Here is the conclusion to the story I started posting back in September. Sorry it took so long for me to finish, but I hope you enjoy it.
A big thanks to my BRs for their *wonderful* insight. You guys have no idea how helpful you are!
Another big thanks goes to one of my professors; if he wasn't so boring, this story probably still wouldn't be written.
*****
Part 1 **~Part 2~**
Sandra loved Antonio, but she didn’t know it. The amnesia caused her to believe that she was actually her twin sister, Darlene, and that she was in love with her therapist. Antonio had tried everything to convince Sandra otherwise, but there was no hope. Darlene was the only one who could truly convince her, but the same tragic accident that had taken Sandra’s memory, had taken Darlene’s life.
Lois sniffed and wiped the tears from her puffy, red eyes. The Ivory Tower could get to her every time.
A knock at the door pulled her back to reality. Lois stopped the tape, grabbed a tissue, and ran to the door. A man in a brown uniform was standing there with a long, silver box with a bright red bow.
“Sign here, please,” the man asked, handing her his clipboard.
Lois signed, handed back the clipboard, took the box from him with a confused but curious look on her face, and shut the door as the man walked off down the hallway.
She set the box down on the coffee table, wondering what it was and who it could be from. There were no markings on the outside of the box, and Lois hadn’t thought to ask the deliverer about it until just now.
Without another thought, curiosity got the best of her. She pulled on the bow, letting it fall to the table, and then lifted the top off the box.
The sweet smell of a dozen red roses wafted out of the box, putting a smile on Lois’ face, and she picked up the card that was tucked between the stems. She didn’t recognize the handwriting, as the florist must have written it, but the name at the bottom was unmistakable.
Dear Lois,
I had a really nice time last night, and I was hoping that we could do it again. I’d be honored if you would let me take you out to dinner. I’ll come by your apartment at seven o’clock tomorrow evening. If you aren’t there or you don’t answer the door, I’ll understand, no hard feelings. I’ll always and forever be
Your Best Friend,
Clark
She read the note four more times before the full weight of its message sank in. The word ‘date’ wasn’t written, but that’s sure what it sounded like to her. He wanted to take her out to dinner… he was picking her up… if she said no he’d understand… yep, it sounded like a pretty classic definition of a date to her.
A date? She’d been on dates before, but never with someone she knew so well. The fact that she and Clark were already so close made her a bit nervous. He knew so much about her, including her many faults. If she accepted, all bets were off. There would be no pretending to be something that she wasn’t; he would see right through any of the façades that she’d used with men in the past.
If she accepted? What was she thinking? After last night, there was no way she was going to turn him down. She’d felt something new last night. Something that she’d never felt with anyone ever before. She had to explore it. Not accepting, never knowing, would be something she’d regret for the rest of her life. She *had* to accept the date with Clark.
A date with Clark!
Her heart took over for her head and created a fluttering of excited butterflies in her stomach. Everything she’d been feeling last night was coming back to her in a flood of emotion — the giddiness, the nervousness, the anticipation, the longing.
Lois checked the clock; it was 3:06. Time couldn’t move fast enough.
* * * * *
Zach Pickett dashed down field, cutting left and right between blue and white jerseys. When he reached the open field beyond the defensive lineup, he looked back over his shoulder and caught sight of the pigskin flying toward him through the cold November air. He opened his arms to receive the pass, hugged the ball to his chest, and turned to sprint toward the goal line. 15 yards… 10… 5…. Touchdown!
“Yes!” Clark shouted, pumping his fist into the air and dropping his bag of chips to the floor. The Midwest University Cornhuskers were now beating the Metropolis University Bears 27-10 with less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter. Life was good.
Life was also very confusing. He’d spent last night’s flight home contemplating that evening’s events and wondering if it had been a mistake not to make a move, not to hold her hand, not to tell her how he felt. Sure, she didn’t feel the same way about him as he did about her, but would she feel differently if she knew how he felt?
He didn’t know, but the bottom line was that he was too afraid to find out. Her friendship meant a lot to him, and at this point he wasn’t willing to risk losing that friendship unless he knew that she felt the same way.
In the middle of his thought process, his super-hearing kicked in and he realized that someone was climbing the steps outside his apartment. Sure enough, a few seconds later there was a knock on his door and as he walked up the stairs to open it, the person on the other side was walking down the stairs away from it.
When he reached the front door, he pulled it open and nearly kicked the brown package that had been leaned up against it. With a furrowed brow, he leaned over, picked it up, and walked back into his apartment, closing the door behind him.
It was a plain brown box with a Metropolis postmark, but no return address. The curiosity was too much for him and he x-rayed the box before he could open it.
Inside was a box of chocolates.
Who would send him a box of chocolates? Why would someone send him a box of chocolates?
Clark tore the paper off the box at super-speed and realized that there was an envelope taped to the top of the candy box with his name written in simple script on the outside. He removed the note from inside and began to read.
Dear Clark,
I had a really nice time last night, and I was hoping that we could do it again. If you would like to go out to dinner, come by my apartment at seven o’clock tomorrow evening. If you don’t come for whatever reason, I’ll understand, no hard feelings. I’ll always and forever be
Your Best Friend,
Lois
The shock was so overwhelming that Clark couldn’t think to do anything but laugh. His laughter turned into a cough as he came to the realization that he really was standing in his living room with a box of chocolates and a note from Lois asking him to go out to dinner on a Saturday night.
He read the note several more times, and then pinched himself, just to make sure, but no matter what he did, the reality never changed. He didn’t wake up because this wasn’t a dream. This was actually happening to him.
Clark looked at the clock. 3:48pm. He had just over three hours to get ready. He zipped into his bedroom and began to spin in and out of several suit and tie combinations, determined to find the perfect one.
The Midwest/Metropolis game was long forgotten.
* * * * *
The shapes were mesmerizing. Squares, lines, L’s, and Z’s shifted and rotated on the screen, fitting themselves into a solid, seamless puzzle of black and white blocks.
Tetris was doing it’s best to keep Jack’s mind occupied, but it couldn’t help but wander off, thinking about it’s latest clever trick. The roses had cost him almost a full two weeks’ salary, but it would be worth it if they fell for the cheesy notes he’d included.
If they fell for it? No, *when* they fell for it.
He had no doubt that it would work. Deep down, Lois and Clark both had a thing for each other, but she was too stubborn and he was too shy. This little push was just the thing they needed. They’d thank him for it later.
He maneuvered a line of blocks into place, pumping up his score and advancing him to the next level.
* * * * *
Clark cleared his throat, took a deep breath, raised his fist, and rapped on the door of apartment 105 three times. He could digest TNT, but knocking on Lois’ door was creating butterflies in his stomach; he forced himself to ignore them.
The door opened in a bit of a flurry, and there was Lois flashing him that big, beautiful smile of hers. “You came.”
“Of course I did, Lois.”
“Oh, it’s not that I thought you wouldn’t, it’s just that I couldn’t really believe—I mean, I thought it might be too good to—I mean, I thought that you might—well, anyway, you’re here, I’m here, that’s all that matters. Should we get going?”
“I’m ready whenever you are,” he answered, smiling at this typical display of Lois-babble that often came when she was nervous.
Was she nervous? Was she as nervous about this date as he was? Was it possible that she wanted things to work out just as badly has he did? Was she worried about what would happen to their friendship too?
He hoped so. He hoped that the butterflies were mutual. He hoped that she realized what he had known since the day he met her: they were meant for each other.
* * * * *
The music was romantic, the lighting was dim, and the food was delicious. So far it was a perfect date with a perfect man, and Lois didn’t ever want it to end. He was everything she wanted in a man and she couldn’t believe that she hadn’t seen it sooner. She felt perfectly comfortable around him. He listened to her intently as well as easily made her laugh.
What was more amazing, however, was how he challenged her. He didn’t take her pig-headed stubbornness, but he didn’t fault her for it either. He let her know what he thought about things, without any judgment or redress. He made her want to be the best person possible, and she wanted to help him do the same.
“Shall we order desert?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts.
She laughed. “Well, you know me and chocolate.”
That big, beautiful smile burst onto his face, and she couldn’t help but blush at the sight of it. She tried to hide her face as he ordered from the waiter, but she was sure he had seen. As a matter of fact, now that she thought of it, he looked like he might be blushing just a little bit too.
Could it be that he was just as smitten with her as she was with him? She knew she had felt something unexpected at the movie theater last night, but… was he as surprised about it as she was? He was the one who had asked her out, after all. Maybe he’d felt this way longer than just since last night. Was it possible that she—Lois Lane, prize-winning investigative reporter—had missed the clues?
But it didn’t matter now. No matter how long either of them had felt this way, the important thing was that they both felt it, right here, right now. She was lucky that things had turned out this way. She didn’t think she ever would have admitted her attraction to him had he not asked her out.
She smiled at him through the comfortable silence. “Clark, I just want you to know that I’m really glad that you asked me out tonight.”
* * * * *
Clark furrowed his brow and wasn’t sure what to say. “I—you—what do you mean, ‘I asked you out’?”
“What do you mean ‘What do I mean?’ I got your note. With the roses.”
“My note? I didn’t send you any note or roses. *You* sent *me* a note with a box of chocolates.”
“Chocolate?! Clark, do you honestly thing that an entire box of chocolate would get out of my sight unscathed?”
Clark laughed. “I guess not. So you didn’t send them?”
“No. And you didn’t send the roses?”
Clark thought she sounded a little disappointed. “No, but I kinda wish I had.” He felt his face getting hot, and he watched as she smiled shyly and looked down at the table. This was another side of Lois that he’d never seen before. She was coy and vulnerable, and he thought she was absolutely adorable.
But if she didn’t send the note and chocolates, then who did? And who sent her the roses?
It was probably someone from the Planet. Not many people outside of work knew them both well enough to know where they live. In fact, not many people knew that where they’d been the night before… only one person that Clark could think of.
Jack.
Clark laughed.
“What?” Lois asked.
“Only one person knew where we were and what we were doing last night.”
Clark watched as the realization washed over Lois’ face.
“Why that lying, manipulative, little—”
“Aww, come on, Lois. He got us here, didn’t he? And I’m glad he did.” Clark reached out and took her hand from across the table. “I’ve wanted to ask you out for a long time.”
“You have?”
“Yeah, I have. And I don’t think I would have had the courage to do it any time soon. Not without Jack’s help, anyway.”
“Why?” she asked with a glimmer in her eye. “Don’t they have dating in Nowheresville?”
* * * * *
“I had a really nice time tonight,” she said softly.
Clark brought his free hand up to her face and stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. “Me too.”
What a difference a weekend could make. Lois felt like she was a completely different person than she had been before the movie the night before. Her life had changed so dramatically in such a short span of time. She was now thinking of something else, someone else, other than herself and her career. Her skin tingled and her heart beat just a little bit faster at his every touch.
She was in love.
And here she was, the last place anyone — including herself — would have expected her to be. She was standing in front of her apartment door with the man of her dreams, holding his hand and looking up into his deep brown eyes.
He began to lower his face toward hers. Lois’ knees were weak with anticipation.
Their lips finally met. The kiss was soft and sweet at first, their mouths still unsure of the other’s feelings. Soon, however, the tentativeness melted away and Lois felt Clark’s strong fingers weave themselves through her hair.
She teased his lips with her tongue, and they parted, his tongue sliding past her lips as a small groan escaped from her throat. His taste and smell permeated her body and his arms were warm around her, making her feel safe and loved.
It ended slowly, neither of them wanted to let go of the other.
Clark spoke in a husky voice. “I guess I should go.”
“I guess you should,” Lois said with reluctance. She opened the door, but still hadn’t let go of his hand.
Clark gave her a small kiss on the forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”
With that, she resigned herself to going inside and closing the door. It would be a long night, waiting to see him again.
* * * * *
Jack stepped off the elevator and took a deep breath. The Daily Planet had a distinct smell of paper and ink and coffee. He never had been one to stay in one place for very long, but he had to admit that he’d kinda gotten used to things around here.
He strolled down the ramp and casually walked by Lois, whose attention was absorbed in something on her computer. “Have a good weekend, Lois?”
She looked up at him, and her expression changed when she realized who the speaker was. Jack was instantly sure that he was about to witness the infamous Mad Dog Lane.
“ A good weekend, you ask? You could say that. It certainly wasn’t what I expected, but it ended quite nicely, thank you.”
Her words were sweet, but fake. “Well,” he began cautiously, “I’m glad you had a nice time.”
“Oh, I did.” Lois turned back to her computer and Jack started to walk away until her next words stopped him in his tracks.
“By the way, thanks for the roses.”
Busted. “How did you know?”
Lois raised an eyebrow at him. “Please. I know guys who know guys. How’d you get the money for that anyway? I know how much you make here, you know.”
“Hey,” he said with a knowing smile. “I know guys who know guys too.” With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Lois shaking her head.
“That was pretty sneaky.”
Jack glanced around, looking for the speaker, and found Clark sitting at his desk.
“What was sneaky? I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Jack said innocently.
“You know, Jack, I think you’ve actually got a sensitive side.”
“Yeah, well, don’t spread that around. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
“Hey kid!” Perry bellowed from his office. “Get in here.”
Jack looked at Clark. “Duty calls.”
* * * * *
Clark watched Jack walk away and then turned his attention to Lois. She caught his eye and walked over to his desk.
“What’s that about?” Clark asked, gesturing toward Perry’s office.
“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing… of course it could have something to do with the fact that I told Perry that Jack doesn’t like Elvis. He’ll probably just make him listen to a few Elvis songs. Or maybe all of them. In chronological order.”
Clark smiled at her and she smiled back. She was relentless, that was for sure. But he loved her. And now he knew that she loved him back. And that was enough for him. For now.
THE END
