Perry's replacement, Chip Peterson, turned out to be a humorless jerk with a vindictive streak.
So, he’s a business manager with a lawyer background?
Five minutes later she was removed from investigating Excelsior International and assigned to cover the upcoming school board elections.
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/a015.gif)
LEX: CHIIIIP!
CHIP: But, sir, Ms. Lane made some very reasonable sounding points.
In the grand scheme of things, Lois was pretty sure that even the dog show would have been more preferable.
Ah, punishment.
It turned out his arrival was due to a scheduling mistake, but Lex had seized the moment and taken her to lunch.
Right. ‘Scheduling mistake’. Uh-huh.
All through lunch she had surreptitiously watched Lex, trying to decide if he was ruthless, or charming, or ruthlessly charming, or charmingly ruthless.
Or maybe he’s just a sociopath with good acting skills.
"I, uh, I …," she had sputtered in response. The thought of spending an entire weekend with Lex was rather overwhelming, especially since it sounded like they would be all alone on a private island.
LEX: It’s just a very modest home away from home. Two living rooms, a private spa, a cinema, one bedroom.
She wasn't sure if she was ready to take their relationship to that level.
Not interested in rolling around in slime?
"Can I think about it and get back to you?"
She does keep ‘can I get back to you on that’ up a lot for Lex’s proposals. Maybe she should mix it up a bit with a couple of ‘Don’t call me. I’ll call you’s.
You will occupy one wing and I'll take the other, unless you'd rather I join you."
At least he’s not having her stay in the staff quarters behind the house.
Twenty minutes later, Lex arrived to attend a meeting discussing sponsorships for the athletic programs at several schools.
Look! Another conincidink.
Even though Lex had said "nothing fancy," Lois still put on a dress for dinner. She suspected Lex's vision of low-key didn't include jeans or a pizza.
LEX: Just the Mayor, the Commissioner, and a couple of NGO functionaries.
dressed in an elegant suit that she was willing to bet cost more than two month's wages.
LEX: It’s not my fault she’s bad at negotiating.
He'd even suggested, with a twist of a smile, that maybe she was stalking him.
/hears alarm bells/
"Darling!" Lex exclaimed. He crossed the macadam and kissed her cheek. "Whatever brings you here?"
Isn’t he cute?
CHIP:
But Mr. Luthor gave me an assignment list and expressly told me to make sure Ms. Lane follows it precisely.
Lois gave him an uneasy smile. Did he really think she'd quit her job after they got married?
LEX: But being a wife is a fulltime job!
Lex smiled and gave her shoulder a light squeeze before walking away. She watched him get back in the limo, but she wasn't able to take a deep breath until it had driven onto the main road and disappeared in the distance.
Wouldn’t it be awkward if a big truck came barreling down that road and smashed Lex to smithereens?
CLARK: Very. And I wasn’t even in Metropolis to save him. Oh well…easy come, easy go as they say.
LOIS: But…but…but…the *story*! What am I going to do with the remaining 8 parts when it’s just me and Clark and a tropical island no suddenly available?
"I know; that's why I'm laughing. Lex wouldn't really send you to Siberia. I'm thinking he'd find something in North Korea for you instead."
Funny thought: There’s actually been a fic where Clark spent an extended amount of time in North Korea.
"I'll miss you," she corrected. "After you've been hauled off to a re-education camp, I'll miss you."
He will like Lex even less after he was educated on the dangers of capitalism.
"I'm going to tell him I can't marry him."
"You are?" Clark sounded as if he'd sat up fast.
Ceiling coming down around him?
CLARK: Umm…
Also, Lois keeps talking on the phone like she’s not even considering the possibility of a wiretap.
What the heck am I supposed to do with Lex Luthor on a private island for the whole weekend?"
Well, I’m sure Lex has a couple of ideas.
I can't even picture him wearing anything other than an expensive suit. He's not a shorts and t-shirt kind of guy."
Maybe he got a suit with printed on t-shirt and shorts?
Lois couldn't help laughing at that mental image. "Oh gawd! I bet he does. Maybe I should go with him this weekend and find out."
Clark made a low chuckle that tickled in her ear. "He doesn't sleep in the cape either."
It’s usually used as a blanket for his professional caregivers, though.
"Okay, what about the blonde over on the foreign desk? Denise? Danielle?"
"Darlene works on the foreign desk, and you only get one guess a day, Lois."
Ah, so she doesn’t just print out the employee roster and goes woman by woman?
CLARK: My Moma hasn’t set a stupid boy out into space.
"You can have another guess tomorrow."
"And what if something happens to me before then?"
She does have a point there.
CLARK:
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/a010.gif)
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Anything could happen, right? You're the one who says I'm a danger to myself."
She could try to cook, for instance.
It wasn't necessarily that she wanted him to be in love with her (although, what was wrong with her that he didn't want her?),
She’s bossy. Aggressive. A bit vindictive. Mean to her coworkers. Sometimes she’s ruthless. Oh, and she’s a snob.
but Clark's having a girlfriend would mean the end of their late night conversations. Sooner or later she was going to lose his undivided friendship, and the loss was going to be more painful than she could bear.
Or she could wait till he is married and then apply for the vacant ‘professional caregiver’ position in his household.
God, what was he going to do? A man as obsessive as Luthor wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer tomorrow. Even worse, Superman wasn't nearly as close by as Lois thought he was.
What’s the worst he could do? It’s not like he could cart her off into a secret fortress in the Swiss Alps, now could he?
He looked closer and saw two men inside a dark-colored sedan. One of them was holding binoculars; the source of the glint that had caught his eye. Both men were dressed in dark clothing to blend in with the shadows. They could be police or FBI, but Clark didn't think so. Neither of them had a badge, although both were armed.
BATMAN: I now have minions and it’d be bad for business if Superman’s girlfriend got wacked by a sociopath.
Once the news got out that she was romantically linked with Lex Luthor, she would become a target.
LEX:
Like someone would dare!
The woman hung up abruptly and Clark let out a small sough of bitter recognition as he finally recognized the voice. It was Mrs. Cox, Lex Luthor's personal assistant.
I’m not sure that was the correct thing to do of our little super stalker.
Michael
