Table of Contents
From Part 2:Lois turned away from the window and started pacing the room. This was all Clark's doing. She should never have invited him to stay and talk with her the previous day - and she should definitely have sent him away today. He was, by his very presence, making her question every decision she'd made in the last few months. And that was just crazy. After all, the man was a nobody. Plus his very lack of achievement went against everything she believed in: hard work, dedication and success.
So what if he was good-looking? So what if he was amusing company for an hour or so? Anyone could seem appealing on short acquaintance, especially in this sort of setting and when she'd been trying to write without success. If she'd met Clark in Metropolis, say, when she'd still been at the Planet, she probably wouldn't have given him a second glance.
And she'd been crazy enough to ask him to come again tomorrow? Well, she'd just have to tell him that she'd made a mistake and ask him to leave.
Maybe that solves one problem, but what are you going to do about your biggest problem? The fact that you don't love your husband?*********
Now read on..."Definitely is spelt with an i and not an a." The lazily amused voice coming from over her shoulder made Lois jump.
But she recovered quickly. "That's what spellcheckers are for."
"Hmm." Clark leaned over her shoulder, resting his hand on the back of her chair. Almost without realising she was doing it, Lois caught her breath. His fingers were tantalisingly close. "Looks like your spellchecker thinks that spelling is correct. I wonder how that happened?"
"Smarta -" Lois began, breaking off the word. She backspaced and corrected the spelling.
"Looks like you've been busy." That soft Midwestern accent was just too nice to listen to. Lois hoped that Clark couldn't tell that she was almost melting at his voice.
"Yeah, I got a lot of writing done, between last night and this morning."
But he wasn't paying attention. "Hey, this is good!" he exclaimed, and she realised that he was reading over her shoulder. "And you took my suggestion. I knew you'd do such a great job of this, Lois!"
Lois shrugged. "It was a great idea. I've barely been able to stop writing since you left yesterday."
He grinned. "See? All you needed was the right inspiration. But if it's going so well, maybe I should go and leave you to get on with it?"
"No!" Surprising herself, Lois caught at his arm. "Don't go. This'll still be here later. And I wanted to talk to you."
"You did?"
"Sure. I mean, you're the closest thing I have to a target audience. And I want to know what you'd find interesting to read about."
Clark shrugged lightly. "If you're sure. Want to walk, then?"
“Sure!” Lois said again. She jumped to her feet and gestured along the beach. “This way okay?”
Moron, Lois! she cursed herself. It wasn’t as if there were lots of routes to choose from. Up the beach... down the beach... And she didn’t really want to go down the beach, because that way lay the path to the house and, for some reason, she felt reluctant to go in that direction with Clark.
“So, what have you covered so far?” Clark asked. She told him, once again finding him a great listener, interested in what she had to say and asking helpful questions.
“But are you sure it’s not too... well, boring?” she asked him eventually.
“Heck, no!” he exclaimed. “Like I said yesterday, I’d love to read it. I promise you, Lois, when this is published I’ll be first in line to buy it. Though,” he added with a grin, “if you do a book-signing tour I’d probably wait until then - I couldn’t pass up the chance of a signed copy.”
“Hey, let’s wait and see if I can get it published first!” Lois exclaimed.
“Somehow, I doubt that’ll be a problem.” He raised an eyebrow and shrugged slightly. “Doesn’t your husband own a publishing company or two?”
Lois felt anger flare within her. “You think I’d use my husband to get my book published?”
He hesitated. “Well... some people would.”
“Not me,” she said tautly. “If you knew anything at all about me, Clark, you’d know that I’ve always succeeded on my own. I don’t accept help from anyone. I don’t *want* help from anyone. And I sure as hell don’t expect strings pulled for me because of who I’m married to!”
“Whoa!” Clark stopped walking and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to suggest that you’d... well, get into some sort of vanity publishing. I just meant that at least it’d be easier for you to get an editor to look at it - that’s the hardest part of trying to get something published. Most stuff submitted just gets rejected without anyone even having read it.”
“That’s true,” Lois acknowledged. “But I’d still prefer to go to a company Lex doesn’t own.”
Because that way she’d know that she’d succeeded on her own merits... or because she suspected that Lex might not approve of what she was working on instead of the novel he’d encouraged her to write?
Lex had shown very little interest in what she was writing when he’d called at after midnight the previous evening. He’d asked whether she was making progress, and she’d explained that she’d abandoned her first project but was making real headway on the journalism book. He’d given her perfunctory praise, but hadn’t asked any questions about her plans or the detail of what she was writing. He hadn’t seemed excited about it. He hadn’t discussed with her what she could include and what she might decide to omit. He hadn’t said that he wanted to read it.
Unlike Clark.
But then, Lex wasn’t a reporter. If she was writing a book about big business, running companies, arranging takeovers, then he would definitely show interest, wouldn’t he?
Change the subject, Lois. She really wished that Clark wouldn’t bring up the subject of her husband.
“So, seems like you know something about the publishing game,” she said idly, walking onwards and kicking at the sand as she did so. “Ever tried writing a book yourself?”
He gave her a faintly embarrassed smile. “Once or twice, yeah.”
“Once or twice?”
“When I was in college, I wrote an entire novel. In retrospect, it was pretty awful. All about this guy who felt like an outsider, and how he tried to fit in. It was kind of boring, really. Self-indulgent, I guess.”
Self-indulgent? That sounded as if it’d been at least partly autobiographical. So Clark felt - or used to feel - as if he was an outsider? She wanted to ask why, but something held her back - if she started asking very personal questions, would he feel that he had free rein to do the same? And she simply wasn’t prepared to answer personal questions from Clark. Not if they concerned the one thing she’d been able to tell from their first afternoon that he was curious about: her marriage, and why she’d given up reporting.
She could almost hear him now. “Why has a great reporter like Lois Lane allowed herself to be immured thousands of miles from the place where she’s known? Why aren’t you still working as a reporter?”
Oh, she had answers. She wasn’t immured here; far from it! The lake was beautiful. The beach house was perfect. She had all the time and space she needed to write. Her husband was affectionate and indulgent. She could go back to Metropolis any time she wanted. And if she wanted to work, she could walk into any job, anywhere.
But anywhere she worked, she’d be Mrs Lex Luthor. She’d be the story, rather than the conduit.
And... Lex wouldn’t like it if she worked full-time as a reporter any more.
“But, my dear, the hours are so unpredictable. And I do like knowing that you’re at home waiting for me when I finish work. We couldn’t do things on impulse any more, either, if you were working on a reporter’s schedule. And you’ve told me that you’ve always wanted to finish that great novel you’re working on...”
No, Lois had no wish to allow Clark any freedom to ask anything that personal.
“You said once or twice - so what was the other?”
He smiled wryly. “When I came back from the Far East, I’d just had so many amazing experiences I had to write them down - the sights, the people, the sounds, the cities, the countryside, the art, the history, the culture... it’s so different from anything people in the West know. I mean, almost any big city you can name in the US has a Chinatown, but that’s nothing like China. The country’s vast - I spent months travelling in China, but I didn’t get to know it all. And then there’s Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Tibet... anyway,” he added, looking just a little embarrassed, “I wrote it all down, but I guess I was kind of over-enthusiastic. It got a rejection slip.”
Clark had travelled all over the Far East? That was fascinating! “You couldn’t be over-enthusiastic about that, as far as I’m concerned,” she told him. “I’d love to hear about it! And, you know, there is a market for that sort of book. I mean, look at Bill Bryson - he’s making a pretty good living out of it.”
“Hey, I’m no Bill Bryson!” Clark said, laughing. But he took her at her word and began telling her about his travels. He really had been all over the place, and his descriptions and anecdotes almost made her feel that she was there herself.
Almost. In fact, he made her want to visit all those far-off countries.
Lex would take her, if he knew she wanted to go...
But if she went with Lex, she wouldn’t get to go where Clark had been. Lex would insist on only the very best - five-star and better hotels everywhere they went, a flurry of staff accompanying them to ensure that their every need was met and that they never had to experience a moment’s discomfort or unfamiliarity. If she were in Tokyo or Beijing with Lex, it would be exactly the same as being in any major city in the States. The only difference would be that, if they went out for sushi, it would be authentic. Oh, sure, they’d sightsee - but only officially-designated tourist attractions. Nothing that would bring them into contact with ordinary, *real* local people.
If she wanted to see the real China, she wouldn’t see it with Lex. But with Clark...
No! She had to stop thinking like that. Had to stop comparing Clark to Lex and adding the balance in favour of Clark.
Lex was her
husband! She’d married him, for better or for worse. It was time to stop looking wistfully to check if the grass was greener on the other side. And anyway, she’d
wanted to marry Lex. He was a good man and a wonderful husband.
The comparison simply wasn’t fair, not to mention inaccurate.
Clark was just a drifter... a nice guy, but nice guys weren’t necessarily the sort of man you wanted to spend your life with. Like she’d reminded herself before - and she was having to remind herself
again - she found him appealing precisely because she’d only just met him. She hadn’t known him long enough to find out all of the things about him which would irritate her like crazy. And she knew that he would come to irritate her, in time - especially his lack of gainful employment and his clear liking of the carefree life.
This was just a summer idyll, after all. She could enjoy his company for a few days, and then say goodbye whenever she packed up and returned to Metropolis. Unless, of course, he’d drifted on someplace else before then.
Lex, on the other hand, was solid, reliable, hard-working, with a clear sense of purpose. He knew what was important in life.
So she smiled politely at Clark and asked him a question about Singapore. He gave her an odd look, but answered it calmly.
Her thoughts in turmoil, Lois decided to make her excuses and go back to the house. After all, she did have work to do. And she really was spending far too much time with this man who, good-looking and charming as he was, was a complete stranger.
But great company and fun to be with, not to mention making you feel like you haven’t felt in a long time...And then her attention was caught by a couple of birds in flight, dancing around each other in an intricate ballet; one leading and the other following, until the first began to follow the second. Against the perfect blue sky, their pirouetting and swaying was simply hypnotic. Lois stood and stared.
“Canada geese.” At her shoulder, Clark spoke in what was clearly shared enjoyment of the birds’ activity. “They mate for life, you know.”
“Yeah?” Lois hadn’t known. “I guess it must be mating season now...” She gestured to the birds. “He’s making a play for her, isn’t he?”
She felt rather than saw Clark’s grin. “Actually, mating season is in the spring. I suspect they’re just having fun.”
“Oh yeah?” Lois stared up at the birds again. “You think he really is her mate? Or is she playing around with someone else while her partner’s out of sight?”
She flushed as the implication of her words hit her.
Stupid, Lois! she cursed herself, and she hurriedly took a step away from Clark, intending to walk onward.
Except that her toe struck a stone in the sand and she stumbled.
“Careful!” Clark caught at her arm, steadying her. “You okay?”
“I’m... fine...” Brought up against Clark’s body by his action and her own momentum, Lois felt as if all of her breath left her lungs in one second.
In that second, staring up into Clark’s face, Lois was aware of nothing except the man holding her. His size. His strength. His deep brown eyes, behind the gold-rimmed glasses. The way his slightly-overlong hair flopped loosely onto his forehead despite his efforts to brush it back. His white teeth. The tiny tic in his jaw. His fresh, clean, male scent.
She was aware of nothing else. Only him.
And then he moved, and the spell was broken.
Feeling shaken to the core, Lois stepped away from him.
“Well, if you’re sure you’re okay,” Clark said easily, “shall we walk back?”
And he turned back towards the beach house and waited for her to walk with him, his expression completely - normal.
While she was still standing there trying to work out just what it was that had happened. Just what had caused her to feel as if the world had stood still for those few seconds. And why she hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Clark.
Hadn’t he felt
anything?
“Okay,” she said weakly, and fell into step beside him. Maybe she’d been imagining things, she told herself. That was what came of being alone in a house on a remote beach for days on end - well, alone apart from household staff whom she never saw other than at meal-times.
Yes, she was imagining things. Getting reality mixed up with fantasy - or with the contents of the romance novel she had by her bedside.
So, she found Clark attractive. So what?
Men and women found each other attractive all the time. That didn’t mean that they intended to do anything about it, or that it had to mean anything beyond simple appreciation of a member of the opposite sex.
She found Brad Pitt attractive, for heaven’s sake! If this was Brad she was walking with, not Clark, she’d probably be itching to jump his bones by now. That wouldn’t mean that the attraction was reciprocated - of course it wouldn’t be.
It was just hormones. A simple matter of body chemistry interacting with the fact that she was alone here. And probably that she was missing her husband, too - this was the longest period they’d been apart since she’d married Lex.
Get over it, Lois, she told herself, falling into step beside him.
It’s not as if you’d even give him a second glance if you’d met him in Metropolis, anyway. Get real here!It was almost a relief when Clark said, once they got back to where they’d started from, that he needed to get going.
Almost.
*********
It was too quiet. Too solitary. Lois was tired of her own company, and bored with eating alone.
She should have asked Clark to stay for dinner.
She should have...
What was she thinking? Asking another man to dinner in her husband’s house?
It was her house too, she protested, almost sulkily.
But still, inviting Clark to dinner would have been completely the wrong thing to do. Even though he was just a friend.
Just a friend, huh? You were practically slavering over him out there on the beach earlier!No, I wasn’t! she yelled at her subconscious. It had been... oh, a moment of madness. Probably because she’d been staring up at the sky a minute or two earlier. It was probably the effect of near-sunstroke.
So, Clark was a good-looking guy. So he stirred something in her. As she’d already rationalised, that was only because she was alone here, without her husband, and Clark was the only company within miles. She couldn’t count Betty and her husband; after all, she hardly ever saw them, and Betty would probably treat a request to sit down and have a chat with the same incredulity as she’d greet an announcement from Lois that she was from another planet.
No, Clark was just a friend. A casual acquaintance, really. Inviting him to dinner would have been harmless.
Except...
Lex would never have understood.
It really was insane that a man and a woman couldn’t be friends without people misunderstanding, Lois thought in irritation, throwing her napkin aside and getting up from the table, abandoning her dinner. She just wasn’t hungry any more.
But there was so much that Lex wouldn’t understand about Clark. So much he’d find to criticise. The fact that he was in his mid-twenties and still not gainfully employed. The fact that his clothing was so... “cheap chain-store, Lois,” he would tell her dismissively. The fact that he routinely trespassed on a private beach. That was something else - Lex would want to know just how he’d managed to get onto the beach in the first place. And once he’d found out, he would certainly have the route sealed off. And, knowing Lex, possibly guarded.
Heck, Lex would want to know why she hadn’t asked how Clark had managed to get onto the beach.
She should have asked him, of course. After all, it was private property - something they’d both ignored after the first couple of minutes. But, as each day had gone by, she hadn’t asked.
She knew why. Clark’s entry into her bored, isolated life up here seemed somehow like a time out of time. He’d appeared almost as if by magic, and part of her knew that if she ever did ask how he’d got there she’d be breaking the spell. She’d be bringing the outside world into the little, private world the two of them were sharing.
Bringing them back to reality.
And reality was... a world in which she was married to one man while...
...falling in love with another.
*********
...tbc
