Chapter 11

Passionate Kisses

Sunday morning - Clark's hotel

Minutes later, a freshly-showered Clark Kent met his high-spirited sidekick in the lobby of the hotel. Jimmy's inane chatter picked up right where it had left off. Clark looked over the top of Jimmy's head, right at the young woman stationed at the front desk, and gave her a dirty look. Her return look was filled with commiseration and she mimed putting her fingers in her ears just before Clark and Jimmy reached the front door. Clark grinned and shook his head, knowing that the long wait before he was to meet Lana for the evening's festivities had just become immeasurably longer.

Jimmy assumed they would take separate cars, but Clark wouldn't hear of it. "There's no way I'm letting you out of my sight in Smallville," Clark said, "you'd just get lost and I don't want to spend an hour tracking you down…and, no, I'm not riding in that econo-box you drive. One of the primary reasons I bought this huge luxury sedan was so I'd have enough leg room. So go grab the rest of your gear and stow it in my trunk."

Jimmy's eyes sparkled like a string of Christmas tree lights as he raced over to his car and collected his stuff. Clark hurried over to help Jimmy when he realized exactly how much Jimmy had brought along.

"What did you bring, Jimmy?" Clark asked.

"Oh, well, I couldn't decide on what I might need since Lois wouldn't tell me what this 'hot story' of yours is about, so I broughteverything," Jimmy replied cheerily.

Once the camera equipment was stowed, Clark climbed behind the wheel, only to hear Jimmy cry out, "Shotgun!"

Clark waited for Jimmy to buckle himself in before saying, "Jimmy, you're the only person in this car besides me…who else is going to ride shotgun?"

Crestfallen, Jimmy kept quiet all the way through a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, pancakes, fruit, and milk. It wasn't until they left the diner that Jimmy's natural exuberance overrode his embarrassment.

"What's the big story, Clark?" Jimmy asked. "What's going on in this cowtown that would justify sending one of the best writers on the staff all the way out here?"

"Jimmy, I don't know what Lois told you, but there's no story out here. At least, not anything that will ever see the inside of an edition of the Daily Planet."

"Then why…?"

Clark cut his co-worker off with a wave of his hand. "Like I said earlier, I suspect I'm out here as a favor to someone. All I'm here for is to cover my 20th high school reunion." Clark unlocked the doors to his Audi with the key fob. "You see, Jimmy, I was raised in this bucolic paradise and someone with considerable influence wanted to make sure I showed up."

And who in Smallville has that kind of influence, Clark wondered. With Lionel Luthor killed, oh so ironically, by the same heart problems that killed my father, and with Lex dying from a 'blunt trauma to the brain,' the only person left in Smallville with the kind of clout that would cause Perry to pay attention would have to be Pete.

After days living in a fog caused by Lana, Clark's investigative reporter's instincts had finally kicked into gear. But why would Pete push for that? He could have seen me anytime he wanted in the last twenty years. He's the one that left me, I was always open to his return…but someone else in Smallville has been happy to see me, as happy as I've been to see her. I wonder if Lana leaned on Pete to make sure I showed up this time? Oh well, it doesn't really matter. Now that I'm here, I'm so glad I came.

Looking for something to keep Jimmy busy, Clark took him on a tour of the Smallville area. Much like the self-guided tour Clark went on two days earlier, Clark showed Jimmy the sights of his childhood. Clark would point out a particular site and then give Jimmy some time to exercise his photographic genius. Most of the time, Jimmy had no idea why he was photographing a particular site, like a lone oak tree on top of a low hill, a downtown coffee shop, an old farmhouse on the outskirts of town, or the middle school. Wasn't this supposed to be a high school reunion? Jimmy wondered.

After a late, leisurely lunch, Clark decided he'd better let Lana know what he was planning, so he and Jimmy headed back toward Hickory Lane, only this time, they drove past the old house that Nell used to own and headed to his old house.

"More pictures of another old house, Clark?" Jimmy asked.

"Not just any old house, Jimmy," Clark replied. "This is the house I grew up in." Then, as an aside, he threw in, "And Lois lived here for several months just after she graduated high school."

Clark watched Jimmy out of the corner of his eye and was rewarded when Jimmy sat up straighter and began to look at the farmhouse and grounds with renewed curiosity.

"Don't tell me you forgot that Lois lived in Smallville for a while when we were younger? It's where we first met!"

"Oh, I knew that," Jimmy said, "I just didn't know she had lived with you. I figured she would have lived with this cousin Chloe you two always mention."

Normally, any mention of Chloe in the context of the Daily Planet made Clark think of her journalistic drive and her love of big words. Today, however, being in Smallville for a high school reunion, bringing Chloe up unexpectedly like that was a painful blow.

"Normally she would have," Clark said, "but Chloe's dad was unemployed at the time and they didn't have any room for Lois, so she stayed with my family for a while." Clark then began to think of some way, however small, that he might be able to honor Chloe at the dinner and dance tonight.

By this time the crunch of well-compacted gravel underneath the Audi announced their arrival at Lana's house. As he pulled to a stop, Clark noticed a green Volkswagen Jetta parked behind Lana's truck, and as he and Jimmy climbed out, Lana came out of the house with someone else in tow.

When Clark approached, Lana said, "What an unexpected surprise, I didn't plan on seeing you until tonight." Jimmy was still back at the car, leaning into the back seat, deciding on which equipment he was going to need.

Clark leaned down for a quick kiss, and afterward, Lana made introductions, "Clark, this is my best friend, and fellow teacher, Evangeline Skala. She's here to help me get ready for tonight."

Turning back to Clark, Lana said, "Evangeline, this is Clark Kent. His family used to live in this house while I was growing up, and, I think it's safe to say, he's my boyfriend." Clark and Evangeline shook hands quickly and firmly, each curious to meet the other.

For her part, Evangeline wanted to meet the man Lana had been in love with all these years, the man who had unknowingly kept Lana from marrying Ben Simoneau. That breakup had to have happened ten years ago, but Evangeline could remember it like it was yesterday.

Clark was curious to see the type of people Lana had been surrounding herself with, since the old gang was not around any more. Pete spent most of his time in Washington, Chloe was dead, and Clark, of course, lived in Metropolis.

Just then, Jimmy came up the walk and joined the group. Clark said, "Ladies, this is Jimmy Olson. He's a co-worker of mine from the Daily Planet. Jimmy, these ladies are Lana Lang, who is the owner of this house, and her best friend, Evangeline Skala." Jimmy got his camera out of the way and shook hands with both of them.

Clark waited until Lana's hand was safely out of Jimmy's reach and said, "Furthermore, Lana holds the dubious distinction of being my girlfriend."

Jimmy's eyes opened as wide as dinner plates and he reached for his camera. "Can I take a photo of you Miss Lang?"

"Jimmy," Clark said, "We're here to get some shots of the house. I seriously doubt Lana will want you to photograph her until she's had time to get ready. You do remember what happened when you tried to photograph Lois at her apartment that one morning, don't you?"

Shuddering at the memory of the tirade Lois had unleashed that day, Jimmy reflexively hugged his camera close to his body and hoped Lana wouldn't try to repeat Lois' camera-smashing exhibition.

"No, that's okay, Clark," Lana said. "Jimmy can take some pictures if he wants to. I'm not ready for tonight yet, but I'm already cleaned up and ready for a normal day, so a few photos will be fine."

"Really?" Jimmy asked in surprise, as he prepped his camera and flash. "Okay Miss Lang, if you'd just step over there…"

While Jimmy was keeping Lana busy, Evangeline took this golden opportunity to lay down the law. "You must be one amazing piece of work, Mr. Kent. The way Lana talks about you, the Pope is just a wannabe when it comes to being the best man around. In the sixteen years that I've known her, she's had dozens of suitors, some of whom were even half as good as they thought they were, but none of them could get through to her.

"Except for one.

"His name was Ben Simoneau. He was a pediatrician at a clinic here in town. They met at the Lowell County Fair ten or eleven years ago and dated for nearly a year before he proposed. She accepted and they were to be married the next April. I thought they were a golden couple. Everything was sailing along smoothly, and then, just weeks before the wedding, Ben called it off. One month more and he had left town for good. Lana said Ben called it off because he knew she didn't feel the same way about him as he felt about her.

"She's been alone a long time, and missed out on at least one really good man, because she wasn't able to get past the boy who dumped her in college. She's waited for you. Don't you dare let her down again, Mr. Kent. She hasn't been this happy in…inforever and it would crush her to have it all taken away."

Not sure how to take this dressing down, Clark said quietly, "I have no intention of hurting Lana. I'm here today trying to be the man Lana's always deserved…Miss, Mrs., or Ms?"

"Mrs."

"Okay, Mrs. Skala. I hope I can be the kind of man she deserves, though the Lord knows she deserves better than me."

"Something we both agree on then," Evangeline said defiantly.

Definitely not happy with the continued hostility, Clark's eyes narrowed as he said, "Just so you know, my friends call me Clark…but you'd better keep calling me Mr. Kent."

A couple of minutes later, picture time with Lana was over and Jimmy moved on to photograph the house and, at Clark's direction, the barn.

As Lana rejoined her friends, she noticed the tension between the two most important people in her life, but chose to ignore it for the time being. Instead, she asked, "What's with having a photographer, Clark?"

Evangeline wanted to give Clark and Lana some time alone, so she went off with the avowed purpose of watching Jimmy work. Whatever her reason, Clark was just happy she was gone.

"Jimmy?" Clark said with a faint smile. "He's my cross to bear today. Lois came back from her vacation and found out I had been assigned to write a story on my 20th class reunion. She thought it would be hilarious to send Jimmy out to work with me."

"What's so bad about that?" Lana asked. "He seems to be a nice guy."

"Oh, Jimmy was born nice," Clark replied, "he was also born talking, born talking, and born talking…did I mention he likes to talk? To top it off, he spends more time next to me than my shadow does. If he wasn't the best photographer I know, none of our reporters would work with him."

"Why did he want to take pictures of me?"

Clark scratched his head and gave Lana a wry look as he said, "Well…the sighting of a Clark Kent girlfriend is something akin to a Loch Ness monster sighting as far as my co-workers are concerned. Jimmy likely just wanted to come back with proof. According to Lois, there's an office pool going on and the winner is the one that comes closest to correctly picking the next time I go on a date."

"Wouldn't he need a picture of us together for that?"

"Yeah, but I bet he took a dozen shots of all three of us before he came up to join us. Jimmy plays dumb, but he's got good instincts to go along with his photography skills."

"I mean, us together kissing or something. Surely, they'd need that, at minimum."

"Oh, so you're eager to give him something good to photograph? Far be it from me to disagree with you." Clark stepped right in front of Lana and said, "So, how do you want to do this? Should I put my hands on either side of your face and pull you in for a kiss like this?"

kiisssssss

"No, that won't work, my hands would block your face from his camera. How about I put my forefinger under your chin, like this, and lift your chin up for a kiss?"

kisssssss

"Well, that might not work, it might not look passionate enough. How about this one? I wrap my arms around you and dip you for a big, long kiss like this?"

kkiiiissssssssssssss

"Nope, not good enough, that would look staged, like something from an old Rudolph Valentino movie. I guess we'll just have to go with the old standby, you on your toes and me leaning over you, like this."

kkiiisssssssss

"Hopefully he'll do his job correctly and our unbridled passion will shine through."

Lana was pleasantly dazed and said, "I like practicing! Let's try that again."

"Which one?"

"All of them!"

"Well, okay," Clark said, "but I think Jimmy took enough pictures of us the first time around." He then pointed to where Jimmy and Evangeline were standing. Jimmy looked like he had just won a prize, and Evangeline was doubled over with laughter. After Jimmy finished photographing the house and barn, he and Clark headed back to the hotel, but not before Clark reaffirmed his plan to meet up with Lana at seven.