Chapter 3:
"Lois, my dear, what's on your mind tonight?"
Lois startled from her thoughts suddenly and glanced up at Lex. "Hmm?"
Lex looked even more concerned, if that were possible, brows knit together closely and a frown pursing his lips. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Oh, yes. I'm fine Lex."
"Well, you most certainly are fine," he emphasized with a wag of his brows, prompting Lois to roll her eyes at him and Lex grew serious again. "But you have a funny way of showing it if you are."
Lois huffed a sigh as she stabbed another forkful of leafy greens and directed it into her mouth. Lex was right. She was not alright. Her earlier conversation with Perry had completely thrown her off of her game. The idea that she might not work at the Daily Planet— that there might not be a Daily Planet to work at soon— completely devastated her. This was her life's work. This was how she coped. Chasing stories, running headlong into danger, having new experiences— it meant the world to her. And she often was able to choose her own assignments, manage her own time, partner-free.... Would any other paper she worked for allow her such freedoms? Would any other boss be as forgiving as Perry White?
"Lois?" Lex's voice intruded again, this time accompanied by a caressing hand over her own. Lois glanced down at it briefly and was suddenly awash with guilt. Lex cared so deeply for her. She didn't know why. "Tell me. What is it?"
She sighed finally before looking up to meet her boyfriend's earnest eyes. "Perry thinks the Planet is going under."
Lex's reaction was instantaneous as his eyebrows practically jumped to his hairline. "What? How is that possible?"
Lois shook her head fiercely, letting it all tumble out of her now. "I don't know. Sales haven't been as good lately. Perry says a lot of the advertisers are backing out and not giving a reason why."
Lex cleared his throat and jumped into the fray. "Maybe there's an explanation for all this—"
"Oh, don't give me that kid glove crap, Lex. You know as well as I do what that means. They don't want to cause a stir so they're going to let us just ride it out until there's nothing else to say except have fun with the job hunt."
Lex folded his hands calmly, and Lois scowled. How could he be so calm when she was clearly stewing? She supposed it was a good thing. They couldn’t both go flying off the handle all the time. But it wouldn’t hurt if he got outraged on her behalf some of the times. She picked over her plate again. “I don’t know. You’re right. There has to be some explanation. I didn’t think our numbers were doing that bad. We’ve got better readership than the Metropolis Star, and they’re still kicking. But this is just out of nowhere. I don’t know what to do. Perry thinks we need a buyout, get some fresh blood into the company…” She trailed off when she looked up again only to find Lex’s eyes glazed over, fixated on her mouth. She stopped and gave him a dirty look. "Lex? Lex Luthor, are you listening to me?"
He shook himself, as though he hadn’t realized she had been speaking the whole time. "I'm sorry, darling. I was distracted by your immense beauty." That earned him an eyeroll and another forceful stab at her dinner. "What were you saying?"
Lois sighed and put her fork down onto the white table cloth gently. No sense beating around the bush. "Perry thinks you should try to buy the Planet. You know, as a backup plan in case things do go south. But I don't know if that's a good idea—"
Lex's eyes lit up almost instantly. "You're joking, right? That's a fantastic idea! Why, I can't believe I didn't think of it myself!"
Lois beat back the urge to roll her eyes once again and instead focused on her concern over the matter, wringing her hands slightly. "But Lex, if there really is a problem with the paper and you sink yourself into it, then—"
"Lois, my dear, you must know I've got deeper pockets than that," he chided. "Besides, then I could have a legitimate excuse for hanging out around your place of work all day long. It would be perfect."
Lois turned her eyes away and once again started playing with her food. She hated it when he got too sentimental. She liked Lex, a lot, maybe even a little too much. But he was a bit intense for her. She hadn't ever said she'd loved him, and he spouted off the phrase like it were nothing. It was hard for her to trust. "You wouldn't have to do it just for me."
His jaw slackened, and she braced herself for an impending argument about her self-worth and his undying love.
*****LnC*****
Lex’s shoulders slumped slightly, and Lois squirmed in her seat as he examined her discomfort. She went through these mood spirals every so often. He hated that she had such self-esteem issues. He hated her father for instilling them into her, for ever laying a hand on her that wasn't loving and gentle, for telling her she would never be good enough. He didn't know how to prove to her that he was in this for the long haul any more than he already had. He did things for her, spent time and money on her-- not for any ulterior motive-- but because he wanted to. It was a constant battle with the demons her abusive father had created within her, and a lot of times, it felt like a losing one. But he also knew he couldn’t give up. He had to power through, keep showing her how amazing and wonderful she was, in spite of her inner monologue.
After all, he knew what it was like to have an abusive father, too.
He placed a gentle hand over hers and looked into her face. "Look at me. Lois, look at me." She finally dragged her gaze over and locked eyes with him. He couldn't let himself get too lost in those shimmering pools of brown or else he'd lose track of what he was trying to say. "I'm doing it because I love you." He ignored the flinch that ran through her as he said the words and kept his hand and his gaze steady. "I want to share all that I have with you. I don't want you to be sad, ever, and losing the Daily Planet would make you inconsolable. I know you, Lois. I know how you feel about your job. So if there's a chance I can save it, I will. End of discussion. Understand?"
She simply nodded in response and took another bite of her salad, but it sure didn’t feel like she was understanding him. It didn’t feel like she was even listening to him.
Lex didn't move his gaze away, instead staring at her in the tense silence. "You know, Lois, my offer is still on the table."
She froze, fork halfway to her mouth and jaw hung open.
He mistakenly took her silence as a cue to continue. "You know there's nothing more I would want in the world—"
"Lex," her voice was low with warning.
"I would be honored if you would become my—"
"Don't!" Lois bolted upright out of her chair and threw down her fork. "Don't you say the word, Lex! You know how I feel about this— I thought we went over this twice already?!"
"Yes, but my darling—" He tried and failed to cut in.
"No! I thought you understood, I'm not ready yet, and the more you push the issue the longer it's going to take me to be ready for... the next step. I don't know if I'll ever be ready because of how many walls I have up, but for God's sake, Lex! You can't re-propose to me every time the mood strikes you!"
"Lois, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to catch you off guard, I just thought the moment was right and it was kind of a good segue—"
"Well, it wasn't." Lois pushed her chair in and bent over to pick up her clutch.
Lex sighed and stood to follow her, ignoring the twinge that pulled under his right eye. "Lois, where are you going?"
"I'm suddenly no longer hungry. And I remembered that I've got work to do." She started to stomp off towards the door.
"Lois, please, stay. Chef Andre prepared your favorite dessert— his seven layer chocolate cake—"
"Well, have him make me a to go bag, then!" Lois retorted.
"Lois, wait," he placed a gentle hand on her forearm and ducked when she flung her other arm back at him. He quickly realized his mistake and released her, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
Fire burned in her eyes as she whirled on him. "Don't," she hissed dangerously, "don't you ever grab me again."
Lex, finally defeated, hung his head with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just don't want to fight."
Lois ran her eyes searchingly over his expression, as if she were looking for any hint of deception, but came up empty. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and Lex saw that she knew she’d overreacted. "You know how that gets to me," she spoke in a tone of apology, which Lex knew was about as close you got to an actual I'm-sorry from Lois Lane.
He nodded and repeated himself once more. "I know. I'm sorry. I don't want you to leave angry."
Lois made a clicking noise with her tongue unconsciously which reminded Lex of her sister— words that he would never utter in this lifetime or the next. Then finally she sighed and acknowledged his words. "I know, I'm not angry. I just... I'm tired and stressed. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
Lex nodded and leaned forward to place a peck on her cheek before she had the chance to object. "All right. Would you like one of my drivers to take you home?"
She shook her head. "No, I think I could use the walk to clear my head a bit. It's a nice night."
"You sure?" he asked, concern written plainly across his features, but he dared not say anything else that might land him in hot water tonight.
She leveled him with a sharp glare.
Lex raised his hands once more. "Okay. See you tomorrow, then. And I'll talk to some people about looking into the Planet's finances, all right? I'll try to get to the bottom of this." He'd try to buy it first, he thought. He could dig into their finances after. But he wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by. He gave her a quick smile and blurted out yet another "I love you."
She nodded blankly, not really caring at this point, and Lex regretted ever bringing the topic up. "Bye," she muttered and turned quickly to head to the elevators and out towards the night, yet again not returning the words.
Last edited by Mouserocks; 05/28/18 03:15 AM.
