Clark opened the door to his small, loft apartment. It wasn't much larger than the loft his father had built him in the barn back home. Clark didn't require much space. He spent most of his time reading anyway. He didn't even own a television. He couldn't stand to see the news played out in front of his eyes when he was confronted by it daily at the paper. Clark placed his keys on the table by the door. His answering machine was flashing, so as he headed into the tiny kitchen, he pressed play.
"Hi Clark, its mom," Martha Kent's voice echoed through the empty loft. "I wanted to let you know that we got a phone call from Lana today. She's coming back to Smallville for a few days, and would like to see you. She didn't know where you were living, so she asked me to pass along the message. She would like to see you this weekend, Saturday to be specific. Give me a call when you get a minute, I love you," the answering machine clicked off.
Clark felt butterflies in his stomach. So soon, he thought, the day after tomorrow. Clark opened his fridge out of habit, and searched the sparse contents. Two cans of Coke, a jar of pickles, day-old Chinese food, and some ketchup. Times like this Clark missed the home cooked meals of Martha Kent. Clark ignored his hungry stomach for the moment, and grabbed a Coke. He also ignored the phone call. He didn't want to deal with talking about Lana right now. If he hadn't made plans with Lila for later, he would have been tempted to run home for a good dinner. As it were, he had to settle for leftover Chinese food.
Lex was seated at his desk, flipping through the day's mail when he saw the postcard; a colorful, stock photo of the Eiffel Tower. Lex dropped the other pieces of mail and turned over the postcard. In flowing, cursive, handwriting was a note from Lana. I'll be back in Smallville the weekend of May --. I was hoping you would meet me so we could clear the air. I'll plan on seeing you at The Talon on Saturday the --, about 11 am. Please come. Lana.
Lex read the postcard quietly to himself. He glanced at his desk calendar, the day after tomorrow. Short notice, but the only plans he had were a dinner banquet at Luthercorp for the I.O.N.A. project team. Lex made a note on his calendar; Smallville 11am.
"Lex, cook has dinner ready," Lois stuck her head into the study, which looked as though it hadn't been completely destroyed that very morning. Everything was in place and as immaculate as ever.
Lex looked up at Lois, as he discretely pocketed the postcard, and stood from his desk. He met Lois in the doorway, and kissing her full lips, he wrapped his arm around her small waist while his other hand grasped the postcard in his jacket pocket. They walked together into the dining room where a full feast awaited them.
Lila had planned to meet Clark around seven thirty that evening. She was nervous, for the first time since this crazy day started. She had felt no nervousness meeting Lex, or giving the presentation this morning. Lila was confident in her abilities professionally. It was her personal track record with men that made her nervous about meeting up with Clark. In her decade of dating she'd had only three serious relationships…Lila shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, she didn't want to impose past wrongs onto a night that was full of promise.
She liked Clark. More than she even wanted to admit. And even though she just met him, she felt more trust in him than she had felt for any other man.
Lila had walked from her hotel to the park. Neither she nor Clark, were very high-class people, so they had decided they would meet at Metropolis City Park, and Clark would give her the story. Lila secretly hoped they would maybe walk around the park together.
Lila sat at a table of the outdoor café across the street from the entrance to the park. She had arrived early, so she waited for Clark. After about five minutes, she saw Clark as he crossed the road. Lila smiled to herself and stood, leaving the table empty for another patron.
Clark was carrying the manila envelope with the story. Lila hoped the story was fair. She had no reason to believe otherwise, but she was always skeptical. At MIT the student paper and had run an editorial that had bashed her robotics research project.
Clark spotted Lila and gave a wave as he continued across the street. Lila walked a few steps and met him at the curb.
"Pleasure to see you again Clark, or is it Mr. Kent?" she flirted and gave him a quick once over. At least he changed clothes from earlier. He wore a nice pair of jeans that fit him in all the right places. His sweater was a dark blue color that brought out the brightness of his eyes, which were looking back at her just as hard.
"It's Clark," he embraced her hand and shook it, playing along; "Mr. Kent would be my father". He held on a little longer, liking the Lila he was seeing tonight even more than the one he first met this morning. She too had changed and was wearing jeans, a pale blue t-shirt, and a jean jacket. She looked good. Clark found he was staring and hoped it wasn't too obvious.
"Oh, here's the story, if you want to look at it," Clark released her hand, and gave her the manila envelope. Lila accepted it, and scanned the first paragraph.
"Looks like it'll be a fair and objective article. Tell your writing partner," she looked at the byline, having forgotten the blonde woman's name, "Chloe Sullivan, thank you. And thank you to you as well." She put the article back in the envelope, and folded it into her bag.
"Chloe, and I, always try to be fair in our writing. If there's nothing to hide, then there's nothing to fear by having us cover a story," Clark smiled. If it weren't for Chloe, who knows what kind of a reporter, let alone person, I might be, Clark thought to himself.
Lila smiled back. They stood in silence for a moment. Lila looked over Clark's shoulder to the park. There was a vendor selling Ice Cream near the arch the marked the entrance.
"Clark, would you like to take a walk around the park? It's such a pleasant night," Lila took the lead and made the first move. She feared Clark would do nothing unless she asserted herself.
"Oh, sure," he shrugged goofily. They crossed the street, traffic all but non-existent.
They stopped at the Ice Cream vendor and Clark purchased them each one.
"You seem distracted, Clark," Lila observed, as they walked under the arch, into the park.
"I got some news tonight, from home. Nothing bad," he was quick to add when it appeared Lila was assuming something bad.
"Just someone I'll be seeing this weekend. We haven't spoken in almost a year and we left on bad terms. But lets not talk about that," Clark ate some of his Ice Cream.
"Let me just say one thing on this topic, then we can drop it. Don't put off saying things to people, because you never know when that last time you'll speak to them will be. And you may regret not having told them your feelings," Lila gave Clark a supportive smile.
"You sound like you have some experience with this?" Clark, curious now, asked.
"Yes, I was recently involved with someone. But he's disappeared. It's been months, but I fear he's dead." She said this so matter-of-factly.
Clark was a little surprised that Lila was being so open with him, and so nonchalant about the circumstances. The look must have shown on his face because Lila gave a small laugh. Clark relaxed his expression a bit, and smiled back.
"I'm sorry to laugh, Clark. It's really not a laughing matter, but I don't know what else to do. And I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust you with anything," she said, blushing a little herself.
"Well, if you do need to talk, I'm a good listener," Clark offered.
They walked for a while in silence, enjoying their cones. The park was very quiet and serene. The twilight casting long shadows in the trees that lined the path on either side of them. The colors of the flowers were bold in the waning light. There were a few birds and other sounds, but otherwise it seemed the park was entirely left to the enjoyment of Clark and Lila.
Lila wanted to tell Clark about Lionel. But she didn't know what he'd think of her if he found out she had been romantically involved with Lex Luthor's father, and her boss. Lila decided she needed to feel out the situation, try and do a little investigative work herself.
"Clark, tell me a little about yourself, where you grew up, do you have any siblings, are you involved with anyone, stuff like that," Lila broke the silence first, hoping her inquiry sounded as nonchalant as she wanted it too.
"Ok, well, I was adopted when I was three. I'm an only child. I grew up in Smallville, on a farm, and no, I am currently not involved," He shrugged his shoulders, giving a sheepish smile at the last part.
"There's not much else to say," He added.
Lila rolled her eyes at him and laughed, giving him a light punch in the arm.
"Ok! Thanks for the great details!"
Then the realization hit; her way in.
"You lived in Smallville, so do you know the Luthors from there?" She cautiously asked.
"Yeah, I actually saved Lex's life in a car accident, almost seven years ago. We became really good friends after that, and though we had some issues here and there, it was a good relationship," Clark spoke freely, fibbing a little bit at the end.
"What about Lionel Luthor?" Lila asked.
"Well, I never dealt much with Lionel," Clark lied, as he remembered the eventful year Lionel went blind, moved to Smallville, had Lex committed to Belle Reve; he remembered when Lionel ordered Lex's memory erased with electroshock therapy, and then the trial for his parents murder that put him into prison; he remembered the key that Lionel had given Clark, the key that unlocked that door in the mansion; but what he remembered best, and the one thing he could never speak to anyone about, was the transference. Being inside Lionel Luthor's body, and stuck in that prison. For the first time in his life, he had been truly afraid. Clark shivered at the memory, and was glad that the transference stone, along with the other two stones, were safe in the caves.
"Lionel and Lex never got along." Clark added, "They were always trying to out-play one another. I tried to stay out of it. But I also tried to support Lex. We were friends."
"So what happened, if you don't mind me asking, you know, between you two," Lila threw the rest of her Ice Cream into the nearest garbage can.
"There was a girl," Clark said, taking another bite of his cone, and Lila nodded.
"There always is. Was it Lois?"
Clark choked on his dessert.
"No! Lois and I are just friends, and coworkers," he croaked, between coughs. "Why would you think it had anything to do with Lois?"
"Just a woman's intuition," Lila started laughing, as she slapped him a few times on the back, "Are you OK?"
Clark nodded, smiling at her, his coughing ceased. They had reached the other side of the park, where Clark tossed the remains of his Ice Cream into the trash as well.
As the duo exited the park, Clark offered to walk Lila back to her hotel. Lila accepted, not sure how safe Metropolis was at night, and she wasn't entirely certain she would remember how to get back to the hotel now that it was completely dark out."How long will you be staying in town?" Clark asked as they walked.
"At least through next Wednesday. I have to prepare another short presentation for the stockholders. That meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday afternoon," Lila flipped her hair over her shoulders.
Clark nodded and they walked in silence for about half a block. Suddenly Lila tripped. Clark's reflexes were quick as lightening, and he caught Lila before she pitched sideways onto the ground.
"Great, my boot heel just broke!" she exclaimed as she righted herself and stood off kilter. She turned to look for the heel and noticed a dark figure about ten feet back. The person quickly ducked into a shadowed doorway. Clark watched her reaction, trying not to laugh out loud.
"Clark," Lila whispered urgently as she grabbed his arm, "I think someone is following us," Clark looked up and down the street, no longer smiling.
"Whoever it was ducked into that doorway just down from us," Lila pointed to an old street market storefront. Clark used his X-ray vision to look through the wall. The person stood in the doorway, perfectly still.
"Stay here," he told Lila, and he walked towards the spot where the person was hiding.
Lila began to feel frightened. She couldn't even tell Clark not to go, her voice had left her. Clark walked fast towards the doorway, and just as he was about to get there, the person swung his fist out, catching Clark off-guard and knocking him to the ground. The dark figure took off running and hopped into a car that had pulled up on the street. Clark sat up, and followed the person with his eyes. He was able to catch the first four letters of the license plate of the getaway car, ANO1---.
"Clark! Are you all right?" Lila came jogging up, her steps uneven. She kneeled down next to Clark, as the car screeched and took off down the road.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just got the wind knocked out of me," he fibbed.
"Do you have any idea who would want to follow you?" Clark asked as he stood up, brushing off his clothes.
"No. And what makes you think they were following me?" Lila said, the adrenaline rush starting to wear off.
"I don't know," Clark answered, shrugging his wide shoulders, "I just assumed…" Clark trailed off. They looked at each other for a moment.
"Well in any case, I'm glad you were here!" She raised her hand to her head, and Clark saw that she was quaking like a leaf.
"Maybe we should get a cab and take that the rest of the way," he suggested, leading Lila by the elbow for support. She just nodded in agreement. Clark stopped at the edge of the sidewalk and hailed a taxi.