One year later...
I finally got a weekend to myself; I turned in my column early, washed all my clothes, and had the house to myself. Olivia was out with one of her many boy toys, and Dinah was finishing Fashion Week in Milan. I drew the curtains on the last of the beautiful Chicago sunset, tucked my favorite fleece blanket into the perfect cocoon, and curled into my sweet red velvet armchair from my great-grandfather. A bowl of popcorn sat on my left armrest while a cherry Coca-Cola chilled to my right. The screen was lit with color, and I was captivated by the blend of red, yellow, and blue. When I was about seventeen, my mother and I found a DVD of "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," I fell in love with the Man of Steel in a new way. Since I was a little girl, I've always admired and idolized Lois Lane. Therefore, with a bowl of popcorn and the first season of "Lois and Clark" queued, I knew I was in for the perfect evening of relaxation.
The music swelled through the intensity, and the looks of unrecognized desire made me want to scream. I knew how it ended, but it was just the beginning for them. I sighed in my little romantic heart every time Dean Cain smiled; it sparkled with all the glory of Superman but still hid the secret of the humble Clark Kent. But I cheered every chance Lois took to assert herself or tell off Clark for his overprotective nature. I always longed to say those words, "In your dreams, Kent. In. Your. Dreams." Terri Hatcher said it with so much confidence, without blinking an eye while lying through those dazzling pearly whites. Oh! That reminds me, I need to schedule a Dentist appointment.
Even the Villain, Lex Luthor, played by John Shea, was so captivating. He is different from any other depiction: young, suave, and so chillingly evil that even I would find my heart in the balance every once in a while. He exudes sex; it made sense that Lois could fall for the snake. He took great pleasure in challenging Superman and playing with innocent lives. Who does that?!
My thoughts quietly turned to my beating heart. It's been a year since my ugly experience with my ex. Although I didn't miss James, I did miss the companionship. I'd been filling that void with my writing and movies, but I'm willing to admit (only to myself) that I'm a little lonely. I sometimes caught myself wishing for an excuse to dress up and go out for something other than business. I didn't know what I was looking for but knew I was not waiting for Superman to come flying through the window. Unlike Miss Lane, I think I'd settle for Clark Kent: a partner, lover, and friend. However, I gave up on relationships, so why would I care about the loneliness?
Once again, I turned to the television as Lex Luthor offered his life and true devotion to Lois, and as her heart broke, she said yes to the creepy snake. I felt the heartbreak and pain of the caped god outside the window, ready to cry over the woman he truly loves. That theme song started up again for the final episode of season one. Before the theme music ended, I heard the door to the garage open. Oh, snap! Olivia was home. I looked at my watch and saw it flash 11:00 p.m.; she was home early! I curled deeper into my seat and blanket, refusing to let her ruin my "Super" night. She seemed to go upstairs immediately, I'm sure I should've gone up to check on her, but I didn't want to move. It seemed to take her a while to come down, so I didn't think she planned on coming back down. I was about a good third of the way through the episode when she came down and started pacing around the living room. Just as Lois was about to say that she couldn't marry Lex, the screen went black.
"Hey, I was watching that," I angrily protested. Olivia looked me in the eyes but didn't say anything. Her gaze stayed on me for a long minute with a look of concern I'd never seen in her chocolate eyes before now. I knew something had to have been wrong, she didn't come home from dates until about two in the morning, and she never came home upset.
"Olivia?" I sat forward in my chair and gave her my full attention, I don't know what, but something about her demeanor didn't sit right with me. "Honey, is everything okay? Did something go wrong tonight? I thought you and Daniel were starting to get serious."
She quickly waved me off, "Oh no, this has nothing to do with Daniel and me."
"Then why are you home?"
"I'm worried about you," she said earnestly.
"What the-- Why me? I was enjoying a perfectly good Superman marathon. What gets better than that?" I settled back in the chair and got comfortable again. It's not hard to figure out where that conversation would go, especially when she'd been on the "you-need-a-man" crusade for some time now.
"Seriously, Grace? We need to talk about this," Olivia pushed forward.
"Please turn my episode back on. I'm about done with this season."
"No! We are talking about this now." She stole my blanket but not without a bit of a fight from me. "You can't keep spending your weekends with some movie binge and chocolate chip cookies." She stood over me in her two-inch heels, which added to her menacing 6' 2'' frame.
"I don't have chocolate chip cookies."
"Oh really?"
"Search me," I snarled. Olivia stood up and started pacing again. Her waterfall curls bounced with her every step.
Olivia and I've been friends since we were little; my parents practically adopted her. She'd always been the pretty one, and I, the wingman. I didn't mind when we were younger; her looks got us into a lot of trouble and fun. She's the type of leggy blonde that people expect to see on the cover of Cosmo magazine. Instead, one can find her beautiful mug in Classic Fashion magazine. The magazine's been our home for a little less than a decade. Her pretty face graces the front cover, and I write about creative ways that women on a budget can still be up with the latest fashions. We do what we love best and still hang onto a beautiful friendship. But right at that moment, I wanted to rip her vocal cords out.
Part of me wanted Dinah home. Olivia listens to her, or at least pretends to. But I knew that that ridiculous outburst would be the evening entertainment for our roommate. I was glad she could add fuel to the fire.
"Grace, you've been sitting here month after month watching with some sort of marathon drooling over the hot guys involved. It is sad and pathetic."
"Olivia, seriously, shut up. I don't regret my decision. I didn't give up men because I didn't know what to do with them. I'd rather be alone with my fantasies. At least until the real thing comes along."
"That's what I'm talking about. How do you expect a man to find you when you are sitting on the couch?"
"I was thinking if I ordered enough pizzas, one of the delivery boys would fall in love with me," I smirked as I reached for the discarded remote. She didn't look amused.
Growling at me, she knocked the remote out of the way and grabbed my face. "You are going out next weekend."
"I'm what?"
"Your mother, Dinah, and I are going to set up six dates over the next six weekends."
I felt my eyes bug out of my head, "Meddling model says what now?"
She smiled slyly, "We've set up some dates with single friends of friends. Your mom, Di, and I think you need to live again, and this is how we will do it..." She explained how I'd been set up with some great guys that my housemates and mother had screened.
I wish I could say I was ecstatic. They were trying to make me happy, to give me a reason to dress up on a Saturday night. But it was my love life they were tampering with. I had no say in who they chose, no idea what the date regulations were (if any), and I had absolutely no idea what to expect until the night before.
"We are joining your parents for dinner tomorrow night and giving you your briefing," she informed me before throwing the remote at my head and heading back upstairs for the night.
I sat in silence for a minute, taking in the reality of my immediate future. My love life is being dictated by a woman who has been married to the same man for the last thirty years, a cover model with a new piece of eye candy at least every six months, and a designer who has been pining over the same guy for three years but refuses to do anything about it. I am so screwed! Back to Clark Kent/Superman, He never let me down.