From Part 11
He brushed back her hair and looked down deep into her eyes. “As good as staying at home sounds, I think I’d like to go to a romantic villa in the Caribbean with my wife,” he said softly.
Her eyes lit. “You would?”
“Honestly?” he said. “Right now, I just want to be with you. I don’t really care where we are.”
“Then let’s go,” she said. “Let’s chase down the leads we have and see if we can find some stolen treasures.”
“A treasure hunt,” Clark said. “That sounds like fun.”
She caressed his jaw. “I think we might find some treasure worth far, far more than an old vase or some jewellery.”
“I hope so,” Clark said.
Lois kissed him. “We will, darling,” she said. “We will.”
Part 12
Lois followed the porter to their villa. Clark walked behind with their luggage.
They stopped at a charming little white building on the end of a string of six such villas. Entering, they came into a spacious room, simply furnished with understated elegance. On the far side of the room, an expanse of glass overlooked a tropical paradise of white sand and azure sea.
Clark tipped the porter and he slipped away, leaving them alone. Lois circled slowly, trying to take in everything at once. “Wow!” she said. “This is amazing.”
Clark crossed the room to the oversized couch and sat down, comprehensively testing it for size and comfort.
Lois laughed at his efforts. “Good?” she enquired.
“I should be very comfortable here,” he said.
She came to him, put a hand on each of his knees and leant forward, nose-to-nose. “Not *too* comfortable I hope,” she said.
He grinned. “Why don’t you check out your bed?” he suggested.
Lois ran into the adjoining bedroom. The bed was huge. She sank into it with a little squeal of delight. She heard Clark’s footsteps approaching and sat up. “What shall we do first?” she asked as he entered the bedroom. “Maybe we should try to find Mr Sm-.”
With a swift movement, Clark gently threw her back onto the bed. Lois was still bouncing softly when his body landed on top of her. His elbows surrounded her, one on each side as they thrust him forward and his mouth came down on hers.
Her giggles drowned in his kiss. His mouth wooed hers, teasing, testing, tasting. He broke away and his head came low next to hers. “Careful,” he whispered against her ear. “We’re bugged.”
“Bugged?”
“Sshh! It’s audio only and it’s in the other room.”
“You’re joking, right?”
He grinned at her tone and shook his head.
Lois traced a line across the mouth that only moments ago had been expertly luring her to things far more exciting than spy equipment. “Nice move,” she murmured. “Did you practise that?”
Clark grinned. “I may have used it once or twice before,” he acknowledged.
“*Twice*?” Her whisper turned to a squeak.
“OK,” Clark said as he ran a finger down her nose. “Only once.” He rolled onto his side, adjusted his position slightly then lowered his glasses. “Off the mirror,” he said a second later. “And a direct hit to the target.” He looked down at her with a boyish grin.
“You could have zapped it before coming in here,” Lois said.
“And miss the chance to kiss the prettiest partner I’ve ever had?” He surveyed the room. “Hey, this is cool.” He bounced a little. “And this bed is *enormous*.”
“Do you think it’s big enough for two people?”
He pretended to consider. “Maybe,” he said. “I’ll have to remember exactly how good you’ve got it when I’m suffering on that couch.”
“I’ll have it a whole lot better as soon as you get yourself off the couch and into here,” she said.
Clark tried valiantly for severity. “Ms Lane,” he scolded. “That sounded suspiciously like an invitation.”
“You bet it was an invitation,” she growled.
Clark grinned at her. “Perhaps I should check for cameras in the other room,” he said. “This one’s clear.” He leapt from the bed and walked into the other room, glasses lowered. He returned a few seconds later.
“Anything else?” Lois asked from where she was stretched out on the bed.
“Nothing that's a problem," he replied. "There's a security system - the one that uses the key-card to access the villa.”
“How did you know about the bug?”
“I heard it – a low droning sound.”
“Have you applied a little heat to the security system?” Lois asked. “Then there's every chance we would meet the guy who deals with that stuff.”
“Good thinking,” Clark agreed. “But if we leave it alone and the security guy shows up anyway, we’ll know he was monitoring the bug.”
“Better thinking,” Lois said. “I bet you lunch his last name is Smith.”
Clark sat on the bed and pointed his forefinger at her. “Don’t try that with me, Lane,” he said. “I read the information too. I know all meals are supplied as part of the accommodation.”
“You read the site?” she said.
“Yeah.”
She smiled gently and pulled him down, resting the back of his head on her stomach. “You really didn’t want to come, did you?”
“I’m not sure I was thinking too straight.”
Lois skimmed the pads of her fingers through his hair. “We are going to find a secluded place somewhere on this island and you are going to tell me every one of the silly thoughts that somehow invaded your head and got stuck there.”
“*Every* one of them?”
“Yes,” Lois said firmly. “Because if we don’t talk about them, they will remain hidden in the dark corners of your mind and will spring to life again the moment I’m not looking ... and then you’ll probably do something stupid like decide you can live without me.”
Clark exhaled sharply. “I can’t,” he said.
Lois continued her sweeping exploration of his hair. “I know that,” she said. “And I also know I can’t live without you.”
“I lost sight of that bit,” Clark admitted.
“I lost sight of some pretty important things too.”
He lifted his head, turned onto his side and fixed his eyes on her mouth. A little shuffle later and his mouth had claimed hers. He kissed her, his intensity escalating quickly as he lured her into the thrilling world that was just for them.
Then that world came crashing down as a sharp knock sounded on the door.
They groaned in perfect unison.
Clark lifted from her, his eyes still glazed. Lois snapped from her trance and sat up. “OK,” she declared purposefully. “We are going to get the bad guys ... very quickly ... and we are going to get back here ... very quickly ... and I warn you now, Kent, it’s not gonna be for the fainthearted.”
The tap sounded again before Clark had given any sign that he had recovered sufficiently to attempt a response. Lois swept from the bed and opened the door. A man, probably in his fifties, stood there. He glanced at the paper in his hand. “Mr and Mrs Kent?” he enquired.
“Is there a problem?” Clark asked from behind her.
“The central computer is reporting a malfunction with your security system.”
“Really?” Clark said curtly. “We only just arrived and it seems to be working just fine.”
The man gestured through the glass doors towards the beach. “I don’t want to spoil any part of your vacation,” he said. “Why don’t you young people go and enjoy the beauty of Anguilla and I’ll have everything shipshape for you in no time at all.”
Lois beamed at him. “That would be wonderful,” she gushed. “You can’t be too careful with security, can you, Mr ...?”
He smiled at Lois. “Mr Smith,” he said. “Darien Smith.”
Lois took Clark’s hand. “Come on, darling,” she said. “Let’s go so Mr Smith can get on with his work.”
They went through the glass door and turned away from the neighbouring villas. Once hidden from view by the side wall, they stopped. Lois slipped her arms around Clark’s waist, ensuring he was facing the villa. “Can you see him?”
“Sure can.”
“And?”
“And he’s gone straight to the bug, not the security system.”
“Why would he have a bug?” she said. “You wouldn’t think people would discuss their collections when they’re supposed to be enjoying a place like this.”
“If they were to call home, he would know someone else was in the house and it’s protected. Or maybe they call dealers or other collectors,” Clark said. “People relax here, talk freely.”
“Particularly when they think their conversations are private,” Lois said grimly. “What’s he doing now?”
“He’s replaced the burnt out wires in the listening device. Now he’s looking at the security system.”
“Seems to know what he’s doing,” Lois said.
“Yeah, he does.”
“Wonder how long he’s worked here?” Lois stepped away. “I think I’ll get out my investigative skills and see if they still work,” she said. “Watch my back.”
Clark smiled. “Always.”
Back at the villa, Lois opened the glass sliding door. “Mr Smith,” she said.
He turned. “Nearly done.”
“Already?” Lois said with delighted surprise. “That was quick. What was wrong?”
“Burnt out wire.”
“You found it and repaired it already?” she said with unmistakable admiration. “You don’t make house calls, do you? All the tradesmen I call charge by the hour and always seem to take an inordinate amount of time just to find the problem and then they realise they didn’t bring the right tools or they need to order in a part and that is going to take at least a week.”
Mr Smith chuckled. “I always carry everything I need.”
Lois knelt on the floor and unzipped the suitcase. “And house calls?”
She threw open the lid of the suitcase, fully aware that his gaze had briefly lingered on the place where her skirt had ridden a little way up her thigh. “Sorry, Mrs Kent, no house calls. I’ve been working on Anguilla for nearly thirty years. I don’t leave the island much these days, I have everything I need right here.”
Lois rummaged through the suitcase. “Why would you leave?” she said. “This is paradise.”
Mr Smith snapped shut the cover of the security device. “There, now you shouldn’t have any more problems.”
“Thank you, Mr Smith.”
“Enjoy your stay at the Caribbean Coral.”
He left the room and Lois returned to Clark. “Has he fixed it?” she asked.
Clark nodded. “The bug isn’t one of the latest - it only has a range of about twenty feet. We can talk freely out here.”
Lois held out her hand. “You owe me lunch, Mr Kent.”
He took her hand and together they stood, admiring the ocean view set before them. “Are you hungry, Ms Lane?”
She grinned at him. “*Very* hungry, Mr Kent.”
||_||
At the resort restaurant, they asked for a table outside, away from the crowd. Clark pulled out a seat for Lois and then sat opposite her.
“This is so beautiful,” she said. “In a place like this, you could forget that work and bad guys and stories even exist.”
“Did you even look at this morning’s Planet?”
“Yes,” Lois admitted with a grin. “I snuck a look while you and Maddie were ordering breakfast for us.”
“How was it?”
“Perry and Ian did a great job. They led with the latest revelation on the Port Authority. Your story about Vivienne’s attempted burglary was on page two.”
Clark nodded. He opened the menu and pretended to study it. A fleeting glance told him Lois was doing the same.
He knew they needed to talk. He wanted to talk – to clear away the misunderstanding that had crowded between them. But he didn’t want to risk the buoyant playfulness they had enjoyed since leaving Metropolis. It had an element of fun that had been missing for a long time. Clark felt young again – young and rapturously in love.
And Lois had never looked more beautiful.
The waiter came and they ordered a seafood and salad platter to share.
After he’d gone, Lois stared out to the expanse of ocean. The breeze played with her hair, whisking it around her shoulders. Clark knew he would be content to sit and watch her for hours.
But they needed to talk and he wanted to do it before they got back to their villa. Now was the perfect opportunity. “Lois,” he began.
“Clark,” Lois said at the same moment. She reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “I think *I* should go first,” she said.
He smiled. “You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”
“No,” she said with a smile that felt like a caress. “Do you want to tell me what you were trying to do? Or would you like me to tell you what you were trying to do?”
Clark smiled, winced, smiled again. “Ah ... if *you* tell *me*, there is probably more chance we will both understand.”
Lois grinned widely, giving him hope that they could get through this without damaging their newly-rediscovered closeness. “You decided that I still want a child,” she said.
“You do.”
“You decided that I want a child so much, I would be willing to sacrifice our marriage to have one.”
“I can’t give you a child, Lois.”
“I know that.”
“Lois ... it’s your only chance ... it’s the only way you –.“
“My only chance to *what*?” she demanded. “My only chance to ruin my life? The only way to ensure I spend years mourning what I love most?”
“If you don’t go now,” Clark said, feeling helplessly torn between her longing for a child and his longing for her. “You’ll spend those years mourning for the child you never had.”
“I do want a child,” Lois admitted. “And I don’t know if the ache will ever completely go away.” Her eyes captured his and locked them together. “But you need to understand this, Clark Kent - *we* can’t have a child. This is not about me or you, it's about us.”
“*You* can have a child,” Clark stressed.
“No, no I can’t.”
“You can. Your tests came back saying there was no reason why you couldn’t conceive.”
She smiled sadly. “Clark, sometimes you astound me with your obtuseness. *We* can’t have a child. *We* can’t. That’s just how it is. It’s sad. But that is how it is. I have accepted that.”
Clark searched her face. “Have you?” he asked.
“Yes,” Lois said solemnly. “I admit that one of the motivations for applying for the editor’s position was to try to ease the emptiness. To take something – a job – that I would love and allow it to fill the void of not having children.”
“But it didn’t fill it, did it?” Clark grated. “I can still see it there.”
The waiter arrived with their meal. They thanked him, assured him everything looked wonderful and he left them. “Clark,” Lois said. “I’m surprised you can still see anything in me ... I’ve been so preoccupied with everything at the Planet ... so caught up with that to the exclusion of everything else. Everyone else.”
“I understand,” Clark assured her. “I understand that you need to work long hours, I understand that it’s hard to leave it all at the office when you come home.”
“But it was more than that, wasn’t it?”
“More?”
“On some level, some unique-to-Clark-Kent-level, you figured my throwing myself into my job was something you deserved because you aren’t able to give me a child.”
Clark didn’t say anything.
“Didn’t you?”
He couldn’t deny it.
She smiled. “Clark! That is ridiculous. And lunkheaded. And so very, very you.”
“But I can’t give you the child you want,” he protested. “I’m the alien and you pay for it. That is just so unfair and I wish I could make it different. I can do just about everything else, but the one thing that defines a man – I can’t do.”
“There are so many things that define a man,” she said. “His strength, his caring, his kindness, his integrity, his character, his heart for others, his love for his family. In all of those things, you are ahead of everyone else I have ever met.
But that didn't change that he couldn't give her what she craved. “You *want* a child.”
“I *want* you.”
“I’ve tried so hard to find a way through this, but I can’t think of anything,” Clark said, again feeling his looming hopelessness. “What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to love each other,” Lois answered decisively. “We’re going to remind ourselves of how blessed we are to have each other. We’re going to get our life more balanced. We’re going to remember to take the time to laugh and to kiss and to appreciate all the beautiful moments that will dot our wonderful years together.”
“But what if that isn’t enough for you?”
“Do you remember the last time you broke up with me for my own good?” she asked.
Clark nodded.
“Do you know what I learnt from that?”
“That whenever I get into situations I can’t control, I’m likely to turn into a complete idiot.”
She grinned. “That too.”
He responded with a tentative smile. “What else?”
“That you can’t live without me. You may *think* you can, but you can’t. And I can’t live without you either.”
“I have never thought I could live without you.”
“Good,” Lois said. “We agree. Eat your lunch.”
||_||
Lois bit into a juicy prawn - but she barely tasted it. All her senses were captivated by the man across the table.
His hair was as long as he ever let it grow. He’d probably planned a haircut this week, but coming to Anguilla had postponed it. She was glad, because the wind had tousled it and he looked endearingly close to the young man who had walked into Perry’s office all those years ago.
Walked in and changed her life.
Walked in and filled her life.
Walked in and so steadfastly offered her his friendship, then his love, then his total commitment.
She wished there was a way to comprehensively demonstrate the totality of what he meant to her.
But this last year ...
Lois felt her eyes fill and her good humour ebb away. “Clark,” she said shakily. “Clark, what I did was even more stupid than anything you’ve ever done.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible,” he said with a rueful grin.
“It is,” she insisted. “Initally, I admit, taking over from Perry was about not being able to have children. But that was over a year ago now.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying it became a habit. I became obsessed and allowed myself to be so totally engrossed with the next edition that I neglected everything else. Sometimes I even forgot that we can’t have children – maybe that was part of the grieving and accepting process, I don’t know. But I also lost sight of what I love most – and that’s you.”
She saw his throat jump.
“Clark ... I’m sorry,” Lois said. “I can see how you would come to the conclusion you did and I’ll be sorry forever that I gave you reason to believe that I would even think about leaving you.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed it with a soft kiss.
“The *only* thing I want is another chance,” Lois said. “Please, Clark ... will you give me that chance to show you that you are everything I need?”
“Lois,” he said, his voice rough. “I’m yours. I ... I ... I’m yours. Always.”
She smiled at him, pushing away her tears. “No more silly thoughts about divorce?”
He shook his head.
“No more backing away?”
“No.”
“No more trying to ease out of my life?”
“No.”
She smiled again, hoping to try to wipe the seriousness from his face. “You don’t have your fingers crossed behind your back?”
He opened his hands on the table for her to see and gave her the smile she’d been seeking.
Joy flooded through her. Joy and relief and excitement because everything was going to be all right. “Did you really think you could push me out of your life by being a little distant?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“I guess being politely aloof is about as mean as you can get. Now if you’d been Mad Dog Kent ...” Her laugh burst suddenly. “What would happen if I crossed this table and started kissing you right now?”
He swallowed again. “I’m no expert on Caribbean law, but I think there is a fair chance we would risk being arrested.”
Lois groaned. “We can’t go back to our room. Even the audio is not something I want to share with Mr Smith.”
“And if I zap it again, he’ll be back,” Clark said darkly.
“We could fly home.”
“Is that what you want to do?”
“No,” she said. “I want to catch Mr Smith and find the lost treasures and *then* go back to our not-bugged, romantic, idyllic Caribbean villa with my husband.”
“What do you want to do now? About catching the bad guys, I mean.”
“I want you to scan ... everything.”
“Lois!” Clark hissed. “I can’t do that. People are probably -.”
“Doing exactly what we should be doing,” she said. “Doing what we won’t get to do unless you use a few skills.”
Clark lifted his hands in surrender. “OK, but I’m going to start with the administration block. That should be safe.”
Lois smiled and took a piece of succulent rockling. “You do that.”
Clark lowered his glasses and began to scan. “Got him,” he said a moment later.
“Really,” Lois squeaked in excitement. “What did you find?”
“There’s a shed tucked behind the administration block. There’s a partition down the middle. On the entrance side, there are tools and equipment and behind the partition there are ... treasures.”
“Stolen treasures?”
“I’m confident I can identify at least two pieces from the first robbery. And one of those vases Viv kept talking about is there too.”
“How confident?”
Clark contemplated her, half-smiling, one eyebrow slighly raised. “*Super* confident,” he said.
She giggled. “It’s time for Superman to pay a call on the Metropolis Police Department and give them the information they need to organise raids on the Smiths at all the various hotels.”
“You don’t want to check them out personally?” Clark asked, surprised. “You don’t want to follow through right to the end?”
“I *do* want to follow through right to the end,” she corrected. “But not with the story.”
Clark stood hastily. “I’m going,” he declared.
Lois smiled at his sudden urgency. “I’ll wait here.”
He hesitated. “Lois, you won’t do anything dangerous, will you?”
“Me?” she said with wide-eyed innocence.
“You,” he said. “Just leave Mr Smith alone. We have all the evidence we need. The Metropolis police will call the local police and they’ll be here very soon.”
“Then what do you suggest I do?” she asked pertly.
“Rest,” he replied. “You’re supposed to be on vacation.” He bent low to kiss her.
He walked out of sight and seconds later Lois heard the low roar of his departure.
She drained her pineapple juice, pushed back her chair and sauntered casually away.
But not in the direction of the villa. Instead she headed to the back of the administration block in search of hidden treasure.
