Yes, Clark was absolutely working up to confessing. He'd already tried that line in his head the night before. My only regret in telling this scene from Lois' POV is that we don't get to be inside Clark's head when she interrupts him just as he's finally found the courage to confess.
I think it worked from Lois' POV. We the readers could see the signs and figure it out. Now, if you wanted to have Clark remember his frustration and failure to be able to communicate, that would be good too.
To be clearer on the sea vans, they do have a corrugated floor too. The wooden floor is inside a corrugated steel box. The steel box is to keep the contents weather proof against the salt water at sea. Used ones are often used on land for cheap storage facilities you can rent. Sometimes, those have the pallets removed because they are not being lifted while loaded and the pallets themselves are valuable.
Yes, I did have a job that let me know about many strange things and I'm happy I can put it to use here. But I wouldn't have bet on sea vans being one of the things!
Artemis
