Disclaimer: Characters belong to DC, WB, AlMiles, etc. etc. etc. I only own the story, so please don't take that away from me.
Chapter 9
She ran down the stairs. She should've been down there an hour ago to clean, but she took an extra long shower, trying in vain to clear her head. It was when she sat on the couch to put on her shoes that she noticed it. The box was still sitting there under the coffee table.
She didn't want to do it. But she did. She just wanted a peek, a longing glance, something to remember as she went through her day. She thought it would be a fitting end to the week.
She took the lid off the dusty box. That's when she realized it was missing. It should've been right on top. She searched frantically, first raking through the box, then finally dumping out the contents next to her on the couch. She turned each one over. Her heart raced with each flip of her hand. Where was it?
It was only when she glanced at the clock in the kitchen and saw it was after two in the afternoon. She technically didn't have to be at work until four, but she still hadn't finished cleaning the theater. Smallville had talked her out of it last night. And she complied, but only because Audrey Hepburn was calling out to her from the giant screen. Part of her wished she hadn't been so gullible.
Turning the corner at the bottom of the stairs, she almost knocked over Mrs. Kent.
"Oh, Mrs. Kent. Sorry."
Mrs. Kent put her arm out to slow down Lois.
"Hey, Lois. Is something wrong?"
"What? Oh, no. Nothing's wrong." She waved it off. "I'm just in a hurry. I only got half the theater cleaned last night and I needed to finish cleaning it before tonight's show."
"Oh, well, that's okay, Lois. But, the theater doesn't need cleaning. It's spotless. I checked it a little while ago when I was testing the projector for tonight."
What? Who on earth could've done that? And done it willingly?
"Are you sure, Mrs. Kent? Because last night when I left the place, it was a mess."
Lois and Mrs. Kent exchanged looks of confusion.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you, Lois. But somebody cleaned it. Go see for yourself, if you want."
Lois walked towards the red swinging doors and aggressively pushed the door open. She flicked on the light and looked around at the spotless room. She walked down the aisle towards the row she spent most of the night in when she and Smallville had their own private theater. She plopped down in the same seat she occupied the previous night.
What had happened? There were no coffee cups, no muffin wrappers. Nothing. The floor wasn't even sticky anymore. In fact, it looked like the entire room had been mopped and vacuumed.
Maybe that waitress she'd hired felt bad about not showing up last night and was trying to make amends.
Nah. People weren't that nice.
Smallville? Could he…? No. He wasn't thrilled about cleaning the place last night.
Of course, he didn't seem that enthused during the movie either, even though the whole thing had been his idea.
He'd slid down next to her in his seat, his feet propped up on the row in front of him. His head eventually found its way to her shoulder after he dozed off.
Lois realized this long about the time Fred, who was actually Paul, discovered she wasn't Holly Golightly, but, in fact, Lula Mae Barnes.
Apparently, the suspense was too much for Smallville and he conked out. But he had stayed, even though he didn't seem that interested. And she loved it.
He finally woke up towards the end of the movie, long about the time Holly burned dinner, which reminded him of Lois' cooking skills. She elbowed him in the side and shushed him. He grinned and shook his head, sitting upright in his seat. She got misty-eyed at the end, when Holly was frantically looking for Cat, but made sure not to let it go any further. She'd done enough crying lately.
After the movie ended, he wanted to be filled in. She refused at first, scolding him and saying that if he wanted to know what happened, then he should've stayed awake. But after much pleading and brooding on his part, she relented.
She actually enjoyed recounting the story as much as he seemed to delight in listening to her tell it. So, for the next couple of hours, they sat in the old creaky theater seats discussing her love of Truman Capote and how his stories could relate to so many different people on so many different levels.
She found out the farm boy wasn't as dumb and blank as he looked half the time. She secretly had to admit he actually had a brain.
She needed to go help Mrs. Kent prepare for the late afternoon and evening crowd. But she also needed to go back up to her apartment to continue looking for what she'd lost. She was about to stand when she heard him.
"You're gonna be sitting there a long time if you're waiting for the movie to start. I hear the next show's not til eight tonight."
His voice dripped with sarcasm. She had to figure out a way to keep him from sneaking up on her the way he had so many times lately.
She grinned and stood, turning around to face him. She took her usual defiant stance and crossed her arms.
"Well, actually I was going to finish cleaning this place, but it looks like someone beat me to it."
He walked down the aisle and looked around the empty room. He strolled past her row and kept his back to her as he spoke.
"Gee, Lois. Who could've done such a thing?"
Something in his voice gave it away and, even with his back to her, she could tell the Kent grin was out.
"Cool it, Smallville. I know it was you."
She wasn't entirely sure if he was the one that cleaned it. But, she was pretty certain that if he didn't deny it, then he was probably the culprit.
He turned to look at her, an innocent expression on his face.
"Me? You sure about that, Lois?"
She smiled and rolled her eyes. She began to walk out of the row and up the aisle, leaving him standing there.
"I don't have time for this. I have to go find something."
It wasn't that she didn't want to stay and talk to him. She just had more important things on her mind. Something irreplaceable was lost that needed to be found. And she wasn't going to rest until she had it in her hands once again.
He ran up the aisle after her.
"Wait, Lois."
She stopped at the red doors and turned around, her arms still folded against her chest.
"What is it, Smallville?"
"Uh…I, er…"
What was he doing? She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Spit it out, Smallville. I haven't got all day."
He looked down at his shoes for a moment, then back up at her.
"Do you want some help?"
She shot him a confused look as he continued.
"Because I'm pretty good at finding things. You know, working on a farm and all. Hay stacks…and needles." He grinned sheepishly.
Lois wasn't too sure what to make of this. Farm Boy wasn't making much sense, but that wasn't too unusual. She didn't really want his help, but he did seem to have an uncanny ability to locate lost items…and people. She'd lost count of the number of times he'd miraculously found her and Chloe after they'd gotten themselves into sticky situations. Maybe he could help after all.
She shrugged her shoulders and nodded.
"Suit yourself."
She turned and walked through the swinging door, leaving him standing there. He quickly caught up with her out front at the base of the stairs. He followed her up to her apartment.
She threw her keys on the kitchen counter and immediately walked over to the couch. They were everywhere. She got upset earlier before she went downstairs, and, in her zeal to find it, had managed to scatter them all over the couch, coffee table and floor.
She squatted and began to slowly pick up each one. He stopped in her doorway when he saw the mess.
"Lois…what happened?"
If he was going to ask questions, then she didn't want his help. She just wanted to find it. She couldn't concentrate on anything else until it was found.
"I lost something."
"Well, maybe if you told me what it is that you lost, I can help you find it."
He was trying to help. And, she appreciated his willingness to help. But at the same time, she wanted to find it on her own. A part of her needed her to find it on her own.
She sighed and closed her eyes, sitting back on her feet.
"I've lost a picture."
He walked closer to where she was in the floor.
"Okay…which picture?"
She took a deep breath and, opening her eyes, she stared at the mass of photos that lay spread around her.
"The one of my mom holding the lilies."