What? Where is all of my delightful angst? I'm not sure this story will be worth reading if it gets mushy, you know.
She wanted him? It had been less than 2 hours since she was being assaulted in the conference room and now she wanted *him*?
It's nuts. Isn't it, Clark?
She looked up at him, tears continuing to stream down her cheeks. "Don't you want me?"
I knew she wouldn't take rejection well.
"Who were you sleeping with when I told you I'd changed my name?"
He didn't have time to respond before she went on.
"Before that, every time - *every* time – I told you I wasn't sure we could make it, that this marriage would last, you were so quick to reassure me that somehow, someway, we'd beat the odds. We'd make a teen marriage work. We wouldn't be a statistic. But that night, you left me sitting there. You left and you went and took a long shower – you never took a long shower, Clark, ever. You took a long shower and you left me sitting there. I waited for you to come talk to me but you didn't. You went to bed. You left me. Just like my mother did. Just like my father did. You'd always been so convincing when you talked about how I was the only one for you and then you left. Not physically, but you left. There was another woman by then, wasn't there? And I want to know who she was."
Here we have the crux of the angst. She's grieving because she feels he was unwilling to fight for their marriage anymore, even unwilling to fight her.
"Of course. I remember the entire day like it was yesterday."
That wouldn't have gone over well in the Data home. It would be implied, I remember the entire thing; why don't you? Ahem... oversharing. Right. Back on the subject. I'm sure it sounds more romantic to Clark than it does to me.
Was I the only one who thought of a former president?
Actually, I thought it was wise of them to make sure they were on the same page for every last detail they were talking about. The two have a long recent history of miscommunication.
She moved back into his arms and they sat for long minutes.
"I wasn't the first one," she said with sudden clarity.
She probably won't be the last either. Serial rapists don't just quit unless they have a reason to.
Ellen wouldn't have been strong enough to fight, both because Sam wasn't there to support her and because she made it a habit to medicate her pain. That means that Lois is going through uncharted territory.
All right, I will grudgingly admit that the story might be worth reading even without the angst. Of course, I won't know that for sure without slowly pondering over part 19.
Elisabeth
