last time...
On the drive home, she was reflective and quiet.
“Are you okay,” he asked her after the quiet had gone on too long for his comfort level.
“Yeah.”
“Did you have fun?”
“Yes. I really did. I especially enjoyed meeting Rick.”
“I could see that,” he teased.
She looked over at him, suddenly worried. Had Clark noticed that she had admired Rick’s looks? She had only stared for a short moment, and she was pretty sure she hadn’t reacted with an increased heartrate or respiratoin – or any of the other signs showing physical attraction.
“Uh – I mean – he’s… he’s okay – but…”
Clark gripped her hand very gently. “Sorry about that … I really was just kidding.”
“No… no… it’s… me… my baggage. Uh… Lord Kal was very jealous. He used to…” She trailed off, as bad memories flickered in her mind.
Clark was quiet. He regretted having hurt her by making her think of Kal, but he wouldn’t interrupt her now – not if she needed to unburden.
And now...
Her silence dragged out again, and once again he felt compelled to break it. He waited until he had stopped the car at a traffic light.
“Lois?”
“Yeah?”
“Did – ah – did you want to talk about it?”
“About –“
“There? Then?”
She turned and saw his handsome face looking at her with worry.
She smiled lovingly at him.
“You would, wouldn’t you? Listen to it – hear the horror. I can talk to you about that, can’t I?”
“You can talk to me about anything and everything.”
“I know.”
“So did you?”
“Maybe. I just don’t know. And… not in the car like this… “
“Okay. I’m here – whenever – if ever- you need to talk about this stuff.”
“Thanks,” she grinned, squeezing his hand.
Lana and Rick were also driving home, and Lana noted her fiancé was unusually silent.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
“They’re worth far more than that!”
“Two pennies?”
“Wise-gal.”
“Serious, bud. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah – why?”
“You’re quiet-guy all of a sudden. And I was wondering if it had to do with meeting my ex.”
“Your ex. Such a benign way to put it. I mean – the guy is like a god. Your ex. Hard to live up to a god.”
“Been through this…”
“I know.”
“Still have doubts?”
His mouth twisted in slight distaste at the way he still felt.
“Sometimes. Late at night. Not about you – never ever that. But that… he’s a tough act to follow I’ll bet.”
“Rick – he’s not the one for me. You are.”
“I – I mostly know that. Insecurities occasionally erupt.”
“Did you like him?”
“Tremendously. Her too.”
“Hmmm. Not too tremendously with her okay? I mean – come on –“
He grinned broadly. “Definitely no worries.”
“Was he as expected?”
“No.”
“More than that.”
“Okay. See… I was really worried about meeting him. Expected him to be… deeper voiced, taller-standing – towering in fact… stern… scary… overwhelming – threatening to drop me off the highest mountain if I hurt you – that kind of thing. Bruising grip…”
“He managed to live this long without crushing anyone’s hand while shaking it.”
“I was worried he might go all alpha male and try to put me in my place.”
“Did you really think he’d do that?”
“I dunno. I mean – I remember reading about what his clone did, and thinking at the time that wow…maybe ‘Superman’ wasn’t who we thought he was… I mean, I know it really wasn’t even him doing all that, but at the same time the impression kind of stuck. I got to thinking – just how much does he think of us as equals – how much does he … can he be trusted?”
“Like Lois’s old series?”
“Well – she did raise some salient points.”
“How do you feel now?”
“He’s a great guy. Very much down to earth, and you know – that guy Ralph was really offensive, but Clark just kind of stayed pretty even keel. In fact, at one point, I felt the biggest danger was that Clark would start laughing… after hearing about the bet, I can see why. At the time, I was surprised he could hear that garbage about the woman he loved without at the very least getting indignant – what with his being such the chivalrous hero.”
“One of Clark’s strengths is to not let anger be his master. He’s always had to hold back – for fear of ever losing control – and then it became second nature.”
“That has to be hard.”
“Yeah. I didn’t make it much easier. I tried so hard to make him feel like he was … not good enough. Not because I wanted to hurt him – but because I wanted to make him fearful of exposing his powers – I feared what that would do to us, and to me. I guess on some level, I knew if he did – then I’d lose him.”
“Lana – that’s so sad.”
“I’m just glad I didn’t get to wreck his life.”
“He seems to be attracted to women who seem to be wrecking his life.”
She grinned. “Yeah – Lois gave it the old college try.”
“What happened to her?”
“I can’t really say.”
“I know. I know. But – was it … plausible that whatever she endured would make her react to him in that way?”
“Oh. Very much so.”
“Wow. She must have endured something awful.”
“She did. What Lois endured would have driven other women insane. She’s a very strong and brave person. She’s also honorable. She didn’t launch her attack on Clark in order to build up her career or gain his attention or any of the other crummy things that people will accuse her of … she was reeling with the pain and horror of what she has suffered and it altered her point of view.”
“I’m … sorry for her. But glad she was able to heal. You played a part in that.”
“Just a sounding board.”
“That can be everything.”
“Still. I think Lois and Clark were meant to be.”
“And Lana and Rick?”
“Also meant to be.”
“Sorry for being so stupid about Clark.”
“You weren’t. Nobody would have sensed your worries and you seemed to get along with him great. No alpha male behavior on your part… no posturing – no challenging him to arm wrestle… just … enjoying his company. I hope you really liked him, because I really like them both, and in the end – having grown up with Clark in my life – he’s sorta like a brother.”
He nodded. “I like them too. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of them.”
Meanwhile… at the White’s…
“So Perry - what do you think?”
“You throw a mean party, Alice.”
“Do you think they had fun? Do you think they felt comfortable here?”
“Yes, and yes.”
“I thought Lois would faint at first.”
“Coming here and facing everyone was very hard for her. I think she did well.”
“She did. She even bore up well under Linda’s hyper enthusiasm.”
“Better a Lois groupie than a Clark groupie.”
“And there were plenty here tonight. I even heard some less than pleasant conversation about our favorite couple’s upcoming nuptials. Angry and spiteful stuff.”
“That’s inevitable. Did Lois hear any of it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“She will though – not here – but out there – and we can’t shelter her from it.”
“Lois lived three years being horribly abused. She can take care of herself. “
“I hate that she has to.”
“She has Clark now to help. And even if he can’t stop the nastiness – he is there to help her cope with it. She’ll be okay.”
“Yeah. I think she will. Did you hear that they are planning on getting married within the month?”
“Who told you that?”
“Lois.”
“Wow.”
“Not for public consumption.”
“No. I can see why.”
“Remember that eager impatience?”
“Yeah,” he said distractedly.
“What’s wrong?”
“A month… I mean – we don’t really know… but still –seems so soon – I hope she can… handle that.”
“Perry. You old softie.”
“What?”
“Worrying about her well being?”
“Well. Yeah.”
“I’m confident that Clark would never agree to marry her so soon if he felt it would be hurtful to her.”
“Maybe I should have a talk with him.”
“Perry, you’ll do no such thing. Those two are grownups. They don’t need that, nor would they want it. They love each other, and neither one of them would act in a way that was in any way hurtful to the other. You don’t need to have that talk with him. He knows.”
“Yeah. I guess. I just hope you’re right.”
[tbc]
