Chapter Thirty-four
>>>Saturday, 3:46 PM
Clark smiled and stepped back to sip from the cup of punch in his hand. Dennis and Ginny’s wedding had gone off without a hitch, the reception in the church’s fellowship hall was a smashing success, and it looked as if their lives together would be not only wonderfully happy but thrilling to watch. They’d opened their gifts, but not until they’d been practically ordered to do so by Dennis’s friends and the members of Ginny’s family who’d been able to make last-minute arrangements to attend. Nearly all the gifts would be useful in the field, except perhaps for the silver tea set his ex-wife had sent.
Clark understood Dennis’s relief that the woman had sent the gift and had not brought it herself. Her absence made the ceremony go smoother than it otherwise might have.
Rachel Harris sidled up to him and elbowed him in the ribs without tipping the slice of wedding cake on the napkin in her hand. “Hey, world traveler and famous reporter guy. How’s life been treatin’ ya?”
“Pretty well,” he smiled back. “How about you?”
“As good as good can be. Hey, you look spiffy today.”
He preened for her. “Thank you, thank you. You look pretty good yourself, despite the less than flattering sheriff’s uniform.”
Instead of responding directly, she turned and gestured towards the newlywed couple with her fork. “They look happy.”
“They do at that. In this case, I think that looks are not deceiving.”
She chuckled ruefully. “You always were the one with the silver tongue, Clark.” She took a small bite of cake. “So how are you doing? Really?”
He sighed. “You want to know if I’m doing okay at a wedding so soon after losing Lana.”
Her look told him he’d understood her actual question.
He ducked his head for a moment, then looked her in the eye. “I’m coping. I’m seeing a therapist in Metropolis, and she’s helped me to see that grief is a process that everyone goes through on their own time and in their own way. The most important thing for me to do is to keep moving forward.”
Rachel nodded. “Are you moving forward?”
He bit the inside of his lip and wondered where she was going with this line of questioning. “Yes. I’m dating a young lady in Metropolis.”
She nodded again. “Is it serious?”
“I think she’d like for it to be more serious than it is. I’m just not ready for something long-term or permanent yet.”
“Ah. Is she being patient with you, or is she pushing?”
He frowned. “Am I being interrogated here? What’s the charge, Sheriff?”
Rachel froze in mid-bite, then slowly unbent. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I was grilling you, and I wasn’t trying to pry. I just want to know how my friend is doing, that’s all.”
She turned to leave, but Clark stopped her with a soft touch on her elbow. “Rachel, wait, please. I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to be so sensitive.”
“You have a right to be sensitive, Clark. I think anyone’d be sensitive at any wedding not long after his wife died, especially if his father-in-law was the one getting married.”
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t make it okay for me to – “
“Hey.” She stopped him with a touch of her own. “We’re friends. Friends don’t have to explain everything to each other. Friends are people who can say any idiotic thing to each other and still be friends.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him quickly on the cheek. “Just remember me if you need someone to talk to, okay?”
He smiled. “I will.”
Her return smile warmed his heart. “Good. I got to leave now and get ready for Saturday night. There’s always some moron startin’ a fight somewhere in town.”
“Be safe, Rachel. It’s always good to see you.”
“You too, Clark.”
He watched as she made her way to Dennis and Ginny to congratulate them once more. And he kept watching her as she stepped around one of Smallville’s most successful insurance agents, avoiding his latest sales pitch with ease, and slipped gracefully out the door.
Guard your heart, Rachel, he thought to her. You’re one of the good ones.
And suddenly he felt Lois.
Nearby.
In pain.
He quickly found his mother. “Mom, I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
She nodded. “Car wreck or airliner in trouble?”
“No.” He frowned. “If you must know, Lois has a problem.”
“Oh.” She started to turn, but stopped and whispered, “I hope her powers aren’t fading.”
“What makes you think – no, it’s nothing like that, or at least I don’t think so. Look, I don’t really know what’s going on. I just know she needs a friend right now.”
Martha frowned and nodded again. “Okay. If she needs a woman to talk to, tell her I’m available.”
He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, much as Rachel had just kissed him. “I will. Will you make my excuses to Dennis and Ginny?”
He followed her gaze to the happy couple as Martha smiled warmly. “I don’t think they’ll miss you right now, sweetie. They’re still trying to convince themselves that this isn’t just a wonderful dream.” She made small shooing motions. “Go on! Go help Lois.”
*****
He walked out of the church’s fellowship hall and looked around to see who might see him spin into Superman’s distinctive blue and red suit. Unfortunately, there were a number of people who were milling around the area visiting and laughing together, including a few older teen-aged couples who gazed longingly at each other as if they wished they were old enough for weddings of their own.
He sighed, wishing that they’d go inside and enjoy the reception, and he was hit with another intense flash from Lois. There was no life-threatening emergency, apparently, but she was deeply upset about something. And now he had an idea where she was.
He trotted across the parking lot and into a nearby corn field covered with the remains of the fall harvest. He increased his speed as he pulled away from the church and headed for his parents’ farm.
He glanced over his shoulder and decided that he could move up to Olympic sprinter’s speed levels without arousing undue suspicion, as long as he kept his dust trail to a minimum. It took him a little more than ten minutes to arrive at the farmhouse door. He swept the area with his vision gizmo.
But she wasn’t there. And he’d lost the trail. She was close, he was sure of it, but where could she be hiding all alone?
Alone. Of course. The Fortress of Solitude.
*****
He heard her before he saw her, but a normal human would never have known she was up there. With his enhanced hearing, however, he could tell that her breathing was irregular and her nose was stopped up. There was definitely something wrong.
“Lois?” he called. “Lois, are you all right?”
He heard her wipe her nose and sniff. “What are you doing here?”
“I felt you.”
“You – oh.” She stopped and sniffed again. “I – I’m sorry. I thought I had it turned off.”
He put his hands and one foot on the wooden crossbeams bolted to the trunk of the tree. “Your – whatever you’re feeling punched through to me.” He hesitated, and when she didn’t speak, he asked, “Can I come up?”
“It’s your tree house.”
“I know. But I told you to use it any time you needed it. And if you need to be alone right now, I’ll understand.”
He waited and listened to her breathing. Come on, Lois, he thought, let me help.
Please.
She finally said, “Come on up. There’s a spare crate.”
He climbed cautiously, aware that he might frighten her off at any moment. The faint mental vibes he was barely sensing through the link reminded him of a frightened deer, alert to any threat and ready to flee at the slightest provocation. And even though she couldn’t quite outrun him or outfly him, he knew that if she left abruptly he wouldn’t chase her.
He gained the platform and saw Lois sitting in the middle of the flooring. “Hi there.”
Without turning, she muttered, “Hi.”
He slipped down beside her, close enough to reach out and touch her but not so close that he was invading her personal space. “Do you want to talk about it?”
She wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands. “I – I don’t know.”
He nodded. “Okay. Do you want to just tell me about it?”
She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them but didn’t speak.
“How about I tell you about Dennis and Ginny’s wedding?”
She nodded without looking at him. “Yeah. Tell me about it. Was it good?”
“Yep.” He leaned his arms on his drawn-up knees and described the ceremony and the reception following.
As he wound down, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Sounds great. I hope they’re ridiculously happy together.”
“Me too.” He glanced her way. “So how was your Thanksgiving?”
“Good,” she shrugged. “I spent all day Thursday with Lex. He invited me to fly to Rio de Janeiro for the weekend.”
Clark nodded but didn’t speak.
“I – I guess I was weak. I told him I’d go.”
She stopped and picked up a leaf that had drifted down from the tree. As she examined it, Clark asked, “So?”
She sighed. “We spent Thanksgiving day together and then we left yesterday morning just before six on his private jet. Did you know Asabi has an international jet license?”
“No.”
“Neither did I, but he does. We arrived before lunch and went to this hotel restaurant where the staff greeted Lex in Portuguese – which I don’t understand but he obviously does – and then he booked us into the hotel.”
“Ah.”
She flashed him a hard look. “A suite for each of us, Mr. Super-Dirty Mind.”
He raised his hands. “Hey, this is your story. I’m just listening to it.”
“Yeah, right.” Her expression softened and she lowered her gaze. “Anyway, we had a wonderful time Friday afternoon and a terrific dinner and he walked me to my door and said goodnight and asked me to have breakfast with him at nine the next day.”
“That would have been this morning, right?”
“Yes.” She shifted her position slightly. “When I woke up this morning at about seven, I turned on the TV and found an English-language news program. Just as I finished getting dressed, I heard them talking about an airliner in trouble in France.”
Instead of speaking, he reached out and began rubbing the back of her shoulder.
It seemed to ease her reluctance to tell him what was bothering her. “I was changed and out the window before I realized what I was doing. I left Lex back at the hotel and I’m sure he thinks I’m dead or kidnapped or that I ran out on him.”
He said nothing, but kept rubbing.
“So, I was landing the plane in Paris. And I heard about this mud slide back in Brazil. Just west of Rio.”
She hesitated. “Go on,” he said softly.
“I – I tried to get there as fast as I could and – and I wasn’t – I wasn’t fast enough.”
Her tears began anew. “What did I do wrong? Why couldn’t I get there faster? And why did all those people have to – have to – “
He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Lois. Listen to me. No matter how strong you are, no matter how fast you are, sometimes it just isn’t enough.” He rocked her lightly and let go. “You have to accept that.”
She rubbed more tears away. “But what makes me a good reporter is that I don’t accept things! I’m always questioning and I’m never satisfied and I’m never going to be satisfied with – with getting there five seconds too late!”
He took a chance and scooted over beside her, then slowly put his arms around her shoulders and tugged her close.
She didn’t break away. “Lois, do you remember what you said to me last summer? When we were on the submarine?”
She glanced towards him. “If I tell you I’ve forgotten will you let me pretend it’s true?”
He smiled at the feeble joke. “No. But you were partly right that day. I was feeling very selfish and very sorry for myself.”
“You had a right to feel like that. Lana had – ”
She stopped herself, but Clark finished the thought. “Yes. Lana had just died. I thought Superman was a failure, that I was a failure. And I thought my life was over.” He gently bent her head towards him. “But it wasn’t over. And even though I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to accomplish that day, I kept going. Do you know why?”
She sniffed again. “Please don’t tell me it was because of my lousy pep talk.”
He smiled and stroked her hair. “Not entirely, but a little bit because of what you said, yes. You told me that Superman was more important than just me and how I felt about what I did. You told me that Superman was a symbol of right, of justice, and that I shouldn’t put away the suit because of one thing that didn’t go right, no matter how big that one thing was.”
She sat upright without breaking away and looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Is that what you remember me saying?”
“Yes.” She wrinkled one eyebrow in his direction. “Well, maybe not exactly like that, but that’s essentially what you told me.”
She shook her head. “I want some of the super-weed you’ve been smoking, Kent. It’s got to be good if that’s what’s in your mind from that day.”
He chuckled lightly. “I remember what you really said. And I remember what you told me after the bomb went off at Dr. Platt’s office building and I couldn’t save any of those people and that I was beating myself up over it. You told me, essentially, that the best I could do was the best I could do and it was good enough, even if it wasn’t perfect.”
She nodded once. “That’s pretty close.”
“And I told you to remember that speech because I’d be giving it back to you before long.”
She froze in place. Clark was sure she was about to bolt, so he loosened his grip to let her know that he wouldn’t try to keep her against her will.
But slowly the tension drained out of her body and she leaned against him again. This time she reached up and put her arms around his neck and closed her eyes. “It’s not fair.”
He stroked her head again. “What’s not fair, Lois?”
“You’re using my own words against me. You know what a great writer I am.”
He laughed and felt her laugh with him through her tears. “It’ll be better, I promise.”
“Yeah.” She squeezed harder. “Clark?”
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you tell me everything would be okay?”
He hesitated and sighed. “Because everything won’t be okay. It will get better. You’ll learn to deal with the losses and you’ll come to understand that nobody wins them all. You’ll learn how to hide your feelings in public and just do the job and then go off somewhere and cry it out and then come back to risk your heart all over again.” He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before he let it out. “But you’ll never get to the place where the losses don’t hurt. You’ll never be satisfied when things don’t end up perfect. And you’ll never learn not to care.”
She nodded into his shoulder and nestled closer.
At least, he thought, I hope to God you never learn not to care.
He startled himself as he realized just how important Lois’s state of mind was to him. Maybe it was being away from Rebecca, maybe it was the wedding he’d just attended or the obvious passion Dennis and Ginny had for each other, but he had to stop himself from lifting Lois’s face to his so he could kiss her. She was so close, so very close, and he didn’t think she’d stop him.
But he couldn’t take advantage of her like that. He couldn’t let his own loneliness and need force him to step past those boundaries they’d silently defined in their relationship. It wouldn’t be right for him to push his attentions on her, especially when she was so vulnerable.
So he contented himself with comforting her in her moment of need and tried to envision himself holding Rebecca like this and kissing her. But somehow that scenario just didn’t feel right to him, and he wasn’t sure why.
>>>Saturday, 4:20 PM (Rio time)
Lex paced incessantly, furiously, and fearfully. There was still no news about Lois. She’d been missing from her hotel room since that morning. The only clues anyone had were that there was no sign of violence in the room, her tennis shoes and jeans and a casual shirt were missing, along with a light jacket, and her television had been left on, tuned to a local news station broadcasting in English. The police inspector had suggested that since the missing Miss Lane was a reporter, she might have decided to report on something she’d heard about on the television.
Asabi agreed, which only infuriated Lex all the more. He’d given up an entire weekend to be with her! Why couldn’t she step away from her job to be with him?
Of course, the possibility that she might have met with some more lurid fate pressed against his mind with increasing force. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but Lois had become very important to him, and he believed that he was in love with her. Losing her at this point in his life was not something he cared to contemplate for even a moment.
As time had passed, he’d come to believe even more strongly than ever that Lois cared for him completely apart from his money and his influence and his social position. Not only did she not mind going out with him in his Alex Whitfield persona, at times he felt that she actually preferred to do so. She was never completely comfortable around the men and women in Metropolis society who sometimes behaved in a patronizing manner towards the “working woman” on Lex’s arm. One social matron who’d treated Lois as a rent-a-date during one recent evening’s event had heard a good bit of dirt on her husband, broadcast by Lois in her best loud and screechy-voiced impersonation of a popular but coarse television actress.
Lex hadn’t blamed Lois for her response and had even been amused at the time, but he had also needed most of the next week to placate the couple. After all, their continued good will was important to his social ranking.
And now she’d disappeared! Vanished without a trace. Such things rarely happened to American tourists in Rio, but they did happen. And he knew that the longer she remained missing, the slimmer the chance was that she’d return alive and unharmed.
A sudden knock on the door gave Asabi something to do besides watch him pace. Lex heard two excited voices at the door and turned to see Asabi running towards him.
“Sir! Oh, Sir! It is wonderful news, the best news! They have found her!”
His vision blurred around the edges and he felt for the edge of a nearby chair, then with a Herculean effort he took control of himself. “I assume from your joyful demeanor that she is uninjured.”
“Oh, yes, Miss Lane is most hale and hearty!”
He nodded and put his hand on Asabi’s shoulder. “Thank you, my friend. Can you tell me where she is and what she has been doing all day?”
“The officer says she is now in Petropolis, in one of the police stations, perhaps twenty-five miles north of our hotel. She has apparently been covering Ultra Woman’s rescue attempts at a small village just west of that city. It was badly damaged by a mudslide, and the heroine spent much of the day assisting in the rescue efforts.”
The officer interrupted and said in Portuguese, “We are indeed grateful for the assistance of the heroine Ultra Woman, Mister Luthor. She has saved many lives today.”
Lex replied in the same language. “How long will it take to get there?”
“By cab, Mister Luthor, perhaps an hour in this traffic. But I can take you in my official car, and it will take perhaps half the time.”
“Thank you, my good man. Please, let us depart now.”
The officer saluted crisply and turned to march out the door. Lex and Asabi followed as closely as they could.
*****
As soon as Lex walked into the police station, he knew Lois was there. She was standing at the station’s front desk, facing away from the door, and dominating the phone in her hand like an NBA power forward against a second-string junior high guard.
“No!” she shouted. “I do NOT want the long distance operator in Metropolis! I want you to connect me to the Daily Planet! Yes, directly! Yes, the paper will pay the charge! No, I don’t want to give you my credit card number! Yes! That’s right, call them now. What? What did you do with the phone number the first three times I gave it to you? Never mind, here it is. Again!”
She rattled off the number into the phone. The officer who’d driven Lex and Asabi to the station at breakneck speed with lights flashing and siren at eardrum-bursting volume stepped up beside her.
“Signorina, if you please - “
Without turning around, Lois waved her hand sharply in his face to shut him up, then yelled into the phone again. “Yes! Who’s this? Walter? This is Lois Lane. No, I’m in Brazil. Never mind why I’m here! I have an exclusive for you. You heard about Ultra Woman at the mudslide here? Good. I got an interview with her. You ready? Great! Take this down.”
As she spoke, Lex calmed himself and took a look at her clothing. She was covered with dried mud up to her knees, and her denim jacket would have to be laundered with great care to keep it presentable. Her shoes were almost unrecognizable as footwear and her shirt was torn in two small places that he could see. He only hoped she hadn’t suffered a minor injury which she was ignoring in her zeal to report the story.
A story which had taken her away from him.
A story which, despite its importance and her unique vantage point, had come between them.
A story which he didn’t particularly like at the moment.
Her voice shifted pitch as she finished dictating. “Got that, Walter? Great! Get it to rewrite, uh, see if Kyoko is available, she’s new but she’s good. If not, get whoever’s there and get it in shape for tomorrow’s edition. Of course I want it on the front page! Oh, all right, run it by Perry. He’ll tell you that – no, I don’t want his job! I’m a reporter, not a kindergarten teacher! Yes! Okay. Tell Perry I’ll see him Monday morning. Bye! I mean, ‘adeus!’ Of course that means ‘good-bye’ in Portuguese!”
She slammed the phone down and blew a stream of air up past her face, then looked at the wide-eyed officer she’d gestured to silence. “Okay, what do you want?”
Instead of answering her and risking an altercation with Hurricane Lois, he pointed behind her. She turned and saw Lex standing there with a harried expression on his face.
She launched herself at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Lex! I’m so glad to see you! Do you have any idea how hard it is to make a transcontinental call in this place? I had to do it from here or risk missing the Planet’s deadline, but I didn’t think it’d take me so long to make a connection – “
“Lois – “
Her arms slid down his and she grasped his hands lightly. “And these people won’t let me use their shower to clean up! I’m nasty dirty and I smell like a pig truck and they won’t let me get clean! And the hotel here won’t let me use their shower without renting a room and I don’t have my purse – “
Lex tried again. “Lois, please – “
“I hope it’s still in the room, I ran out of there so fast I can’t remember if I locked the door or not – “
He grabbed her firmly by the elbows and shook her. “Lois! Will you please let me speak?”
Lois ducked her head and slowly glanced at Lex’s hands on her arms. Then she lifted obsidian eyes to him and coldly whispered, “I want you to let go of my arms.”
He tried to shake her arms again, more lightly this time, but he might as well have tried to do the tango with the Statue of Liberty. “Lois – you – ”
“Let go of my arms, Lex.”
He released her and stepped back. “Fine.” He held her gaze for a long breath, then he shook his head. “You gave me a terrible fright today.”
“I’m a reporter, Lex. That’s not only what I do, it’s what I am. I will not change that part of myself for you or for any man.”
Her words rocked him. Her tone, her intensity, her body language all said that there was no flexibility in her on this subject. His vague fantasy of romancing her into leaving the Planet to marry him vanished like beads of sweat in the desert.
And he didn’t know if he liked her suddenly evident power or not. Especially when it was directed at him.
He released her arms and put his hands on his hips. “Lois, don’t you understand how dangerous it is to be around Ultra Woman? At any moment, she might – “
“She might what, Lex?” Lois demanded. “She might go crazy and kill everyone around her? Is that what you believe?” She threw her hands in the air and stepped back. “Is that what you think of Ultra Woman?”
“No! I simply do not trust anyone without apparent limits to his or her power. I’m not even sure that Superman could stop Ultra Woman if he tried to.”
She glared at him. “Lex, you – “
“I also don’t know that Ultra Woman could stop Superman if she thought she needed to do so. Neither of them has any known limits! Neither of them answer to any government or any private institution, as far as I am aware.”
“Show me one thing either one has done wrong, Lex! Show me one thing and I’ll listen! Otherwise you’re just blowing smoke out of your ears!”
He forced himself to calm down. “Lois, I really meant that wherever you find Superman or Ultra Woman, you find trouble. If you hang around them often enough, you’ll get into trouble too.”
“That’s because they help people in trouble! If you think they’re the cause of any of these problems, then you’d better show me some evidence!”
“That’s not what I meant! I only meant – please, Lois! I only want you to be safe. We came here for a holiday – or at least that’s what I came for.”
“I told you I was doing my job! Do you have any idea what a story like this is worth to me? I don’t care about the danger! I can take care of myself! And you don’t have to follow me around to make sure I’m safe!”
He tried once again to recover his equilibrium. “Lois, I’m sorry. I assure you that I’m not trying to make you do or be anything you don’t want to do or be. It’s just that – suddenly you were gone! I had no idea where you were or what had happened to you! I was afraid you’d been injured! You do know that kidnapping is practically a cottage industry in Brazil, don’t you? I was – I was afraid for you! Please, Lois! Can’t you see this situation from my point of view?”
Her expression softened and she sighed. “I’m sorry, Lex. You’re right. I should have let you know what I was doing. But I wasn’t sure there was time. I knew that Ultra Woman wouldn’t hang around waiting for someone to interview her, so I had to hurry. I just grabbed a handful of cash, hopped in a cab, and got out there as fast as I could.” She smiled shyly. “I got the interview, too.”
He nodded. “I heard.” He ran his hand through his hair and looked around. “Have you eaten today?”
“Uh – no, actually. And I’m starting to get hungry.”
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Very well. Why don’t we go back to the hotel, let you clean up and change clothes, and I’ll find some place for us to eat.”
“Why not just go to the hotel restaurant? Don’t they have a dance floor, too?”
He hesitated. Perhaps she was trying to apologize to him, or at least allow tensions to ease between them. Very well, if she could make the effort, so could he.
“That sounds like a plan to me. Is there any dish you’d prefer?”
“Mmm, how about some seafood? Lobster, crab, ocean panfish, shrimp, something like that? I feel like seafood tonight.”
“Your wish is my command, my dear.”
She smiled at him and allowed him to escort her to the police car, and they drove back to the hotel in strained silence.
>>>Saturday, 10:18 PM (Metropolis time)
Clark paid the cabbie and hefted his battered suitcase as he climbed the steps to his apartment building’s front door. He was glad to be coming back home and very glad to be off the plane. He knew it was a little bit nuts, but although he had absolutely no fear of heights as Superman, planes made him claustrophobic and irritable. Not only was it somehow counter-intuitive to Clark that airplanes could actually fly, he knew that if Clark Kent were on a flight one day which got into trouble, Superman would appear to save the people on the plane and poof! As if by magic, his secret identity would be gone forever.
But Perry had all but ordered him to book a flight this time. He’d need to be picked up from the airport in Wichita in order to maintain his cover, and he needed to be seen on a plane occasionally anyway to alleviate suspicion, the thought being that Superman wouldn’t ever need to board a commercial airliner.
He admitted that it was a good idea in theory, but it took up so much time that he wasn’t totally sold on the idea. But since Perry had allowed him to take the entire four-day weekend off despite his still being a fairly new employee, he felt he owed it to his boss to follow his advice. Besides, Perry had pulled a few strings to get him the flight in the first place, and securing a ticket on the busiest travel day of the year was no mean feat. He’d needed to show some gratitude.
So he’d flown inside the plane, earning the sympathetic glances from the flight attendants as he’d sat stiffly in his seat, drumming his fingers on the armrest and starting each time someone had spoken to him.
But he was back in Metropolis now. His apartment sat waiting for him, his bed boasted clean sheets, and his cupboard was stocked with Ding-Dongs and Twinkies. Various carbonated drinks sat cooling in his refrigerator, and he was more than ready to dive into them while he watched the day’s sports recap.
He rode the elevator up to the top floor and stepped out, intending to get inside as quickly as possible. There was a root beer with his name on it and he didn’t want it to be lonely.
But there was someone sitting on the floor in his way.
“Hi, Clark.” Rebecca stood and brushed some non-existent dirt from her slacks. “I hope I’m not totally unwelcome.”
He sighed. “No, of course you’re not unwelcome, but it is pretty late.”
She dropped her gaze to the hallway floor. “I know. But just to ease your mind, I haven’t been waiting long. I got your flight number from your boss, and I called the airport to find out when it landed. I thought about meeting you at the airport, but I didn’t want to upset any plans you might have had.”
Despite the late hour – and Rebecca’s apparent neediness – Clark chuckled lightly. “Actually, I wouldn’t have minded you meeting me. Cab rides aren’t cheap.”
She lifted her head and smiled back. “No, I guess not. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” He put down the suitcase and straightened as if stretching his back. “Would you like to come in for a few minutes?”
She tilted her head to one side. “Is that a pity invitation or a real one?”
“Becca, if I didn’t want you to come in, I wouldn’t have invited you.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out.”
He dug his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. “You had some reason to be waiting for me on my doorstep at this time of night. I trust you, so it must be something important.” He pushed open the door. “Will you come in? I promise not to spread evil stories about you.”
She laughed softly and stepped in ahead of him, then stopped until he turned on the light and closed the front door. “Nice. Very nice.”
He tried to hide his smirk. “I’m relieved that you approve.”
She caught it anyway. “Good. Now you can sleep peacefully tonight.”
He chuckled a little louder. “If you want some coffee I can make some, or I can get you a soft drink.”
“Got anything caffeine-free? I don’t need to be up half the night.”
He waved at the couch. “Sure. Have a seat and I’ll be right back.” She sat as he walked to the kitchen. “Are you hungry or is the soda enough?”
“Just the soda, thanks. I wanted to see you but I don’t want you to be up late cleaning up just because of me.”
He walked back to the living room and handed her a can of diet Sprite as he sat beside her. “How do you know I’d stay up to clean?”
“You’re kidding, right?” She gestured at the room. “This room is almost spotless, Clark. Besides, I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re a neat freak.”
“Well, you’re right about that.” He popped the top on his root beer. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”
She took a sip. “I know you went home this weekend.”
“Well, yes, I told you where I was going. Wait.” He sat forward and frowned. “Did I mess up by not inviting you?”
“No! No, that’s not where I’m going, I promise.” She took a big gulp and swallowed hard. “I don’t think I would’ve gone with you if you had invited me. We’re – well, we’re dating, Clark, but we’re just not a couple. At least, not yet, assuming it ever happens.”
“Oh.” He sat back and tried to relax. “Is that what this is about?”
“Sort of.” She opened her purse and dug inside for a moment, then pulled out an unmarked CD. “Can you play this?”
He took it as if he expected it to turn around and snap at him. “Uh, yeah, but – “
“Please.” She stood and stepped away from the couch to the open area of the living room. “Just play it.”
He nodded and walked to the stereo system. He waited until the first strummed guitar chords rang out over the drum beats, then adjusted the volume. He smiled as he recognized the tune. “Bonnie Raitt! I like her stuff.”
She moved closer and tentatively took his hand in hers. “Listen to the words. I think I want to say them to you.”
He stood there smiling, listening with her.
People are talkin’, talking 'bout people
I hear them whisper, you won't believe it
They think we're lovers kept under covers
I just ignore it, but they keep saying
We laugh just a little too loud
We stand just a little too close
We stare just a little too long
Maybe they're seeing, something we don't, Darlin'
He frowned as the chorus began. “Rebecca, just what are you trying to tell me?”
She sighed. “You’re the first guy I’ve let get close to me for years. You’ve always behaved like a perfect gentleman, even when I wouldn’t have objected if you’d been a little more aggressive.”
Let's give them something to talk about
Let's give them something to talk about
Let's give them something to talk about
How about love?
He stiffened a little. “I wasn’t ready for that. I’m not sure you were, either.”
“Probably not. At least not then. But what about now?”
Oh, good. A romance ambush. And he’d walked right into it like a kid on his first snipe hunt.
I feel so foolish, I never noticed
You'd act so nervous, could you be falling for me?
It took a rumor to make me wonder
Now I'm convinced I'm going under
Thinking 'bout you every day
Dreaming 'bout you every night
Hoping that you feel the same way
Now that we know it, let's really show it, Darlin'
“Rebecca, I – I just don’t know – “
She lifted her free hand and stopped his lips. “Please. I’m not proposing to you and I’m not asking you to be faithful to me for the rest of your life. I’m only saying that I’d like to see if we – if you and I – if we have a future together.”
Her hand slipped down to his chin and lingered there. “I know I’m saying a lot, even if Bonnie’s helping me. And I don’t want to put any pressure on you, especially if you’re not ready for it. The last thing I want to do is to drive you away from me.”
Let's give them something to talk about
A little mystery to figure out
Let's give them something to talk about
How about love, love, love, love?
His breath was shallow and his vision seemed to be closing in. “You won’t. At the very least, I’m your friend. Whether or not we have a future together – a romantic future – I will always be your friend.”
Her eyes glistened and she smiled. “I can handle that. For now, at least.” She stepped back, still holding his hand. “May I have this dance, Mr. Kent?”
“Of course. I hope we have enough room in here.”
She laughed lightly. “It’s just the two of us, and I don’t expect any gymnastics from you.”
The song came to a bouncy end. Instead of embracing Rebecca he reached for the CD player, but she stopped him with a feather touch. “Don’t bother, Clark. It’s the only song on the CD and it’s on there eight straight times.”
He smiled, then laughed aloud. “Either you really love this song or you were hedging your bets. Which one was it?”
She grinned back as the song began again. “Let’s just say I was trying to tilt the odds in my favor.” As the rhythm picked up, she tugged him towards her. “Just one more dance?”
He took her in his arms and smiled. “Anything for my friend.”
>>>Saturday, 11:10 PM (Rio time)
Lois swung her arms and bounced down the sidewalk. “Wow! I’ve heard about how lively Rio can be, but I never thought it was this full of energy! I feel like I could – oh, I don’t know – “
“Leap over a tall building?” offered Lex.
She started. That was too close to the truth and she couldn’t have him thinking along those lines. “Something like that, I guess. That dinner was incredible! Do you eat Brazilian cooking very often?”
“No, but when in Rio – “
“I know, do as the Riomans do, right?”
They both laughed harder than necessary at her bad pun. Lex caught her wrist and tugged it in a different direction. “I happen to know of a dance club where the songs are played in English. Do you want to try it?”
She laughed. “That sounds like fun. Which way?”
“Across the street, where the blue lights frame the doorway.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “I see it. Hey, that wouldn’t be the ‘house of blue lights’ where Miss Molly hangs out, would it?”
He stopped and stared, obviously puzzled. “The Little Richard song!” she laughed. “‘Good Golly Miss Molly!’ Surely you know it.”
“I don’t recall it at the moment. And please don’t call me Shirley, at least not in public.”
“What? Call you – “ and then it hit her. Surely. Shirley. “Oh, hah hah hah. Wait, I think I dislocated my jaw from laughing too hard.”
“As long as you can still dance, it doesn’t matter, does it?”
“I guess not.” She followed him across the street as they dodged the late-night traffic. “What kind of music do they play?”
They stopped at the doorway and listened. Lex grinned at her and said, “It sounds like ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’ to me. I think that would be an appropriate tune for a dance club, don’t you?”
She nodded. “I suppose you know the manager personally?”
“No, I’ve never been here before.” He grinned with his hand on the doorknob and wiggled his eyebrows. “Do you feel lucky, my dear?”
He was trying hard, she had to give him that. All through dinner he’d kept up the conversation until she’d unwound, and his smile hadn’t wavered a bit. “Sure. Let’s roll the dice and see what comes up.”
The blast of sound from the suddenly opened door startled her for a moment before she got her super-hearing under control. But at the volume of sound emanating from the club, she wasn’t sure either of them could hear the other without one shouting in the other’s ear anyway.
She followed Lex as he paid the doorman and pushed into the crowded club. Just as they reached the edge of the dance floor, the ABBA song ended and the DJ spun directly into Miami Sound Machine’s “Turn The Beat Around.”
He leaned into her ear and shouted, “I think they’re playing our song!”
She turned to face him and nodded briefly.
“Shall we dance?” he shouted again.
Instead of answering, she tugged at his hand as she stepped into the dance pit as Gloria Estefan’s vocal intertwined with the infectious Latin rhythms.
Turn the beat around, love to hear percussion.
Love to hear it.
Turn it upside down, love to hear percussion.
Love to hear it.
She listened closer, then leaned close to Lex and yelled, “You know what? I always thought she was singing, ‘love to hear her passion!’ But it’s ‘love to hear percussion!’ Did you know that?”
He cupped a hand around his ear and shouted, “What?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Never mind!” And she started a fast mambo and trusted him to keep up with her.
Of course, he didn’t miss a step.
Blow horns you sure sound pretty
Violins keep movin' to the nitty gritty
But when you hear the scratch of the guitar scratchin'
Then you'll know that the rhythm carries all the action, so
Turn the beat around
Love to hear percussion
Turn it upside down
Love to hear percussion
Love to hear it
This could really be something, thought Lois. This could turn into a real relationship, not just a good friendship. I could see myself dancing with Lex at all kinds of events.
I wonder, she mused as she danced, if Clark would dance at my wedding?
The unexpected thought startled her and she lost her footing for a moment. Lex stopped to offer his help, but she grinned and shook her head, then caught the rhythm again.
Flute player play your flute 'cause
I know that you want to get your thing on
But you see I've made up my mind about it
To me it is the rhythm, no doubt about it, woah, woah
'Cause when the guitar player starts playing
With the syncopated rhythm, with the scratch, scratch, scratch
Makes me wanna move my body yeah, yeah, yeah
And when the drummer starts beating that beat
He nails that beat with the syncopated rhythm
With the rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat on the drums, hey
Turn the beat around
Love to hear percussion
Turn it upside down
Love to hear percussion
Love to hear it
Love to hear it
Love to hear it
She wasn’t ready to think about weddings, especially not her own. She and Lex were from two different worlds. There was still a tiny, miniscule possibility that he was a criminal mastermind. Even if he were as honest as the day is long, she was a reporter and he was the most reclusive celebrity on the East Coast of the US. He was practically drowning in money and she was living only slightly below her means.
And there was that pesky Ultra Woman thing to consider, too. If Lex was so ambivalent about Ultra Woman and Superman, how would he react to learning her secret?
Still, the thought of being married to him didn’t make her want to run screaming for the exit.
And that was something to think about, too. Until then, she’d just enjoy turning the beat around and wondering what she’d have to do to make him go away, just how much of her particular brand of weirdness he’d tolerate.
Maybe he’d tolerate a lot from her. He’d accepted everything about her so far, even her disappearance that morning, so maybe he was more serious about her than she’d assumed at first. Or that she’d dared to dream.
Maybe he’d stick around for the long term.
All she needed to do was to stop those bad dreams. Surely she’d be okay then.
-----
“Something to Talk About” by Shirley Eikhard © 1991
“Turn The Beat Around” by Gerald and Peter Jackson © 1976
Bottom dweller’s note: Some of the dialogue between Clark and Lois in the Fortress was lifted from the episode “Ultra Woman,” written by Gene O’Neill and Noreen Tobin. But of course, the sharp-eyed FoLCs have already noticed that, I’m sure.
