I'd like to send a special thank you to Gerry Anklewicz for responding so nicely to my story and offering to beta it for me. Any remaining grammatical errors are entirely my fault.
Susan
From Part 1:
Clark smelled the rank contents of the box outside his front door before he opened it. The cardboard package had no postage; he guessed that the boy scurrying down the street must have dropped it off. Apprehension began to build, and Clark read the neatly typed return label: “Cheese of the Month Club.” His thumb ran down the seam of tape, and Clark unfolded the flaps to reveal what his nose already knew was contained inside - a pound of Camembert. But the note attached, meticulously printed in handwriting that was all too familiar, ratcheted up his apprehension to outright fear.
“Something stinks.”
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PART 2
Clark Kent was in big trouble.
As he stepped down from his front door, tossing the hunk of smelly cheese into the nearest trashcan, Clark smoothed his fingers over Lois’ note. He had no doubt that the delivery came from her, and the reference to his horrible excuse during their date tore at his heart. ‘Why did HE have to get in the way again?’
Lois had looked gorgeous, wearing a little black dress that hung just low enough to be tantalizing, yet high enough to be dignified. He guessed that she had spent time preparing for their date, investing extra time on her hair and makeup to create a look that was different from what he was used to at the Planet. In his mind, though, she needn’t have bothered; she was beautiful even when she was covered head to toe in mud!
It had taken them so long to get to this point in their relationship. Clark hated dwelling on mistakes they had made in the past that kept them apart, but despaired at the thought of a future without her. He was willing to journey with her slowly, savoring the moments they shared together, building a foundation for…
‘Don’t say it. Don’t jinx it.’
In his heart, Clark had no doubt that he wanted Lois in his life forever. But his head knew that any talk of marriage would have her running the other way. He needed Lois to overcome her emotional baggage, and he would do everything in his power to help her. Unfortunately, freezing breath was fairly useless in this situation. As was super strength. As was super speed. As was x-ray vision. As was the ability to fly. His mouth cocked slightly to form a thin laugh. Superman possessed no power that would help Clark secure Lois’ love.
In fact, as the Camembert attested to, Superman was quite detrimental to Clark’s relationship with Lois.
At least he felt cautiously optimistic that he was no longer competing with himself for Lois’ affection. Since they had begun dating, Clark had run into Lois on a few occasions while in the suit. And though unable to contain her radiant smile, her eyes no longer held the adoring look that had characterized her earlier encounters with his alter ego. While clearly friendly, Lois stuck to the reporting at hand rather than seeking any opportunity to engage him on a personal level. For the past few weeks, Lois seemed to be reserving those capturing looks and quiet conversations for him. The real him.
‘That’s not fair,’ a stern conscience chided him. ‘He’s real too, whether you want to believe that or not.’
Clark knew his inner voice was speaking the truth. At the beginning, he had convinced himself that Superman was a cardboard cut-out, that he existed only to defeat “the bad guys” and “save the day”, but now he was starting to have difficulties tearing the super man from the regular one. It was Clark who had heard the crying children and panicked mothers screaming through his enhanced hearing during last night’s apartment fire. There was no way that he could have ignored their desperation, even though he could see the pain burning in his partner’s eyes as he started to lift away from the dinner table. He hadn’t needed to see the tears that slid down her face as he departed – he had felt them like a driving thunderstorm pelting his soul. Even so, Clark could not regret the choice he had made. Really, there was no choice; the lives of seventeen children were at stake.
Clark had saved the day, and Superman had ruined the night.
‘Lois would have told you to go, if you had told her your true destination.’ That was the worst part of all, wasn’t it? Clark knew that Lois would have admired Superman for helping the people of Metropolis once again. He could imagine her throwing her graceful arms around his neck, rejoicing in his successful rescues and comforting him for any painful losses. But instead of sharing that important facet of his life with her, he had let the most stupid sentence he had ever heard slip from his lips. Time with Lois was less important than a shipment of cheese? A black hole opened in Clark’s heart, pulling every beam of happiness into its event horizon. Lois would never forgive him. She shouldn’t forgive him. ‘But she might forgive HIM.’ Was there hope?
Clark became aware of his surroundings, seeing that he had moved to his couch while clutching Lois’ meticulously handwritten warning. His eyes rested on his favorite photo of them, sharing a night together at the Kerth award ceremony. Lois was clearly angry now, as she had every right to be. A small part of his mind wanted to analyze the clues she had left him, to decipher her next course of action, but the rest of his mind was focused on the couple in the photograph, and how he could hold on to the possibility of future moments like that. He let the two words that had been rattling in his skull for weeks start marching loudly to the forefront. They danced between his ears, jumped up and down for attention, pleaded to be heard. ‘Tell her!’ ‘Tell her!’ ‘Tell her!’
He waited for the inevitable fear to drown out the words, stuffing them into the recesses of his mind where they usually lived. Clark sat up straighter. Where was the fear? Since childhood he had relied on that emotion to keep his mouth sealed tightly, and yet right now, it was nowhere to be found. Dare he test the words out loud?
“Lois, I am Superman.”
Clark looked up at the ceiling, half expecting his world to crumble down on him. He looked towards the window, waiting for a howling wind to rush through him. He glanced at the door, prepared for masked doctors wielding sharp silver knives to haul him away to a dissection table.
“Lois, I am Superman,” he said a little louder this time. And still, nothing. No, wait, that was wrong. There was something, Clark perceived. He stood up, ripped off his glasses, and clutched the picture in front of his naked face. “Lois,” he nearly shouted, “I am Superman!” This time, he could clearly feel that previously undefined “something.” It was peace, security, trust, happiness, a sense of rightness. It was truth.
‘I’ll tell her the truth,’ Clark now smiled. He knew it wouldn’t be easy; her hurt and anger would take time to overcome. But he could no longer wait to reveal his secret to her. Clark loved Lois, and he knew that she felt something for him. To continue hurting her with outrageous lies was morally reprehensible. And by tearing down this barrier between them, Clark mustered the courage to move their relationship closer to each other.
But Lois wasn’t privy to Clark’s thoughts yet…
