Speechless In Seattle
By EditorJaxAUTHOR’S NOTE: I got the idea for this little story from an episode of “Friends” – at 2 a.m., no less. Just chalk it up to the mom of a toddler needing a little “me time” before bed. 
This story is set in the fall of Season 2, but because, well, I can, I decided to move the A-plot of “Target: Jimmy Olsen” to the end of Season 1. Basically, all you need to know is that Jimmy and Sarah have been together for about six months, and that Lois and Clark have yet to embark upon a romance. Got it? Happy reading.**************************************
“I do.”
“I do.”
“I do.”
“I …”
“Jimmy! Enough!”
Jimmy Olsen turned around to see the trace of a smile cross Lois Lane’s lips – one that belied her reproachful tone as she stood and crossed her arms defiantly.
“I’m sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry whatsoever. “I just want it to sound right.”
Lois sighed. “When is Clark getting here?”
“Lois! You said you would help me!”
She sighed again as she sat back down on the edge of the bed. “The second time was fine.”
“Fine isn’t going to cut it,” Jimmy said obstinately. “These are the two most important words of my life.”
She made a sweeping gesture. “Go ahead.”
“I do.”
“Too fast.”
He took a deep breath. “I do.”
“Perfect.”
A boyish smile lit up his face. “Good. Now all I have to do is remember that tomorrow.”
Lois smirked. “You’re worried about forgetting two little words? It’s a good thing you didn’t
go into broadcast journalism.”
“Very funny,” Jimmy shot back. “I was talking about the inflection.” His voice got softer. “I just want everything to be perfect … for Sarah … for us.”
A moment passed. Lois opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it.
Jimmy noticed, and this time, it was his turn to smirk. “What, you’re going to be nice?”
“No,” she finally said.
“I didn’t think so.”
“No, it’s not that.” Was she really about to delve into this in a hotel room, 2,000 miles from home, with Jimmy, of all people? “I … I just wondered … what made you decide to get married?”
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it,” Lois said quickly, propelling herself across the room and saying a silent prayer that it was Clark, and not a member of the Goodwin family, at the door – and that the arrival of whomever it was would put a stop what was likely to turn into a very awkward conversation.
Fortunately, it was her partner standing in the hallway, looking no worse for the wear after a six-hour flight.
“Clark!”
He had barely stepped into the room before Lois threw her arms around him.
Clark sucked in a breath as her scent flooded his senses.
“Well, hello to you, too,” he said softly, temptation giving way to his arms sliding down to linger around her waist.
“Don’t let go,” she murmured against his chest. “You’re the first sane person I’ve seen all day.”
He couldn’t help laughing as he reluctantly released her and stepped back. “What are you two up to?”
“Working on my vows,” Jimmy said, coming over to give Clark a friendly hug. “I’m so glad to see you, CK.”
“Does this mean I’m fired as your consultant?” Lois asked hopefully.
Jimmy laughed. “Really, it means a lot that you guys are here.”
“Of course,” Clark said, giving his arm a squeeze. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
But the truth was, he almost had. A rash of forest fires in Southern California had curtailed his plans to fly out to Seattle with Lois, and he’d had to make up a fast story about the power being knocked out on his street sometime in the night, causing him to oversleep and miss his flight.
“What floor did they put you on?” Jimmy was asking.
Clark jerked his arm toward the door adjoining the room with the one next door. “I’m actually right on the other side of the wall.”
“Sweet!” the younger man said. “How’d you pull that off?”
“I guess Sarah’s mom reserved a block of rooms in advance.”
“Speaking of checking in,” Jimmy said, “did you have trouble getting onto the next flight?”
Clark quickly shook his head. “Not at all.”
“Good,” Lois said drily. “I was starting to worry I’d have to fill in as best man.”
“I’m having a hard time picturing you in a tux,” Clark said, laughing. “But it would make for some
very interesting wedding photos.”
**************************************
As Clark shut the door behind them, Lois flopped onto his bed with a dramatic moan.
“I hate you,” she wailed plaintively. “Leaving me on that plane alone.”
“The flight went that well?”
She groaned. “Why couldn’t Sarah have been from D.C., or New York, or even somewhere like Vermont, where they sell that good maple candy? It’s just our luck that her parents settled here after her dad retired. That was the longest flight in history. I hate Washington!”
“You hate Washington?” Clark echoed. “How can you hate a state you’ve been in for, what, four hours? Sure, it’s kind of rainy, but …”
“It’s not the weather,” she grumbled. “It’s the company.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You abandoned me,” she reminded him archly. “I’m thinking of throwing myself off the Space Needle on the way to the airport Sunday.”
“Do you really think killing yourself is going to solve anything?”
She laughed at his perceived naïveté. “I’m banking on Superman showing up to rescue me, and giving into my pleas to fly me back to Metropolis.” She sat up and glowered at him. “If I have to spend another six hours with that woman, only one of us is getting off the plane alive.”
“I thought Sarah said you guys had a lot in common,” Clark said, referencing the bride’s older sister, Susanna, who also lived in Metropolis.
“Oh yeah,” Lois said sarcastically, “because journalism and soul-sucking public relations are practically the same thing. She spent the entire flight talking about her
perfect boyfriend, Bryce, who we have the
absolute pleasure of meeting this evening, and how public relations are going to change the world – with the almighty Susanna Goodwin at the helm.”
“It couldn’t have been that bad.”
Lois shook her head vehemently. “Worse. She even
speaks like a PR campaign. Everything is ‘life-changing’ and ‘amazing.’ I think she even called the salad they served for lunch amazing.” She picked up a decorative pillow and shook it in annoyance, the pitch of her voice increasing several octaves to mimic the other woman. “Taking a weekend away was soooo incredibly hard, but being Sarah’s maid of honor is just
amazing.”
Clark laughed. “Not life-changing?”
“Probably that, too,” she shot back. “Just wait until you meet this woman, Clark. I don’t know
how the public-relations industry will survive three whole days without its visionary.”
“And to think I was worried you’d have a new best friend.”
She snorted. “I’m warning you, Kent. The day you start calling 10-inch bank-robbery stories life-changing, I’m done with you.”
“Gee, Lois, after everything we’ve been through …” He gave her a mock wounded look. “I’m not irreplaceable?”
She shrugged. “Depends on the day.”
“Well, Ms. Lane,” he managed to say with a straight face, “I think you’re simply
amazing.”
He ducked to avoid the pillow as they both burst out laughing.
**************************************
Lois wasn’t a big drinker – especially since some of her family members loved alcohol a little
too much – but she was counting down the seconds until she could down the glass of Sauvignon Blanc in front of her.
Unfortunately, Sarah’s father’s toast was dragging on a little too long and getting a little too sentimental for most people’s comfort, but Lois had long ago realized that the Goodwins tended to play a little fast and loose with decorum in general.
Her awareness began Sarah’s bridal shower, when everyone – including Sarah’s grandmother – brought sexy lingerie as gifts. Lois was one of two people to give her something else. She bought a fondue set. Sarah’s mother showed up with a basket of edible body paint.
She hadn’t been surprised whatsoever when Jimmy selected Clark as his best man – after all, he was like a big brother to him – but she had been nearly speechless when Sarah asked her to be a bridesmaid.
Never mind that the psychology major was a virtual stranger.
After all, the younger woman had said, Lois was responsible for her and Jimmy meeting.
Who would have thought that an investigation into Project Valhalla, a rogue military experiment designed to one day turn babies into assassins via mind control, would lead to love?
So she had pasted on her most sincere fake smile and agreed to don whatever fluffy frock Sarah came up with. It was an honor, she had said.
Tonight, though, it felt like a task. Sure, the salmon was good, and the view of Puget Sound was incredible, but the Goodwins were just so … enthusiastic.
It wasn’t so much that Lanes were the exact opposite – unless the topic was ’borgs, booze or boys – but everything Sarah’s family did was to maximize other people’s enjoyment, even if the recipient of the joy wasn’t interested.
And it appeared to be rubbing off on Jimmy, considering that he and Sarah had declared an impromptu trip to Pike Place Market was in order on the way from the airport to the hotel. Lois simply
had to see the flying fish, they said. She could nap
later. Susanna had agreed, and off they went into the midday Seattle traffic.
Two hours later, Lois smelled like seafood, her feet hurt, and she sorely tempted to buy a frozen salmon and club Susanna with it for calling every stall of crabs and carnations for sale “simply enchanting.”
She had been looking forward to some time to herself once they arrived at The Edgewater, a historic hotel on the waterfront, but no sooner had she checked into her room than Jimmy called, asking for help with his vows. As a result, her only alone time had come when she went to shower and dress for dinner.
“… To my baby girl and the man of her dreams,” Dave Goodwin wrapped up his toast, raising his glass in the air. “Cheers.”
“Cheers,” everyone chorused, clinking their glasses together as candlelight bathed the ornate room at Anthony’s, a seafood restaurant on famed Pier 66.
Lois clinked her glass against Perry’s, and then turned to the right to do the same with Clark, but he was gone. Confused, she set her wine down and looked around the room. No Clark.
“Lois, where’s Clark?” their boss inquired. “Isn’t his speech next?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. Doesn’t the best man usually save his speech for the reception?”
Perry nodded. “Traditionally, yes, but this
wedding isn’t as …”
“Traditional?” Lois suggested.
He nodded gravely, and she felt a smile twitch at the corner of her mouth.
“And now,” Dave was saying, “we’ll hear from the best man, Clark Kent.”
The guests’ applause was cut short when the man in question failed to appear in the room.
“Clark?” Jimmy called out confusedly.
After several awkward moments, Dave, who was still standing, raised his glass again. “Clark must have stepped out for a moment, so in the meantime, let’s eat, drink, and be married!”
**************************************
Lois raised her eyebrows as Clark reentered the room and nonchalantly took his seat at their table, at which she remained the only one seated, still sipping her wine.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
“Are you okay?” she asked in consternation. He looked fine – gorgeous, actually, in a charcoal suit and burgundy patterned tie – but he seemed a bit flustered. “You missed your toast.”
“I know,” he said, clearly embarrassed. “I wasn’t … feeling well.”
“CK!” Jimmy exclaimed, rushing over from where he was talking with a group of guests on the other side of the room. “Where were you, man?”
“I’m so sorry, Jimmy,” Clark said. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I stepped out for a bit.”
Jimmy appeared to consider this for a moment. “Must have been the airplane food,” he said. “Did you order the beef? Once it gave me a raging case of –”
“I’m okay now,” Clark said quickly. “I’m really sorry about the toast, though.”
“It’s fine,” Jimmy said congenially, giving his friend a pat on the back. “We’ll just have to wait until tomorrow to hear your words of wisdom. Why don’t you enjoy your dessert, and if you’re not up to it, I’m sure Lois would be happy to take it off your hands. She’s been eyeing it.”
“Very funny,” Lois said, even though she figured listening to Sarah’s cousin talk at length about her cruise-ship wedding entitled her to another piece of chocolate torte.
Clark laughed weakly. “Thanks, Jimmy.”
He watched in horror as Jimmy walked over and whispered something in Sarah’s ear. She nodded, and then turned to Susanna and whispered something. They both looked over at Clark.
“Great,” he said with a sigh. “Now the whole wedding party thinks ...”
Lois couldn’t help but laugh at his stricken expression. “Next time, stick with the chicken.” She moved her chair closer to Clark’s and picked up her fork. “Now, are you going to share, or what?”
Clark smiled. “Of course.”
Lois felt herself relax as they shared his dessert, chatting about such mundane matters as how close Seattle was to the mountains, and how the skiing was supposed to be good.
What Clark didn’t mention was the avalanche that had just happened in the Swiss Alps – the one that had forced him to duck out of the rehearsal dinner.
Lois licked the last crumbs off her fork and set it down with a contented sigh. “That was fabulous.”
“It really was,” Clark agreed, thinking to himself that watching her eat it was worth surrendering half of his dessert. “Exquisite.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Lois asked for the umpteenth time.
“Lois,” he said, gritting his teeth, “I’m fine.”
Just then, one of Sarah’s uncles wandered over, sipping from a glass of scotch.
“Ah, the best man has returned,” he said vociferously, raising his glass to Clark. “Welcome back.”
Clark laughed a little. “Thanks.”
The man jerked his head toward the happy couple, which at that moment were standing apart from the crowd, looking into each other’s eyes.
“Jimmy is a fine young man,” he said, raising his glass again, this time in deference to the groom.
“He is,” Lois said warmly. “We’re really happy for him and Sarah.”
“You must have had him in college,” the man continued. “You look great!”
He sauntered off, ice clinking in his glass, and didn’t catch Lois’ reaction.
Clark, on the other hand, had never seen his partner so stunned.
“Lois?” he said after a minute. “Are you okay?”
Her voice was a low hiss. “His … mother?”
“He’s clearly drunk,” Clark said quickly. “He’s practically lurching across the room.” He made a gesture toward the man. “Look at him.”
“His
mother?” Lois repeated, this time a bit louder. “Is he out of his d—”
“Lois,” Clark cut in. “Come on. Don’t listen to him.”
“Easy for you to say,” she snapped. “No one’s calling you father of the bride.”
“And yet everyone here thinks I have … digestive issues,” he pointed out.
“Do you think I look like Jimmy’s mother?” she asked, completely ignoring him.
“No,” he said quickly.
“No?”
“No,” he said again, this time more firmly, before lowering his voice to add, “For starters, you’re not headfirst into a Tequila Sunrise.”
Lois followed his gaze across the room to where Jimmy’s mother, Mary, boisterously gestured with a half-full drink while talking to Sarah’s mother.
“You’re using the liquid-courage defense? That’s the best you’ve got?”
“Lois!”
“Clark, tell me the truth,” she said, shifting in her chair to search his face for any sign that he was lying. “Do I look like I could be Jimmy’s mother?”
Clark sighed. “Lois, you do not look like the mother of a 23-year-old. Now, if you’re willing to move past this, maybe we can have a nice rest of the evening?”
She took a sip of champagne and glowered at him. “Consider me far past it.”
**************************************
“His mother? His mother?!” Lois jammed the keycard into the lock for the third time and glowered when the red light flickered again. “This thing isn’t working.”
Clark reached in front of her and plucked the offending piece of plastic from her hand.
“Hey,” she protested. “Fourth time’s the charm.”
He smiled genially. “How about you come hang out with me for a while?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t trust me to be alone right now?”
“With lamps and a fully stocked mini-bar in arm’s reach?” He took her hand and gently tugged her away from the door. “Not on your life.”
As they walked down the hall, she couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t throw lamps!”
“You don’t usually get mistaken for …” He caught himself a second too late. “Never mind.”
“Your room has lamps, too,” she pointed out as they stopped in front of his room.
As Clark inserted his keycard into the slot with annoying agility, Lois sighed.
“There’s clearly something wrong with mine,” she tossed over her shoulder as she marched inside.
“And yet you were able to get into your room earlier.”
“Clark …”
“I’m just kidding,” he said. “We can call the front desk and have them bring you a new keycard.”
“No, it’s not that,” she said after a brief pause. “I …”
Clark locked the door behind them and turned around to see Lois facing him with her arms crossed. But instead of looking defensive, her expression was pensive.
“Lois, what’s wrong?”
“Clark, do I really look old enough to be …” She swallowed hard. “… Jimmy’s mother?”
“I’ve already told you no about a hundred times,” he reminded her, only half-exaggerating. The remainder of the rehearsal dinner and their ensuing walk back to The Edgewater had been punctuated by her irritated sighs and his repeated reassurances that she did
not even remotely resemble a middle-aged divorcee. “That guy was a moron.”
“And maybe you’re just being nice,” she said quietly. “Do you own some sort of best-friend manual?”
He smiled a little at that. “I threw it out after the chapter on easy-going best friends.”
Lois’ voice caught as she looked up at him. “I’m serious. I know I’ve been somewhat … judgmental … about them getting married so fast, but … Jimmy found the love of his life when he wasn’t even looking … Just look at him and Sarah, Clark. Their relationship is so easy, so simple …” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “It’s love.”
“Lois …”
“They’re so happy,” she continued. “So young … and I’m his mother.”
“You are
not his mother,” Clark said firmly.
“Clark, do you ever wonder if you’re …”
He looked into her deep brown eyes. “You’re what?”
“Doomed to end up alone?” she practically whispered.
Clark couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could Lois, of all people, feel that way? She was beautiful … successful … and still talking.
“It just seems that it’s so easy for some people,” she was saying, “but not for me.” She looked at the floor. “Maybe I am old and unattractive. Maybe I’m just kidding myself.”
“Lois,” he said slowly, “you’re crazy to think that you’re going to end up alone.”
“Am I?” she asked. “Superman rejected me, Lex … Well, you know what happened with Lex … and sometimes it seems like I’ve put every other man in Metropolis behind bars.” After a moment, she sighed, and then patted Clark’s chest. “I’m sorry, Clark … I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her. “Weddings have a tendency to bring out strong emotions.”
“Thank you for not saying the crazy,” Lois said with a self-deprecating laugh. “Do you want to go downstairs? Walk along the waterfront or something?”
“Sure,” Clark said as she began to walk away. “But Lois, one thing …”
“Yeah?”
“That manual … I’m pretty sure it says to never lie to your best friend.”
She turned around slowly. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” He paused, working up his nerve as she stood before him, looking magnificent in a fitted black dress with tiny black straps and a single strand of pearls. “And Lois, you are
very beautiful.”
“What?” A shaky laugh escaped. “Now who’s bringing the crazy?”
Clark shook his head as he stepped toward her. “I’m very serious,” he said. “And you can be mad at me tomorrow for saying this, but tonight … Just know that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life.”
*********************************************
Clark was having that dream again.
The really good one – the kind of dream that he only had on the rare night where uninterrupted sleep was more than a fleeting thought as he dashed from crisis to crisis across the globe.
The one where he woke up with his heart pounding in his chest, the memory of Lois burned into his mind and the feel of her lips against his and the smell of her skin so real that it he could barely breathe.
He lay there, barely awake, a small smile playing about his lips.
Some nights, like last night, the fantasy seemed so … real.
The sound of the door connecting his room with Jimmy’s opening jarred him from his thoughts – had he forgotten to lock it when he went to talk to Jimmy before the rehearsal dinner? – and panicked, he fumbled for his glasses.
His expression was incredulous as his young friend bounded in, dressed in the same outfit he had worn to the rehearsal dinner, minus the tie.
“Jimmy, it’s 5:30 a.m.! Have you even been to bed yet?”
His question was met with a quick shake of the head. “I know there was tequila … and I think there was a ferry, and …”
“Jimmy!” Clark cut him off with a rueful shake of his head. “You have to get some sleep! You’re getting married today!”
The younger man’s expression was ecstatic. “I’m getting married today!”
Clark couldn’t help smiling. “You are!”
“Woo hoo!” Jimmy crowed, exuberantly shaking his fists. “I’m getting married today!”
He turned and dashed out the door, in his excitement slamming it a little louder than necessary at such an hour.
Before Clark could react, the covers were thrown back.
“Do you think he knew I was here?” Lois asked breathlessly.
To be continued …
