Okay, this part is a little short compared to what I usually post, but there wasn't another way to break it up, unless I posted a really long part.
So I'll post the short part now, and the next longer part tomorrow sometime. How's that?
Table of Contents From Part One:
“Don’t be silly, Lois. Just because you’re on a diet doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a piece. I need some chocolate after the day I’ve had. And I need a change of scenery. How about I meet you there around noon?”
“Noon? Well, I uh...”
“Great. Noon. I’ll see you there.”
“Wait!” I say, but she’s already hung up. I look back up at the elevator, they’re gone. Great! So now *I* get to take a cab to lunch.
-------------
PART TWO:
“Well, imagine my good fortune at getting to see both my nieces in the same day,” Uncle Mike tells me, giving me a big hug.
“Oh. Is Lucy here, too?” I ask him innocently.
“Yeah, she got here just a few minutes before you did.”
“By herself?” Of course I know the answer, but he doesn’t know that.
“No, she came with your partner, Clark Kent. I figured you were joining them.”
“Oh. Yeah, seems like she mentioned that. No, I’m not joining them. I’m meeting a woman for lunch, Mayson Drake. She’s meeting me to ask me some questions about a case she’s working on.”
“Oh, okay. Well I’ll keep an eye out for Ms. Drake. You go on back and pick out a table. I’ll be there shortly with some menus.”
“Thanks,” I say, smiling at him.
I make my way back to the dining area cautiously, trying to spot where Clark and Lucy are sitting. I see them. Lucy looks like she’s have a good time and... so does Clark. I feel that little green-eyed fiend trying to poke its head out again. Calm down. This is your own fault. Lucy made a challenge and you stubbornly refused to back down. Clark is just making the best of the situation.
Lost in thought, I fail to realize that if I can see them, they can see me. A pair of flailing arms brings me out of my stupor. They are both waving me over to their table. Oh, no.
I stand up a little straighter and try to compose myself as I walk over to their table. “Well, what are the odds?” I ask, coming up to stand next to them.
“Lois?” Clark looks at me wryly, one eyebrow raised and an amused smile on his face.
I cringe. He’s smiling now, but odds are he won’t be smiling soon. Oh, he’s going to kill me. If he only knew... How could I have let Mayson come here? What was I thinking?
Lucy turns to look at me, raising her eyebrows in accusation. “Yes, what *are* the odds, Lois?”
“I’m meeting Mayson Drake for lunch. The place was her choice. She said she’s always wanted to try out Uncle Mike’s chocolate cake.”
A little liquid spurts out of Clark’s mouth as he chokes on the water he’s drinking. I pat him on the back and he coughs a little. I can imagine what he’s thinking, ‘Mayson is coming to lunch, too?’ Hmm, are three women too much for you to deal with, Clark?
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
“Mayson? You’re meeting Mayson here for lunch?” he asks me.
I note the amused expression on Lucy’s face at the mention of Mayson. I’ve told her on more than one occasion how the district attorney keeps throwing herself at Clark. I mean can’t she see how desperate that looks?
“Yeah. She wants to go over some details on the Luthor trial,” I explain.
“Oh. Then the two of you should join us,” Lucy suggests.
Ah! Lucy how could you? She’s using this against me. She knows if I do like Clark, that bringing Mayson into the equation is a sure way to expose those feelings. No way! “Oh, no. That’s okay, Lucy. I wouldn’t want to horn in on your lunch with Clark.”
“Not at all,” Lucy says cheerfully. “We’d love to have you join us. Wouldn’t we, Clark?” she asks Clark, but doesn’t wait for him to answer. She’s too busy in the hunt – too intent on the kill. “I insist. After all, she might have some questions for Clark, too,” she says, smiling playfully at me. “Unless you’d rather they went to lunch together some other time to discuss the case in private?”
No, as much as I don’t want to join their table, I definitely would not rather have them go to lunch together, alone. But what do I want then? I begin to form a response when I notice Uncle Mike bringing the fourth person of this little party towards the table.
I look over at Clark and our eyes meet fleetingly – too quickly for me to read what he’s feeling - before he looks away, smiling at Mayson.
“Uncle Mike!” Lucy shouts at him, waving him over. “Mayson and Lois are going to join us,” Lucy says sweetly.
Clark’s pleasant smile from earlier is still there. Is it real? Or forced? What is he thinking? What have I done? This all started out so innocently. I only wanted to prove a point. Just one little point. The smile is probably just a pretense. Clark is going to kill me.
“Hi, Lois. Clark? I didn’t think you’d be joining us,” Mayson says, smiling appreciatively at Clark.
“Oh, he’s actually here with me. I asked him to lunch,” Lucy explains.
Mayson looks at me, then at Clark, then at Lucy, and finally back to Clark. “I see, and you are?”
“Oh, where are my manners? This is my kid sister, Lucy Lane.” Lucy rolls her eyes at the word “kid”. She hates it when I call her that.
Mayson looks even more confused. I hold out my hand gesturing to the chair next to her. “Clark and Lucy have asked us to join them for lunch,” I tell her.
“Oh, okay,” Mayson says, sitting down, still looking puzzled. “Clark, since you’re here, maybe I can ask you some questions about the Luthor trial as well. You did help expose the insurance and business fraud he was involved in before his supposed death.”
“Sure. I’ll be happy to do whatever I can to keep that man behind bars,” he tells her.
Mayson nods her head in agreement and turns to address Lucy. “So, you’re here with Clark on a lunch date?”
“As much as I would like to answer yes, no. I asked Clark to lunch to apologize for my ex-boyfriend kidnapping him,” Lucy explains. “I guess I have lousy taste in men – excluding you, of course, Clark,” Lucy says and then sighs dramatically. “It seems to run in the family.” The look Lucy gives me is not lost on anyone at the table.
I open my mouth to say something, probably something I shouldn’t say, but Clark steps in before I can get any words out. “So, Mayson, how’s the case coming with Luthor? Good, I hope.”
“Yes, it’s going well,” Mayson confirms. “We’re proceeding very carefully. We don’t want any mistakes. This creep isn’t getting off on some kind of technicality or oversight. When I’m through with him, he’ll be lucky if he’s only serving one life sentence.”
“Good, he’s already had another chance at a life and was just as evil the second time around,” I tell her. “He doesn’t need a third chance.”
“That reminds me. Just exactly why didn’t you call the police when Luthor offered to let you turn him in?” Mayson asks me. “You could have saved the police... everyone really, a lot of trouble.”
“I... I don’t know. He just caught me off guard, and I...”
“It wouldn’t have mattered, Mayson,” Clark says, stepping in to save me. I feel like dirt. Even as awful as I had been to him today, he was still helping me. “He wouldn’t have let Lois call the police. It was just a test.”
“Maybe, but still,” Mayson argues.
“So, Lucy, when do you move on campus at the University?” Clark asks, turning back to face my sister and trying again to change the subject. He seemed to be having trouble finding one that was non-controversial.
“Oh, it won’t be long. It may be sooner if Lois gets tired of me,” Lucy says, throwing a look my way.
Yes, it may be very soon, Lucy, at the rate you’re going.
“Clark, since our lunch has been pre-empted,” Lucy says to him, “I was wondering if maybe I could get together with you later tonight.”
Tonight? She’s baiting me. This time I can’t help myself. “That won’t work,” I tell Lucy. “Clark and I will be working late tonight. We have a big story we’re working on right now.”
Clark raises his eyebrows at me with a look that says, ‘Big story? What, big story?’
“Actually, I had hoped I’d be able to get together with you pretty soon, too, Clark,” Mayson chimes in. Oh wonderful!
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Clark looks at me, well, smugly. Then a different look crosses his face. I don’t know how to describe it. It looks like he’s concentrating on something or hears something. He looks from Mayson, to me, to Lucy, and then back to me. “Would you all excuse me? I’m sorry. I just remembered that... uh... Perry asked me to run an errand for him on my lunch break, and I’ve really gotta go. It’s been fun, and I’ll get back with you, Mayson, Lucy, on getting together. Lois, I’ll see you back at the Planet.”
“Clark?” I shout after him as he rushes away from the table, but he doesn’t hear me. Great, so it’s just us three girls now. This has turned out to be some lunch.
**********
“Oh, Mark. I’m so sorry. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?” she asked him desperately.
“No, Lola. This is beyond my ability to forgive. I would have given you everything, anything you asked. But you kept pushing me away,” he told her. His eyes were heavy with sadness.
No, he didn’t mean it, Lola thought, as she reached out for him. He would forgive her. Wouldn’t he?
He stepped back, away from her embrace. “You kept denying me the one thing I wanted most. You.” He shook his head sadly at her. “Do you want to see me with Macy Lake? Is that what you want? Because every time you push me away, she’s there for me. Which is more than I can say for you. At least she doesn’t shut me out. Goodbye, Lola,” he said, turning his back and walking away from her.
“No! Mark! Please, I didn’t mean it to be this way. That’s not what I wanted. Please. Come back.”
Ugh!
After much deliberation, and the fact that Clark would hardly look at me the rest of the day at work, I’ve decided I should go to his apartment tonight and apologize.
I look down at the computer screen in front of me and sigh for the... I don’t know how many times now; I’ve lost count. I’ve sat here for hours trying to work out some of my frustration on my story, but nothing decent will come. Every time it ends up the same. He leaves her. My guilt is blocking out any other thoughts.
I let things get out of control today. I shouldn’t have taken it so far. All Lucy wanted was an admission that I’ve fallen for Clark. But no, Mad Dog Lane wasn’t willing to concede that point and instead chose to set up the fiasco at lunch today.
I’m not sure if Clark will be hurt, mad, or just disgusted. I know I would be... all of the above. Maybe he’ll just reject me, like the character in my novel.
Yes, I really should apologize. Clark hasn’t done anything to deserve what I put him through today. But what should I say?
“What would you say?” I ask the computer screen in front of me.
My cheeks flush in embarrassment at what I imagine it would say... stuff that’s only fit to print in a romance novel. Not anything valuable for real life.
Ugh. I sigh heavily as I get up, and I walk to my front door. I’ll just go over to his apartment and plead insanity.
**********
To Be Continued...
