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Part 34

Part 35

Wednesday night

Clark couldn’t believe it. Actually, he could. With their luck, he should be able to predict things like this happening by now. His and Lois’s relationship seemed to be the poster child for Murphy’s Law. But, somehow, they had once again let those darn bullies – the Fates – slam them against the lockers of life.

They had been having a nice, romantic evening at Lois’s place. Superman had picked her up from her folks’ place in Smallville after Clark had received a panicked phone call from Lois when he got home from work that afternoon. He believed her exact words were, “Rescue me, please! I can’t stand another minute of this torture.”

Clark chuckled softly to himself with a shake of his head. Lois and her parents. That was a relationship that was going to take a long time to heal.

So Superman had ‘rescued’ Lois from her folks’ and brought her back to Metropolis. In reality, they had stopped by the café to pick up his Dad’s truck, because Superman was still barred from making personal appearances at Lois’s apartment. Clark sighed. If he could redo his Superman debut, he would never have attended that press conference or – or should it be and? – told Lois about his Superman persona that first night the globe had glowed.

He still didn’t know how they were going to remedy the rumors about Lois and Superman swirling out of control. Dirt Digger Weekly had a photo – Clark had no idea how they had gotten it – of Superman flying off with Lois after rescuing her from Luthor’s penthouse. And National Inquisitor had photos of her and Luthor from the man’s party – one where the billionaire’s hand was touching the bare skin of her back – and accused her of cheating on Superman with the now-dead CEO.

Superman had yet to capture The Toasters, so MPD continued to keep an eye on Lois’s apartment building. The Toasters were still wreaking havoc in Hob’s Bay, despite Clark Kent’s article – tying Luthor’s planned riverfront development and the fires, which was also causing a drop in property values in said community – that Perry had published in the most recent issue of The Planet. A hint of a smile came to his face. His first major story. He had even scooped the Metropolis Star Perry had gleefully informed him when he showed Clark his sole byline.

In fact, Clark had wanted to share the byline with Lois – his source, his partner – but she refused, telling him, “I owed you one, Clark.”

He laughed out loud.

Then she had added, “Don’t ever expect this to happen again.”

Love that woman! That fiery, seductive, hardnosed woman.

Oh, why had he rushed out to buy dinner? He hadn’t really been hungry. For food. True, her stomach had been rumbling but… If they had just skipped dinner and moved straight on to “The Chocolate Course” as Lois had longingly called dessert… Clark sighed.

Then Lois’s intercom buzzer would have caught them mid-bliss, instead of when they had sat down to eat. A slight growl escaped Clark’s lips. “Lucy Interruptus” he decided to call her sister who had chosen this night – the very evening Lois returned from Smallville – to descend on Lois without invitation. Lucy had nowhere else to stay and there was only the one bed. Clark hadn’t wanted – honestly, he hadn’t – to share it with both the Lane sisters.

Clark switched on the radio, trying to get his mind off the fact that he and Lois wouldn’t be consummating their relationship until Lois’s sister left Metropolis. And with his and Lois’s luck, that event wouldn’t happen for weeks.

Weeks? groaned that nagging voice inside his head.

Yeah, you didn’t get much of a chance to see her tonight. Flying with Lois in the warm wind was nice. You really should have taken her somewhere else besides Metropolis.

Lucy had also brought Lois’s Jeep Cherokee back from the dead. Apparently, Lucy knew people who knew people who knew how to fix cars in Kansas City. She had driven the SUV into Metropolis and needed to park it somewhere off the street, which is why he was currently in his Dad’s truck, driving it back to the café, and Lucy was eating his dinner and sleeping in – what was supposed to be – his bed with his girlfriend. Clark sighed. At least Lois had walked him out to the truck.

Lois had kissed him and told him not to worry. “We will figure out a solution somehow,” she had told him as she took the garage clicker from his truck. She seemed so upbeat. So sure of their love, he couldn’t help but be moved by her determination. He guessed she was used to her sister descending on her life and screwing it up. No wonder she had tried to foist Lucy on him when he said he wanted a sibling.

Now that I know what she’s capable of… no thank you, Lois.

“Lenny Stokes, the Soundman here. And that was I’d Really Love to See You Tonight by England Dan and John Ford Coley, dedicated by… Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. I’m rolling my eyes here, people. Has the entire state of New Troy turned to porridge?… Professor Daitch and the boys at EPRAD Center. Really? This was the best song choice you could come up with? Before that was Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler, dedicated by Lynn. Baby, I’m loving the red cape as much as everyone, but I don’t think it counts as wings. If I get any more ballad requests, I’m going to fall asleep.” To demonstrate this, Stokes yawned loudly. “Please! All right, before Bette, we had ABBA, Take a Chance on Me from Penny working late at Diticom, wishing that if Lois really isn’t your girlfriend to ‘take a chance on her.’ Okay, people, this is the last time I’m saying this and the last time I’m playing that song tonight! The other night I played it every hour of my shift! No more! Once a night for ABBA is enough.” Stokes groaned. “As you can tell, I’ve been forced to have another night of ‘Dedications to our Star Crossed Lovers’ Superman and Lois Lane. Love them. Hate them. I don’t care… I personally am in the ‘sick of them’ camp. Okay, next up for the Metropolis Outdoor Adventurers Society Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Michael McDonald. Well tough, Adventurers, the Marvin Gaye / Tammi Terrell version is better. I’m playing that one.” Clark heard the sound of papers flying into the air. “If you need me, I’ll be at the corner bar buying a pint.”

Clark chuckled. Now, there was the perfect song for him and Lois.

Now, if you could only get her to call your name, when she’s in trouble.

He rolled his eyes. The attention on Lois and Superman’s relationship was getting worse. He was almost to the point of agreeing with The Soundman.

Nope. This isn’t going away anytime soon.

He needed to do something about it and fast.

Suddenly, the music stopped and Lenny Stokes started talking again, “Hold on! You’re kidding me, right? No? Well, patch her through. Hi, there. Welcome to the Soundman Show. Is this the real Lois Lane?”

Clark pulled his truck to a stop at a red light and turned up the volume.

Please, don’t let it be Lois.

“No! Like I told your producer, this is Lucy Lane. Lu-cy! Lois’s sister.”

Clark hit his head on the steering wheel.

This couldn’t be good.

“Lois Lane’s sister? So you’ve got the inside scoop on your sister. Are you ready to tell Metropolis the real dirt on Lois? Let’s hear all about it from her inner circle. How much of a skank is your sister, really?” said Stokes. Clark could hear the man rubbing his hands together in merriment.

“My sister is not a skank!” Lucy roared into the phone. “You big bully. And she would never cheat on her boyfriend, so I wish everyone would stop saying that.”

Someone behind Clark honked their horn, and he realized the light had changed without him noticing.

“So, you’ve met her boyfriend? Met the Man in Blue?” Stokes asked Lucy.

“Sure, I’ve met him and he’s a big sweetie, a perfect gentleman, and a hunk to boot.”

A hunk? Clark Kent? She must be talking about you, Kent, because she’s never met Superman.

Lenny Stokes laughed. “Well, honey, nobody is refuting that.”

“Lucy, who are you talking to?”

Clark heard Lois’s voice in the background. Good, at least she didn’t know what her sister was up to. Unfortunately, Stokes had heard her as well.

“Is that Lois? Put her on!” he demanded.

No! No! No!

“It’s for you,” Lucy said a little too willingly.

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The car in front of Clark was stopped and he had almost forgotten to brake. This wasn’t good. He needed to pull off to the side of the road, if he was going to listen to this disaster in the making.

“Hello?” said Lois.

“This is Lenny Stokes,” announced the DJ.

“Who?” Lois asked, confusion thick in her tone.

“Lenny Stokes. The Soundman,” he clarified incredulously.

“Who?” Lois repeated, puncturing the man’s ego with that one word. Clark grinned.

Go get ‘em, Mad Dog!

“The SOUNDMAN!” Lenny Stokes shouted.

Clark chuckled and pulled the truck off to the side of the road. He could hear Lois covering up the phone.

“Who is this guy, Lucy? Is he some tabloid reporter?”

“From WMET!” screamed Stokes.

Clark guffawed. How many times had he listened to this show while driving in the truck with Lois? Did she really not know? Or was she just pulling this man’s chain.

A moment later – Lucy must have told her – Lois said, “Oh. You.” Disdain tainted her tone. “I know you. My boyfriend listens to your show.”

“Did you hear that, Metropolis? Straight from Lois Lane’s lips! Superman – himself – listens to The Soundman Show!” The DJ laughed with glee. “This ratchets Supes up two notches in my book, knowing he’s a fan of rock-n-roll!”

“Oh? You play rock-n-roll?” said Lois coldly.

Clark chortled.

Sic ‘em, Mad Dog!

Lois continued, “And who said anything about Superman?”

“You did!”

“Let’s get this out to all your listeners right now. I am not dating Superman. My boyfriend’s name is Clark Kent,” Lois told him.

Clark loved that Lois could say this and still be completely honest. “Superman” wasn’t his name. It was his title. And other than that time they went to the beach, she and Superman had never been on a date. Also correct.

“And he would appreciate it,” Lois went on, frost emanating from every word. “…if you would stop referring to Superman and me as lovers.”

“What? No mile-high club? No horizontal rumba? No hide the ‘S’?”

Clark gulped, hoping his girlfriend would hang up on the DJ. He could picture her tongue crossing her teeth and just knew she would not.

“Superman is above such base human needs,” she said through what sounded like gritted teeth.

Actually, you aren’t. You just have really bad luck.

“Really? Above?” Stokes snickered. “One hundred feet above?”

“Please, listen to yourself! Superman is a good, truthful, and just man who has come to Earth to help us. This kind of talk upsets my boyfriend and I know he’s listening…” Lois’s anger lessened to a soft plea. “Please, stop. Clark is a very jealous man.”

‘I am?’ thought Clark.

You are! Terribly jealous. Think about how you reacted to Scardino and Tempus and Luthor and all those other nameless guys who ogled your girl.

But that was before Clark knew that Lois loved him, really loved him. Before he knew that she would never leave him for someone else. That was before he realized he and Lois would be together forever. A sense of calm came over Clark, erasing the annoyance Lucy’s visit had stirred up in him. They had plenty of time. This new calmness soothed the anger that had been building up at Stokes for his nasty insinuations of Lois and the Man in Blue. Clark didn’t like what the DJ was telling his girlfriend, but he knew Lois could handle whatever verbal assault the man dealt her.

“And why is Clark jealous, Lois?” Stokes asked her. “Because he knows there’s some truth to the rumors. In the past two weeks alone, you’ve been photographed with not only Superman, but also Dan Scardino and Lex Luthor.” Lenny Stokes enjoyed berating Clark’s girlfriend way too much. “You’re an arousing, trashy brunette, just my type. Maybe I should throw my hat in the ring and ask you out.”

Lois snarled. “I’d rather…”

“Be probed by an alien?” suggested Stokes.

Clark drew in a breath and heard Lois do the same. Lenny Stokes had sources of his own. Had he been in contact with Claude?

“I hear you like that. I’m sure that could be arranged. I dedicate this song to you, Lois. Julie Brown’s Earth Girls are Easy .” The Soundman’s interruption essentially cut off whatever nasty retort with which Lois had been about to zing him.

“Clark!” He heard Lois calling to him. “Don’t do anything. He’s not worth it. Just change the channel and go home. Please, Clark. He’s not worth it.” Her voice wasn’t coming through the radio. He was hearing it with his super hearing.

Clark knew the song was meant to offend Lois, and possibly him as well, but it was so ridiculous and silly. He couldn’t help but laugh. He looked over his shoulder, switched on his turn signal and pulled out into traffic.

When the song finished, but before Lenny Stokes came back on the air, Clark pushed the button switching over to the News Radio show to which his Dad listened. Clark had had enough of The Soundman’s Show to last him a lifetime and hoped he wasn’t the only one in Metropolis who felt that way.

“This just in, just moments ago fire erupted in yet another tenement building in Hob’s Bay. What? Not only at that apartment building, but it seems someone has seen flames over at the Metro Club as well. Superman! Where are you?”

Perhaps it’s best if you stay off rock-n-roll stations, anyway, suggested his conscience as he pulled into the alley behind his parents’ café and into the parking spot where his Dad kept the truck. Two seconds later, Superman was on his way to Hob’s Bay.

***

Sunday night – Late

Lois dragged herself off her bed and over to her phone. She had to make it stop ringing.

“Hello?” she mumbled.

“Superman caught The Toasters!” Clark practically sang into her ear.

“What?” Lois stammered, sitting down at her desk chair.

“The Toasters. Superman deep-froze them. Okay, maybe just a bit of frostbite, but they’re in custody,” he told her.

She glanced over to her sister sound asleep on the futon and rubbed her eyes once more with a yawn. “That’s great, honey.” She still wasn’t fully awake.

“You’re safe.”

Lois smiled. “I’m always safe in your arms.”

“But you’re not in my arms,” Clark reminded her, lowering his voice.

“Yeah, and how long would it take you to change that?” she asked.

“Too much time,” he replied with a sigh.

Lois laughed, knowing that even one extra fraction of a second would seem too long for him. “Are you calling off my police protection?”

“I’m leaving that up to Henderson and the guys at MPD. They still feel pretty bad about letting you down the other night, so my guess is you’ll have them watching your place for another night or two. Or, at least, doing regular patrols.”

Lois knew it wasn’t only the MPD who felt guilty about her night spent tied up in Luthor’s office.

“Personally, if I had my way, I’d dip you in Kevlar,” Clark went on.

“Good thing you’ll never get your way again,” she retorted, tucking her feet underneath her and settling into her chair.

“I’ve gotten it before?” he asked dubiously.

She chuckled, resting her chin on her knees. “On occasion, I might let you slip one in just to keep you on your toes.”

“Gee, thanks, honey. I feel so loved,” Clark lovingly teased.

Good, he knew he was loved.

“It’s not your fault. You know that, right?” It was one of the things she had wanted to reassure him about tonight before her sister had so rudely interrupted them. “I’m going to do stupid things, now and again. It doesn’t make it your fault.”

“I should have…”

“You did warn me. And Jack warned me. And Perry warned me,” she plowed on and over his self-pity. “I don’t listen, Clark. I’m more stubborn than a mule. You’ve got to understand that about me. Unless you are saying something I want to hear, I might not be able to hear you. And even then…”

“I love you, Lois,” he murmured.

“Now that, that I heard,” she responded as a smile.

“You scared me.”

“I know.” That was what she had been trying to avoid by not telling him she was meeting with Luthor.

“I don’t like being scared, Lois. It’s a new feeling for me,” Clark confessed.

“So, what do you think you should do about that?” she asked, throwing the problem back to him.

“You told me it was snowing when it wasn’t, Lois.”

Lois winced. She hated when he threw her words back on her. “I’m sorry, Clark, that I broke that trust. I was trying to protect you.”

“And I was trying to make sure you really were fine after your ordeal with Luthor. You booby-trapped me with your father. That wasn’t fair,” Clark told her.

She faux gasped. “Clark Kent! You know darn well, there were no boobies involved.”

There should have been, grumbled her inner voice.

There was a pause before he chuckled. “You’re changing the subject when you know I can’t fly over there. Play nice, Lois.”

Lois grinned, naughtily. “I wish you were here.”

“With you and your sister?” Clark asked mischievously.

Clark! You naughty boy!

“No!” No, she hadn’t meant that. “I wish she was there and you were here.”

“Me, too,” he replied and Lois exhaled in relief.

Me likey big Boy Scouts, too.

“I was trying to protect you,” he continued, returning the topic back to Luthor. “I’m the invulnerable one, remember? It doesn’t do you any good if you don’t let me use it to protect you every once in a while. You’ve got to let me do that, please, Lois. It’s my best trait.”

“It’s your best trait?” she repeated back to him. Lois wanted to use the word ‘invulnerability’, but she refused to mention anything that might let her sister know Lois was also talking to Superman.

“My ability to protect you,” Clark clarified.

Sweety alert!

“Oh.” Lois smiled and decided to tease him again. “And here I thought it was your ability to love me.”

Lois sensed him smile over the phone as he admitted, “Okay, my second best trait.”

“Oh?” She couldn’t help herself. “I thought that was your ability to make me mad.”

“That’s not my second best trait, Lois. That’s my worst trait,” Clark corrected.

“But you excel at it so well!” she exclaimed, flabbergasted.

He does, doesn’t he?

Clark laughed as she hoped he would. “You promised no more running into traffic, Lois. Luthor was a semi with no brakes.”

“I know,” she whispered. Clark was certainly a Man of Steel resolve. No matter how often she tried to shift him off this topic, he returned to it.

“No more bad weather reports?” Clark requested.

Lois thought about this request. “What if something is discovered that could harm you and the bad guys that have me are making me call to you so they can hurt you?”

“That’s quite a ‘what if’ there, Lois.” He sighed. “If it makes you feel better we can come up with a key word or phrase to warn me of any possible danger, but know I’m coming for you no matter what.”

How about ‘Time for Sex’? No, that might be interpreted differently by whomever’s holding you… Hmmm. How about I call for “Super Sex God” instead of Superman?

“Even if doing so will kill you?”

Hello? Lois? Invulnerable is invulnerable!

“Lois, there’s nothing out there that can harm me…”

“You haven’t exposed yourself to everything in the world. What if eating crickets kills you?” she threw out as a possible scenario.

“Actually they are quite the delicacy in…”

Lois grimaced. “Ew! I kiss those lips?”

Clark laughed. “You certainly do and quite well at that.”

At the mention of kissing her lips, Lois started running her fingers over her mouth. It had been far too long since she had received a kiss from him. She closed her eyes and pictured Clark kissing her. Imagined him pulling off her shirt, touching down her body and kissing her bare skin. Kissing her lips again, as her bare skin mingled with his bare skin.

“Lois?”

“Hhmm?” she murmured, her foot falling off the chair and knocking her fully awake again. “Sorry.” She tried to return her focus to the conversation at hand. Her body was tingling just from thinking about him. “Huh?”

“What were you going to say to Stokes before he interrupted you?” Clark asked.

“I’d rather have electro-shock therapy.” Lois smiled. “Did you get my message?”

“Loud and clear. I will no longer be listening to Metropolis’s best rock station.” He sounded slightly disappointed. “I’ll miss the music.”

“We can buy you some CDs.”

“I like that word,” he murmured.

Lois’s brow furrowed. What was he talking about? “Which word?”

“We,” he replied simply. Yet his voice saying that one word made Lois’s body tingle again.

“I like it too, Cowboy.”

***

Thursday morning

Clark looked down at the thin envelope in his hand, again. District Attorney’s Office, Investigative Division, Mid-Town branch. He rarely, if ever, delivered packages to the District Attorney’s Office. It wasn’t on his usual route, but someone down at MDS headquarters said that he had been personally requested as deliveryman. Seeing who the package was for, Mayson Drake, and from, Mayson Drake, he wasn’t overly surprised. He had felt some chemistry when they had re-met the day of the break-in and flattered when he had overheard her tell Lois that she had had a crush on him in high school, but he wasn’t interested in a relationship with Mayson. Clark loved Lois. No one could ever change that.

After looking at the map and also asking directions from the security desk in the lobby, Clark finally found the correct office. He opened the door and saw a series of cubicles.

Mayson’s was one of the ones in front. She instantly jumped to her feet upon seeing him, flushing slightly. “Is that for me?”

She knows it is. Is she blushing at being so obvious or because of the lie?

“Hi, Mayson,” Clark said cheerfully, pretending he didn’t know she had requested him personally. She was a nice woman and he wouldn’t mind being friends – just friends – with her. “Yes, it is. Can you sign here?”

Mayson signed his log and stared into his face a moment. “Can I walk you back to your truck?”

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could say that is the first time you’ve heard that line before? What is it about the MDS uniform that just caused women’s hearts to race all over Metropolis?

It couldn’t just be the shorts because Clark had on the winter uniform: long pants and long sleeve shirt to hide the Superman suit he had on underneath. He did miss those shorts though.

“Uh… Sure, if you want to…” he agreed with a slight stammer. He was trying to be polite. Mayson was an old friend. But this whole situation was beginning to feel like a set-up… and not the good kind.

Mayson brought the package she had had him deliver to her along with her, opening it as she indicated the direction towards the elevator. “I’ve known you a long time, Clark. And despite it being almost ten years since graduation and since I’ve really seen you, I know in basics you’re still the same man.”

What is she talking about?

Inside the elevator Mayson handed him the contents of the envelope. “First thing Monday morning, this was filed with my division.”

Clark read through the pages carefully. From what he could understand through all the legalese, Tempus had requested an investigation into Clark Kent and his padded paycheck. “Are you going to have me arrested, Mayson?”

If so, is she warning you to head out of town? If not, what is she up to?

“Lois said you were in debt. Can you tell me what for?” she asked.

Lois told her what?

“I’m not in debt,” he replied.

“Then why all the jobs? Why the extra money in your paycheck?” Mayson inquired, staring at him. “Lois told me that you worked four jobs.”

Lois told her what? 1 – MDS. 2 – Daily Books. 3 – MJ’s Café. 4 - ?

Then a light went on. Superman!

That isn’t a paying gig. What was Lois thinking?

“The rent for my folks’ café had more than doubled two years ago. I work so many jobs to try to keep it afloat,” he answered.

The sharpness in Mayson’s gaze softened. “Lois said it was probably something reasonable, because you were an honorable man.”

When had Lois told Mayson all this? Back when her apartment had been broken into or more recently?

“Which is why you live with your folks?” Mayson asked as they left the elevator.

Clark nodded, almost not in shock that Lois had mentioned that as well.

They passed through the doors of the building. His truck was parked across the plaza on the side street in the loading zone. Mayson raised a brow and moved her gaze to the no parking sign.

“Are you going to ticket me, Mayson? This isn’t my usually delivery route.”

“How about I give you a warning?” Mayson shook her head and leaned against the open door of his truck. “Why haven’t you announced your engagement to Lois?”

Clark’s eyes bugged.

Say what?

“Excuse me?” he asked as soon as he found his voice.

Mayson pressed her lips together. “I should have known she was lying about that.”

Lois told Mayson they were engaged?

Clark felt so happy that he had to concentrate on keeping his feet on the ground. “She wasn’t lying. I did tell her I wanted to spend my life…”

“Proving that you were worthy of her love?” Mayson finished with a sigh.

Lois told Mayson that as well? And by telling Mayson that you were engaged didn’t she accept your haphazard proposal on the beach? Of course, it was Kal who had told Lois that Clark had wanted to spend his life with her. But Lois had known the truth about them really being just him, even then.

Clark wanted to hit himself in the head for not seeing earlier how clearly Lois had recognized him from the press conference. He hadn’t realized what an intelligent, observant woman she really was. Another stupid mistake. A silly grin slipped onto his face, instead. “I didn’t know she was telling anyone.”

“Why keep it a secret? Obviously if you tell people she’s engaged to you, nobody will think she’s fooling around with some weirdo vigilante in a cape,” Mayson wondered.

O-K. Mayson isn’t a fan. Got it. Good to know.

Clark grimaced, not quite knowing how to answer Mayson’s inquiry. Yes, becoming engaged to Lois would enable Superman to tell everyone honestly that Lois Lane was not his girlfriend. The truth would be that she was his fiancée not his girlfriend. Finally, he sighed. “Her father doesn’t approve of me.” That, at least, was the truth.

“Well, this isn’t going to help with that,” Mayson said glancing down at the request to have him investigated for stealing funds from Lexco. She took the paperwork and tore it half and then in half again.

Clark’s jaw dropped. “Mayson?” He didn’t know what to say. “You can’t…”

Hey, I’m just as dumbfounded as you are.

“Call it an early wedding present,” Mayson told him, stepping into the truck and kissing his cheek. “There isn’t any proof that you orchestrated the funds to be added into your paycheck, only that you never contacted Lexco’s human resources about it. I doubt that there’s an arrestable offense there. If they really cared about the missing funds, Lexco could always sue to have you repay them. Anyway, I hear the guy that filed the claim was fired later the same day for trying to blackmail Lois into sleeping with him.”

Sleeping?

“Just a date,” Clark corrected as his heart raced with this new wording.

Mayson shrugged. “Most blackmailers I know up the ante after the first payment. Sex, I’m sure was his ultimate goal.”

You knew that too, Kent, which is why you didn’t want Lois to go on that date.

But Mayson had said it so bluntly, his stomach churned with acid. Just the thought of some man forcing himself onto his… “Thank you, Mayson. It would be nice to start our life together with a clean slate.”

“Don’t thank me,” Mayson told him. “I didn’t do anything. This…” She held up the torn-up papers. “… got lost in the circular file. If Lexco wants to pursue this, I’ll have to reopen the case. My guess, though, with Tempus gone from Lexco, it’s going to die from neglect.”

Clark wanted to thank her again but didn’t dare, so he just smiled gratefully.

“I’ll see you around, Clark,” she said, backing off his truck. “Oh, and can you tell Superman to stop dropping big piles of snow in front of your girlfriend’s apartment, I almost broke my neck slipping on it the next morning.”

Clark waved at her as he turned off his hazard light. “Will do, Mayson.”

*** End of Part 35 ***

Part 36

I’d Really Love to See You Tonight written by Parker McGee, performed by England Dan and John Ford Coley.

Wind Beneath My Wings written by Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley, performed by Bette Midler.

Take a Chance on Me written and performed by ABBA.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough written by Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.

Earth Girls are Easy written by Julie Brown, Charles Coffey, Terrence McNally, and Sterling Smith, performed by Julie Brown.

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