I recognised it, but I went to check on the archive to make sure it was the right one it's
Love and Secrets by NiteMar worth reading!
"Answer my question!" Foster sounded angry now.
"Any further inquiry will have to be made directly to Dr. Plotkin."
Her tone had taken on a warning quality.
"You..." Foster was enraged.
"Sir, I will have to ask you to leave." Judith was standing her
ground even though Clark knew her heart raced. Clark thought this would be
a good time to stand up. He walked to where he could stand almost next to
Judith and Foster was now eyeing Clark's large, imposing frame. Foster
stomped out, muttering.
After Clark was sure he heard Foster leave the building, he sighed,
letting the tension flow out of his limbs. Judith, who had waited
patiently while watching Clark listen, also exhaled and then slipped into
her desk chair.
"Sorry about the kiss," she said. "I saw that in a movie once. It
was useful that it occurred to me tonight."
"It's a good trick. I've used it myself," Clark answered,
remembering when he had kissed Lois during the stakeout in the Lexor Hotel
honeymoon suite. At the time, when they were about to be discovered with
surveillance equipment by a maid, he had been glad he had thought of it
too. Of course, any excuse to kiss Lois had had to be seized upon. He had
daydreamed about it for months after as a special bonus. Now he wasn't
sure he would ever get to kiss Lois again.
"You'll never know how sorry I am that I'm not Lois," Judith said
quietly.
Clark looked down at her and saw that she had turned away, softly
weeping.
"I'm sorry," he was at a complete loss. "You've been terrific.
Please...don't cry."
"I am not crying because you haven't fallen head over heels for me
in a day and a half," she got out. "I think you're...wonderful. Even
though you've been depressed, I can tell how sweet you are. I have never
in my life met someone so strong and yet as gentle and good as you. I know
you could never love anyone but Lois. But I can't help feeling that if I
knew you loved me, I would *never* treat you the way she has." She sounded
angry at the end.
"I probably deserve how she's treating me," he said gently, getting
down on one knee to be at eye level with Judith. She turned toward him,
shaking her head in disagreement, and he embraced her. He felt that they
both could use some comforting, feeling only protective in a brotherly sort
of way. He fervently hoped she could sense that as she had sensed
everything else so far.
