Home V: Obsession 3/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
John's wrist talker vibrated slightly and he paused for a moment to tap the "accept" button. "Olsen."
"Mr. Olsen," a male voice said, "this is Bill Verney, in the lobby -- Security, sir. There are a Robert and Mariann Lyons here to see the newsroom. They claim to be relatives of Ms. Lyons."
"Yes, thank you," John said. "Send them up." He glanced at Lori. "Your parents are on their way up. We'll be done in a few minutes." He tapped his wrist talker. "Ned! Lori's mother and father are on their way up. Show them her desk and get them some coffee and doughnuts until we're through."
Lori nodded. "Thanks," she said. "They wanted to see where I worked while they were in Metropolis."
"No problem." John returned to his cross-examination of the Events editor. Finally, he closed his palm computer. "Okay, that about covers it. Conyors, make sure your sources about the former Prime Minister's sex change are absolutely reliable. We don't want to be open to a lawsuit. And get the details on the wedding next month."
"Will do, Chief."
John stood up. "Let's get a move on, people. We have some space to fill up."
**********
Part 3:
Mariann and Robert Lyons stepped out of the elevator and looked around the newsroom. It seemed oddly quiet, Mariann thought, compared to the representations of news offices that she had seen on the vidscreen.
A slender young man approached them with a tentative smile. "Are you Ms. Lyons' parents?"
Robert nodded. "Yes."
"I'm Ned. Mr. Olsen told me to show you where she works. They're in the morning meeting right now. It should be over in a few minutes."
"I see. Well, lead on." Robert glanced around the huge space. "So this is the Daily Planet."
Mariann followed their guide down a short ramp and across the big office. Ned escorted them to a pair of desks sitting at right angles to one another, separated by some space from the others, and Mariann saw Lori's name on one of the desks. The other belonged to Clark Kent, she noted.
Mariann sighed. It was too bad that her daughter had seen fit to marry, but Lori had always been headstrong. She sincerely hoped that her unfortunate marriage to Clark wouldn't adversely impact her career. Still, Robert was right. Mariann hadn't appreciated her father's attempt to force her into the life that he had wanted for her, and although she would never mistreat Lori as her father had mistreated her, Robert had pointed out that Lori's idea of what was best for her might not coincide with Mariann's. If she really loved Lori, she would let her live her own life the way she wanted, rather than try to force their daughter into her own mold. Such a course, her husband had said mildly, would be bound to push Lori into a full-scale revolt and might end up with her excluding them from her life. She loved her daughter and wouldn't wish that, but she couldn't help wanting the best for her. It was unfortunate that what Lori considered the best for herself included Clark Kent. Clark was a charming man and Mariann couldn't help liking him, but his presence in Lori's life was bound to hold her back.
A door at the rear of the room opened and a crowd of people spilled out. Mariann recognized John Olsen, the editor. Clark Kent let Lori exit ahead of him, and Mariann blinked at her daughter's crisply professional image. She looked a good five years older than she had appeared the last time they had spoken on the vidphone. Even the business suit designed for an expectant mother failed to subtract from her air of competence. She waved to them, spoke to her husband, and crossed the floor to her desk.
"Hi, Mom and Dad," she greeted them. "You're here early."
"We wanted to have a chance to see you before you went off to do whatever you do during the day," Mariann said. She glanced around as Ned reappeared with the doughnut plate. "Why, thank you."
Lori helped herself to a chocolate doughnut. "Have one. Who's got the doughnut run this morning, Ned?"
"I do, Ms. Lyons. Is there anything in particular that you'd like?"
She nodded, picking up her shoulder bag. "If you could get me a box of assorted doughnuts and pastries, I'd appreciate it. Half chocolate," she added. "Just leave it on my desk if I'm not here."
"Of course." Ned smiled, accepting the bills she held out to him. "Oh by the way, congratulations."
"Thank you," she said.
Ned departed in the direction of the editor's office. Mariann glanced after him. "Are you sure you should be eating all that sweet stuff, Lori? As I recall when I was expecting, the doctor made me watch my calorie intake very strictly. It won't do you any good to have a hundred pounds of weight to lose after the baby's born, you know."
Lori didn't answer. She bit into the doughnut. "Come on," she said, "let me give you the grand tour. I'm expecting a call from a source in a few minutes, and I have to get hold of Congressman Bradford's secretary to reschedule an interview. He ducked out on me, earlier. I have a few questions to ask him about some of the local issues that he's been dodging questions on for weeks. If he's going to run for Senator of New Troy, he's going to have to give the people of the state a few answers."
She led the way across the room. "This is Mr. Olsen's office. You know he's our Editor in Chief, of course. And over here we have the Business desk. This is Barry Marston, our business editor ..."
Mariann followed her daughter around the room, a little stunned at her brisk confidence, and at the obvious liking and respect accorded her by her colleagues. Her daughter seemed almost like a different person, here in her own environment. Was this the Lori Lyons that her peers saw every day? Unexpectedly she felt the urge to sigh in regret. Her baby wasn't a little girl anymore. She had grown up and, married or not, was obviously the success that Mariann had wanted her to be.
"These are pictures of some of the Daily Planet's most famous reporting teams over the last century and a half," Lori was saying. "This is Norcross and Judd, receiving an award, and across from them is the team of Lane and Kent ..."
Mariann raised her eyebrows at the name and looked more closely at the picture. "He'd look a lot like your husband, if not for the glasses," she observed, indicating the man in the picture.
"That's the first Clark Kent and his wife, Lois Lane," Lori said. "They're receiving a Kerth in that picture. It was taken in 1998. Clark's family has a lot of ties to the Daily Planet." She added, "A Kerth is an award for outstanding investigative journalism, like the one they gave Clark and me last year. Ours was for our investigation of the theft of the Westhaven diamonds a few months after I came to work at the Planet. We've been nominated for one this year, too, but the results won't be announced for another month."
"I thought that was a Meriwether Award," Mariann said.
Lori shook her head. "No, we were nominated for one of those, too, but the Herald beat us out."
Robert had leaned forward to look at the picture more closely. "She looks a little like you," he observed, "only a few years older. Did you say Lois *Lane*?"
Lori nodded. "They were one of the Planet's top reporting teams."
"That's interesting," Robert said. "My maternal great grandmother Lucy's maiden name was Lane. I wonder if there's any relation."
"It's possible," Mariann said. "It would probably account for the resemblance. So, Lori, have you given in and asked about the baby's sex yet?"
Lori shook her head. "No. Clark and I want it to be a surprise." She finished the last of the doughnut and glanced around as her husband approached.
Clark nodded cheerfully at Mariann and Robert. "How are you this morning?"
"Fine," Robert said. "We're going to be touring Metropolis's Old Town. I have a business meeting this afternoon at the Lexor, and then I'm free until tomorrow. How are you, Clark?"
"Fine," Clark said. "If you go to Old Town, be sure you check out the Bazaar. They have some terrific shops there that sell custom jewelry, pottery, exotic candles and incense ... and, of course, souvenirs. Just watch out for some of the merchants. They're sharks."
"We plan to," Robert said. "We wanted to see where the two of you work, though, early enough so as not to interfere with your jobs."
"Lori and I are an investigative team, so we don't have to worry particularly about set hours," Clark said. "Has Lori shown you everything?"
"Well, not everything," Lori said, "but most of it." Her wrist talker beeped at that moment, and she stepped away from the three of them. "Excuse me. Lori Lyons," she said to whoever was calling.
Mariann fell silent as Robert and Clark exchanged small talk, and strained her ears to hear her daughter's conversation.
"... Victim was an instructor at the Hobs Fitness Center," the voice from the wrist talker said. "I'll email you the information."
"I'd appreciate that," Lori said. "Thanks."
"No problem." The caller signed off and Lori returned to Mariann and the two men.
"That was my contact at police headquarters," Lori said to her husband. "She's sending me the information about yesterday's stabbing victim."
Clark glanced at his chronometer. "I have a call to make, too." He turned back to Robert. "Should we make a date to see you at lunch or dinner?"
"Lunch would be nice," Mariann said. "Do you have a recommendation?"
"Mamacita's is excellent if you like Mexican food," Clark said. "Or, if you'd like a nice family restaurant, Kerry's is a good one."
"That sounds like it would be best," Mariann said. "What time should we meet?"
"How about eleven?" Lori said. "Clark can give you the address. We'll phone in, and be sure they have a table for all of us." She glanced at her wrist talker. "I need to pick up that email from my contact at Metro PD."
"You're not getting into anything dangerous, are you?" Mariann asked, while her husband was writing down the address of the restaurant. As much as she wanted her daughter to make a success of herself, the thought of her dealing with anything violent was frightening. The memory of the Christmas Killer still made her blood run cold. Somehow, when she'd dreamed about her youngest daughter's brilliant future career, she hadn't envisioned Lori being involved with anything risky, but then, she had wanted Lori to be an attorney. Lori had unequivocally turned the idea down and all Mariann's further arguments had had no effect.
Lori shrugged at the question. "I doubt it," she said. "There was a knifing last night over in the area of my old apartment. It's a seedy part of town. Anyhow, I'm just doing the follow-up on it today. I don't really expect to be chasing down any muggers or anything."
"Don't worry," Clark said. "Most of this stuff is just dull research."
Robert took her arm. "Come on, dear," he said calmly, "let's leave Lori and Clark to do their job."
Mariann turned reluctantly toward the elevator. The urge to warn her daughter to be careful was strong, but then the greatest risk that Mariann had ever taken on her own behalf was to run away from home at the age of sixteen. Lori, on the other hand, and, of course, Clark Kent, had helped foil the sabotage of the first star ship, assisted in the recovery of an internationally famous jewelry collection and Lori had actually caught a dangerous pair of drug dealers single-handedly, and saved the life of John Olsen's daughter. She and her husband regularly made headline news that was picked up by the other news services. Somehow, cautioning her to be careful seemed inadequate. Much as she hated to admit it, Lori Lyons of the Daily Planet was already the success that Mariann had wanted her to be. Happily married and with a baby on the way, she seemed to have it all. Her only real problem seemed to be the fact that she ate enough for three women. She had never appeared to worry about her weight, but Mariann had noticed at the Christmas party that Lori's appetite seemed to be completely out of control. She really needed to speak to her about it. If nothing else, her husband wouldn't appreciate it if she gained so much weight that she lost her svelte figure. Men tended to regard a woman's physical appearance as important, Mariann knew. Much as she disapproved of her daughter's marriage, Lori would be heartbroken to lose him. She had to do something before that happened.
**********
"That went well," Clark said hopefully, a short time later as the elevator doors closed behind Lori's parents.
"So far," Lori said, with a certain cynicism. "Let me check my email, then we can head over to that first interview. Moira said she'd send me the details on the stabbing over by my old apartment." She took her seat in front of the computer and called up the email. "Let's see what we have ..." She leaned forward, reading the information on her screen. "Not much here. Name, age, occupation. No suspects, at least so far."
Clark read over her shoulder. "A woman killed over by your old apartment? Have I mentioned that I'm glad you moved out of there when you did?"
"A few times," Lori said. "Anyhow, since I was there when the call came in, I covered it. It happened about half a block from the Hobs Fitness Center, where she worked. Remind me not to go walking around there after dark."
"Maybe we should have signed up at a different fitness club," Clark said.
"Maybe, but you know why I wanted this one," Lori said. "Connor's an old friend of mine. He graduated a year before I did, but he worked for the NTSU Clarion while I was the editor." She grinned. "He wrote the exercise advice column. 'Fitness and You' by Connor Cooper."
"What kind of parents would give their child a name like that?" Clark said.
"I always wondered about that, myself," Lori said. "Name or not, though, he's a very good instructor, and he's really working to get his health club off the ground -- in a business sense of course." She picked up her shoulder bag and stood up. "Let's go."
"Lead the way." Clark retrieved her coat from the rack as they passed it on the way to the stairs.
He held the coat for her while they waited for the elevator. "So I guess you want to help him?" he remarked.
"Well, since I know him, and I'm a 'famous journalist' --" She made a face. "-- At least according to him, I thought a little publicity for his business venture couldn't hurt. You know, take the maternal fitness course and write up my experiences in the class."
There was a soft chime and a door in the bank of elevators opened invitingly for them. Clark let Lori enter first and followed her. It was empty, and Clark took the opportunity to slide an arm around Lori's shoulders as it slid smoothly into motion once more.
"Actually, it's a good idea," he said, continuing the conversation of a moment before. "Did your friend explain why *I'm* supposed to be doing maternity fitness, too? I understand the part about childbirth classes, but maternity fitness? Not that I mind; I'm just a bit curious."
"Couples are supposed to go through it together," Lori said. "You're supposed to learn how to help me with some of the exercises, including the stretching. It's designed to help me stay fit for the delivery." She made a face. "I've heard all kinds of horror stories about that. I hope they're not true."
"All the old hands like to tell stories about labor and delivery to the newbies," Clark said. "I was with Lois all four times, and I've delivered a few babies myself in emergencies, you know. We found out that when I was there, holding her hand, she got through it a lot easier than when I wasn't. Bernie Klein always thought it had something to do with the aura, and the bond. Ronnie subscribes to the theory, herself."
"Well, you're going to be there with me," Lori said, in her no-argument tone. "The others can cover for you, because I want you with me every second. I don't believe in this new trend to 'preserve the mother's dignity' by keeping her husband out. What idiot thought that up, anyhow?"
"Some guy whose wife never had a baby, I suspect," Clark said. "Just like the child experts who don't have any children of their own. I guess that makes it easy to be an expert. Anyway, that was the accepted practice in the early Twentieth Century. You'd be surprised what couples had to go through to finally get hospitals to 'allow' husbands to be with their wives during childbirth." He added, "Fortunately, by the time CJ was born the battle was already won, but a friend of my Dad's got arrested because he wanted to be with his wife while she was having their baby. He had to handcuff himself to her to get in the delivery room, and the hospital had him arrested for trespassing after it was over."
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Fortunately, Dad said they dropped the charges when a reporter got hold of the story and decided to give it some publicity. Prosecuting a man because he wanted to be with his wife while their baby was being born didn't make the hospital look very good."
"I'll say," Lori agreed. She hesitated. "You and Ronnie have mentioned Bernie Klein before. He was Ronnie's grandfather, right? I feel silly asking this, but he wasn't *the* Bernard Klein, was he? The scientist that everyone reads about in the history books in sixth grade -- the one who developed the anti-gravity field and all that other stuff? The names are just a coincidence, aren't they?"
"I'm afraid not," Clark said with a faint smile. "Bernie was unique; the kind of person you meet once in a lifetime. I knew him better than almost anyone, and I've never known anyone else quite like him. I wasn't a bit surprised when he made it into the history books. He deserved it." He grinned. "Bill Klein reminds me of him sometimes, but he resembles his mom more than his dad."
"Wow," Lori said, after a startled instant. "No wonder Ronnie's so smart."
"You mean I'm not?" Clark asked, striving to sound hurt. He must have succeeded because Lori gave him a sharp look.
"Clark, you're the smartest man I ever knew," she said. "You don't think I ..."
He hugged her. "I was just teasing," he assured her.
"Don't kid about things like that," she said, and he was horrified to see tears in her eyes.
"Honey, it was just a joke," he told her. "Don't cry."
"Sorry." Lori sniffled and wiped her eyes determinedly. "It's these darned hormones, I think. I start crying over really dumb things."
"I should have known better," he said. "I'm sorry."
"Why should you have?" she asked. "Even *I* don't know what's going to make me cry. I feel so silly." The elevator doors slid open at that point and they exited into the tall parking structure where Lori had parked the Jeep.
"Well, *I* should know better," Clark said. "Lois used to call it the 'nine-month nutsies'. It was her way of poking fun at her hormones."
Lori gave a slightly watery giggle. "'Nine-month nutsies. I like that. And I'll only have them for about five more months. Do you think you can stand me that long?"
He hugged her again. "A lot longer than that," he said. "I'd tell you to kick me the next time, but you'd hurt your foot."
Lori giggled. "I'd never kick you, even if you weren't invulnerable," she said. "I only kick bad guys."
"No, you hit them with golf clubs," Clark contradicted. "And very effectively, too."
"Hopefully I'll never have to do that again, either," she said. She triggered the lock to the Jeep's doors. "You can drive if you like. I think I'm almost past the nausea thing."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "It's about time you got used to driving again."
Clark shrugged. "Okay. Your wish is my command, my dear."
"Don't be an idiot."
**********
tbc
