Hi Corrina,
Sorry the breaks are so long
“Dinner?” Martha said. “In Smallville? Tonight? That’s a nice idea. Are we going to the Chinese place? Or Benson’s?”
The…Chinese Place. Umm…
Clark gulped, knowing he looked horribly uncomfortable.
His mom stared at him, awaiting his reply.
Then, she burst into fits of laughter – a sound he hadn’t heard in almost a year.
“I’m joking, Clark,” she said. “Who takes his mother on a date?”
Okay, I’m probably awake now! Yes, they must take his mother along. The poor woman doesn’t have a large social circle. She can bring photos from Clark’s youngen days along.
“It’s not… it’s not actually a date,” Clark said.
Umm…earlier, he said something else.
“I have never seen you look at any other farmhand the way you look at Lois.”
Maybe Martha needs to hire more buxom blonde female farm hands.
“Only saying it as I’m seeing it.”
“Mom, Lois is… she’s a city girl.”
She seems to have adapted to the farm just fine.”
Yes, she could make a great undercover investigator.
“Mom, you know it’s not that simple. Not for me.”
MARTHA: all I’m hearing are new excuses.
“It’s a far bigger deal than for most guys,” Clark said.
“It doesn’t have to be,” she insisted.
Exactly. He’s not even wearing spandex yet.
“It was great to hear you laugh again, Mom.”
And all it takes is Clark’s sister talking marriage to a feisty woman. He should consider that.
Later that morning, Lois discovered that Clark had yet another set of skills. He wielded the large chainsaw with ease and was able to bring down huge branches and have them fall exactly where he wanted.
Which has nothing to do with super strength and super breath.
CLARK: you can’t prove a thing.
And, as she had come to expect, her safety was paramount in everything he did.
She loaded some of the cut wood onto the truck,
I hope she’s wearing gloves. There might be splinters.
CLARK:
When Jack Mackenzie returned, maybe Clark wouldn’t need her so much.
JACK: A wig? Really? I’m not sure this is necessary…
She wondered a lot about their date that night. What would he wear? What would they talk about?
Jeans. And pigs. Perhaps bacon futures if he wants to sound worldly.
Where were Clark’s thoughts on the scale from ‘completely about Lana’s reaction’ to ‘real date with Lois’?
Somewhere around ‘married with kids’ and possibly at ‘why it’s not possible’.
The thought of kissing Clark sent a thousand tiny skittering explosions through her body.
Kissing Clark…
Let’s hope he doesn’t pick up the vibe or the next log’s gonna look heart shaped.
and Lois slammed shut her wandering mind. “Why did you take down that particular tree?” she asked, inwardly congratulating herself for thinking of a question and delivering it with a mostly steady voice.
She’s very cute!
Lois noticed he’d left the stump about waist height. “Did you leave that for the wildlife?” she asked.
Clark nodded. “Partly.”
“What was the other reason?”
Dinner table.
Clark chuckled. “The cattle use old stumps as scratching posts. Sometimes where they’re scratching their rumps, it looks like they’re dancing.”
your stories always shine with such local color!
She was in awe of the weight he could lift, seemingly without much effort.
/hands Lois tissue to wipe away drool/
Clark nodded. “It’s traditional around here to make hay in July.”
“Why are you making it in September?”
“I…”
Normally, he can do it in minutes.
“Yeah.” Clark took a swig of his lemonade. “A letter arrived for him yesterday.”
“From whom?”
“I… ah… didn’t look.”
“Clark!”
She was still smiling, although he could see she was a little frustrated by his unwillingness to pry into Jack’s life.
she’s adorable!
“Does he look anything like me?”
Ehhh… much less adorable.
“He said he’d spent the last seven years milking cows and would probably spend the next fifty doing the same thing, so he wanted to see a bit of the world before settling down.”
So now he’s milking cows all over the world.
Tonight, she had a date with Clark.
It was supposed to be a way to gauge the reaction of Lana and send a message to the locals.
It was supposed to mean nothing.
But it didn’t feel like nothing.
It felt like something.
And she couldn’t wait.
Awww… they’re both secretly excited about their not-a-date.
Anna has two tickets for a show. She planned to go with Tom, but he wants to get seed into the ground before the rain.”
It’s all set up very believable and not a conspiracy at all to get Martha to socialize.
Martha looked hesitant. “We need to leave about three, so you’ll be alone.”
Or a conspiracy to get Clark and Lois alone.
It seemed like the dissolving of another link with her life beyond the farm.
Sneaky smalltown folk!
Lois stared. He was wearing black pants, a white shirt, navy tie, burgundy jacket. Simple. Classic.
Stunning.
She realised he was staring at her. “You look amazing,” he said, his tone rich with appreciation.
They are very cute together!
and Clark didn’t seem to be the sort of person who relished being in the limelight.
/Cocks eyebrow/
Or perhaps he was regretting having agreed to this.
Yes, he does not want to date Lois.
“And of course, there’s that they have you almost engaged to another woman.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s just have a fun time,” Lois said. “If there are ramifications, we’ll deal with them tomorrow.”
Good thing Martha already returned the rental car. Painting not so nice words on the interloper’s car is a common practice for an angry mob.
How had he remained single for so long? Were Smallville women blind?
He’s more interested in shoveling cow droppings than company?
“Not if we agree that’s what we’ll do. I can be your mystery lady.”
She’s just a friend of the family.
As they walked from the car, Lois felt an inclination to slip her hand into Clark’s – to present a united front and let him know they were doing this together.
She didn’t. She wasn’t sure if Clark would be comfortable with that much ‘unity’ in front of his friends and neighbours.
Clark:
They were all casually dressed – jeans, sweaters, a couple of tee-shirts.
Suddenly, it seemed as if she and Clark were dressed for a date.
Oops?
A waitress approached them. “Hello, Clark,” she said. Her eyes swung to take in Lois.
“Hello, Tracey. I have a reservation.”
“Yes,” Tracey said, still looking at Lois. “Your… your table is over here.” She led them to a spot near the window.
Yeah, someone just lost a pool.
and spent several hours in the dim barn in the middle of the night… together.
But this…
and as much as it felt like a real date… none of that changed two facts.
He was a Kansas farmer.
She was a Metropolis reporter.
/Points at boards title/
Hmm…
/points at story title/
Now, how do I find out what will happen next?
Oh! Yes. /heads over to Farmboy 13/
Michael
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