Clark landed at the door of the Regency Rooms.
He strolled into the foyer in his steady Superman stride.
The security guards at the door to the ballroom smiled with delight and gestured for him to enter.
He did.
The huge, majestic room was bustling with people.
Music from the band augmented the exuberant atmosphere. The dance floor was crowded with couples having a good time.
Where was Lois?
Was she having a good time?
Had she given him one thought?
Then he saw her.
On the dance floor.
In the arms of the coffee boy.
Part 3
9:29pm
Lois stiffened against the clammy pressure of Jed Montgomery's hand as he tried to cinch her closer to his body.
Who would have thought that he was not only a libido-infested ego masquerading as a man, but the son of Calvin Montgomery masquerading as a coffee boy?
He had converged on her at the announcement of the first set, garishly informing her that he had earmarked his first dance for her.
Thankfully, it had been before Jimmy had bolted to follow up his over-dinner appraisals of the young women present, so Lois had been able to inform Jed Montgomery that she had earmarked *her* first dance for her date.
But, as she had realised the moment she'd recognised the coffee boy across the room and inquired as to his identity, this was too good an opportunity to pass up. There had to be a reason behind Calvin Montgomery's sudden, temporary, and unpublicised move to Metropolis. And there had to be a reason why the heir to the second biggest inheritance in the United States was working in a coffee booth on the ground floor of the Daily Planet building.
Relying on his persistence, she had sidestepped his next two approaches before finally allowing him to engulf her in his clunky grip.
Within moments, she'd made a discovery - although it was more a confirmation than a discovery. Jed Montgomery's favourite topic was Jed Montgomery.
That could be advantageous - assuming she could bite her tongue long enough to loosen his.
What wasn't so promising was the realisation that his preoccupation with himself stretched only as far as which fashion labels best suited his tall elegant frame.
They were his words; Lois would have described him as 'gangly'. Although the longer she listened to his blather, the closer her rating slipped to 'puny'.
And which hair products he had sampled, detailing the relative merits of each one.
Lois idly wondered how much time, money, and effort it took to make his hair look as if he had just tumbled from bed after a rough night.
And whether ties with floral designs and pastel colours were indicative of a man being on the cutting edge of style or a sign that his assessment of the prevailing winds of fashion was fatally flawed.
Lois let him talk, murmuring only occasional responses. Not that Jed seemed to notice her ennui; he simply kept talking, secure in his belief that he was both rivetingly interesting and accurately informed.
Her thoughts turned to Clark.
What had he been planning for them tonight?
Probably not something as exclusive as this charity ball.
Probably a quiet meal somewhere. Just the two of them.
But even if he'd been going to suggest a pizza and video in his apartment, it would have been preferable to being lugged around the dance floor by a trumpeting show pony.
Lois pinned her eyes to the point of Jed's shoulder. Perhaps it would be more bearable if her mind whisked her away. Imagine if she were dancing with ...
Clark.
Yes.
No.
No imagination on earth could be powerful enough to trick her into believing she was dancing with Clark.
The coffee boy's voice was whiny and self-absorbed. Nothing like Clark's warm tones - filled with humour or compassion or understanding or gentle teasing.
His scent was cloying. Nothing like Clark's subtle aroma that always reminded her of the freshness of a new morning tinged with a hint of sweet spice.
His grip was too tight. His long fingers reminded her of a birdcage, hemming her in. Nothing like Clark's light hand resting on her back - a touch that felt like freedom ... but safety, too.
No amount of imagination was ever going to transform Jed Montgomery into Clark Kent.
Lois glanced into the coffee boy's face, checking to see if he had moved on to any topic that could be relevant to a story.
No - he hadn't.
But he did catch her eye. And his mouth ground to a halt mid-sentence, cutting off his verbose description of his designer socks.
"So, Jed," Lois said, deftly manoeuvring into the crack of silence left in the wake of his sudden suspicion that his dance partner hadn't been hanging on his every word. "Why is a young man like you working at a coffee booth?"
"Because my father has archaic ideas about 'starting at the bottom'," Jed replied without hesitation. "He threatened to halve my allowance unless I stick it out for three months." He winked, making Lois want to recoil. "But there are compensations - other than keeping my full allowance, of course, which is imperative to the proper maintenance of my image. I've uncovered a lot of very sophisticated, very beautiful women who work in that building."
"Do you tell them you're Jed Montgomery?" Lois asked, wondering how she had managed to miss that piece of information when she'd been researching his father.
"No," he said. "My father insisted that I use my middle name and my mother's maiden name. But it doesn't matter. I don't need to flaunt my father's billions in order to attract any woman I want."
"Where *is* your father tonight? I heard he was going to be here."
"Nah," Jed drawled. "He bought some tickets because it's for charity. But he refuses to go out socially unless my mother accompanies him. She flew home yesterday to be with her mother who is recovering from minor surgery."
"Why move to Metropolis?" Lois asked. "I'm sure there must be coffee shops on the West Coast."
"He wanted to take me out of my comfort zone," Jed said, rolling eyes inside lashes that looked artificially blackened. "He wanted me to 'make my own way'. Of course, with my looks and contemporary fashion sense, it was inevitable I would make a big splash in this sleepy old town."
Lois studied the young face, looking for even the slightest suggestion that he was less than serious. There was nothing. She hauled her thoughts back to the story. As tempting as it was to take Jed Montgomery down a peg or two, the story had to come first. "But that doesn't explain why your father had to come," she said. "I'm sure he is an extremely busy man."
"He has these quaint little philosophies," Jed said airily. "Like - if something is important to him, he always does it himself. So, he's here, subjecting me to daily interrogation in his mission to ensure that I experience a regular job."
"Surely a man with your father's contacts could make good use of his time here," Lois said casually. "A big business deal perhaps? Or a company takeover?"
"Nope," Jed said. "Nothing like that. All this disruption to our lives is simply his ridiculous overreaction to my contention that I need the full-time services of a grooming specialist and fashion consultant." He sighed. "Sometimes old people have such warped understanding of what is important."
"Perhaps he's trying to teach you a valuable lesson," Lois said tightly.
Jed's face twisted to a wide smirk. He bent lower, almost asphyxiating her with the stench of his cologne as he whispered in her ear, "I could teach *you* some lessons later, sweetheart."
Lois lurched from his hold. He grappled for her. His feet became entangled in hers, and Lois felt herself stumble and fall.
Strong arms caught her.
Steadied her.
Unhurriedly placed her on her feet.
"Are you all right, Ms Lane?" Superman asked.
Lois nodded. "Yes," she said. "Thank you."
"Then would you care to dance?" he asked without even fleeting acknowledgement to the ungainly efforts of the coffee boy to scramble up from the floor.
"That would be nice," Lois said. "Thank you."
"Are you really all right?" Superman asked softly against her ear as they began to glide effortlessly across the dance floor.
"Yes," she said. "But you saved me from a lot more than the embarrassment of a fall."
"Oh?"
"I was in danger of suffocating in that kid's ego."
"He didn't take liberties?" Superman asked dourly.
Lois scanned the superhero's face. "Clark told you, didn't he?" she said. "About this morning and the coffee boy?"
"We decided that because Clark has to walk past the coffee booth every day, it would be better if I had a few words with the young man."
"Did you know he's Jed Montgomery, Calvin Montgomery's son?"
"No. But it doesn't matter who he is. He's not going to harass you."
Lois smiled. "Thank you," she said. "But as I told Clark, I don't need help to deal with a testosterone-overdosed teenager who is labouring under the erroneous belief that his opinions about himself are universal."
Superman nodded slightly - which Lois knew to mean that the subject was closed for now but if Jed Montgomery crossed the line, he would be dealing with something even more powerful than his own vanity.
The music stopped, and Superman's arms fell away. "Another dance?" he asked.
Lois shook her head. "I can't monopolise you," she said. "But thank you for saving me." She grinned. "Again."
"Perhaps we could have another dance later," Superman said.
"No," Lois said. "I know it's still early, but I'm tired. I think I'll go."
"I'll see you safely home," he offered.
A woman approached them, her eyes wide and fixated on Superman.
"No, thanks," Lois said. "I'll be fine. Now that you're here, all the women are going to want to dance with Superman."
Lois collected her bag, made an excuse to Jimmy - who was so engrossed in dancing with a young blonde that he probably wouldn't have noticed his date's absence - and headed for the door.
||_||
9:53pm
Clark was still watching Lois when a woman took his hand, and before he knew what was happening, they were swirling around the dance floor together.
He tried to make conversation with his dance partner as his eyes followed Lois until she had left the ballroom. He watched her through the wall as she hailed a cab and climbed in.
Was she all right?
She had passed up the opportunity to dance with Superman.
Had Jed Montgomery put her on the trail of a story? Something about his father?
Was she going to get herself into trouble?
Clark wanted to get away. He needed to make sure that Lois arrived home safely.
But, conscious that he had come to the charity ball solely for his own purposes, he felt an obligation to stay long enough to dance with a few women.
Half an hour later, he heard a distant siren, made his excuses, and departed from the warm, convivial atmosphere of the ballroom.
The siren was a fire engine heading to a small house fire.
Superman blew out the fire with one breath, checked the owners - who were a little shaken but otherwise unhurt - and lifted from the scene.
He flew to Lois's apartment.
Her window was dark. Her apartment was silent.
Where was she?
He flew to the port area and surveyed the huge imposing homes that overlooked the water. A smattering of lights flickered in a few windows, but it seemed like a quiet, uneventful night.
But when Lois Lane was on the trail of a story, anything was possible.
Slowly rotating, Clark tuned in his ears.
Then, he detected it - her heartbeat.
Coming from ...
He darted across the dark Metropolis sky.
Coming from ...
... his apartment.
What was Lois doing in *his* apartment?
He dropped to the ground, spun into his Clark clothes, and went to his door. He unlocked it and slipped inside. "Lois!" he said in surprise as he turned. "Is everything all right?"
She rose from the sofa and padded in her stockinged feet to meet him at the bottom of his short flight of stairs. "Would you believe the coffee boy is none other than Jed Montgomery, son of Calvin Montgomery?"
"He is?" Clark said. "Was he at the ball?"
"Yeah," Lois said. "That must have been what he was trying to ask me this morning."
"Were you able to find out why his father came to Metropolis?"
"According to Jed, the second richest man in America is here to teach his son some life lessons about the value of money."
"That's why he's working at the coffee booth?"
"Yeah." They sat down together on Clark's sofa. "I'll do some checking tomorrow, but my instinct is that the story is nothing more than a concerned father trying to give his son a taste of the real world." She grinned. "And I am *not* going to give Jed Montgomery the satisfaction of featuring in a Lois Lane story."
"You did a lot of research for it to peter out to nothing," Clark said, risking a brief touch to her arm. Then he remembered what she'd said about friends touching and withdrew his hand.
Silence fell. The pressure inside Clark mounted. This was his chance. He was alone with Lois. She hadn't told him why she'd come to his apartment, but her mood seemed conducive to an invitation.
Except ...
If he asked her now, and if she said 'no', she would leave to escape the resulting awkwardness.
And, Clark realised, after his day of frustration, all he really wanted was so spend some time relaxing with Lois. "Would you like a drink?"
"No, thanks," she said.
Did that mean she wasn't thirsty? Or she was about to leave? She seemed to have settled into his sofa. "You left the ball early," he said lightly. "I thought those sort of occasions extended long past midnight."
"I'd had enough," Lois said lethargically.
"Was the coffee boy giving you trouble?"
"No," Lois said. "Not once Superman arrived."
She'd danced with Superman. But she'd left him. To come here. Why was that? "Superman was there?" Clark asked, remembering to infuse his question with a sprinkling of surprise.
"Yeah. I was dancing with the Montgomery kid, and he almost tripped me up. Superman saved me from landing rather inelegantly on my butt." Her expression sharpened a little, and Clark tensed. "You told Superman what happened this morning, didn't you?"
"Yes," he admitted.
To Clark's considerable relief, Lois chuckled. "You know, I don't need either you or Superman to look after me," she said. "I can deal with a kid by myself - regardless of how zeroes he has on his allowance."
"You seemed a bit agitated when you walked in this morning," Clark said, remembering how that had been the first barricade in what had become a day of roadblocks.
"So you thought a quiet word from Superman might help?"
Clark nodded, trying to gauge her level of annoyance at his interference.
"Why didn't you talk to him yourself?" Lois asked.
"Because I thought Superman might have more impact," he replied.
"You underestimate yourself sometimes, Clark Kent," Lois said, her tone humming with something he couldn't quite identify.
"I've never thought that Clark Kent could be much like Superman."
"You don't have to be exactly like him to be just as effective," Lois said.
The atmosphere had turned serious. Sweet serious. Sucking the oxygen from the room. Clark stared at his hands as his heart thumped.
Was this his moment? Should he ask her? Now?
Lois sprang to her feet. "Let's go out," she said.
Clark slowly stood. "Out?"
"Well, I'm all dressed up, and I'm not tired at all. So ... how about some hot chocolate?"
Hot chocolate sounded ... *Anything* with Lois sounded wonderful.
"We could go to that chocolate place near Centennial Park," she said eagerly. "What do you say?"
"Great," Clark said. He paused to take in her outfit. "You look sensational, Lois. I ... Excuse me a moment." He hurried into his bedroom. As soon as he was out of her sight, he flew around the room, spinning into black pants, a black shirt, and a grey jacket. He paused in front of the mirror, torn between the need to appear normal and his eagerness to get back to Lois.
He gave up and walked out of his bedroom.
Lois put her bag on her shoulder. She smiled, and together they walked up the stairs. At the top, Clark stopped. The world outside could be teeming with distractions. Hundreds of them. All lying in wait to sabotage his efforts.
"Lois, would you go out with me?"
They both stopped as if caught in a freeze frame.
Clark frantically studied her face as he swallowed loudly. "I mean on a date," he said. "Would you go out with me on a real date? Tomorrow evening?"
"Yes," she said.
"Yes?"
"Yes."
Clark wanted to seize his prize and run, but he had to be sure there was no misunderstanding. "Lois, I'm not talking about two colleagues catching a bite to eat," he said. "I'm not talking about two friends hanging out together after work."
"I know," she said.
"And you'd still like to come?"
Her smile gave him his answer. "I've been waiting to say 'yes' all day."
Clark's mouth gaped. "You knew?"
She put her hand on his arm. "It seemed as if everything was conspiring against us having a few quiet minutes together," she said.
Realisation illuminated his mind. "Is that why you came to my apartment?"
"Yes."
She'd left Superman to come to Clark. She'd left a glitzy ball to come to him so he could ask her out for a date.
Words were suddenly proving elusive, but Clark knew his smile was shining like a beacon.
"How many attempts?" Lois asked. "Five? Six?"
"Eight," he admitted.
"Aww, Clark," she said. A spray of amusement lit her lovely brown eyes. "Starting with a coffee boy ..."
"Perry."
"Jimmy."
"Old friends."
"Phone calls."
"Stories."
"Charity balls."
"Lost emails."
Lois eyed him with laughing surprise. "You *emailed* me, asking for a date?"
"Not exactly," Clark said, shuffling to try to hide his discomfort. "I mentioned that I would *like* to ask you for a date. So you could be prepared."
"How much preparation did you think I'd need?" she asked, her smile imbued with a touch of teasing.
"I ..." He didn't want to admit he had been so scared she would refuse. "I did ask you," he said. "Well, I suggested you tell the coffee boy you were going out with me."
"I had to know it was what you really wanted," Lois said. "Not just something you did out of your overdeveloped sense of chivalry."
"Lois," he said solemnly. "I have wanted this for a long time."
She put her hand on his cheek. Her eyes hovered on his mouth, and for one wildly improbable moment, Clark thought she was going to kiss him.
She laughed, breaking them out of the moment. "This is all Jed Montgomery's fault," she said. "He messed up everything this morning, and it took us all day to get back on track."
"We were diverted by a powdered, primped, puffed-up, pompous, pubescent playboy," Clark said with feigned disgust.
Lois chuckled. "He's not here now." Her laughter faded.
Clark swallowed.
Her eyes captured his.
She reached up.
She came closer.
He watched her, mesmerised, hardly able to breathe.
She placed a kiss to his mouth.
*Directly* onto his mouth.
Her lips lingered. Only for a moment.
But that moment more than compensated for every ounce of frustration Clark had endured.
When he opened his eyes, Lois was smiling. "Come on," she said, nestling her hand in crook of his arm. "Let's go and get hot chocolate."
Clark followed her out of his apartment as joy and excitement danced across his heart.
He'd asked her! He'd *finally* asked Lois out!
And she'd said, "Yes."
Attempt nine - Success!
