By Vanna (spinto@montreal.com.br)
Summary: After a spat, Lois runs home to mother.
But at Least a Long While or Nothing Last Forever Part II
***
Two hours have passed since they had said their good- bye at the front door. Clark thought about going to the airport and beg her to stay but he didn't, he said to himself that they were going to be fine. So he went upstairs to take a shower but before he could step in the bathroom the phone rang. For a moment Clark thought it could be Lois but his hopes ran away when he heard his mother's voice on the other side.
"Hi honey! I can't believe I found you at home! I tried to talk to you all week but Lois said that Superman was busy." After a long moment of silence Martha asked: "Clark, are you OK, honey? You are so quiet."
"Mom, I was going to take a shower. When I'm finished I'll go to Smallville to talk to you and dad, OK?"
"OK honey, we'll be waiting for you."
"Bye." ***
Martha and Jonathan were waiting for Clark in the kitchen. Martha told her husband how strange Clark sounded on the phone. "Barely heard his voice," she said. Suddenly they heard a very familiar whoosh coming from the back yard of the farm and in about a second Clark entered in the kitchen. He hugged his mom and dad and moved to sit on the couch.
"Clark, what happened? Why isn't Lois with you? Is she OK?". Martha asked.
"We had this fight last night and when I woke up this morning she was on the couch waiting for her cab."
"What you mean, son?" Jonathan said.
"She said it would be better for us to spend some time apart, that's what I meant."
"Oh Clark, I'm sorry. But why did you two fight?"
"Yesterday Superman had a free time by lunch hour so I decided to pass by the planet and take her out to have lunch with me. When I arrived she wasn't there so asked Jimmy if he knew where she was and he said that the last time he saw her Scardino had taken her out for lunch."
"Scardino? That agent that you two met when Mason died?" Jonathan asked.
"Yeah. So I went to have lunch by myself but when I crossed the street I saw her and Scardino, together. I got really angry so I flew away. I got home around seven and she wasn't there. I decided to wait. It was about ten o'clock when she arrived. The first thing I did was ask her where she was and she said that she and Scardino went to see a movie. Then I said something and she got angry and said I had no right to be mad at her 'cause she was the one who always had to wait and said she wasn't sure about what she wanted anymore. And, as I said, this morning she was ready to go."
The silence grew stronger in the room, neither Martha or Jonathan knew what to say to make their son feel better. ***
At the airport, Lois had no idea where she was going. She had her passport and money. She could go to Paris, Italy, any place in the world but this only made she think more about Clark so she ended going to her mother's country house where she and Sam were living now.
It was 1 p.m. when Lois knocked at their door. Although her mother always had an negative vision about marriage she was surprised to hear that her daughter's marriage didn't work out. Of course the story that Lois provided didn't show enough reasons to make a marriage fail but as much as she wanted she couldn't tell her mother that Clark wasn't home because he really was the Man of Steel.
After telling her mother the "whole" story, Lois went to take a shower and took a nap after it. She almost forgot how tiring a plane trip could be, after all it had been almost five years since she got into a plane. Lois woke up by seven when her mother called her for dinner. While she was sleeping, her mother told Sam the story.
"Are you getting a divorce?" her father asked.
"I don't know," she answered, amazed by how cold her father could be.
Lois barely touched her food and was going back to bed when her mother tried to start a conversation with her. It was a very casual talk. Ellen asked about things at work and her latest stories. Lois relaxed as she stopped thinking about things with her husband. Ellen was happy to see that her daughter went to bed not as sad as she seemed to be before.
"Morning Lois, how are you feeling?"
"I'm better mom, thanks."
"Lucy called this morning and when I told her you were here she said she would come tomorrow evening. Isn't that great!?"
"Oh mom, I wasn't planning to stay this much and besides I don't want to hear Lucy talking about this too."
"I didn't tell her a thing, so if you don't want to talk about it …"
"OK, I haven't other plans either. It will be good to see Lucy after so long."
In the next day Lucy arrived when the sun disappeared. As much as Lois tried not to talk about her problems with Clark, when Lucy started to ask why she wasn't at work and if she was on vacations why Clark wasn't with her she had to tell.
"I asked for a break."
"A break?! Lois you are not dating, you are married! Married people don't take 'a break'! When they don't love each other any more they get divorce and when they do love each other they stay together, period!"
"I know that and I can't explain why this happened. Just to give you the idea of how we were there was only once in a week that I was able to see him at home and say 'Hi honey, how are you?'. I just wasn't seeing him and it wasn't just in busy weeks, it was like this for a whole year. I started to feel that I wasn't even married any more. People get fed up, you know that?"
"You may have got a little upset because both of you have busy lives but as I can see in your face you still love him and I bet he still loves you too. You don't have the right to end a marriage because you didn't communicate with each other. You took of the chances that you two had to be happy. Lois, you were meant to be together!"
"Do you really think that?" she asked uncertainly.
"Oh my God Lois, go to hell," Lucy said as she got up from her chair. ***
Clark called Perry and took his accumulated vacations too, he said he didn't have a reason to keep them. He spent the last week at his parents' farm just to keep himself busy. He helped his dad in the barn and his mother with the house work. While he was working no one could even imagine that he was dying inside. Every night he thought that he should have spent more time with Lois, even if she had never complained about his Superman activities.
It was late afternoon when he was done in the barn. He run into the house to have a shower and help his mother to fix dinner. He had just got dressed when the phone rang.
"Clark?"
"Yes. Hi, Perry, what's up?"
"Sorry son, I know you are on vacation, I really thought twice before calling you but there's a good story here, probably a front page and …"
"That's OK Perry."
" … I wish I could send someone else but the source who informed us about this said that they would just talk to you … but if you can't go I understand."
"What is it?"
"And it's out of town too so … you can say 'no' if you want I'll really understand because …"
"Perry! Sorry, just say where it is, OK? I'm not doing nothing."
"I'm not sure what it is, the guy who contacted us said there's a ticket waiting for you today at the airport and with the ticked you will receive a locker key of the airport you will arrive, and then you will have to follow the instruction. That's all I know. So, are you in this?"
"Yeah, why not? I'll just pack a few things and go to the airport. Call you then. Bye chief."
"Bye."
When Martha and Jonathan arrived from the mini-market they met Clark on the front door already leaving.
"Honey where are you going?"
"Perry called and asked me to work on this story. I don't even know what it's about but I guess it will be good for me to work out of the newsroom."
"That's wonderful, son."
"I'm going to the airport now."
"Airport?"
"It's part of the agreement with this source."
"Need a ride, son?"
"Sure dad." ***
When Clark unlocked the locker of the airport of Honolulu he found a type written note that said:
"There's a reservation for you at the Plaza Hotel. You will meet me in a quiet beach house, it's five blocks away turning left at the Hyatt hotel. Be there at midnight, If you get there any minute later I'll already be gone. There will be people watching you all the time so 'till our meeting you are not supposed to contact anyone, if you do you will never see me."
When Clark got in the hotel, he went directly to the restaurant. He hadn't eaten since his lunch the previous day. It was around nine when Clark first entered in his room. He took a shower and started to look around. Nothing unusual, not a video camera or a recording device.
"What kind of source can pay for a room like this?" he said out loud. The room was one of the biggest in the hotel.
Clark wasn't sure which house was the meeting so he left earlier. He was glad he did because although the directions were good there were three houses on the beach and all he had to do was wait to see which one was the quiet one. It was exactly midnight when he entered the house. He closed the door behind him and when he looked ahead all he saw was an empty room. He tried to turn the lights on but it seemed there was no electricity in the house. He kept walking toward a sound he heard coming from the second level. As he entered the room he could hear a voice, a woman's voice.
"For a minute I had my doubts you were coming, you left the hotel so early."
"I wanted to make sure that I would be here on time."
"Suddenly the door the woman was leaning in opened and he saw lights, candle lights. As he came closer he could see his source and with a grin on his face he asked:
"You prepared all this by yourself? A front page story, the airport, the locker, the hotel room?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why all this trouble, honey?"
"I wanted to make it up to you." Lois said as she ran her fingers through her husband's chest 'till his neck. His hands moved to her waist and he captured her lips in his mouth. After a long and soft kiss she said:
"I'm sorry honey … for making us pass through all this."
"I guess we needed to."
"I really missed you. This —" Lois pointed around, "would have taken a little longer if it wasn't for Lucy, you know?"
"Really! You were with your sister all the time?"
" No, I was in my mother's and she came by. She helped me with this."
"And Perry?"
"He was in this too."
"I love you, you know that."
"I know. And you know what? I love you too."
"Are you sure?" Clark asked as if it was a joke, but he had a serious expression on his face.
"I am, aren't you?"
"Sure I am."
After a strong embrace they gazed into each other's eyes for a while by the light of the candles that were set on the table behind Lois. She wrapped her arms around his neck to get closer to him and asked:
"So Clarkie … how can I make ii up to you?"
"You don't have to make it up with me."
"I know, but I want to."
"And I can ask for anything?" he asked with an evil grin on his face
"Yes."
THE END
(longwhil.txt)