2/5
Clark walked down the ramp of the bullpen looking for his partner. He knew once again that he had rushed off without talking to her. He knew it was something they needed to work on; his other job just kept getting in the way. After months of him lying to her about being Superman, she had finally discovered the truth on her own. Now they were in a good place with their relationship – well sort of. They had decided to hold off getting engaged for a bit and just be with each other.
Being together was harder than it seemed with their schedules lately. When they weren’t working on an investigation together, he was out saving the world, or they were arguing. He thought her finding out the truth about his duel personalities would solve so many issues between them and lately it seemed that it had just made things worse.
They needed to take the time out of their busy schedules and have an honest conversation about what they wanted from their relationship. As different as he was from every other person on this Planet he still wanted the same thing – a family of his own, a wife and kids. Lois was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, to be honest; she was the main reason he had stayed in Metropolis two years ago.
As he approached Lois’ desk he realized she was nowhere in sight. It had been two hours since he had left her standing in the hallway of her apartment. She had to be finished with the interview with the billionaire from Gotham City by now. What was it with all of the billionaire bachelors wanting to be interviewed by his girl?
“Jimmy, have you seen, Lois,” Clark asked as their friend and colleague walked by Lois’ desk.
“Didn’t the two of you have Bruce Wayne’s interview this morning,” Jimmy replied. “You didn’t let her go alone did you?”
“What is this about Lois doing the Wayne interview alone,” Perry White, editor-in-chief, demanded approaching the two men. “Who decided that Lois doing the interview alone was a good idea? How many times has an eligible billionaire bachelor tried to kill her?”
“Chief, Lois and I talked this morning and I realized that I have to have more faith that she can handle things on her own. She was an ace reporter who stood in front of danger before I showed up at the Daily Planet why should it be any different now that we are dating,” Clark explained trying to convince his friends.
“What is Superman looking after her, CK,” Jimmy asked knowing full well that Clark wouldn’t let Lois go without some type of an agreement between them.
“Not every eligible billionaire bachelor has tried to kill her that she has interviewed,” Clark retorted. “Just most of them, who want to use her to –.”
Before Clark could finish the sentence he heard her voice from a far away distance. Every time he heard her voice shout his name in fear his heart broke a little bit more. She was in her Jeep and it wouldn’t stop.
“Help,” she screamed as she drove closer to the crowd of people at the Farmer’s Market. As many times as she pushed on the brakes, the Jeep would not slow down. Unless Superman showed up in the next couple of seconds she would crash and likely kill innocent people. “Superman, help!”
Suddenly her car came to an abrupt stop and her body jerked forward. She looked out the windshield realizing she only a few feet away from the crowd of people and her car tipped at an angle. She took in a large breath of air – her hero once again came to her rescue.
“Are you okay,” Clark asked seconds later after he put the back of the Jeep down rushed to her side.
“Yea, glad you showed up on time or I would have been making the Farmer’s Market a drive thru and not the good kind,” Lois joked half-heartedly.
“I’ll always show up on time, when it comes to you,” he replied opening the Jeep door for her.
He pulled her out of the car taking her into his arms. They needed to talk, he hadn’t been fair to her the past couple of nights. His Superman duties had gotten in the way of their relationship. Yet when it came to her safety, Superman was right there to save her.
“How about dinner tonight, no interruptions,” he murmured in her ear.
She pulled back looking up at him knowing full well what no interruptions met between them. They needed to talk they needed time together, to communicate – yet tonight wasn’t an option.
“I can’t,” she answered. “I have plans, tonight.”
“What?”
“Bruce is having a dinner party at the Metropolis Embassy Hotel and he wants me to introduce him to some influential people in Metropolis like the Mayor and Commissioner,” Lois explained.
“You have a date with the man you were supposed to interview this morning,” Clark muttered letting go of Lois and turning away. He put his hand through his hair like he did every time he was frustrated and sighed.
“It’s not what it sounds like, really,” Lois retorted. “It’s business. He wants to do buy some of Lex’s old businesses and turn them into respectable businesses. He also wants to start a scholarship program in his parents’ name at Metropolis University and a charity.”
“Why? Did Gotham City become to small for his taste?”
“Can we talk about this some place else? Maybe the office or lunch later, I have some research to do still on Wayne Enterprises,” Lois wondered. “We do need to talk about what happened earlier, but right now is not the best place
***
Three hours later Clark arrived back at the Daily Planet while Lois was in the conference room researching Wayne Enterprises. Jimmy had found articles and newspapers on anything to do with Bruce Wayne, his family, and Wayne Enterprises. Lois had found out that his parents were murdered right in front of him when he was younger in the streets of Gotham City.
After disappearing for years to a private boarding school he came back to Gotham City to start running Wayne Enterprises. In the beginning the business would suffer because he would want to party with ladies most nights, but things turned around for him one day and he turned Wayne Enterprises into a substantial revered business.
“What made him turn around,” Lois asked herself as Clark walked into the conference room.
“Maybe he meant a woman who turned his life upside down,” Clark uttered. “Jimmy told me what you were working on.”
“Where have you been all morning,” Lois wondered since he had disappeared after she told him about her plans tonight with Bruce Wayne.
“Earthquake in Chile and on the way back I had to deal with a bank robbery on Fifth Avenue. Do you still plan on attending that dinner party tonight,” he asked sitting down across from her.
“Of course, I do. He sounds like a legitimate businessman who wants to make a positive impact here. His family and business has done some wonderful things in Gotham City, so why can’t he do the same thing in Metropolis,” she explained handing over an article from the Gotham Gazette with a headline about Wayne Enterprises.
“Don’t you think it’s fishy that he comes to Metropolis wanting to buy all of Lex’s old properties and businesses?”
“He had his hand in a lot of businesses and before you say anything, I know most of them were illegal. Why do you want to believe that Bruce wants to take over what Lex had?”
“Because he has done exactly what Lex did,” Clark shouted realizing that Lois was not seeing what was right in front of her. He didn’t trust Bruce Wayne, Clark didn’t trust anyone that demanded an interview only with Lois. Clark had overheard Mr. Wayne’s secretary on the phone with Perry the day before, he would only give the interview with Lois, and Clark was not to be involved.
“What are you talking about,” Lois questioned.
“Lois, he has gotten under your skin, just like Lex did. Did you forget that I was here from the beginning with Lex? I knew he was evil from the moment I met him and yet you kept seeing him. You almost married him even though I warned you about him.”
Lois and Clark’s voices were getting louder in the conference room. Lois stood up from the table shocked at Clark’s outburst – her almost wedding to Lex was something she never thought he would bring up. She couldn’t believe the gall of the man she claimed to love. He was bringing back one of her biggest mistakes to the forefront.
“How could you,” she cried deeply hurt by the man she thought that loved her. Maybe they had made mistake, maybe marriage was never going to happen, and maybe Clark Kent wasn’t the most honest man she knew. She exited the conference room without saying another word leaving Clark standing there in the dust once again.
