Lois made it just in time to be admitted to the Senate afternoon session.
Clark looked at her, and then glanced at his watch. "You're cutting it fine. Did you end up meeting your father?"
She shook her head. "I rang him but he is out of town for a few days. He says he will be at Fort Ryan next month so he will meet up with me then. Anyway it took me ages to find a dress. This one will knock Bill's socks off."
Clark was not going to bite. "I look forward to seeing it. Is Bill picking you up or are you coming with me and mom."
Lois was still puzzled by his sudden lack of interest in her. "He is picking me up at 7pm."
They headed into the hall where they spent the afternoon, watching his mom lobby for some new legislation. By 4pm the session was finished.
Martha met them outside the hall. "How did you find it?"
Lois smiled. "I don't how you do it Martha but most of that stuff went way over my head."
"It took me a while but I have a supportive team."
"I must admit Bill seems my kind of guy. He seems to know how to treat a girl." she said, obviously directing that comment at Clark.
Clark pretended not to listen, but he heard every word. He could not work out what his next move towards Lois should be.
Bill came along the corridor. "Martha, can I have a quick word?"
She nodded and headed into her office with him.
Bill asked. "What is the plan for tonight? How much do you want me to play along with Lois?"
"Not too much. I don't want Clark hurt but I figure some reverse psychology is the only way forward with these two." she laughed.
"I did not know what to say when Lois asked me out. It was a bit forward when she had just met me." Bill replied. "I did not have the heart to tell her I was gay."
"She is trying to make Clark jealous but he is acting like he doesn't care."
"But even I can see he is mad about her. I don't need a degree in body language to see the chemistry these two have been displaying all afternoon. I just hope your plan works." Bill commented.
"So do I!"
Martha, Lois and Clark headed back to her apartment to get ready for that evening.
"What time is your flight in the morning?" Martha asked.
"It is at seven, so we will have to make sure that we don't have too much of a late night." Clark replied.
"Clark, speak for yourself. I am not making any plans until I see how the party goes." Lois
"I will book a taxi for us at 11pm as I want to flyi back with you tomorrow. I have some business to discuss with Oliver Queen in Metropolis. Lois, you can always get a lift home with Bill." his mom suggested.
Lois was totally confused by Martha's reaction towards her date. "Ok then.." she said with uncertainty.
Martha asked Lois if she wanted to go for a sauna before getting ready.
"This is a great place to live." Lois told her. "You have all the mod cons."
"It is..." Martha replied as they headed down to the sauna room. "But I do miss the farm."
As they enjoyed the relaxation, Lois looked at Martha. "Are you ok with me and Bill going to the Ball together."
"Of course I am. I shouldn't interfere but I have been watching you and Clark this afternoon and to be honest, I see any relationship between the two of you heading the same way as his one with Lana." Martha lied convincingly.
Lois looked deflated. "What makes you say that?"
"Lois, you two just end up bickering all the time."
"I am just so confused."
Martha smiled. "I have spent time thinking about your situation and I am wondering if you should pursue your relationship with the Blur. If I was in your position I would be attracted by the mystery of it all."
Lois thought about what she had said. "But I don't even know who he is. He might never tell me."
"Is that not worth the risk?" Martha asked enticingly.
It took Lois almost two hours to get ready, much to Clark's dismay as he needed to get into the bathroom.
"Lois, how long are you going to be?" he shouted through the door. Then he heard a knock at the front door, so he went to answer it.
He opened the door to see a smiling Bill standing there. "Hi Clark. Is she ready?"
Clark looked at him. "She is still in the bathroom. Come in for a drink. She will take at least another hour." He went to sort out a drink.
They sat in the lounge waiting for both women to appear.
"Lois said something about buying a new dress. Have you seen it?" Bill asked.
"Are you kidding? She can be more secretive then the CIA."
Clark tried to find something to dislike about Bill, but he couldn't. He seems a decent guy, but did feel he was being led astray by Lois.
Martha appeared. "You look lovely." Clark and Bill both commented.
"Thanks. Is Lois not out of the bathroom yet?"
They didn't have to wait long. Lois appeared...
Clark was speechless. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. Lois was not hard on the eyes to start off with but this dress hit it out of the ball park. It clung to all the right places, accentuating every curve on her body.
The orange dress she had worn at Chloe's wedding had opened his eyes to her amazing beauty, but this one blew him away. The only other person who had had this effect on him in terms of physical attraction was Stiletto.
He was being pulled in two completely opposite directions but which way should he go.
The party was soon in full swing. Martha was sat with her son.
"Clark, why are you drinking as though it has an effect on you." She asked, wondering if she was doing the right thing by getting involved. She could not see any other way, the gap between her son and Lois was turning into a bigger chasm by the second.
"I wish alcohol did affect me and then I wouldn't be feeling so frustrated. Lois is leading Bill on, just to get back at me."
Martha looked at him. "Maybe she is, but she is still reeling from Lana's reappearance. She doesn't know how to deal with it."
"Wow, mom. Don't go easy on me. Lana and I are over, you know that."
"Yeah I do but Lois doesn't, and no matter how many times you tell her it, at the back of her mind is the fact you got back with Lana. I think you need to put your relationship with Lois on the backburner until you figure out what you want in life. You don't want another disaster. Sorry for the tough love, but I think you needed to hear it." Martha explained.
"Maybe you're right!" Clark resided.
"Give it time. If Lois and you are meant to be together, you will be." Martha tried to reassure him. "Don't push it."
Clark suddenly looked over his mom's shoulder. "Well look who is gatecrashing the party."
Martha turned around to see an unexpected guest. "Oliver, I thought I was meeting you in Metropolis."
"I thought I would come here. Since the merger with Luthorcorp, I don't seem very busy and knowing how full your diary is, I thought I would save you the trip."
She smiled back at him. "That is so nice of you."
"Hi Clark, how are things?"
"Just great..." he replied, obviously distracted.
Oliver turned around to confirm his suspicions that Lois was the source and distraction. She had her hands draped around Bill's neck as they moved around the dance floor with a few other dancing couples.
"I can see why..." Oliver offered.
Martha stood up. "If you don't mind, Oliver and I are going to see if there is a quiet corner to discuss business."
Clark grunted back, but then managed a nod. "Ok, see you later."
Martha grabbed some drinks and they headed to a quiet table in a corner, well away from the dance floor and the music.
"Will this be ok?" Oliver asked, looking back over at Clark.
"Don't worry, he won't listen. He has always respected people's privacy and to be honest I am sure he doesn't find Senate business that interesting." Martha smiled.
"So things don't look as though they are going well. So what is your plan?"
"Their relationship is in tatters at the moment. They have both put up so many barriers, and I don't see how they will break them down if we don't interfere a little."
"A little!" he laughed.
"Well , maybe more than just a little." she smiled back. "I have been planting doubts in both their heads that it won't work between them."
"And how does that help?" he asked puzzled.
"I think we need to get them together via their alter egos. If Stiletto and the Blur can talk to each other openly about their feelings without the baggage from the past, it may work."
"But they don't know each other's identity." Oliver added. "Won't any fledgling relationship collapse when they discover each other lies."
"It is a risk, but they are both hiding their identities so in some ways they cannot blame each other for lying."
Oliver smiled. "I suppose there is no other way of doing things."
Meanwhile Clark decided he had had enough of the charade Lois was putting on and he approached her when Bill left to get them a drink.
"Lois...are you having a good time." he asked, trying hard not to look at her in that dress.
"Well I would be if you would quit staring at me." she snapped.
"Well why don't you quit using Bill to get back at me?"
"I am not using Bill to get back at you. I am enjoying myself with a friend."
"A friend?"
"Well we're never going to be much else considering he told me in the car that he had a boyfriend called Michael, so believe me leading him on is not possible." Lois replied smugly.
"Oh I see." Clark was speechless, his argument had been blown to smithereens.
"Now if you don't mind. I am going to powder my nose before I catch up with Oliver." she headed off down the corridor. He decided to follow her.
"Lois, can we talk?" he pleaded with her, only to be met with frosty glances over her shoulder.
"No we can't. I don't want my night spoiled."
"I need you in my life." he shouted. Those words made her stop in her tracks. She turned around and look at him.
"I think you need to know that I am serious about that man I am seeing" She announced coldly.
Clark could not believe what he was hearing but he knew immediately from her expression that she was telling the truth and whoever he was, he meant a lot to her.
"Who is he?" He asked, knowing he had no right to ask. But he needed to know.
"I can't tell you...but it is serious." she said, turning around, mainly to hide her wet eyes. "I am going to fly back with Oliver, as I think it is best if we don't travel home together, under the circumstances."
Lois walked off, knowing exactly who she loved, and it wasn't the Blur.
On his way back from the airport, Clark went to see Oliver at his apartment.
"Hi Clark, how are you? Sorry I sided with Lois and did not offer you a ride home."
"Let's face it, Oliver. If I had wanted to run home, I could have. It was a good chance for me to think and I have decided not to pursue Lois."
"And why is that?"
"She is seeing someone...she must have told you." Clark suggested.
Oliver shook his head. "No she didn't. In fact she said barely anything on the way home...bit odd when you consider it is Lois we are talking about."
"I have to face her this afternoon at work, but I will just play it cool."
"What about your other avenue of interest?" Oliver inquired.
"You mean Stiletto...she has probably left town by now." he smiled at the thought of seeing if she was still around. "I will see when I go on patrol tonight."
Clark headed back to the farm, unpacked and then drove back to work. He expected Lois to be annoyed with him, but it was quite the opposite.
"Hi Clark. Was your flight ok?" she asked.
"Yeah fine...you?"
"I hope you don't mind but I filed the Senate story this morning. Tess was pushing for a deadline. Don't worry I put you on the byline." she smiled.
"Thanks..."
"Listen I am heading out on a story now. I will see you tomorrow as I won't be coming back to the office." She picked her bag and left.
Clark sighed, realising he would prefer an angry Lois rather than an apathetic one.
Lois headed home to get her costume on for the night. She was excited about seeing him again and just hoped he had not been too worried by her absence for the last two nights. Anything which took her mind off her disaster with Clark had to be a bonus.
She went to their phone booth to see if he turned up. It didn't take long for her to be literally swept off her feet and find herself standing on top of the Crow's Nest.
She looked over to see him standing there. "Hi..." he said in his modulated voice.
"Hi...I have missed you." she said, hoping it had not sounded too desperate. "I am sorry I have not seen you the past few days."
"I know I am sorry I was out of town, and could not let you know." He replied.
"You too... I was trying to explain that I had been out of town too."
"Oh I see." he went quiet for a second. "Did you have a nice time?"
"Sort of..." she answered in a non committal way. "It is a little complicated. How about you?"
"Same really!" he laughed.
"I am glad to be back and I appreciate having you to talk to." she explained.
"Me too. Our relationship seems so...uncomplicated." he replied.
She giggled at that suggestion. "We don't know who each other is..how uncomplicated is that?"
He walked towards her. "I don't need to know your name. I feel like I have known you forever." he said and then winced. "Sorry, did that sound corny."
"No...because I feel the same way." she replied honestly. "I find you easier than most men to talk to, even though I know very little about you."
"Why don't we fix that? How about asking each other two questions every time we meet. It cannot be about our identity and if we feel uncomfortable we don't have to answer."
"Ok then... you first." she said with excitement.
"No, ladies first."
"Ok...how long have you had your powers?" she asked.
He paused. He was about to give away one of his secrets but for some reason he knew he could let his guard down with Stiletto.
"Since I was about 2 years old." he answered.
Lois did a quick calculation and realised he must have been about 22 years old. That was if he was meteor infected like she assumed.
"A long time then...You shoot with your question."
"I can't think." he was silent for a moment. "Ok...here goes. Does your boyfriend know you meet me here?"
"Like you , I am single and have been for almost a year."
"Ok second question." she continued. "Did you get your powers from the meteor shower?"
He looked at her. "No I didn't."
Now she was confused and wished she had more questions so she could probe further. "Your go!"
"Look, I need to go back on patrol but my question is...can I kiss you again?"
Her heart started to race. "I thought you said that would complicate things."
"I know I did, but I am starting to have these feelings for you and I'd like to kiss you." he said, realising his disguise made him more confident.
"On one condition...we both take our masks off." she said. "But we have to keep our eyes closed."
He was enjoying this flirting too much to refuse such an offer. "Ok.,."
They both approached each other hesitantly. Once they were within arms length, they closed their eyes. In complete contrast to their last experience, this was more satisfying from the moment their lips touched. Soon they were both lost in the kiss, neither aware of how carried away they were becoming.
Clark placed his hand on the back of Lois's hair pulling him to her as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. She followed suit, and began running her hands across his taut muscular stomach. He let out an audible groan in response – the first time she had heard the Blur's real voice, not that she took much notice of it.
Just then, a gunshot pierced the night, wrenching them apart. Lois waited but realising he was gone, opened her eyes...fell back against the wall and moaned in pleasure thinking about what had just occurred.