The Matchmaker Files - An Unusual Proposal

Rated PG-13

* emphasis*
<thoughts>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * time passed – scene change

/ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ * scene change – universe change


Previously

Interrupting, Clark said, "Wow. I wish it had been that way for me. Perry almost didn't hire me at all. Makes me wish that I had worked in the Brazzaville office."

Lois quipped, "Why, because of the twins?"

Clark replied, "I'm sure that they are very nice girls, but you know that there is only one woman for me and that's you. I presume that he was the same way from what Herb was saying."

Lois smiled and said, "You got out of that one easily enough."

Clark smiled and kissed her then asked, "Herb, did you send him there?"

Herb replied, "I cannot take any credit for that. It was a decision that that Clark made, but it did shortcut the process somewhat."

Lois asked, "From what you said, it sounded as if she was attracted to him. I have to admit, there was an attraction on my part, but it scared me. I didn't want to admit it, even to myself."

Herb smirked and replied, "It is hard to tell and that is one question I failed to ask. I did imply that from future incidents."

Lois blurted out, "Oh, you've talked to them?"

Nodding, Herb replied, "Oh, yes. We are quite good friends now."

Clark asked, "Are they as happy together as we are?"

"Why don't I finish telling the story and you can judge for yourselves."

Lois was eager to hear more and it could be heard in the tone of her voice as she said, "Okay, so, don't keep us in suspense. What happened next? Did she get involved with Lex Luthor?"

"Because of how things worked out, Luthor's involvement in their lives was somewhat different. If you recall, the name of the company that was shipping the arms was L&M Enterprises, Inc. It was named after the principles who headed the company. The ‘L' was of course, Lex Luthor. The ‘M' was Miranda Michaels. They were in a relationship after he was divorced from Arianna Carlin."

Lois and Clark both blurted out, "Miranda!"

They looked at each other and Clark said, "We were right! They did have a history before the pheromone incident. That was why she wanted revenge."

Lois added, "They must have been together as a couple at the time and then he threw her over. That's why she came after me. Luthor was after me and she resented it. She wanted him for herself."

Clark asked, "How did that change Luthor's involvement in our, uh, their lives?"

"Eventually the gunrunning and other things came to light and he went to jail. That didn't happen right away, but eventually the team of Lane and Kent, to use your vernacular, got the goods on him."

With some regret, Lois said, "I wish it had been that easy for us. All of the problems that Lex caused, we sure could have done without them."

Herb chuckled and said, "Oh, another thing - Lois just had to gloat somewhat. As soon as she finished talking to Perry about the story and before Clark returned from Personnel she returned to her desk and brought up her email program. She sent an email to Suzanne and Collette

"TO: S.Black@DP.com ; C.Black@DP.com
FROM: L.Lane@DP.com
SUBJECT: Coquinos

Suzanne et Collette,
Très bonne nouvelle!
Perry White vient d'embaucher Coquinos.
Il va être mon partenaire.
Vous aviez raison, il est tellement beau.
Lois"


{Suzanne and Collette,
Wonderful news!
Perry White just hired Coquinos.
He is going to be my partner.
You were right, he is so handsome.
Lois}

Because of the time difference she didn't receive their responses until the following day.

"TO: L.Lane@DP.com
FROM: S.Black@DP.com
SUBJECT: RE: Coquinos

Lois,
C'est en effet de bonnes nouvelles, petite amie.
Nous sommes tellement heureux pour toi. Notre malheur est votre chance.
S'il vous plaît, lui présenter nos respects et lui dire que nous lui manquer.

Suzanne"


{Lois,

That is indeed good news, girlfriend.
We are so happy for you. Our misfortune is your good fortune.
Please give him our regards and tell him that we miss him.

Suzanne}



And now

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 05
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

/ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ *

Herb resumed, "Time went on."

"After the Prometheus story the Daily Planet was invaded by a horde of government agents that turned out to be as phony as a three pound note, uh, sorry, three dollar bill. It was a group that was out to get Superman and picked on the Daily Planet staff because they had been the first to report his presence and seemed to get most of the stories involving him.

"They seemed to disappear after they pushed Lois and Clark out of a plane and then fired a missile at Superman, which failed to harm him."

"Superman was put through a series of tests by Lex Luthor. Lois was sent on a scavenger hunt which resulted in her finding a doll with an ‘S' painted on his chest. After that they looked for an invisible man and a gang of invisible crooks. They investigated the Metro Club and dealt with the Toasters and then some very smart children."

"The Lane and Kent byline was becoming a household word."

/ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ *

Shortly after the case of the smart children, Perry called Lois and Clark into his office. Once they were inside, Perry said to Clark, "Close the door, please."

Clark closed the door and moved over to stand beside Lois who sat in the visitor chair.

For a time, Perry simply sat there, smiling as he looked back and forth between his star reporting team. Finally he addressed them, "Lois, you always worked alone, that is until I teamed you up with Clark here. I have to say, in all modesty, teaming the two of you up was one of my most brilliant moves in an already illustrious career. You haven't let me down. I have to admit, at one point I was worried.” Looking directly at Lois he said, “I was worried because of the nickname, ‘Mad Dog Lane’ that I started hearing. That all changed when I teamed you two up. You seemed to mellow, somewhat. I can only guess that Clark was a good influence on you. Right out of the starting blocks, your first story together, the Prometheus story, you two did a bang up job. Lois, your exclusive on Superman's debut was nothing short of spectacular. Finding and taking down that gang of invisible crooks was incredible. Breaking up the Metros and exposing their connection to the Toasters was outstanding work. Saving all of that gold in the depository from those invisible crooks, tremendous! Saving those kids from the effects of that drug … exceptional. As a result of your outstanding work we want to make you an offer."

Lois immediately jumped in, "Finally! A raise?"

"Well, no, Darlin', not exactly." Perry was lost in thought for a brief time as he considered how best to approach the subject.

His long pause was trying Lois's patience and finally she asked, "Well, if it's not a raise, what is it?"

Not knowing any other way to approach it than to just say it, Perry started, "Well, the suits upstairs have decided to make some changes ..."

A feeling of dread came over Lois and she jumped to her feet and blurted out, "But I'm ..." glancing at Clark standing next to her, she thought better of her statement and changed it, "we're the best reporters on staff! They can't do that to us."

Perry was taken aback and blurted out, "Do what?"

"Why, fire us, of course!"

"Who said anything about firing you?"

"Well, what else could they have in mind?" she said as she resumed her seat.

Perry smiled and said, "Something quite different. They have an opening upstairs that they want to fill -"

Lois cut him off, "I'm a reporter, not an administrator!"

"Yes, I couldn't agree more. They aren't looking to move you upstairs."

She glanced at Clark and blurted out, “They don’t want to split us up, do they?”

Shaking his head, Perry said, “No they are most definitely not splitting you up.”

Lois was very confused at this point and looked at Clark as if asking if he could translate so Clark stepped in and asked, "If they are not splitting us up and If it’s not Lois, then who?"

Relief in his voice, Perry said, "Thank you, Kent. The voice of reason, finally. They want me to move upstairs. It would mean a raise in pay, regular hours, no overtime. Alice would love it. I'd be home for dinner every night. We could take vacation whenever we wanted to …" his voice trailed off as he contemplated the opportunity.

As he drifted off in thought, Lois jumped in, "But if you move upstairs … who would be Editor-in-Chief?"

Back on track, Perry smiled and said, "That's precisely where you come in."

Lois was staggered, "What? Me? Editor? I couldn't, could I?" She finished in a small voice.

Perry's smile broadened as he said, "It would only be temporary, until they recruit someone, or you prove yourself and they decide to make it permanent."

"It's such a big job. I don't know."

"That's why I recommended that Clark be made your Associate Editor. You've proven how well you work together and he has editorial experience. Now, admittedly, it was with a weekly paper, but it is experience." He gave them both a minute to let it all sink in before he asked, "Well, what do you think? Are you up for it?"

Lois and Clark looked at each other and there was a silent communication for a time.

Perry marveled at this. They had only been working together for a few months and yet, they were able to communicate on a higher level than any other team of reporters he had ever come into contact with, even better than the legendry, Norcross and Judd. They just seemed to think with one mind.

It was only a few seconds before Lois, not even taking her eyes off of Clark, spoke up, "Well, Chief, if you think we can handle it. I guess we can give it a try."

Perry saw Clark nod his head in agreement.

Perry smiled and said, "Good. I knew I could count on you. Okay, now that that's settled the moves will go into effect next week."

/ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ *

Herb said, "It took some time to settle into their new roles, but within a very short time the newsroom was running very efficiently. Lois had quickly dominated the editor's office and Clark's role was very much diminished. Lois ran a very tight ship and as a result her nickname of ‘Mad Dog Lane' was resurrected. Her style was not as laid back as Perry's had been."

"There were a number of occasions when Perry came down to visit his old office and see how things were progressing. One thing that he found somewhat distressing was that Clark's role had been somewhat downgraded, actually more than somewhat. He had become more of an Administrative Assistant than Associate Editor as he had envisioned."

"It was two months after the move to the Editor's office that the next incident occurred."

/ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ *

It was bright and early, Wednesday morning and it had been a hard night. The number of calls for help seemed to be increasing the longer Superman had been around. This was the third night in a row that Clark had gotten little or no sleep. Admittedly, he could go on less sleep than an Earth human, but he still needed some sleep, occasionally, and he had only had a total of two hours in the previous three nights. That was insufficient, even for Superman, so he had fallen into a deep sleep literally as soon as his head had hit the pillow.

The sunlight streaming in through his window woke Clark up and in his groggy state it didn't immediately register that it was brighter than it should be at the time he was supposed to awaken. Finally; he looked at his clock and saw that it was flashing ‘12:00'.

He started up in bed and grabbing his watch he saw the actual time and exclaimed, "Oh no! I'm late!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Since taking the appointment as Editor-in-Chief, Lois had made some changes. Since her time at the gym had been seriously curtailed she had gotten a stationary bike. In front of the bike was a TV tuned to the local news channel. While she exercised on the bike she was checking on what stories her staff could follow up on.

After her time on the bike she went in and took a shower before dressing for work. As she did, she organized who was going to be assigned to what story. She smiled because today was going to have a perk added to it. Today she was going to deal with a particularly vexing personnel problem.

Lois dressed in a smart, conservative business suit with a pencil skirt that reached below the knee, a matching top and stilettos with three inch heels. She chose to throw caution to the winds and not to wear a blouse under the top which gave her a plunging neckline that showed just the faintest hint of cleavage.

After a quick breakfast of cereal, she placed her bowl in the sink to wash later and left for work.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Realization hit Clark and he jumped out of bed, muttering, "Thank heaven for super-speed." He showered and dressed in seconds. Deciding that he didn't have time for breakfast he simply ran out the door deciding to just grab a coffee on the way. He usually stopped and grabbed a coffee for both of them on his way in anyhow.

He left his apartment at a run and headed for the coffee shop. When he got there he saw a long line at the counter. With a look of despair he counted the number of people between him and the counter and decided that there was no way he would be able to get the coffees and make it to work on time. Just as he was about to leave the barista, Mayson, spotted him at the back of the line and called, "Clark! Hey!"

He saw her leaning to the side so that he could see her and ran up to the counter. As she offered two cups to him she said, "Here ya go, your regular lattes!'

As he threw some bills on the counter, he accepted them and said, "Thank you. You have literally saved my life. Thank you." As he turned away he reiterated, "Thank you."

He didn't see the look she gave him as he headed for the door.

Bolting from the door he looked like a running back doing a broken field dash to the end zone dodging tacklers as he headed for the Daily Planet building. The tacklers he was dodging however were cars and he was dodging in and out of bumper-to-bumper rush-hour traffic to the sound of car horns blaring instead of a cheering crowd.

Carrying the two lattes he swung through the revolving door and charged across the lobby squeezing through the doors to the elevator as they were closing. He bumped the doors and they bounced open again as he stumbled into another passenger. Fortunately the doors were not dented by hitting him.

He asked, "Are you all right?

He replied, "Yeah, you?"

"Yeah, I'm all right.

When the doors opened onto the newsroom floor he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't hear Lois's heartbeat so he knew that he was there first. As he descended the ramp, he heard Jimmy say, "You're cutting it awfully close."

Spinning to address Jimmy, as he started down the ramp, Clark replied, "One of those mornings." As he spun back around he crashed into a delivery boy, spilling the contents of one of the lattes all over his shirt. It was all Clark could do not to shout an expletive. He heard Ralph shout, "Rub some dirt on it."

Realizing that he didn't have the time to go home to change, even at super-speed and especially since a majority in the newsroom had witnessed his mishap so he approached Steve, the travel writer and said, "Steve, I need the shirt off your back, literally."

Steve looked at him like he had lost his mind and said, "You're kidding, right?"

Clark's tone told Steve that he wasn't kidding as he said, "Metropolis Metros, Gotham Growlers, this Tuesday, two company seats, forty yard line, behind the bench, for your shirt. You have 5 seconds to decide, five, four, three, two, one."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, Lois had arrived and was about to enter the elevator, headed up to the newsroom.

When the chime of the elevator sounded the first person that caught a glimpse of Lois on board immediately dropped into her chair and looked like she was busily working. What she was doing was sending an IM to all of the staff, "Mad Dog is here." That started a wave that spread out from that epicenter and everyone put down coffee cups or magazines and picked up phones of attacked their keyboards when that message popped up.

Seeing the staff hard at work, Lois smiled in satisfaction as she headed for her office. She was still planning her day and didn't think anything of the flurry of activity around her.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Clark was just finishing re-tying his tie as he heard her heartbeat and the clip, clip, clip of her heels as she approached the office.

With a sigh of relief he stepped away from the mirror and picking up the still full latte cup said, "Good morning, boss," tongue-in-cheek as she walked in.

She handed him her camel colored bag and she took the latte from his hand, as he said, "You have a meeting in the conference room in thirty minutes."

"Yes, the story assignments, I know."

As she stepped around behind her desk, he said, "There's a senior staff meeting at 9."

"Did you call, oh, what's her name? The freelancer, the one with the story about the mayor?"

"Janice, yes. I told her that she needs solid evidence or we can't run the story. Oh, and your immigration lawyer called. He said that it is imperative -"

She interrupted him and as she spun around to face her computer said, "Push the senior staff meeting to tomorrow and keep the lawyer on the schedule." She picked up the latte cup and was about to drink when she saw writing on the cup. As he turned away to comply, she spun her chair around again, stopped him and asked, "Uh, who's Mayson and why does she want me to call her?"

Surprised at this turn of events, Clark sheepishly admitted, "Uh, well, she's a girl that I know. She's working as a barista, working her way through … Law School. That was originally my cup."

Looking at the cup suspiciously, Lois asked, "And I'm drinking your coffee why?"

"Because your coffee spilled."

Lois nodded and lifting the cup to her lips, took a sip. Then looking at Clark she said, "So, you drink low fat, unsweetened, mocha latte."

Nodding, he said, "I do. I love the chocolaty goodness."

"Is that a coincidence?"

"Yeah; isn't that incredible?" His phone started to ring. As he moved to answer, he said, "I mean, it is. I … I … I wouldn't possibly drink the same coffee as you just in case yours spilled, that would be … pathetic." Answering the phone, he said, "Ms. Lane's office. … Oh, hey Claude." Looking at her she gave a hand signal and he said, "She wants to see you. Can you come to her office right now? … Okay. See you in a minute."

After he hung up, he asked, "Why do you want to see Claude?"

She didn't answer his question.

He asked, "Did you read that story I turned in?"

"Clark, you aren't a reporter anymore."

"I know, but, it's a good story."

"It was okay in a touchy feely way and I do think that you drink the same coffee as me just in case you spill one which is ... in fact … pathetic." Picking up her phone, Lois dialed a number. When it was answered, she said, "I want Claude Rochert's account locked out. Change the password and send it to me. I'll be reviewing his files. Thanks." She hung the phone up.

Because of his super-hearing, Clark had heard this and knew that what was about to happen would not be pretty, but he decided to pretend he had not, so he returned to the former topic, "Or impressive."

"I'm impressed you didn't spill it in the first place. Now when Claude arrives, you're window dressing."

"I won't say a word."

Claude swaggered in.

Lois nodded to Clark indicating that he should close the door.

Claude noticed this and looked around before he said, "You wanted to zee moi?"

"Yes, Claude. You are being transferred. I know that you didn't request it, but you are being transferred anyhow. I've made arrangements for you to be assigned to the Brazzaville office. You'll feel right at home. They all speak French there. Oh, and I've already warned the staff to make sure they keep their story notes locked up. You report there in two weeks. You can take the time between now and then to pack and travel. You can start by packing your personal items in your desk, now." Glancing at her watch, she said, "I have a story meeting to attend." She edged around him and out the door with Clark following close behind.

Over her shoulder she said to Clark, "Watch my six."

Glancing over his shoulder he saw that Claude was pacing the office, he was red-faced with anger. As he headed for the door Clark said, "Here he comes."

She muttered, "Don't do it, Claude, don't do it. I'm transferring you, don't make me fire you."

Bursting out of the office, Claude shouted, "You poisonous bi**h! You can't transfer me! Y … you don't think I can see what you're doing here. You're getting back at me because I exposed you as the Ice Queen you really are. So appropriate, the Ice Queen from Canada … French Canada!" In his anger he switched to his native French which Lois understood perfectly, "Vous me transférez parce que vous sentez menacé par moi … et …vous êtes un monster!" {Translation You are transferring me because you feel threatened by me … and…you are a monster!}

Lois muttered, just loud enough for him to hear, "Claude, aret." {translation; Claude, stop.}

That only fueled his anger and he switched back to English so that the entire office would understand, "Just because you have no semblance of a life outside of this office you think you can treat all of us like your own personal slaves." He paused to take a breath before he continued, "You know what, I feel zorry for you. Because you know what you are going to ‘ave on your deathbed? Nosing and no one."

Lois slowly turned to face Claude and in a calm tone, replied, "Listen carefully, Claude. I'm not transferring you because I feel threatened by you. I'm transferring you because you are lazy and incompetent. You don't go to the trouble of doing your own work. You would rather spend your time seducing the women in the office and stealing stories than doing the actual work yourself. Now, one more word out of you and instead of transferring you, Clark here, will have you thrown out on your ass."

He was taking a deep breath to shout a reply when she cut him off and said, "Another word and I'll have Clark call security and have you escorted from the building while Jimmy takes pictures. I suppose it would be appropriate for the business section. Is that what you want?" She didn't even give him time to decide before she said, "I didn't think so." As she turned her back to him, she said, "I have work to do."

As they were walking away, Claude slunk back to his desk and Lois said to Clark, "I'll need you around this weekend to go over his files to see if he was actually doing any reporting and if so what needs to be followed up on."

Clark was shocked and blurted out, "This weekend?"

She turned on him and asked, "You have a problem with that?"

Clark decided not to fight it, "No, it's just my parent's anniversary and the Corn Festival. I … I was going to go home and …it's fine … I'll cancel. You're actually saving me from a weekend of misery anyway." By this point, Lois was long gone and he finished, lamely, "Good talking to you. Yeah."

A little later, Clark was on the phone, "Mom, I'm really sorry. What can I tell you, she's making me work the weekend?"

"Couldn't you just fly out for a while?"

"No, Mom, no. Look, I've worked too hard for this promotion."

"Honey, is this job really worth it?"

"I'm sure you and Dad are disappointed, I am too, but," he could hear Lois's heartbeat as she approached the office and changed what he was saying, "Yes, we appreciate the tip, but without hard evidence to back it up, we'd be no better than the Whisperer. I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Shaking his head, Clark hung the phone up.

Lois stepped up to him and asked, "That your family?"

Almost reluctantly, he admitted, "Yes."

She asked, "They tell you to quit?"

Shaking his head again, he said, "Every single day." And reached for the ringing phone. "Lois Lane's office. … Yeah. … Okay." He hung the phone up. Turning to Lois he said, "Edwards and Johnson want to see you upstairs, immediately."

Lois sighed and growled in frustration before she said, "Okay, come get me in ten minutes. We've got a lot to do."

"Okey doke."

She turned and left the office, headed for the elevator.

/ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ */ *

Clark interrupted Herb and asked, "Herb, how did that happen? He was supposed to be an associate editor, not a glorified administrative assistant."

Herb said, "The same thing happened to them that happened to you and Lois some time ago, when she was appointed acting Editor-in-Chief. The lure of power. They started off almost equal, but slowly, Lois assumed the dominant role in the office and Clark, being who he invariably is, allowed her to take the lead. That is not to say that he liked it, but as long as he was near her, he didn't care what his role was."

Lois commented, "Poor, Clark. I feel sorry for him. I know how it was with us at that time. I was mean to Clark and … and it almost cost him his life. We were married at the time. I can just imagine how it would have been if that had happened before we were married. What about Clark's parents? How did they handle it?"

"They knew that Clark was in love with Lois even before he did. They could tell by the way he talked about her. They were supportive, but they did ask if he was sure that this was the correct path to take. They knew that ultimately the final decision was up to Clark. All they could do was love and support him in his decision."

Lois smiled and said, "At least some things never change. Martha and Jonathan are the solid rock foundation that Clark was built on. He wouldn't be who he is today, if not for them. I love them to pieces."

Clark smiled and said, "They love you too, Honey."

Lois turned back to Herb and asked, "Okay, so what happened next?"

comments go here

TBC


Last edited by KenJ; 09/08/15 11:07 AM.

Herb replied, “My boy, I never say … impossible.” "Lois and Clarks"

My stories can be found here

kj