“A ribbon cutting ceremony for the new library... you’re serious?” Lois’s voice came out sounding a little more sarcastic than she had meant for it to.
“Yes, I am,” Perry assured her. “I think it would be a good piece for you to stretch your legs on, get you back into the swing of things.”
Unlike Nancy, I don't think Lois should get used to this. I like her spunk and her determination to keep fighting.
“Don’t you trust me? Have you really lost that much faith in me? Geez, one little bump on the head and I’m demoted to stories that would be better suited for... Ralph!”
'Course... ummmmm... she does suffer from a
liiiittle more than just "one little bump on the head".
She was being emotional and irrational. She knew she was. She knew Perry had to do what was in the best interests of the paper. And what was in the paper’s best interests was not having a reporter who couldn’t remember things from one day to the next. How could she work on their more intricate stories like this?
Glad she realizes that she can't allow herself to be a liability to the Daily Planet.
“I’m back,” Clark said as he walked through Perry’s door. “Sorry. I can’t believe I forgot to turn my iron off this morning.” Lois rolled her eyes. He had to come up with better excuses. She couldn’t believe she had bought so many of those lame ducks.
I can't believe it either, Lois.
"We're partners, Chief," he said, catching Perry's eye.
“Clark, you know that I...” Perry began.
“I need my partner, especially on something this big. Let us both work on the STAR Labs break-in. I’ll take full responsibility,” he assured him, putting as much weight behind his words as he could.
Yes!!! Clark is standing up for her!
Lois looked like she could kiss him. He pushed that thought from his mind – better not to think about that.
It would do no good to think about her lips, how soft and supple they looked just now or to remember how good she tasted when he kissed them. Even now her hair had that one rebellious strand that had come untucked from behind her ear. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and sweep it back where it belonged. Only the fact that they were in Perry’s office and that he had never been able to do so yet without letting his fingers pause, however briefly, against her cheek stopped him.
No, he shouldn’t think about such things. It was so... unproductive.
So, Clark. Explain it to me all over again. What, apart from your own lunkheadedness, makes you so stubbornly certain that breaking up with her is the right thing to do? And what gives you the final say in what is the best thing for her, if you won't consider her opinion on the matter?
Halfway to her desk, she stopped and turned, effectively hurling herself into his arms. “Thanks,” she murmured against his neck. The sensation sent a shiver through him and he reflexively returned the hug.
I love it!!!
“For what? For wanting to work with my partner?” He knew he should step back now, but he couldn’t make himself do so. He stopped himself from allowing his hand to caress her back.
She wasn’t sure but there was something wrong with how he had said ‘partner’. He seemed so tense and it made her feel strangely uneasy.
He is withdrawing. And he doesn't even have the same excuse that Adam Sandler would have had, if he had done the same thing. (Well, Drew Barrymore's character couldn't even remember Adam Sandler's character!)
“Um, Dr. Peterson mentioned that you might want to have someone stay with you. Do you want me to call your mom and see if she could...”
“I’ve lost my memory, Clark, not my mind,” she said and released his hands. Why was he being so distant? “I can’t handle my mom right now.”
“What about Lucy?”
What about *him*? Why wasn’t *he* offering to stay with her? Or let her stay with him?
Because he's being a lunkhead, Lois.
The look on his face said it all. He looked... uneasy. Disappointment welled up inside her. He really was avoiding her – but why?
Poor, poor girl. She has lost her memory, and the man she thought she was dating is distancing himself from her.
Clark sighed and wished he could have offered to stay with her. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought that was what she had been suggesting before.
Clark, are you dense?
“What are you doing?”
“I’m looking for a journal. I bought one a few weeks ago. Dr. Friskin suggested that I might want to write down some of my feelings in it... you know, about you, and Superman, and... Dan.” She sort of muttered the last name.
She opened another drawer and began to dig through it. “But I didn’t really use it. I didn’t need to.” She flashed a knowing smile at him. “And now, I think it could come in handy. I don’t want to lose these memories, Clark... these days. There are entire days of my life that might end up missing. I want to at least have a record of what happened and what I did.”
A journal! Good, Lois! Drew Barrymore had one in 50 First Revelations.
He watched as she picked up a pen off her desk. Clark realized that it was his pen - actually his *new* pen. He raised an eyebrow. He had searched his entire apartment looking for that pen. She must have borrowed it when she had come to his apartment the night they were working late.
He flinched. That night hadn’t ended in work. It had ended in a kiss on his couch that had left them both breathless. He would never be able to kiss her again and the loss was staggering.
Run it by me once again, Clark. Why can't you kiss her like that again?
“Mmm hmm,” she murmured at him as she began writing. She looked at her first sentence. ‘The Truth About Clark Kent’. She quickly scratched the sentence out. There were certain truths that she needed to know, but she was going to have to figure out how to write them in code.
No need to write down that he's Superman, Lois. You do remember that.
There were only two things taken.”
Clark nodded at him. “Yes, some research notes and a highly classified drug...”
“No. Some research notes and a mind-altering drug,”
Uh-oh.
Clark rolled his eyes. That was all he needed – to have Scardino show up in her life again. At least her amnesia hadn’t erased the fact that she had picked him over Dan.
He winced to himself when he realized where his thoughts were turning. What would he do if she decided... no, *when* she decided to date someone else? How was he going to deal with that? He wouldn’t be able to just stand idly by and watch Lois date some other person – even if he had told her that they couldn’t be together.
He breaks up with her for her own good, but then he won't allow her to date anyone else?
In "Superman II", Superman robbed Lois of her memory so that it would be easier for her to date some other guy after him. But then, when she had moved in with Richard White in "Superman Returns" - after Superman had completely abandoned her and their son, of course - you should have seen some to the things that some fanboys said about Lois on
www.supermanhomepage.com. “According to my sources, Bill Church, Jr. was involved in a deal with Charles Knox, the head of Omnicorp, to try and get the drug released as an over-the-counter pain med for headaches. The unexpected side-effect, though, was that it made you highly susceptible to suggestion, allowing you to be, in effect, brainwashed into doing whatever the intended benefactor wanted you to do.”
Wouldn't that be useful.
I'm wondering, though. What about testing that drug on Lois and telling her, "Remember, Lois! Remember!" Would that make her memory return?
Hmmmm. Fascinating. Clark did Lois a huge favor when he defended her to Perry, but he was certainly a lunkhead when he kept withdrawing from her. When will he begin to see the error of his ways? And when will Lois figure out that he has really broken up with her?
Looking forward to part five of this!
Ann
