"I'm so sorry." Bruce whispered. He felt her body begin to shake as more tears escaped her eyes. In an attempt to be comforting, he ran his fingers through her tangle of curls. "I was trying to protect you. I never wanted you to feel this way."
"Protect me?" Carly sniffled. She looked up at him, but it was difficult since he was holding her so tight. "From what?"
"There are things that even you don't know about me. Things I should have told you from the beginning." He finally loosened his grip to hold her out at arm's length. "Look, this party was a lot to come back to. You don't know how miserable I've been without you the past month. Please give me until the end of the weekend. If by Sunday afternoon you never want to see me again, I will understand. I don't even really want to look at myself right now. Tomorrow is all about you, I promise."
"We'd better get back in there." She sighed, her tears all but dried up. "Gotham City will never let me hear the end of it if they find out how much of your time I've been monopolizing."
"Well they'll have to wait a little bit longer. I've been saving a dance for you." He gave her a moment to compose herself before grabbing her hand and leading the way back into the warm ballroom. It was like something out of a movie. The guest turned to look at who'd just come in from outside and brought chilly air with them. Someone even gasped when they saw it was Bruce and Carly. Others simply rolled their eyes and resumed their activities.
"Master Bruce there you are!" Alfred stormed over to them. He was probably going to lecture them for disappearing outside. Carly had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. She'd always thought Alfred was funny when he was frazzled. "You look stunning this evening, Miss Rogers."
"All thanks to you Alfie." She winked.
"I'm afraid I must steal Master Bruce away from you momentarily. It's the caterers sir…"
"Say no more Alfred." Bruce dropped Carly's hand and shook his head. After witnessing a previous altercation between the butler and the catering staff earlier in the evening, he decided it would be best if he intervened. "Just let me find Carly a dance partner until I get back…" He searched the crowd for a second before calling out to someone across the room.
"Clark!" The Daily Planet report turned his head in their direction and the billionaire waved him over.
"Bruce I don't need…" Carly was about to say she didn't need a stand in dance partner but Clark Kent had made his way over to them quickly. She could understand why once he was closer. A guy with shoulders like a linebacker probably didn't have any trouble pushing his way through a crowd. Now that she had a good look at him, it was hard to believe the guy was a reporter at all. He had large muscular arms that complimented his broad shoulders. From what she could see of his legs they were buff too.
"Wow" She whistled. "I'm sure you don't get a body like that from sitting behind a desk all day." The statement was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. What could she do but shrug? There was no taking back something like that once said. Clark adjusted his glasses in embarrassment. She wasn't the first person to notice his peak physical appearance. Bruce, was experiencing a twinge of jealousy as he watched his friend check out Clark's bursting muscles.
"Clark," He said. "This is my very good friend, Carly. She's usually not so...well actually you are rather blunt, Car."
"Occupational hazard, Mr. Kent. I'm sorry about that." She shrugged again.
"No please. It's an honor to finally meet the famous Carly Rogers. Both as Wayne Enterprises' spunky lawyer and Bruce's best friend." The reporter's eyes sparkled with interest from behind thick black frames. "I've read about you in the news, of course, and we've seen each other in passing several times but Bruce has told me so much about you."
"He has, has he?" She glared at Bruce playfully.
"You come up in all my best stories." He shrugged. "Listen, Clark, I promised Carly a dance but Alfred needs to steal me away. Would you mind…"
"Not at all." Clark agreed.
"Thank you. Lead the way, Alfred." Bruce and Alfred left Carly standing at the edge of the dance floor with the Metropolis reporter.
"You don't have to do this." She said. "I don't even like dancing, really." She was almost standoffish about it. This didn't bother Clark in the slightest. He was use to Bruce's sometimes bristly attitude. So he continued to smile.
"You know Bruce did an interview last year at the aquarium re-opening. During which he mentioned how much his best friend loves to dance."
"Caught me red handed, Kent." She put her hands on her hips, admitting defeat. "I apologize. I'm not usually so prickly. The past year has been…rocky. I'm still trying to recover from it." She held her hand out for him to shake, extending an olive branch. He looked down for a split second before grasping her hand. He brought it up towards his lips and planted a soft kiss.
"May I have this dance?" She nodded, letting him guide her to the dance floor. Once there, she put one hand on the small of his back and kept the other inside of his. They began to glide around the room, her cartoonishly large gown swirling as they went.
"If you don't mind my asking, is there something about me specifically that you don't like?" Carly shook her head before explaining to Clark her personal vendetta with the media.
"You have to understand I've known Bruce since I was six. That's basically my whole life. Papers like the Planet and the Gotham Gazette, they paint a different picture than the man I know. Reporters forget that people who live in the spotlight are still just that. People."
"Not all of us are like that, Miss Rogers." Clark frowned. She realized she was being over critical of a guy she barely knew. He was trying to be nice to her, and here she was insulting his profession. It wasn't as if lawyers had a squeaky clean reputation.
"I'm sorry…" She began to apologize.
"Believe me," He interrupted. "I understand. I have a…friend who lives is Metropolis. He can't even pull a cat from a tree without making the headlines."
"I find it hard to believe that Superman has any critics. People seem to really like him."
"You'd be surprised." Clark's frown deepened as he thought of the Metropolis Morning News' most recent piece on Superman. The song they'd been dancing too ended but neither he nor Carly moved away from each other.
"We could take down the media from the inside, you and me. Do it Trojan Horse style. Maybe even get Big Blue to help us out."
"He's a firm believer in freedom of the press, but I'm sure he'd love to meet you sometime." He offered.
"Like he would ever come to Gotham!" Carly laughed. Bruce appeared from seemingly nowhere at their side. She and Clark stopped dancing and turned their attention to the billionaire. "The caterers are all alright then?"
"As long as they stay away from Alfred things should be just fine. Thanks for the assist, Clark."
"Happy to do it." He promised with a polite nod. "Will I see you at the meeting tomorrow? Diana's worried…"
"Assure Diana that I won't miss the meeting." A mischievous grin formed under Bruce's eyes. "Carly and I are going to the circus in the evening for her birthday, but we'll be free after that."
"You've finally decided to tell her then?" Clark began to grin as well. "Looks like Lois and John win the bet. I'll see you both tomorrow then. It was nice to finally meet you, Carly. And happy birthday."
"Thank you, Clark. It's a belated gift because someone was out of town on my actual birthday." She gave Bruce a dramatic look, letting him know she wasn't about to let this talk of a meeting tomorrow go unnoticed. This wasn't Mr. Kent's fault though. He had no way of knowing about Bruce's empty promises. "Tell Big Blue that he's welcome to stop by my place any time he wants. And if he does come by, he should bring a copy of the Planet."
"I will pass the message along. Bruce."
"Clark." The two men shook hands before parting ways.
