Thank you for all the wonderful feedback everyone. Here's part 3:
Table of Contents From Part 2:
I sigh heavily. If I know Lana there’s going to be a bigger fallout from this than a nuclear bomb. At least I get to hide from it for a little while longer, at least while I’m in Metropolis.
‘Is she really the one?’
Yes. Isn’t she?
**********
PART THREE:
Pop Tarts, cold cereal, Fig Newtons, and a banana. Chad is a great friend, but definitely a bachelor. I crinkle my nose a little. At least if he’d had some Twinkies, Ding-dongs, or Ho-Ho’s that would have been something. I opt for the closest thing and grab a Pop Tart.
As I head for the front door, I leave a note on Chad’s entry table. If I’m going to try and talk to Lois Lane at the Daily Planet this morning, I need to get there early. I know her type, she wouldn’t waste time talking to me once things got busy. I’ll try and catch up with Chad later, at the Metropolis Star, unless he catches up with me first.
It’s still early in the morning so there’s enough darkness that I risk a short flight over to the Planet to save some time. I land a few blocks away and begin a relaxing walk towards my destination. As I walk I think about the events from last night. I definitely have good reason for not liking Luthor, and not trusting him. My suspicions about him were confirmed when he unveiled his plans for launching his own space station, ‘Luthor’.
It wasn’t much to go on right now, but it definitely put Luthor on my short list for those who would benefit from the failure of space station Prometheus.
I’m jolted out of my thoughts by an explosion a short distance away. I quicken my pace to see what’s going on and quickly locate the problem. Smoke is billowing out of an open manhole.
“There’s a man down there! Call the fire department!” A city worker yells.
I hang back, watching the open manhole. Come on... Be okay... Find your way out. No such luck. I don’t see or hear any movement from the manhole.
People are beginning to crowd in around the manhole, looking down with concerned faces. There’s no way I can help without revealing myself.
“Back off! One of my men is down there!” the same worker shouts. He must be the supervisor. “Where are the fire trucks! Hurry up! He’s dying down there!”
Dying? I realize I have to help him. I step back away from the crowd, looking around. I spot another manhole not too far away. No one seems to be paying much attention to that area, everyone’s is too busy eyeing the disaster unfolding in front of them.
At the fastest speed I can muster, I shoot down the manhole and locate the injured worker. He’s pinned under some rubble and probably has a broken leg. I scan it quickly. Yep, it’s broken. I scan the rest of him. He’ll be okay once he gets to the hospital, but the sooner he gets there the better. Doing my best to stay behind the man where he can’t see me, I lift him up and float him up through the opening of the manhole everyone’s watching. Once the men have a good hold on him, I let go and shoot back down the tunnel and out the other manhole.
After I put the manhole cover back in place and try to dust myself off a little – this suit is probably ruined - I walk back over to the crowd of people to inspect my handiwork.
“You okay?” the supervisor was asking the injured worker.
The worker coughs and then squints his eyes open. His eyes meet with mine briefly and they widen. Uh, oh. Does he recognize me? How? It was so dark down there. I was careful!
“That man! He saved me!” the worker cries.
Everyone turns to look at me. I hold my hands up in a defensive gesture. “I... He’s delirious,” I offer as an explanation.
I turn to walk off before anyone can ask any more questions and I run headfirst into Lois Lane.
“Ummpfff,” we both exclaim. The force from our impact catches her off guard and she stumbles backwards. I reach out, grabbing her hand to keep her from falling.
“Ms. Lane? I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” I ask.
“Lois,” she reminds me. “Uh, yeah, I think” she says, rubbing her shoulder. I wince. She definitely got the worse end of the collision.
She looks down at my hand, still clasping hers. “Thanks,” she says, flashing an awkward smile at me. I didn’t realize I was still holding it.
I give it a slight squeeze and nod my head at her. “You’re welcome.”
She smiles at me and then looks down at my suit. She does a double-take. “What happened?” she asks, pointing at it.
Yikes. “I don’t know. I must have been too close when the explosion happened. I think I’ll have a hard time finding a dry cleaner who can get this out.” Will she buy it?
She buys it. “Yeah, I think that one’s headed for the landfill. Too bad too, it was a nice suit.”
“Uh, thanks. Believe it or not, I was actually on my way to see you.”
She regards me with a little apprehension. Does she think I’m... what? Interested in her? My mind recoils in shock... am I? No, no of course not. I came here to talk about Mr. Platt and the sabotage. Nothing else. Get a grip, Clark. You just miss Lana.
Now, how best to get my foot in the door. If I just come out and ask her if I can accompany her on an interview with Platt, she’ll be suspicious. She’ll think I’m somehow trying to steal her story, especially since Chad works for the Star. “Yes. I was hoping you could give me a tour of the Daily Planet.”
She stares at me for a couple of seconds and then blinks. “A tour? I don’t think...”
“Yeah. For several years I had actually planned to move to Metropolis and try to get on with the Daily Planet. Chad and I were college roommates, we were going to move up here together.”
“So what happened? He made it up here, why didn’t you?”
I’m not sure why, but for some reason I don’t want to introduce Lana into the picture right now. “Just had some personal reasons that kept me from moving. I’ve always kind of regretted it though. It was a dream of mine for a long time to work for a paper like the Daily Planet.”
Lois smiles at me pleasantly. “I know just your type, Clark. You’re a dreamer.”
“Am I?”
“Yes you are. Cute farm boy from Kansas dreaming of life in the big city. Okay, I think I might have enough time to give you that tour you’re wanting, if we hurry. Come on.”
Cute? She thinks I’m cute?
**********
“Wait here just a minute,” Lois tells me and walks over to a desk, probably hers. The phone is ringing there and she answers it. While she’s talking, I look around the newsroom and take it in. I love the excitement, the *vibe* that I feel from it - The voices talking all at once, the people scurrying around busily, the smell of strong coffee and fresh donuts. Mmm, donuts. Now there’s something I haven’t had in a while.
I start walking towards the smell of a freshly baked cinnamon donut, when a voice catches the attention of my enhanced-hearing.
“Mmm, who’s the new tight-end?” a woman asks. I discreetly glance around me to locate the voice. It’s coming from an attractive, vivacious-looking young woman who is scantily dressed. I can tell by the look on Lois’ face that she’s the one who’d been asked the question. Her eyebrows are knitted together in a frown.
“Why don’t you just throw your usual forward pass and find out?” Lois tells her, and then looks aghast as the woman heads off in my direction. I get the feeling Lois doesn’t like her a whole lot.
“Hi. Catherine Grant, ‘Cat’s Corner’,” she says, extending her hand in a gesture that would almost indicate she wants me to kiss it. Hah! So this is Catherine Grant, the woman Chad had sought after – and had been rejected by - last night.
“Pleased to meet you Ms. Grant...”
“Cat,” she says, making a biting motion at the end of the T sound, and moving closer to me. Yikes, this woman is aggressive.
“Cat,” I mimic back at her. “Clark Kent, Editor of the Smallville Post.” I take her still outstretched hand and give it a hearty shake. Then I step back a little to put some distance between us.
She looks a little disappointed at my efforts to sidestep her advances. “Smallville Post, where’s that? Kansas?” she remarks snidely.
“Yes, actually, ever been there?” I ask.
She looks slightly embarrassed. “Uh, no.”
“Well it’s nowhere near the size of Metropolis of course, but we are proud to have two newspapers, the Smallville Post and Press. I might sound partial, but I believe the quality of writing at our paper is definitely better. We don’t run a lot of those gossip articles like the Press does.” I give her a significant look.
She takes it in stride and lets it roll off her back. “So tell me, Clark, what brings you to Metropolis and what’s a cute guy like you doing hanging around with ‘ole Lois here?” she asks loudly enough for Lois to hear her. She glances over at Lois and gives her a pitiable look. Lois looks like she might like to get into a *catfight*.
“Well, actually,” I proceed to tell her, “I’m here to see a friend of mine, Chad Wilson, perhaps you’ve met him? Maybe last night at the ‘White Orchid Ball’?” I ask her, giving her a knowing look. Her face pales slightly. Yep, she remembers him. “Anyway, I wanted a tour of the Daily Planet and I asked Lois if she’d give me one. I know she’s a highly respected reporter here and figured she’d be the best person to ask.”
I may have rattled her a little bit, but not much, and it didn’t last long. “Well, sure, Clark, if you want the librarian’s tour. But you come look me up if you want to know the really *juicy* stuff that goes on around here, okay? Nice to meet you.” And with that she walks off, still eyeballing me.
I walk over to Lois’ desk where she is still standing, scowling. “Wow,” I say to her.
“Yeah, I guess, if you like her type,” she responds, looking disgusted.
“No, that’s not what I mean. She’s not my type. I just meant... She’s so... forward. Is she that way with everyone?”
“Usually. If they have a Y chromosome.”
Ouch, poor Chad. I’ll definitely make sure he doesn’t find *that* little tidbit out. He’d be down in the dumps for days. Although, in his defense, I’d seen dozens of guys clamoring all over Cat last night, so he probably didn’t get a chance to make much of an impression on her. Well, I threw his name out there. She’d remember him now, if he ever works up the nerve to talk to her again.
The look on Lois’ face seems to indicate that she’s pleased I didn’t fall for Cat’s charms. I grin to myself. Definitely a little rivalry there, for some reason. She walks over and takes me by the arm leading me further on our tour.
“And, Mr. Editor, here is *our* editor-in-chief’s office. Mr. Perry White,” Lois tells me, waving at her editor through the glass. Mr. White waves back at her, turning his wave into an invitation into his office. She walks into his office, motioning me to follow her.
“Lois, did Jimmy find you yet?” Mr. White asks her and then seems to finally notice me as I shut his door. “Who’s this?”
“No, not yet, Perry. This is Clark Kent, editor of... I’m sorry Clark, I actually don’t think I caught the name of your paper.”
“It’s the Smallville Post in Kansas, Mr. White. I’m honored to get to meet you. I used to dream of working as a reporter for the Daily Planet. I was up here visiting a friend and met Ms. Lane at the White Orchid Ball. I asked her if she’d indulge me with a tour. But I can see you are all very busy this morning on that shuttle explosion. Maybe I’d better cut my tour short, I don’t want to take up any more of your time.” I reach out to shake his hand.
“Oh, uh, that’s okay. I’m sure we have a few minutes we can spare. It’s always nice to meet a fellow newspaper editor,” Perry tells me, giving my hand a firm shake.
“Well actually I was a reporter before I became an editor,” I tell him.
“Same with me,” he tells me. “Do you miss it?”
“Don’t you? The excitement? The hunt?” I ask.
“Boy, you know it,” he admits.
We all share a knowing look and then Mr. White’s office door is thrown open and a young man comes running in carrying an odd assortment of papers and notes piled together, all different sizes, colors, and shapes. “Lois! Here you are! I got them.”
“Got them?” she asks him.
“Platt’s notes. I picked them up from him earlier. I was going to take a copy of the report over to my buddy at S.T.A.R Labs to analyze but I can’t make any sense out of any of this. If you can piece it together, let me know and I’ll run a copy over to him.” He hands the stack of papers to Lois and then turns to look at me.
“Hi, Clark Kent,” I introduce myself and extend my hand.
“Jimmy Olsen. Nice to meet you,” he says with a quick shake and then turns back to Lois. “Now don’t forget; if you can get that stuff pieced together before tomorrow morning that would really be helpful. My friend at S.T.A.R. Labs is leaving town on vacation the day after tomorrow. So it’s tomorrow or nothing.”
“Here Jimmy, before you leave, take this article and run it back out over to Pete in Sports. There are more holes in this piece than you can find on a golf course,” Mr. White says, shoving a paper at Jimmy.
“Sure thing, Chief.” Jimmy takes the paper and starts to leave but stops and turns to me. “Clark Kent? Chad Wilson’s friend?”
I nod my head at him.
“Tell him I said hi and that I want my copy of ‘Bikes and Babes’ back just as soon as he’s through with it.” And with that he rushes out of the office. ‘Bikes and Babes’? I’d have to rib Chad about that one later.
Lois is busy flipping through the papers in her hands, a look of annoyance on her face. “Why is it all scientists are so smart but they can’t keep a decent journal for their notes? This is a mess! It’ll take me all day and all night to wade through this and piece it together by myself.”
“Do you want some help?” I ask. Lois and Mr. White both turn to stare at me and then look at each other.
“The friend I’m visiting is at work today and I don’t have much going on,” I explain. “It would give me something to do. It sure looks like you could use the help, and maybe I could write a sidebar on the story for my paper... after you’ve published your story of course.” I hold my breath.
“Well, you did say you’d always wanted to work for the Planet. If you’re willing to donate your time, I don’t see that we can turn you down,” Mr. White says, looking at Lois for confirmation.
She looks unsure at first. I flash her a warm smile and she seems to soften a little. “I guess I could use the help. Come on, there’s an empty desk across from mine we can put you at,” she says, turning to leave Perry’s office.
I follow closely on her heels.
**********
“I’m starving!” Lois exclaims. “I wish I knew a good Chinese take-out.”
We’ve been at these notes all day, trying to re-work them into something legible. I’m sure she really is starving. In truth I’d like to have a break too, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve had some really good Chinese. It has too much MSG for Lana.
“Yeah, I could use a break. I think I remember Chad mentioning a good place. I’ll be right back,” I tell her, getting up from my chair.
“Wait. Don’t you want to know what I want?”
“Nah. I’ll bring an assortment.”
I make my way downstairs and out the front door of the Planet. It’s dark outside so a quick trip to China shouldn’t be too risky.
I fly at top speed there and back, finding appropriate alleyways to land in and take-off from. I look down at the cartons in my hands as I walk back inside the Planet. Surely there will be something in here she’ll like.
As I walk off the elevator into the newsroom, Lois looks up at me. I can see the surprise in her eyes.
“That was quick.”
“I took a short cut.” I set the food containers down on her desk and she begins tearing into them eagerly.
“Mmm, it smells great!” She grabs an eggroll and hungrily takes a bite. “Wow! Clark, this is out of this world,” she exclaims.
Well, not actually, just out of this country. I smile at her. “So, did you piece together any more of the report while I was gone?” I ask, digging into one of the containers.
“No, you weren’t actually gone long enough to give me a chance,” she says quickly, in between inhaling bites of food. “Thanks, Clark. This really hit the spot.”
I nod my head at her, my mouth too full of Chinese noodles to say anything. Mmm, these are so good. I had forgotten how much I missed them. Although, if I’d just suck it up and let Lana in on my secret, then I wouldn’t have to eat all that health food she keeps force-feeding me.
After a few more minutes of silence and Lois devouring several more items, she starts talking again. “You know what I think I’m gonna do? I think I’m going to take all these notes over to Dr. Platt’s and ask him to help me decipher them. I should have just done that in the first place. It would have saved you a tediously boring day.”
“I wouldn’t say the day was boring, at all,” I tell her honestly.
On the contrary, I can’t remember a day where I’ve felt more alive, more useful, more... happy, than I’ve been today. Not in a long time. Sometimes I get the feeling I’m not cut out to be an editor.
I look up at Lois to find her smiling at me. It’s not your run of the mill smile, either. I feel a heat starting deep inside me - I’m definitely attracted to her. I glance at her left hand. No ring.
“It’s getting pretty late,” I tell her, looking at my watch. “If you are going to go by and see Dr. Platt, I’d like to accompany you. I just need to call and let Chad know to leave me a key under the mat.”
“Oh, really, that’s not necessary. I’ve already imposed on your vacation time enough as it is.”
“It’s not an imposition. I want to go.” And I do. I *really* want to go. She smiles a little nervously at me, and then we sit in silence for a while, finishing our dinners.
I decide to break the silence first. I’m taking a risk, but something in me just really wants to get to know her better. “So I know all about your professional aspirations from our conversation last night. What about your personal ones?” I ask her.
I can tell the question takes her by surprise. I cringe, hoping I didn’t put her on the defensive.
“I can’t say that I really have any. At least not right now.”
“Really? Not interested in marriage? A family? That sort of thing? I’m assuming you aren’t married.”
“No. Are you?”
Ouch. Difficult question. No, I’m not married. But if I simply say that and nothing more, could that be construed as ‘leading her on’? I’m definitely in a relationship. In fact, I’m in a serious relationship. What do I think I’m doing? I should come clean with her right now.
I should. But, I don’t. “No. I’m not.”
She nods her head at me and looks down at the fortune cookie she’s turning over and over in her hands. Am I making her... nervous? She finally stops playing with it and breaks it apart. She pulls out the fortune and looks like she’s trying to read it.
“Oh, see, I hate that,” she says, sounding frustrated.
“What?” I ask.
“It’s in Chinese,” she says, frowning.
I take the paper from her and read it. “A good horse is like a member of the family.” I look up and note the stunned disbelief on her face.
“You can read Chinese? How? ...Why?”
“During the summers when I was in college I would take trips to various countries. One of my other aspirations, besides working for the Planet, was to travel the world, and I managed to make it to a few places.” I notice the impressed look she has on her face. “I had studied up on several languages in preparation. Chinese was one of them,” I tell her, hoping she’ll leave it at that.
She looks like she wants to press me further but instead she takes the fortune back from me, wads it up, and throws it away. “*That* is not a fortune.”
An uncontrollable laugh escapes from my lips. It feels good. When I’m around Lana I have so many inhibitions, but around Lois I feel so... myself.
Lois smiles and we lock eyes for a moment, a long moment. She breaks the contact first and looks like she wants to say something to me, but she doesn’t. What could it have been, I wonder?
“I’m going to call Chad and let him know I’ll need a key to get in,” I tell her.
“Oh, okay. I think I’ll make a quick trip to the ladies room before we head off to see Dr. Platt.” I’m not sure why but I get the distinct feeling that she’s really going to get some air. I know I feel like I need to. Nothing sounds better right now than a quick flight around the block.
***********
To Be Continued...
