“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” Clark continued. “The question is, will anyone else?”
“Yet you’re here offering me money to keep quiet about it.” The expression on Lois’s face wasn’t what he’d expected.
He’d expected that she’d start negotiating a price immediately. In his experience, that was what gold diggers did, they tried to get the most money out of a situation with the least effort.
It disturbed him that she’d brought her child with him. What sort of woman brought her child with her when she was trying to extort money from someone?
The same sort of people who might have sent a child on a rocket like some sort of experimental animal?
Clark had seen enough in his time in foster care to know that parents weren’t always what they should be. That he’d had wonderful parents for the first ten years of his life was the only reason that he wasn’t a worse person than he already was.
Glancing back up, he noticed that the girl still seemed to be looking at him through the wall. It was an optical illusion, of course. She had to simply be staring at a point on the wall and his mind was playing tricks.
It was unnerving.
Realizing that Lois seemed to be waiting for a response, he said, “I haven’t always been the person I’ve wanted to be. It’s hard to be and succeed on the scale I have.”
Pausing purposefully, Clark said, “This Foundation is my chance to change all that. It’s my chance to really make a difference in the world in a way I never even imagined before. We have a chance at reducing world hunger, curing diseases, helping to lift people out of poverty.”
“I’m not here to…” Lois began.
Clark said, “They say that what we do now won’t matter in a hundred years. I don’t believe that. I want a chance to leave a better world for my children and grandchildren.”
“It’s not…” Lois started to say.
“Superman has given the world hope.” Clark paused again. Years of experience in the boardroom and on the podium had given him a sense of timing and delivery. Lacing the story with bits and pieces of the truth didn’t hurt. “But all of it is based around a sense of trust. It’s hard to believe in something. It’s easy to fall back into apathy and cynicism.”
He did want to make the world a better place, although it wasn’t his great passion, or even his idea.
There would be no children or grandchildren for him, although he might enjoy watching those of others from a distance.
“We’re at a critical time in the process, and we can’t afford to have scandal disrupting everything.” He looked carefully in her eyes. “We’ve hired several hundred people, all of whom have families that depend on them. You wouldn’t want to put innocent people out of work.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his checkbook. Quickly writing out a number and signing it, he pulled it out of the book and slid it across the table toward Lois.
She stared at it as though it was a snake, and he could hear her breathing pick up and her heart rate accelerating.
She was tempted, and he wondered if he should have added another digit to the total.
Glancing back at the closed door, almost as though she could see her child on the other side, Lois turned and said “Damn the money. I need to meet with Superman about a private matter.”
She stood up, and then paused. “I’d like it to remain a private matter, but I’ll make it public if I have to.”
Clark stood as well, and as he moved around the side of the desk, it was almost as though the child’s eyes followed him.
It was unnerving.
“I’m sure you’ll tell him where to find us.” Lois said. “I hope he’ll be discreet.”
“Where are you going?” Clark asked, a little dumfounded.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
“Home.” Lois said. Without saying another word, she turned and left the room, pulling the girl along behind her.
Clark had a feeling that he’d just made a big mistake.
**********
Lois’s anger wasn’t enough to salve her shame.
She’d been tempted. The sort of money he was offering her wasn’t enough to never work again, but it was enough that Lisa might finally have the sort of life Lois had always wanted to give her.
No more scrimping and saving. No more worrying about juggling bills.
Lois might even be able to find the sort of job she’d dreamed of doing, and she might be able to make it stick. That sort of money engendered a certain amount of confidence. Nothing like knowing that you wouldn’t have to work for a year or more before finding your next job.
Lisa would find her father sooner or later. If she learned how to fly, she’d find him whether he wanted to be found or not.
Glancing at Lisa, Lois winced. There were tears in Lisa’s eyes.
She’d heard the whole thing, of course, and it must have been hurtful.
Maybe it had been a mistake bringing her. Uncle Mike would have been happy to have put her up for a few days, and then she wouldn’t have been exposed to this kind of ugliness.
They reached the station wagon, and Lisa slipped into her seat. The door on her side wouldn’t lock, and Lois hadn’t had the money to repair it.
As Lois slipped into her seat, all she could hope was that Lisa’s father followed up. They were sacrificing financial security for a meeting which had no guarantee of working out. While Clark Kent might be a multimillionaire, as far as Lois could determine, Superman didn’t have a dime to his name. At best, he’d have a stipend provided by the foundation for new pairs of red trunks.
There was no way to know what sort of a person he was without meeting him.
She slipped the key in the ignition and sighed. Looking over at her daughter, she asked, “Did I make the right decision?”
Lisa reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it in a gesture of support.
Lois stared at her daughter, and then nodded. Slipping the gears into position, she began backing out of the driveway.
There were too many questions that were left to be answered. If Lisa was going to be able to fly, then when? Were there other abilities that she was going to develop? How could she control them?
The image of Lisa suddenly levitating out of her chair in the middle of class made Lois shudder. Adolescence was hard enough without being made to feel like a freak. That it would be the start of a major scandal wouldn’t help either. Lois had been in the industry long enough to know what reporters were likely to do in pursuit of the story.
It was hard being the target of public attention when you were rich, but at least there were resources to help guard privacy. For the working poor, however, there was no escape.
They had as much to lose from exposure as he did.
Lois sighed as she negotiated the steep road that led down from the Kent estate. She could only hope that Lisa’s father was a nicer person than Clark Kent.
*****************
“You have to go after them.”
Clark sat with his eyes closed. The whirring of the motor and the familiar sound of breathing was the only indication he had that anyone was in the room with him at all.
He must be more disturbed than he’d initially thought.
“Someone left the intercom on again, I see.” For all his good qualities, Joshua was a terrible snoop. “This is all your fault.”
Opening his eyes, he glared at the younger man.
“A beautiful woman comes and refuses money to go away.” Joshua grinned at him. “This is my fault how?”
“I knew this whole Superman idea was a bad one. I look like an idiot, and people are already starting to come out of the woodwork. How long do you think it will be before somebody makes the connection?”
Joshua smirked. “Maybe you’d have more of a love life. I hear that the mile high club is particularly popular this year.”
Clark shuddered. As a habit now, he scanned an area before landing. Any sign of the red poison, or the green and he avoided the area like a plague.
“You were dying here,” he said. “Did you really want to spend the rest of your life withering away behind these walls?”
They’d had this argument too many times to be worth mentioning. Clark turned slightly and stared out the window. If he looked carefully with his special vision, he could still see the battered old station wagon as it made its way down the one road leading into the estate.
“What did she mean, she’d met you more than ten years ago?” Joshua asked suddenly.
Clark shrugged, staring down at the table.
“You mean she’s…”
Clark sighed. This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to be having.
“You do know she’s the only woman you’ve talked about in years.” Joshua’s eyes narrowed as he studied Clark’s expression closely.
Lana was the only other woman who’d ever been important in his life, and she, of course, was a forbidden subject.
Even Lois he’d only talked about when he was coming off of the red poison.
“She didn’t even recognize me.” Clark said. Part of him had been hoping that she would, that they’d be able to start again fresh. She’d shared something with him that night that was more than just sex, and he’d hoped to find it again.
“As flattering as I’m sure that was, I’m also sure that if you don’t hear her out it’s going to nag at you for the rest of your life.” Joshua shook his head. “Life’s too short.”
With that, he pulled away from the desk and turned his wheelchair toward the door.
Life was full of bitter ironies.
****************
Three days there and three days back. Lois had missed a week of work, and it all felt as though it had been for nothing.
Pulling up into the driveway, she glanced over at her sleeping daughter. Lisa had been so good throughout everything. She’d barely asked any questions, although Lois wasn’t sure if that wasn’t just from her feelings of hurt and disappointment.
There were reports of a disaster in China, something involving a dam and evacuating villages. It explained why Lisa’s father hadn’t looked for them right away.
It didn’t make the disappointment any better. Part of Lois had been hoping that Superman would stop them before they even left the hotel. He owed her that much after everything they’d both gone through.
Wearily, she stepped out of the driver’s seat. She was going o have to wake Lisa and get her to bed.
She froze as she heard the sound of movement from behind her. Turning quickly, she fumbled for the mace on her keychain.
If she’d had the money for martial arts lessons, she might not be so slow.
Stepping out of the darkness, a figure moved into the flickering light of the one streetlamp near her house.
“Ms. Lane?” The voice was naggingly familiar. “I understand that you wanted to meet with me.”
It took her a moment to understand the implications of the cape, and in the darkness his books looked almost black. But then it hit her.
Superman had arrived.
