You can find the
Another Dimension, Another Time, Another Lois[/i] TOC here.
Where we left off in Part 17 …[i]Ready to date other men there, Lois? Clark murmured with a hint of euphoria. He must have been really worried that she had been serious.
~For the kids, Clark,~ Lois replied, allowing a small satisfied smile grace her lips. She had gotten what she wanted out of the auction: a jealous Clark admitting that he still loved her. What she would do to get that ghost of hers to get his mind off his self-pity and back on what was important.
Perry grinned at the crowd. “Richie, you aren’t going to let Jimmy steal her away for a mere one hundred fifty dollars, are you?”
Lois turned a sharp gaze at her boss.
“Tax deductible,” coaxed Perry.
Throw her to the sharks, why doesn’t he? Thanks, Chief.
Richie shrugged and Jimmy gloated.
The crowd announced its disappointment in the end of the bidding war.
“All right. One fifty going once,” said Perry, hitting his gavel against the metal railing of the stairs. “Going twice…”
“Ten thousand!” a new voice with an Irish accent called from across the room.
Lois turned to see someone she hadn’t seen in ten years. “Patrick?”
“Ten thousand?” Perry questioned.
“Patrick?” Jimmy mouthed with a stunned expression.
Patrick?Part 18“In the flesh,” Patrick admitted, holding out his arms.
Perry looked over at Lois and caught sight of her wide eyes, before returning his gaze to the newcomer. “Sir, is that ten thousand American dollars?”
“Any way you want it. Dollars, pounds, rubles, gold bars,” Patrick told him.
Her boss chuckled at that thought. Patrick better be careful or Perry would insist that Patrick give the Coates charity ten thousand gold bars.
“Well, sir, I thank you,” the Chief said to her old friend with a slight bow. “And the children thank you.”
Lois walked down the steps and approached Patrick. “What are you doing in Metropolis?”
“I’m here on business,” the Irishman replied. “You look great, filled out in all the right places.”
She blushed bashfully at this brazen comment. “You look great too.”
Charming, Clark drawled sarcastically.
Jimmy approached them and cleared his throat.
“Oh! Jimmy. This is Patrick Sullivan. I met him when I was an exchange student in Ireland,” Lois explained.
“I’m sorry about outbidding you, lad,” Patrick said pleasantly. “But Lois and I go way back. The very thought for having her to myself for the night sent shivers down my spine and directly into my wallet.”
Evening. A dinner date happens in the evening, not night.Lois smiled at Patrick’s lame excuse and glanced at Jimmy. His expression, she imagined, mirrored the one she heard in Clark’s tone. Neither of her men liked Patrick.
“Well, Jimmy Olsen is my…” She looked at her photographer. Clark truly was her partner – in every sense of the word, but in this reality, in this destiny, that title went to Jimmy. “— partner, here at the Planet.”
“I’ve seen the poster. The other half of Lane and Olsen,” said Patrick, holding out his hand.
Jimmy took Patrick’s hand and Lois could see him squeezing it tighter than necessary, trying to make an impression – albeit not a good one. “James. James Olsen,” Jimmy corrected.
Patrick looked uncomfortable. “That’s quite a grip you have there, James. You must work out.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I do,” Jimmy said, casually wrapping his arm around Lois’ waist. “Lois and I do tae-kwon-do together.” That was a blatant lie. Jimmy couldn’t do a roundhouse kick if his life depended on it. She really should introduce him to martial arts.
Lois stepped away from Jimmy’s arm and guided Patrick to her desk. “So, how’s your father?”
Jimmy followed them, keeping a close eye on the man who had outbid him.
“I’m afraid he’s got a bit of an illness and had to check into hospital,” Patrick said.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” replied Lois. “Patrick’s dad was the greatest storyteller: Druids and wizards and virgin sacrifices. Ugh. He made up all this creepy stuff.”
“What makes you think he made it up?” teased Patrick.
Lois laughed; as if any of that stuff could be real.
You mean like time travel, ghosts, and superheroes?She coughed. ~Not now, Clark!~ She cleared her throat. “So, ten thousand dollars. You didn’t happen to see that movie
Indecent Proposal, did you?”
“Yes,” Patrick replied. “I
loved it.”
Lois felt awkward that her old friend interpreted her joke thusly. Patrick had always been flirtatious, but he was taking it a bit far and too heavy for her taste. She hadn’t liked being auctioned off like a prize steer. Referring to her as being equal to prostitute wasn’t earning Patrick any points either. This date was for dinner and nothing else.
Thank goodness for small miracles.“Anyway, I thought we might have dinner at my hotel,” Patrick suggested.
“At your
hotel?” Jimmy echoed. He cast a glance at Lois, and she knew what he was thinking. It wasn’t hard; Clark was suggesting the same thing.
~It’s just dinner, guys. Please! Big girl here. Can handle myself.~
“Excuse me,” Lois said to Jimmy, informing him that he was overstepping his bounds. “Your hotel sounds great.”
“I’m staying at the Lexor in the Junior Luthor Suite,” Patrick informed her.
Suddenly dinner took on a completely dinner feel than two friends becoming reacquainted. “Actually, Patrick, I can’t…” She swallowed. There was no way she would make it through dinner at the ‘Luthor’ anything.
“In point of fact, Lois, I have a check for ten thousand dollars that says that you can,” Patrick replied.
He didn’t just say that, did he? Taking another look at Patrick’s expression, he had.
Lois gazed at Jimmy and saw his hands turning to fists by his side. He knew what Lex’s name did to her and how she hadn’t wanted to be auctioned off for this very reason. She smiled at him. Jimmy was a good friend. She wrapped her arm around Jimmy’s waist. “Didn’t we celebrate the first night of our honeymoon at the Lexor, Jimmy?”
Her partner glowed with the appreciation that his anger was not displaced. He ran a hand through her hair. “I cannot recall. All I remember is that it was the happiest night of my life,” Jimmy said, playing along. “Then that weekend on that island off the coast of Rio.” His smile grew exponentially. “I’ll never forget it. Because of you I almost lost my head.”
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Are you saying that I bought a
married woman?” Patrick spat out.
Lois smiled at him with a warmth that she didn’t feel. “You didn’t
buy anything more than dinner, Patrick. And technically, he and I are engaged. We’re still working out some snafus, but soon, very soon, we’ll be Mr. and Mrs. Clark Kent.”
“
What?!” Jimmy and Patrick gasped at the same time.
She winced. “Olsen… James Olsen… Mr. and Mrs. James Olsen,” she corrected, tripping over her tongue.
“I see,” Patrick said, raising a brow. He didn’t believe her one bit. Crap.
“When you said dinner at your hotel, naturally I assumed you meant the hotel restaurant,” Lois explained, removing her hand from Jimmy’s waist and crossing her arms. “For ten thousand dollars, you are welcome to have both Jimmy and I dine with you in your suite, two for the price of one. If you would rather dine with me alone, we can eat in the privacy of a public restaurant. But even if you offered me ten thousand dollars for my own pocket on top of the ten you’ve already given to the Coates charity for orphans, I would never set foot inside a Luthor Suite – Junior or otherwise.”
Patrick nodded. “So, when you said that you couldn’t eat in
my suite, you meant that suite in particular, you didn’t mean with me?”
She nodded.
“Oh, Lois, I’m sorry. There has been a terrible misunderstanding. No, of course, we don’t have to eat in my suite,” Patrick tried to make up for lost ground. “Please, for old time’s sake, Lois. I’ll take you to any restaurant in the city. Just the two of us.”
“I would have agreed to that until you insisted that you had bought and paid for me,” Lois informed him. “Now, where I go, Jimmy will accompany me as my bodyguard, just to be on the safe side.”
For good measure, Jimmy crossed his arms as well. Even together they weren’t half as intimidating as Superman, but they were a force to be reckoned with.
“The Lois Lane I used to know didn’t need bodyguards,” Patrick reminded her.
“That was several multi-millionaires ago,” replied Jimmy. “After the third one tried to kill her, I started to insist on a chaperone.”
Patrick chuckled. “Is he serious?” At their expressions, he realized that they were. “How about we start at an Irish pub I know, Casey’s, over on Main and…”
“I know the place,” Lois agreed. “We’ll see you there. Seven o’clock?”
Jimmy relaxed and headed back to his desk.
“I guess there’s no chance to rekindle the old flame,” Patrick said in a low voice. “I have never forgiven myself for letting you get away.”
“I’m flattered, Patrick, but I’m in love with someone else.
This is just dinner,” she replied.
“You don’t think I could sweep you off your feet and away from that guy?” Patrick said with a nod towards Jimmy. “He doesn’t seem to trust you much.”
“You should know that it’s character, not money, that impresses me, Patrick. My intended has a truckload of it; it’s hard to compete with that,” Lois said, thinking of Clark. “And it’s
you he doesn’t trust. He knows I can handle myself.”
Not to mention after Superman, no other man could ever sweep you off your feet again, try as he might.~Ha ha, Farmboy. You did.~
“Well, tonight then, Lois,” Patrick said, backing away.
As soon as her old friend was at the elevators, Jimmy rejoined her. “Lois, can we talk in the conference room?”
~Oh, great, ~ Lois groaned. Jimmy better not think she had been serious about that whole engagement/marriage ruse. “Sure, Jimmy.” She placed a smile on her face and followed him into the conference room. Might as well get this conversation over and done with.
Jimmy closed the door and turned to face Lois. He appeared nervous. “Um… Lois?” He sat down in a chair and then changed his mind and stood back up.
“Yes?” Lois said with a little impatience. She wanted to get started on that new lead about the murders being tied to the missing artifacts.
“I wanted to ask you about CK,” Jimmy said but then didn’t continue.
Lois crossed her arms. “What about him?”
He cleared his throat, opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to change his mind. Finally, he said, “Do you have a photo of him?”
That came out of left field. “No,” she stated.
“Is he coming back to Metropolis?”
She shifted uncomfortably onto her other foot. “Not yet.”
“Did you find him?”
“No,” Lois answered shortly, wondering where he was going. “His parents hadn’t seen him.”
“His
parents?” Jimmy echoed skeptically.
“Yes. I met them in Kansas. What’s with all these questions about Clark, Jimmy? I’ve got a story to write,” she reminded him.
“I’m worried about you,” he replied slowly.
Lois smiled, relaxing. She patted his arm. “I’m fine. I’ll find him. It’s just taking longer than I expected.” She headed towards the door.
“While you were on vacation, I ran into Sarah…”
She stopped at the door, unable to open it. “How’s Sarah? Finish up her degree yet?” Lois asked with too much faux cheerfulness. “You two getting back together?”
Jimmy ignored her questions and continued, “She asked how you and Scardino were doing, and I told her you broke up with him to chase after an old boyfriend of yours.”
“Oh?” Lois said, opening the door ready to escape.
“Named Clark.”
She winced, but didn’t turn to face him. Lois had told Sarah that Clark was a figment of her imagination, a figure in her dreams. That was before Lois knew the truth. If the young woman told Jimmy what Lois had told her…
“Sarah was really worried. She said that you had told her about Clark and that he wasn’t good for you. Actually, what she said was that ‘it wasn’t healthy’ – you and Clark.”
Lois could hear the concern in Jimmy’s voice, but it didn’t sound like Sarah had ratted her out. She must have taken the oath of fake-therapist seriously.
“Sarah asked that you call her, Lois,” Jimmy went on. “I thought she might be exaggerating… but after what happened out there…”
Lois shut the door and turned to face her partner. “That was just a slip of the tongue, Jimmy. I really appreciate you backing me up. I’m sorry that it wasn’t your bid that won.”
He smiled weakly. “Me too, but we can have dinner together anytime. I’ll be there tonight to back you up. Actually, I’ll bring a date. I met this woman at the museum robbery last night. Veronica. She’s a bit nasally…” He shrugged. “But a real looker and an expert on ancient antiquities.”
Lois laughed. “You’re picking up my bad habits, Jimmy. I thought we were off duty tonight. You’re planning on doing research while out on a date?”
“We’ll tell Patrick that she’s there for research on our story,” he explained. Lois got the strange feeling poor Veronica had been duped into a date under the guise of ‘research’ as well. “You know to go along with our cover story.”
“I don’t think he bought our cover story, Jimmy.”
He scratched his head. “Why is that? How come no matter how many times we tell people we’re in love, engaged or married, nobody believes us?”
Probably has something to do with the fact that you aren’t.Lois smiled, agreeing with Clark. “I have no idea.”
“I’m never off-duty when it comes to you, Lois. You know that, right?” Jimmy asked.
She nodded. “We okay?”
“Yeah. But, Lois, Sarah’s expression after I told her about Clark though…” He shook his head. “You should just call and reassure her that you’re fine. Okay?”
“Sure,” she replied, opening the door. She planned on keeping as far away from that psych major as possible.
***
Lois peered through the peephole on her front door. On the other side was a strange woman in a big flouncy shirt, the likes in which Lois wouldn’t be caught dead. The woman was strange only in the sense that Lois didn’t know her. Having lived in Metropolis all her life, Lois had discovered she no longer found people ‘odd’ anymore, just different.
The woman appeared harmless enough and was holding a half-gallon of chocolate fudge ripple ice cream, so it was possible she was actually Lois’ long lost best friend. She opened the door.
“Howdy, neighbor,” said the woman with a shake of her shoulder length black ringlets. “I sensed you needed ice cream.”
“You sensed correctly,” Lois replied with a chuckle. She was always in need of ice cream. Actually, she had just thrown out her last empty pint. “Do I know you?”
The woman handed her the carton. “I’m Star. I recently moved in on the first floor.”
“Ah.” Lois accepted the gift because, as a rule, she never turned down ice cream. It amazed her that she had never been abducted as a child.
Star smiled. “Your partner asked me to come.”
Lois raised a brow.
Jimmy? This seemed like the kind of thing he would do, sic some crazy psychic on her. She backed up and let the woman inside. If for no other reason than that Star would distract Lois from becoming cross-eyed while staring at the note with the names and numbers that she still couldn’t comprehend.
Tempus, ha! She took the ice cream into the kitchen and put it in to her freezer.
“He doesn’t trust the man with the green eyes,” Star explained, sitting down on the sofa.
Lois didn’t recall meeting any man with green eyes. Sitting down next to the woman, she wondered why Jimmy hadn’t just called her himself. “Was there a particular reason he wanted us to talk?” she asked the woman warily. Had Jimmy sent Star to assist them with their story? Or to help her find Clark? It didn’t make sense. Maybe Sarah had told Jimmy more about her dream man than she had assumed.
“He doesn’t think you’re listening to him and he’s blue in the face from trying. So, he thought that perhaps I could talk some sense into you. And you’re right; I couldn’t agree more.”
“Excuse me?” Lois sputtered.
“I was responding to your thoughts. Small weddings are much more romantic.”
Had Jimmy told this stranger that they were engaged? “Star, I wasn’t thinking about my wedding. What would be the point? With the way things are going, I don’t think I’m ever going to get married.”
“Not if you keep seeing other men,” the psychic told her.
“I’m not seeing other men!” Lois said in her defense. “I’m not seeing anyone.”
Star shook her head and then knocked it with her fist. “This thing. Sometimes it picks up mixed signals. I could have sworn I saw you out to dinner with another man… and a bull’s-eye.”
There was no way this woman could have psychically seen her at the pub with Patrick, playing darts. “Lucky guess?”
“Lois, your brain is like a cheap TV, full of static, but one thing is coming through loud and clear,” Star said.
The skeptical reporter couldn’t wait to hear what it was.
“You love Clark.”
Lois’ jaw dropped.
No. Well, yes, but there was no way that this woman could have pulled that out of thin air. “Jimmy told you.”
Star scrunched her eyes. “Who?”
Hadn’t Star told her that Jimmy had sent her? Fine, Lois would play along. “Yes, I love Clark. I love him so much,” Lois said. It felt good to say those words aloud, to have someone to talk to about Clark.
“Of course you do. When I checked out your future, your partner was worried by what I saw,” Star replied. “Frankly, I was worried too, because usually when I look into the future I see the future.”
That sounded reasonable. “Okay,” Lois responded.
“But now I only see the past,” explained Star.
“You see the past in my future?” Lois asked. What the…? Wait. Her dreams were of the past. If her dreams with Clark became reality would that mean they would also be her future?
“Now, this is the weird part…” continued Star.
It wasn’t already weird?
“It’s not just your future,” Star said with wide eyes. “Everyone in Metropolis’s future as well.”
If history needed to be rewritten again to accommodate Clark being alive instead of dead, his presence alone would impact everyone he met and every person who read his work… therefore, everyone in Metropolis. So far, Lois was following what Star was saying.
“Is this going to happen soon? This rewriting of history?” Lois asked, sitting on the edge of her seat – literally – and clutching her hands together.
“You don’t seemed surprised by this,” Star observed, impressed. “I guess I shouldn’t be taken aback that this doesn’t faze you. He said you’re a genius.”
“Well…” Lois shrugged modestly. That was always nice to hear.
“Anyway, it happens after the dead man returns,” Star explained.
Lois’ jaw dropped. Clark was coming back to her! She hugged Star. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!”
“Well, he’s not actually dead. Just a part of him is dead. Can you be partially dead?” Star seemed stumped by her own logic.
“Soon?”
“Yes, the dead man returns. You die. Then time starts over,” Star said, ticking the timeline off on her fingers.
“I die?” Lois gulped. No, that couldn’t be. Clark couldn’t come back, only to find her dead. No! No, Star must be wrong. But if she was wrong about this, did that mean she was wrong about Clark returning as well?
Star knocked the event out of the air as unimportant. “You die, but it’s not really you.” She lifted up her finger. “Actually, it’s this… your death, or what is assumed to be your death… is the catalyst for time to change. I guess it angers the gods or something.”
“
Gods?” As in more than one? Who
was this woman?
Star shook head. “Although I don’t know why there is a need to change the past if you’re not really dead.” She shrugged. “Do you think it might be a mistake?”
“And will I be happy?” Lois had to ask. “When the mostly dead man returns?”
“Oh, no. You’ll be miserable.”
“What?” How could she be miserable with Clark alive?
“Oh, yes. He’s a tyrant. And you must be on the lookout for his ex-wife. She’s the one who kills you… the ‘other you’ you. The one that’s not you,” clarified Star with this rain of mud.
“Clark’s a tyrant? And married?” Lois gasped. That couldn’t be right. It just couldn’t. Of course, with her history with men it made perfect sense. Paul, Claude, Lex…
“
Clark? Oh, right. Him… um…” Star closed her eyes in thought. “No. Well, yes, but not really.”
Lois was getting nowhere fast with this woman.
“He was engaged, but it got broken off because he met you… only not you.” Star’s brow furrowed.
“The not me that gets killed?” Lois tried to understand.
“No. The ‘not you’ that gets killed won’t really
be you, just someone made to look like you. This ‘other you’ that broke up Clark’s engagement really
is you, only not really.”
Lois stood up and walked to her freezer. She pulled out the ice cream that Star had brought and grabbed a spoon out of the dish drainer. This was becoming a double chocolate ice cream type of conversation and then some. After she had swallowed a bite, she tied to comprehend again. “So, there are three of me in my future? Me-me? Me – that really isn’t me, who gets killed by Clark’s ex-wife? And me – who really is me, but isn’t, who also happened to break up Clark’s engagement?”
“Oh, no. The you that broke off his engagement isn’t in
your future. She’s in his past. And she’s married to Clark now, so you don’t have to worry about her. And the ex-wife isn’t Clark’s ex…”
“Clark is married to this other me? The me that dies?” Lois grasped onto something that made sense.
“No, the one that broke up his engagement. And she’s married to
her Clark, not
your Clark,” Star said, eyeing the ice cream.
“There’s more than one Clark? What? The ‘before’ Clark and the ‘after’ Clark?” Lois asked.
Star hit herself in the forehead. “Of course! Now, it all makes sense.” She got up and retrieved another spoon.
Lois stared at Star. “It does?”
“Yes. There’s Old Clark and New Clark,” the psychic announced with a grin. “I wondered why Clark said to tell you goodbye. He’s not coming back. He’s lost, but he knows you’ll be okay, because you’ll have the New Clark, see?”
“No!” Lois shook her head. “No, I don’t see.” She dug back into the ice cream.
“Old Clark gets lost when the future becomes the past. He’ll be Old Clark, but you’ll have a New Clark.”
“I don’t want a New Clark, I love the Old Clark!” Lois said adamantly.
“You’ll love the New Clark too,” Star reassured her.
The reporter’s jaw dropped open. “I will?”
“Yes.” Star patted Lois on the knee. “And the New Clark needs you. Right now he’s drowning in sorrow because he lost his Lois like you’ll lose your Clark. Well, lost your Clark.” She cocked her head to the side. “You don’t really have him, do you?”
Lois shook her head. “Of course I have
my Clark! Clark? Clark!” she called to him, but he didn’t answer. He had been mostly quiet all day. ~Clark?~
“See. Gone.”
“No!” Lois cried, standing up. “Clark? He can’t leave me. Not now. He promised.
Clark?”
“He doesn’t have a choice,” said Star. “When the past becomes your future he will be lost.”
“Then let’s stop the past from becoming the future!” Lois said. It seemed obvious what must be done. “I’ve invested too much to lose Clark now. Tyrant or not.”
“Clark isn’t a tyrant.”
“Huh?” Hadn’t Star said that the dead man was a tyrant?
“You’ll still have New Clark,” Star reminded her.
“And is New Clark like Old Clark?” Lois snapped, getting more and more aggravated by this whole scenario. As if people were interchangeable. Why was she giving this woman time of day again?
“Yes and no. He
is a different man.”
Lois pressed her lips together. “Yes
and no?”
“Yes, in all the ways that are important. He will love you more than anyone ever has. He will protect you and care for you. The two of you will be happy until death do you part.”
“Will he love me more than Old Clark does?” Lois inquired skeptically.
Impossible.~Clark! Oh, Clark. You
are here. You haven’t left me.~
No, Lois, I haven’t left you. “Well, no. You and Old Clark are a perfect fit. One hundred out of one hundred. Soul mates. Once your life with New Clark has ended and you have died, you and Old Clark will find each other again. You and New Clark are a close match, but only like ninety-five out of one hundred. Alike souls but not a perfect match. You
will be happy with New Clark, Lois, and he
will be happy with you. You both will take what life has dealt each of you and make the most of it.”
“But I don’t want
New Clark. He’s the
wrong Clark. I want one hundred out of one hundred
Old Clark!” Lois complained through gritted teeth.
That’s what I want too, honey, but if it doesn’t happen, if I can’t be there for you, I’d rather you find happiness with this New Clark – as long as he isn’t a clone – than with Luthor, Scardino, or Patrick. Because if this New Clark is anything like me, he’ll love you with all of his being.~But he won’t
be you.~ Lois choked back a sob. ~I refuse to love him. I’ll fight it tooth and nail,~ she protested to
her Clark.
Like you jumped into my arms, love at first sight?She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She set the half-gallon of ice cream on the coffee table and faced Star. “You said that I die
after Clark returned from the dead, right?”
“No, I didn’t say that. Old Clark remains dead,” said Star, reaching over to the ice cream with her spoon.
“What about his ex-wife?” Lois screamed.
I was never married, Clark said at the same time Star told Lois, “Not Clark’s ex-wife.”
“Huh?” Lois’ head was swimming with Old Clarks, New Clarks, and three, possibly four, hers – only one of which was actually her. Then who was the fiancée or was it the ex-wife that kills one of her?
The phone rang, jarring her spinning head back to normal. Lois went to her desk. “Hello?”
“Lois, I have some information on that druid mask that you asked me about,” said Patrick.
“You do? Terrific! Thanks for helping me out, Patrick,” Lois replied.
Finally, some headway on this robbery / ritual killing spree. She was so glad she got over all that
Indecent Proposal paranoia mess from the other day. As an antiques dealer, Patrick had kindly volunteered to help with getting information on the stolen artifacts.
“I hate do this, but can I ask you to meet me at my suite? All the information is here,” Patrick suggested.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be right over,” the reporter told him, hanging up. She turned back to Star. “I’ve got to go.”
“Okay,” Star said, following her out. “Oh! Oh! Don’t open the cabinet with the glowing green eyes.”
“Right. The cabinet with the eyes,” Lois repeated, taking the advice with a grain of salt. “I won’t open it.” Truthfully, she was relieved to stop thinking about this whole New Clark, Old Clark, future returning to the past conundrum.
***End of Part 18*** Part 19 Comments
