The Matchmaker Files - An Unusual Proposal
Rated PG-13
Story - TOC* emphasis*
<thoughts>
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Previously
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.
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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?"
And now
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 06
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As Lois left the elevator she marched to the Publisher's office. She was so focused on what she still needed to do to wrap up Claude's transfer that she didn't even hear as she passed Brenda, the receptionist, when she said, in a cheery tone, "Good morning, Ms. Lane."
Single-mindedly Lois ignored her and marched straight for the door.
As Lois entered the office, she greeted the two individuals that occupied it, "Mr. Edwards, Mr. Johnson."
Mr. Edwards, a bespectacled older man with thinning, graying hair, a florid complexion and a rather round face greeted her, "Lois, you are really doing a great job as Editor-in-chief."
She approached and stood behind the visitor's chair, but rather than sitting in it, she placed a hand on the back as she said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you. This isn't about a raise, is it?"
"Actually, no, it isn't. We received a call in reference to your application for permanent residency."
"Oh, they are finally ready to grant that? Wait a minute, why did they call you?"
Mr. Johnson, junior to Mr. Edwards by some years, but balding nonetheless spoke up, "We also just spoke with your immigration attorney, he followed up our discussion with the fax that Edwin is holding."
"Oh, then we're good?"
Mr. Edwards replied, "Lois … no, not really. Your application has been denied. It appears that there is a small problem. According to the INS you were told that you couldn't travel out of the country."
"That is correct." She gasped, remembering the Congo trip. "Oh, no."
Mr. Edwards replied, "Oh, no is right. You went to the Congo."
The strain was evident in her voice as she defended herself, "But that had the potential to be a Pulitzer Prize winning story."
In a matter-of-fact tone, he replied, "But it wasn't was it? It was a dud. Because of that you are now being … deported."
Stunned, she almost shouted, "De
ported?"
Looking at a fax he had in his hands, Mr. Edwards said, "There were also some forms you failed to fill out in time."
Lois was becoming frantic. She knew that she was where she wanted to be and wanted to stay. "Come on. Come on. It's not like I'm even an immigrant, I'm from Canada for God's sake. My parents were both Americans. There's got to be something we can do."
Mr. Johnson pointed out, "Your parents both gave up their U.S. citizenship before you were born and that made you a Canadian citizen. We can reapply, but you will have to leave the country for at least a year."
Desperately looking for an answer, Lois said, "Okay. Okay. It's not ideal, but with video conferencing, email, fax and internet, I can handle things from Montreal."
The tone of Mr. Johnson's voice told her that he wished it were otherwise as he said, "Unfortunately, if you are deported you cannot work for an American company."
Mr. Edwards said, "Until this is resolved, I'm going to make Claude Rochert Editor-in-chief."
Stunned, Lois spluttered out, "Claude? Claude Rochert? The guy I just transferred to Brazzaville. You're going to make him Editor-in-chief?"
Mr. Edwards was surprised and challenged, "When was he transferred to Brazzaville? I hadn't been notified of his transfer."
Sheepishly, Lois admitted, "I … uh, I just did it, forty-five minutes ago. He's packing his personal belongings even as we speak."
Mr. Edwards stated, "We need an editor and he is senior."
Lois was shocked, she had finally been able to remove that problem from the newsroom and here they were planning to make it even worse. "You cannot be serious. I beg of you …"
Mr. Edwards replied, "Lois, we are desperate to have you stay. If there was any way, any way at all we could make this work, we'd be doing it."
Lois stuttered, "There has to be a way … I … I am begging …"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Time was almost up. Clark was in the elevator, on his way upstairs to extricate Lois from her meeting. Fortunately a call had come in that gave him a good reason and he wouldn't have to invent a lie. He was grateful for that since he was such a terrible liar. That call from composing couldn't have been more opportune. During the ride up in the elevator he could hear Lois's heartbeat and it was beating a wild tattoo. Something was going on and he could tell that she was upset. Actually, upset was too mild a term, she was becoming frantic. It reminded him of when he had found her in the compartment on Prometheus confronting the bomb. As soon as the elevator doors were open he was in motion. He needed to rescue her once again.
Brenda tried to stop him, "Mr. Kent, they are in a meeting."
He brushed by her with an, "I know, but this can't wait."
Lois was continuing to plead with them when suddenly there was a knock on the door and then the door opened. Clark leaned in so that his head and shoulders were inside the room and said, "Lois …"
Mr. Edwards stopped him and snapped, "We're in a meeting."
Looking at him, Clark said, "Sorry to interrupt, but this is important."
Lois was reaching the end of her patience and forgetting for the moment that she had asked him to come get her out of the meeting, she turned on him and asked in a frazzled tone, "What?"
Clark, being loyal to Lois and trying to do what she asked, said, "Sam, from composing, is on the line. He says that the front page is on hold. He says he has to speak to you right away. I told him you were otherwise engaged, but he insisted, so …"
Lois had been looking at him, over her shoulder, this entire time with a worried expression. Suddenly what he said, registered and one word struck a responsive chord. Suddenly that single word became a lifeline and like a drowning person she reached for it in desperation. As the import of that word impinged on her consciousness with lightening like rapidity a plan began to form in her mind and as it did the pieces of her life which had just been shattered by this problem suddenly started to reassemble themselves and she looked at him with an expression that changed from near anger to almost hope as the plan took shape.
He was frozen in place, still half in and half outside of the office when he saw her expression change and curious as the source of the change asked, "What?"
Her facial expressions were changing with the rapidity of a strobe light. It became one of sly mystery, worry, joy and apprehension as she looked back and forth between Mr. Edwards and Clark. She was hoping that this germ of a plan would work. It would all depend on Clark. If he went along with it, everything would be fine. If he didn't her life would be ruined. She hoped that Clark would be willing to go along with it. It would be a sacrifice on his part, a big sacrifice.
The longer this silence went on the more apprehensive Clark became. Her heartbeat had suddenly changed, again. For a few seconds there it had calmed and then it sped up again, but the rate and rhythm had changed. He was mystified as to what it all meant.
The plan was almost fully formed as she played for time. She uttered, "Uh," and looking over her shoulder at Clark and catching his attention, mouthed, "Come here."
He looked at her questioningly and she repeated it, mouthing more emphatically, "Come here," and nodding her head at a spot next to her.
Finally, Clark took the hint and stepping completely inside the office allowed the door to close behind him. He stood there for several seconds, undecided.
As he hesitantly took a couple of paces into the room behind her, she addressed Mr. Edwards and Mr. Johnson, "Gentlemen, I understand. I understand the predicament that you are in. And, uh, and there's uh, " she stepped back so that she was standing next to Clark as she spoke, "and there is something that you should know." Gesturing with her hands, Lois indicated, herself and Clark, actually touching his tie which was a wild, multi-colored print as she said, "We're, uh, we're getting married."
Clark was stunned and when she touched his tie was distracted and looked down as she patted his stomach and repeated, "We are getting married."
Clark stuttered out, "Who … who is getting … married?"
Lois was smiling as she replied, "You and I."
Clark looked baffled as he repeated, "Who?"
With more confidence, Lois responded, "You and I. You and I are getting married."
Looking up, Clark was in shock and he repeated, "We are …"
Lois supplied, "Getting married."
Mr. Johnson asked, "Isn't he your secretary?"
"Assistant … assistant editor. Titles, but it wouldn't be the first time one of us fell for our assistant, right Jack?"
Mr. Edwards gave Mr. Johnson a look because that was what had happened with him.
Lois continued, "So, yeah, the truth is … Clark and I … we are just two people that just weren't meant to fall in love, but we did. It all started when we were teamed up as reporters. All of those late nights at the office, the all night stakeouts, evenings of takeout going over story notes."
Clark was dumbfounded, unable to move, shocked at this turn of events. Everything that Lois was saying was true. They had spent a lot of time together on stake outs and such so it was easy to believe that everything she was saying could be true. In some ways this was his dream coming true. He had fallen for Lois when she had stormed into Perry's office during his interview. He had hoped that someday, some way they would actually start to date and perhaps become a couple and then engaged then married and start a family. Now suddenly, here she was saying that they were getting married. It was too good to be true and all he could do was to go along for the ride.
Lois still appeared to be uncomfortable, but she did put her arm around his shoulder and started to babble, "You just can't … can't fight a love like ours. So, uh … uh … are … are we good with this? Are you happy, because we," she started motioning between herself and Clark with her hands, "because we are … happy. We are happy, so happy."
The entire time, Clark was standing there with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He was virtually in shock. He didn't know why this was happening or exactly what was happening, but he was happy that it was happening.
Mr. Edwards sat back in his chair with a pleased look on his face. He said, in a relieved tone, "I love it." Bringing up his left hand and pointing to his ring finger he said, "Just make it legal."
Lois looked confused for a second and then realized the allusion and lifting her own left hand pointed at her ring finger and said, "Oh, yeah, right," and nodded her agreement.
Clark was still totally confused; it was all happening too fast for him to keep up. He did love, Lois. He had since the day of his interview and he did harbor the hopes of a permanent relationship with her, but not this way. While he was mulling this over, Lois grabbed his arm and started to drag him out of the office.
As she did she said, "I guess we need to get down to the immigration office and get that little thing straightened out. Come on, Clark."
Mr. Edwards said, "Okay, since Claude is being transferred and this will be temporary, I think that Perry would be willing to return to the Editor's office until you get this all straightened out. I'll talk to him. Starting tomorrow and until this is straightened out, both of you will return to reporter status."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The only thing that works faster than a telegraph is the office grapevine. Apparently the receptionist had been listening in and she immediately sent an instant message to the staff announcing that Lois and Clark were getting married.
That message started popping up on terminals even before they exited the elevator.
As they passed by the various desks on the way to the office, Lois was focused on what had to be done, but Clark was looking around. The comments he received varied, but were mostly by way of incredulous disbelief. Most of the staff still remembered Claude's stories about Lois and her nickname of Ice Queen, especially since Claude had used it only about an hour ago. They had all seen how Lois had taken over the editor's office and diminished Clark's role. Most actually couldn't believe the story and assumed that somehow Lois had bulldozed Clark into it and they felt sorry for him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Exiting the elevator they made their way back to the editor's office. Once there, Lois called composing and settled the problem that had come up. Then she picked up a story submission and grabbing a blue pencil started to edit the copy. Seeing him standing in front of her desk, she became somewhat uncomfortable and asked, "What?"
Clark was still dazed from all that had been happening and was simply standing there, in front of her desk. He asked, "I don't understand what's happened. What just happened in there? Why are we getting married?"
"Relax, there's nothing to it."
"Do explain."
"They were going to make Claude the editor."
"And because of that we have to get married?"
Putting down her blue pencil and giving Clark her full attention, Lois said, "What's the problem? It isn't like you were saving yourself for someone special."
"I like to think that I was, besides, it's illegal."
She smirked and replied, "They're looking for terrorists, not newspaper editors."
"Lois."
"Yes?"
"I'm not going to marry you, at least not this way."
"Sure you are, because if you don't, your dream of touching millions of people with the written word would have disappeared like so much steam." Lois folded her hands over the copy she had been working on. "If I had been deported and they and promoted Claude, he would have fired you immediately because you were associated with me, guaranteed." His phone started to ring. "Don't worry, as soon as the proper amount of time has passed, we'll get a quickie divorce and no one will be the wiser. But until then, like it or not, your wagon … is hitched … to mine." She pointed at his desk and said, "Telephone," as she went back to editing the copy.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After lunch they appeared at the Immigration and Naturalization office together and when they entered they found a line practically all the way to the door. Lois despaired of being able to deliver her documents and returning to the office anytime soon, until she saw the individual at the front finish. She bustled to the front of the line and butted in, looking apologetically at the next person who looked to be of Asian descent.
The man at the counter looked at her with annoyance, but she pressed ahead and placing the folder on his desk, said, "Please, file this fiancée visa."
He opened the folder and saw the name. Saying, "Come with me," he picked up the folder and led them to an office. He left them there and returned to his counter.
They waited for a period of time. Lois was standing near the door and she had a printout of a submission that she was reading. While they were waiting, Clark muttered, "I have a bad feeling about this."
Finally there was a knock on the door. This was done, because Lois was standing in front of it, blocking it from opening. She moved aside and the gentleman came in. As he moved behind his desk he apologized, "Sorry about the wait." He shrugged, "Crazy day today," and sat down. "My name is Ramsbottom, Nelson Ramsbottom, I'm your immigration investigator." Mr. Ramsbottom was a feisty though smallish man that reminded Clark of a bantam rooster that they used to have on the farm. His quick movements and his posture were like that strutting rooster. The similarity was so pronounced that Clark almost laughed, but he did manage to contain himself, barely.
Lois tried to be ingratiating, "Of course, of course, we understand and I can't tell you how much we appreciate you seeing us on such short notice."
Picking up the folder he glanced at the contents. Laying it down before him, he placed his hands on it looked back and forth between them and then centering on Clark as he said, "So, you're getting married. I just have one question, are you committing fraud so that Lois will not be deported and she can keep her position as Editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet?"
Startled by this question, Clark sat forward in his chair and stammered, "Uhm, where … where did you hear that?"
Lois asked, somewhat defensively, "Why ever would you think that?"
"We had a phone tip this afternoon from a man named," he looked down at the papers
Lois asked, "Would it by any chance be, Claude Rochert?"
He looked up, nodded and confirmed, in a surprised tone, "Claude Rochert."
Lois continued and said, "Claude, poor Claude. I'm … I'm so sorry, Claude is nothing, but a … a disgruntled former employee that is trying to strike back at me with these obviously unfounded claims and I apologize. We know that you are incredibly busy with a roomful of gardeners and delivery boys to attend to. If you just give us our next step we'll be out of your hair and on our way."
Clark was more than a little bit disappointed in Lois's attitude and was feeling quite uncomfortable.
Mr. Ramsbottom indicated the chair next to Clark and said, "Ms. Lane, please," inviting her to sit in the chair next to Clark.
As she sat, he said, "Uh, let me explain the process that is about to unfold. Step one will be a scheduled interview. I'll put you each in a room and I will ask you every little question that two people in love would know about each other. In step two I dig deeper. I look at your phone records, talk to your neighbors. I interview your coworkers. If your answers don't match up at every point," he pointed at Lois and said, "You will be deported indefinitely," he pointed at Clark and said, "and you, young man, will have committed a felony punishable by a two-hundred and fifty thousand dollar fine and five years in
federal … prison."
As Mr. Ramsbottom was finishing speaking, Clark was distracted by seeing a woman being hauled away by a couple of armed guards.
"Oh, you see, well, Clark, what do you have to say for yourself? Talk to me."
Clark was in a quandary. This had the potential of being illegal, but since his dearest wish was that he could actually be married to Lois, this was actually going to be legitimate. As he weighed the pros and cons of the issue he first nodded then shook his head. Finally he decided that perhaps, just perhaps he could use this situation to right a wrong.
When he nodded his head, Mr. Ramsbottom said, "Yes," but when he shook it he said, "No," but then he nodded again.
Clark finally said, "Well, you see, it's this way. Mr. Ramsbottom, Lois and I are just two people … that shouldn't have fallen in love, but we did. We kept it secret, because we felt that it would be deeply inappropriate to announce that I was being made an editor with equal, shared authority, over the newsroom if it were known that we were involved. I've loved Lois from the moment I saw her. It just took her a little longer to realize that she loved me as well."
"Oh, that's the way it is, huh?" He turned to Lois and asked, "Have you told your parents about this, that you're getting married?"
Lois's answer was quick, "No, not yet, you see my parents are divorced. My Dad is out in Edmonton. The last I heard my Mom was in a rehab program. My little sister is away at university."
Turning to Clark he asked the same question, "Have you told your parents yet?"
Lois surprised Clark when she answered for him. He had had no idea that she had even been listening to him when they had talked about the weekend earlier, but obviously she had heard and remembered every word he had said. "We were going to tell them this weekend. It's their anniversary. We thought it would be a nice surprise."
Since Lois had been talking, Mr. Ramsbottom directed his follow-up question to her, "Oh, so you're flying out there this weekend? Where is that?"
Lois, realizing that she may have overplayed her hand, shifted the ball to Clark's court, "Why am I doing all the talking, it's your parent's house. Clark, jump in there."
Clark nodded and said, "Smallville."
Mr. Ramsbottom smirked and said in disbelief, "Smallville? You've got to be making that up."
"No, Smallville was named after Jeremiah Small the first settler in the area."
Still skeptical, Mr. Ramsbottom asked, "What area is that?"
Clark's answer was simple and straightforward, "Lowell County, Kansas."
"So … you're from Smallville, Kansas?"
"Yes, Smallville, Kansas, home of the Corn Festival. That is also happening this weekend. All of my friends and former schoolmates will be there. I've been looking forward to seeing them." As an afterthought, he added, "And introducing them to my fiancée."
"Okay, fine. I see how this is going to go." He started writing on a post it note. "I'll see you both at 11:00 o'clock Monday morning for your scheduled interview. I must say I'm looking forward to this one." He pulled the post-it off and handed it to Clark who accepted it and ushered Lois from the office.
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Clark commented, "So that was Tempus's ploy, to have her deported so that they wouldn't get together."
"Yes, my boy, however, it didn't happen as quickly as Tempus had planned and when it did come he had not counted on Lois's resourcefulness."
Lois interrupted Herb again, "Why did Clark go along with it? He's mister law and order! I can't believe that he would do something like that."
Herb replied, "As Clark explained it to me, he hoped that it wouldn't come to that. He was already in love with Lois, had been from the first minute. He hoped that by going through with the marriage that she would actually see him for who he is and fall in love with him and then it wouldn't be a ‘fake' marriage. He already wanted to have a life with her, he was hoping that perhaps, subconsciously, she had come up with this idea and had chosen him because there were some feelings there on her part for him."
Clark said, "Seems awfully risky to me."
"I'll tell you a little secret. They weren't saying these things to each other, but Lois had been attracted to him from the start. Right from that first minute in Perry's office, but she wasn't admitting it, even to herself. She had lived through the divorce of her parents and was afraid of making that kind of commitment and having the same thing happen to her. She was protecting herself. As it turned out, that was why she chose him. Yes, it was desperation and yes, it was spur of the moment, but if it hadn't been him and her subconscious desire to be with him she might not have acted on her impulse. Also, by thinking of it as a fake marriage, when it ended in divorce, as she was convinced it would, then there would be no problem because it hadn't been a real marriage in the first place."
comments go here TBC
