Clark waited patiently for the elevator to whisk him to the top of the Lexor hotel. He couldn’t help wondering whose bright idea it had been to book Lois into the honeymoon suite! He’d bet that hadn’t gone over well!!
He’d admired her so much this past afternoon. She’d tried so valiantly not to fall apart. She’d tried so hard to be brave. That was just one of the many things he loved about her. He felt guilty, though, knowing that Superman’s love for her was what had just about destroyed her life.
The dead bomber had been identified as Antonio Petrillo, out on bail, waiting to go to trial for arson. The arson had been discovered by Superman, and Superman had been the key witness against him. It was obvious that Petrillo had been out for revenge. Thank goodness he’d been a better arsonist than a bomber!
The elevator came to a halt, and Clark found himself standing nervously in front of the honeymoon suite. He knocked.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Clark.”
There was a moment of silence, and then the door opened slowly.
“Hi.”
“I brought you these,” Clark said, extending two charred metal strips to her.
She took them from him and studied them for a moment. “Oh, Clark!”
“Superman found them and gave them to me to give to you. He was in a hurry to head to another rescue and asked me to tell you. I had to come over right away; I knew you’d want those as soon as possible.”
She reverently cradled the engraved plaques that were all that was left of her Kerth awards. “You two are the best! Just the best! Thank you so much!” Her eyes welled up with tears.
“Lois, I am so sorry this happened to you.”
“Oh, Clark!”
Suddenly, he had an armful of reporter sobbing against his chest.
He guided her into the room, shutting the door behind them. “Come on, Lois. Let me get you something to drink,” he said while getting her seated on the couch and passing her a box of tissues. He headed for the bar.
“Thanks, Clark.” She smiled sadly as he handed her a glass.
“You’re welcome.”
She sipped the drink he’d given her, and he waited until she was calmer.
“How are you, really? Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“I’m good,” she said, sounding anything but. “No, really, I am. Cat booked me this room, she picked up some clothes for me, and I’m okay.”
“Cat bought you clothes and booked you into the honeymoon suite?”
She giggled, a surprisingly normal sound. “Yeah, you’re probably thinking what I was thinking when I found out who was doing my shopping, but Cat did okay. She pulled through when it counted. There are only a couple of outfits that I’d be too embarrassed to wear in public, and the only reason I’m here in the honeymoon suite, is that there’s a big convention in town and all the hotels around are fully booked.”
“Oh, well, good. You know if you need anything else….” Clark sat down beside her on the small couch.
“I know. Thanks, Clark. I appreciate it.” Lois smiled sadly. “Something like this shows you who your true friends are.”
He leaned forward to place a hand on her forearm. “I’m your friend, Lois. Never forget that.”
“Thank you.” She pressed her hand over his for a second. “Anyway, Perry told me you were covering the fire at my place. What do we know?”
He grinned at the eager ‘gimme, gimme’ expression on her face as he pulled his steno-pad out of his pocket. “Okay, the bomber’s been identified as Antonio Petrillo…”
Clark quickly and concisely filled Lois in as to who the bomber was, why he thought she’d been a target, what the police department had said, and what the fire investigators had said.
She turned pale when she learned the probable reason why she’d been targeted, but she didn’t ask any questions. Finally, Clark fell silent.
She was quiet for a moment. “Good work, partner,” she finally said. “You were pretty thorough.” She paused and then turned to look him directly in the eye. “Is there really nothing left?”
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Lois. It took a lot of searching for Superman to find those.” He gestured to the two warped pieces of metal on the coffee table in front of them. “You know, there is one thing that surprises me.”
”What?”
“I thought you would have headed over to see for yourself.”
She shook her head. “I just couldn’t. This is too personal. I’m having a hard time with this. With all of this.”
“With more than just the fire? With what, specifically?”
She took a deep breath. “With the fact that there are people out there who don’t even know me, but want to kill me.”
He grinned. “As opposed to all the people who do know you who still want to kill you, I guess?”
“Clark!”
“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood.”
She giggled. “You should be sorry. That was really mean.”
“But funny.”
They grinned at each other.
“But funny,” she admitted ruefully.
“You know, Lois,” Clark said, “We have a problem. You’re a target.”
“We have a problem? Not just me?”
“No, we. You’re my friend, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I really care about you!”
Tears sprang to her eyes. “I really care about you, too, Clark.” She hastily wiped away the moisture from her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I keep crying, and I don’t know why.”
“You don’t know why? Your apartment did get blown up, Lois.”
She smiled through her tears. “But it usually takes more than that to get me going.”
He laughed.
“You’re right, Clark. There is a problem. You know, this really bites!” Lois got up and started pacing back and forth, her hands gesturing in time with her words. “Ever since Superman came on the scene, I’ve been crazy about him – you know that, right?”
“Oh, yeah, believe me, I know.”
“And then that whole pheromone thing happened, and he told me that he’s crazy about me, too. You’d think that this would be a dream come true, but it’s turning into a nightmare.”
Something he could definitely agree with! “Are you going to stop seeing Superman?” Clark held his breath as he waited for her answer, not sure which answer he wanted to hear. He didn’t have to wait long.
“Not in a Metropolis minute!” she said vehemently. “But I have to make it appear as though I’m not seeing him anymore.”
“That makes sense.” Clark felt completely torn in two - relieved to know that she still wanted to see Superman, and yet also let down at the same time. “So, what are you going to do?”
She stopped dead. “Well, that depends.”
“On what?”
She sat down and turned to face him. “Clark, we’re good friends, right?”
“You know we are, Lois.”
“I wasn’t very nice to you this past week.”
“I know. Why?”
She flushed. “It’s complicated. But it wasn’t you. I need you to know that.”
“Okay.”
“So, I have a favour to ask. A really huge favour. You can say no. Don’t feel obligated to say yes, because I’ll understand if you say no – I won’t be mad. Okay, maybe I’ll be a little mad, but I’ll get over it….”
Was she going to ask him what he thought she was going to ask him? “Lois! Just go ahead and ask, okay?” He waited impatiently for her next words.
“Okay.” She nodded and took a deep breath. “Would you go out with me?” she asked in a rush of words.
“Go out with you? Like on a date?”
“Yes, no, well, sort of. I want people to think that I’m not seeing Superman anymore.”
“You want to cheat on Superman?” Clark couldn’t resist giving Lois a little verbal jab.
“No! Not cheat! This wouldn’t be real. After all, I’m not your type – I know that.”
“You know that?” Clark shook his head, feeling confused. “How? How do you know that?”
“You didn’t react.”
“Huh?”
“You didn’t react. When you got sprayed by those pheromones. You weren’t interested in me at all.” Her eyes flashed in momentary anger and hurt.
“Oh. Right.” Clark felt stunned. Was that why she’d been so snarky with him? Was that why she’d been mad? Because Clark Kent didn’t find her attractive? So, what did that mean? Was she interested in Clark? But she wanted to keep dating Superman.
“It wasn’t like you weren’t sprayed. I remember. You got a face-full of the stuff just like Jimmy and I did, but we went nuts, and you were just the same old Clark that you always are.” She looked away from him, her lips tight, and her arms crossed defensively over her chest.
“Lois….” Should he tell her that he was attracted to her after all? How would he explain why he’d not been affected by the pheromones?
”This is all beside the point, anyway. I just need to know if you’d be willing to pretend to date me. If you’re not, I suppose I could ask Jimmy or Ralph, but I really, really don’t want to.”
And he didn’t want her to, either. “No, no, it’s okay. I’ll do it.”
“You will?”
He nodded.
“You know it won’t be real, and that’s okay?”
That’s what she thought. It would be all too real for him. “Yeah, I know,” was all that he could say.
A short while later, they had scheduled a date for the following night, and she was shooing him out the door. She was expecting Superman any time, she told him, and nothing personal, but three was a crowd after all.
Like he didn’t know that already!
