Testing a Theory
Folc4evernaday
Teaser
Three years. It had been three years since she’d stepped foot into Metropolis. It wasn’t the shopping or parties or celebrities that brought her back. It wasn’t old friends or missed moments and memories. She’d kept up with her old colleagues through the international news organizations during her time in LA and as she worked on developing her own Fashion Line, ‘Cat.’
No, none of those things had been something to bring Cat Grant back to Metropolis. What did bring Cat Grant back to Metropolis? The frantic phone call from her cousin, Samantha, begging for her help a week ago had pulled her away from her cocktail parties and store openings to dust off her old reporter’s hat and try to help her cousin out of a jam. How she was supposed to help she still didn’t know.
“I am not having nor have I ever had an illicit affair with Lois Lane.” Superman’s voice echoed on the television inside the Metropolis Women’s Penitentiary replaying the coverage from last week’s press conference.
Cat sighed, looking back at her cousin, “I’m not sure what you want from me, Sam. I could be sipping mojitos poolside, but instead, I’m here…in a jailhouse listening to you. This better be good.”
“Help me get out of this.” Samantha urged, motioning to the other women in the public visitor’s room. “I can’t go to prison.”
“What do you want me to do?” Cat scoffed, “You tried to blow up international world leaders. I’m not an attorney or anything, but I think there’s a crime there.”
“That wasn’t me!” Samantha argued half-heartedly, “That was Mr. Goode. He was obsessed with stopping Superman from negotiating peace between them. Something about an International Peace Prize? I don’t know.”
“How did you get mixed up in all of this then?” Cat pressed. “I’ve worked with Henderson for a looonnng time, and he’s as straight arrow as they come.”
“It was that Lane woman. She saw me with Goode when he was kidnapping her.” Samantha admitted shyly.
“Oh, this just keeps getting better and better,” Cat muttered. “Lane? As in Lois Lane?”
“Goode needed bait for Superman.” Samantha shrugged.
Of course, Lois is involved. Why wouldn’t she be? It is a Superman exclusive. Cat recalled how her former rival had fawned over the man of steel when he’d first come on the scene. At the time she’d been convinced something had to have happened up on that space station between the two of them but as time went on it became more apparent Lois’ reaction was that of unrequited love. A school girl’s crush. Had that changed?
She glanced at the coverage that had been playing on repeat for the last two weeks regarding Superman’s ‘affair’ with a very married Lois Lane. The image was shocking, but was it true? Could Lois really stoop that low to get the love and attention she so desperately sought all those years ago?
If she did, then Cat had misjudged her character profusely. That was one thing Cat prided herself on, judging others and being able to size people up. She’d always assumed Lois put on the act of not caring about anyone who got in her way as a way to protect herself from getting hurt. Had she been wrong? Could she really be that uncaring as to do something like that to her now husband and partner, Clark Kent?
She’d seen the looks Clark had given Lois Lane from the moment he’d been hired and been instantly jealous. He was handsome and had a charming mystique about him that she hadn’t been able to put her finger on. She’d offered him opportunity after opportunity to let her ‘show him the ropes’ around Metropolis, but he’d declined over and over again. After the incident with Nightfall, she’d stopped trying, finally realizing the only woman Clark Kent would ever have eyes for was Lois Lane…even if she never gave him more than a second glance. Obviously, that had changed.
“Of course he did,” Cat muttered, shaking her head as she laughed, “So you sit there and do nothing while he kidnaps an innocent woman, plants bombs under unsuspecting world-leaders….Oh, and you ruined your reputation by trying to fake a scandal against Superman, the international goody-two-shoes-boy scout. Does that about sum it all up?”
“It wasn’t like that!” Samantha argued.
“Oh?” Cat scoffed, “So someone that looks like you, has your signature, and access to your accounts just hopped on over to Hanks’ Photo Lab and billed the fake scandal to Goode International? You do realize he’s trying to pin this all on you right, Sam?”
“It wasn’t a fake scandal,” Sam muttered angrily. “I know what I saw.”
“What did you just say?” Cat asked, interest perked.
“I said it wasn’t a fake scandal. The real photo got damaged when I was coming out of the airport, but what was printed….that’s what I saw.” Samantha said slowly. “Lois Lane is having an affair with Superman.”
“So you’re saying Superman just lied to the world?” Cat asked, incredulously. “Superman doesn’t lie.”
“Are you sure about that?” Samantha asked, “Look, I know everything else looks bad, but there has to be a way I can beat this. I didn’t ….”
“You did.” Cat cut her off. “I’ll see what I can do but don’t go running your mouth off in there. You never know who’s connected with who in there. I’d hate to see you get hurt.”
Samantha was quiet for a moment, “It was the truth.” She repeated.
“Why would he lie?” Cat asked.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Samantha countered. Cat grew thoughtful as she contemplated Samantha’s words carefully. Why would Superman lie? Was he really capable of doing something as ethically horrendous as having an affair with his best friend’s wife? She wasn’t sure what the answer was, but she was going to find out.
***
PEACE TREATY SIGNED By Clark KentClark scanned over the morning edition of the Daily Planet as he and Lois headed into the Daily Planet Lobby, “You sure you don’t want to share a byline on this one?” He asked hesitantly. It had surprised him when Lois had refused to contribute to the story on the successful peace treaty negotiations between Latislan and Podansk this past week.
Lois shook her head, “No, I think after last week as much distance as I can put between me and ‘you-know-who’ the better.”
He nodded, “Okay, well I guess I can understand that.” She had insisted that after the scandal the only ‘Superman’ stories she wanted to work on were ones associated with investigations they were already working on.
Last week had been a wake-up call for both of them. Realizing that the close relationship the Daily Planet and by association Lois, shared with the man of steel could be misconstrued as something else by the paparazzi made them both think twice about which Superman stories they turned into Perry and which ones they let other journalists cover.
It had been a close call.
They had been lucky this time.
He had foolishly decided the only way to stop things from continuing to spiral out of control around them was, to tell the truth. It wasn’t until later that he realized how illogical that thought had been. Both his parents and Lois had tried to convince him otherwise, but at the time he’d been too stubborn to listen.
After the press conference, Lois didn’t want to talk about it. She had opted to just continue business as usual as she continued to ignore the snide remarks and digs that continued to flow throughout the newsroom and at press conferences even after Superman’s denial. The reality was the idea had been put out there, and there was no way to take it back.
After nearly a week of ignoring everything, Lois had announced over the weekend that she was no longer covering Superman stories. He’d been shocked, to say the least, but had decided not to press her as he knew she was still dealing with the brunt of a lot of the resentment that had been thrown at her during the scandal.
***
Cat Grant stared at the numbers on the screen in front of her. “This can’t be right,” She muttered as she looked over the numbers once more. According to her calculations, the Daily Planet had received nearly 90% of all exclusives from the Man of Steel. She’d expected a high number but not that high.
Next, she looked over who had the exclusives. She already had a pretty good idea who was responsible for a lot of those exclusives. Lois was always chasing the Superman lead. Perry had to practically blackmail her to get her to go to Smallville with Clark on that story about the EPA cleanup that turned out to be another big story for them.
Surprisingly it wasn’t Lois that had the most exclusives. It was Clark Kent.
She pulled up the video from the press conference again, “I am not having nor have I ever had an illicit affair with Lois Lane.”
Something about the way he had said that…
“If nothing’s going on how come Clark Kent isn’t here?”
Where was Clark?
The footage showed Lois standing next to a young man with a camera. She twisted her face, trying to size him up. Could that be Jimmy? She had been gone a long time. Maybe he grew up a little? Lois’ face seemed to have a bit of a panic wash over it when that question was asked. How come?
Superman’s answer wasn’t even an answer.
“He is here.” Everyone scanned the crowd, and there was obviously no sign of Clark Kent in the crowd. “That’s what that ring on her finger symbolizes. Clark and Lois trust each other, and that’s the only truth that matters.”
A non-denial.
Where was Clark? Why wasn’t he at that press conference? And why did Lois get such a panicked look on her face when asked about where Clark was? Her face hadn’t flinched when Superman was being asked about an affair with her. What was so different now?
“That’s what that ring on her finger symbolizes. Clark and Lois trust each other, and that’s the only truth that matters.”
Those weren’t words of a friend….or even a lover. Those were words of someone that shared that trust…that commitment. Realization slowly dawned on her as the pieces began to fit.
“Clark and Lois trust each other, and that’s the only truth that matters,” Cat repeated aloud. “Of course they do. They trust each other. They work together. They know each other. So why would Clark Kent not be at that press conference? He was already attending…as Superman.” She mused happily as the pieces began to fit into place. It was so simple, and it explained so much, but all she had was a hypothesis. She would need to test her theory out.
***
Lois sighed happily as Clark wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her to him as the doors to the elevator closed behind the remainder of other Daily Planet employees that had joined them on the elevator from the Lobby. “How are you doing?” He whispered in her ear.
“Okay,” She whispered, turning in his arms to face him. She placed a hand on his chest, “It’s just a little hard not chasing down every lead.”
“I know.” He sighed, leaning into her, “but you were right. We got sloppy. We need to put as much distance as we can to protect everyone involved.”
“You’re not mad?” Lois asked cautiously.
“No,” Clark shook his head, leaning in to kiss her, moving his hand to stroke her cheek as he deepened the kiss. She smiled against his lips for a moment then pulled away, glancing at the camera in the elevator for a moment as she tugged her suit jacket tightly around her waist. “Lois…” He sighed.
Before he could continue his train of thought, the elevator dinged, announcing their arrival on the newsroom floor. “That’s us,” She said hurriedly, stepping out onto the newsroom floor and heading for her desk.
He sighed, following close behind her. Ever since the Superman scandal. Ever since she’d realized someone had been watching them with a camera ready when they had been making love at Chateau Roberge Lois had been paranoid about any public displays of affection. Almost as if she was afraid the paparazzi was going to jump out at any moment.
Despite Superman’s denial of the affair at the press conference, they were still dealing with a few unsavory journalists looking to twist the fake scandal back into the raging scandal it once was a few weeks ago. Lois had already caught a few photographers trying to break into their home when he’d been out on patrol.
Despite the successful negotiations, Superman had completed with Latislan and Podansk and the numerous scandals littering the news circuit regarding the upcoming election it seemed all anyone was interested in was looking into Lois Lane’s connection to Superman and press the issue of why Clark Kent wasn’t at that press conference.
***
Cat stepped out of her cab, looking up at the Daily Planet globe wistfully. “It’s been a long time,” She smiled up at the remodeled Daily Planet building and headed inside, tugging her purse tightly to her slender form as she removed her sunglasses, hooking them on the collar of her designer dress.
“Well, it’s now or never,” She muttered to herself, heading inside.
***
“So, what are you working on?” Clark edged cautiously pulling up a chair to Lois’ desk. Things had been a bit tense the last few weeks. He wanted to get back to his and Lois’ routine of working together. It was hard not seeing her face in the crowd on Superman rescues, but he knew it was for the best. He just missed her.
“Writing up the interview with President Garner on his re-election plans,” Lois said, turning back to him. “How about you?”
He shook his head, “It’s been pretty quiet this week.” Truth be told he’d had a handful of rescues this morning with a car accident on the Metropolis Bridge and a missing child at Metropolis Square, but both incidents weren’t anything that would require news attention. The child was found safely playing a few blocks away on the swing set, and the accident was quickly cleaned up without any injuries.
“Yeah, for a change,” Lois replied softly.
“Well, now that those peace treaty negotiations are done maybe we can take some time and get away for the weekend. I know this really great out of the way place…” He whispered in her ear, moving his chair next to her so he could snake his arms around her waist as he whispered in a barely audible tone, “Clothing optional.”
She smiled back at him, turning her head to look at him, with a throaty whisper, “Barring any federal disasters that sounds…” She stopped, noticing a commotion by the elevators, “Cat?”
The auburn-haired woman that had left the Daily Planet years ago had been replaced with a sophisticated red-head, sporting a stylish shoulder length style and classy dress suit as she made her way through the wave of old colleagues that had greeted her after she’d exited the elevator.
Clark followed Lois’ gaze and raised his eyebrows when he saw the drastic changes Cat Grant had taken to her appearance. Gone were the skimpy dresses and spandex outfits. They’d been replaced with classy style to match her attitude.
“Lois, you finally found a stylist!” Cat cheered as she approached Lois’ desk.
Sensing the tension in the air, Clark gently squeezed her shoulder, “Don’t.”
“Cat, you finally found a dress that fits you.” Lois shot back, “What happened Tramps-R-Us go out of business?”
“I see you haven’t lost that sense of humor.” Cat grinned back at her. “I heard you finally got married. It only took what? Four times to make it down the aisle?”
Clark scowled, throwing Cat an annoyed look. That had been over the line.
“Listen here you…” Lois snapped irritably, standing to her feet.
Clark decided to intervene, “Uh, Cat, what brings you back to the Planet?”
“Hi, Clark,” Cat gave him a once-over, letting her eyes linger on him longer than he felt comfortable, “I see married life is treating you well.”
He wrapped a protective arm around Lois’ waist from behind, pulling her to him, “Always,”
She gave him another lingering glance before winking, “Too bad.”
Lois folded her arms over her chest, “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a fashion empire to run?”
“I’m doing it from here. LA was getting boring. Same old parties. Same old stories. Boring. I thought coming back to Metropolis would help liven things up again.” Cat smiled back at her as she gave her a once over. “Speaking of which you should really check out our Spring Collection. It’ll do wonders for your complexion…There’s also some very classy lingerie … I don’t have anything in brown but…”
He could feel Lois seething as Cat spoke and did his best not to react. The claws were out again it seemed. “No way am I taking fashion advice from….you.”
Cat shrugged, “Just thought I’d help you out…”
“Cat, I thought you weren’t getting in till this afternoon,” Perry said, walking up to them.
“Hi, Perry,” Cat smiled toward their Editor-in-Chief, “I was able to get an earlier flight so I thought I’d surprise everyone.” She turned to Lois and smiled, “Surprise,”
“Don’t tell me…” Lois muttered.
“Perry gave me my old job back!” Cat beamed with a smile as she walked past the couple, “Cat’s Corner is back…”
TBC...
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