Identity
Chapter 3 – Public
Revenge + 51 hours
It was nearly noon when the elevator door opened to admit Clark and Lois to the Daily Planet bullpen. Clark took only half a step before he paused and looked around nervously. This morning was going to be the “coming out” for his and Lois’s new relationship. With Lois still obviously under the influence of that perfume, he was sure to be the subject of negative opinions. Clark just hoped that whatever came their way, anything bad would be directed at him and not Lois.
Despite the assurances that Lois continued to offer, he couldn’t completely quell doubts about the decisions that the two of them had made with respect to their relationship. Even though their friends and coworkers were going to learn this morning of their new relationship, Clark’s parents were not. He wanted to give this thing a chance to mature – and to give Lois a chance to snap out of whatever had affected her, before stepping into that challenge. If he and Lois were still engaged when the weekend arrived, he’d fly them both to Smallville to share the news.
He felt Lois’s hand slide into his. She was probably wondering why he’d stopped. “This is a good sign,” he said aloud.
“What?” Lois asked.
“All those decorations are down. Don’t you remember? Yesterday morning the whole place looked like someone set off a Valentine’s Day bomb.”
“I remember,” she said wistfully. “I liked the decorations.”
Clark was tempted to comment on that observation, but thought better of it. In Clark’s mind, her attitude was just one more indicator that Lois was still not herself. “We’d better report in to Perry,” he said, looking in the direction of the editor’s office. “He seems to be free now. Based on what I saw yesterday, Miranda exposed most of the people in the office to that stuff. We need to know if anyone else is having the lingering effect that you are. And Perry deserves to know about our changed status.”
“You mean this?” Lois asked with a smile, holding up her hand and showing off her engagement ring they’d just purchased.
“Yes. I have a feeling that as soon as he hears what happened, both of us are going to hear an Elvis story.”
“You think he’s going to be mad?” she asked, a slight tone of concern in her voice.
“Not at you,” Clark answered reassuringly. “I think he’ll tell you some story about a time that Elvis rushed into a situation before he got advice from the Colonel. As for me… yes, Perry’s going to be mad.”
They started across the bullpen towards Perry’s office. About half-way there, Clark noticed Jimmy leaning against a desk rubbing his forehead. “Hey, Jimmy,” Clark called as they approached.
Their young friend jerked as if the sound had caused him pain. Then he held up his hand defensively. “Please CK, not so loud,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
When they reached him, Lois reached out and put her hand on Jimmy’s shoulder in a consoling gesture. “What’s wrong?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“The headache. Just like everyone else here.” Jimmy was clearly in pain.
Clark and Lois looked at each other. “What headache are you talking about?” Clark asked, also keeping his voice barely above a whisper.
He looked at them as if this headache was common knowledge. “You mean you two don’t have it?”
They both shook their heads.
“That crazy love stuff wore off sometime late last night. When I woke up this morning, I had one of the worst headaches of my life.” He looked back and forth at them for some sign of understanding. “Everyone who was exposed says the same thing and has the headache today. If you don’t have the headache, then I guess you two didn’t get exposed.”
“I did,” Lois said without hesitation. “But I don’t have a headache this morning. I feel great.”
“I think somehow I managed to miss it,” Clark added quickly. “You said it wore off last night?”
“Yeah,” he answered, rubbing his forehead again.
“Do you have any idea when?” Clark asked.
“No. I fell asleep around 10:00 p.m. My memory is fuzzy, but I think it wore off some time after that. From what I’ve heard from everyone else in the office, that was about as long as it lasted for anyone.”
“So you don’t know of anyone that it hasn’t worn off yet?” Lois cut in.
“No. For everyone I talked to, when they woke up this morning, the craziness was gone.”
“Jimmy, after it wore off, did you feel any lingering effects? I mean, were you sure that it wore off completely?” Clark pressed.
“Sure, CK. Aside from this headache, once it’s gone, it’s gone. I can’t believe the things I was feeling while I was under the influence of that stuff. Why?”
Lois started to say something but Clark cut her off. “Thanks, Jimmy. Lois and I need to talk with Perry while he’s free.” As they moved away from Jimmy, Clark pulled in close to Lois. “I’m sorry about cutting you off, but I want to see what Perry knows, and tell him about you… us… before the rest of the office finds out.”
“That’s okay,” she replied brightly. Then she took advantage of his proximity, leaned in, and gave him a quick kiss.
“Lo-is,” he mock pleaded.
His protest just made her smile even brighter. “I can’t help it. We haven’t kissed for at least fifteen minutes and if you’re going to get this close, what do you expect me to do?”
He just had to smile at her attitude. She had a cheerfulness that was infectious. “I love you,” he said quietly. The words were out before he even realized he’d spoken aloud.
Lois threw her arms around him and this kiss lasted far more than the second or so of the previous one. Her attack caught him off-guard, but Clark quickly decided to simply enjoy the moment. He put his arms around her and made sure that this was a kiss worthy of office gossip.
When they separated, Clark was unsurprised to find that the whole room had gone quiet with all eyes pointed in their direction. “We need to see Perry now,” he whispered to Lois.
As they turned toward the editor’s office, he discovered that Perry was watching them with the same intensity as everyone else. When they reached his office, their editor motioned them to come on in. Lois went first and Clark closed the door behind them. He was certain that there wouldn’t be any yelling – yet – but this still needed to be private. As soon as the door closed, Perry opened up with, “What in…” But that was as far as he got.
“We’re engaged!” Lois exclaimed, sticking her hand under Perry’s face to show him her ring. “Perry, when Clark and I get married, will you give me away?”
The older man looked back and forth between them for a second. “Clark?”
Clark sat down in the chair near the door. “Whatever happened here in the office the other day affected Lois.”
“Son, it affected nearly all of us.”
“You don’t want to give me away?” Lois asked in a disappointed tone.
“Darlin’, if that’s what you want when you get married, I’ll be happy to do the honors. But…”
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she exclaimed as she ran around his desk and hugged her boss.
“As I was about to say,” Clark continued even before Lois released her editor, “Lois is still under the influence of whatever it was.”
Lois finally finished her hug and returned to the far side of the desk where she sat next to Clark. “Obviously,” Perry said, after he regained his composure.
“Do you know if anyone else in the office is still under the influence this morning?” Clark asked.
“No,” Perry replied. “This stuff has caused a real mess, but I’ve been asking around, and for everyone else it wore off last night. Lois, honey, how do you feel?”
“I feel great. I’m in love with the greatest guy in the world,” Lois said brightly. “But for right now I’m also ready to get to work. Clark and I talked about this on the way in this morning. He used Jimmy’s photographs to identify the woman that was spraying the stuff that smelled like old socks. She’s a perfume maker named Miranda. If you give us the go ahead, we’re going to start the investigation right away.”
Her sudden change to such a businesslike tone caught Perry off guard. “Sure, you go ahead but I’d like to talk to Clark for a minute.”
Lois stood so that her back was to Perry. Then she smiled at Clark and mouthed the words, “You’re in trou-ble,” without making a sound. Then with an even brighter smile and one more quick squeeze of Clark’s hand, she opened Perry’s door and left the two men alone.
As soon as the door was closed, Perry’s face clouded over, “Clark?”
“Perry, you have to believe me when I say that I only want the best for Lois.”
“Since when does ‘the best’ mean taking advantage of her when she’s under the influence of that drug?” Perry asked in a voice that clearly conveyed his displeasure.
“You must be able to tell that she’s not crazy like everyone was at first,” Clark countered. “You see, the first 36 hours or so it was easy – well, not exactly easy – but I was able to keep my distance. Something seemed to change in her after that time and it got a lot more complicated.”
“About 36 hours you say?”
“More or less,” Clark answered.
“That’s about when the effect started wearing off for most people. A few seemed to have it go on a little longer but no one – that is, no one but Lois – was still under the influence when they woke up this morning.”
“Was everyone in the office affected?”
“Everyone I’ve talked to. If you and Lois both got it, I’m surprised you remember things that clearly. Many of us have only vague memories of while we were under the influence.”
“You got it too, Chief?”
“Yeah, and I’m in some trouble for it, but for now let’s stay focused on you and Lois.”
“Okay. Well, somehow it missed me. But Lois got it and I was her target. That first day and a half, she was like some crazy caricature of a person in love. She was so over-the-top that I could never take her advances seriously.”
“That fits the pattern,” Perry commented.
“But after that she was different. She was much more rational. Instead of just throwing herself at me, she became serious. The first day or so, when I told her no, she just ignored me and tried harder. But late last night, she accepted my rejection and… she started crying. We ended up talking and she told me… well, that part’s private. But she convinced me that there was something real under the craziness caused by the stuff. The reason that I let anything happen with her is that I’m convinced – she convinced me – that even before the drug, she’d been interested in something between us.”
“Okay, I’ve seen the way you two interact so I guess I can accept that, but engaged?”
Clark sat up straighter in the chair. “I know how it probably looks. But I have to ask you to accept that this is between me and Lois. I will say that I want nothing but the best for her. I also intend to do everything I can to help her get back to normal. And, when she does return to her old self, I won’t try to duck the consequences of my part in this.”
Perry sat quietly for a few moments just staring at Clark. “If you were any other man, I’d ride you out of here on a rail. But you… Well, I still might if you don’t do your best to do the right thing by Lois.”
“Her well being is more important than my own,” Clark said earnestly.
“It better be. So get out there and send her in.”
Clark left the office and headed for Lois’s desk. He was surprised to see Cat sitting across from her with the two of them apparently engaged in a friendly conversation. He reached the desk just as Lois chuckled at something Cat must have said.
“Good morning, Cat,” he said as a way to signal his presence.
Both women looked up at him and went silent. After a second, Lois started giggling and Cat followed immediately. “Lo-lo tells me you two are engaged.”
“Lo-lo?” Clark asked, looking at Lois.
“Yeah,” Lois replied. “Remember when we were in bed this morning I told you that I felt an optimism that I haven’t felt since high school?”
Clark blushed at her mention of the way they had started the day, but based on what he’d seen when he approached the two women, Cat already knew. “Yes,” he said.
“Well, my nickname in high school was Lo-lo. At the time I was happy with that name and I think it fits me better the way I feel today.”
“So I should call you Lo-lo?”
“I think I’m going to go by that in the office,” she answered. Then she reached out and took his hand in hers. “But you, my love, can call me by any name you want.”
“Lo-lo,” Clark said deliberately, “Perry wants to see you.”
“I figured,” she said. Then she turned to Cat. “This was great. We’ll definitely talk more later.”
“Good luck with Perry. Remember that he means well,” Cat offered cheerily.
He watched Lois head into Perry’s office then turned to Cat. “What’s the catch?”
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t stand Lois. If you’re planning something…”
“Down boy. I promise that I mean her no harm.”
“Then I don’t understand,” Clark admitted.
“You were right. I can’t stand Lois. But that’s only because she’s selfish and arrogant so much of the time. Lo-lo, on the other hand, seems to be a very different woman. I think everyone is going to like working with her.”
Clark considered this. “You’re probably right, but Lo-lo is only here temporarily. She could recover at any time.”
Cat frowned. “I almost hope she doesn’t. I like my new friend.” Then she looked at Clark. “And Lois barely gave you the time of day. I don’t think Lois will be happy when she finds out what you and Lo-lo have been doing.”
Clark turned to look at Lois… Lo-lo, sitting across from Perry in his office. Lois had never looked that cheerful when she was being subjected to one of Perry’s Elvis stories. “I’m afraid you might be right, but as much as I like Lo-lo, I owe it to her to try to bring Lois back.”
She looked at him seriously. “Lois doesn’t deserve you. Lo-lo does, but not Lois.” With that Cat stood and headed for her desk.
Clark headed for his own desk and had settled down to plan the investigation into what happened at the Planet. He’d barely started when he heard, “CK” and looked up to find Jimmy standing next to his desk.
Clark remembered to keep his voice down. “Hi, Jimmy. What do you need?” he asked softly.
“Umm…” he stuttered.
“You’re curious about me and Lois?”
“Well, yeah. I didn’t mean to stare, but you two can’t kiss like that in the middle of the office and not expect to raise questions.”
“I understand. Well, for now here are the highlights. We’re engaged and she’s still partially under the influence of that love-stuff that hit the office. Good enough?” Clark asked in a no-nonsense tone.
“Yes,” Jimmy answered defensively. It seemed that he could tell when he was being told to not ask too many questions.
“Good,” Clark continued, “That picture you gave me yesterday was just what we needed. The woman that was spraying the stuff that probably started all this…”
“You mean the stuff that smelled like old socks that some kind of animal had been nesting in?” asked Jimmy.
“Yeah, that woman,” answered Clark. “Her name is Miranda and she has a perfume shop here in Metropolis. I need you to dig up all the information on her that you can find.”
“Sure thing CK. I’ll have some information within the hour.”
As Jimmy started away, he almost bumped into Lois returning from Perry’s office. “Oops, sorry Lois,” he said. “CK told me that you two are engaged. Congratulations.”
“Thanks, she replied. She showed Jimmy her ring. “Isn’t it great?”
“Sure. You and CK make a great couple.”
“I agree. And you can call me Lo-lo.”
“Lo-lo?”
“Yep. From here on out it’s going to be Lo-lo and CK forever.”
TBC
Bob
