Abigail saw her friend scanning the audience again. She knew who Cecily was looking for. She was looking for Lex who as far as they knew still hadn't shown up.
Abigail's own parents hadn't been able to make it. Her younger brother had broken his ankle the night before and the trip to Metropolis would have been too much on him. Abigail was upset that they weren't going to make it but she understood. At least Tad was there to see her graduate. She had also expected to have to celebrate tonight by herself but instead she had Lex's invitation to dinner to look forward to.
Abigail looked out at the audience. As she glanced toward the back she saw him walking down the aisle.
"There he is," she whispered gently elbowing Cecily. She pointed in the direction of Lex.
"I guess he didn't have any luck with my father," Cecily commented, a little disappointed but relieved that Lex had made it.
"Did you really think he would?" Abigail asked. She had met Jonathan Kent once when she had gone with Cecily to Smallville over the weekend. She had figured out right away where Cecily had gotten her stubborn streak from.
"Not really. I was hoping though," Cecily whispered back.
Abigail reached out and gently squeezed her friend's hand as the president of Metropolis University approached the podium to begin the ceremony.
The ceremony was any typical high school or college graduation ceremony. Long, drawn out and hot. By half way through the kids on the stage were whispering too each other, trying to entertain themselves and keep themselves awake. Out in the audience the family and friends of the graduates used the programs to fan themselves as they listened to the guest speaker, waiting for their opportunity to take a picture of the particular graduate they were there to see.
An hour an a half late the ceremony was over. The graduates stood up and happily threw their hats up into the air, some reclaiming a hat before leaving the stage and others simply letting the hat lie where they fell and leaving the stage.
Cecily and Abigail made their way off the stage and into the sea of people, Abigail looking for Tad and Cecily heading in the direction that Martha and Clark had been sitting in. She knew Lex would find them.
"There she is," she heard Clark's voice as she made her way through the crowd. She still couldn't see him though. She stood where she was figuring he would find her, as he seemed to be able to see better in the crowd probably because of his height.
In a few moments she saw her brother break through the crowd of people, walking in her direction. Martha was close behind him, letting her son lead her through the crowd. As soon as she saw him, Cecily started in his direction.
"Congratulations, sis," Clark said as he wrapped his arms around his sister picking her up off the ground as she returned his hug.
"Thanks for coming Clark," Cecily said.
"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," he told her as he put her back down.
"I took pictures for your father. I know he regrets not being here," Martha told her step daughter as she hugged her.
"I'm just happy you still came," Cecily told Martha. "It means a lot to me."
"I know how important this day is even if the ceremony is kind of boring," Martha replied thinking about her own graduation. Like Jonathan, her father hadn't gone as protest to her upcoming wedding. Martha had just been happy he had come around and came to the wedding itself. With any luck, Jonathan would come around himself in the next couple of weeks.
"Congratulations, Abigail," Clark said as he saw his sister's friend and presumably her boyfriend weave their way through the crowd.
"Thanks Clark," Abigail said. "Mrs. Kent, Clark this is my boyfriend Tad Jamison. Tad this is Cecily's stepmother and brother," she said introducing them.
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Kent," Tad said reaching out to shake her hand.
"Please call me Martha," she told him and then hugged Abigail. "Congratulations," she told her.
"Thanks," Abigail replied.
"I hope you enjoy Europe," Martha told her, Cecily having already told her why Abigail wasn't going to be at the wedding in two weeks. "If you give me a way to get a hold of you over there, I'll be certain to send you pictures of the wedding as soon as I get them."
"That would be great," Abigail said. "I really wish I wasn't going to miss it but I guess the two of us just have bad timing," Abigail said looking over at her friend.
Before any one else could say anything else they heard Lex joined their group hugging both Cecily and Abigail and shaking Tad's hand. The two had met quite a few times already although they weren't close. Tad's father was a fierce business rival of Lionel Luthor's which had always created a little tension between the two of them. Still they were civil to one another as they both respected the friendship that Cecily and Abigail had.
"Sorry about bailing on lunch," Lex told Abigail. "Will you be joining us for dinner."
"Yes," Abigail replied as she had already mentioned it to Tad and had convinced him to go.
"Mrs. Kent, will you and Clark be joining us?" Lex asked. He knew Martha was spending the weekend in Metropolis with her daughter but he wasn't sure about Clark's plans.
"I'm sorry we can't," Martha replied. "Clark's taking the bus back to Smallville and the last one leaves in an hour."
"I can get the bus by myself, Mom," Clark told her.
"If Clark getting back to Smallville tonight is the only thing that is standing in the way I could drive him back after dinner."
"I wouldn't want to impose," Martha said.
"Nonsense. It wouldn't be any trouble," Lex told her.
Martha looked at Clark. She knew he would go along with whatever she decided but she also knew that he would enjoy spending the extra time with his sister. She could also tell by the look on his face that he wanted her to say yes. As she glanced over at Cecily she saw the same look.
"Dinner would be great," Martha finally said giving in. She didn't miss the huge smiles that came to her kids faces.
With that settled the group started to make their way toward the parking lot. It was slow going as classmates and sorority sisters continually stopped them to congratulate the two graduates. Eventually though they reached the parking lot.
After agreeing at which restaurant to meet at, Abigail, Cecily, Martha, and Tad headed for Tad's car while Lex and Clark headed in the direction that Lex had parked his Porsche.
After work on Monday Cecily headed back to her Metropolis apartment for the last time. She was heading to Smallville tonight. Except for two small bags, Martha had already taken her stuff back with her when she had left the day before.
As she pulled her car up next to the curb, she saw a moving van parked outside. She knew the moving van was there for Abigail's stuff. Abigail was storing the furniture and the rest of her stuff from the apartment at her parent's house while she was in Europe. She was going to worry about finding a new place after she got back.
They were both leaving the apartment tonight. Abigail was going to her parent's to spend some time with them and her brother before heading off to Europe. She had said the apartment would have been too empty without Cecily there the rest of the week.
Cecily locked the doors of her car and headed upstairs. She met the movers in the hallway outside of the apartment carrying down the sofa. Cecily stood off to the side to let them pass and then went into the apartment.
As she walked in Abigail was at the counter wrapping plate in newspaper and placing them in a box.
"Are you sure you don't want any of the dishes?" Abigail asked her friend again. They had gone in together to furnish the apartment but it was Abigail that was taking most of the furniture with her. Her desk, chair, computer and a couple of shelves were all that Cecily was transferring down to Lex's mansion in Smallville. Items that Lex had already arranged to have shipped down.
"I'm positive. I'm not going to need them," Cecily told her sitting her briefcase on the floor next to the door. "Let me change into something more comfortable and then I'll help you finish packing," Cecily told her heading into what use to be her room.
Cecily quickly change out of her work clothes and into jeans, a t-shirt and sneakers. Placing her work outfit into a garment bag she zipped it up and picked up the garment bag and the two other bags and headed out of the room with one last look around.
She sat the last of her stuff by her briefcase and then went to help Abigail with packing the dishes.
"How much packing is left?" Cecily asked her friend taking a glass out of the cupboard. Although Martha had helped them some the day before, they hadn't got as much done as they would have liked over the weekend. Saturday had been spent away from the apartment altogether, as Abigail had joined them in finding a dress for Cecily and Chloe and then the four of them had spent the rest of the day looking in stores and taking in the city.
"Just these dishes and then we'll be done," Abigail said as the movers came up for another load of furniture. "When are you leaving for Smallville?"
"Whenever I get around to it. I already told my boss I'm taking tomorrow off to get settled in so I told Lex I would call him when I get ready to leave the city."
"Then can we go out for dinner before you take off."
"Sure," Cecily said. They hadn't gone their separate ways just yet but already Cecily was missing her best friend.
They went back to pacing in silence. Before long everything was packed and either loaded into the moving van or into their respective cars. After confirming her parents address with the movers, Cecily and Abigail locked the apartment for the last time and turned in their keys at the office. It was the end of one part of their lives and the start of a whole new journey.
It was late that night, when Cecily pulled her car into the driveway leading to Lex's mansion. She still couldn't seem to bring herself to think of the big Scottish castle as her home although it was now. She had never pictured herself living in a place like this. She wondered if she would ever get use to it.
She pulled her car into the garage like Lex had told her to and turned it off. As she got out of the car, Lex entered the garage from the house, having been told of Cecily's arrival by the guard at the gate.
"Welcome home," he told her softly leaning down to kiss her. He could sense her tension and hoped it wouldn't take her long to get accustomed to the place. "Why don't we take the rest of your stuff inside and then I'll show you the room I set up as your office. If you'd rather have a different room just let me know and I'll arrange it," he told her as he got her two bags from the back seat.
"I'm sure the room you chose will be just fine," Cecily told him as she grabbed the garment bag from the back window where she had laid it and shut the car door. She then followed Lex from the garage and into the mansion. She wondered how long it would take her to memorize the layout of the place. She had only been in the mansion a short time on her last stay, having spent most of Saturday at the farm and Sunday at the Talon. She had a feeling she would be asking staff members for directions quite a bit in the next few days.
Fred and Ed Trent were sitting in their living room late Monday night watching tv when they heard a knock on their door.
With a sigh, Fred stood up and headed for the door wondering who it could possibly at this time of night. Fred opened the door to reveal Scott Murphy standing on the front porch.
"Come in Mr. Murphy," Fred said standing aside so the man could enter.
Fred hadn't seen Scott Murphy since the last stake out of the Talon. When Fred had dropped him off at his car, Scott had told him that he would be in touch with them when he had decided when to carry out the kidnaping. Fred figured that Scott Murphy had made his decision.
"Ed we have company. Turn off that tv and come into the kitchen," Fred called out to his brother as he led Scott into the small kitchen of the house. "Would you like something to drink?" Fred asked as Scott sat down in one of the chairs at the table.
"No thank-you," Scott replied. He didn't plan on staying that long. He had an important meeting the next day for LuthorCorp so he had to get back to Metropolis soon. However, he wanted to let the two brothers know when he wanted to conduct their business and set up the time for the major planning setting.
It didn't take Ed Trent long to join the other two men. Ed took a seat in the chair between Scott Murphy and his brother and waited. He always let his brother take charge in situations like this.
"So have you decided when you want us to carrying out the task you want us to do for you Mr. Murphy?" Fred asked.
"I have," Scott told him. "I've been thinking about which night would be best and have decided that Sunday night would. If you're available I'd like to do it this Sunday."
"That's fine," Fred said. He wasn't going to admit it but Scott Murphy's job was the only job they had gotten in the last month or so. They were free whenever he needed them.
"Sunday seems to be the slowest night at the Talon and Lana Lang almost always locks up alone. The latest I've seen any of the other waitresses there is fifteen minutes after closing. Lana usually leaves fifteen to twenty minutes after that. We'll work out the exact details later this week but I figure the best time for you to grab her would be as she's locking up, that way you won't have to break into the place and there is less chance of her being able to summon the police. I noticed they have a panic button behind the counter. We don't want to take the chance of her hitting that."
"With that green stuff you got for us she won't have the chance even if she is inside," Ed commented.
"Granted," Scott said with a nod, knowing the man was probably right. He hadn't bothered to clock how fast Ed could move when he took the stuff but it was fast. "Still, the less chances we take the better."
"It's your call," Fred said.
"I've got to go," Scott said standing up. "I'll be back Friday at midnight. We'll work out the exact details then," he said looking at Fred.
"We'll be here," Fred told him starting to stand up.
"I can see myself out," Scott said quickly and then headed toward the door without another word.
Ed and Fred watched the guy leave and then looked at each other. Both brother's had grins on their faces. They were about to come into a whole lot of money and it shouldn't be much work at all. Their client had more to lose than them if they got caught pulling this off so they knew Scott Murphy wasn't about to let the police catch them. After this job they could pick and choose the jobs they chose to take on for awhile.