A week passed.
Lois had resolutely avoided trying to trace Clark’s whereabouts. She knew he was somewhere in Central America, that much was obvious from his article.
It would have been so easy.
She’d planned out how to track him at least a hundred times during that week, and there were so many avenues she could use to find out where he was, or, at least, how to contact him. All it would take was a word to Jimmy, and she’d get the information she wanted, but she resisted.
Instead, she searched out back issues of the Tribune, all the ones that had carried ‘Jerome King’ by-lines, and made copies of his stories. Reading them made her feel like he was right there with her, to the point where several times she’d raised her head and gone to say something to him… and then seen the empty desk across from hers.
As much as she loved reading and re-reading his articles, they were a poor substitute for the flesh and blood man. And she missed him.
Missed his perpetual cheerfulness, his supportiveness, even the arguments. Missed the subtle protectiveness of his hand on the small of her back, the feel of his solid body when he hugged her, the passion of the few kisses they’d shared. Missed his blinding, brilliant smile that could light up a room, his gentle teasing, sharing pizza and a Mel Gibson movie on his couch.
No one had ever understood her the way Clark had. Very few people had even bothered to try.
It wasn’t that she’d forgotten about the more negative things about Clark Kent, like her conviction that he’d been hiding something from her or the constant, mysterious disappearances at the worst possible times. Before he’d left Metropolis, she’d been convinced they could work through those things. And it wasn’t that she didn’t genuinely care for Dan because she did.
But she loved Clark.
The realisation that she was in love with her erstwhile almost-boyfriend came after the third almost sleepless night in a row and was enough to make Lois sit bolt upright from her doze.
She was in love with Clark Kent. And he loved her.
A sudden surge of excited energy made her cast off the covers and get out of the bed. She had to find him. She had to tell him that she loved him.
It wasn’t until she was in the shower that something else- several something-elses- occurred to her.
She was an engaged woman.
And even if Clark had loved her- as Perry seemed so sure that he had- there was no guarantee that he still did. For all she knew, he had a girlfriend now, or even a wife… The thought seemed to freeze her heart, and she slowly reached up and turned off the water.
She couldn’t just go haring off into the Central American jungle to find him. If he had built a new life for himself, what right did she have to disturb that?
As subdued as she’d been excited, she got ready for work and left the apartment.
***
Someone had left today’s edition of the Planet on her desk. She picked the thick Sunday paper up and noted that it had been carefully folded so that Clark’s latest column was the first thing she saw. She read the piece about his travels in Panama with a wistful smile on her face. Finishing the story, she looked around for Jimmy.
“Jimmy, I need you to do me a favour. I need everything you can find on Jerome King.”
The young aspiring photographer looked dubious. “Sure Lois, but-“
“What?”
“Just… Well, King is a pretty common surname. Without anything to narrow it down, you’re gonna get a lot of hits. I’m just sayin’, it’s gonna be like looking for a needle in a haystack.” She glared at him.
“But I’ll get right on it, sure.” He disappeared into the depths of the bullpen.
Lois drummed her fingers on the desk impatiently. As much as she hated to admit it, Jimmy was right. Just a name- and a common name at that- was too general a search. She needed more information. She could talk to Perry and ask him to contact the Chicago Tribune for her, but she didn’t want to face the questions he’d throw at her. Especially not yet, while she still had no real idea why she was trying to find Clark. She could try talking to Martha or Jonathan Kent, but she’d tried that in the early days of Clark’s disappearance and been stonewalled.
Another idea occurred to her and she went in search of Jimmy.
Finding him at his desk, she looked over his shoulder.
“Royalty cheques.”
“Huh?” Jimmy looked up at her, brow furrowed in confusion.
“The Planet has picked up his column, right? So we must be paying him royalties. Those cheques have to go somewhere, Jimmy.”
“Oh! Right. I knew that,” he muttered. Closing the search he had running, he opened up the Planet’s internal database. Before she had a chance to see how he did it, he’d somehow gained access to the payroll department’s files.
“Looks like they’re going to a post office box in Sarasota,” he informed her.
“Florida? Ok. I want you to find out any information you can about that post office box. Who rented it, what address they gave when they rented it, everything.”
She touched him on the shoulder lightly as she walked away.
***
Knowing that Jimmy was so close to possibly finding out Clark’s location made it hard to concentrate. Even the story she was supposed to be putting the finishing touches to- an expose of Customs agents being bribed to look the other way when certain shipments arrived at Metropolis Airport, which Lois was almost certain would be nominated for another Kerth Award- failed to grab her attention.
She’d finally managed to force herself to focus on the story- after a warning glare from Perry- when Jimmy appeared beside her desk, clutching a sheet of paper.
“What did you find?” she demanded eagerly, the Customs story forgotten.
“Ah, the post office box was rented about ten months ago to Jerome King. He paid a year in advance and used an apartment lease as proof of identity. I spoke to the girl that rented the box, she remembers him because it’s a month to month rental but he paid it so far in advance. Thought it was weird that he used his lease, most people use a driver’s license. Said he was a big guy, about six feet tall but solid, black hair, and glasses.” He paused. “You don’t think it’s…”
“I’m not sure yet. Did you get an address?”
“Oh, yeah.” He handed her the piece of paper and seemed about to comment further when someone called his name from the other side of the bullpen. Lois laid the paper flat on her desk and surveyed the small amount of biographical information Jimmy had been able to find, committing the address, an apartment building on North Euclid Avenue, to memory. There was a phone number listed, and Lois stared at it for a little while, trying to decide whether or not to call and find out once and for all if it was in fact, Clark Kent.
“Lois! I need that story in ten minutes!”
The sound of Perry’s gruff bellow made her jump. Quickly folding the page Jimmy had given her, she stuffed it in her desk drawer and got back to work.
***
Her story written, passed by the lawyers, and approved by Perry, Lois shut down her computer for the night. Reaching into her desk drawer, she retrieved several Double Fudge Crunch bars and the piece of paper with Jerome King’s address and phone number and stuffed them all into her bag. She was halfway down to the ground floor in the elevator when she remembered she was supposed to meet Dan for dinner at a restaurant downtown. She groaned. She didn’t want to go to dinner. All she wanted to do was go home and try to figure out what she was going to do about Clark. And there was no way she’d be able to get out of it, either. Not when Dan had been out of town for most of the last two weeks.
When had it gotten like this? When had the prospect of a date with Dan filled her with boredom, rather than pleasure? In her sudden anger, she shoved the door of the Planet building with more force than necessary, its momentum almost carrying her past the entrance. The truth was, they had nothing in common. And she knew that! She’d known it a year ago when she’d broken up with him. She should never have gone back out with him and she certainly should never have accepted his proposal. She leaned on the side of her Jeep. What was she going to do? She couldn't go through with the wedding, not now she knew she was in love with Clark. Even if she was wrong about Jerome King- even if she never found Clark- she still couldn't marry Dan.
Lois got into the Jeep with a sigh and started the engine. She had a date to get ready for.
***
Daniel Scardino let his cutlery fall to the table with a clatter and fixed his fiancée with an exasperated stare.
“Stop. Just- just stop. Do you realise we've been here for 45 minutes and all you've talked about is Clark Kent?”
He watched as Lois coloured guiltily, then attempted to explain.
“Dan, I-”
The thing was, he’d heard it all before. Clark and Lois had been partners and best friends; his leaving had left a hole in Lois’ life and she missed him. That was fine, as far as it went, but…
But. They’d been dating when Dan had met Lois, and though Dan had personally never been able to see the appeal- Kent had been a little boring, he thought- he’d also never quite been able to shake the feeling that he was competing with a ghost. After all, for all they really knew, Kent was dead.
“I know. He was your friend and you miss him. I've heard this, Lois. But he left. He's gone, Lois, and he's not coming back. You have to accept that.”
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “Like you accepted Jenna?”
That was a low blow, and she knew it. Angry himself now, he retorted “Jenna was killed, she didn't choose to leave. And that was different. I loved Jenna...” He tapered off as realisation struck. “That's it, isn't it? It's not different. You didn't go over there that night to break things off with Kent at all.”
He had never actually asked her, and she’d never volunteered the story of exactly what had happened that night. She’d broken things off with him, and he’d just assumed she’d also broken things off with Kent. He’d thought that was why Kent had left the way he had. Now Dan saw how wrong he’d been.
“Dan...”
“Just answer me one thing, Lois. If he hadn't left that night, would we be sitting here now?”
She was silent, her eyes fixed on her plate.
“I see.” He swallowed hard. “I think... I think I'd like my ring back.”
Slowly, she slid the solitaire off her finger and handed it to him. Wrapping his hand around it, for a moment he had to fight back tears.
“Do you care? Did you ever care?”
“Yes, I cared Dan.”
“But not loved.”
“No. I'm sorry, Dan.” She reached out to touch his hand and he jerked it away. He took a deep, albeit shaky breath.
“The Agency wants to reassign me to DC. I'm going to tell them yes.” He gave her a sad half smile. “You'll be rid of me in about a week.”
He tossed a few bills on the table as he turned to walk out.
***
Lois dropped into her desk chair. The Planet newsroom was close to deserted; only a skeleton crew remained to make sure that the next day’s early edition was produced without any hitches. This was one of her favourite times of the day. It was quiet enough to think, the sound of the skeleton crew moving around was enough to keep her from feeling alone, at least, most of the time, and yet they seldom bothered her.
The scene at dinner had shaken Lois. She’d psyched herself up to call off their engagement, although she was still nervous. It was no easy thing, after all, to tell someone you didn’t want to marry them. Even though she’d done it once before- when she’d come to her senses just in time to not marry Lex- that had been a bit more of a spur of the moment thing. The nervousness had led her to prattle about the one thing that had been occupying her thoughts- Clark- and she really hadn’t expected the result.
She knew she should be upset about her broken engagement, and she did feel bad for Dan. But all she felt was relieved.
“Lois?”
Perry’s voice broke into her reverie.
“Hi Perry.”
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you a little overdressed?”
The words struck a distant memory, and she half smiled. “For a night at the office? Clark asked me that exact question once. The night that gang came looking for Dragonetti’s vault. Aren’t you a little overdressed for a night at the office?”
“Darlin’, is everything okay? You know, planning a wedding can be mighty stressful-”
She held up her left hand, bare now of the glittering diamond that had adorned it for the past few months.
“There’s not going to be a wedding. Dan called it off.”
“Oh! Oh, honey, are you okay?”
“It’s fine, Perry. Really. I was going to call it off anyway.”
She resumed her unfocused stare into the middle distance, barely aware of Perry’s worried gaze.
“Is there anything I can do, Lois?”
“I think…” She made the decision she’d been vacillating over since yesterday. “I think I need some time off.” She stood abruptly and grabbed her bag from where she’d dumped it on the desk. “I’ve got just over two weeks owing. I may only need a week, it depends on flights. I’ll let you know if I’m taking the second week.”
“Of course, darlin’, but where are you going?”
She turned as she got in the elevator.
“I’m going to do something I should’ve done a long time ago.”
