Chapter 67

"Where is it!" Lois was on her knees rumbling through her closet on a quest to find one particular purse she had not seen in months. "I know you're here. Show yourself!"

"Lois?" Chloe's voice came from the living room. "I think I finally got the hang of your idiotic coffee maker..." As she entered the bedroom and surveyed the mess, she immediately forgot what she was going to ask Lois. "What on earth are you looking for?"

"That black purse. You know? The one with the two straps and the cute buckles? I know it's here somewhere."

Chloe picked up a black purse with two straps but no buckles, cute or otherwise, lying on the bed. "What's the matter with this purse?"

"Clark's seen that one." Chloe had to dodge another pair of shoes that went sailing from the depths of the closet.

"Oh, I see." Chloe laughed and sat down on the bed. "It's first date meltdown time."

Lois straightened up and turned to look at her cousin. "I'm pathetic, aren't I?"

"Only a little bit. But in this case, you may be entitled. You don't usually do the girly worrying stuff. It's actually kind of refreshing! And I'm sure I'd be reacting the same way if it were me getting ready for a real, certifiable date with the one and only Clark Kent."

"Oh, Chloe, I'm sorry. I had no idea that…I forgot. I'm being really insensitive here, aren't I?"

"No, Lois, no. It's fine. That boat sailed, sank, and became a part of a coral reef a long time ago. Clark and I have only been friends since… well, before you even came along. You know that."

"Still… it's got to be tough seeing me with him. I don't think I could take it if the roles were reversed."

"That's because you two belong together. We didn't. We are friends forever though, and you'd better be okay with that."

"You know it!" She went over to hug Chloe just to show her how okay she was with it, and then looked back at the dark hole of her closet. "But I'm determined that tonight has to be special. Top to bottom. And that means that purse." She took a deep breath. "I'm going back in!"

Chloe laughed. Lois was never the neatest of people at her best, but when she was on the hunt, be it for a lead, an interview, or a little thing like some errant piece of leather, she was relentless.

"Lo? How do you know Clark is looking at this the same way? What if he shows up in jeans and a tee shirt?" The rumbling in the closet continued with a smattering of oaths peppering the noise. "I mean, maybe he thinks a first date is take out and Nintendo?"

"Oh, no. He specifically said a 'real' date and that means dinner and a movie traditionally, right? We both know Clark is nothing if not traditional."

"Yeah, a traditional alien from another planet," Chloe said. They both laughed.

Lois sat back on her heels and looked at her cousin. "I think Mrs. Kent actually brought up the idea after she helped me convince him to finally let me stay in my own apartment again. She thinks we need to get to… well…she called it 'a normal place.' He loved the idea. Well, you know Clark. Mention the word 'normal' and his ears perk up like a little puppy. I swear, that woman could be president someday if she'd just—"

"Martha Kent? President? Oh, I like it, but she'd never do it."

"No. In fact," Lois flung a sneaker casually back into the closet, "I think she'd going to come home from the Senate and be perfectly happy baking cookies for the rest of her life."

"For her grandchildren?"

"Grandchildren!" Lois scoffed. "Oh yeah, all those immaculately conceived grandchildren!"

"Still a no go in that department with our boy scout, then?"

"No. You'd think there's yellow police tape wrapped around certain areas of my body. I swear, Chloe," Lois shook her head as she regarded yet another leather purse that just would not do, "outside of a signed permission slip from Dr. Hamilton, I don't think Clark is ever going to—"

"Lois, please!" Chloe held up a hand. "TMI is on the verge of coming out of your mouth."

"Oh, what's the matter, cuz?" Lois grinned. "Didn't your days as Lana's best friend get you used to hearing about the trials and tribulations of dating a saint?"

"Well…"

Something in Chloe's tone caused Lois to drop the purse and turn to her. "Chloe?" she intoned slowly and suspiciously. "What are you keeping from me?"

"Nothing! Nothing, I swear. I …I don't…"

"Oh my god!" Lois said, clearly announcing she'd just figured something out merely from Chloe's reticence to say anything. "They did it, didn't they?"

Chloe winced. "Lois…look…I…"

"You know what? It's fine, just fine," Lois said, looking down at her hands. "I'm okay with that. Really. I just don't understand how…well…I mean, he's scared to death he's going to—"

"Lois, it wasn't often, and it was only when—"

Lois wasn't listening. Instead, her own internal monologue was running wild as she was fighting down the old jealous, envious, and admittedly unreasonable feelings she'd always had for a certain silly, high school cheerleader. "His powers are the reason. They're increasing. He's stronger now than he ever was when he was with her. That's got to be it. Right? I mean, there can't be …any …other …reason. Oh crap!"

********

Fifteen minutes later, after a long heart-felt, commiserating discussion of all things Lana, Lois had gotten back to her date preparations and had emerged once again from her closet proclaiming, "I found it!"

"Finally. And the world can be at peace tonight," Chloe said triumphantly from her place, reclining on the bed. "Well, I need to be going. So call me tonight? I can at least live vicariously through you at any rate. Tell me every little detail?"

"Of course. Well, what I can. You know, with Clark, there might be…" Lois laughed before a spurt of panic crossed her face as her eyes settled on the dress she'd picked out for the evening. "Oh, god, he does like red, doesn't he?"

"Lois! We're talking about Clark? And you suddenly don't know if he likes red? Where is your head?"

"Right. Right. Red jackets. Red/Blue Blur. Red cape. He must like red. Right?"

"Lois, I have never in my life seen you this flustered. What has Clark done to you?"

"He foolishly asked me on a stupid date!" Lois said, throwing the purse on the bed.

"After he told you his secret, and showed you the fortress, and told you he loved you, and—"

"Yeah, but this is like our very first, real date, Chloe. This really means …something." She threw up her hands as if she didn't know quite what that was.

"No, all that other stuff meant that. This is just a date. Get a grip, cousin. Remember, speed dial one and tell me everything! Don't worry, you'll look ravishing. I love the dress and that purse…" Chloe rolled her eyes and added mockingly, "I'm sure it's going to make all the difference to Clark!" She stood up, "But I'm going to leave you to all this, because I certainly don't want to be here when the lucky guy arrives."

Chloe let herself out and Lois looked around the cluttered room. Chloe was right. She needed to get a grip.

"Maybe some wine?" she mumbled to herself, and headed for the kitchen. There was some in the fridge. Maybe just a bit would settle her nerves, and this wouldn't be the terrifying, humongous thing it had become in her mind.

She drank the whole glass in one gulp, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and headed back toward the bedroom with a new fortitude. The first thing she saw was her low-cut, red dress hanging up on the back of the closet door. Her shoes were right there. She'd found the stupid purse. Everything was fine. One look at the clock told her she had plenty of time. Make-up first. Yeah. Make-up.

She walked over to her dressing table and began. Taking more care than she ever had, she went through her usual routine. When she was finished with everything but her lipstick, she got up to check the shade against her dress.

"No, no that's no good." The shade was definitely too orange. She began going through all the rest of her choices. "No, too pink. Too peachy." Panic was again beginning to creep back into her thoughts as she looked up to see the errant purse lying on the bed and wondered if she might have a tube in there. She hadn't used that purse in a while, but maybe she'd luck out and…

She grabbed the purse. There in the bottom was a gold tube of lipstick. "Yes! Great, Lois, your luck is holding. Let's just hope…" She pulled off the top and was pleased to see it was a gorgeous shade of deep, crimson red. "Perfect! Wonder what shade…"

Turning the tube upside down to look for the name of it, she was surprised to see a sticker on the bottom with an expiration date.

"EXPIRES March, 2008? Who ever heard of a lipstick expiring?" she asked the empty room. "What's the worst that could happen? Chapped lips?" And she went back over to the mirror and applied it.

It was a perfect match.

Within minutes, she had managed to finish dressing, and was surveying herself in the mirror appreciatively, turning this way and that to check every little detail. Yes, the lipstick looked like it was made for this dress. She took out the lipstick once more and added one more layer of it to her already gleaming lips and smiled broadly.

"Yeah! That should get a reaction from Clark!"

********

Author's notes: First of all, sorry for the delay…again! Lois gave me fits in this chapter for some reason. Or maybe it was Lana…it seems whenever she is mentioned, I seem to get writer's block! LOL. Anyway, those were some awesome reviews! Thanks so much! And one of you hit the nail on the head (not saying which) on where I'm going with one idea. But since I had to get this chapter and the next posted before cloisharley sends a hitman to my house, I wanted to work it in before I went back to any of the sciency stuff.  Hopefully the next chapter won't take that long to polish.