn’t get that feel from Chris so she followed up, “What did it look like? What color was it?”
“Black and shiny. Nick got in and then he disappeared. That’s all.”
Clark conferred with Lois, “He sounds sincere, but he might be blocking out something, traumatic.”
Lois replied, “I think he believes that’s what he saw.”
Unexpectedly they were interrupted. “What’s going on here?”
Turning around they saw Mr. and Mrs. Moskal coming out of the house. Both look tired from long hours of travel and worried about the situation.
Mrs. Moskal, with a sound of relief in her voice cried, “Christopher!” and kneeling held out her arms. Chris ran to her and she enfolded him in her arms.
Mr. Moskal was distracted and put his hand on Chris’s head by way of greeting before turning to Rose and asking, “Rose, are you all right? Mary Frances and I were so worried.”
Standing, Mrs. Moskal moved over and demonstrated that there was more than an employer/employee relationship when she gave Rose a hug.
Mr. Moskal had been watching this and then turned his attention to Lois and Clark, “Who exactly are you?”
Clark replied, “We’re from the Daily Planet. Rose asked us …”
Mr. Moskal cut him off saying, “The note said no authorities.”
Lois stepped in, “We haven’t told the police.”
Clark added, “Although I think we should. They can only help and …”
Again, Mr. Moskal cut him off, “No, absolutely not.”
Rose pleaded with Lois and Clark, “Please, you promised.”
Convinced that his word would be final, Mr. Moskal said, “I intend to pay the ransom in full and get the boy back and if the two of you do anything to jeopardize the safety of …”
Lois interrupted, “Believe me, Mr. Moskal, we want to see Nick back safe and sound.
Clark added, “But we also want to make sure this doesn't keep happening to children all over Metropolis.”
Mr. Moskal was becoming angry that these ‘people’ were challenging his authority and it showed in his voice as he said, “That's not my problem right now.”
Mrs. Moskal, trying to be the mediator said, “I think we could use some time alone right now. We'll take care of Rose and Nick, but thank you for your concern.
Lois and Clark looked at Rose and saw that it would be a dead end to pursue the point so they turned to leave.
It was getting late so rather than return to the Planet they headed to the dojo for their weekly karate class.
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