Part 12
Mayson Drake sat in her office. It had been a long day, but she was too restless to go home to sleep.
She had fallen in love with Clark Kent, not out of desperation as she had in the past, but because Clark was a gentle, caring man. She liked his Kansas shyness that made him fidgety when he kissed her that first time. She remembered how surprised he was when she told him that she admired his courage in testifying against Baby Rage in court. His smile drew her in and his intense dark eyes captured her in a way that she didn’t want to be released. And it didn’t hurt that he was gorgeous. How could Lois Lane be distracted by Superman when she had Clark Kent around?
But Mayson knew that she had to forget Clark Kent now. As far as he was concerned, she was never in the running, never had a chance. She wiped away a tear.
She would deal with this. She survived the real tragedy, the deaths of her parents, Tom and Janice. She could definitely deal with disappointment in love.
She pulled out her copy of Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Della Drake must have had some kind of premonition of the horrible night because a few days earlier, she’d met Mayson for lunch.
"Take this, Mayson," her mother had said. "Someday you’ll open it and it’ll all make sense."
As if a dead poet could make sense out of her world, Mayson thought at the time. But now, as she sat at her desk, feeling another loss in her life, she opened the book.
"To my darling daughter," her mother had written. No other words were needed. She blinked her eyes trying to wash away the blurred words. She took a deep breath and began, randomly, reading poems...
THEY say that "time assuages",—
Time never did assuage;
An actual suffering strengthens,
As sinews do, with age.
Time is a test of trouble,
But not a remedy.
If such it prove, it prove too
There was no malady.
and she remembered her family, not their horrible deaths, but their wonderful lives.
As she was reading, feeling the texture of the book, as the images sank in, she noticed that the back felt thicker than the front. She ran her fingers over the inside of the cover. Taking the scissors from her desk, she carefully cut away the cover. There, glued to the hard back of the book was a letter addressed to her in her mother’s handwriting. A missive from the other world, she thought.
But any sense of nostalgia vanished as she read through the letter. She sat back in astonishment. Her mother. They all died because of what Della Drake knew. They all died except her.
She couldn’t see the page because of the tears in her eyes. She dried her eyes and forced herself to read the letter for a second time.
Her mother had worked for J.A. Macdonald and Associates for twenty years as the accountant for the law firm. As part of her work in the last few years, she also did the accounts for William Turner, an associate that Macdonald’s wanted kept separate from the rest of the firm. And then, in the letter, her mother uncovered the link between Turner, the felonious rezoning of property and Bill Church. Millions of dollars were involved.
Church must have found out. That’s why she put the letter in the book. He could control Mayson, she worked for him and trusted him, but he wasn’t sure about the rest of the family. He knew about their dinner plans on that fateful night. He arranged to call her away at the opportune time.
She dried her tears, picked up the phone and dialed Clark. He had shown a lot of concern about her parents’ deaths and he deserved to learn the truth.
"Clark...it’s Mayson...no, I’m all right. I’d appreciate it if you could come to my office. I have some information related to the Bayside Fire story. I’ll wait here."
****************
The evening was clear and mild. Their decision to walk to Mayson’s office seemed natural just as their holding hands was now. Clark had been slightly surprised when Lois had slipped her hand into his. She’d often taken his arm in the past, but this felt good. Clark entwined his fingers in Lois’s. As they walked, he listened to the even beating of her heart. Music, he thought. My song.
"Why did Mayson leave the office in a huff?" Lois asked after they’d walked two blocks.
"Not exactly a huff..." He wasn’t sure how to describe Mayson’s mood. He realized that she must have been disappointed, but at least he had been honest with her.
"Then what?"
"Let down, maybe."
"Why?"
Clark raised their hands. How did he explain this to Lois without scaring her off. So he just looked at their hands, their fingers laced together.
"Oh!"
They walked a few steps together.
"What did you say to her?" she asked.
"Not exactly what I said. More what I didn’t say." At least, he thought that he was telling her the truth. It was Mayson who made sense out of his obfuscation and silence.
"Sounds like you."
"What do you mean by that?" Although he did know.
"It’s the famous Kent method of getting out of jams by not saying anything but letting the other person assume. I’ve seen you use it many times."
"Like when?"
"Like the other day when you rushed out of the office saying you had to go. When I asked where, you shrugged your shoulders and looked at the stairwell. No answer. I had to figure out that you’d forgotten to return a video or pick up your cheese of the month delivery. By the way, let me know when it’s real camembert from France. It’s my favourite."
He could tell by the dripping sarcasm that she didn’t believe him, but was playing along with his idiosyncrasies.
"So why was she let down?"
"Who?"
"Mayson."
"Oh. We’re still on that topic."
"Clark?"
"She invited me to dinner, but she figured out that I wasn’t interested."
"When she walked by me she mumbled something about me being a lucky woman." Lois stopped in her tracks. She turned to face him. She hadn’t let go of his hand.
"Am I a lucky woman?" she asked raising her free hand to his face.
Her touch made him feel like a lucky man, that was for sure. He only hoped that they were thinking about the same thing, if not he’d be a foolish man, again. He wanted to tell her the truth about his feelings for her, his love for her, but he was afraid of the friendship curse. He couldn’t lie to her, but the truth...He shrugged his shoulders.
"Did you lie to me that day in the park?"
Here it was. The question that only took a yes or no answer. Simple enough. Anyone could say yes or no. It was the results that could ruin his life. The statement after that would make all the difference. He didn’t want to be Lois’s partner at work and Lois’s friend. He wanted more. Much more. But if he the wrong word then he knew that he’d be neither.
***************
Mayson Drake picked up the phone and listened to the anonymous voice. She wrote the address on a piece of paper and hung up the phone. She checked her watch and realized that if she waited any longer for Clark and Lois, she would miss this opportunity.
Picking up her briefcase, she left her office.
***************
"No. I lied afterwards. It was more important to repair our friendship than to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Too bad," Lois said looking up into his eyes. "I was going to tell you that I thought I was in love with you."
"Oh," Clark said, surprised and rather pleased. He took a step closer to Lois deciding that this was a risk worth taking. "And now?"
"Now, I know that I’m in love with you. You’re my partner, Clark, and my best friend, but I want more."
***************
Mayson Drake rushed out of the courthouse. Glancing once again at her watch, she muttered, "Come on, Kent. It’s late. I can’t wait any more. This is too important."
She dashed down the stairs to her car. She was amazed how this time she had managed to get a parking space in front of the courthouse. She placed her key in the car, turned it and opened the door.
***************
Clark leaned closer to Lois. Her lips, full and red, invited him, and he bent toward her face to reply.
The street noises along with the comments of passers-by faded far into the background. All he could hear was the loud beating of his own heart intermingled with the sound of Lois’s. He could feel the softness of her lips and then he felt engulfed by her sweet taste.
He moved his lips a breath away. "I love you, Lois Lane." Then he returned to a place he never wanted to leave--in her arms, her hands caressing his neck and shoulders.
Home...
***************
Mayson sat down in her car and turned on the ignition. She looked around to see if Clark had arrived. He really would want to see her mother’s letter. Perhaps she should have brought it with her.
***************
At first, Clark wondered where the steady rhythm was coming from. It wasn’t Lois’s heart beat or his own. It was more like a ticking...a countdown . Reluctantly, he took a step away, and looked around. The noise of the street resumed. He could make out the sound. It was like a clock, like a bomb.
He eased away from Lois, racing towardsthe sound.
In front of him a ball of fire leaped out, followed by a thunderous explosion. He raced to the burning car and ripped off the driver’s door. He lifted the victim out.
"No. Mayson," he cried as he carried her away from the burning wreckage to the sidewalk. Gently, he lowered her to the ground, but did not take her out of his arms.
"Mayson?" he begged.
She coughed, but he could see how difficult it was for her.
"Don’t worry, Mayson. You’ll be all right. Help is on the way. Please Mayson?"
He smiled at her when she opened her eyes. "You’ll be all right." He repeated.
She put her hand on his chest to steady herself. She coughed again. And then her hand brushed a smudge on his shirt.
"So, that’s what you’ve been hiding," she said, her voice lower, raspier than before.
Clark didn’t know how to respond. His shirt must have torn as he ripped the door from the car’s body. He was exposed to her, and once more, for Mayson he was too late. And she knew.
As he tried to comfort her, she leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Resurrection." And then she had no breath left. No sound came out of her mouth.
***************
Lois stood behind Clark for several minutes before he realized she was there. She felt his attention shift when the ambulances approached, and a paramedic placed his hand on Clark’s shoulder. He stood up slowly, turned around seeing her for the first time since their kiss, since the explosion.
She hesitantly stepped towards him, opening her arms. He enveloped her in his arms, pulling her tightly, closer to him. She felt the wetness of his tears on her cheeks before she felt his chest heaving. She didn’t know what to say to him, how to make the horror of the moment, of seeing a close friend die in your arms, go away. So she just held him and placed soft kisses on his neck and cheek.
They stood there unaware of the paramedics working quickly behind them, unaware of the police’s arrival.
His breathing became quieter, more even..
"She died in my arms." They were the first words he’d said to her.
"She was with a friend. She wasn’t alone."
"I couldn’t save her...couldn’t help her."
Lois began to shiver. The night had grown colder and the jacket she was wearing didn’t warm her enough. She moved her hands from around Clark’s neck and placed them underneath his jacket. She caressed his back while he pulled her in closer to him. He was so warm.
She placed her head against his chest, but the material of his shirt felt creased, out of place. She smoothed it out. Clark stiffened. He placed his hand on hers, then with a sigh, he let go. Looking down at his shirt, she saw the rip and tried to cover it up. The blue underneath seemed out of place. Her hands reversed their movement and opened the torn material. There, under his shirt, was blue spandex, and as she separated the white material more she saw the yellow shield.
"Su..." Her voice trailed off as he put his index finger against her lip. Of course, there were people around and this was a big secret, a very big secret. She raised her wide open eyes to his, letting her eyes say what her mouth couldn’t.
He nodded his head.
"That’s what you meant when you said you couldn’t save her," she whispered.
He nodded again.
"She knew," he said.
"How?"
"Same way you found out. I’m sorry. Are you mad?"
"Shocked. Surprised."
"I was afraid you’d be mad."
"Mad? Maybe later."
***************
"I feel like I’ve been on my feet for twenty-four hours," Lois said when they returned to Clark’s apartment. "I thought the police would never finish with us. Asking questions that there was no way we could answer about who would want to kill Mayson, and why we were going to see her, and where she was going. They just didn’t know when to stop." She paced his living room. "At least Henderson brought out the letter he found on her desk and we know why her mother was killed. Which means that Mayson knows what happened to her parents and that it wasn’t Superman’s fault and she wouldn’t blame Superman because she knows it’s you and she really liked you, Clark."
"Stop. You’re in babble mode."
"Babble mode. No. I’m not because I’m just sort of summing up the evening in my mind and a lot really happened and I feel really bad for Mayson and..." She stopped pacing.
"Lois?"
"Yes, Clark."
"What’s really bothering you?"
"You’re Superman."
"No. I’m Clark. Superman is what I can do. Superman exists so that I can live a normal life."
He paused for a moment, Lois guessed, so that it would sink in. She’d realized that she hadn’t allowed herself to think about this new piece of information she’d learned about Clark...Superman.
"How do you feel about me being Superman?"
Exactly what she had been wondering herself. She resumed her pacing. It was only a few days ago that she’d been angry at Superman because he hadn’t warned her about Lex Luthor. He had, but he’d done it as Clark. She’d also realized that even though Superman was Kryptonian, he still had a human heart, Clark’s heart. And that was the heart dressed in Clark’s clothing, that she’d fallen in love with. But he had played games with her.
"Why didn’t Superman tell me about Lex?"
"Could you sit down for a minute. I’m getting dizzy watching you."
When Lois sat down beside him on the sofa, he began talking. "Luthor was very smooth. I have to give him credit for that. He made sure that he didn’t say anything concrete or give me evidence that I could give you or take to the police. All I had were conversations where he circled the truth, denying that he was testing me, but threatening me with ‘what ifs’. Warning me that people would be in danger.
"So, I cautioned you about Lex many times as Clark. But you thought I was jealous...which I was to a certain extent, but I was more afraid that you would be blind to his true self. You kept on dating him even after I warned you, and then you were going to marry him."
"That’s why you warned me, Clark, but why didn’t you come to me as Superman? I would have believed him."
"Exactly. You would have believed Superman, but not your friend and partner. I guess I was also jealous of Superman and angry at you that you wouldn’t listen to my warnings."
"I could have ended up marrying him," she said quietly.
"No. Lois, I wouldn’t have let that happen. Perry, Jimmy, Jack and I were looking for evidence that would at least prove some of what I suspected."
"They almost came too late. Luckily for me, I couldn’t say ‘I do’. But where were you? Where was Superman?"
Clark reached over to take Lois’s hand. He took it to his lips and kissed it.
"What was that for?"
"You understand. You really understand," he said. His grin lit up his whole face.
"Understand what?"
"The difference between Clark and Superman."
"Okay. But where were you?"
"Lex lured Superman into the wine cellar of Lex Tower. There was a cage made of kryptonite bars..."
"Krytponite?"
Clark nodded. "I was trapped and couldn’t get out. Lois, you have to believe me, I had every intention of stopping the wedding even if I had to fly in and kidnap you. I believed that I had time."
So there it was, Lois thought. Superman hadn’t abandonned her and neither had Clark. And she had forgiven him already.
"I love you, Clark Kent."
"Does that mean we’re okay?"
"It means that I’ve decided that I can live with being angry with you, but I can’t live without you. So now we just have to work on this relationship."
"How?"
"There’s a lot we need to talk about, but not now. Tomorrow we’ll figure out what Mayson meant by ‘Resurrection’. Now I just want you to hold me and kiss me. "
THE END
