Preface: I haven’t written anything in a while, as I’ve just lacked the energy. Boy, real life sure came at me fast! I’m in the middle of a big life transition right now, as I’m working an internship while taking the last college courses that I need to graduate. I’ve been wrapping up the research project that I had worked on at the University, as well as looking for full-time employment so I don’t starve after graduation. The research is all over, I’ve found a job, but I’m still feeling drained from the college + work combination.
But, I thought of another weird idea and hopefully I can work up the will to continue the longer stories that I had started but didn’t finish, by getting back into writing with this short story…
Description: Not a serious story. Lois has betrayed Clark in the most hurtful way imaginable! Er…hasn’t she? Kind of a philosophical question at the end – what do the rest of you FoLCs think?
****
“Lois! Are you ok?” Clark asked frantically as he rushed into the living room to embrace his wife. “I’ve been looking all over for you! Where have you been?”
“Oh honey, I’m fine. Tempus kidnapped me and stranded me in 1996, but H.G. Wells eventually found me and sent me back here,” Lois responded nervously, gesturing at the time machine that was now parked in the Kents’ living room. “And we managed to catch Tempus, too.”
“Oh, what a relief! Well, you look like you’re in one piece to me – say, you don’t suppose that Mr. Wells hypnotized you again, did he?” Clark wondered aloud, “Why don’t we test it, just to make sure?” he joked.
“Let the memories un-“
“Clark, NO!” Lois shouted as her eyes widened in alarm.
“-spool,” Clark finished.
Lois and Clark both gasped as he finished uttering the trigger word. Clark’s smile was quickly replaced by an expression of utter, abject hurt, while Lois’s guilty face seemed to be pleading for forgiveness.
For a few moments, they simply stared at each other, shocked at the situation that they now found themselves in.
“Lois, how could you? I thought you *loved* me,” Clark said, finally breaking the silence. His lower lip was trembling and his voice was clearly uneven.
“I…I *do* love you, honey. And…for what it’s worth, I’m sorry that it happened – oh, will you *please* forgive me? I was weak!” Lois wailed.
"You were *weak*?? Lois, you followed him home to his apartment and you *seduced him*!” Clark shouted incredulously.
Lois could only hang her head in shame.
“Just…tell me one thing, Lois. Was he better than me?” Clark asked tentatively, fearing what her answer would be.
“Oh, no! No, no, *no*, honey, it wasn’t about him being younger than you,” Lois began as she whipped her head back up to meet Clark’s angry and hurt gaze head-on. It’s just that…he looked so *lonely*, so *alone*! He didn’t deserve to be rejected by her!”
“And so you took her place, is that it?” Clark spat. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame *him* for this; this was all your doing! You didn’t even tell him that we were *married*! You even hypnotized him so that we wouldn’t find out about each other!” he shouted accusingly.
Nothing could have prepared him for Lois’s response.
“Ok, so I was *wrong*! But *you* of *all people* have *no right* to yell at me! Not when I just found out that you did the same thing to me!” she yelled back defensively.
“What!??” Clark gasped, disbelieving what he had just heard. “*Lois*, I have *never* cheated on you!”
Lois’s eyes widened at hearing the conviction in her husband’s voice. “You…you really mean that, don’t you?” she said softly.
“Of course I mean it!” Clark insisted, feeling wronged beyond all measure.
“Oh…well…” Lois began, suddenly unsure of her footing. Then, in a moment of realization, she realized what she had to do to fix the situation.
“Clark, how about…” she choked, fighting back tears, “if I let you have *her*, just for one night, we can make up and call it even?” Lois’s entire body was trembling, and she could hardly believe the words that had left her mouth.
Clark sighed. “No, Lois. Two wrongs don’t make a right. I know I’m feeling a little hurt right now, and a little angry, but I still love you, and I could *never* do that to you,” he said.
“Clark, look at me. I don’t like it either, but you *have* to do this, or things will never be the same between us again. I know you want to – look, you don’t think that I never noticed the way that you looked at her, did you?” Lois asked rhetorically, becoming more convinced that this was the right course of action.
Clark’s resolve weakened as his own wife gave voice to his forbidden desires. He could practically see himself stroking her hair…her beautiful hair. But there was still one thing…
“Um…Lois,” he started awkwardly. “But what if…she doesn’t…*want* to…”
“Trust me. She does,” Lois said as she grimaced and looked away from her husband. Another period of silence ensued.
Finally, Clark’s inner demons got the best of him. “Ok,” he finally managed to choke out, now feeling guilty that he had been so harsh on Lois earlier in the conversation. “So…before I go…did *you* remember anything after I said ‘unspool’?”
“We can talk about that later,” Lois said as she waved her hand dismissively, “Just go. And…make it the most wonderful experience that she’ll ever forget,” she finished curtly, her back still facing Clark.
Clark blinked in surprise for a second before nodding to himself with determination. Yes, he deserved to do this – after all, she had done exactly the same thing to him, hadn’t she?
****
Clark hovered outside the window of *her* Metropolis apartment. As he rapped on the glass, the reality of what he was doing sunk in. I can’t *believe* that I’m doing this. However, he didn’t have much time for second thoughts before she came to the window and opened the curtains.
“Oh! Superman! Uh, what are you doing here at this time of night? No, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded! Er, is there something that I can do for you, Superman?” she asked.
Clark’s heart leapt into his throat. God, she was beautiful. Her perfect legs…her perfect eyes…and her hair, oh, it was just the way he had remembered it! He stared at her open-mouthed for a few moments before he finally snapped back to reality.
“Actually, there is something. Uh, can I…come in?” he asked nervously.
“What? Oh, of course you can, Superman! You can do anything you want here!” she hurriedly exclaimed, eager to accommodate the superhero.
“You…you really mean it when you say *anything*, don’t you, Lois?” Clark half-stated, half-queried tentatively.
Oh boy, did he feel dirty. One thing was for sure, he was going to have a difficult time looking his wife in the eye when he got back to his own time after this, especially considering that she would *remember* everything that had happened…
****
Question: Would the preceding scenario constitute adultery? What about if a married Lois or Clark had cheated with their future spouse, instead of the past, single version? Would that be two married people committing adultery or would it be above board? What makes a person a different person? Does the length of time matter? If Lois had cheated on present Clark with, say, 1 hour ago Clark, would that be different from cheating with, say, years ago Clark?
Then there’s also the problem of complicity – the person that they’re cheating on was once the person that they were cheating with, so would the spouse that was cheated on share some of the blame? After all, he/she would remember being the person that their spouse was cheating with, and doing the deed themselves to help their spouse cheat on them.
But yeah…weird questions…I know…
