Jimmy slid the typed list onto the desk in front of his boss. “Okay, Chief, here’s the schedule of performers for this year’s talent show. We open with—”
“I can read, Jimmy.”
“Just making allowances for your – ah, level of maturity.”
“Don’t try to be funny, Olsen. That’s reserved for Clark and Lois. And they’re professionals.”
“Hey, even Johnny Carson had a warm-up guy to get the audience smiling.”
“And you think you’re it?”
“Me? No way. I’m doing a stage magic act with Deidra from Human Resources as my lovely assistant. But no hypnotism, I promise.”
“Good to know. Let’s see here – you’ve got Cat Grant singing four songs right before the first intermission. You sure that’s the best place to put her?”
“She’s doing Shania Twain’s ‘Feel Like a Woman’ to start her set and she’s closing with ‘My Heart Will Go On.’ There’s a duet with Lois, too, but we didn’t get to hear it.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
”Clark and I went to her place last night to listen to her rehearse. She asked us to give her an unbiased evaluation, and we told her that she’s very good.”
“Then she won’t embarrass us?”
“Perry, she could do those numbers in any club in the city and knock the audience out cold. I just hope we don’t hold her back.”
“Sounds great. I’m the Master of Ceremonies again this year?”
“That’s what you ordered – I mean requested. Look, Chief, this year we’re going to pull in a lot of money for the Police and Firefighters’ dependents fund. I guarantee you we’ll pack the house.”
“I sure hope so. Eduardo’s doing that solo standup routine, isn’t he?”
“He didn’t want to compete with Lois and Clark directly, so he’s the second act in the first set.”
“What’s on after him?”
“Eduardo’s on second.”
“No, I mean what’s on – now cut that out!”
“Sorry, Perry, but I don’t get to yank your chain very often.”
“Well, now that you have, consider that your annual allotment of chain-yanking. Hmm – Myerson, Penny Davis, the Leeson twins from accounting – Lane and Kent are closing the show, right?”
“Yep. They even promised not to make fun of Ralph’s dancing.”
“Ralph – is dancing?”
“Right there after the first intermission. He’s got this Gene Kelly kind of thing he does, and he’s surprisingly good at it. I think you’ll be pleased.”
“But that’s all he’s doing, right? Just dancing?”
“He wanted to do some jokes during his numbers. I wasn’t getting anywhere trying to convince him not to try it, so Clark backed him up against the wall and stared at him until he swore up and down that he wouldn’t say a word to a single or married person either on stage or in the audience that night. I seriously doubt he’ll open his mouth for anything other than breathing.”
“Good. mumble grumble management grumble nephews mumble—”
“Do what, Chief?”
“Uh – nothing, nothing at all. This looks good, Olsen. Make sure the print room runs off some extra copies of the program. I want every performer to have at least one to take home and put in a scrapbook.”
“Will do. I also got the autograph book with pictures of everybody.”
“Already? That was fast.”
“Well, I already had a lot of the candid shots of the performers, but I also got at least one posed shot of each one in there too. My favorite one is Clark and Lois. It’s a waist-up shot of them in business wear, standing almost back to back with their arms crossed, looking over their shoulders at the camera and smiling like they know something no one else does.”
“Ha! That’s probably true, too.”
“I’m sure it is. Anything else you want me to do on this?”
“No, just keep going like you have been. You seem to be having a lot of fun with it.”
“Oh, I am, Perry! This is the most fun I’ve had on any assignment since we reopened.”
“Me too, but don’t let that get around, okay? Oh, I almost forgot to ask you about security.”
“Chief, the police commissioner, the city fire marshal, the chief of police, the mayor, four state senators, two state representatives, and your wife will be in the audience! Two SWAT teams will be on call all night and Bill Henderson has his plainclothes people set to wander around looking for any potential problems. I think the security aspect will be fully covered.”
“Sounds like you have it under control. Good job, Jimmy. Make sure Eduardo has some of those photos for his story. We’re running it in the Sunday supplement.”
“Will do, Chief. Anything else? Cat’s got me running down some research on nursing homes for a possible story.”
“Then you’d best get going, son.”
Jimmy nodded at his boss and turned to find Cat Grant. He needed to know if she wanted to refine the search terms for her story or keep them broad. Eduardo was digging for some dirt on a councilman who might or might not be selling building inspections. And Lois wanted him to track down some potential Superman sightings in the Pacific Northwest, a task that promised to take considerable time.
But he didn’t care. The Planet had its heart back. The work was still hard, the hours were often long and always unpredictable, the assignments were always variable and sudden, the schedule often conflicted with his real life, and he still had competing priorities when finding time to make all the reporters happy with his research.
But it was fun. Clark and Lois were back, Cat was still there, Lois and Cat had made peace with each other and seemed like friends, and when Cat flirted with Clark, Lois made it clear to her where the lines were – but then the two women would go to lunch together and come back giggling like schoolgirls. Lois’s friend Kim occasionally joined them, and Clark always smiled knowingly when he saw the three of them together.
He laughed to himself. Cat was still the only woman Lois would allow to play-flirt with Clark. Anyone else had to deal with both women, and at on one memorable occasion, Cat had held Lois back from actually attacking a woman who was making borderline obscene comments about her husband. That woman had decided to avoid Clark, apparently for the rest of her career, for the purpose of living to retirement age.
And boy, did that relationship take some getting used to. He’d been afraid that they’d end the marriage after the assignment was over, but judging by the way they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, that wasn’t happening any time soon – if ever. He’d been sworn to secrecy over Cat and Lois’ actual duet closer, but he knew that Lois planned to surprise Clark with a Whitney Houston-style rendition of “I Will Always Love You.” She hoped it would bring tears to his eyes to match the ones she’d shed every time she’d tried to rehearse it.
Jimmy had actually updated his résumé, but he hadn’t sent it out to anyone. He couldn’t imagine leaving the paper now. It was his home, his refuge, the place he belonged, and no one was going to pry this turtle out of his shell. There was no more talk overheard about anyone looking for a new position with another organization. Eduardo smiled all the time as he filed story after story. Myerson argued about college football with Clark or anyone else who’d give him ten seconds, then go out and bring back a scoop on some international relations thing that always made Lois frown for a moment, then smile. Perry growled good-naturedly at everyone and about everything, then went home to Alice and actually relaxed.
The Daily Planet was a happy family again. And everyone there was happy to belong to that family.
# the end #
