I love how scared and lost, almost panicked, Lois from 1995 is when she realizes that she is in 1998. So often, when we meet time travelling in movies and stories, people just take everything in stride when they are thrown into another time. Well, I can tell you that I wouldn't, and I find it so appropriate that Lois doesn't either. This hit me like a punch at my solar plexus:
"I want to go home," she whispered and pushed the keyboard away. It bumped against her stapler, making it fall sideways with a 'clunk'. "But someone else lives there now."
Her home isn't gone, but it isn't hers anymore. She has lost it. Her
world is gone, like the little bistro that Lucy had loved so much, and the burgundy carpet of what used to be her building, and the keyboard with the worn-away 'e' (the most common letter of the English language) that she had used only this morning, only it was three years ago, and the nameplate that read only 'Lois Lane'. It is all gone. And she has been thrown into a future that she doesn't know, as lost and out of place as a dinosaur from the past.
Worst of all is that her Clark is gone. No, worst of all is the realization that he was never there: the charming farmboy from Kansas. He was Superman all along. And he fooled her so completely; and now she has found out that three years into the future he will have taken over her completely, too: married her, made her move to another home, changed her from 'Lois Lane' to 'Lois Lane Kent'.
She couldn't go home - and even if she did somehow get back to 1995, she would never be able to look at Clark the same way again. She was supposed to be dating him tonight. She should have been hoping that he would kiss her good night and, instead, she was jumpy with the knowledge that he would do far more than merely kiss her in the future. And he was Superman, for crying out loud. Superman! Superman had sat next to her desk for the past two years and she had completely overlooked that fact.
No wonder that her first reaction to finding out about Clark's secret was a desperate need to run away. To preserve an ounce of herself.
For several seconds Lois simply stared at him as she tried to take in the enormity of this discovery. It felt as though her mind had gone blank, unable to process the information overload. Above all, her instincts were screaming to get out of there. To get as far away as possible. To get somewhere familiar and safe. When she finally spoke, her voice was a dry whisper.
"Will you please move?"
Superman - no, make that Clark - looked taken aback. His head swung to look at the open door and then back to her. He looked startled, as though it hadn't occurred to him that he was blocking her way. She saw his lips part, as if he were going to say something and then he sat down on the sofa, leaving her a clear path to the door.
Lois rushed past him, her senses heightened at the thought that he might follow her.
Poor Lois. The best thing Clark could do for her that night was to make her see that not only was Clark Superman, but Superman was Clark:
It was the first time she had ever seen Superman with Clark's grin. He had always been so formal around her; it was a revelation to see him so relaxed. If she wasn't feeling so irritated and overwhelmed, she almost could have forgiven him at that moment. That she could be as casual around Superman as she was around Clark was an appealing thought.
It isn't just Lois's
world that is gone from her, and it isn't just the horrible compounding factor that
Clark is gone, the Clark she thought she knew. No, she is gone herself, too, the Lois she thought she was. The smart Lois. The Lois who saw through things and people that fooled others:
Good grief - Dudley Micheals, the city councilman who had resigned under a cloud of controversy, was now the mayor? Had the voters lost their minds? How did a crook like Michaels get elected? That she'd still be writing stories about his shady dealings was the first non-surprise of the evening.
Yes, she had seen through Dudley Michaels. But what about Clark? She hadn't seen through him. The biggest deception act in Metropolis, no, in the world, had been playing out right under her nose, and she hadn't noticed a thing. Where was the hard-nosed cynical reporter that she prided herself on being? Her only consolation is that others have been fooled, too:
The thought that even a psychic hadn't figured out Clark's secret made Lois feel just the teensiest bit better.
It is interesting how you show us that Clark's deception of Lois was a huge big deal for Lois, but not for Clark. For him, the problem was making Lois love and accept the farmboy side of him, because then, and only then, could he tell her the rest. That's why he knows so perfectly well how long the two of them have been married, but not how long Lois has known his secret:
"How long have we been married?" Lois reached forward to straighten her stapler, lining it up carefully next to her phone.
Clark sat down in the chair next to her desk. "One year, four months, two weeks and four days."
...
"When did I find out? You know, about, uh…" She made a swoosh gesture with her right hand.
"It's been almost three years."
Lois, on the other hand, knows another number very well:
It was silly to be so tense, she told herself. How many times had she flown with Superman? She already knew the answer - eight times. Not that she had kept track or anything, mind you. Never once, not even that first time, had she felt as anxious as she did at this moment.
Again, I love how you show us how weirded out Lois is by her entire situation. Nevertheless, she is a trooper:
During the ten-minute ride to the Planet, Lois gave herself a pep talk. Instead of freaking out, she should be rejoicing. She was being given a glimpse of the future. Granted there were a couple of rather large surprises, but she should be practical about this. At the very least, she could find out who won the past few major sporting events and make a killing at the bookies if she ever got back to 1995.
So funny! So Lois!
I'm very much looking forward to more of this!
Ann
P.S. I like literary Lois:
"So HG Wells--" Lois fought the urge to roll her eyes. "--has transported me three years into the future. Why?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. He only shows up when he thinks that Utopia is in danger."
"Utopia? So Thomas More is on this too? Is there a whole closetful of dead writers somewhere who--"
Good, Lois! You have read your HG Wells and your Thomas More!
![[Linked Image]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31SCKGHPMAL.jpg)
