From Part 5:
Their conversation was interrupted by the waiter serving their drinks. Lex raised his glass of wine in a toast when they were alone again.
“To a beautiful lady and a very nice evening,” he said.
“It’s a nice evening indeed,” Lois agreed and clinked her glass to his.
They both drank their wine and Lois savored the rich taste, while silently musing if a broken heart was really all that was going on between Clark and Lex. Though she did not know Clark all that well, he did not seem like the type to seek revenge at all cost. Lex had denied ever having been involved with Clark’s girlfriend. He might be lying, but Lois could not quite figure out why he would do that. After all, it would not be the first time two men fell in love with the same woman and turned from friends into enemies. Countless poets had written about exactly that.
“So, how did you make yourself a millionaire, starting from scratch? Is this the famous tale of the dishwasher in a shabby restaurant or did you somehow get by Scrooge McDuck’s number one dime?” Lois asked.
“Back to the interview, I see,” Lex chuckled.
“Well, it never hurts to try,” Lois quipped and took her napkin when the waiter appeared again with the first course.
I Knew The Truth
Part 6
The night had passed without Clark appearing at her apartment. Lois had left her window open when she had gone to bed after Lex had brought her home, hoping that Clark would choose that way to contact her again and maybe bring her his box of evidence. But he had not come. For a minute or two she had thought that there was a shadow outside as her curtains billowed in a gust of wind, but that had most likely been her overactive imagination. Now, she had a stiff neck and moreover was tired, because she had not slept well with all the noise outside.
Lois crossed the street and moments later stood under the globe that marked the entrance to the Daily Planet. She let out a small sigh, admitting to herself that lately, she had done little to deserve working for the famous paper. She should be out there chasing the story of the century, but really all she was doing was hitting dead ends. Sure, Luthor had been a little more forthcoming with details of his life, but none of it could help her either prove or refute Clark’s accusations. All in all, this smelled of a really slow news day and if Lois was not careful, she would soon be covering dog shows.
Taking a deep breath to brace herself, Lois stepped through the main entrance. She took a quick detour to the kiosk on her right, filling her stock of Double Fudge Crunch Bars, which was a sure sign of emotional distress. Hopefully, they would keep her up until she found another lead she could follow. After all, there was still the press release concerning the explosion of the helicopter she was waiting for.
Lois went over to the elevators and took the next one that brought her to the newsroom. Stepping out, she quickly surveyed the place, hoping against hope that Clark had come around and would be sitting at his desk, ready to dive into a thorough investigation. Not surprisingly, his place was as empty as it had been the day before and probably would be until Perry worked his way through the pile on his desk.
A sudden surge of anger filled Lois and with a last glance at Clark’s desk that would have killed any occupant instantly, she marched down the ramp to her own desk. Impatiently, she shrugged out of her coat and forcefully threw her handbag onto her desk. It toppled over, spilling the variety of rags. It was by sheer luck that the fern survived the onslaught, but then Lois had not had her first cup of coffee yet, which was only adding to her current foul mood.
“My, oh my,” Cat commented, who had not been far from her desk. She turned around revealing yet another skin-tight, skimpy piece of clothing that hardly deserved the term ‘dress’. “Trying to find some sense of fashion?” she teased as she eyed the assortment of tabloid papers. Those that lay on top were obviously meant for women who paid more interest in their looks than anything else.
“Look who’s talking,” Lois grumbled, starting to gather the journals in order to dump them unceremoniously into the trash can. She did not know why she had not already done that at home. Perhaps it was, because Lucy was sure to drag them out again, leaving them for Lois to see for weeks to come.
“Aren’t we cheerful, today,” Cat replied, unfazed. “No wonder, Clark called in sick for the past two days.”
“He called in sick?” Lois exclaimed, momentarily forgetting that she had vowed to herself to forget about her elusive ex-partner.
“Yeah, Perry said something along those lines,” Cat said, raising her brows. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”
“We’re partners, not a couple. He doesn’t inform me of his every whim if you mean that,” Lois spat, pushing past Cat to get her first cup of coffee.
That certainly was not going to save her day, but at least it might keep it from becoming any worse. Briefly, she considered asking Perry if Clark had actually called him. But since he had not known anything about Clark’s whereabouts the day before, it was likely he had just told the staff Clark was sick to justify his absence.
When Lois returned with a steaming mug of coffee, Jimmy was already waiting for her at her desk. She sent a quick prayer to heaven that he did not bring more bad news. A faint sheen of sweat covered his forehead and his hands were trembling slightly. He held a sheet of paper and patiently waited for Lois to set her cup down, before he handed her the paper.
“This just came out,” he managed to say, before he turned on his heels, making for a quick escape.
Lois sank onto her chair, closing her eyes and drawing in another deep breath. This obviously was one of the days she did everything in her power to deserve the title ‘Mad Dog Lane’. The unpleasant thought crossed her mind that maybe Clark’s absence was rather due to her off-putting personality than his strange set of abilities. She shook her head to clear it of the unwanted notion and studied the paper Jimmy had given her.
It was the press-release she had been waiting for and it had come sooner than she had actually expected. Quickly she perused the text, skipping the techno-babble to find the conclusion. According to the NTSB, the explosion of the helicopter had most likely been caused by scorching debris of the burning hangar. Essentially, Dr. Baines had caused her own death by blowing up the building. It was a case of poetic justice that surely would make for a juicy follow-up piece, but it was not the news Lois had hoped for. The sickening realization sunk in that she had just hit another dead-end. It was official that despite the cup of coffee, her day had just made another turn for the worse.
Lois put down the paper and started to boot her computer. She thought back to her evening with Lex. He had provided her with a perfect explanation as to why Clark would be trying to bring him down. If the broken heart Lex had mentioned truly was Lana cheating on Clark, possibly with Lex, that would explain a lot. Lois still had a hard time seeing Clark come up with some elaborate conspiracy theory just to seek revenge for a love lost, but then stranger things had happened. Given his powers, he certainly had other ways to get back at Lex, though he probably did not want to reveal them to the world.
The report of the NTSB shed another light on the events of the night in the hangar. There were no hints that a third party had been involved in the helicopter explosion. Could it be that Dr. Baines had been delusional, thinking that there was anything to gain from sabotaging the space program? After all, it had been her words that had finally made Lois listen to Clark’s accusations. It was possible that Dr. Baines had truly been the only instigator of the Messenger disaster. The bomb in the Colonist transport could have been placed by one of her minions, who either had been ill-informed or wanting to fulfill her legacy.
* * * Flashback * * *
“Lois, this is C.K…eh, I mean Clark Kent, a new colleague. C.K., this is Lois Lane,” Jimmy blushed at his slip and stepped back, allowing Lois a full view of the man she had just been introduced to.
He wore a charcoal suit that had clearly seen better days, but was well-kept. His tie was ridiculous and looked quite a bit like the painting of a three year old. His face seemed to consist of glasses, the large frames dominating anything else. Still, he had an air of dignity that Lois found hard to compete with, given her current state of dress. After all, she had just returned from days living as a street kid. Pushing her own feelings of insecurity aside, Lois flashed the man before her a challenging glance.
Clark Kent leaned forward, inclined his head slightly and reached out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Lane,” he said politely. “I’m a great admirer of your work.”
Hesitantly, Lois took the hand he offered and shook it. “Thanks.” She was hard pressed not to roll her eyes. Where had Perry found that guy? “You’re working late,” she observed.
He looked at her as if she had caught him with his hands in the cookie-jar. “I’m just trying to catch up on the local politics,” he explained and straightened his tie, unnecessarily. “I’m new to Metropolis.”
“I figured as much,” Lois replied, realizing in the last moment that she had voiced her thoughts.
Inwardly, she cringed, but quickly caught herself. It was just as well that Mr. Green-Jeans learned that whatever backwater place had crawled out of, had not prepared him to survive in the real world. His accent and his early twentieth-century manners screamed rural America, somewhere in the Mid-West she guessed. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a story to write.”
“She just busted a car theft ring,” Jimmy beamed proudly.
“Congratulations,” Clark said with a genuine smile on his lips.
Lois realized it was not true that his glasses hid his eyes, not completely anyway. His smile made them sparkle in the deepest shade of chocolate brown Lois had ever seen. The warmth of his smile was irritating to say the least, radiating through her with a force that weakened her knees. For the briefest of moments Lois felt like she was going to drown in those dark pools. Her breath caught, her heart stopped and with it time stood still.
Lois blinked to clear her mind, barely refraining from shaking her head to get rid of the unwanted thoughts. She studied Clark again, setting her jaw, telling herself not to get carried away again.
There was not a hint of envy in Clark’s eyes, which in Lois’ book only confirmed her earlier assessment of his character. He did not have the spirit it took to best all others. He was easy prey to those who were used to having to fight tooth and nail to get what they wanted. Well, either he learned or he left, it was easy as that. In reply, Lois muttered something that could be mistaken for a grateful response and booted her computer, eager to write down her story. If she hurried, she could still make it into the Morning Edition. Perry had given her time until ten p.m., so she had 45 minutes left.
Clark and Jimmy returned to their work and the newsroom fell quiet again, except for the steady clinking of the keyboard as Lois typed her story. Occasionally, she heard the turning of a page as Clark obviously read an old edition of the Daily Planet. Then again, he turned to his computer and hit a few keys. She shook her head in disbelief. Whatever he was doing, it was no research for a current story. Did he really think that reading old papers would somehow help him to write the news? That was a paradox in itself. Still, it made her curious.
Roughly half an hour later, Lois had finished typing her story. Jimmy and Clark had left the building a bit earlier. Breathing a sigh of contentment, Lois leaned back in her chair and reread her article, searching for mistakes in punctuation and grammar that she needed to correct, before she could send off the file. When she was done with the corrections, she picked up the phone, informing the printing plant that tomorrow’s edition was ready. Lois hung up again and shut her computer off with a pleased smile. It had been a good day.
She got up and fetched her coat from the backrest of her chair, starting for the elevators. She stopped mid-way, turning to look at the now empty desk of Clark Kent. Curiosity drove her back. Taking a quick look over her shoulders, Lois confirmed that she was truly alone in the newsroom, before she hastily went to his desk. It was painfully tidy, cleared of everything but a few pens that were neatly placed in a penholder. A quick perusal of his drawers revealed nothing else of interest. Lois snorted with disappointment.
She straightened, once again turning to head for the elevators. But something kept her in place, something about Clark Kent that irked her. Staring at his desk, she tried to understand what it was about this man that made her waste another thought on him. He was an average guy, substandard even with maybe the exception of his manners. In any case, he was no competition, posed no threat. So why did she care? Lois frowned.
Suddenly, it hit her and Lois relaxed, a smile creeping onto her lips. For the life of her, she could not understand, why Perry had offered Clark Kent a job. There had not been any vacancies as far as she knew and Perry never hired anyone who so obviously lacked experience. Lois felt a lot better, now that she was aware what had sparked her interest. Fortunately, that was a question she could easily find the answer to.
With another glance over her shoulder, Lois made sure that she was still alone. Satisfied, she went to Perry’s office. He was way too confident that his natural authority would keep nosy employees out. Maybe, his fear of his wife Alice added to the fact that lately, he kept forgetting to lock his door. Since his job as the editor-in-chief always kept him in the office until late hours, he had to hurry home in order not to incur Alice’s wrath.
Today had not been any different from all the other days in that respect. The door swung open as soon as Lois pushed down the handle. Perry’s desk stood in stark contrast to the tidy place Clark had left behind. It was covered in heaps of sheets and folders, a complete mess to anyone but the adept observer. Lois however knew the secret system behind the chaos, she had studied Perry well. It took her only moments to find the right folder, the one in which Clark Kent had kept examples of his work.
She snorted as she skimmed over the first one that was dealing with the mating rituals of the knob-tailed gecko. It had been published in the Borneo Gazette. The second article had made it as far as the Smallville Press. Lois shook her head in annoyance. Reading his work, she had to admit that he had good writing skills, but it took much more to become a good investigative journalist. The third sheet of paper proved to be a letter of recommendation from one Professor Carlton, Midwestern University, Kansas. It was addressed to Perry White and from the looks of it, the two men knew each other, seemed to be friends even.
Lois flipped the folder shut. She had seen enough. Obviously, Clark Kent had been hired because of Perry’s friendship with said Professor Carlton. Although, Lois found that kind of strange, it had not been unheard of. She shrugged it off and put the folder back on its place on the desk. If Perry hired a hack from Nowheresville to have someone to cover the dog shows, she certainly was not going to question it. If he made it that long in the big city, he might even take over the obituary section, once Andrew retired.
* * * End Flashback * * *
to be continued...
