Although some of the other patrons of the restaurant were looking in their direction, Lana Lang never took her hand off of Lisa’s father’s shoulder.
“I didn’t know that Clark had any friends,” the woman said sweetly. There was something about her voice that grated on Lisa’s ear, although whether it was the accent of the contrast between her tone and her heart rate, Lisa couldn’t tell. “Are you related to the family?”
Lisa wanted to blurt out the truth, that she was her father’s daughter, but she knew better than say anything. This was the sort of woman who would use anything they had to say against them.
“I work for Mr. Kent,” Lisa’s mother said. “He’s showing us around town.”
“Are you and your sister enjoying Colorado?” the woman asked.
“She’s my mother,” Lisa found herself saying. At the look from her mother, she flushed and became silent.
“But you look so young to be a mother!” Lana Lang said. “You’d have had to be a child when she was born!”
“What brings you here?” Lisa’s mother asked, ignoring the question.
She’d had a lot of experience dodging that sort of question. Lisa had heard the comments people made behind her back, and most of them weren’t pretty.
“When I was married to Clark, this was our place,” Lana said.
“This was the only place you’d bother to come to,” Lisa’s father said. His voice was weary.
“I think it’s brave,” Lana said, as though he hadn’t spoken. “Not caring what people think about how you dress. Most people seem to think they need to dress up when they come to a place like this.”
For the first time, Lisa became aware of how she and her mother were dressed compared to the people at the other tables. No one else in the place was wearing jeans or shirts. Most people, in fact, tended to dress more like Lana or her father.
It wasn’t as though Lisa had much experience in restaurants. Going out to eat was a rare treat, something that happened only every few months. Eating someplace like this was out of the realm of her experience.
There weren’t even prices on the menu.
Lisa had been so pleased that her mother and father were talking that she hadn’t even noticed, although she was suddenly sure that her mother had. Suddenly, her earlier joy began to evaporate.
She was suddenly aware that some people were looking at them, and she wasn’t sure whether it was because Lana was making a scene, or because of how they were dressed.
Involuntarily she shrunk down into her seat.
“I’m sure that if I ever marry a millionaire, I’ll have plenty of money to spend on dresses,” Lois said. “But I work for a living.”
“What do you do for Clark, exactly?” Lana asked.
Lisa wasn’t sure, but there seemed to be some sort of insinuation in Lana’s tone. Her mother stiffened.
“I work in acquisitions.”
Her mother was going to help her father gather up the jewelry that was hurting people. Although Lisa still thought longingly of the red bracelet sometimes, she knew it was important work, and she was proud of her mother for doing it.
“Clark has always been good at acquisitions. When he sees what he wants, he goes for it and nobody better get in his way.”
The woman almost sounded proud, even though Lisa could see that her father was hunching even lower in his seat, his expression strained.
Lana leaned forward. “Just be careful that if he gets what he wants, he doesn’t throw you away.”
She tightened her grip on Clark’s shoulder.
“As long as I do what I’m hired for, I’m sure Mr. Kent won’t have any complaints,” Lois’s mother said coolly.
“Maybe it’s Clark I should be worried about. A lot of women would love to get their hands on the sort of portfolio he has. I wouldn’t have thought of flaunting a pre-made family. I suppose it might have some attraction for a man who is sterile.”
“That’s enough,” her father said sharply. “Is there something we can do for you?”
Lana pulled her hand away from his shoulder, as though hurt. “Why Clark…you’d think you didn’t like to be around me.”
“You are a sick person,” he said quietly. “You need help.”
Lana smiled even wider and said, “I’m sure we’ll meet again, Ms. Lane, Lisa.”
With that she stepped around Clark and walked unsteadily down the aisle. It was then that Lisa realized that she hadn’t even ordered anything at her table.
She’d been sitting there waiting for them.
*****************
Somehow the evening hadn’t gone how Lisa had planned. She’d been sure that her parents were finally opening up to one another. Her mother had smiled more than Lisa had seen her smile in a long time. It was all there in their body language and the way they sat.
But after the witch woman had visited, everything had been different. Her mother had been cool and distant and her father had been distracted.
He hadn’t lost that hunched look that he’d taken when he’d first realized she was in the room. It reminded Lisa of a neighborhood dog that had been hit one too many times, and was now afraid to get close to anyone.
Most of the meal had been had in silence, and Lisa had barely been able to taste it.
When it came time for the bill, Lisa could tell that her mother wanted to know how much the bill was, she pushed her glasses down and saw that her vision was still not back to normal.
A glance at the bill made her gasp. She decided immediately that it was better that her mother not know.
The last thing she needed was yet another reminder that she and Lisa’s father came from different worlds.
**************
In the darkness, the road seemed even more winding than it had before. What had seemed welcoming and inviting on the way in suddenly seemed dangerous and treacherous.
Lois stared out the window, relieved when she felt her daughter slump against her. It had been an emotionally draining day.
Clark and Kal reminded her of one another somehow. The two men looked enough alike to be brothers, and seeing Lisa respond the way she had to Clark had only confused things.
Clark Kent had done a wonderful thing for her daughter, but that didn’t make him her father. It didn’t even necessarily make him Lois’s friend. She’d seen a glimpse of what he was really like before he’d realized that she was important to Kal El.
He was very good at getting what he wanted. His ex-wife had alluded to that. While Lois didn’t trust Lana any further than she could throw her, she only had to look around at the Kent estate to realize that it was true.
No one had given him his wealth. He’d taken it, piece by piece, building a financial empire. It took a certain kind of person to do that. It took determination and obsession and ambition.
What it didn’t take was someone who made a good father.
Lois had grown up around people like Clark. Her father had been a doctor, and her mother had been status conscious, at least before she’d fell into a bottle after the divorce. Lois had played chess and tennis with the children of the wealthy; she’d spent times in their homes.
Although Clark had come from poor beginnings, he’d earned his own money. Lois, however, would always carry the baggage of her circumstances with her. If Lois became involved with him, she’d always be considered a gold-digger. People would think she was with him for his money, and they’d make snide remarks behind her back. Lois wouldn’t hear the remarks, but Lisa would.
“I’m sorry,” Clark said. “I’d have taken her somewhere else if I’d realized she was in town.”
“Why did you ever marry a woman like that?” Lois asked quietly.
:”She wasn’t like that when I married her,” he said. “Or at least…I didn’t think she was.”
“You don’t always get what you expect when you get involved with someone,” Lois said. Not that she’d know. Her relationships had been few and far between. Having a child hadn’t been attracted to men her age, and she hadn’t had time for them anyway.
“She’s not well,” Clark said. “But she refuses to get any help.”
Lois was silent for a long moment. “Thank you for what you did for my daughter. I can never repay it.”
“But…” he said. From his expression she could tell he knew something was coming.
“It might be better for everyone concerned if we keep our relationship on a purely professional basis.”
His expression went blank and then he nodded curtly.
**************
Lana’s hands shook as she lit another cigarette.
She’d recognized the glasses the brat was wearing right away. Clark had worn them in the early years of their marriage, and on a vulnerable night, he’d told her the reason he’d worn them.
There was no reason a thirteen year old girl would be wearing glasses that ugly without a reason. Given that the lenses weren’t even prescription grade, Lana could come to only one conclusion.
Joshua had lied.
Clark wasn’t sterile at all, and now that Lane woman was coming to worm her way into his good graces with a ready made family.
Clark was a sap for a sob story. If he thought of you as family he’d do anything for you. All the little floozy had to do was show a little skirt, flash a little leg, and the next thing she knew they’d be together in some sort of sickening parody of a normal family.
It wouldn’t matter than neither Clark nor his daughter was human. With the sort of money and connections he had, it would never be much of an issue.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Lana had been cheated out of her own chance to have children, and it wasn’t fair that after all this time Clark got the second chance Lana had never gotten.
She’d given him some of the best years of her life, and all she’d gotten in return was this rotting sickness that made her constantly miserable and angry.
As long as Clark had been lost in his own misery, she’d been content to leave him alone. This, though was beyond the bounds of decency.
It wasn’t right and it wouldn’t stand.
If no one else would give her justice, she’d have to take it.into her own hands.
Clark Kent was going to miserable until his dying day, and Lana was going to make sure that happened, one way or the other.
With any luck, Lana’s own problem would be solved as well.
For the first time in as long as she could remember, Lana genuinely smiled.
