I totally forget who said that they always thought Mayson was the love child of Perry Mason and Della Street, but this is for you
.
Thanks again, as always, to Alisha and Beth.
Comments appreciated.
*****
Chapter 30
*****
Jimmy recovered first. "Mayson, what're you doing here?"
"I work here. Della Street, my great-great-grandmother, started this store after World War I. She lost my great-great-grandfather, Perry Mason, in France and she needed a way to support my great-grandfather. She was a wonderful designer and seamstress and started Street's Formal Wear as a way to make a living. All of the cousins have worked here at one point. At least," she conceded, "those that live close enough. What about you guys? Shopping?"
"Yes," Lois said, unsure when exactly Clark's hand had found hers, but glad it had. "Clark and I are leaving for Greece soon. We'll be there for a few months and we need some formal wear. Night on the town, black tie night on a cruise, things like that. And Jimmy needs a tux and Lucy a dress."
Mayson shifted uncomfortably. "Listen, the only other person here is my Nana. She's a great seamstress and can fit anything you want for you, but she's not a salesperson at all. I'd be happy to help you guys, but if you'd be more comfortable going somewhere else, I'd understand completely. And it's just the two of us all day today and tomorrow so..."
Lois shook her head. "If you're okay with it, then I am too. We'd rather give our business to someone we know who deserves it than to someone we don't know."
"If you're sure..."
Lois nodded. "I am." She looked around. "Where do we start?"
"Well, I’m guessing you guys will want to match at least to a degree, so why don't we find you a dress or two that you like, Lois, and go from there." She turned to Lucy. "I'm guessing you're Lucy – Jimmy and Clark have both mentioned you many times." She took a deep breath and held out her hand. "It's good to meet you."
Lucy glanced at Lois, then smiled and shook Mayson's hand. "Nice to meet you, too."
"Well, let's go this way..." Mayson headed towards the dresses on one side of the store. Coolly professional, she directed Lois and Lucy to dresses that would suit their needs. "I'd recommend a basic black for both of you as a 'main' dress. It'll work for just about any function or location. Even if you get something without long sleeves, it can work in winter if you get a coat to go with it. Most events you'll be at will probably be indoors and something too warm will end up being uncomfortable. Lois, it sounds like you probably want a couple more dresses than that and, for those, I'd recommend some colors that suit you. We can get Clark matching accessories for his tux for whichever one you wear."
Mayson expertly picked out a couple of black dresses for Lois and Lucy to try on. Even though they were close to the same size, she picked very different dresses for them. "I know you two aren't very far apart in age, but your different stages in life tend to lend themselves to different types of dresses. Lucy, you're just out of high school and the events you'll be going to are more likely to be work events with Jimmy for the Planet, things like that. Lois, you're out of college, embarking on your career and the formal affairs that might go with that, but you'll also want something you can wear out on the town with your..." she took a deep breath, "...husband. Why don't you two go try these on and we'll see how they fit and if you like them? Even if they don't fit exactly right, Nana will do alterations for you. With any purchase, you get the first alteration and up to three more in the first two years included – within reason. For instance," she continued as she led them towards the dressing area, "if you put on a couple of pounds or lose a few or whatever, not a big deal. If you change more than a size or so, then it probably can't be altered appropriately and you'd have to purchase something new rather than alter what you already have."
She looked directly at Lois as she spoke. "We can either wait for you two try those on or we can go start on tuxes. It's up to you. It's fairly common either way. Some women just want to help pick out accessories, others want in on the whole deal."
Lucy's eyes twinkled. "I don't know about you, Lo, but I want in on the whole deal. Find a couple of chairs and do some serious ogling while they try on a dozen different things."
Lois laughed. "That works for me." She winked at Clark. "Our turn to watch you guys."
The three women disappeared into the women's changing area. Mayson showed Lucy to a dressing room and told her to holler if she needed help. She and Lois moved two doors down. Lois started to enter the room when Mayson's hand stopped her. "Lois?"
"Yes?"
"Um, listen, when Clark tries on a tux..." She looked at the ground.
"Yes?"
"Um, part of helping make sure it fits right includes things like making sure it fits right in the rear and the shoulders and arms and sometimes that means helping smooth it down in different places," she said in a hurry. "I can try to get Nana out to help but... that's not really something she usually does."
Lois took a deep breath. "It's okay. I'm going to be right there, right?"
Mayson nodded.
"And you've proven to me the last few weeks that you're willing to do uncomfortable things to do what's right and I trust Clark. God help me, I think I almost even trust you, which is saying a lot given where we were not too long ago. You'll understand if I don't want to leave you alone with him but..."
Mayson nodded again. "If there's anything that you can do for me when we get to that point, I'll let you and you can do it instead."
Lois nodded and started moved into the dressing room.
"Lois?" Mayson said hesitantly.
She turned back.
"Thank you for what you said at the press conference and for not mentioning my name. You didn't have to do that and I certainly didn't expect it. And I heard that you guys got some decent settlements from the university and the Star. I'm glad. I know it's not enough to make up for what happened, but at least – if it had to happen and God knows I'd rather it never happened to anyone – you got some compensation out of it. Most women don't get anything but heart break. Even before you said something out there about Greece, I'd heard that the two of you were taking off to explore the world. I hope you have a great adventure together and that it gives the two of you whatever it is you need."
"Thank you." Lois pulled the curtain behind her and put the first dress on.
"You ready, Lo?" Lucy called.
"Just a second." Lois struggled with the zipper but was unable to pull it up on her own. She exited the room. "Can you help me with this?" Unless this ended up being just perfect, the fact that she'd need help with the zipper was going to make this one a resounding 'no'. Having Clark help her in and out of a dress with any kind of regularity wasn't a good idea for her and probably wasn't fair to him.
Lucy zipped up the back of the dress. "You look fabulous, Lo."
"You think?"
"I know. Clark's going to love it. Come on." Lucy grabbed her hand.
They walked out of the dressing area to find Clark and Jimmy sitting in a couple of plush chairs placed there for just that purpose.
Both of their jaws dropped. "Wow," Clark managed. "You both look great."
"You think?" Lois glanced at her sister. They were both barefoot which made the dresses look a little odd, but overall her sister did look fabulous.
Clark stood and moved towards her. He made sure she was watching as he reached one hand towards her cheek. "You look *amazing*." He gently rubbed his thumb along her cheekbone. "I think the only time I've seen you look better was when we went to the Blue Note on our honeymoon."
Lois glanced down at the ground and blushed. "Really?"
"Yeah, really. I know you have another dress in there to try on, but unless it's just... wow, this is the one."
Mayson stood with Lucy in front of a mirror showing where alterations could be made to make it fit slightly better. Lucy nodded then moved back into the dressing room to put the other dress on.
"Lois?"
Lois moved towards Mayson and went through the same routine with her, making notes as she went. Very little would need to be done to make it fit perfectly. Lois glanced back at Clark and then went back into the dressing room herself. She had Lucy help her with the zipper again and then went to put the other dress on. This one she didn't need help with.
"Clark," she whispered, "I know you can hear me. If you're listening, cough." She listened for a moment and heard Clark make a noise that sounded like a cross between clearing his throat and a sneeze. She figured that was good enough. "Listen, I know you like that dress, and I do too, but I can't zip it by myself – I'd need your help. If you're okay with that... and we really don't like this dress better, then that's fine, but if you're not okay with it, I understand." Clark made another noise and she moved out of the room towards the main part of the store.
Clark watched her carefully, she noticed. This dress was nice, but he was right, the other one was perfect.
"I like it," he said, "but I think I like the other one better." Jimmy and Mayson both nodded their agreement.
Lucy cocked her head to one side. "I agree. The other one is perfect for you."
Lois nodded, looking Clark straight in the eyes as she spoke. "I think so, too. I had a little bit more trouble getting in and out of the other one by myself, but I do like it much better." They looked at each other for a long moment.
Mayson cleared her throat. "Well, let's look for a couple others in other colors. Do you know how many other dresses you want?"
Lois continued to look at Clark. "I don't know. What do you think?"
Clark leaned back and chewed on his bottom lip. "Well, a couple? I don't really know what our plans are, but we're going to go on one of those cruises and it has a formal night. We're going to the Blue Note next week. We're going to be going to a couple black tie type places in Athens and who knows where once we're done in Greece. I'm sure you don't need a new dress every time we go out, but I'm sure you don't want to wear the same one every time either."
"I think two more is probably good," Mayson chimed in. "You probably won't be seeing the same people at each one or anything like that, but it'll give you some variety. If you decide you want more, you can always come back, but I think a total of three would probably be a good start for you."
Lois nodded and followed Mayson towards the dresses. She chose several and gave them to Lois to try on.
There was an emerald green one that went into the definite pile. Another was red and Lois determined it was too much. Clark agreed. It wasn't *her*. The silver one was a maybe. The pink was a no. The black one with red trim was a no. The white one was a maybe. The cream one was a maybe. Finally, she tried on deep purple one. It was her favorite color and she thought she would like the cut so she'd saved it for last.
Clark whistled when he saw her. "That's it. That's the third one."
Jimmy and Lucy nodded their agreement. Mayson had moved to help a customer who had come in to pick up a tux that was being altered.
"I agree." She pointed to the changing rooms. "I'm going to get dressed and then it's time for you two."
Before they knew it, Lois and Lucy were sitting in chairs on the other side of the store waiting for Clark and Jimmy to emerge.
Mayson had discussed the merits of the different types of jackets with them. Tails were out, she'd said, except for the most formal of affairs which they were unlikely to be attending. She recommended single-breasted because double-breasted jackets were to be buttoned when standing and unbuttoned with seated and would probably be more annoying that practical. A single-breasted jacket required a cummerbund and she recommended suspenders to go with it.
Clark and Jimmy both came out at the same time with no cummerbunds or ties on. Mayson showed Jimmy how it should fit through the shoulders and arms, making a couple of notes for her grandmother. She had Jimmy take the jacket off and apologized before adjusting the waistband slightly to make it fit right through the rear. She glanced at Lois who nodded slightly and moved to Clark to do the same thing.
After making a few more notes, she moved to the accessories. She picked a black tie and cummerbund for both of them and tried them on, adjusting the fit and tying the tie for Jimmy. Clark managed to do his own, though it wasn't quite right, he said he could figure it out later. They decided to go with the matching deep purple for when she wore that dress, but with the black for when she wore the green. Matching that, Mayson said, was very prom-ish and probably not appropriate for the kinds of things they'd be attending. The deeper, darker colors, yes. The bright emerald green, no.
After getting an assurance from Mayson and her grandmother that all of the alterations would be done within a few days, they left for home.
*****
June 1988
*****
Lois sighed. "If we're going to make that cruise..."
"Yeah, I know. No Blue Note before we go." Clark sighed. "We'll go another time – sometime soon, but since this is the cruise they're offering us for free..."
"We leave tonight. Our flight takes off in eight hours. We have to be at the airport in six."
"We could have taken a slightly later flight, but I think getting to Greece eight hours earlier will be good for us. We can rest up and try to acclimate to the time change. I don't know about you, but even though it's a twelve hour trip, I doubt I'll be resting much."
"You and your fear of flying." Lois smiled at him to take the edge off her words.
"You promised to hold my hand." Clark sat back in the chair. "You're not going to back out on that are you?"
"No. Just promise you won't break my hand."
"I won't." Clark looked around and sighed again.
New luggage sat in the living and bedrooms in various states of packing. Their new clothes had been laundered and were being packed. They'd visited an outdoors store and purchased boots and outdoor clothes appropriate for hiking and packed those as well. Clark had been to a suit shop and picked up a couple of nicer, new suits, shirts and ties. The one Lana had worn had gone up in a puff of smoke after judicious use of Clark's heat vision.
"We're not going to have time to find a place to live before the ship leaves," Lois reminded him. "Are we taking all of this with us for a five day cruise?"
"We might get lucky and find something quickly, but... we'll just take what we need for the cruise and a couple more days and I can come back for the rest. Or Perry said we could leave it with the Planet's guy in Athens. He's already talked to him about helping us out."
Lois sighed. "I guess that'll work. What's on the agenda for that cruise anyway?"
"Tomorrow we'll get to Athens. Friday afternoon we set sail from there. Saturday we go to Istanbul. Sunday night we leave Istanbul for Mykonos. We're there all day and then sail overnight to Patmos. We're only there for the morning and then go to Ephesus. Wednesday morning we'll be in Rhodes. Thursday we go to Herakion and Santorini. Next Friday we'll get back to Athens.”
"Do you actually know what any of those places are?"
"Nope." He grinned. "Not yet. Just read the itinerary. I'll go get a book on Greece and a Greek/English dictionary here in a bit and read them later."
"Like on the plane?"
"Unlikely. I doubt I could concentrate. I may get a learn Greek on tape set or something to listen to."
"You mean you don't want to talk my ear off?"
"Somehow I doubt a plane is the best place for us to have a big heart-to-heart."
"You're probably right." Lois smiled at him and looked around again, feeling more than a bit overwhelmed.
"Put everything you want to take with us for the cruise on the bed and I'll pack it from there. There is a formal dinner one night so..."
"It's a good thing we got the clothes back from Mayson."
"Right. So which dress do you want to take?"
Lois thought. "I have no idea."
"Well, why don't we take all of them then and decide later?"
"Works for me." She spent the next half hour sorting through her clothes and making a big pile of things to take. Everything, it seemed, was going in the 'pack' pile. "I have no idea what to take."
"Well, we'll take as much as seems reasonable, even if you don't need all of it."
Lois sighed. "Okay." She waved a hand at everything on the bed. "This pile is must takes and as much of everything else as you can fit in what we're taking with us now in the suitcases. The rest can go in boxes." She looked around. "I don't get it. It seems like *so* much."
"Think about it. Really, we're moving, even though the first week or so of our 'move' is going to be on a cruise ship. We probably don't need the climbing stuff, hiking boots, stuff like that right now because I don't think we'll be doing any of that kind of stuff on the cruise."
"Right." She sighed and started digging through the pile again. She pulled out two weeks worth of clothes – just in case. That way if she ended up needing to change each day for whatever reason, she'd have enough. She didn't plan on spilling anything on herself at breakfast, but it was always possible... She took care of packing all her underwear and pajamas, rightly guessing that Clark would do it but would probably prefer not to. All the new swimsuits went in there too.
Clark hung her three formal gowns as well as a couple of nice dresses in the garment bags. His new tuxedo and a couple of suits and dress shirts followed. Even though there was only one 'formal' evening that they knew of, it was possible that there would be a place where they'd need something in the middle. They had enough room in the garment bags to go ahead and take all of them.
She zipped up her underwear/pajama/swimsuit bag and set it at the end of the couch. "That one's done. Do you know where our passports are?" They'd applied for them several weeks earlier, as soon as the idea to travel had crossed their minds, because they knew it could take a while to actually get them.
"Yeah. I put them with your purse. Don't want to have those in a bag somewhere where we can't get to them."
She flopped on the couch. "Okay, Mr. Mental To Do List, what else do we need to do?"
"Well, you need to get your stuff out of the bathroom – I'll let you take care of that and I'll get mine in a bit. Jimmy's supposed to be stopping by to get a key and drop off our tickets. He and Lucy are taking us to the airport later. Perry wants us to stop by the paper since he can't get over here to say good-bye. Alice is meeting us there. Is there anyone else you want to talk to before we leave?"
She shook her head. "No, that's it."
"Okay, so finish packing clothes. Bathroom stuff. Tickets and good-byes. Pack up the stuff that goes in boxes. Go to a book store and pick up information on Greece and the 'learn to speak Greek' tapes or something. Do you want to come and pick up a couple reading books or magazines?" Lois nodded. "As soon as Jimmy drops off the tickets, we'll go do that."
There was a knock on the door. "That's Jimmy now. Will you let him in?"
Lois nodded and Clark turned into a blur. By the time Jimmy made it to the bottom of the stairs, everything was packed and the suitcases and boxes were stacked near the couch. "That's everything except the bathroom stuff."
"Great. Thanks." She turned to Jimmy. "What ya got for us?"
He handed her a folder. "That's got your tickets and your itinerary. We've got a copy of it at the Planet. Perry said he expects your article on it a week after you finish the cruise. He wants to talk to you about the format for it, but said he's open to just about anything and to be thinking about it before you go over there. Your reservations for the cruise and everything are in there, too."
"That's great, Jim." Lois flipped through it. "Thanks." She picked their passports up and set them inside the folder and put them all on top of the suitcases. She grabbed her purse. "Ready, Clark?"
"Yeah, let's go. We'll see you at the Planet in a bit, Jimmy." He pulled his key ring out of his pocket and took a key off. "Here. Listen, we still want our deposit back so..."
"No wild parties. Got it. Besides, with Lucy gone, who am I going to party with?"
Lois and Clark both glared at him.
He laughed. "You guys are too easy. Don't worry – no wild parties and no not wild parties either."
They left the apartment and Lois locked the door behind them. She tried not to think that it was the next to last time she'd do that. The times they'd had in this apartment weren't all good ones. There were some... not good memories there, but there were also some very good memories there. Those were the ones she wanted to focus on. The first few months and the last couple months, when they were growing closer. There were some good times in the middle, but those were few and far between.
An hour and a half later, they were in Perry's office discussing their article formats.
"Kids, it's up to you, I guess. We could do a diary format. We could do a more formal article format. We could change it up some depending on what it is you're doing. For something like a cruise, a diary format might work well. For a day or two day trip, it might not be. You two have studied this stuff. Do what you think works and we can talk about it if we need to. This week and next week we're running promos in the travel section about an upcoming new segment – Traveling the Planet: Lane and Kent in Greece. We're using 'Traveling the Planet' as the overarching title for a series that could continue for a long time. Even if you two don't have something to put in a weekend edition, someone else might. Traveling the Planet: Carl in Carlsbad or Traveling the Planet: the Whites at Graceland, things like that. For now, you two are the main attraction. But that means that the weekend after your cruise, I need copy."
"Got it, Chief." Lois smiled at him and willed herself not to cry. She looked at the clock. "Clark, we better get back to the apartment and finish getting ready."
"You're right."
The three stood and before she knew it, Lois was enveloped in Perry's arms. "I'm gonna miss you, darlin'. Even if you are going to be home in a couple weeks."
"Probably August, Perry."
"I know, but I'm still gonna miss you."
"Me too."
"Alice wanted to be here you know, but she had a meeting she just couldn't get out of. You better come back and see us soon or she'll..."
"I know."
After another minute, they released each other and Lois swiped at her eyes. "I can't believe this. It's not like we're leaving for long." She pointed to the newsroom. "I'm going to go talk to Cat for a minute."
Once the door shut behind her, Perry turned to Clark. "I know this probably isn't the best time to ask this, but I've been meaning to and the time just hasn't been right – time when the two of us can talk for a few minutes."
"What's that?"
"How are you doing?"
"With leaving? I'm fine. I'll miss Metropolis, but it's a great opportunity for us."
"I know that, but I mean you. What happened didn't just happen to Lois, it happened to you, too. In a different way, sure, but you saw it happening. You were able to stop it, which probably makes it a bit better than if you couldn't, but..."
"Mostly, I'm just trying to be strong for Lois. It's what she needs. There's a lot you don't know – that *I* don't know – about her past. She's so closed off about so much of it. Jimmy probably knows the most because Lucy's able to open up to him in a way Lois never has; I think because Lois protected her from so much of it. Growing up in their house wasn't easy. I've known that for a long time, but this has actually been a catalyst for us to connect in a way we never have before."
"That's all well and good, and I'm glad that you two are doing better, but what about *you*? All of that was still about Lois."
Clark sighed. "I don't know. Things are much better between us. That makes me happy. I try to stay close to her at night because the dreams come less often if I am and it breaks my heart when she's sitting there screaming or sobbing and even touching her in the slightest makes her jump. When she flinches when I touch her unexpectedly, even in the most innocuous of circumstances, it kills me. Sometimes it surprises me we don't have two king beds shoved together since we can't actually get bigger bed. That's one thing that worries me about this whole traveling thing. I made sure we requested a king size bed at the hotel, but on the boat... it's not going to happen."
"I know you hurt when she does, son, that's only natural, but what about *you*? Are *you* hurting?"
Clark stared at the floor. "Yeah, I am," he said softly. "There's things I can't tell you about why or how it's affected me, but yeah, it hurts." He leaned against the desk. "There's things about us, about our marriage, problems we've had and things like that, that we've never discussed with anyone else and I'm not about to start to now without her explicit permission and I know I don't have it. But yeah, things about that night hurt a lot."
"You're a smart man not to discuss those things without her permission, but I get the feeling it hasn't ended for you two. Whatever those problems were, they're still there and if you two ever need someone to talk to, Alice and I are here. But what he almost did... that's something that should only ever be between the two of you."
"I know you guys are here for us so does she. She avoided Alice for a long time for that very reason. I think Louise knew more than anyone else, but neither of us ever talked to her either – not really. As for the other... let's just say you don't know the half of it." He ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't protect her. I should have and I didn't. If I'd pushed for schedules that matched, she never would have been there alone at night. If I'd known what she believed about Mayson, I would have done things differently."
"She believed it about Mayson?"
"You didn't know that?"
"No. She believed you and Mayson were..."
"Yeah. That's part of life at the Lanes. Ellen was a drunk and Sam was a womanizer. There's more to it than just that but..."
Perry whistled. "I had no idea. Well, I knew that life in their house wasn't always easy but Lucy and Jimmy haven't said much either."
"Sam made it incredibly easy for her to believe that no man would ever be faithful long term and when she realized that I spent time with another woman, even though we were *never* alone together; always in public, it was very easy for her to come to the conclusion that I was just like her dad. I didn't realize how bad things with Sam had been until recently or I would have done things differently. If I had, and she knew that nothing was going on with me and Mayson, then I don't think she would have been as 'easy pickings' for Paul."
"You're not to blame for what happened. No matter what was going on between the two of you, there's no excuse for what he tried to do. And if it hadn't been Lois, it would've been some other girl and there's a good chance she wouldn't have had the guts to do what Lois did and he'd still be on the loose."
"My head knows that, but my heart..."
"Yeah. The heart is a fickle thing isn't it?"
"That it is."
"I know there's things you can't tell me now, but if there's anything I can do..."
"I know." He glanced at the clock and noticed Lois watching him. "We do have a few more things we need to get done before we head to the airport. If you really want to do something, pray I make it through a twelve hour flight. Flying is something I'm meant to do under my own power."
Perry grinned at him. "You'll be fine."
"Lois promised to hold my hand."
The editor laughed. "Take that and hold on to it."
"I'm going to, believe me." He held out a hand and was suddenly engulfed in a big bear hug.
"I'm gonna miss you too, you know."
Clark laughed. "We'll be home soon."
Perry let him go. "Okay, go get me some copy."
"Yes, sir."
Perry stood in the doorway as Clark crossed the newsroom and met Lois near the elevator. He watched as they entered and waved as the doors closed behind them, watching them embark on the next leg of their journey of life together.
*****
TBC
