The Return of Ultra Woman
Chapter 17
By the time I arrive at The Planet, Clark is busy working on his Guatemala story. I’m still a little shaken up from the appearance as Ultra Woman so I just go over to say hello. As he senses my approach, he stops typing and looks up at me. “How are you?”
The practically deserted state of the office means I can speak freely. “Jittery. I had no idea it would be so stressful.”
“At least you only have to do it once. Since you’ll only be doing this on a fill in basis, there shouldn’t be a need to appear in public very often. There certainly won’t be a repeat of this particular press conference.” He must see something in my expression because the next thing I know he reaches out and squeezes my hand. “You did fine.”
“Did you hear everything?”
“I heard everything up until I left. I figured you were just about done when I took off, so I came straight here. Based on when you arrived, you couldn’t have said much more. Did you answer any more questions?”
“I answered one more.”
“What did they ask?”
“They asked about you. What kind of person are you at home?”
“You didn’t tell them that sometimes I leave the toilet seat up, did you?”
“I should have.”
“So what did you say?”
“I guess you’ll just have to read tomorrow morning’s paper to find out.” With that, I step over to my desk and go about the motions of starting to work. A moment later, I can feel Clark’s eyes on me. When I look up, there he is with the most adorable “what did you say” look on his face. I stick my tongue out at him and return my attention to work.
After a few minutes, it seems like half of the staff comes roaring into the office. Jimmy is in the lead and certainly the loudest. As soon as he catches sight of us, he hurries over.
“Lois, CK, I can’t believe you missed Ultra Woman!”
I try my best to look surprised. “So she is Ultra Woman.”
“Yeah. She said she came back to be with Superman. Except she calls him Kal.”
“Well his name is Kal-El.”
“Well, she would know. They’re married!”
I’m still trying to look surprised. “You’re kidding.”
I think Clark can sense I’m struggling. “Jimmy, are you sure about the married part?”
“Positive! First, she said so. That’s why she’s wearing the ‘S’ now. It’s the symbol of Superman’s house. She said her name is Lor of the house of El. I guess that would make her Lor-El. And finally, a little later, Superman showed up and talked about her as his wife.”
I’m surprised Jimmy is taking this so well. “Jimmy, are you all right? I seem to remember that you had a crush on her when she was here a few years ago.”
“Maybe a little, but one look at them together and you can just tell she should be with Superman. You should have seen it when they kissed! And later, someone asked Superman about being married and… well, he got kind of emotional and she hugged him and they floated. I think it was the most romantic thing I’ve ever seen. How can I feel bad after seeing how happy they are? Anyway, I got some great shots of them together. I need to get this film to the photo lab.”
As Jimmy disappears my phone rings. “Lois Lane”
“Ms. Lane, this is Gerald Samms at the Metropolis Star.”
“What can I do for you Mr. Samms?”
“What’s your reaction to Superman being married to Ultra Woman?”
I’m not sure if it’s just bad timing or something in the tone of his voice, but for some reason this question hits me exactly the wrong way and I hang up the phone. Apparently, I do so with a little more force than necessary because I find Clark looking over at me. “What was that?” he asks.
“You won’t believe this. This guy…” My phone starts ringing again. “Lois Lane.”
“Ms. Lane, I represent the National Whisper…” This time I slam the phone down. Now I have the attention of a large segment of the office. I also have a broken phone. Clark comes around and kneels beside me. “Honey, what are those calls about?”
“You didn’t listen?”
“You know I don’t do that unless you ask me to.”
“It seems I’m now the jilted lover in the Superman triangle. We worked so hard to get past that and here it is again.”
I can see a look of “I’m sorry” in his eyes. “What did they say?”
“Well, the first just asked for my reaction and the second… well, the second was the National Whisper and I didn’t wait for the question.”
He looks thoughtful for a second. “Please don’t get angry, but think about it from their perspective. You do have a public history with Superman. You are the person he carried back after his debut with the space transport. You’re the one who kissed him during Nightfall. And, whether we like it or not, there were those pictures. Honey, I’m sorry but you have to admit there is a legitimate question here.”
How can he take their side? “Clark, this is a matter of privacy!”
“But Superman is a public figure. There’s no one else the general media can ask for a personal reaction.”
I want to snap back a reply but the words just won’t come. I’m not sure if I’m angrier because it’s an invasion of privacy or if it’s because Clark’s right. I should have anticipated this, and my reaction was inappropriate. After a moment, I realize Clark is still there waiting for me. Finally, he breaks the silence. “This has to be your call. You know I’ll back whatever you want to do about this.”
We both know the answer. He wants me to say it. “I’ll type up a statement. If I don’t, every hack sleaze sheet in the country will be putting words in my mouth.”
I feel Clark’s hand on my back moving slowly in small circles. “I think that’s the best answer. You do realize that some will go with sensationalist sleaze anyway?’
“Yeah, but I don’t see any way to stop that. At least this way I have a chance to have my say and I can act professionally, even if others don’t.”
With a squeeze of my hand, Clark heads back to his desk. I’ve completely lost my train of thought on my story anyway, so I save off that file and get to work on a statement congratulating Superman and Ultra Woman on their marriage. I feel like I should ask Clark to help. This should be all touchy-feely and that sort of writing is his strength, not mine.
A few minutes later Jimmy is back in the office and heads for my desk. “Wow, Lois, what happened to your phone.”
“One too many questions about what I think of Superman being married.”
He seems to mull this over for a minute. “Well, to tell you the truth, I wanted to ask you myself. I mean, I remember a time…”
My glare stops him cold. I need to get used to this. I take a deep breath and force my face into a smile. “It’s all right Jimmy. I need to get used to the question. After that…” and I point at the broken phone, “Clark reminded me that in the early days I was Superman’s most obvious, um, groupie. I put myself in that position and I’m still paying the price. However, I hope the appearance of Ultra Woman will be the real end of the Lois and Superman speculations.”
Jimmy’s still looking jumpy. “I know you and Clark are happy together but… I expected more of a reaction from you than this. I mean, you and Clark go really well together, but you seemed so calm at the news that Superman married her.” As he’s looking at me, I see a proverbial light come on and his eyes widen. He leans in closer and lowers his voice. “You knew!”
I practically jump out of my chair and hustle Jimmy into the conference room. I get the door shut and turn toward him only to see a look of terror in his eyes. “Jimmy, are you okay?”
“I’m sorry. I promise I won’t tell anybody.” The fear in his voice is palatable. In a way, I guess it’s nice to know I can still inspire that kind of reaction even when I’m not wearing the suit.
I try to inject a soothing tone in my voice. “Jimmy, it’s fine. I just didn’t want to have anyone else hear this conversation. I promise that neither I nor Clark will be mad, but please tell me what you think you know.”
He’s better, but clearly still nervous. “I was wondering why you and Clark didn’t cover the press conference. I figured it was because he had been out of town and you were helping him with his story. Still, this was going to be big news, and considering you wrote the story on the bank robberies, it didn’t feel quite right. Then, when I came in and said this was Ultra Woman, you just didn’t look very surprised. And when I said she was married to Superman, well, your reaction didn’t feel quite right that time either. Just now, when we were talking it all added up. You already knew.”
I make a show of composing myself before responding. “Yes, Clark and I have both known Ultra Woman was married to Superman for some time now. Up until recently, she wasn’t planning to do the ‘super’ thing again. It was only after the bridge collapse that she decided to put a suit back on. You have to understand that Superman values his privacy. Having his private life become more public can lead to things like that mess with those photos a few years ago. One of the reasons that I didn’t cover the press conference today was to try to minimize the tabloid potential of the event.”
He looks relieved I’m not mad at him. “I understand,” he says. Then he looks thoughtful for a moment. “Is there anything you can tell me?”
“I wish I could, but we promised to protect their privacy as much as possible.” He starts to head for the door and I can’t resist. “Jimmy, how do you think it went for her today? I can tell you that she was nervous.”
He looks surprised at this. “Really? She didn’t seem nervous at all. At first she was kind of stiff. She reminded me of those other Kryptonians. Then Superman showed up for a few minutes and she seemed like a different person. Actually, he seemed like a different person too. He talked about being lonely and… well, I’m really happy for both of them. Anyway, after Superman left there was a question to her about what he was like at home. When she answered, she seemed much more natural than before. I came away thinking that they deserve each other.”
“I’m sorry I scared you when I dragged you in here. I just didn’t want to take a chance that anyone else might hear. Clark and I have worked hard to keep our public distance from Superman the last few years.”
“Lois, it’s my guess that you shouldn’t have too much problem with that after today. You should have seen them. In a strange sort of way it reminded me of how you and Clark look together. To tell the truth, I was surprised by some of what I saw.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Like I said, Superman talked about being lonely. I never realized he felt like that. I mean, who knew? And when they floated, it was so romantic. It was like they were in their own world. I think the whole crowd could feel it. After what happened today, I don’t think there will be any doubt about who Superman is spending his time with.”
I need to get back to my public statement. “I hope you’re right. Now I need to write my congratulations.”
Before I can get out the door, he gets out one more question. “Lois, are you sure she’s not even a little bit jealous of you? I don’t think I would want her mad at me.”
I actually laugh a bit at this. “Trust me. She knows there is nothing for her to be jealous about between me and Superman.”
I dart out the door before he can ask anything else.
TBC
Bob
