CHAPTER 4
Lana walked into her apartment and threw all of her bags onto the floor and sat on the couch. She was having a mentally exhausting day to say the least. As she sat there, she realized there were messages on her answering machine. She walked over, pressed the button and walked to her kitchen to grab a glass of water while she listened to the messages.
"Hey Lana, it's me. I'm still in Washington D.C sorting through some stuff that has come up. I won't be back for another week. Bye" Lana sighed sadly hearing Lex's voice. He was always gone somewhere, and she was a little upset with him. She had just returned from Paris yesterday and he had promised to meet her at the airport. When she arrived, she found only his chauffer waiting. No Lex. They hadn't seen each other in 4 months, with her being in Paris and him here. Of course that was how their relationship had been for the last couple of years. Nothing but long distance. They had a pretty rocky relationship. The last time they saw each other was when he proposed to her. Of course he had proposed several other times, but she had turned him down. She kept telling him she wanted to wait until after her schooling in Paris. And then after she was done with school and started her first job in Paris, she told him she wanted to settle into her job first to get comfortable. She didn't want to have deal with wedding plans while starting her career. Lex was impatient, every time she told him her reason as to why she didn't accept his proposal, he told her they were just excuses to put off marriage. He was right, they were just excuses, but she didn't know why she was putting it off. It just hadn't felt right, it still didn't feel right.
Lana stood drinking her water, listening to the rest of her messages. When they were all done, she sat back down to the couch. She was replaying the events of the day in her head, especially the run in with Clark. She couldn't believe how much it was bothering her. She couldn't still have feeling for him could she? No, there was no way. Maybe it was just the way they had run into each other. She felt her heart beating faster as she thought of the man she had once loved with every grain of her being. Lana closed her eyes, thinking about Clark. Sitting there, her mind drifted to the memory of the day she found out Clark had left…
Lana walked up the familiar steps to the loft. It had only been a week since she last was here and she told herself it would be awhile before coming again, but something was pulling her there to talk to him. When she reached the top she found it unoccupied. She turned to leave when something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She walked over to Clark's desk and picked up a picture frame. It was a picture of herself that she had given him a long time ago. She put her hand on her chest as she looked at it with a broken heart, the glass was shattered as if it had been thrown in anger. Was he that upset with her? She knew she had to find him to talk to him. She set the picture back down and turned around to leave. When she turned around, she saw Martha Kent walking up the stairs with red eyes, sobbing quietly.
"Mrs. Kent, are you alright?" Lana asked.
"Yes, I…" Martha started to say as she looked at Lana and then broke down, "No I'm not. I don't think my heart could take anymore pain."
Lana walked over to Martha and put her arms around her to offer some comfort, "What happened?"
"He's gone Lana, He's actually gone," Martha cried harshly through a down pour of tears.
"It's alright, he may be invisible to the eye, but he's not gone in our hearts ." Lana said, assuming Martha was crying over Johnathan.
"Lana, I ju…I just can't believe Clark left!" Martha exclaimed letting out another sob, "First Johnathan, and now Clark. I just can't handle it."
Lana looked at her with shock evident in her eyes. Clark. Gone. Where did he go? "Um Mrs. Kent, when did Clark leave?"
"He left last week and said he didn't know when he'd return. I may never see him again. My heart just can't take it," Martha choked quietly through calmer tears.
Lana felt her heart crumble. He was gone. If only she hadn't been with Lex then maybe Clark would have stayed. It was all her fault, she shouldn't have told Clark yet. The week before, she had the intentions of not seeing Clark for a long time, but the thought of never seeing him again tore her up inside. "Mrs. Kent you are the strongest woman I know. Clark will come back," Lana whispered, trying to hold back her own tears. Not having Clark Kent in her life at all was something she never wanted…
Memories of that time in her life flooded Lana's mind as she sat there with her eyes closed. Of course it was after finding out about Clark leaving, Lana had decided to tell Lex that they were rushing into a serious relationship too soon for her. She cared about him, but she just was not as ready as she thought she was. Lex agreed they would try and stay friends, although he tried many times to change her mind. 2 years later, Lex had asked her to attend a political thing with him before she moved away to Paris. She remembered going to say hi to Martha when she noticed a tall, familiar looking man standing next to her…
Lana stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at Clark, not knowing whether or not to believe it. When she went to go talk to him, Lex came out of nowhere and kissed her. After a few seconds, she was able to push him away and gave him a menacing look.
"What in the hell was that for?!" Lana asked sternly.
"Lana, I feel like it's time we move ahead with our relationship. I know I agreed to take a step back and be friends, but that was a long time ago," Lex said as he stared intensely at her. Lana looked over his shoulder to where Clark had been standing moments earlier, only to find he had left. She looked at Lex and without a word, she turned around and walked away. The next morning she left for Paris without a single goodbye…
Lex hadn't given up though. He constantly called her and sent her flowers.
After living in Paris for 3 years, Lana found out her Aunt Nell had died in a car accident. When she came back to Metropolis for the funeral, Lex was there to comfort her. Of course Chloe had been too, but sometimes a girl needs a guy to help her through things. Finally Lana forced any doubts about Lex out of her mind and decided to be with him. They had now been together for almost 2 years.
Clark walked into his apartment and flopped onto his couch. He must have had the most exhausting day he had in awhile. It seemed everywhere he went Superman was needed, Perry chewed him out when he said he wouldn't have the article ready, he caught Lois making out with the delivery kid, and he ran into Lana Lang. Lana Lang, the single most beautiful woman on Earth. Clark couldn't believe how much it was affecting him to see her again. He just couldn't get her out of his mind. Everywhere he went today he saw Lana. He was finally at a stage in his life where everything seemed to fit in perfect, and then Lana came back into his life. Clark knew she didn't do it on purpose, but he couldn't ignore the fact that she was back from Paris. He would undoubtedly run into her again sometime and hear more about her, especially seeing that Chloe and her were still very close.
Slowly beginning to drift off to sleep on the couch, Clark heard his cell phone ringing so he reached over to answer, "Hello you've reached Clark's answering machine I'm unable to get to the phone right now so if…"
"Nice try Clark, but I know better. Anyways, I hear you got an eyeful today at the office," Chloe laughed into the phone.
"My day was great by the way, thanks for asking," Clark said sarcastically.
"No problem, any time," Chloe said before hesitantly moving onto the real reason she had called, "So um, I also happened to hear that you ran into an old friend today."
"Oh did you now? And how did you hear about that?" Clark inquired.
"I happened to meet up with this certain friend afterwards," Chloe remarked uneasily. She hadn't really had a conversation with Clark about Lana in a number of years and she wasn't sure how he'd react.
"Ahhh, I see," Clark should have known, "and what did Lana say?"
Chloe thought. "Oh nothing really. Just that she spilled coffee on you and that she gave you her number.""Yeah, not that I'll probably call her," Clark said softly.
"And why not?" Chloe asked
"Because Chloe, she seemed rushed when she gave me the number and probably regretted it afterwards. She seemed a little distracted and when she realized she gave me her number she probably kicked herself because why would she give her fiancee's enemy her number," Clark explained. He had thought about it all day and now that he said it out loud, it seemed true. Lana hadn't bothered getting Clark's number, so she probably didn't have any real intentions of getting together again.
"Clark, don't be so negative. She wasn't giving her fiancee's enemy her number. She was giving it to an old friend," Chloe said wishing she could give Clark a slap that he could actually feel for sounding the way he was.
"Yeah…an old friend…" Clark's voice sounded full of regret at those words, " I mean it Chloe, she probably doesn't want me to call. She's happy with Lex and I don't want to intrude in their lives now after all these years. They've been together for 7 years, who knows how much she has changed being with him."
"First of all, I know. And she actually hasn't changed as much as you'd think. Second of all, her and Lex have only been together for about 2 years, in which they've only seen each other maybe a total 7 times when they'd visit each other. How could that make someone truly happy?"
"Chloe, did you say only 2 years?" Clark questioned, a bit confused, "what about before I left? They were together then."
"Clark, I never mentioned it because I saw the hurt in your eyes every time her name was brought up, but Lana broke up with Lex a week after you left for training with Jor-El. Lex tried to get her back a lot, but she didn't want to. Now I want you to call her as soon as you get off of the phone with me," Chloe said in a rather bossy voice. She was starting to get annoyed with the way her two best friends were acting.
"I will, it's just that I need a little time. I me…" Clark started before Chloe cut him off.
"I know, I know, it's Lana Lang we're talking about. Just promise you'll call her sometime soon."
"I promise. Bye Chloe," Clark said as he flipped his phone shut. Chloe's words were still floating in his mind …Lana broke up with Lex a week after you left…Did that mean anything? Clark made up his mind. He was going to call Lana tomorrow and ask her to lunch.
