***
Wall Of Sound: Perry White
***
As soon as you saw the announcement, you knew there’d be trouble. You know that gal better than your own kids, and this was going to cause conflict like even Elvis might not have seen in his lifetime.
Lois Lane not a Kerth contender for the first time since she’d been eligible? You didn’t need tea leaves to know that the roof was going to blow sky-high.
Still, you’d told yourself, Clark seemed to have the magic touch with Lois. Had since he’d started working for you, almost. And he often just laughed at what would send any other man running for the hills. Maybe he’d have just the thing to say to defuse Lois before any calamity could be unleashed on your functioning, orderly, award-nominated newsroom.
You’ve always been a dreamer.
Your first clue was Clark’s reaction. Why, you’ve never seen anyone so surprised to hear his own name. Bad news--meant there was no way he’d thought of a way to handle this. The fact that Lois was already standing to receive her praise hadn’t boded well either.
They’re friends, you thought. Lois seems to value Clark more than you ever thought he’d get the chance to see. For Clark’s sake, maybe she’d make an effort. Let the way he’d softened her work on him instead of just on everyone else around them. Maybe he could still contain this.
Ah, the delusions of the desperate.
This wasn’t going well at all. You could see the meltdown already occurring. Clark was silent, Jimmy grabbed his front-row seat for the ensuing drama, and Lois was speechless. The final warning sign and definitely the worst.
Lois babbling? That’s good--means she’s working through it. Lois listing off steps and plans--still good, even better in fact since that usually meant front page headlines. But Lois speechless? Very, very bad. Meant she was going to explode.
Still, it was all happening somewhat…slowly. She was speechless, but she was still sitting, and she wasn’t yelling, and Clark almost looked amused. So…maybe this could still be salvaged. There might be hope yet. Clark has done wonders for the newsroom in the past year, and Lois is capable of extreme loyalty, you know that better than most. It could still work out.
One day, you’ll learn better than to listen to yourself.
“Lois,” you say, warningly. Might as well since Clark still doesn’t seem to have recovered from his daze. Or maybe the man actually wants to see the meltdown--sometimes he does seem to have a death wish where Lois is concerned. “Don’t you have something to say to Clark?”
Unfortunately, you’re not stupid enough to miss the gleam in her eyes as she looks up at her partner.
You sigh, and hope there will still be a newsroom when the explosion is over.
You hope there will still be a Lane and Kent when this is all over.
One of these days, just once, you’d like to actually have one of your delusions come true.
*
