You know, with all of the notes I put on part I, I completely forgot the most important one: the disclaimer! Do you think all those big cooperate types will forgive me if I put it here instead?
Superman and all the characters of it, belongs to DC comics. Lois and Clark: The New Atventures of Superman belong to Warner Brothers, and a bunch of other cooperate types I've forgotten. But regardless, none of them belong to me! So I am not making money from this story at all. I also claim no rights to whoever owns "Forest Gump," (I've completely forgotten that one.)which there are various refernces to that famous line "Life's a box of chocolates." So please forgive me cooperate people. Don't sue me, I'm already in dept as it is!
P.S. - the new characteres in this story are mine, including Kiley, Larry, Thomas, and Alice, as well as others that will show up later. While I am still not making money off these characters, I would appreciate people asking me first if they ever want to use them.
Oh, and once again, thanks goes to rkn for betaing.
On with part II ...........................
A Box of Swiss chocolates - Chapter/part 2
Over the next two weeks, Kiley bought boxes of chocolate even more frequently than usual. In fact, she found herself coming almost every other day. Actually, she was lucky she burned so many calories when she was flying or she might not fit into her spandex, since it turns out Kent children did have to worry about them. And she was a lot more particular about which chocolate shop she went to as well. She told herself that the chocolate at Larry’s chocolate shop was just better than anything she had ever tasted. After all, he said he made it fresh every three days, right? The problem with that argument was she was only happy when she was waited on by Larry himself.
In fact, Kiley remembered what happened when she came in yesterday.
************************(flashback)*************************************
She had cheerfully flown to Switzerland and strolled into The Choco Bean. She picked up her favorite box of chocolate and strolled over to the cash register. But instead of Larry standing behind it, there was a shorter guy with sandy – colored hair.
Kiley took a step back as was about to place her chocolates on the counter. “Where’s Larry?” she asked in Swiss German, a little snappish.
“Oh, he has the day off today.” The man behind the counter answered in the same language. He shrugged and reached for the box.
Kiley stopped him. “When will he be in again?” she demanded.
The man behind the counter looked confused. “I think he’ll be in tomorrow.”
Kiley looked at the chocolates, then at the man. “I think I’ll just wait until tomorrow, then.”
“But ma’am, I can ring up your chocolates just as easily.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll be leaving now,” she replied, fed–up with dealing with this man. She put the chocolates back on the shelf and left the store.
Behind her, the man looked bewildered. What had he done to offend that woman?
Meanwhile Kiley flew off, confused. What had happened there? Why was it so important that Larry wait on her to receive her chocolates? Okay, so he was handsome, but she had met a lot of handsome men, and they didn’t affect her like that! Besides, she really shouldn’t have taken it out on that poor man! Her personality had always been somewhat quiet and patient, qualities needed for the detailed artwork she painted. But maybe she had more of her mother’s famous temper and impatience than she had thought. Tomorrow, when she saw Larry, she would make sure to tell him his employee hadn’t done anything wrong.
******************************(end flashback******************************
Kiley strolled into the chocolate shop at 715 in the morning Eastern Standard Time. To her relief, Larry stood behind the counter. She picked up the chocolates and headed to him.
He smiled at her. “So I hear you were looking for me?” he said in Swiss German as he picked up the box.
Kiley blushed. “Uh….yeah, I guess. I wanted to tell you to that the employee that I snapped at yesterday didn’t do anything wrong. I shouldn’t have taken it out on him. Please let him know I’m sorry.”
Larry read between the lines. “So does this mean that you missed me?” He smiled.
“Weeeellll, um, yeah, I guess,” Kiley replied nervously.
“I miss you, too, Kiley, on the days when you don’t come in,” Larry told her gently.
She smiled at him.
“Well, then I thought maybe you’d like to go to dinner with me when I get off work at 6:00PM,” Larry suggested bravely.
Kiley paused for a second. 6:00PM here was 11:00AM in Metropolis. Was that too early for her to eat?
“Or if you don’t like that idea we could do something else,” Larry said quickly, seeing her hesitation. “Or we could keep hoping to run into each other in The Choco Bean,” he added chuckling.
Kiley chuckled as well. “No, I uh…think dinner is fine,” she replied. All she had to do was fly at superspeed to burn off the calories, anyway. Besides, she didn’t have a set time to get up tomorrow did she?
“Let’s meet here at 4:00, then.” With that, Larry rang up the chocolates and she paid for them.
Kiley then left the store. But instead of flying right home, she paused. The Swiss Alps would make some wonderful paintings. Maybe she should go home and bring back some of her art supplies with her.
So Kiley flew home and picked up her sketchpad and a few pencils; she figured she’d sketch what she wanted to paint first.
Maybe she’d sit at the Swiss National Park. It was not far from here and she was sure it had some great views.
One hour later, Kiley was in her “painting clothes” sitting on the lower level of the park. Even though she wasn’t painting right now, they came in handy because she wouldn’t have to worry if she got grass or mud stains on them.
She could easily get to the upper level of the mountain if she wanted, but she didn’t want people to wonder how she could without a guide or good hiking shoes.
Kiley sketched for a couple of hours. There was nothing so fulfilling to her than starting a new painting. Looking at the breathtaking beauty in front of her, she wondered if she would be able to capture it on canvas when the time came.
As she carefully penciled in one of the birds flying near the mountains, she paused. What was the time? She had forgotten that she needed to pay attention to her time today. She sighed. Once again, she hadn’t thought about time at all because of her art. She had conditioned herself not to pay attention to time while she was painting, and now it backfired.
Besides, she thought as she got up, still needed to go home and get ready. She certainly couldn’t go to dinner in this outfit!
She quickly grabbed her sketches and pencils. Then glancing around and realizing there was no one to be seen, she too off as fast as she could.
When Kiley got home, she realized she had left so quickly, she had forgotten to change into Superwoman. She was really getting careless. Of course, since she had flown faster than a normal human eye could see, it was not likely to be a problem, but still! What if she had needed to perform a rescue?
Okay what was the time, anyway? 10:15 in the morning. That was plenty of time. Maybe she’d go back to sketching, after all.
As she prepared to leave again, she stopped herself. 10:15 in the morning was 3:15 in Larry’s section of the world. She needed to get ready. She was really going to have to get the hang of this time zone stuff if she wanted to date him!
Then Kiley paused. Date? Had she just said date? They were just going to dinner, right? She rolled her eyes at herself. He had said he missed her. And she was picking out one of her nicer skirts. Of course it was a date!
While fortunately, she had enough time to get ready at normal speed. She had used enough super-speed tonight when she was flying earlier. Or was it this afternoon? Whatever!
She jumped into the shower. At least she should wash off the dirt she had gotten all over herself this afternoon. The shower took about fifteen minutes without super-speed.
After getting out of the shower, she put on a simple black and skirt. Was the skirt too short for a first date? How about the blue skirt? But that didn’t go as well with this blouse! What about this one, she asked herself, taking out a light blue blouse. No that was too much blue! The grey skirt? And the black blouse? She looked again. She supposed that was okay.
What about makeup? Should she wear makeup as well? Kiley didn’t wear makeup very often, but she did have some to wear to her openings. She sighed. How dressed up should she be? Would Larry think she was overdoing it?
In the end, Kiley left the makeup on her dresser, unused. Now what about her hair? Should she wear it up? Or just brush it down the way she normally wore it? Would Larry prefer to see it the same way he always saw her, or a different look?
She tried putting her hair in a French twist. Did that look right with this outfit? Or how about braids? Or should she just wear it normally, she wondered again, putting her hair back down at its normal length, halfway down her back.
How much time did she have left? She checked her clock. Only ten minutes left! Of course, she could fly fast enough to get there on time, but she still wasn’t ready! What about shoes? Should she wear black? Or white? Definitely black. What about these? Or the black with the frills on them? No that was too much. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Eventually, Kiley decided to wear plain black shoes and let her hair down my back like she usually did. But she had to leave now. She only had five minutes left! She quickly spun into her Superwoman outfit. (She wasn’t going to make the same mistake again!) Then she flew out the door.
Unfortunately for Kiley, a superhero’s work is never done. While she was halfway there, in London, she spotted a hostage situation that was definitely out of control. Even though she knew she would be late, she couldn’t let this situation go.
A half hour later, the police finally had the situation under control. But she was late! Would Larry even still be waiting for her at his chocolate shop? He probably thought she had stood him up! She flew off, faster than the eye could see.
Two minutes later, Kiley landed in an empty alley near the near the chocolate shop. Then she spun into her “date” outfit and strolled over to the front door.
The store was all closed up. And Larry was nowhere to be seen. She sighed. He really thought she had stood him up. Maybe it was no big deal. She really didn’t know much about him, anyway. All she knew is that he owned this chocolate shop that sold the best Swiss chocolate she had ever tasted. And that he was really handsome, she added to herself, conjuring up a mental image of his face. And that he was fun to talk to, she thought to herself, remembering their conversations as she came into buy chocolate.
In fact, Kiley remembered one conversation particularly last week. She had just picked up her favorite chocolates and headed to the cash register.
********************************(flashback)*******************************
“Hi!” Larry exclaimed. “Glad to see you again!”
“You too,” Kiley replied cheerfully. She set her chocolates on the counter.
“So, I hope you don’t mind my asking this, but how do you eat so much chocolate and still stay thin?” He asked, looking appreciatively at her trim waistline.
“Well, I work out quite a bit,” she replied grinning. Of course, the Kents had long since realized that flying, especially when done at superspeed, was excellent exercise.
“Well, I’d be interested to hear how you do it.” Larry grinned as well.
Kiley wondered what he would say if she told him she “did it” by flying! “Oh, you know, just general exercise.” She shrugged. Her parents had taught her how to be vague with such questions. “I think you look pretty good as it is, anyway.”
“Thanks, but I’d never be able to eat that much chocolate. I love my chocolate shop, but sometimes the stuff is so tempting, you know?”
“I can imagine,” said Kiley. Suddenly they both picked up her box of chocolates at the same time. “Opps!” she exclaimed, handing it to him. “Go ahead and ring it up.”
“Ah, yeah, sure.” Larry blushed. Then he rang up the chocolates and handed them to her.
Kiley left the store slightly off–balance. That was certainly an interesting encounter.
*******************************(end flashback)****************************
Yeah, Kiley said to herself, he definitely was fun to talk to. And why was it that her hand got slightly tingly when she had toughed him. She sighed again. Well, it looks like there was going to be no date tonight, no matter what she wanted. Stupid superhero business! She walked around the outside of the store, feeling defeated.
Ten minutes later, she wondered if she should just fly home. What was she waiting for, anyway? She could always just come back to buy chocolates tomorrow. Assuming Larry would be there tomorrow, she sighed, remembering her encounter with the other employee.
Just as she was about to leave, she saw Larry walking toward his store. He stopped suddenly when he saw Kiley. “So, I guess you decided to show up after all, huh?” he asked, annoyed.
“Yes of course I did!” Kiley took a deep breath. She needed to get this right if she wanted him to stay with her. “I was just held up for a while! Look I really was looking forward to going to dinner with you. Please give me another chance.”
Larry paused for a minute, thinking. “Okay,” he said finally. “Just let me pick up my record book inside,” he commented, gesturing toward the store. “That’s actually why I came back, although I guess it was a good thing.” He chuckled.
Kiley chuckled as well. It was nice that he had decided to give her another chance. “I guess we have to thank your forgetfulness, huh?” she asked him as they both walked back into the chocolate shop.
“Yeah, forgetfulness does have its uses sometimes.” Larry picked up his report book and they left the store.
“So where do you want to go to eat?” Kiley asked as they walked.
“I was thinking of this little family place around the corner here,” he replied. With that, they both walked toward the restaurant.
A half hour later, they were happily munching on the food. Kiley decided on the wurstsalat, which was apparently salad with sausage mixed in. It was definitely interesting. Although she often came to Switzerland for chocolate, shed didn’t usually have dinner here. Still she was used to international foods.
Larry decided on the sauerkraut. It was a traditional dish, complete with meat and potatoes.
“So,” Kiley suddenly said. “I hope you don’t mind that I ask, but I detect a soft accent in your Swiss German. Is it not your native language?”
Larry was surprised. There weren’t many people who would be able to detect his accent. “Um, well” he stammered. “Are you sure?”
“No I’m not positive,” Kiley replied slowly. “But I do have a good ear for languages and dialects, so I’m pretty sure. Does it bother you?”
He sighed in defeat. “Your right, Swiss German isn’t really my native language. And I guess it does bother me a little. My mother, and uh, certain others” he said vaguely. “Raised me on English,” he continued. “But Mother used to lecture me on making my accent not show when I was speaking Swiss German. She wanted me to blend in, you see, so people wouldn’t know I wasn’t a native Swiss.”
Kiley nodded, remembering her parents lecturing her to not use her strength and other powers when she was younger. She had to ‘blend in’, too.
“Well, that’s interesting!” Kiley exclaimed, switching to speaking English. “Because English is my native language, too. Actually, I grew up in Metropolis.”
Larry spat out his food. This just kept getting worse. How was he going to have a relationship with someone from Metropolis?
“Do you have a problem with Metropolis?” Kiley asked, surprised by his reaction.
“No, of course not,” Larry replied, a little too quickly. And he didn’t really, although he could do without the two superheroes that made their home there. It was more like Metropolis had a problem with him. “So, why are you in Switzerland anyway?”
“Oh.” Kiley paused for a second. She certainly couldn’t tell him she only flew in to see him and buy his chocolates! Then she remembered what she had spent this afternoon doing. “Well, I’m an artist, actually. I’m here to do some paintings of the scenery around here.”
“Oh, really?” Larry replied, somewhat interested. “Maybe you could show me some of your work.”
Kiley nodded. “I’ll show you some of my finished work sometime.” While she wasn’t willing to show her works-in-progress she appreciated that he wanted to see some of her paintings.
They finished their dinner, and Larry paid for their meals. “Ah,…listen,...I’d…like to give you my business card. You know, so you can call me if you want. Or if you know you’re going to be late again.”
Kiley blushed a little and nodded. It would be nice to be able to call him. But she felt a little guilty letting him believe tonight’s situation could have been solved if she had called him.
Slowly Larry withdrew his business card from his pocket. “My home number is on the back,” he added before handing it to her.
Kiley looked at the business card and almost fainted when she saw written in Swiss German:
Larry Luthor “The Choco Bean”
54 Whintle Street
Zurick, Switzerland 7777777
Phone: (656) – 888 – 9989
Fax (877) – 242 – 233
(note) None of these addresses or numbers are real, with the exception of Zurick. I just created them off the top of my head because I needed them to go with the business card Kiley is looking at. Any similarities are entirely coincidental
