Author's
note:
Thanks for all the comments! They are definitely the fun
part of writing! I find myself checking several times a day to see if
someone left me any at all. It is so addictive
Cloisharley = "a little red puddle of embarrassment on the floor" Ok… so now I've got to go read your stories. That was so descriptive.
Chapter 14
"I was watching, Clark. I was so proud. You helped so many people yesterday."
Clark smiled at his mom as he scooped some scrambled eggs onto her plate. He'd made her breakfast because she had awoken with a bad cold. "You should really take it easy today, mom. Maybe I should stick around here today and—"
"No, son, I'll be fine. I plan on doing nothing more strenuous today than parking myself in front of the TV and watching a DVD while all dosed up on some cough and cold medicine. Really, I'll be fine." Another sneeze drew a quick look of concern from Clark.
"Uh huh. I think I'll come back home for lunch just to make sure."
"Don't you dare. I'll be fine." She thought a quick change of subject would help. "So what was this doctor like?"
"I don't know. Lois described him as a bit of a flake. He lived up to that anyway. It's hard to believe he's the same person described in the journals I checked out. I'm hoping she's going to just drop the whole thing."
"Have you ever known Lois to just drop something?"
"Actually, yes." He looked thoughtful as he sat down at the table. "She hasn't asked me once to get in contact with Superman for a follow-up interview. I really thought she'd be bugging me to death about it, but she hasn't."
"Hmm." Martha looked thoughtful too. "And the new office, it'll be ready next week. How do you think that's going to work out?"
Clark groaned. "I'm not at all sure that is going to be a good idea. I mean, how am I going to be able to get away from her as easily? And I'm seriously worried about the wear and tear on my hearing."
They both laughed. "Well, you may be the only one on the planet that can handle her in close quarters." Martha smiled to herself. Lois was a talker for sure.
"I've just got to keep her away from Superman as much as I can. I mean, it's not that much of a disguise, mom. I don't know how the people at work cannot see it's me."
"I think it's a combination of two things, Clark. They know you. They've known you. You're ordinary in their eyes. Superman is something above them. And then there's that outfit. I think the flashiness of it grabs the attention away from your face. The cape was a terrific idea, if you ask me."
Clark rolled his eyes. "I will never understand the fascination with a piece of red cloth. But Lois is different. She notices things, little things that other people don't. And when she goes after something, she's like a pit bull that doesn't let go. If she starts suspecting…"
"Well, there is one solution to that." Martha took a long sip of her tea and made sure she had her son's complete attention before continuing. "You could just tell her."
Clark's eyes went round. "Tell her?"
"Well, wouldn't it be nice to have someone around that you could trust with your secret? Someone that would help, not hinder you when you needed to disappear? I just think Lois has proven that she is—"
"Mom! All my life, you've taught me to protect the secret. You and dad drilled it into to me to—"
"Yes, I know, but it is different now. I know how much it helped you when Chloe found out. But she's not around so much anymore."
"Yeah, and neither is Pete. Knowing my secret didn't work out too well for him. No, mom, it's the last thing I want. Besides…"
"You don't know how she'd react?"
"No, that's not it. I think that Lois…well, I think she'd be okay with…" He took a deep breath. "Lois is different. I never really…I mean, I just don't think she'd…" He looked up at his mom who was waiting for him to finish the thought, or any thought. But he just repeated, "Lois is different." He looked at the clock. "Mom, I need to go." He got up and headed for the door. "Just rest and get better, okay?"
The swoosh of air from his leaving blew her hair back from her face. Martha sipped her tea, smiled, and repeated, "Lois is different."
******
Clark sat across from Lois and stared. His thoughts were as jumbled as they'd ever been and he was having trouble following any single one of them to an end. There was only one phrase that kept coming up to the surface of them all – tell her.
"Clark Kent!" The strident voice cut across his thoughts like a knife. "Do I have something in my teeth? Did my hair suddenly turn pink or maybe I sprouted antlers?" Lois was clearly in a bad mood.
"Huh?"
"You're staring. You've been staring at me all morning. What is it with you today?"
"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't…" He had to force himself to turn away from her even under the intense glare she was giving him. "Lois, it's just you look like you didn't sleep well or something." Actually, she looked as if she'd been crying as well, but he thought better about saying that. "I was just wondering…"
"Well, maybe that's because I didn't sleep well, no thanks for the compliment."
"Is this about yesterday? Because I'm sorry I left, but I—"
"You didn't want to be there in the first place. It was kind of obvious. So let's just drop it, shall we? Besides, I—"
She was interrupted by someone clearing his throat in the doorway. Oliver Queen stood there with his ever-present confident smile.
"Lois. Clark." His hands in his pockets, he looked from one to the other of them before striding over to Lois. "Ready for lunch?"
"I…uh…oh my, I forgot…"
"Hmm." Oliver shook his head and placed a hand over his heart. "You really know how to hurt a guy, Lois."
"No, I mean, I didn't forget. Of course, I didn't forget. I just forgot—"
"Then that explains it. Come on, the limo's waiting."
She looked over at Clark and saw his confusion and before she could stop herself, she'd blurted out, "Why don't you come with us, Smallville?"
Both men looked at her like she'd lost her mind. Then both spoke at once.
"I don't think Clark really wants to—"
"Great idea. I'd love to, Lo."
She looked from one to the other and smiled nervously, thinking "Why on did I invite Clark? Bad idea. Really bad idea." But Clark was already reaching for his jacket and Oliver was already laughing, completely at ease with the new arrangement. They were friends after all. No, this wouldn't be so bad.
Then Clark turned back around and she saw the dark look in his eyes.
Definitely a bad idea.
