PREVIOUSLY...
“Why don’t we just order in,” she said. She shrugged slightly. “I’m not much of a cook, but I can do a mean take out.”
Luthor’s smile when he accepted was dazzling.
Yes. She’d been dating Lex on and off for months now. And he’d been the perfect gentleman. Still, maybe it was time to take the next step. As Lucy had always said the way to forget one man was to jump into bed with another. Not a philosophy Lois had ever subscribed to. On the other hand, desperate times and all that. Maybe her attraction to Kent was nothing more than repressed sexual tension. So maybe it was a time to get unrepressed.**
AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Chapter Nineteen
* * * * * * * * *
Lois jumped out of Clark’s lap and was standing on the other side of the conference room before Clark even heard the door click open.
“Hi, Jimmy,” Lois said somewhat breathlessly. “Did you want something?”
Jimmy looked between them curiously for a moment. “Uhh... yeah. I got that file you wanted, Lois.”
“What fi... Oh, right. That file.” Lois stepped forward and took the file.
“Lo... Lane?” Clark asked.
“The file about your initial interview with Perry,” Lois said without thinking.
“Why would he need to see that?” Jimmy asked suspiciously. “You said you wanted to see it because of your memory gaps. But why couldn’t he just fill you in on it?”
Lois froze. “Umm... Uhh...” She looked over at Clark as she sought an explanations. “Because I want to be sure that he’s telling me the truth.” She shot a quick look of apology in Clark’s direction.
Still, Jimmy seemed to accept the answer. He nodded.
As Jimmy turned to leave the room, Clark stepped forward. “Look, Jimmy,” he said softly. “I know you don’t trust me. And I understand that. In your position, I wouldn’t trust me, either. But I promise you, man to man, I won’t do anything to hurt Lois.”
Jimmy looked back at him for a long moment. Then, without saying a word, turned and left the room.
“Well, that went well,” Lois said sarcastically.
“Go easy on him, Lois. Given what we’ve figured out, do you blame him?”
Lois let out a breath. “I guess not,” she conceded.
“So what’s in that file?” Clark asked.
Lois found that her hand trembled as she opened the file. This could be it. This could be their big break - the information they needed to figure out what they’d done to screw up the past. And if they knew that, it might give them an idea of how to fix it. Which, in turn would mean that she wouldn’t have to tell Clark what had transpired between her and Lex when he had come to her apartment.
She opened the file and stared inside, silently digesting what she saw.
“What?” Clark asked, rising from his chair and coming over to her. He had to pry the file from her hands in order to get a look at it himself.
He let out a frustrated breath. There was a copy of his resume. Perry’s only note was written across it in black marker. Two words. ‘No’ and ‘Never.’ Both words were followed by multiple exclamation marks.
“I don’t suppose that stirs up any memories,” Lois said. In spite of the negative words, there was a small trace of hope in her voice, as if she were begging him to let that be enough to jog his memory.
Clark thought long and hard for a few moments before shaking his head.
“Damn,” Lois whispered.
“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out. So let’s just get back to work. Now, where were we?”
Lois swallowed hard, remembering where they were. She sank into a chair on the far side of the conference table. She needed a little distance from Clark if she were to continue.
**Luthor followed Lois into her apartment. Once the door was closed, Lois turned to him, taking off her jacket. “I’ll just order and then... if you don’t mind. I’d like to change out of my work clothes. Maybe take a quick shower. Do you think you can entertain yourself for a few minutes?”
“I’ll be fine. In fact, why don’t you let me order? Before I made my first million, I was actually pretty good at take out.”
Lois smiled. Somehow, she’d never pictured Lex ordering take-out before.**
“Why am I getting a little uneasy about this story?” Clark said.
The look Lois gave him in return informed him he was right on track to be nervous. “Look,” she said when the corners of his mouth turned down, “maybe we should just skip this part.”
“No, Lois, it’s okay.” Clark reached a hand across the table, withdrawing it again when Lois seemed to shrink back into herself. Realizing how uncomfortable this was making her, gave him the courage to continue. “We don’t know what might prompt the memory that will allow us to get this entire mess sorted out. Please. Go on. I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay. No matter what happened.”
Lois looked at him for a long moment before nodding - taking his reassurances at face value. He was glad she didn’t question him further. Because right now, he was feeling anything but okay. Just the thought of her with Luthor...
On the other hand, by the look on her face, she felt the same way. Or at least she did now. She looked down at her hands, staring at them in concentration as she continued with her story.
**Lois was startled when she walked back into the living room a short time later. Soft music was playing in the back ground. Candles had been set up and lit, giving the entire apartment a soft, romantic glow. The table was set and the delicious aroma of dinner filled the apartment. Lex had his back turned to her, his attention directed at opening a bottle of wine.
“Smells delicious, Lex,” she said, walking over to him. “Did you slave over it all day?”
Luthor laughed, turning towards her as he finished taking the cork out of the bottle. “It seems Chez Luthor actually delivers.”
“You called your chef?”
“Best take out around.” His eyes darkened in appreciation as they roamed over her body.
She blushed slightly, looking down. She wasn’t so out of touch with reality as to not realize that the short black dress she’d chosen showed off her body to perfection. Not that she considered herself beautiful compared to the women who appeared in fashion magazines, but she knew that men seemed to find her suitably attractive.
“So would you like to begin, my dear?” Luthor asked, setting down the wine bottle in order to pull out her chair.
As they ate dinner, Lois brought up the conversation she knew she had to have with Lex. “So what do you make of Kent’s story?”
Luthor’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. “I thought there were two reporters on the byline.”
Lois looked down, wondering how she was expected to respond to that observation. He was right. There were two reporters on the byline - but to her mind, only one person was truly responsible. Fortunately, Lex didn’t make her answer that question.
“Well, I was floored when I read it. I have no idea where they came up with such an idea. I mean, I’d never do such a thing. But even if I were so inclined, I would never be so foolish as to believe that Perry White could ever be bought.”
Lois nodded slowly. That was how she knew Luthor had to be innocent. Even if he were the type to bribe someone, he’d have to know that Perry was above such tactics. Still... “They made an allegation about overhearing a conversation you had about bribing Perry to get him to destroy the reputation of S-126.” She kept her tone light.
“Well, assuming they were not just making it up, the only thing I can think of is that they overheard something and obviously misinterpreted it. Ms. King and Mr. Kent did come by my office the day I gave that donation to Perry. I can remember having a conversation with my secretary about meeting with Perry. And she gave me the money for the donation. Maybe they overheard that and jumped to the wrong conclusion.”
“So why did you give him a donation in cash instead of a cheque?”
“I wanted the donation to be anonymous. The moment any charity sees my name on a cheque, they instantly use it to advertize that I support that particular charity. Since I really don’t know much about the Metropolis Literary Society, I wasn’t sure I wanted my name to be used in that manner.”
“So why make a donation at all?”
“Because Perry called and asked me if I’d be willing to make a donation. So I did it out of respect for him.”
Lois nodded slowly. It all made perfect sense.
“So...” Lex said, reaching over and taking her hand so that he could lightly kiss the back of it. “Why don’t we leave this business to another day and just enjoy ourselves for the rest of the evening?”
Lois used her free hand to brush a strand of hair behind her ear before nodding slightly. It seemed Lex realized the reason she’d invited him over - that she wanted to take their relationship further. And he had taken over the seduction. She was relieved about that - mainly because she knew she would never have the nerve to push things further by herself.**
“Lois?” Clark asked when Lois didn’t continue.
“I...” She shook her head.
“It’s okay, Lois,” he said softly.
She met his eyes then, seeming to search them, before looking back down at the table. It was with a slow and halting voice that she continued. “Anyway, things progressed and we ended up seated on the sofa...”
Clark shifted uncomfortably. Maybe she was right. Maybe he didn’t really need to know what happened next. “Lois, if you don’t want to...”
“No. You’re right, Clark. I think this might be important.”
** “Why don’t we have our coffee in the living room?” Lois suggested. The words came out slightly more breathlessly than she had intended.
The look Lex gave her told her that he had noticed. “Yes, why don’t we?” he asked in return, moving to his feet and stepping forward to take the tray with the coffee and condiments from her before letting her lead him into the living room.
She took a seat on the couch, folding her hands nervously in front of her. She felt her heart rate speed up when he set the coffee on the table and took a seat next to her. Without tending to the coffee, or giving her a chance to do the same, he turned towards her, using a hand on her cheek to turn her towards him in return. “You know how I feel about you, don’t you?” he asked, even as his thumb gently stroked her cheek. “You know how much I respect you.”
Did she? She wasn’t entirely sure. “Of course I do, Lex,” she responded because she felt it was expected. Besides, he certainly had been respectful in the past.
“Good. That’s important to me,” he said before leaning over to kiss her.
She responded. This was what she wanted after all. His kiss at first was gentle, undemanding - until the moment he pulled her into his arms, pushing her back into the sofa. She felt his hand begin sliding up her leg as he deepened the kiss, slipping smoothly under the hem of her short black dress. She felt a moment of panic. It was too soon. She wasn’t ready for this. She shifted slightly and his hand wandered back down the way it had come.
He moved back far enough to look in her eyes for a moment. “Relax, Lois,” he said, sounding almost amused. “You’re not in high school any more.”
She blushed, looking somewhere over his shoulder. He was right. She wasn’t in high school anymore.
He cocked his head to the side, seeming to study her before moving to kiss her again. She forced herself to kiss him back. After all, this was what she needed tonight. Lex was so charming. She wouldn’t want to be doing this with anyone else. Certainly not... the man whose name she was not even going to think. He had no place in this nice romantic interlude.
She felt Lex’s hand trace soft circles on the bare skin of her back. Yes. That felt good. This time when his hand slid under the edge of her dress, she didn’t panic. No. This was good. This was what she wanted.
His lips left hers, trailing over her neck. Oh, yes. That felt good. She tilted her head back, giving him greater access. She allowed herself to get lost in the feelings he was creating in her.
Then she felt the hand on her back moving lower, playing with the zipper on the back of her dress. She tensed. The hand played with the zipper a moment more, but then left it to continue the light movements on the skin of her back.
She relaxed again. He looked up at her, his eyes dark and she could see... something there. Her first thought was that it was greed. A desire to possess. But that made no sense. Passion. Yes. That was what she was seeing. It had just been so long since she’d seen passion in a man’s eyes... not since Kent had...
No. She wasn’t going there. Not tonight. So... she was seeing passion in Luthor’s eyes.
And passion was right. It should be there. After all, that was what she was feeling, too. Passion. The slight knot in her belly was nothing more than nervousness. After all, it was a long time since she had done this. Or at least a long time since she had done this without being under the influence of some sort of damnedable pheromone compound.
She pulled him back down to her, kissing him with new enthusiasm. His hand slid up her leg again and she did not pull back. The hand at her back began playing with her zipper and she did not react. This was what she wanted, after all.
Then, with one smooth stroke, her zipper was down.
Lois was off the couch with lightning speed, barely keeping her dress up. Clutching it with one hand across her chest and breathing heavily, she stared at Lex.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on here?” Luthor said, moving into a seated position on the couch.
“I don’t know what you mean. I...”
“You’ve been sending me signals all evening that you want this. So... what’s going on? I would never have thought you were a tease.”
He was angry. That much was obvious.
“I’m sorry. I just... I thought this was what I wanted, but...” Her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to...” Again, she could not find the words to complete her thought. To tell the truth, she wasn’t sure why she’d jumped off the couch. It hadn’t been a conscious decision.
Lex rose from the couch and walked over to the mirror hanging just inside the door to her apartment. She watched, feeling embarrassed, ashamed even as he ignored her to straighten his hair and tie. Finally, he turned towards her.
“I’m sorry, Lex,” she said.
“You’re sorry? Come on, Lois. You’re a grown woman. And yet you act as if you’re some blushing teenage virgin. Grow up. There’s nothing worse than a woman who doesn’t know what she wants.” He picked up his jacket and put it on. “By the way,” he continued casually, “I guess you’ll be hearing about it soon enough, so there’s no harm in telling you. I’m getting married.”
“Huh?” She must have heard him wrong.
“She’s Latislanian. Her father is an oil baron. He has controlling interest in a number of very rich oil reserves. This marriage will gain me access to those reserves.”
“You’re getting married as some sort of... way to conclude a business deal?”
“And what did you expect me to marry for? Love?” The expression on his face told her clearly that he thought her a fool. “I can get love anywhere. Oil reserves, on the other hand, are harder to come by. Besides, by all reports, she’s very beautiful.”
“You’ve never even met her?” Lois felt slightly sick to her stomach. “So... what was tonight about? One final ‘one night stand’ before the big day? I wonder what she’d think if she found out about tonight.”
His eyes narrowed. “Unlike you, she understands a woman’s place. And if she doesn’t, she will learn.”
Lois felt her blood begin to boil. “And I suppose her father would see it the same way? Maybe I should give him a call.”
Luthor moved closer to her, danger flashing in his eyes. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, my dear. It would just make things unpleasant for everyone.”
“Oh, and why shouldn’t I make things unpleasant for you?”
“Perry isn’t the only one who can find himself unemployed. And by all accounts, Claude is just looking for an excuse to send you to the curb. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too difficult to give him that excuse.”
With that, he turned, walking out the door, not bothering to close it behind him.
Lois rushed to the door, slamming it shut, before standing in a daze, looking around at the soft candlelight and listening to the romantic music wafting through the small apartment. What the hell had just happened here?**
“I guess Luthor doesn’t like being turned down,” Clark said when Lois fell silent.
“I guess not. It was the first time I’d ever seen him angry. Oh, he didn’t get violent or anything. But his words... I guess he lost his temper because I’m certain he would have never told me all that otherwise. But it did give me a very different picture of Lex.”
“Probably a good thing.”
“Probably,” she said softly. “There’s one thing I wonder, though.”
“What?”
“Well, in our reality, when Lex was under the influence of the pheromone compound, we had a date. It was after that that he became more serious in his pursuit of me. In this reality, we didn’t have a date that night. Do you think that might have been part of the reason he wasn’t as interested in me in this reality?”
“Possibly.”
She gave her head a shake.
“What?” Clark asked.
“Well, I just felt like such a fool. I really had thought he liked me, liked spending time with me. How could I have been so stupid?”
“Luthor was a very smooth customer. You weren’t the only one he fooled.”
“No, but then after he left, I sort of...”
“What?”
Lois took a deep breath before continuing.
**Lois felt dirty as she removed her black dress. She doubted she’d ever be able to wear this dress again without thinking about tonight. How could she had misjudged Lex so badly? She’d been prepared to sleep with him and he... God, how could a man do that? He was engaged. Whether it was some sort of bizarre arranged marriage or not, it was still his choice to marry the woman. And yet, that hadn’t stopped him from wanting to sleep with her.
After slipping into a comfortable pair of sweats and an oversized sweatshirt - as far from sexy as she could get - she wandered back into the living room. The candles and soft music had been extinguished before she’d changed clothes and she’d turned up the lights to dispel the cozy atmosphere.
Her gaze settled on the couch. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to sit on that couch again, either. On the other hand, why did she need a couch? It wasn’t as if she ever had any intention of again ‘relaxing’ on a couch.
No. It could just sit there and look pretty. If she had company, they could make use of it. It wasn’t as if she had any real use for it, anyway.
After all, if there was one thing she’d learned in the last couple of days, it was that her judgment sucked when it came to men. Well, never again. It might take Lois time to get some things through her thick skull, but she’d learned her lesson now. Men were bad news.
Work. Now that was something she could handle. So... She glanced around the apartment. Where had she put that cassette tape? It was still in the pocket of her jacket.
She pulled it out before going to find her mini-cassette recorder. She sat down at her kitchen table, pushing aside the dirty dishes. Placing a pad of paper and pen in front of her, she stuck the cassette she’d stolen from Kent’s apartment into the recorder and pressed ‘play.’
Lex’s voice was loud and clear. “Don’t worry about it. S-126 will not be a problem. The plan is already in motion.” There was a pause. “The Daily Planet. No, I’m sure. So don’t start selling off our shares of Metropolis Electric. Once I’m done with it, no one will want electricity produced by S-126.” Another, longer pause. “Well, if you must know, it did cost me a lot of money. But then, I wouldn’t have expected to buy off this particular customer without a lot of money.” Another pause. “No, I don’t think you need to know his name.” One final pause. “The first story leading to the destruction of S-126 should be in the next edition of the Daily Planet.”
Lois turned off the tape as her mind struggled to digest what she’d heard. What was it Lex had said about his upcoming marriage? Daughter of a rich oil baron? Metropolis Electric wasn’t the only reason he had for wanting S-126 discredited. Oil would basically lose its value, too, if S-126 really did turn out to the miracle source of power. No wonder Lex wanted it discredited.
But Lex had nothing to do with the discrediting of S-126. She’d done the research. She knew there were problems. She’d seen all the evidence for herself. Jefferson Cole had given it to her - not Lex Luthor.
But Lex called her to tell her about Jefferson Cole. What had Henderson told her today? Cole had contacted him without any prompting by Lois. Why had he done that? Why had he offered his help in identifying the type of radiation that the dead people had been exposed to? Was he responding solely to his conscience? Or did he have other, more profitable, motives?
Okay, so if Cole had fed her incorrect information - and that was still a very big question since Clyde had told her much the same thing - at Lex’s bidding, that still didn’t provide them with a connection to Perry. After all, Perry wasn’t the one who had been bluffed by Lex. She was.
God, she felt like such a fool.
She let out a breath. Well, it seemed that Kent might be half right. But only about Lex. And half right didn’t justify the hatchet job he’d done on Perry.
Okay, well, first thing tomorrow, she was going to reevaluate all the evidence she’d obtained about S-126. And she was going to see what she could find out about Jefferson Cole. She jotted some notes down on the notepad. The added benefit of this endeavor was that it was the story that Claude had currently assigned her.
She looked down at the tape recorder, turning it on again.
“Lex?” A woman’s voice was the next thing Lois heard.
“Yes, Mrs. Cox?”
“I have a few papers for you to sign.”
“Very good. By the way, is my appointment with Perry White still on?”
“Seven o’clock as you requested. You’re to meet him at the Press Club. I looked up the address, and it’s on your way.”
“And my other appointment?”
“It’s on, too. I’ve already sent for the limo. And here’s the cash you requested. Oh, and I suppose you’ll want this, too.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Cox. Efficient as always.” There was a pause. “What the...”
“Lex?”
“This pen doesn’t work.”
“Let me take it for you. Here’s another one.”
“Well, if that’s it, I’ll be leaving now for my appointments.”
‘Will you need me any more this evening?”
“No, Mrs. Cox. That will be all.”
Lois flicked off the tape when it was obvious there was nothing more. That couldn’t really be it, could it? That couldn’t be all Kent had on Perry. Lex had claimed that he would get the Daily Planet to destroy S-126's reputation. And then Lex had said he had an appointment with Perry. And... that was it - the only connection they appeared to have.
Okay, so maybe it hadn’t looked exactly kosher when he’d proceeded to give Perry fifty-thousand dollars in cash. But it was nothing more than speculation to assume that the two incidents were connected.
Kent really was an unscrupulous hack. He saw a front page story and was too lazy to check his facts. Otherwise, he’d have found out that the money had been an innocent donation to a charity. But had he even bothered to investigate? Obviously not.
Well, unlike Kent, she’d find the truth - especially now that she knew where to start.**
“So what did you find when you started investigating?” Clark asked.
“About what you’d expect. First, Henderson, who was already suspicious, had looked into Cole’s finances and discovered several fifty thousand dollar ‘donations’ to his bank account. Then I tracked down Cole’s assistant. Wolcott.”
“The same Wolcott who was his assistant in setting you up on that murder charge in our reality?”
Lois nodded.
“So what did you learn from him?”
**That had to be Wolcott. Lois sipped slowly at her glass of wine as she watched the gawky young man with the scraggly beard make his way over to the bar. He fit the description she’d been given. Now the only question was how to get him to talk.
She reached into her purse, feeling briefly for her cassette recorder. Then she took a deep breath, turning it on before walking over to the bar.
“Red wine,” she told the bartender, taking a seat next to the young man. When he looked in her direction, she flashed him a smile.
He seemed startled and she quickly turned her attention back to the bartender, waiting.
“Hi,” the young man said.
She looked over at him. “Hi,” she answered, giving him another smile.
“You come here often?” he asked.
She fought the desire to roll her eyes. She was here because she’d heard that he hung out here on his time off. So if she were a regular, he’d most certainly know. Still, she deliberately kept her voice friendly, approachable. “It’s my first time, actually.”
He smiled, moving to take the seat next to her. She turned towards him. “My name’s Lois.”
“I’m Wolcott.”
Bingo. Okay, so now how to get him talking?**
“So how did you do it?” Clark asked.
Lois smiled. “I guess I sort of goaded him into it. Kept telling him that I wasn’t interested in some unemployed boy. So he had to inform me that he was Dr. Cole’s special assistant. When I rolled my eyes. He proceeded to try to convince me how invaluable he was to Cole.”
“And in the process, said some things he shouldn’t have said?”
Lois nodded. “At which point, I turned on him...”
TO BE CONTINUED...
