Hello everyone. I'm posting a little early today, but I won't be back until late tonight, so
Thanks to those who gave me feedback. And thanks to rkn for betaing again.
Here's part 19.
A Box of Swiss Chocolates
The next morning, Kiley decided she had to see Larry, even if it was only from a distance. As much as she loved looking at the portrait she had painted, it wasn’t the same thing. And she wondered how he was doing. Was he as upset about this situation as she was?
So after eating breakfast, she spun into her Superwoman costume and flew off to Switzerland. She smiled a little as she saw the Alps appear, remembering how her heart used to leap with joy as they came into view. Then she flew over to the direction of the Choco Bean. He would probably be working today, after all.
Kiley used her X-ray vision to see the inside of the store, then activated her telescopic vision to get a closer look at Larry. He was standing behind the counter; just like he had been the day she met him.
“Let me help you with those,” he said to one customer, smiling as he picked up her purchase. The customer was a female. It looked like Larry was doing just fine! He had already found someone else to flirt with over the counter. Why had she ever thought she was special to him? All Luthors were playboys, didn’t everyone know that?
She flew back to Metropolis, disgusted with herself and with Larry. “I love you, too, Kiley,” Larry had told her. Why had she ever believed that?
She decided to clean her kitchen one more time. There was always some piece of scum somewhere that needed to be cleaned in the kitchen.
But a few hours later, Kiley sighed. Had she jumped to conclusions this morning? Of course Larry was going to smile at his customers, it was called “customer service!” It was the same thing she did when she smiled at her patrons at one of her openings. In order to really find out how Larry was doing, she should look in on him from his home.
Besides, she added to herself, she still missed him. She’d really like a reason to see him again. So Kiley put spun into her Superwoman costume once again and flew out the window.
This time, she headed for his house. He should be home from work by now. She quickly located Larry causally reading a book in his living room. He didn’t seem to be that unhappy. Why did she assume he would be?
As she was just about to fly off again, when she noticed Larry glance up at her “Swiss Alps Mystic” painting that still hung above his head. He put the book down and brushed the painting with his fingertips, sadly. It reminded her of the way she looked at and touched the abstract portrait she’d painted of him. So maybe he was a little more upset than she had thought.
Just then Larry’s phone rang. “I know she was good for me, Mom,” he said into the phone. “She brought a lot of happiness into my life. And maybe I did overdo it last week when I told her we couldn’t see each other anymore. She looked pretty upset about what happened, too. It seems I have a tendency to get a lot more emotional around Kiley.”
Kiley stopped short as she realized what this conversation was about. Without even noticing it, she continued to listen in. And it was funny that he mentioned that he got more emotional around her. She did that, too.
Larry continued,”…but I just have a hard time accepting that she was keeping something from me. And not just that, she lied to my face. Do you know how much that hurts, Mom?” Larry sighed. “Of course you were lied to! Uncle Lex lied to you everyday of his life!.. Mom how many times do I have to tell you that isn’t true?”
Kiley flew off, realizing this was a private conversation. What business did she have listening to Larry try to tell his mother that Lex Luthor’s assessments of her were incorrect? In fact, what business did she have to listen to Larry’s phone call with his mother in the first place? So they had been talking about her, so what? Still, that answered her question about how Larry was doing. Not well at all.
So what could she do about it? she asked herself as she arrived home. There was another Kent family dinner tonight. Her parents were obviously trying to repair the rift in their family. Maybe there was something she could say then? A smile formed on Kiley’s face as a plan formed in her mind. It just might bring her family back together and Larry back into her life at the same time.
************************************************************************
Clark made the finishing touches on tonight’s dinner. He and Lois had decided on an old family favorite, steak, to get everyone in the proper mood. They wanted everything to be perfect tonight. They really needed to get the family back together.
So Clark glassed the steaks to perfection and whipped the mashed potatoes until they were completely smooth. Lois set the table very carefully, making sure all the plates were in exactly the same place in portion to the glasses and the silverware. Then she opened the refrigerator and touched the milk jug to her cheek.
“Is the milk cold enough, honey?” Clark asked, noticing what his wife was doing.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “It seems cold enough to me, but maybe you’re a better judge at that kind of thing than I am. But what am I saying, you don’t feel the difference between hot and cold at all! And neither do the kids, so what am I worried about? The milk is fine.”
Clark sighed and put down the mashed potatoes. Then he wrapped his arms around his wife from behind. “I love it when you babble, do you know that? And just because we aren’t affected by the hot and cold doesn’t mean we don’t feel it. So it is nice to have cold milk. But since that’s been your job for the last twenty-five years, I think you’re the best judge of that.”
Lois smiled at him. “Thanks, Clark. I’m just so nervous about tonight, you know? I want everything to be perfect. Kiley thinks we’ve turned our back on her, when we’re just looking out for her and the rest of the family. I just want us to be close again.”
Clark nodded. “I know. Me too.” Then he went back to perfecting the mashed potatoes.
Ten minutes later, Alice came downstairs, looking at the table nervously, as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to join in. Clark remembered how she had reacted the night Kiley told them she was dating Luthor. She hadn’t understood what was going on, more than her family was yelling at each other and she believed they were behaving irrationally. She was probably worried they were still going to act that way. Hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Hi, sweetie,” he greeted her, smiling. “Have a seat.”
“Okay,” Alice gingerly grabbed the edge of her chair and slowly pulled it out. She looked at it for a second before sitting down.
Thomas arrived right after that. “Hi, Mom and Dad,” he said trying to sound causal, even though you could tell he was nervous as well. He pulled his chair out and sat down.
Three minutes later there was another knock on the door. That would be Kiley. Lois went to answer the door. Kiley came into the dinning room slowly. “Hi,” she greeted everyone, as she ran her fingers through her hair two or three times.
“Hi Kiley,” Clark replied, tentatively smiling at her. Would she show them they could trust her again after tonight? Would she not be as hurt as she had been?
Kiley pushed her chair out and sat down. Then they all began eating.
“I love the steaks, Dad,” Thomas said, smiling at Clark.
“Thanks, son.”
“The milk is wonderful, Mom,” Kiley said laughing nervously; seeming to be trying to bridge the gap between her and her mother by bringing up an old family joke.
“Thanks,” Lois replied. She seemed to understand the message.
Alice said nothing. She looked between her parents and her siblings, as if wondering when this whole thing was going to blow.
“So, we figured out where Mr. Riccoi got that Kryptonite from last month,” Clark began, deciding to introduce a more neutral topic than what was one everyone’s minds. “I guess he used to do part-time sewer clean-up before he started the illegal casino. He may have found it there. I think there may have been a piece missing from when Jace Mazic had it.”
Lois shuddered. He knew that was another unpleasant memory for her. Why did he think everything would be okay back then, anyway? He grabbed her hand and kissed it softly.
Alice groaned at the sight, but he detected a smile behind it as well. He supposed she wanted things back to normal as much as the rest of them did.
“But we still need to make sure that’s the case, Clark. What if there is another piece floating around somewhere?” She shook a little. Clark wished he could protect her from her fears, but he knew the best way to do that was to help her with this investigation. So he nodded in agreement.
Kiley put her fork down and took a deep breath. “Okay, I know the topic I introduced to you guys last week was a tough one. And it was probably too much for me to ask for you guys to agree I should tell Larry when you’ve never met him. I KNOW what the name Luthor means to you, especially you guys,” she added looking directly at her parents.
Oh, no. Kiley wasn’t over Larry yet. This didn’t sound good. “Kiley -” Clark began.
“I thought this subject was done with,” Lois said at the same time, firmly.
Kiley put up both her hands to silence them and shook her head. “Hear me out. What I think I should do is tell him that I can’t tell him our secret without you agreeing, because it’s such an important secret. Then I’ll tell him that I want you to get to know him and vice versa. The reason why I know Larry isn’t like Lex Luthor is because I know him. I’d like you guys to have that benefit as well. Does that sound like a good compromise?”
Thomas was nodding as if this sounded reasonable.
But Clark knew it wasn’t reasonable at all. It just meant Luthor was going to get his hooks into Kiley in another way. And possibly the rest of the family as well.
Lois was already shaking her head as well. “Kiley, if you tell him that your family has an important secret, it just gives him an invitation to find out what it is. He’ll search for it, even if you don’t tell him exactly what it is.”
Kiley sighed, as if she was getting tired of this argument. “I can see your point, Mom, but I want, no I NEED to see Larry again. I really miss him. But I don’t want to violate our family trust by telling him the secret before you guys are ready. And I can tell you that Larry isn’t going to search for answers if I tell him not to. He’s not like that.”
“Kiley, how do you expect us to trust your judgment if you kept this a secret for so long?” Lois pressed. She looked around the table sadly. Clark knew what she was thinking. Their perfect dinner was in shambles now.
“I’m sorry you feel I violated your trust because of that Mom,” Kiley replied carefully. “But answer me this, if I had told you I was dating Larry Luthor back at the beginning, even when I didn’t want to tell him the secret, would you have agreed I could keep seeing him?”
Clark sighed. Of course not, he said to himself. I want Luthor out of my daughter’s life now and I would have wanted Luthor’s out of my daughter’s life two months ago, too.
Lois paused. “I would have been less hurt about you keeping something from us,” she replied slowly. And I wouldn’t have been as afraid for you. But I think, in the end, I would have told you that Luthors were bad news. And they are, Kiley. We know more about this than you do.”
Kiley sighed as she finished chewing her steak. “See, that’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. And believe me, I didn’t enjoy keeping something from you guys. I know we tell each other everything. Bu I wanted to decide what I thought about Larry. Not what you think of him. I know MOST Luthors are bad news. But Larry isn’t most Luthors. Actually, he really hates it when people compare him to his uncle.”
Clark sighed. He had heard that line before, as well. He remembered another relative of Luthor’s, or one pretending to be anyway.
*******************************(flashback)********************************
He and Lois had been interviewing the new “Lex Luthor, Jr.” who was trying to take over Lex corp. Originally he had introduced himself as Leslie Luckabee. They had asked him, why did he pretend to be someone else? He replied,”… It got to be like a…nightmare. Everywhere I'd go, the second people heard my name, there'd be this look. Fear. Hate. So one day I just... gave another name. No reaction. It was a game at first but I felt..”.
***************************(end of flashback)******************************
Of course, he had been a phony as well, just trying to generate sympathy from people to feed his game. The “game” ended with the real Lex Luthor, Jr using Lois, as well as the rest of Metropolis, as hostages.
Clark spoke for the first time in this argument. “Kiley, I understand what you’re saying. And it’s easy to feel sympathy for someone when they tell you they always get a bad reaction to their name. But that’s another ploy, sweetie. Deception is the name of the game for Luthor.”
Kiley slammed her fork down suddenly. “Deception may have been the name of the game for LEX LUTHOR but not for LARRY LUTHOR. Tell me if he wanted to deceive me, why did he tell me he was Lex Luthor’s nephew almost as soon as we met? Why did he tell me things he hasn’t told almost anyone? Why did he introduce me to his mother? Why did he let me see his chocolate bakery? Does that sound like someone on the make to you? He ISN’T his uncle. He’s Larry. He’s…my Larry,” Kiley finished softly.
Clark sighed. It seemed this Luthor had his claws in Kiley a lot deeper than the old one had in Lois. She had really gotten attached to him. And Luthor obviously was just as good of an actor, if not a better one, than the original one was. That made him even more dangerous.
Alice looked from Clark, to Lois, to Thomas, to Kiley, one by one. She was obviously judging them, and finding them all wanting. Then she suddenly blew up. “I have so had ENOUGH of this argument! Mom and Dad don’t want us to tell the secret, Kiley. Get over it! I don’t understand what the big deal is, anyway. About who this Luthor guy is or why it would be important to tell him. I don’t think I want to be around you guys right now!” She got up from her half finished dinner and ran back upstairs.
There was an awkward silence between those still left at the table. Thomas took a deep breath and exhaled. “I think Kiley has good points, and Mom and Dad have good points as well. I wish I knew how to fix this, but I don’t.” He stared at his dinner and took another bite.
Clark, Lois, Thomas and Kiley finished their meals in an uncomfortable silence. As Clark went to bed that night, he came to a realization. He was going to HAVE TO do something to get Kiley to see Luthor for who he was. Keeping her away from him simply wasn’t working.
Remembering another time, Clark remembered how he was able to get Lois out of Luthor’s thall.
******************************(flashback)*********************************
Perry had just come back to Metropolis from his supposed retirement. Jack was trying to find away to clear his name from the Daily Planet bombing. Jimmy wanted his job back so he could pay his rent. And they all worried that there was more to the Daily Planet takeover and bombing than met the eye.
Clark, of course, believed that Luthor was behind it. And he wondered if he could prove to Lois that Luthor had bought the Planet with the intention of bombing it, would she see reason? Would she get out of Luthor’s hooks? Would she become his best friend again? He missed her. And he worried about her.
He, Perry, Jimmy, and Jack had done enough investigating to get Luthor arrested. They had saved the Daily Planet and Lois.
*****************************(end of flashback)***************************
Of course, Clark now knew that Lois had told Luthor “no” at the altar. So, whether he was arrested or not, she wouldn’t have married him. But since Kiley claimed she loved this Luthor, he couldn’t count on that. Starting tomorrow, he would go to Switzerland and investigate the new Luthor.
Hopefully, if he found enough implicating evidence, it would allow Kiley to see reason. He needed to get Kiley away from Luthor’s influence. He wanted her to become his daughter again. The daughter he related to the most. He missed her. And he was worried about her.
