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Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found Here

Where we left off in Part 104 …

Lois’s interview with Superman the night before had been most informative, and had also sparked a hunch, which needed checking out. Check-out was at eleven at the Lexor during the weekdays, and, thankfully, this coincided with Lois’s lunch recess from court.

She arrived at the floor with the honeymoon suite and found the nice Swedish housekeeper (the one who had barged in on her and Clark making out on the bed, and caused them to inadvertently get back together) straightening up the room.

Lois waited until the woman had disappeared into the bathroom. The reporter then bolted to the bedroom and lifted up the receiver of the telephone, next to the bed. She unscrewed it and looked for the listening device that Superman had shown to her in the sketch.

Bingo!

She now knew how Lex had known about her and Clark. No wonder ‘management’ had given her and Clark an extra complimentary night in the suite after the bombing. Lex hadn’t believed her when she had said that there was nothing going on between her and Clark. She would make sure that she and Clark didn’t share any more romantic telephone calls until Lex was securely behind bars. If she laid her groundwork properly tonight, it was very probable that the Voyeur would be back in action before too long. It wouldn’t be as if he would be seeing anything he hadn’t seen before, but still… Lois shivered in disgust. She would have to convince Clark not to come to her apartment or he would know that the Voyeur was back.

Lois glanced around the hotel bedroom quickly, searching for the telltale signs of a hidden camera. It didn’t take her long to find it, now that she knew what she was looking for. On top of the mirror of the dresser, across from the bridal bed, there was a little round hole in the wood. She lifted up the phone and checked under there, opened the drawer on the table next to the bed, and then dropped down to the floor and pretended to look under the bed as if she were searching for something. After she got to her feet, she stepped up closer to the mirror, examining the spot she had seen just to be sure. In case someone watched this portion of the video and saw Lois, she quickly checked her hair and then left the room.

***

Part 105

Lex walked Lois to the elevator, which she would take down to the parking garage and her car. He took her hand in his and kissed it. “I enjoyed tonight,” he said. Well, he had found it most informative at least.

She slowly pulled her hand from his and smiled weakly. “As did I. I apologize I wasn’t able to regale you with any interesting stories from the trenches,” she said, and he could hear the strain in her voice. “We’re all preoccupied with Nightfall and its aftermath this week. I’m sure by next week, everything will be back to normal again.” She took a breath. “I hope.”

“Does this mean I can entice you, again, from your latest investigation to share an evening off with me?” Lex said, keeping his tone teasing and light, even though he realized he hung on her answer. It wasn’t a feeling he liked, this lack of control Lois Lane caused in him.

“No investigations at the moment, Lex. I told you, it’s impossible to investigate anything when I’m locked in a courtroom covering a murder trial for days on end,” Lois replied, and then shook her head. “I feel bad for Eugene Laderman though. He just doesn’t seem like the murdering type.”

“Oh?” Lex said, although bored with this topic already.

“Didn’t Henry Harrison work for you at LexComp, only to be fired less than a month of being eligible to retire with a full pension?” she asked.

“Did he?” Lex pled innocently. “I can check. I employ many people worldwide, Lois. Hundreds of employees were forced out when we downsized LexComp during the recession. I know we did our best to relocate them. Oh, I recall now. Henry wanted to be his own boss. When I hired him, he was an ambitious and talented man, an original thinker, ahead of his time.” He sighed. “Still, it’s a shame about his murder. I can have the head of LexComp Personnel pull his file, and get back to you.”

Lois smiled, brightening up the alcove with this rare gift. “I’d like that. Thank you, Lex,” she said as the elevator arrived. “It’s nice to have dinner and talk with someone without ulterior motives, and I’m sorry I talked your ear off about my personal problems with Clark.” She shook her head. “I thought it would be different with him. We seemed to hit it off so well as partners; I’m only glad I realized he had no special attraction for me while he had amnesia. It was better to have learned the truth before my heart was involved.” She raised her hand to set it on Lex’s chest, but then thought twice about it to his disappointment. “I promise I won’t mention him more than in passing from now on.”

“Are you still partners?” he asked the question, which had been burning the tip of his tongue all evening.

“Yes, but we decided that it was best that we keep our partnership strictly business from now on and be nothing more than friends,” Lois said. “I want to focus on work from now on, not romance. Good night, Lex.” She stepped into the elevator. “Thank you for dinner.”

“Good night, Lois,” he replied. The doors started to close, and he realized she still hadn’t answered his latest invitation. He pushed the doors open and leaned against them to hold them open. “I should walk you to your car,” he said.

“Don’t tell me I need protection in your underground garage,” she said with laughter.

“Of course not!” he exclaimed, stepping into this elevator he rarely used himself. Lex had a private elevator which went directly to his own private garage. “I wanted to reassure you that not all men sleep around. I, myself, have never been attracted to the likes of Catherine Grant.”

Her gaze became startled, as if she couldn’t imagine any man turning down such a strumpet, and then moved away to hide her thoughts. “Why are you telling me this, Lex?” she finally inquired.

“I wanted you to know that with me, you’d always be safe,” Lex said as the doors opened on the guest parking garage.

Kent must have only been the latest in a line of men who had hurt her, because no matter how hard she tried to mask the disbelief in her eyes, it was still there. “Thank you, Lex. I appreciate that.”

“I hope this means we can make this dinner, between friends, a weekly occurrence,” he said, both holding open the door and blocking her exit at the same time. When she didn’t again immediately accept, he went on, dropping his arm, “I’ll contact you with my availability for the next dinner.”

“My schedule with stories and investigations is so hap-hazard, Lex, I’d hate to make plans with you, only to break them,” she said, heading for her car. “I look forward to hearing from you.” She opened her car door and waved back at him, still standing in the elevator.

Lex knew that he would do everything in his power to possess her, to make her his, but most of all, to make her love him as much as he loved her… Superman be damned.

***

Lois took another glance at Cat as she followed her into the conference room for Friday’s morning meeting. Cat’s hair was tied up in a French twist, and she wore a high-necked beige business suit. Beige? Lois hadn’t thought Cat even owned a pair of shoes in such a drab color. “Are you feeling okay?” she asked the gossip columnist.

“Fine. Why?” Cat replied, picking a banana from a bowl of fruit and sitting down at the table to eat it in the most erotic manner possible. That was when Lois noticed Cat was wearing glasses. Was she going undercover, or trying to blow Clark’s sky high?

“You’re wearing an entire dress. I thought you might be sick,” Lois quipped, ignoring the banana, as she herself sat down.

“Hardy – har – har,” Cat snapped.

“Did somebody kick the bucket?” Perry guessed.

“No. Can’t a girl get dressed up every once and while?” Cat said innocently, which meant there was a definitely a reason behind the disguise.

“Meeting your folks for lunch?” Lois tried again. It was too much of a change in Cat’s behavior to go without knowing an answer, and Lois already knew Cat dressed differently around her family.

“I think you look very nice,” Clark said.

Lois snapped her head at the sound of his voice. She hadn’t expected him to be in the office until Monday, and was actually surprised that she hadn’t noticed him in the room. He had been standing by the windows behind Perry when she had entered and moved to sit down now, but thankfully the only available seat left was at the other end of the table next to Perry.

Then, again, perhaps it wasn’t too surprising. Lois’s mind had been focused on her interview she had scheduled with Professor Daitch during the recess from Laderman’s trial, wondering if she would have time to get to EPRAD and back in time during her two hour window. She stiffened her back, annoyed at herself and at Clark for not informing her of his quick return.

“Thank you, Clark,” Cat purred, causing him to smile. Clark did like to make people happy.

“Kind of like a librarian fantasy I had once,” Jimmy admitted with a satisfied sigh.

Cat grinned, always glad to be someone’s fantasy, and nudged him.

“Spill it. Who is he?” Lois said. “You don’t do anything this drastic unless there’s a man involved.”

“If you must know, I’m on the charitable committee hosting the ‘Magic of the Night Ball’ with…” she paused.

Lois didn’t know if it was for dramatic effect or out of embarrassment. She guessed the former.

“Arthur Chow,” Cat finished.

That name seemed familiar, but Lois couldn’t place it.

“Isn’t he the second richest man in the world?” Jimmy interjected. “He has even more money that Lex Luthor.”

Ah, that was the context where Lois had heard the name.

“Arthur Chow? Isn’t he a little bit conservative for you?” Clark asked, sounding concerned.

Lois turned to gaze at her partner. Did Clark think every wealthy man out there was up to no good? True, he had been spot on with Lex, but still…

“Do you even have anything in common with him?” Clark went on.

“Um…” Cat thought for a moment, and then shrugged her shoulders. “We have a lot in common.”

In other words, Cat meant he is a man and she’s a woman, and they both liked her body.

“You mean those little green pieces of paper with dead presidents on them that he carries around in his pockets,” Lois insinuated, because she couldn’t resist a remark with that big of an opening. It was strange, though. Lois had always thought of Cat as a party girl, not a gold digger; it didn’t seem her style.

“Well, I figured if it was a lifestyle choice good enough for you…” Cat said, leaving the end of that thought hanging as she shot Lois a glare.

Was that what this was? Did Cat think that Lois was lying about her association with Lex, and trying to out her, subtly, in front of Clark? Unfortunately, Cat was about as subtle as a freeway pileup. Cat thought she was being a good friend to Clark, by letting him know what Lois was up to behind his back. Of course, that would mean that Clark had let Cat know he would be back in the office today, but not her.

Clark turned to look at Lois with alarm. She shrugged to imply she had no idea to what Cat was referring, and thankfully Clark seemed to buy it. When Clark refocused on Cat, Lois scowled at her. The last thing that Lois needed was Clark to become paranoid about her having one dinner with Lex.

“Now wait a minute. You mean to tell me that you’re going to bamboozle this guy into thinking you’re a straight arrow?” Perry inquired.

“That’s my plan,” Cat replied.

“Heaven help him,” Perry said with a laugh.

Clark still appeared concerned though.

“The ‘Magic of the Night Ball’ is next Friday night, and I’m hoping you’re all planning to attend,” Cat said, pointing what was left of her banana at everyone at the table, and stopping with an sharp gaze at Clark. “It’s for charity,” she said with extra emphasis.

Lois glanced over her shoulder and back at Clark. She knew that Clark hated fundraising in the guise of social events for the rich, when the money used on the party could go directly to the cause instead. Was that what that remark was about, or did her partner hate magic as much as she did? She saw Clark reluctantly nod in agreement while not quite inwardly groaning. Maybe they could go together, laugh at the clowns, and then bow out early… except for the fact that they couldn’t.

Clark glanced over at Lois and caught her staring. Instead of shifting her gaze away, she smiled at him in a reassuring manner. His brow furrowed in puzzlement as if he couldn’t understand why she had smiled at him. Could he really not know, or was he that much better of an actor than she had given him credit for? No, it must be the former. On the other hand, maybe he was merely surprised after she had insisted to Jonathan that he berate Clark for leaving town without informing her. Yes, that must be it.

“Any leads on those kidnappings?” Perry asked Clark.

Her partner shook his head. “Seven wealthy children have been taken in the last three months,” Clark said. “All of them were returned safely after huge ransoms were paid, but none of the kids remember anything about what happened to them. We tried to interview the parents, but we’re talking very high profile here: CEOs, rock stars, politicians, and nobody wants the publicity because their children are involved.”

“I can certainly understand that, but how many more times can we say that there’s no new information,” Perry grumbled, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Did another child get kidnapped?” Lois asked. Was that why Clark returned early from Smallville?

“I hope not,” Clark replied.

“Me, too. My docket is full with the Eugene Laderman trial. So, you’ll have to cover any new kidnappings on your own, Clark,” Lois said.

“And I would hate for another child to be abducted,” he said gently.

She heard Cat tittering across the table from her. “Well, of course, I meant that too,” Lois said.

“Sure you did,” Jimmy mumbled.

“Probably for the best that you two work on separate stories for the time being,” Perry said. “Our budget is being slashed again, people. Our subscriber base just wasn’t there in February.”

“Again,” Lois groaned. “We just scooped the world on the return of Superman! You’d think that would be enough for those yahoos but, no, they’re all running off to hear the parrots at LNN quote us!”

Perry cleared his throat. “Lois, those ‘yahoos’ are our readers; let’s not insult them, shall we?”

She flipped up her hand in annoyance. She had meant the Daily Planet’s Board of Directors, but it didn’t really matter.

“And the only yahoos out there, are the ones leaving the Daily Planet for the Metropolis Star,” Perry went on.

Lois stood corrected; their readers were yahoos... well, at least the ones they lost to the Metropolis Star. “If we need a naked woman for page 6, I’m sure Cat would comply,” she said.

Jimmy squeaked. “I can photograph that!” he volunteered, prior to clearing his throat.

“Not anymore,” Cat said, pushing her fake glasses up her nose. “I’ve given up premarital sex.”

Every head at the table swiveled to look at Cat.

“Having seen Arthur Chow, I can see why,” Lois mumbled to herself. She glanced over at Clark and his jaw was actually hanging open as he stared at Cat with the most perplexed expression on his face.

“Oh, come on, people. The end of the world was so last week,” Cat said with a big smile.

“Okay, okay. Settle down, everybody. Friaz, have there been any more reports of meteorites crashing to Earth?” Perry asked.

Clark shook his head. “Superman pushes the Nightfall Minor out of orbit, and yet all anyone can talk about are the little meteorites, which he didn’t zap away after crashing into Nightfall Major. There’s no winning for that guy.”

Lois saw Perry glance at Clark for a moment before returning his gaze to Eduardo, but Clark’s grumbling was basically ignored. Good thing.

“S.T.A.R. Labs got one in yesterday. Sorry, not crashes, but an actual rock. I have an appointment to examine it later today,” Eduardo responded. “I understand it’s the size of a small watermelon.”

“Take Olsen,” Perry said, and Jimmy sat more erect at being given this assignment. “We need something for the front page. Any more information on the rumors that the gas explosion in the vicinity of LexTower on Monday evening actually damaged buildings?”

Lois perked up. She had asked Lex about this specifically. “I spoke to a source at LexTower, who informed me that the explosion had damaged one of their lower parking levels,” she said, having seen the yellow caution tape and the remnants of the rubble when she had parked the night before. “But that LexTower didn’t have any major structural damage, only cosmetic.”

“Thanks, Lois, but the next time I need help on one of my stories, I’ll let you know,” grumbled Wally.

“You’re welcome, Wally. The next time I can find out more information on one of your stories by talking to one person as opposed to five, I’ll keep the information to myself,” she retorted.

“I don’t need you taking over my investigation,” Wally said.

“I’m not taking over your little story, Wally. It just happened to come up in casual conversation with one of my sources,” Lois returned. “I was just trying to help.”

“We’re a team, people!” Perry reminded them with a slap to the table. “Any breaks in the Laderman trial, Lois?”

She started describing how the prosecution was railroading poor Eugene into the ground. If she had known how long and boring this case would be, she would have thought twice about agreeing to cover it as a favor for Jimmy’s cousin, Jimbo. Eugene was one of his instructors at Metropolis University of Technology. As she finished, Lois shifted her gaze momentarily from Perry to Clark, but he was still staring at Cat with worry. She shook her head, surprised he had actually bought Cat’s joke.

***

Lois tossed down her pencil with the broken lead, and opened her desk drawer to pull out a fresh pencil from the box she was sure she had put in there just a few days earlier, but it was gone. Terrific. She was either losing her mind, or someone was stealing her pencils. They better not touch her stash of Double Fudge Crunch Bars. She slid back her chair and walked to the supply room to get another box.

She opened the door, crossed to the shelf, removed a new box of pre-sharpened pencils, and then turned to return to her desk only to find her way blocked by Clark. She hadn’t heard him enter or shut the door. Damn his built-in stealth technology. On the plus side, she was never so glad to have him on her side.

“Hi,” Clark breathed.

“Hi. I didn’t expect you back so soon,” she said.

Lois wondered if Cat had mentioned to him about Lois’s dinner ‘date’ with Lex the night before. Clark had run off after the meeting before they could catch up. Actually, this was the officially first time they had a chance to talk, as Lois and Clark, since their faux-break-up on Monday.

“I just got back.”

She nodded. “Anything interesting from your source?” she asked.

“Dead end,” he said with a shrug.

Lois bet he got a Superman story though.

“I ran into Superman,” Clark went on. “He said he had just stopped an armored car heist.”

Lookie there, I owe myself five bucks. She felt more the fool for never having noticed this pattern previously. “How’s he doing?” she asked, more out of habit than for any other reason.

Clark stepped closer and hesitantly ran his hand over her hair. “He wants to know why we broke up, and he’s hoping…” His voice shook slightly. “It wasn’t because you thought… that you and he…” He cleared his throat, shifted his feet uncomfortably, and glanced away.

Lois raised an eyebrow. “I hope you clarified matters with him.”

“In what way?” he asked.

“By punching him for making such a lameass suggestion,” she snapped, trying to move around him. She wished she couldn’t believe that Clark thought they had “broken-up” so she could start dating Superman again, but it was just Clark being paranoid Clark again.

“Uh… Lois?” Clark said, resting his hand on her arm to stop her. “You know I can’t punch Superman, don’t you?”

“This time he deserves it,” she reminded him. At his blank expression, she went on, “He kissed me, Clark, and then had the nerve to ask you if I’m available after we ‘broke-up’? Sounds to me as if he feels guilty for kissing your… me, and he wants you to hit him to even the score.”

His brow furrowed. “Do you want me to hit him?”

Yes!

“No,” she grumbled, although she’d pay that five dollars she had just won from herself to witness such a fight. “I want you to be mad, Clark. I don’t want you to forgive him for this, or me, the instant it happened. I want you to accept that neither of us is perfect. And…” She pushed Clark in the shoulder, and lowered her voice, intensifying her tone, “I want you to remember that this break-up is only temporary until we find out who abducted you…” Another nudge. “That it’s just a ruse in case you’re being watched…” Another jab, harder this time. “As if we’re undercover as two people who don’t mean anything more to each other than just partn…”

She couldn’t finish her thought as Clark’s lips descended onto hers. Easily, she melted into Clark’s chest, her arms wrapping around his neck as her box of pencils slipped out of her fingers. The sound of the box hitting the floor brought her back to reality much more quickly than either of them expected, or wanted, and she stepped away from the kiss, but not from his arms.

“I should punch you, though,” Lois said, tapping his chest lightly. “We’re supposed to be mere co-workers; not people who meet on the sly in the supply closet.”

“I don’t know,” Clark replied with a smile brightening his whole face. “I’m happy with this development. I’m so glad to know that you didn’t mean it.”

“Didn’t mean what, Clark?” she asked.

“What you said Monday night,” he said, as if it were quite obvious to him.

“I meant every word I said. Which one were you confused about?” Lois said tersely, stepping out of his embrace. “Was it when I said…” She lowered her voice, “That I love you? Or that I need you to trust me? Or that I need time to deal with the overwhelming feelings of remorse I’m having because I had cheated on you?”

He reached for her but she took another step back, and he lowered his hand. “I wish you didn’t feel like it was cheating…”

“Oh, so now I’m allowed to kiss other men? I’ll keep that in mind, Chuck,” she said sourly. “Or is it that because you don’t consider ‘kissing’ as a form of cheating?” She shot him a suspicious glare.

“No! Of course I do, Lois, but he’s…” Clark glanced around, and clearly decided this wasn’t the place to talk candidly.

“He’s different?” Lois rolled her eyes. “I wish you’d get it through your thick skull that to me he isn’t some hero you worship in this scenario; he’s my ex. Kissing him should be on par as kissing any other guy, maybe even worse, because out of all the people in the world, he’s the only one who could steal me away from you, if he wanted to, which he doesn’t. I know that you think he can do no wrong, but I don’t see him in that way. I wish you could see this from my point of view, about how awful I feel about this.” She turned her back to Clark, unable to face him any longer.

Clark set his hands on her shoulders. “I forgive you, because I love you and don’t want to see you in pain, Lois.”

Bull hockey! Lois doubted the validity of that statement. If she had kissed any other guy, whom he didn’t happen to be impersonating, Clark would have been crushed, hurt, and mad. The only reason he forgave her was the plain and simple reason that he was Superman and, therefore, didn’t see the kiss as cheating.

“Do you wish the kiss never happened?” he asked softly.

Did she? Yes and no. She wished she hadn’t kissed Superman out of revenge for what she had assumed Clark had done to her. She wished she hadn’t jumped to conclusions about Cat and Clark or believed Clark had cheated on her just because Cat was willing. Part of her guilt stemmed from that assumption. On the other hand, Lois also wouldn’t take back what she learned from that kiss. She didn’t want to go back to being in the dark about Clark’s – or was it Superman’s? – alter-ego. She merely wanted to have that knowledge without having cheated on Clark to get it.

“Yes, and no,” Lois admitted. “Yes, I wish I hadn’t kissed another man and betrayed your trust, but…” She took a deep breath. “I’m glad I realized that by kissing him that there isn’t any other man I could ever want, but you. I’m glad for that knowledge; I just wish I could have obtained it another way.”

Clark slipped his arms around her, so that he was hugging her from behind. “There isn’t anyone else I would ever want either,” he whispered, kissing her cheek and down her neck. “And I do trust you. Let’s get out of here, so I can tell you how much.”

“So, you don’t think anyone is following you, or targeting you specifically?” she asked. “Superman does; otherwise, he wouldn’t be coming by my apartment checking for cameras, nor would he have removed Cat from your apartment when that guy attacked you, and had you lie about it to the MPD. She told me all about it when I confronted her about what she was doing at your apartment.”

“No, you’re right. I’m still a target,” Clark groaned. “It was my idea, not Superman’s, to keep Cat out of the MPD’s investigation, and for the ten-millionth time, nothing happened between us.” He rubbed his forehead. “Okay, let’s have dinner tonight…”

“Clark, we took a big chance Monday night when you came to my apartment for dinner,” Lois said, stating the obvious. She had rightly hoped that Lex’s minions hadn’t had a chance to reorganize after the death of Joe Rory to put a new tail on her or Clark by Monday night. “What’s the point of pretending we’re not dating at work, only to meet up afterwards for a dinner date? Whoever’s after you isn’t going to clock out at five p.m. We’re going to have to be strictly business partners until Superman or Inspector Henderson gives us the all clear. No sneaking over to each other’s apartments for late night dates, no holding hands at lunch, no sitting next to each other at every meeting, and more working on assignments apart.”

“So, it’s like we actually did break up,” Clark said, his face falling.

Lois turned to look him in the eye. It was time for Clark to make a decision or, at least, think he was making the decision. “Do you want to go out into the newsroom and announce to everyone that we’re an item?” she asked. “If that’s what you want, I’m all for it. I love you, and I don’t want to hide that anymore. I really think it would be better to wait until after we’re over this little bump of my cheating on you with you-know-who, but it’ll feel so good to face the rumors head on for a change, instead of ignoring and ducking from them. Especially if I can tell everyone to go screw themselves, including whoever it is who keeps trying to kill you. Let’s tell Perry to announce it on the front page, so that this guy knows that if he wants to get to you, he’ll have to go through me!”

He smiled as he gazed at her with love. Lois knew Clark would like the idea of this announcement, but she also knew those wheels in his head would turn through the scenarios, and come up with one conclusion. His smile faded.

“I can’t chance it, Lois; I can’t,” Clark said, shaking his head. “If I lost you…” He set his hand on the back of her head and rested his forehead against hers. “No. If a little separation is what I have to endure to keep you safe until we figure this out, then so be it. I can’t chance someone hurting you to get to me.”

There was the lunkhead she knew and loved.

“But, Clark,” she added with a slight pout, dancing her fingers down his chest. “I’m looking forward to working on your intimacy issues. We made so much progress while you had amnesia and couldn’t remember your ex.” She pressed her mouth to his, running her tongue over his lips until he opened them most willingly. Her hands ran down his back, curving around his butt, and giving him a slight squeeze, causing him to jolt upright. “Once I’m ready to move forward with our relationship, that is.”

“Lo-is!” Clark groaned, stepping away. He stared at her for a moment, and she could see a thousand thoughts flash through his mind. “You’re right,” he said with a nod. “We can wait to discuss my intimacy issues until after we find out who abducted me.”

Lois bent over to pick up the box of pencils she had dropped. “Next time you go out of town for a few days, tell me!” she insisted, shaking her box of pencils in his face. “And stop stealing my pencils!”

She reached to throw open the door and march out of the supply room, when she felt his hand on her arm, spinning her around to face him. “No,” he replied, lowering his lips to hers once more.

Lois melted, putty in his hands. For some reason, Clark standing up to her was sexy as all get out. She tried to convince him to let her return to her desk, but her lips refused to form the words. “I have… I need…”

Clark deepened the kiss, running his tongue over her teeth, and she knew exactly what she needed and it had nothing to do with her desk.

As suddenly as his lips had claimed hers, they disappeared, and Clark opened the supply room door. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the courthouse to cover the Laderman trial?” he asked with a cocky grin, turning towards the stairwell instead of his desk.

Who?

Lois shook her head. Right. Eugene Laderman trial. She blinked her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair, hoping to God that she didn’t look thoroughly kissed.

Why had she come into the supply room again?

The kiss.

Yes, she had definitely needed that. No, wait, pencils; she had come into the supply room for pencils.

At least, Clark had the forethought not to enter the newsroom either directly before or after her, Lois thought as she grabbed her box of pencils and headed for her desk. She paused at her desk as she opened the drawer to throw them inside. Clark hadn’t headed for the stairway to keep the rumor mill at bay; Superman had been paged.

A small smile crept to the corner of her mouth, as she picked up the shoulder strap of her briefcase and hooked it over her arm.

Lois had just kissed Superman.

She grinned.

She was dating Superman.

About time!

***End of Part 105***

Part 106

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