He set down the bag between them. “Listening to people. Investigating. Getting to the heart of a problem. Finding solutions. Informing the public of impending dangers. Helping people,” he went on. “You know, being a journalist.”
“That’s what you do best?” she probed in a teasing tone, so he wouldn’t know how dead serious she was.
“It’s what we do best,” he corrected.
Smart man.
She decided to play devil’s advocate as she took another chip. “And politicians don’t do any of that stuff?”
He pulled out two sodas from his bag and passed one over to her. “Sometimes.” He granted politicians that much, which was more than Lois was willing to do. “But I feel that other things get in the way.”
Lois took a sip of her soda. “You mean like rules.”
“I follow the rules, Lois. You’re the one who breaks them.”
Touché.
She shrugged, admitting nothing.
Setting down his soda, Clark shifted in his seat so that he was facing her directly. He lifted his hands so that they were parallel between them, and then bent his fingers towards the other hand at a ninety-degree angle. “Politicians have to work within strict confines…” The Law. “And I like our freedom to be able to work outside of that.”
She smiled. “In other words, you like working outside the box.”
His eyes twinkled in the darkness as he smiled. She had never noticed what a striking shade of brown they were; almost the same color as freshly toiled earth.
“Exactly.” He chuckled. “You’d be surprised at how claustrophobic I can be.”
Lois set down her soda and picked up the bag of chips.
She was glad to hear that Clark wasn’t another slimeball after all.
“How about you?” he asked, pulling out another bag of chips. “Politics in your future?”
Lois laughed. “Nah! Too many meetings.”
Plus, she didn’t want anyone digging around in her past.
Maybe they both were good at shoveling manure. Her more metaphorically than him.
