Chapter 4:
Lois finally got inside her apartment and slammed the door heavily behind her. She stomped halfway across her living room before returning and locking the dead bolts. Feeling a bit better already, she smiled smugly to herself.
With a sigh of relief, Lois began removing her coat and unbuttoning her blouse as she made her way back to her bedroom, shedding layers as she went. She could feel a major weight lift off her shoulders as she changed into her more comfortable pajamas and finally let loose a little. Of course, as soon as she started to get comfortable, her mind decided to turn to Lex Luthor.
Why did he always have to do that? He knew her history better than anyone. He knew how much marriage, and the L-word, scared her. He knew she watched her own parent's marriage tumble into pain and suffering, and an eventual split, how her father had abused their whole family in the process, how her mother had a permanent room in rehab due to the fallout of it all. What in his right mind made him think that she would possibly ever be ready for a relationship as serious as the one he wanted?
And then, of course, there was the whole issue of what Lois felt for him.
Lois groaned loudly and stomped off towards the kitchen. If she was going to get existential and debate herself for the rest of the night, then she was going to need something to get her through it. She flung open the freezer door however and found it bereft of anything that could be arguably considered chocolate. Spying what looked to be an ice cream container in the back, she rummaged around a bit, face lighting up as she pulled it out—
"Lemon cheesecake?!" she uttered aloud in disgust upon reading the label. "Dammit, Lucy! Why can't you be normal and like Rocky Road!"
Frustrated, and wishing she had taken up Lex's offer of cake for the road, she tossed the carton back in haphazardly and slammed the door of the freezer, feeling more and more upset without anything to pour her feelings into.
Her gaze immediately shifted over to the cabinet where she kept her basic food staples like flour, sugar, and her spice rack.
No!!! her subconscious rang out. Don't even go there. You've been doing so good lately. Lex has been so proud of you.
Lois stood there, tapping her short nails furiously on the countertop, trying to beat back the craving. It had been a week already, and she was doing well so far. Apart from those first few days— those were tough. Hence her bitten-down nails and the obvious lack of chocolate in the house. She listened to how quiet the apartment was, how clean it looked without Lucy there. It was so calm, so quiet.
"Ah, screw it," she cried out and spun on her heel to reach up into the cabinet, blindly looking for what should have been there. She couldn't take it anymore. There was no distraction, no chocolate, and she didn't have a single nail left to chew on anxiously.
"Aha!" Her fingers found what she was looking for, and a little thrill of excitement ran up her spine. Quickly, she opened the pack and drew out the first cigarette of the pack— the first of her week— and lit it. Taking a long drag off of it, she finally felt the tension leave her shoulders and was delighted at the puff of smoke that followed her sigh. It suddenly seemed like a lifetime had gone by since her last smoke, and she had no idea why she quit in the first place.
No, she knew why. Lex. Lois found herself growling irritably and raised the cig up to her lips once again. Well, she was mad at him right now. Served him right for being an ass. He had no control over what she did with her life. It was her life! Who was he to tell her what she can and can't do? If she wanted a smoke, then she was damn well gonna smoke. Feeling a bit smug now, Lois smirked to herself and happily puffed away at her well deserved treat. It wasn't like many people even knew she smoked anyway. What was a harmless puff every now and again?
She heard the front door shake and someone clearly trying to open it from the outside. Frowning, Lois set down her cigarette on the countertop and went to investigate. It couldn't be Lex, could it? He wouldn't come by so soon after a fight.
A loud curse reached Lois' ears from the other side of the door and she rolled her eyes to herself. She decided to let her sister squirm a moment, shouting her name and knocking fiercely, before swiftly opening the door and almost causing Lucy to fall inside.
"God, Lois! You have to lock all the deadbolts every time?"
Lucy strolled past her, the smell of alcohol coming off her in droves. "Geez, Lucy, maybe if you didn't get so roaring drunk all the time, it wouldn't be this big of a problem." Lois shut the front door firmly.
"I am not drunk! I'll have you know I can hold my liquor quite well, thank you very much."
It was so nice to have her sister temporarily living with her. Lois barely smothered the urge to laugh at her own joke.
"Judas Priest!!" her sister's voice carried loudly across the apartment. "Lois, did you try cooking something real or are you just smoking like a chimney again?! Crack a window, for Pete's sake!"
Lois scowled at the sound of her kid sister criticizing her again. "You know, you've been living here rent free for the past three months—"
"All right! All right. I get it. Geez, someone's snippy tonight."
Lucy grabbed a soda from the fridge and gracelessly plopped down on a barstool in the kitchen. "So, what is it this time, sis?"
Lois weighed the options in telling her sister what had happened tonight. It certainly would take some weight off her shoulders, then again—
"Let me guess: another fight with Lex?" Lois opened her mouth to protest, but when met with the arched eyebrow of Lucy Lane, she promptly shut it. "Yeah, I thought so. What was it about?"
Lois reached for her cigarettes again, lighting a second one. "He proposed again."
Lucy lost her calm composure as quickly as she had got it. "Again? Are you kidding me? What is that, the tenth time? What did you say? I don't see a ring on your finger."
Lois shot her a sharp glare that silenced that train of thought. "Third, if you must know. And anyways, that's not what it was really all about."
"Okay, so what was it this time?"
The constant repetition of the phrase was grating on her, but she knew she couldn't get away with avoiding the topic. Lois chewed her bottom lip before confessing all. There wasn't much she could ever keep from her little sister. She was basically the only real family Lois had left. "Perry is worried the Planet's going under. Our advertisers keep dropping, and if he can't find someone to inject some new life into it, a.k.a. money, then it might not make it at all."
"Lois, that's awful! I'm so sorry."
"It gets worse," Lois fidgeted with her smoke for a moment. "He thinks I should talk Lex into buying it."
Lucy's jaw dropped slightly. "And he said no? To you?!"
Lois shook her head vehemently. "No, of course not. He basically said he'd do whatever it takes to make me happy, and that's when he lead in with the whole marriage bit."
Lucy sat pensively for a long moment of suspicious silence. Lois cut her eyes to her with a glare, waiting for the wheels in her slightly-more-than-intoxicated sister's head to turn. "He's nice. Good guy." Lucy looked up with her lips pursed. "You're not happy, though, are you?"
Lois simply shrugged as she continued to puff away.
"Maybe it's just the stress of it all," Lucy started carefully. "You're relationship issues—"
"Watch it," she bit out defensively.
"Maybe the worry about the Daily Planet failing has just got you all riled up. I mean, look at you, you've gone through what looks like two cigarettes already in one night when you haven't smoked this much in so long. And you know you smoke when you're stressed."
Lois eyed her sister mock-suspiciously. "You're starting to sound a little bit like a therapist there, Luce. I thought you'd switched majors to boys or something," she teased.
Lucy threw her hands up. "You know, you're incorrigible sometimes. I say, if you don't like him, quit stringing him along! Cut the cord already! If you do, then stop flipping out at him every time he wants to be intimate!"
"Trust me, it's not the intimacy that's the problem," Lois wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Lucy smacked her forehead with a groan.
"Okay, that's it for me. This is heading into I-don't-wanna-know territory, so I'm going to bed now."
Lois grinned at her success in getting Lucy off her back. "G'night Luce!" A mumbled "whatever" was tossed her way from her sister's retreating form.
As the apartment started to calm down once more, Lois finally decided it was time to put her cigarette out and head off to bed herself. She smashed the butt in the ashtray she'd returned to its rightful place on the counter and moved to turn off the lights when the phone suddenly rang and tore through the silence. Lois jumped, startled and quickly picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Lane, so glad you're at home."
She released a small breath at realizing who it was. "Bobby, this had better be good. I was just getting ready for bed."
"Look, I don't got a lot of time, and I don't know much yet, but I figured you'd want to be the first to know—"
Her ears perked up at this and suddenly she was no longer tired. "What is it? Spit it out, Bobby."
"There's a whole lot of buzzing going on in the streets recently, for a couple of different reasons. Number one, I thought you should be know about the Planet—"
"I already know about our advertisers, Bobby. They're dropping like flies."
"No, no, no. You don't understand. They're being paid off. Bribed into dropping their support."
Lois frowned deeply. "Bribed? Who would do that? Why would someone want the Planet to fail?"
"Beats me. I told ya, I don't got a lot of information yet. I'm still in the market for that. I heard a couple of rumors from some people I trust about the advertisers— one guy told me he saw a suspicious looking British guy and another man talking shop about "the ad hunt" but I don't know if I would just take his word for it. He's a little bit over the cuckoo's nest, if you know what I mean."
Lois took in all the information coming at her and drilled her fingers against the tile counter. If their advertisers were being bribed, that meant someone either really wanted in or really wanted out. She filed away the information to process later. "Bobby, you said there was more than one thing?"
"Oh, yeah. You're not going to believe this one, Lane. Word on the street is that someone's finally coming out of the shadows."
"Who, Bobby?" She was grateful for the information, but it was well past midnight and she was seriously getting tired.
"CK. You know, of CK Enterprises?"
"CK Enterprises? Is that the one with the glasses logo?"
She could hear the grin in Bobby's voice as he spoke, proud of himself for finding this one out. "Yep."
"The one that owns a third of Metropolis real estate? The one right behind Lexcorp?"
"The one and only."
Lois was floored. "You mean the actual CK is out there? The man's never even put out a publicity photo— no one even knows what he looks like! How could they possibly know it was him? Why would he come out of hiding now?"
"Hey, when people see you dropping huge wads of cash and you're a well dressed guy with signature glasses, people start connecting the dots. I personally don't know how or why, but word is he's not being so secretive about it anymore."
"But why the sudden change?"
"Hell if I know," Bobby stated. "Look, that's all I got for ya, Lois. Just thought you should know. You owe me one heck of a meal, understand?"
She nodded enthusiastically, smile coloring her tone. "Bobby, you just name the day and time, and I’ll be there. Whatever you need. You're the best, Bobby!"
"Yeah, yeah, just make sure you don't forget it!" He hung up without saying goodbye. Typical Bobby Bigmouth.
Lois stood in the kitchen a few moments longer, now awake enough to do whatever she felt like, but instead she turned off the light and headed to her bed. If what Bobby was telling her was true, then she'd have a long week ahead of her. Unfortunately, she also knew that she wouldn't be able to contain herself and wait till Monday morning to start working on this. It was too crucial— particularly the information about the Planet— to let it go two more days.
"Well," she spoke aloud, "there goes my weekend off."
Last edited by Mouserocks; 05/28/18 03:16 AM.
