CHAPTER 10

Cammareri's Bakery

Clark goes down the steps to the basement of the bakery and opens the door. "Hi," he says to one of the bakers. "I'm looking for a Ronny Cammareri?"

"I'm Ronny," a tall, lean man calls out to him. "You must be Clark," he says as he walks over.

"I am," he replies as he pulls off his glove to shake Ronny's outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he says with a smile. After letting go of Clark's hand, he reaches into his pants pocket. "Here is the key," holding it out to Clark. "You don't have to worry about returning it because I have a couple extra keys just in case."

"Thanks," Clark says and takes the key from him. "I really appreciate this."

"Any friend of Oliver's is a friend of mine, although I get the feeling that Oliver thinks of you as more than a friend," giving Clark a curious look.

"We're just friends," Clark insists as he puts his gloves back on. "I'm engaged to be married."

"Really," a surprised look on his face. "What's his name?" quirking a brow.

"Her name is Lois," Clark replies in a slightly defensive tone.

"Well she's a lucky woman," Ronny responds in an amused tone.

"She is," Clark says as he heads back to the staircase.

"Clark?"

He stops in his tracks and turns around.

"Oliver is a good man," Ronny says.

"Excuse me?" Clark looking back at him in confusion.

"I saw you leaving the apartment yesterday morning," he goes on to say. Clark's jaw drops and he stares at him in shock as Ronny continues talking. "Not long after that Oliver came into the bakery to pick up some rolls before he went home. He had the same look in his eyes that you had."

"What kind of look?" Clark asks him.

"The look of a man in love," he replies as he walks over and rests his hands on Clark's shoulders. "We consider Oliver family. Please don't break his heart," he says then turns around and walks back to the ovens.

Clark turns around without a word and starts to climb the stairs. "Ronny."

He looks up at the staircase. "Yes, Clark?"

"I would never break his heart. It's the last thing I want to do," he says in an emotional voice without turning around.

Ronny continues to watch until Clark is out of his view. I believe you, he smiles to himself as he opens the door to one of the ovens and shoves more bread into it.

I'm not in love with him, Clark tells himself as he climbs the stairs to the apartment.

Perry exits the Daily Planet and hails a taxi. "Where to?" the driver asks him as he slides into the back seat.

Perry starts to give him the address of the apartment building he's staying in, but changes his mind when he remembers that he has nothing in the refrigerator. "The Grand Ticino," he answers back.

"Very well," the driver replies as he pulls away from the curb and back into the flow of traffic. As they're stuck at a red light, Perry's phone rings.

"Hello," he answers as the light turns green. "I was just heading for dinner," he tells the caller. "The Grand Ticino," pausing to listen. "Alright, I'll see you there in about ten minutes. Bye," he replies, then hangs up.

A few minutes later…

Clark enters the apartment and locks the door behind him, then immediately heads for the bedroom. He's laying the garment bag down on the bed when he spots something on the pillow. He can't help chuckling as he picks up the red Santa's cap along with the note attached.

Does this give you any ideas? I know it gives me some.

Clark's mind briefly drifts off to the conversation they had the night before, then he gives himself a mental shake as he lays the hat and note back down on the pillow. He takes off his clothes and goes into the bathroom carrying the duffle bag. He puts a plastic cap on his head to protect his newly colored hair before stepping into the shower and pulling the curtain closed.

He leans against the back wall, his eyes closing as the water hits his skin. After a few minutes, he turns around to let the hot water soothe his back muscles. Ronny's words continue to play over and over in his mind.

I'm not in love with him, he tells himself again but without the certainty he had before. He opens his eyes and grabs the body wash. As he's soaping up his body, his hand absently moves between his thighs.

The bottle slips out of his grasp and falls to the floor, his head dropping down and his eyes closing as he braces himself with one hand on the shower wall while the other one wraps around his length and slowly begins to squeeze.

Oliver, he moans softly over and over as his hand slides up and down, then gradually increasing the speed and pressure of his strokes until he reaches the breaking point and throws his head backwards, climaxing hard. Once his shudders finally ebb away, he rinses himself off and steps out of the shower, taking off the cap and setting it down on the edge of the tub.

He grabs a towel from the rack and wraps it around his waist, then walks over to the sink and takes out the shaving cream and razor from his bag of toiletries and begins to shave. Once he's finished, he pulls out the Old Spice he bought earlier and splashes some on his cheeks and his chin.

"Are you ready to go?" Jimmy calls out to Chloe.

"Just about," she replies back as she comes out of the storage room. "I think that maybe it's time I start my maternity leave. What do you think?" she asks while stretching her back.

"I've been telling you that for the last couple weeks," he replies as he walks over to her. "Working full-time at the Planet and helping out your parents lately has been taking a toll on you. You really need to take it easy for the next few weeks."

"Mr. White has been telling me the same thing," she says with a sigh.

"So stop being stubborn already and just do it," he says while helping her put on her coat.

"Alright," she concedes. "Today was my last day. Okay?"

"Okay," he replies with a smile. "Now let's head on home and relax in front of the fire."

"That sounds good to me," she replies. "While we're relaxing, you can massage my feet because they're killing me."

"Of course," giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

She smiles back before turning towards the counter. "What's that?" he asks as she picks up a bag.

"Mrs. Kent's order," she replies. "Clark was supposed to pick it up today, but he never showed up."

"So you want to drop it off tonight?" he asks.

"No," shaking her head. "I talked to her earlier and she said we could drop it off in the morning."

"Alright. We'll swing by on our way to breakfast," taking the bag from her. "It's not like Clark to forget like that."

"I know," a note of concern in her voice. "I'm a little worried."

"I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about," he replies in a reassuring tone.

"I hope you're right," she answers back as they exit the store. "It's just that he seemed a little…well…weird yesterday. Didn't you notice?"

"He did seem a little distracted," he remarks as he locks the front door. "Didn't he say something about wedding details and all that stuff?"

Chloe thinks about it for a moment. "He did say that," she replies as he flags down a cab. Once they get in and tell the driver where to go, Jimmy pulls out his phone. "Who are you calling?" she asks as they settle back against the worn cushions of the back seat.

"The babysitter," he replies as he types out a message. "I'm just letting her know that we're on our way home and to make sure that our little Gabe is already in his pajamas."

"That's nice," she mumbles softly as she rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes.

Jonathan opens the door to the florist shop and steps inside. "Hi, Jonathan," Nell says as she comes out from the back room to greet him. "How are you?" she asks as she gives him a peck on the cheek.

"I'm doing fine. How about you?" giving her one back.

"The same," she says with a smile. "So what can I do for you?"

"I'm going out with an old friend tonight and I thought I'd get her one of those wrist corsages. Do you remember Mona from high school?"

"Sure I do," Nell replies back. "How is she?"

"She lost her wife about six months ago," he tells her. "Leukemia."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," she says in a solemn tone. "I hadn't heard."

"Today would have been their tenth wedding anniversary," he goes on to say. "They were supposed to go to the opera tonight.

"I remember them doing that a lot," Nell remarks. "So you're her date?" quirking one brow.

"Yes," he replies. "I know a wrist corsage sounds unbelievably old-fashioned but-"

"I don't think it's old-fashioned at all," she replies. "I think it's sweet," she smiles while leading him over to one of the refrigerated display cases and opening one of the doors. "Do you have any idea what color dress she's wearing?"

"No, but she does like to wear pink a lot," he replies.

"Alright," taking a moment to scan the contents of the display case. "This should go with anything," pulling out a box and handing it to him.

He opens the box to get a closer look. "I'll take it," he says after a short pause.

"Excellent choice," giving him a wink as she walks over to the cash register and rings up the purchase. "Will you give Mona my sympathies on the loss of her wife?" she asks as they walk over to the front door.

"Of course I will," he replies and gives her a peck on the cheek.

"Have a great time," waving to him as he opens the door and steps outside.

"Will do," waving back at her as he turns right and walks away.

Clark opens the two small lids of a plastic container and squirts some solution into the two wells before placing the contacts inside them. Once they're ready, he inserts his fingertip and picks up one of them.

Well, here goes nothing, he tells himself as he carefully places the contact on his eye, then does the same with the other one. He looks at himself in the mirror and studies his reflection for a moment.

Not bad, he decides as he puts everything back in the duffle bag.

He goes back into the bedroom carrying the duffle bag and sets it down on the bed next to the garment bag. After putting on fresh boxers and a t-shirt, he opens the garment bag and takes out the outfit he bought that day. He holds it up and examines it before he starts to get dressed. He removes the lid to the box of shoes and takes them out.

Once he has them on, the only thing left to do is to put on his tie. Where's Lois when I need her? he wonders as he continues to fiddle around with it. Once he finally he manages to accomplish the task, he walks over to the floor length mirror on the bedroom door and stands in front of it to study his appearance.

I look damn good, still looking at his reflection. Oliver won't know what hit him, he thinks with a smile as he puts on his long, black coat and the hat he wears for special occasions.

He picks up his iPhone and looks up phone numbers for taxi companies. Once he's called one of them and made the arrangements, he sets his phone in the 'vibrate' mode. He grabs the key to the apartment and puts it in the change compartment of his billfold so that it doesn't get lost. After putting his wallet in the front pocket of his trousers, he leaves the apartment and makes sure that the door was locked before he walks down the hallway and out of the building.

At the Met…

Jonathan is on the other side of the fountain greeting Mona. "So are you ready to go inside?"

"I am," she replies as they begin to make their way to the front entrance.

"I haven't been to the opera in a long time," he says in a wistful as he holds the door open for her. "The last time I was here was with Martha. I think we saw Carmen."

She looks at him curiously as they approach the coat room. "So how did Martha take the news about you coming tonight?"

There's a long pause before Jonathan answers. "I didn't tell her."

"You didn't tell her? Why not?" a wondering expression on her face.

"Can we please not talk about it right now?" he asks.

"If that's what you want," she answers back.

"That's what I want," he replies.

"Alright, but can you answer another question I have?"

"What is it?" looking at her curiously.

"Actually it's not so much a question as a wondering," she replies. "I was surprised that you agreed to come tonight. I always thought you didn't like opera. You never came with me before."

"I do like opera. I just never let on that I did. Besides, you were with Janet," he replies as he helps her with her coat.

"You are just full of surprises," she shakes her head in amusement as he hands her coat over to the person in charge. "So how do I look?"

He gives her the once over. "You look beautiful as usual. That shade is lovely on you."

"Thank you," smiling back at him. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"I clean up pretty well," he chuckles as he hands over both their coats to the coat check girl. "I got this for you," opening the box and taking out the wrist corsage.

"Oh, Jonathan," she says softly as he slips it onto her wrist. "It's beautiful. Thank you. It goes perfect with my dress."

"Nell really knows how to coordinate," he says with a smile.

"Nell from high school?" she asks.

"Yes," he answers back. "She owns a florist shop here in Metropolis. She hadn't heard about Janet so she wanted me to express her sympathies to you on your loss."

"That was really nice of her," she says with a wistful smile on her face.

Jonathan extends his arm. "Shall we find our seats?" he smiles at her.

"Yes, lets," linking her arm through his as they start walking through the throng of people.

Martha arrives home and takes off her coat and hat, then heads directly to the kitchen. She's starts to take out some fish for dinner when she notices a note taped to the front of the refrigerator door.

Martha,

I won't be home for dinner. See you tonight when I get back.

Jonathan

She crumbles up the note in her fist and throws it into the trash receptacle.

Oh you'll see me when you get back all right; she silently fumes as she shoves the fish back inside the refrigerator and slams the door closed. Why should I slave over a hot stove while he's having a grand old time? If he can go out for dinner, then so can I, she decides as she grabs her coat and heads back outside to flag down a taxi.

The driver asks her where she wants to go. "I don't feel like cooking tonight so…" thinking for a moment. "Take me to the Grand Ticino."

"Yes, Madam," he replies with a smile as he pulls away from the curb.

Lois tries Clark's number for the umpteenth time. Where the hell are you, Smallville? Why aren't you picking up? she scowls to herself as Clark's voice mail comes on.

She waits for the beep, then leaves a message.

Clark, it's Lois. I'm coming home sooner than expected. I can't go into details right now because the plane is ready for boarding. I'll come straight to the house because we really need to talk. See you then.

She hangs up and puts her phone away before climbing the airstair to the plane...

TO BE CONTINUED…

FYI:

Old Spice has a nice, spicy smell to it, hence the name. You'll find overpowering notes of sage and cinnamon when you apply it. As it fades, it leaves a pleasant musk and cedarwood scent.