This is the vignette I entered for the Merriweather Vignette contest. I sure hope I inspire other writers who entered to share their efforts!!!
Thanks go to CC Aiken for helping me yank out a good 200 words when I was well over the 1,500 word limit. She's a BR worth her weight in pure Godiva chocolate. 
Lynn***
The Nun’s Retirement Fund
By Lynn M.
***
“Oh, wow, would you look at that!” Lois head swiveled to an unnatural angle as she slammed on the brakes.
“What?” Clark braced himself against the dashboard, his dark eyes large with concern. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Those kids over there are having a car wash.”
As she spoke, Lois checked for cops. Not a cruiser in sight. Ignoring the disgruntled honking of three lanes of traffic, she executed a neat U-turn and pulled into the parking lot of St. Anthony’s Church.
“You nearly killed me because of a car wash?” Clark said.
“What? The Jeep’s filthy.”
“Ah, well if it’s important.”
She ignored his sarcasm, sizing up the operation. Pre-teen car washers serviced a line of half a dozen sedans and minivans waiting patiently. Bubbles pooled over the blacktop. Young workers spread suds liberally, teammates at the ready with their hoses. Perfect.
“Yep,” she said as she bypassed the line. “Just what I need.”
“Yeah, and look. It’s for the Nuns' Retirement Fund,” Clark said, pointing to the hand-lettered poster a skinny girl was waving around.
“I’m not letting these kids wash my car. I can get a crappy carwash over at the Bath ‘N Shine.” Lois put the Jeep into park and rolled down the window.
Clark let out a bark of laughter. “Geez, your generosity is...nonexistent.”
“Quiet, Pollyana. I’m going to wash it myself.” She stuck her head and arm out the window. “Hey, kid!”
A boy, hair flecked with suds, looked in her direction, brows lifted in question. At Lois’s nod, he put the hose on the ground and trotted over.
“If you want a wash, you gotta wait behind those cars – ”
“No, listen, you got an extra hose? And bucket? Oh, and a sponge and some soap?”
“Um...sure, I guess.” He glanced around, uncertain. “We aren’t using those over there – ”
“Great! Thanks, kid! You’re a sport.”
Extremely satisfied, Lois parked the Jeep in a corner of the lot. The August evening was balmy, the sun barely on the horizon even though it was after seven. She loved summer. The smell of warm asphalt, the hum of the church’s airconditioner vibrating through the thick air. Nothing like Metropolis in the middle of a heat wave.
Removing her linen suit jacket, she tossed it into the Jeep. Clark remained in the passenger seat, seatbelt still buckled.
“Well?” she said, her hands flying to her hips. “You just going to sit there?”
He ducked his head so he could see her towering outside the open door. “Uh. I’m wearing a suit – ”
“And I’m wearing heels,” she said pointedly. “Geez, Kent, just take off your jacket and get over yourself.”
He complied but not without a deep sigh to let her know she was nuts. No problem. She’d decided he was nuts long ago.
Enthused, she plunged her hand into the bucket and retrieved the soapy sponge, tossing it to Clark. “You wash, I’ll rinse.” Before he could argue, she picked up the hose.
As he washed, she helped by pointing out the spots he’d missed. He seemed to be having some trouble reaching the center of the Jeep’s roof. She mentioned it again, then sighed in exasperation when the sponge missed by several inches.
“Superman could have reached it,” she muttered.
Clark didn’t answer. He scrubbed a little harder than necessary. Why did he have to look so annoyed? He’d never minded her talking about Superman before. Geez, sensitive much, Clark?
Dismayed by her sudden discomfort, Lois prattled on as she waggled the hose at the tires. “Of course, he’s probably never washed a car. He doesn’t even own a car because he flies everywhere. Except, how do you think he gets his dry cleaning home? He must feel pretty stupid flying around with his dry cleaner bag flapping in the breeze.” Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe his suits are washable. It’s not like he has to worry about them shrinking. They’re already pretty tight. Not that I’m complaining. I think they fit just fine – ”
“Is that all that’s important to you?” Clark eyes were hard as they stared at her over the hood of the Jeep. “How good he looks in his suit?”
Lois took a step back. “Well, no, of course not. I mean, there’s other stuff, too.”
“Like what?” He swiped the sponge across the hood without looking away.
“I don’t know,” she said with some indignation of her own. She didn’t owe him any explanation. But since he’d asked…“His courage. And…his integrity. Plus he helps people...”
“Lois, policemen and firefighters do that every day. For zero glory,” Clark said with a frown. “And it’s not hard to be courageous when you’re invulnerable. It’s no big deal.”
He grew quiet, the sound of the water from the hose filling the space between them. Lois shifted from foot to foot, feeling…well, bad. Damn. She’d hurt his feelings. An icky sensation prickled the back of her neck. She didn’t like it. It felt too much like regret.
Time to change the subject. Except what should she say? Sorry? She never admitted she was sorry. He wouldn’t know what hit him. But he was helping her wash her car. And he was doing a pretty good job. Heck, he was even crouched down, tackling the greasy wheel wells.
Lois flipped her wrist and sent an arc of water across the hood of the Jeep.
Clark jerked up, a line of wet slanted across his glasses. “Hey, watch that thing!”
“What?” she said, shoving the hose down behind her. The cold water hit her leg and flooded her shoe.
His eyes narrowed. “You did that on purpose.”
“I did not!”
A giggle destroyed her outrage. Caught, she whipped the hose up and directed it point-blank at the center of his chest. In less than a second his white button-up work shirt was soaked through. Clark eyed the damage, his arms spread wide with disbelief. When he looked up, Lois’s breath caught in her throat. His dark eyes glittered with something she’d never seen before, his mouth held in a careful line. The corners twitched dangerously.
As he came around the Jeep, anticipation shivered down her spine. “Now, Clark – ”
“Give me that,” he growled, advancing like a panther.
“You believe me, don’t you? It was just an accident?”
Still he came, the twitching at the corners of his mouth increasing.
“Kent, you wouldn’t dare! This is silk – ”
Like lightning he wrenched the hose out of her grip. He showed no mercy, droplets raining down on both of them.
“You are so going to get it!” she sputtered against the stream hitting her full force.
Clark laughed, holding the hose beyond her reach. He was as wet as she was, the fabric of his shirt plastered pink against his chest. Lois backed away from the spray until she reached the unyielding wall of the Jeep. Clark matched her step for step, unrelenting, until he was only inches away.
“Alright, I give!” Her hands pressed against his chest, holding him off.
“Uncle?” he said, pointing the nozzle out to the side but ready if she didn’t obey.
“Yes, uncle,” she said, choking on her laughter. “Are you happy? I’m soaked.”
“So am I,” he said with an indignant laugh.
Water dripped from the bottom of his chin and the hair sagging down his forehead. She watched rivulets trickle down the chords of his neck and disappear beneath his collar. Her fingers convulsed, pressing into the wet shirt and firm skin beneath it. She wanted to follow those drips, crawl inside where it was warm and safe...
“Besides, you started it,” he said, his voice husky.
“I did?” she croaked, her mouth suddenly dry. Her heart pounded hard against her ribs and across her skin into his chest. Or was it his heart she felt thumping so quickly?
“Uh huh.”
His face was only inches from hers. Droplets glistened in his spikey eyelashes like dew, his eyes black as they looked at her, unblinking. A drop of water streamed down the bridge of his nose and plunked in the center of his lower lip. She stared at it, mesmerized.
He was going to kiss her. And if he didn’t kiss her, she was going to…die.
“Oh,” she gasped, swaying towards him. Missing by just millimeters.
Clark cleared his throat and took a step back. “We should get going.”
It was nearly ninety degrees but she felt cold. A flicker of something strangely like disappointment filled her heart. “Yeah.”.
“Do you want to get a bite?” she asked over the roof of the Jeep as they opened their respective doors. “I was going to pick up some carry-out Chinese...”
“Sounds good,” Clark said with a broad smile.
As they pulled away, Lois stopped the Jeep, grabbed her purse and fished out her wallet. Finding a twenty and one lonely dollar, she waved the kid over.
“Thanks for the wash.”
He looked down at the folded bill she'd shoved into his hand then nodded wordlessly.
Lois pulled out, checking both ways for traffic.
“Hey, Kent, you got any cash?”
The End.
©2005 Lynn M.
