Green-Eyed Monster TOC Part 7 Part 8A few minutes earlier while Clark was opening the front door to his parents' café, he had stopped and turned to Lois. He should really try and warn her that she was about to meet his parents. Try again, that was.
“There’s something you ought to know about the couple who owns the café…” Clark started to say before she interrupted him again. This was the third time he had tried to warn her about his relationship with the café owners. And the third time she had either changed the topic or interrupted him.
“What? Are they some crazy city people? Is she covered with tattoos and he’s into cross-dressing? Whatever it is, Clark, I can handle it,” she snapped.
If she wanted to ‘handle it’… Clark shrugged. “OK. But don’t say I didn’t warn you…” He finally conceded defeat. If the Fates didn’t want Lois to know, fine, so be it.
You’re going to regret this decision.Yeah, probably, he agreed with himself, but he
had tried to warn her.
Clark opened the door and Lois gasped with pleasure, “Wow! Clark, this place is great.”
Why? Why did she keep saying all the right things? Making him like her even more.
You mean like those guesses about your parents?He laughed softly to himself, trying to wipe the image of his Mom as the tattooed lady and his Dad dressed like Eleanor Roosevelt from his mind. No matter what, Lois sure knew how to keep him on his toes.
Keep telling yourself that, Kent, said his conscience.
If I remember correctly, this woman knocks you off your toes.“Thank you,” said his Mom to Lois’s compliment as she entered the dining room. She took off her apron and dropped it on a chair. His Dad followed her into the room.
Clark decided to try one more time. “Lois, this is Martha and Jonathan, my…”
“The ‘M’ and ‘J’ from MJ’s of course!” Lois said, interrupting him once more.
Clark threw up his hands. He had tried. She couldn’t fault him for that.
Of course she could, Kent, and she will.Maybe it would teach her to stop interrupting him, though. Clark nodded.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” said his Dad.
Oh, no. Here it comes… Wait for it…Clark knew Lois would slap him across the face with her glare, so he avoided looking at her.
“You’ve been talking about me, Clark?”
He smiled, sheepishly. How could he not talk about her? She was all he could think about.
His Mom hugged her, whispering, “Only good things, dear.”
Clark could see Lois melt in his Mom’s embrace and something inside of him seemed to turn off the gravity.
“Clark, can I get your help in the kitchen, son?” said his father.
Oops.Dad had caught him floating. He would never hear the end of it. Clark followed his Dad into the kitchen, but his mind and ears remained with the women in the dining room.
“
Oh, Martha! Can I adopt you?” gushed Lois as soon as they were out of the room.
“
I would like that.”
Clark grinned at his Dad. “They like each other.”
“Clark. Focus. Look at me. Listen to me.”
He shook his head and stopped listening to and watching the activity in the other room. “Yeah, Dad?”
“You really like this girl, don’t you?”
Clark cleared his throat. “We’re only friends, Dad.”
His Dad raised a brow.
“Lois recently got burned by Claude. She’s not ready to trust again yet. I can wait.”
“
Blue is definitely his color,” he heard Lois saying in the other room. Were they talking about him?
“Clark! Focus!”
Clark’s attention snapped back to his Dad, chagrined. “Sorry.”
“I know you like Lois, Clark, but she makes you lose control. I don’t know if you need someone in your life who distracts you like that, especially now that you’re about to go public,” said his father.
“Or I could have everything I’ve ever dreamed about. A way to put my skills to good use to actually help people, while also having someone with whom to share my life.”
His Dad’s brow went up again. “And you think she could be the one?”
Yes! Yes! Oh, God, yes!Clark shrugged. “I don’t know, Dad. We’re just friends. Maybe someday if I can get her to notice me as a man, instead of as her favorite punching bag…” He smiled sheepishly.
“You floated in there, son,” his Dad reminded him.
Clark looked down. “I know. I was just so happy that Lois liked you guys. I think she’s in love with Mom.” He chuckled and could hear Lois laughing, full belly laughing, in the other room. He could hear it without having to use his super hearing. She had never laughed like that around him. He wondered if they were still talking about him. Had his Mom being telling her stories about him?
“Clark! Focus! You’re floating again.”
Clark dropped to the ground. “Sorry. Lois seems to have control of my gravity switch today. I’m so excited to see her away from the store, to hear her having a good time. She has had it so rough recently. First with Claude, then my botched rescue, and then those guys from the future.”
His father gave him a stern look. “Botched rescue?”
Eeeps! You hadn’t told your folks about that!Clark glanced down at his feet on the floor. “Yeah. I rescued her a couple of weeks ago from being hit by a car and she passed out, so I took her back to her apartment. The next day she was all freaked out about how she got home. It was one of the main reasons I wanted the new suit. So I don’t have to hide anymore.”
“You aren’t going public just so you can admit to your girl that you are the one who brought her home that night, are you, son?” His Dad appeared concerned.
“It’s not the only reason, Dad.” His cheeks felt warm at his father’s ‘your girl’ remark. Lois was certainly
not ‘his girl,’ no matter how much he wanted her to be. “I want to be able to help more during the day. I know I could have stopped that train wreck outside of Chicago last week and helped with search and rescue after the earthquake in Peru. Working only at night, hiding in the shadows, makes me feel a bit like a coward. I don’t like that feeling. There is so much more I could be doing to help.”
“Your plate is already quite full, Clark. What if this interferes with one of your other jobs? If you fly off too often, you could get fired.”
Clark sighed. That was one of his biggest fears, outside of everyone learning that he wasn’t originally from Earth. “Don’t worry, Dad. I will get the money for the restaurant lease. It’s still my number one priority.” He shook his head. He had moved back home to save on rent and was working three jobs. The restaurant was packed every night and yet it still wasn’t enough. Luthor had threatened to raise the lease again. Clark knew there was going to be a day when they weren’t going to be able to come up with the funds. It was inevitable and that thought crushed him.
His Dad set a hand on Clark’s shoulder. “If we fail, we fail, son. It won’t be because you didn’t try hard enough. Your mother and I know that. We need to figure out another way to raise the money. I hate that you don’t have a life because of us, especially…” His father glanced toward the dining room. “… with you so close to accomplishing your dreams.”
Clark could hear his mother laughing now. The women seemed to have really hit it off.
“
Of course, dear. No hope. No hope whatsoever. I’m so glad he found you,” his Mom murmured.
What the…? He had found her? Mom?! What were they talking about?
Clark turned his head to look through the wall at them. His Mom was hugging Lois again and they were both laughing.
His Mom let go of Lois and wiped tears out of her eyes. “
You are a riot, Lois. Clark needs to laugh more.”
Clark rolled his eyes.
Thanks, Mom, just what Lois needs to hear: another one of my flaws.His father took a pitcher of iced tea out of the walk-in. “Come on, son. The women folk are probably wondering what happened to us. Oh, wait. Can you cut up a lemon?”
Clark shrugged. It sounded like they hadn’t even noticed they were gone. Quickly Clark grabbed a lemon from the walk-in and cut it into wedges.
Lois gasped. “
No! No! No! We can’t tell Clark that story. He’d probably believe it was true.”
What the…? What story? What had he missed?
His Mom was laughing and laughing uncontrollably. “
You’re right about that, Lois.”
What was so funny? Were they laughing at him? His Mom wouldn’t do that.
“Just be careful, Clark. And keep your feet on the ground,” his Dad reminded him.
“Yes, sir.” He grinned, dropping the lemon wedges into the tea. “We need to get back in there, Dad.”
When they returned to the dining room, Clark gazed between them with a puzzled expression which, for some reason, made his Mom laugh harder.
His Mom knew he hadn’t heard what they were talking about and she thought that was funny? Thanks, Mom.“I was just telling Martha of my visitors from the future,” Lois explained.
Clark’s gaze shot to his Mom’s with a curious expression. Would she tell him the story later? Somehow, he doubted it.
His Mom found her voice. “Oh, Clark, honey, I finished your new suit and laid it on your bed.”
My new secret identity suit? Mom, not in front of Lois!“Mom!” Clark stammered, his face flushed.
Lois turned to him, her eyes wide and her face pink. “Mom?!”
Oh, crap. You really stepped into it now, Kent.Clark cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly.
Lois grabbed his arm. “Can I speak to you alone, Clark?”
His Mom picked up her apron. “I should check on the chicken. Come on, Jonathan.” She was still chuckling. His Dad looked as perplexed as Clark felt.
After his parents had left the room, Clark turned his full attention to Lois. “Yes, Lois, these are my folks. Martha and Jonathan
Kent. I tried to warn you.”
Lois’s tongue slid over her front teeth. Not a good sign. “Tried?” she growled, her brow rising as she spoke.
Yes, Lois, TRIED.Clark pressed his lips together. She seemed even sexier when she was angry at him. “You said you could handle anything…”
Maybe it was because anger is the emotion Lois uses most often with you. Wonder why that is?Lois slapped him on the chest. “Ow! Clark! Do you have armor plating under that shirt?” She looked down at her hand in surprise.
Clark took her sore hand in his and notched down his glasses. It wasn’t broken. Thank goodness. “Shall I get you an ice pack?” He wanted to blow cool air onto her hand, but she wouldn’t understand that.
Kent, she’s never going to accept the strangeness that is you.She tugged her hand out of his and stared up into his eyes. “No, I’ll be fine.”
Before he could step away, her sore hand was touching his chest again. Softly, gently, examining, probing.
Does she know what she’s doing to you? Keep your feet on the floor!Clark swallowed. “Whatcha doing, Lois?”
“You aren’t a robot.” It wasn’t a question.
He cleared his throat. “Flesh and blood.”
“Those must be some muscles…” Lois shook her head and stepped away from him, removing her hand.
Clark tried for nonchalance. “I work out.” Kind of. Sort of. Not really.
You did lift that car off that policeman last week. You did do 4000 push-ups before you took your shower this morning.Lois raised a brow. “When do you find the time?”
He smiled sheepishly. “I mentioned I wasn’t sleeping well.”
Liar! You’re not sleeping well because she keeps invading your dreams, not because you are working out.Lois pointed her index finger at him and looked like she was going to poke him with it, before she changed her mind and just pointed. “You should have told me they were your parents, Clark.”
“I tried. You kept interrupting me,” he explained.
“You didn’t try hard enough, big boy. Perhaps instead of saying ‘Lois, this is Martha and Jonathan…’ you could have said, ‘Lois, these are my parents, Martha and Jonathan.”
Oh, yeah. That would have been better. Oops.She put a hand to her face. “What must your mother think of me?”
Clark raised a brow. “Why?”
“Because…” Lois glanced at him and swallowed what she was going to say, coughing. “No reason.”
They
had been talking about him. Clark couldn’t stop the smile from creeping onto his lips. He wondered what she had said. Something good, he hoped.
In your dreams, Flyboy.Clark shrugged. “What’s done is done, Lois. We can’t go into the past and fix it.”
Lois pressed her lips together. “Well, if my time-traveling suitor stops by, I’ll have him take me back in time to erase this humiliation from my life.”
She better not. Wait.
Humiliation?“How have you been humiliated, Lois?” Clark inquired.
“I told your Mom…” started Lois, but then she pressed her lips together.
He raised his brow. “You told my Mom what, exactly, Lois?”
“Girl stuff,” Lois replied vaguely.
“Girl stuff?”
“Stuff I wouldn’t have said if I knew she was your Mom,” she finally admitted.
Had she said something about herself that she wouldn’t want
his mother to find out? What would it matter, if they were just friends? Clark smiled. Or did she tell his Mom something about how she felt about him? Good stuff?
Feet on the ground, Kent!Lois sneered at his smile and lowered her growling voice, “Who invites his parents to join him on a first date, Clark?”
Clark grabbed the back of a chair, pulling himself to the floor. “A first date, Lois?” He grinned. “I distinctly remember someone telling me that this ‘wasn’t a date’ on several occasions. Perhaps I should have my hearing checked.”
Lois grumbled in frustration.
Clark let go of the chair and took hold of her hands. “Trust me, Lois, if I had known this was a real first date, I wouldn’t have brought you to meet my folks, great as they are.”
Lois looking into his eyes and it felt like she delved into his soul. The air in the dining room must have disappeared, because suddenly he realized he was holding his breath. Would it be so wrong to kiss her? Would he scare her away forever?
He let go of one of her hands and cupped her jaw with his palm. He could hear her heart beating fast and realized she was holding her breath, too. Was it in anticipation…
Or in fear?Was he moving too fast? This wasn’t even technically a date.
“
Clark,” he could hear his Mom calling to him.
He should move. He couldn’t move or this moment would be lost. When he was with Lois time seemed to slow, he could feel the length of every second and they never dragged. No wonder that first kiss felt longer than it was.
“
So what did you learn about Lois?” he heard his father ask his Mom.
“
Stuff.” He heard his Mom pat his Dad’s cheek. “
I’ll tell you when I know Clark isn’t listening. She told me all about her future husband.”
What?! Clark turned his head towards the kitchen and in doing so broke his gaze with Lois.
She stepped away from him and went to look at the paintings on the wall.
Damn! Damn! Damn!
You know what they say happened to that curious cat, Kent.That moment, that opportunity was lost. He would make sure it wasn’t gone forever.
Tempus told Lois about her future husband? His green-eyed monster roared.
Who is Lois destined to marry?His Mom was right. He didn’t want to know. His newly mended heart cracked. No wonder Lois was humiliated. She liked him, he now knew that to be true – even if she kept denying it to herself. If she didn’t like him she would have stepped away from him sooner. She wouldn’t have been repeating to herself the other day that he was ‘just a friend.’ But she told his Mom she was fated to marry another. Maybe she thought this future husband was just a lark. But Perry thought those men from the future were the real deal. And if they had told Lois the truth about this future husband of hers…
Could Clark continue to just be friends with Lois? To be in her life but see her with another? Kiss another? Love another? Marry another? Grow round with child belonging to another? Pain infused him as he realized how much he really cared for Lois. How much he loved her.
Clark wanted to fly off and scream in the agony of it all, but he couldn’t do that to Lois. If he left now, she would
never forgive him, never speak to him again. He would be lower than the slime under Claude’s toes in her books. So, Clark would stand by her side no matter what. Maybe her future wasn’t set in stone. There was always the chance that he could change the future. He might still be able to win Lois’s heart away from this other man. He took hold of this tiny bit of hope in his hands. With careful tending he would grow this hope, making it flower into reality.
***
Clark gripped the steering wheel of his Dad’s old truck. His mind was still spinning. Lois was from Smallville.
Smallville! His parents’ hometown. Where he had lived for the first two years after his folks had found him. She had lived there. Grew up there. Went to elementary school and high school there. The Lanes had moved to Smallville shortly after the Kents had moved away. Lois had also been a reporter. OK, it had been a human interest reporter for the
Smallville Post, but still a reporter. His dream job. No wonder she hadn’t said anything when he had told her about his dream career. It had been hers, too.
“Clark,” Lois’s voice interrupted these thoughts as she set a gentle hand on his arm. “You seem a thousand miles away.”
“I still can’t believe you’re from Smallville,” he replied.
“I know. And I can’t believe Maisie works in your parents’ café. The diner practically closed down when she left Smallville after Carl died. Small world, huh?”
“I keep thinking, if we hadn’t lost the farm, if we had stayed in Smallville, you and I might have gone to school together.” Clark shook his head. It was those Fates again, having fun at his expense.
“Oh? Were you thinking that we could have been high school sweethearts, Clark?” Lois teased. She chuckled when he blushed.
Yes, he had indeed had those very thoughts.
“You would have been some hot stuff football hero.” Lois nudged his arm with another chuckle.
Hot stuff, huh? Clark liked the direction in which her thoughts were heading.
She was still chuckling. “You wouldn’t have given this chess club president a second glance, Clark. Oh, no. You would have dated some blonde cheerleader, I’m sure. Like Lana Lang. Yep, that I can see. You wouldn’t have given me a second glance.”
As he stopped at a red light, Clark looked over at Lois. She
knew Lana? Of course, Lois did. He met Lana when she had come to Metropolis for an internship the summer after he had graduated from high school. He was working full time for the café then. They had had a whirlwind romance until she had crushed his heart.
Lana never thought he had any potential. Those were her exact words. “Clark Kent, I just can’t see you going anywhere in life. You aren’t worth my time or the effort. You have no potential.” Those words still smarted. Two days before this announcement they had talked about becoming intimate – about going ‘all the way’. Clark had thought that he could trust Lana. He had even decided to share with her some of his special skills. He had planned on flying her away for a romantic weekend; instead, Lana broke up with him. Luckily, it was before he had revealed his true self to her. He had had trouble opening up with other women since then.
You were a fool then and you’re a fool now, Kent. Lois will break your heart and stomp on your dreams, just like Lana did.“I’m not sure about that,” Clark said with a smile. He couldn’t imagine never noticing Lois.
He could easily picture this other life, now. Football hero. Scholarship to Kansas State or MidWest. Journalism career. Star reporter at the
Metropolis Star or other big newspaper. Clark sighed. Married to his high school sweetheart and writing partner, Lois Lane. Thinking about this other possible life made him more depressed than ever.
“You can’t think about what might have been,” Lois murmured as if she were reading his thoughts.
The light turned green and the truck lurched forward. “Of all those crazy predictions of my future that Tempus told me, the one that hurt the most to hear was that in the other dimension all my hopes and dreams came true. I was a top investigative reporter married to…” Her voice faded away as she stopped speaking. She turned to look at Clark and then shook her head.
“Married to… who?” Clark should have asked, but didn’t. He didn’t want to know. It wouldn’t help this dull ache he had developed in his chest before dinner when he overheard his Mom tell his Dad that Lois knew of her future husband. He cleared his throat, knowing he should say something. “So this Tempus fellow came back in time to tell you who were going to marry?”
Please! Please, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.“I know. Crazy, huh?” She said with less conviction than she had the last time she spoke of this man from the future. Was she starting to believe him? “Actually he was trying to stop me from marrying him.”
“Well, that explains his marriage proposal,” replied Clark. Then he got the strangest thought.
Why? Was Lois’s future husband good and Tempus bad like had assumed? But what if Lois’s future husband was a bad man, then maybe Tempus was a good guy after all? The thought of this man from the future who proposed to Lois as good made Clark’s stomach turn. Try as he might, he could not think of that man as good.
“Clark, I don’t want to talk of that man, okay?”
He smiled at her. “Fine by me.”
Lois touched his arm again. Caressed it was a more accurate description. Her touch sent streams of electricity down his arm. “It’s still early. Do you want to come in? I rented the
Lethal Weapon movies yesterday.”
Clark’s heart leapt. She wanted to spend more time with him.
When he didn’t answer right away, she continued, “Or are you exhausted? And just want to crash? You did do an all-nighter at the store last night.”
“No, I’m fine,” he said suppressing the urge to yawn. “That sounds like fun.”
As Clark turned down the street where she lived, he noticed not a single free space to park.
No! No! No! He sighed. The Fates were teasing him again. Giving him what he wanted and then yanking it away. “Let me know if you see a place where I can park?”
Lois grinned. “I can do you one better,” she said reaching into her purse. “My apartment comes with a parking spot and since I don’t have a car…” She pulled out a garage clicker.
Never had he wanted to kiss her more. Yippee! Alone in Lois’s apartment, in the dark, cuddled up on the couch. Now, that was his idea of a date. He felt like he was getting his chance to thumb his nose at those darn Fates that had been plaguing him lately. Instead he looked at her and grinned as the words, “
Lois, I love you!” rushed through his mind and rammed against his teeth, begging to be released.
***
Forty-five minutes later Lois and Clark sat on her futon couch and the flickering pictures of her favorite Mel Gibson movie flashed in front of her eyes. Lois sat next to Clark, their arms brushed up against one another.
“This is my favorite part,” murmured Lois.
When Clark didn’t respond she glanced over at him. Although still sitting up, his head had rolled off to the side in sleep.
Lois grinned her evil grin and chuckled. Step one: complete.
Time for the unveiling.Lois set down her popcorn bowl on the coffee table and moved closer to Clark. She didn’t want to stop or pause the movie in case the change in sound disturbed him. She picked up his arm and draped it over her shoulder, allowing her to lean against his chest. She permitted herself a couple of minutes of snuggling with him to make sure the movement hadn’t woken him up before she made her next move. Step two: complete.
Slowly, with both hands, she set her fingers on the rims of Clark’s glasses. Gently and carefully, Lois pulled the offending frames from his face. Her heart beat quickened as she saw his true face for the first time. With his glasses Clark had a boyish, slightly nerdy, but still charming appeal, but now… Wow! Transformation complete! Gone was the boyish appeal, gone was Mr. Charming. Hello, handsome GQ model!
Clark needed to rid himself from those horrible glasses so everyone could see…
No! If everyone else knew how incredibly gorgeous Clark truly is without his glasses, Lois, you’ll be fighting women off your man forever.Lois shook her head. She would keep Clark’s good looks her own personal secret. She set down the glasses on her side table and leaned against his chiseled chest, resisting the urge to unbutton some of those buttons to look at what must be six-pack abs.
Abs of steel, you mean, thought her horny side as Lois stretched her hand that had slapped his chest earlier.
She returned her gaze to his face, basking in the perfection that was Clark Kent. All that was missing were those dreamy dark pools staring back at her. Those soft lips pressing against hers. Suddenly, her heart went into overdrive. Lois realized she had seen Clark without his glasses before. On the rainy night of the Claude monster, when Clark had rescued her from being run over by those oncoming headlights.
*** End of Part 8 *** Part 9 Comments
