Okay, I’m back for real this time. I was supposed to be back Tuesday but my sister called and asked if I could go with her kids to Cedar Point. And yesterday I had to paint my bathroom, which took longer than I thought it would. But it looks great and now I have nothing to do but review!
Clark glanced up and was about to ask why Jimmy had given them to him when he wasn’t working with Lois on the boxing story, but the kid was already half-way across the bullpen. Pictures? He picked up the packet and glanced over at Lois’ empty desk.
Put down the pictures if you want to live.
For some reason, Lois had become less obsessed with Superman, but as it occurred simultaneously with her new-found interest in being Clark’s bosom buddy, he was okay with that development.
Finally a chance for Clark?
Lois wanted Clark in her life, too. He was the man she called when he was depressed about Allie’s death. He was the man she came to for solace, when she discovered she didn’t want to be alone. He was the man she asked to hold her in his arms so that she could sleep. Him, Clark Kent. Not some flying guy in tights whom, he reluctantly admitted, was also Clark Kent.
He didn’t even want to think about these past two weeks, since the ‘ice cream incident’, when Clark didn’t think they would ever get together because of another one of his flaws, and Lois had ignored him completely and avoided him like the plague. Of all of the reasons why Lois would never date him, the fact that he didn’t eat sweets hadn’t even been on his list.
If Herb Wells had stopped by during the last week to take him back to Clark’s home dimension, who knew what Clark in his depressed state would have said?
He wouldn’t have left, would he? Don’t give up yet!
Oh, no, no, no. Don’t go there, Kent, he told himself. He had not even the whisper of proof that Luthor was involved, but how attractive would it be to have even the hint of the whisper to prove to Lois that Luthor wasn’t all that he stacked up to be?
Go with you instinct! It’s always Luthor!
Clark had retorted by reminding Cat that not everything in life was about sex.
The gossip queen had merely patted his face and cooed at him for his innocent naivety.
“I’ve got ‘em,” Clark said, holding up the packet and walking over to her desk.
Lois frowned at him. “What are you doing with my photos?” she accused.
“Isn’t CK working with you on this story?” Jimbo interjected in dismay, looking back and forth between them. “After yesterday, I thought…” He glanced at Clark with embarrassment.
Jimbo clearly had thought Lane and Kent were back together again. He hadn’t been the only one. Cat had even asked Clark if there was something he wanted to announce. He thankfully had been saved from answering by a call for help.
“You thought wrong. This is still my story. Clark and I are only friends, not partners, nor anything else your dirty mind might have been thinking, and if he tries to put a finger on my story, we’ll be less than that,” Lois said, grabbing the photos out of Clark’s hand.
I told you so.
Clark knelt down next to her. “You don’t really mean that, do you?” he murmured. “I can’t believe a woman as caring as you would risk someone going after your dad by writing that story.”
Lois gazed at him. “You think I’m caring?”
“I know you are. The way you fight for truth, for justice, defending the little guy from dominance and the will of the corporation,” he explained, unable to stop the admiration in his voice from shining through.
“Truth? Justice?” Lois said with a broad smile. “Superman certainly has been a positive influence on my life.”
“Perhaps,” Clark said with a wink. “You’ve been a positive influence on his.”
“Now, now. Just a minute, yesterday you told me it was murder,” Perry reminded her.
Lois gulped. “I was…” She closed her eyes and hated with every fiber of her body to say it. “— wrong.”
“How exactly have I seduced you? As you have pointed out to everyone from here to Gotham City, we are just friends.”
That’s a good question. Which Lois will probably not answer…
“What’s up with your three month anniversary at the Planet? Expecting a party? Or is your girlfriend supposed to show up?”
As soon as Lois said the words, her stomach dropped, and she hoped it was the former reason. Did Clark have a girlfriend? Was that what felt wrong about him? Why didn’t he have her picture up in his apartment? Was that why he denied his one-night, or had it been more nights with Cat, so his girlfriend wouldn’t find out? That would make Lois’ day a complete trifecta of misery: killing a page one story, ending up in Perry’s doghouse, and Clark being unavailable. She didn’t know why she felt this way. She should be relieved that he had a girlfriend, then he wouldn’t tempt her to cheat on Superman. Only she felt the opposite of relieved. How could he have a girlfriend? What if she wasn’t just a girlfriend, but a wife? Her guts tied into knots in her belly. She had thought Chuck was smitten with her. Maybe she didn’t really know him at all.
Wow, all that from “3 months”?
“But, Supes…”
“No. You will call and cancel, and explain that there was a misunderstanding,” Superman told him.
Good for you! Finally sticking up for yourself!
