Chapter 5: Smart Kids
Phillip knew that Superman was right in saying that everyone needed to do his time in growing up. But he still wanted to do something nice, for his interference, you could call it a sort of thank you gift for letting him see reason.
He wasn't fooled by Clark's acting, Phillip was still convinced that Clark was Superman. He just knew it, call it his intuition Phillip had been a smart kid even without the Metamide 5. He had been struggling for some time now, he didn't think he was special, nothing where he was best in, he even had only a few friends and one way or another he knew how people felt about him. Talking to Superman had made him feel better, he wasn't the only kid who grew up lonely. Superman had been a lonely kid too. Phillip thought that he even had been a lonely adult, nobody who really knew him. He wanted to do something for the one person that truly understood him, the one thing he knew that would make him happy over time that is, he wouldn't be happy at the start but that would change when he found what he was looking for and he was going to help Superman with that. Phillip wanted to take away the one thing that he knew how it felt. Superman's loneliness.
Like everybody, he knew that Lois Lane, the partner Clark Kent worked with was completely in love with the man in blue tights. So what if she knew that her partner was really the man she was in love with? Would his loneliness be gone then? He knew that it was a risk, assuming that Lois Lane would fall for the man underneath the suit but his intuition had told him that everything would turn out fine in the end. That was another thing that he had learned from this adventure, to trust his intuition. He placed the tape in a box and wrapped it up in beautiful yellow paper covered with red hearts and beautiful blue ribbon.
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Lois Lane came home after her meeting with the children. It was there that Phillip began to think about how he could repay Superman for what he did. He had noticed the looks he had been given Lois when she wasn't watching.
Lois was about to open the door of her apartment when her eye fell on the package on the ground, with it a little letter the only typed words 'this is TOP SECRET! You will thank me in time. Signed anonymous'.
Lois took the present from the floor and walked inside the apartment. Her curiosity was almost too big to handle. She unpacked the present and noticed a cardboard box. She opened the box quickly but was stunned with what she found, inside was a VCR tape and another note, "Watch me alone!" Lois read out loud.
"This could be the start of another big story!" she thought while she placed the tape in the recorder. "Maybe I should call Clark?" She whispered to nobody in particular. Lois shook her head, "the note said to watch it alone." Lois shrugged while she pushed the play button, she would inform Clark in the morning if this would be their next big story. She crawled her way back to the sofa and waited for whatever it was that was on the tape. An image appeared from an alley. "What the hell is so damn important to send me a tape of..." her thoughts stopped when a famous blue, red and yellow suit came flying inside the alley.
"...Superman!" was the only thing she could bring out to say but was even more stunned to see Superman disappearing inside the tunnel and reappearing as "...Clark?"
"Did Clark had a secret meeting with Superman and she didn't know it?" Lois shook her head again no that couldn't be it. Still confused she rewind the tape and watched it again. The time in between was just too short to have a conversation so that wasn't it, "Was this a coincidence?" thought confused. She rewinds the tape a third time when the pieces started to fall. "It couldn't be?" She rewinds a fourth time just to be sure that her mind wasn't pulling any tricks on her.
"I'll hope you have a good explanation for this Clark Kent," Lois mumbled angrily while she took the tape out of the recorder and put on her coat back on.
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Clark was watching sports on television, sitting in the air, munching some chips when loud banging startled him. Clark took his X-ray vision and watched through the door to know who was torturing his door like that.
“Clark Kent, open the goddamn door. I know you are in there!” Lois yelled from the other side of the door.
Clark sighed, he loved this woman with his whole heart and soul but she made it difficult when her temper was turned to him, "what did I do now?" He walked towards the door to let a high tempered Lois inside before the whole neighborhood would be watching.
He opened the door, “Lois...” was the only thing he could say before she pushed him aside and turned around, looking like she was going to kill him any minute now.
“Clark Kent do you know what this is?” Lois asked shooting daggers with her eyes.
“Is that a trick question?” Clark smiled but recovered quickly when he noticed how serious Lois was.
"Lois, that is a tape," Clark said matter-of-factually
“Do you want to explain what is on this tape?” Lois was in no mood for games, so much was clear to Clark. He had an idea what was on this tape but he hoped he would be wrong.
“What is on the tape Lois?” he asked still hoping that he would be wrong.
“Well, Clark or should I call you Superman! This tape is the evidence of what a lousy investigative reporter I am!” Lois yelled with tears in her eyes.
Clark sighed his secret was out and frankly, he didn't care that Lois knew, "I was afraid of that!"
Clark sighed removed the glasses from his face and motioned Lois to sit in the living room.
"Lois, first of all, you are the best reporter in town, even the country but I only made you see what I wanted you to see."
Lois sighed now seeing the honesty in Clark's eyes she wanted to know one thing.
“I understand that you kept it a secret at the beginning but why didn't you tell me later on when we became friends?”
Clark pushed the bridge of his nose between two fingers, "At first I must admit I didn't trust you to keep my secret but the more you started to love Superman, the more I wanted you to like me of who I am not because of the powers I have. You never saw me, Lois, really saw me."
Lois her anger melted when she looked at him, she was an invulnerable man showing his deepest secret.
“I am sorry, Clark. I never wanted you to feel unwanted. At first maybe but it is clear now that how closer we became how for granted I started to take you. I loved Superman because he was unreachable, a fantasy crush, I did this to protect me from my own feelings, my feelings for you.”
Clark sighed he had dreamed of this moment from the very beginning but he didn't know what to make of her declaration of love now that she knew his secret.
"Lois I loved you from the first time I saw you but please I need some time, time to discover that the feelings you have are for me and not for the blue suit. Please, I want to give us a chance but I just need to be sure that I am the one you want!"
Lois understood his doubts but wasn't going to give up without a fight. She moved a little closer.
“Let me prove to you that my love for you had nothing to do with you being Superman, I would love you even without your powers, it is your gentleness that is important to me. She took Clark's face in her hands and leaned in. Clark couldn't help himself, would he throw away all he ever wanted because of his doubts. Clark did the same as Lois until their lips touched briefly at first but with more passion the second time. Lois really loved him this was a dream come true. His lonely days were all in the past now. This was the start of a new and wonderful chapter.
Next Episode green, green glow of home.
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