Continued from:
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A ring of truth (1/?) -
A ring of truth (2/?) -
A ring of truth (3/?) This is part 3½ because... well, it's about half of part 4, actually. But the thing is it's going to take me a few more days to get done with that. Broken computers (not mine!) and friends desperate for tech support have kept me away from things I really wanted to be doing. *sigh*
So... I figured I should post what I have now. This way, you guys have a little bit more of the story to read and I won't feel too guilty for not being able to post the rest of part 4 before the week-end.
~.~.~.~.~
From part 3:
Clark made it home shortly after 7:00. Superman had had to make a few stops along the way, as usual. A robbery in a pawnshop and half a dozen muggings. Nothing major, thankfully. Nothing that required more than a few minutes of his time, either. Clark didn't even want to imagine what might have happened if he'd been needed for several hours and never made it to his rendez-vous with Lois. She'd be beyond angry!
He prayed that the world would be able to manage without Superman tonight. Lois had already started to notice his habit of disappearing without a word at the worst possible moment. He didn't think he'd be able to find a possible reason of abandoning her right in the middle of dinner if he'd heard a cry for help. How would he be able to explain that he absolutely *had* to leave? It was likely she'd never want to speak to him, ever again. For just this once, it would be really nice if Superman didn't get in the way of Clark's life. Just this once - if wishes were horses.... ~.~
It took Clark all of 2 minutes to shower and change into one of his nicer suits. And 10 more minutes to change into a different one, then right back into the first, try on half a dozen ties and pack a few things in an overnight bag. He got to the suite at the Lexor hotel with only a few seconds to spare.
He'd spent the better part of the day trying not to worry about how things may go that evening. He was as nervous as he'd ever been. And he wasn't even alone with her yet!
He sat down on one of the couches in the living area and waited.
~.~.~.~.~
Lois, on the other hand, got to her apartment a few minutes past 6:00 and spent over an hour getting ready. She had tried on just about every single piece of clothing she owned - twice - before she finally settled for a black dress she'd bought a few weeks prior “in case an occasion presented itself”. It was tight fitting enough to be sexy but still modest enough that she wouldn't look like she went all out for him. She wasn't sure what he thought tonight was, so she thought it best to play it safe.
She took a good look at herself in the mirror. Realizing she still had that silly ring on her finger, she quickly pulled it off then stared at it for a moment. It felt odd to take it off after wearing it all day, but surely she wasn't about to go out on a date wearing a wedding band on her finger! Although, she thought, that ring was now a symbol that she'd decided to take steps towards having a life. And, come to think of it, it couldn't hurt to have a reminder that Mad Dog wasn't supposed to come out tonight. It also reminded her of that amazing kiss... she closed her eyes, trying to recapture the moment. Oh, how she wished there would be others like it.
Slipping the gold band on the ring finger of her right hand, Lois took a last look at herself in the mirror. She picked up her evening bag and left her apartment, in search of a cab. A few short minutes later, she was standing in front of the hotel. Lois took a deep breath and made her way inside.
As she walked up to the honeymoon suite, her heart started racing.
She stood facing the door for an instant, her hand up in the air, frozen in place.
<This is it,> she thought, <this is the door to your life.>
She held her breath, closed her eyes and knocked softly.
~.~.~.~.~
Clark heard footsteps in the hallway. Someone was coming. He took a quick peek through the wall... it was Lois.
"She came," he whispered, "she wasn't putting me on to get rid of me. She really came." His stomach started doing flip-flops.
The soft padding noise stopped right outside the door. Unable to sit still, Clark got up from the couch and walked over to his side of the door. For what seemed like a lifetime, he waited for Lois to knock. He held his breath in anticipation.
Finally, he heard it. Lois was knocking at the door. Clark’s heart skipped a beat. And another. And then he managed to unglue his feet from the floor, took the last remaining step towards the door and opened it.
For one brief second, as they stood there on either side of the threshold, their gaze locked and time stood absolutely still.
~.~.~.~.~
Reluctantly, Lois broke eye contact. She had to look away if she was ever going to start breathing again...
"Hi," she said finally, her voice barely more than a whisper.
Suddenly brought back to reality, Clark invited her in. "Lois, hi! uh... come in, come in." He moved out of the way for her to enter the room and closed the door back behind her once she was inside.
He took her coat and laid it neatly across the arm of one of the couches, barely taking his eyes off her.
"You look... amazing," he said finally and broke into one of his million dollar smiles.
"You don't look so bad yourself," Lois replied, blushing slightly. She looked around the room. "It's strange to be here again," she remarked. "I was a little... surprised... that you invited me."
"Well... I mean... you gave..." he stammered, "You know, come to think of it, I'm a bit surprised you didn't turn me down."
"Oh? Why? I mean, it's not like this is a *real* date or anything, is it?" she asked in response, all the while hoping he would tell her that it *was* a real date.
"It's not? Because, I thought you thought... since you'd said... uh... It's not?"
"It's just 'cause I just thought you thought, so I... I... I don't know?" she raised her eyebrows in confusion and shrugged.
"Well..." Clark took a step towards Lois and looked her straight in the eyes. "Would you... like it to be? An actual real date, I mean."
Lois looked at her feet. She was blushing madly, now. She looked up again after a moment and took his left hand in her right. She swallowed and said, "Yes, Clark, I'd like that... very much."
He slowly brought her hand to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her fingers. "So would I," he said.
Looking at her hand, he saw she still had the wedding band on. On her right hand this time, but he was certain this was the same ring. He paused for a moment, looking at the ring and then at Lois.
"How come you're still wearing that thing?" he asked, releasing her hand. "I thought you couldn't wait to get rid of it?"
"Oh," she started, "it kind of grew on me, I guess. Besides, I think this may be a good luck charm."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just say it helped me realize what a really great guy my partner is," she told him.
Clark gave her a lopsided smile. "Who, me? Nah..." he teased, "couldn't be me, I'm as plain and ordinary as the next guy!"
"If you say so, farmboy." She winked at him. "But I think there's someone really wonderful hiding in this suit here," she added, patting him lightly on the chest.
<Oh, Lois,> he thought, <if you only knew exactly who's hiding under there!>
"Well, then I hope the charm isn't broken when you take the ring off. Otherwise I'll have to insist you wear it for the rest of your natural life," Clark said, laughing gently.
"Hey, hold on!" she retorted, pretending to be offended, "may I remind you this happens to be a wedding band and since this is our *first* date, I think your asking that I wear it for the rest of my life is jumping the gun quite a bit!"
Clark smiled. He felt a lot more comfortable now that they were back to their usual type of playful conversation. As nice as the more intimate moment had been just before, it was a lot like leaping into the unknown and this scared him more than any danger he had ever faced as Superman.
~.~.~.~.~
To be continued (and now you see why I'm calling this part 3½ and not 4... cause it's so shoooort! Sowwy!)
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