Part 3
Once Lois and Monica had left to go out on their first assignment, Clark took the opportunity to submit his resignation to Perry. His eyes were filled with sadness when he knocked on the office door and was asked to come inside.
“Perry, I guess you noticed that things have gotten out of hand around here these past few days,” he began, his expression earnest, but he knew that the last thing he wanted to do was to say something that would cause Lois even more pain.
“What is it, son?” Perry asked once he looked at Clark and could see sadness in the eyes of the reporter.
“I'm going back to Smallville, Perry,” he said softly.
“You're leaving because something happened with Lois?” Perry asked.
“She terminated our partnership,” Clark replied.
“I know, I had to put her to work with Monica,” Perry said.
“Monica's very nice, maybe things will work out for both of them,” came the unenthusiastic response, and Perry looked at Clark, somehow detecting some kind of hidden meaning in the words of the younger man who was seated on the opposite side of the desk.
“Clark, is everything OK?” Perry asked as he intently looked at the younger man.
“Sure, everything's fine,” he hedged.
“Something tells me that you aren't telling me the whole truth. I think you and Lois could give stubborn lessons to a mule sometimes,” Perry said trying all the while to lighten the mood, but this mood became all the more distressing to the editor as Clark reached across the desk and handed him a piece of paper. Once he looked down at it and quickly skimmed the writing on it, his smile disappeared and he looked up. “You want to resign?”
“Yes,” Clark's response was almost automatic and forced. Noticing this, the editor, for some reason could not buy this response. After a few moments, he looked at Clark, all the while, seeing the determination in his eyes, and he figured that it was futile to argue the point of the reporter staying on.
“Are you sure?” Perry asked. “Is this really what you want to do?”
“It's not what I want to do, Perry, it's what I have to do,” Clark said softly. “I'm leaving Metropolis, and chances are I won't be coming back.”
“Clark, all that professionalism stuff aside; are you sure that you want to go?” Perry asked as he placed the piece of paper on the stack of pages already on his desk and looked back up at Clark. “If this has anything to do with Lois…”
“…It's my decision and I don't really want to talk about Lois anymore, I just want to go home because that is where I belong,” Clark's words were agonized, and Perry looked away only briefly, but after a few moments, he looked back over to the reporter on the other side of the desk.
“Let me make a suggestion,” Perry said. “In the interest of the Planet, go home for a time, think about what you really want to do, I mean; put some thought into it. Give it a couple of weeks, maybe three, talk it over with your parents if you want, and then call me, and tell me what you decide to do. But, son, don't throw away your career over this, it's a rash decision, and it may not be the choice that you would ultimately want to make. I'll hold your resignation for a time, but I won't file it until I hear from you, and I won't do anything with it for three weeks.”
Clark looked at the editor. Perry has always cared for him, and he knew it, and this action was just another way in which, he was showing how much he cared. After a few minutes, Clark reluctantly nodded. “I'm going to miss Metropolis, Chief.”
“You'll be back, I'm almost certain of it, but Clark, do think about what I said,” Perry smiled and nodded as he reached for the phone and watched as Clark left the office.
Once outside in the newsroom, Jimmy spotted him and came over to him. “Hey C.K., why the long face?”
“I'm going home, Jimmy, I just filed my resignation with Perry,” Clark said and the color faded from the younger man's face.
“No, you can't take off, C.K., you're one of the best reporters Metropolis has ever seen,” Jimmy objected, but when he looked at Clark, he knew that it was true, and there was nothing he could do to stop this nightmare from coming true.
“Jimmy, I'm sorry, but I'm leaving. I'll try to write you from Smallville,” Clark said, the determination in his voice, but his words were not convincing.
The young photographer, instead of speaking, simply nodded numbly as he walked over to his desk and sat down, his shoulders slumped and he stared down at the photos he had taken that morning.
As he stared at the pictures, his eyes began to mist over, but instead of showing Clark how hurt he was, Jimmy tried to conceal his emotions from the world. The thought of responding as his feelings seemed to have dictated seemed wrong somehow, so he shook his head and stared down at the desk as Clark left the newsroom.
Behind him, unseen by the people in the room, Andrew stood watching the young man all the while knowing that he was hurt about the fact that his best friend was leaving. At that moment, the angel received word that in two days, he would be sent to the Daily Planet and would have the opportunity to actively take part in this assignment.
“Angel Boy?” A voice emerged behind Andrew and he turned around.
“Tess, I thought you were in Smallville,” Andrew said softly.
“I will be going there very soon, in fact, once I leave you, I'll be working at the cafeteria at the Smallville Press and chances are, I will be working to convince Clark Kent to not give up his life in Metropolis. Did you get any word on your part of the assignment?”
“Yes, I am supposed to go in two days from now,” he said.
Tess nodded and looked down at Jimmy as he sat almost stoically at the desk, the young man still staring down at the photographs.
"He was the only one in this crummy place that treated me like an equal," Jimmy muttered under his breath. “Why does he think he has to leave?”
Andrew looked at the supervising angel. “I don't think Clark realizes the impact he has had on Jimmy, do you, Tess?”
“Clark has a lot to realize, and it is not just the fact that he possesses the ability to leave a positive impact on other people,” Tess said and smiled at him before disappearing leaving the compassionate angel still staring at Jimmy, his eyes filled with empathy.
*****
On the other side of town, Monica made very little headway with Lois; in fact, the reporter did not speak more than two words to her since they had left the Daily Planet newsroom after Perry had assigned them to work together.
They both climbed into a cab and were on their way back to the newspaper building. Once they were seated, Monica continued her observations of the reporter. She had learned a lot about Lois that day, but what the auburn headed angel wished for was that she could do more to help her assignment. Part of her wanted to show Lois that she wasn't as wet behind the ears as the reporter presumed, but she also thought that if she could show Lois this without coming across threatening, that they could become friends and she would be better able to help her.
She had not seen Tess or Andrew in over twenty-four hours, and she was starting to miss her angelic friends. With Lois treating her so indignantly gave Monica a new, strange, and unfamiliar sense of loneliness. She wanted to help, but she honestly did not know how.
As they disembarked the cab in front of the large high-rise building, Monica took a deep breath and finally decided to try and break her silence. “Lois?”
The reporter released a suppressed breath. “What?”
“I know you don't like working with me, but I wanted to tell you that I appreciate getting the chance to work with you,” Monica said earnestly. “I have been trying to learn how you are able to get answers to hard questions, and I discovered that you really do have a gift with this kind of thing.”
“Monica, let's get one thing out in the open before this charade goes on. You're not a reporter, are you?” Lois asked.
“I've done---some reporting,” she hedged.
“No, taking minutes at the business meeting of ‘Troop number 12 of the Boy Scouts’ is not reporting, I mean; have you ever been down in the trenches before?” Lois asked.
Monica shrugged her shoulders as she released a pent up sigh. “I'm sort of new at this, Lois.”
“Let me give you some vocational advice,” Lois began, her voice edgy, but she kept it level. “If you want to make it in Metropolis as a reporter, get rid of the ‘Miss Sunshine’ stance, it's becoming a real aggravation.”
“Miss Sunshine?” Monica asked looking somewhat bewildered.
“Yeah, you know, all that disgusting ‘have a nice day' stuff. It's getting you nowhere and fast. Take it from me; if you want to make it as a reporter, you've got to give it your all to get the story. That means, going on stakeouts like the police, believing in the worst about people, because they're always going to let you down, and simply not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”
“I can’t do that, Lois,” Monica said.
“Then you'd better go back to taking minutes then, because that’s what it takes to be a good reporter around here,” came the sharp answer.
Monica nodded numbly, her eyes filled with confusion, and after a few moments, she glanced over at Lois. “I am under the impression that you don't like me.”
Lois' eyes rolled upon hearing Monica's words and she turned around and made eye contact with the angel. “Let's just keep this on a professional level, shall we?”
Having little if no choice, the angel nodded as the two of them made their way towards the large building, which housed the newspaper. As they walked, Monica took another deep breath all the while the young angel was trying to remember what Tess had said to her prior to her having gone to Perry in order to interview for this job the day before.
Once inside the building, Monica stopped in the lobby as Lois walked towards the elevator with the intention of riding it up to the newsroom. As the light blinked indicating that the elevator had reached the ground floor, both women looked up to see that Clark was coming out of it, and in his arms, he was carrying what appeared to be a large, heavy cardboard box.
“Clark?” Monica spoke as Lois ignored the two of them and stepped into the elevator and pressed the button without giving Monica a second thought. Seconds later, the doors closed behind her.
“I’m leaving Metropolis, Monica,” he said once Lois was gone and he was left standing in the lobby with the young angel. Monica looked at him and somewhere in the deep recesses of his eyes; she could see the utter pain and heartbreak that shadowed his handsome face.
“Why?” She asked. “You remember what we talked about yesterday, don't you?”
“Yes, I remember, but I can't stay here, it's too hard for me,” he said but before she could say anything to counter what he had just said, he walked slowly away from her, his shoulders slumped. As soon as he disappeared outside and she was alone, she covered her face with her hands and shook her head.
“Oh Father, what now?” She asked softly, as she looked from the entrance to the building back in the direction Lois had gone. With deliberate steps, she walked towards the elevator and once she reached it, she could see that Andrew was standing next to the door waiting for her. The Angel of Death was in angelic form, so no one could see him except for Monica. When she looked over at him, she could see that he carried a concerned look on his face. “Andrew?”
“Hi,” he said softly, and reached over and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Rough day?”
“What am I doing here?” She finally asked, her confidence in this assignment seriously waning.
“I don't know, Monica,” he said softly. “In two days, I'll be here working with you, but until then, all I can tell you is to just hang in there.”
“Andrew, what are you doing here?” She finally managed to ask him.
The Angel of Death shifted his weight uncomfortably; he knew that Monica didn't like it very much when he tried to interfere with her on assignments. In fact, she seemed to like it about as much as Lois did.
Andrew smiled weakly as he realized that this was one similarity that both his friend and the reporter seemed to share. Perhaps it was enough to give Monica the leverage in regards to helping Lois. He took a deep breath and exhaled it very slowly before he began to speak. “Tess wanted me to come here and check in with you and see how everything is going, just doing my part to be a good friend,” he smiled weakly, but quickly added. “I think you're doing a great job though, Monica, and you don't really need me around unless to give you a little moral support.” With that, he handed her a styrofoam cup and when she took the lid off, she inhaled the scent of a decaffeinated mocha latte.
“You always know what I need, Andrew,” she smiled at him.
“You’re going to do just fine,” Andrew said as she sipped the drink.
She nodded but looked up at him, and shook her head. “How am I doing? Oh Andrew, I don't know how I'm doing. Lois doesn't like me, it's perfectly obvious, she doesn't talk to me, and when she does, she's usually angry and sarcastic. She calls me ‘Miss Sunshine’, but all it does is give me the distinct impression that I'm doing everything wrong. I mean; when I offer a compliment she gets upset, and when I try to help, she literally tells me to butt out.”
“Did it ever occur to you that you're not doing anything wrong, Monica?” Andrew asked gently as he squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. “She just doesn't want to trust because she's been hurt by people in the past. This isn't a reflection on you; you’re doing your best, and the Father made the best decision possible when He put you on this case,” Andrew said softly and smiled gently at his sensitive friend. “Remember what Tess said at the beginning of all this? She told us how hard it was going to be for us to get close to Lois. Something or someone has hurt her. We don't know what it is yet, but this hurt is causing her to say and do things that she would not normally say or do. Keep that in mind, but don't give up on her; she needs to learn to trust, and this defensive mechanism that she has is going to take a little bit of time to break through.”
“I still don't think I'm the right angel for Lois, Andrew, maybe Tess is better suited for this one,” Monica said softly as she thought about Tess’ attitude and she shrugged her shoulders as she looked at her friend.
“This was no mistake, Monica, you're here because this was the best place for you to be,” Andrew said sternly. “Now, you just do your best, that's all you can do.”
“I don't know if I can even do this assignment, Andrew.”
“Listen to me, Monica, you will do just fine,” Andrew said smiling at her. “Sometimes working with people like Lois, helps an angel to find their belief in themselves, but at the same time, it enhances their understanding. Although people have free will, it is God who is in control of the situation, but you know as well as I do that He does offer them help if they wish to accept it. He knows you're doing your best, but just keep this in mind as you try to make heads or tails of all of this.”
Monica nodded, and within seconds, she was once again alone and the elevator had reached the ground floor. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the small closet sized room and rode up to the newsroom, her thoughts a constant jumble.
*****
Once Monica had reached the correct floor and the doors had opened, she stepped out into the foyer. Once she came out into the newsroom, Lois came over and met her. “Monica, do you still have the notes I gave you this afternoon?”
“Yes, I have them, they're right here,” Monica said softly, all the while trying to maintain her characteristic optimism. She pulled the requested papers from her briefcase and handed them to the reporter. “What does all this mean, Lois?”
“Rookies,” Lois muttered under her breath, but when she noticed the hurt expression on her partner's face, her tone softened considerably and she tried to offer an adequate response to Monica's inquiry. “Just before you showed up here in Metropolis, there was a big drug bust that went down, and Superman was there and he sort of cleaned things up, but now one of the big bosses is back in town and seems to be in circulation again. Anyway, the long and the short of it is this: We’ve got to take care of them, as well as help put them out of commission.”
“What can we do?” Monica asked. “We're just reporters.”
“Well Rookie, since we have to work together, I'll let you in on the story I have been trying to find a break in. Now, grant it, I'm not completely thrilled with sharing this with you, in fact, if truth were known, I wouldn’t. However, I also know that if I didn't, Perry would hit the roof, and the last thing I need right now is more stress. So, this is strictly on a professional level.”
“I suppose that's a start,” Monica mused more to herself than to Lois.
“Start, huh? Well, just so you'll know, I'm not looking for any new friends, I'm just looking to have results, and if there aren't any, then that will mean nothing but trouble for both of us.” As she spoke, Monica could see the hesitancy in Lois’ stance, and instead of asking about it, she remained quiet as Lois continued speaking. “I heard that in a few weeks there going to be a rave going on in one of the clubs on the eastside, I thought maybe we could dress as outdated hippies or something, go there, and see if we can blend in a little and get the story out.”
Monica looked at her. “Hippies?”
“You must be from the sticks, Monica, or do they not have rave parties in Ireland?” Lois asked after a few moments of silence. It was obvious that she was trying to place Monica's accent, and seemed to have been successful at detecting it.
“No, I suppose not,” she smiled weakly and rather than elaborate on what Lois had just asked, she took a deep breath and rubbed her hands together. Deep inside Monica had this uncanny feeling that she had finally found a small break in Lois' abruptness, but this did not last long, as the reporter seemed to be rather reluctant about offering any information about herself at all.
“Well, then I guess we have some work to do, Miss Sunshine,” Lois continued to speak, her voice filled with sarcastic undertones. Once she sat down at her desk, Monica managed to pull a chair over and sit down as well.
“Why do you call me that?” Monica asked after a few moments of awkward silence had passed between them.
“Well, it suits you for one thing,” Lois, said and taking a deep breath she looked over at Monica. “The truth is, without Clark around, I guess I'm a little lonely here, I mean Jimmy's here, but now he looks at me as if I've got a contagious disease or something.”
“Maybe he's hurting, too, Lois. From the looks of things, it seems as though he has lost his best friend,” Monica said as she looked across the room and could see that the young photographer looked lost. After a second, she glanced over to see that Lois also carried a despondent look on her face. Without thinking, she continued. “It also looks as though you have lost yours as well.”
“I don't want to talk about it,” Lois said icily. “It's bad enough that we have to work together, but if you start meshing yourself into my private affairs, then I will not work with you at all, and I don't care what Perry says about that.”
Monica, knowing that she had lost, nodded numbly and the two of them went over to Lois' desk and got to work.
TBC
