CHAPTER 3

Mood Music: Where are you tonight - Tom Johnston

Lois comes to the beginning of a pathway that appears to lead up to some cabins on the hillside. She disregards the sign that says Staff quarters - no guests please and continues up the dimly lit path until she spots a staircase at the end of a white wooden bridge that leads to a large building near the top of the hill. That must be where the music is coming from, she thinks to herself as she resumes her walk. She spots Jimmy walking across the bridge carrying some watermelons. "Hi," she says as she walks towards him.

He stares at her with surprise. "How'd you get here?" he asks while trying to balance the three watermelons in his arms.

"I was taking a walk," she replies as she comes up to him. "Let me help you," pulling one of them from his arms. "So what's going on up there?" she asks as she adjusts the watermelon in her arms.

"You really should go back," Jimmy says in a nervous tone. "Why don't you go back to the playhouse? I saw you dancing with little boss man," he replies with a teasing smirk.

She promptly tosses the watermelon back at him; causing him to drop the ones in his arms, then turns to walk away. "Can you keep a secret?" he calls out after her.

She turns around. "I'm a military brat. I know secrets that would make your toes curl," arching an eyebrow.

He pauses for a moment before speaking. "Okay," he sighs. "You do know that your parents would probably kill you," he remarks as he picks up two of the watermelons and she picks up the remaining one.

"They won't kill me because they won't find out," she counters.

"Alright," he says reluctantly. "I just don't want my Uncle Perry to kill me for letting a guest come up here," walking across the rest of the bridge, then climbing the stairs to the large building at the top of the stairs with Lois following close behind. When they reach the top of the stairs, he asks her, "Can you get the door?"

"Sure," opening the door with her free hand. They enter the building and start walking down the hallway; not stopping until they arrive at the room where the music was coming from. He bumps the double doors with his backside and the doors fling open.

Mood Music: Do you love me? – The Contours

Her jaw drops as she stares incredulously at the roomful of couples dancing like she's never seen couples dance before. "Where'd they learn to do that?" she finally asks as she watches couple after couple groping each other as if they were having sex on the dance floor.

"I don't know. Kids are doing it in their basements back home," Jimmy replies. "Wanna try it?" he says teasingly as he shakes the watermelons suggestively.

She shakes her head. "You won't catch me doing anything like that," she declares.

He chuckles at her remark. "I think you would – with the right guy that is," he grins back at her. "Come on, Baby," he says as he enters the room.

She scoffs at him as they begin to slowly weave their way through the crowd until they reach the other side of the room. "Could you imagine dancing like this on the main floor? Home of the family fox-trot? Uncle Perry would close the place down first," Jimmy tells her as they set the watermelons down on the table against the wall.

"I just can't believe I've never seen this kind of dancing before – and I've seen all kinds of unbelievable things in the military," she replies.

The words were barely out of her mouth when the doors swing open and Clark and Chloe enter the room to cheers. She can't help staring at how the black pants he was wearing cling to his body like a second skin. "It's hot in here," she mutters to herself while pulling off her sweater and tossing it on the table.

Clark grabs a bottle of beer and gulps it down as he pulls Chloe along with him into the center of the room and they begin to dance like everyone else. Lois grabbed a napkin off the table and began to dab at the light bead of sweat that was beginning to form on her forehead. Her eyes travel up to the white shirt he had on that was unbuttoned to his waist and revealed glimpses of his bare chest. "It really is hot in here," she says nervously as she grabs a bottle of beer.

He watches her with amusement as she gulps the beer down. "That's Clark Kent," pointing him out. "He's one of my best friends. He got me the job here," he tells her. "That's his partner. Her name is Chloe Sullivan."

"I know who she is. She happens to be my cousin," she rolls her eyes as she continues to watch them with fascination. "They look great together," she says wistfully. "You'd think they were a couple."

"They would make a great couple," he admits.

"She used to tell me about a guy she met in Junior High that she briefly had a crush on, but he didn't feel the same way about her," she says with a sigh. "Maybe he's the same guy."

"He is," he says. "They've never been a couple, but they do have a special friendship."

"You all must be really close," she turns to look over at him.

"We are," he replies with a smile.

Meanwhile on the dance floor, Clark spins Chloe around and happens to spot Lois and Jimmy. "So the brunette standing next to Jimmy is your cousin," he remarks while unable to keep his eyes off Lois.

"Yeah," Chloe replies, then noticing how he was looking at Lois. "You know, you should ask her to dance," she says suddenly.

"I don't know if she'd say yes," he says with a sigh as they continue dancing.

"Well you won't know for sure unless you ask her," quirking an eyebrow at him.

"I guess the worst thing that could happen is she'll say no," he replies thoughtfully.

"So what are you waiting for?" pushing him in Lois' direction. "Go already," rolling her eyes at him.

"Yes, mother," rolling his eyes at her. Okay, Clark. You can do this. You've done this before. She's no different from any other girl, while heading in Jimmy and Lois' direction. Who am I kidding? She's totally different from any other girl, taking a deep breath, then exhaling as he walks up to them.

"Hey, C.K.," Jimmy says as he holds out his fist. "Ring that bell," he says with a grin.

Go on, Clark. Ask her to dance, he tells himself. He opens his mouth to speak, but suddenly gets tongue-tied and instead says, "Not right now," looking intently at Lois for a moment before returning his attention to Jimmy. "What is she doing here?" he asks him pointedly.

"She came with me," he quickly replies. "She's with me."

I should say something, Lois thinks to herself, so she says the first thing that comes to her mind. "I carried a watermelon," she says at last.

Clark just shakes his head with amusement as he walks away. "I carried a watermelon?" she mutters under her breath as Clark returns to the dance floor and pulls Chloe back into his arms.

"What the hell happened over there? Why didn't you ask her?" Chloe asks as they start dancing again. "You missed a golden opportunity to get to know her better," she remarks as they start dancing again.

"It's against the rules to fraternize with the guests," he simply says as he dips her.

"Rules my ass," rolling her eyes. "That hasn't stopped you from skinny-dipping in the lake," she counters with a raised eyebrow.

"How did you know about that?" his eyes widening with surprise.

"You told me one time that you weren't feeling good and was going to go to bed early – but since you don't get sick, I became suspicious so I followed you when I saw you sneaking out of your cabin. You really need to come up with a better excuse than that," she replies with a smirk. "So seriously, why didn't you ask her to dance?" she asks in a serious tone.

"I just chickened out. Alright?" sounding a little annoyed. "Can we not talk about it right now?"

"We're going to talk about it whether you like it or not," a determined look on her face. "I think the real reason you chickened out was because you're afraid you'll get burned again like you did with a certain someone who shall remain nameless."

"Maybe," conceding her point.

"I thought so," she replies before pulling out of his arms. "I think you should go back over there and ask her to dance – and don't take no for an answer," pushing him in Lois' direction, then turning around and finds another partner as a new song begins to play.

Mood Music: Love man - Otis Redding

He walks back over to where Jimmy and Lois were standing. He gives her his most confident smile and takes her hand. She was about to tell him that she wasn't interested, but he had already pulled her along with him until they were in the middle of the dance floor.

"Don't you take no for an answer?" her eyes narrowing as he rests his hands on her waist.

"No," he replies with a grin.

"I'm embarrassed to say I don't know how to do this kind of dancing," she tells him.

"Don't worry about it," he says with a smile. "I'm an excellent teacher," he replies. "Now bend your knees and move your hips." She bends her knees and awkwardly begins to move her hips while looking around at the other dancers. "Look at me," he tells her. "Forget about everybody else and look into my eyes. Okay?"

She looks into his eyes. "Now roll your shoulders like this," showing her how to do it. "That's better," he tells her, then rests his hands on her waist and pulls her closer until she was pressed up against his chest. "You're doing great," gazing into her eyes as he swivels his hips against her lower body and making her feel things that she had never felt before.

Clark could feel her pulse racing and hear her heart beating rapidly as they continue dancing. He raises her arms up so she could wrap them around his neck and dips and swirls her around. All too soon the song comes to an end and she lowers her arms down to her sides. They stand there in the middle of the floor just gazing at each other before another song begins.

"I…uh…better get back before the General has a fit," her eyes still fixed on his.

"The General? Who's that?" gazing back at her just as intensely.

"My father," She replies as she reluctantly tears her eyes away from his face and takes a couple steps backwards. "I really better go," turning around and walking away.

He continues to watch until she closes the doors behind her, then is about to walk away when he stops dead in his tracks. His eyes close and a smile slowly spreads across his face while he stands there listening to the sweetest sound he's ever heard in his life.

Lois leans against the wall with a sigh and puts her hand over her still rapidly beating heart.

To Be Continued...