Part 2
Lois stood in front of the mirror in her small bathroom. All she had left to do before returning to work was to apply her make up and fix her hair, and she still had some time left for that. She grabbed her brush and started to untangle her hair while thinking of what lay ahead of her for the day.
After Franklin Stern had announced, just a couple of days ago, that the Daily Planet would return, everything had happened incredibly fast. It was still going to take a while for the building to be ready, but there was a place to print the paper. So today, the ‘new’ staff would have their first meeting, and hopefully, the Daily Planet would hit the streets once more the next day.
Lois wondered who would be returning. She knew Perry and Jimmy were loyal to the Planet. Jack was back to school with the promise he’d always be welcome with them. Cat had moved on to Los Angeles, where there was always something to gossip about. She was pretty sure about some others: Bill from Sports, Amy from Travel, Janet in Finance... they’d be back as well. Ross and Michael would probably enjoy an early retirement. A few new faces would join their team. With a wry smile Lois suddenly remembered Ralph. She hoped he had found another job, but she guessed that would be too much good fortune.
For now, the Daily Planet would be back in business with just a few pages. Staff was still small. The important thing was that the best paper in town returned with major scoops. Metropolis deserved to know what was going on, and not just the rubbish the Star talked about lately. Many of their stories about Luthor couldn’t be true. Like he was Superman’s father. Or had a harem somewhere. Or that there were Luthor clones. But today’s story topped it all: ‘Luthor and Elvis alive in Brisbane.’
Her reflection in the mirror showed her how stupid she looked with her hair completely flat. Frantically, she pulled some hairs over to create another parting. If only it were *his* fingers threading through her hair...
Him, the person she hadn’t mentioned yet. The one person she shouldn’t be thinking about. The man who didn’t deserve her attention.
Clark.
Her former partner.
Once her best friend.
Still the man she loved.
He’d been pushed to the back of her mind while rebuilding her life after her ‘wedding’; he was the last thing she needed. Luckily, she hadn’t heard from or seen him since that awful fight. It was only a couple of days ago, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw Clark running away from her. The images haunted her, even now.
No matter what she did, he was always on her mind. And it wasn’t because she hadn’t tried her best to hate him and forget he existed. His behavior had been so appalling and upsetting that in her mind she was ready to send him to the moon and back.
It was just her heart that kept standing in the way. Everything in her apartment reminded her of him. He’d sat on her couch. He’d been in her kitchen. He had watched TV with her. He had stood in front of her window, staring outside. She even had stuff from him! Like the teddy bear he’d won for her at the Smallville Corn Festival. So everywhere she looked, she imagined him there. Smiling at her. Hugging her. Even kissing her! She was just totally in love with him.
But his behavior was unforgivable. He had lied to her. He had kept walking away from her. And he had even refused to tell her what was going on. She really had to do better and forget about him.
She was finally satisfied about the way her hair looked. Quickly, she grabbed her mascara. Would he think she looked good today? The thought just entered her mind and scared her so much that her cheek now looked black.
Grabbing a towel she tried to rub it away. The result was only worse. Everything was black and red from the scrubbing now. It was the last thing she needed if she wanted to arrive at the meeting on time. With a heavy sigh, she bent down and looked in her cabinet for the make up remover. This was all his fault too!
The next few minutes she spent carefully reapplying her make up. When it came to lipstick, she wondered what color to use. She didn’t like dark, striking colors like fire red. On the other hand... Clark might like it.
With a little bow, that lipstick ended in the waste paper basket. She would not wear anything to impress him. Instead, she chose a nice soft pink color.
When she surveyed her entire look in the mirror, she was satisfied with what she saw. Professional, cool and yet very feminine. Yes, she, Lois Lane, was back in action and the entire world would know!
Even Clark Kent, a tiny voice in her head said.
Dangit! Couldn’t she do anything without *thinking* of that man?
Maybe it was time she admitted it to herself. Without him, she was simply lost. After all, who was she thinking of when walking down the aisle to marry Lex? Only one answer: Clark. She had stopped the wedding because of him.
Maybe she should give him another chance, but he sure would have to pay for it first! No one made a fool out of Lois Lane; most certainly not Clark Kent, a hick from Nowheresville. Groveling was what he should do, begging her for forgiveness. So she would play it cool and distant and act as if she was still mad.
Of *course* she was still mad. He had said some unforgivable things and she expected a huge apology for that.
“Luthor offered me what you never could.”
She couldn’t believe she had said that. He would expect an explanation for that too. It would help if she knew *why* she’d said it. There was simply nothing Luthor could offer her that Clark hadn’t already given to her. She hadn’t wanted Luthor for his money or power. The only thing Luthor had wanted to do was take away her independence and make her a house slave. Something to hang on his arm and display.
What had been appealing about Luthor was the chance to see the world and all the unopened doors suddenly opening for her. Yes, he had offered her the world.
And that was something Clark never could.
Superman could. That tiny voice in her head was back and she got a dreamy look on her face with the mention of that name. Her hero.
Wait a minute... he had humiliated her too, the last time she spoke to him!
Men, they just couldn’t do any good!
She glanced and the clock and couldn’t believe how much time had passed already. Quickly, she grabbed her purse and jacket and flew out the door. If traffic wasn’t too busy, she could still make it on time...
All thought on Clark and Superman forgotten, she ran down the stairs toward her car. Even her good intentions regarding Clark flew out the window. Mad Dog Lane was back and the world could read all about it in the next edition of the Daily Planet!
*****
Lois arrived at Denny’s a little later than planned. The meeting had already started. Obviously, they hadn’t wanted to wait for her. How could they start the meeting without her? She was the best reporter the Planet had at the moment, and Perry knew it as well as the others. So why start? She was only fifteen minutes late!
It wasn’t even her fault!
She’d left on time, granted, only barely. But then she got stuck in traffic. First, there was the accident she had to bypass. Those two cars had blocked the entire intersection. The police led everyone via Madison Avenue and West Street back to Fifth Avenue. Every fool knew that they were extremely busy streets at this hour. So it had taken her ten extra minutes. Then, some guy thought it was funny to let his car break down at the traffic light! Of course in the same lane she was in. Before she could go around in it, twenty minutes went by. So she was fifteen minutes late. So what?
Better late than never, she figured. She approached the group silently. They didn’t *have* to know she was late.
Before she grabbed a chair, she listened to what was going on.
“So that’s how things will be for the next few weeks. We’ll be back at the Planet in about three weeks. On to the normal scheduled meeting.”
See, she hadn’t missed anything yet. Perry had just explained what was going on with the Planet. One of those rookies could get her up to date later.
“We have a paper to fill. So what do you have, Clark?”
Why did he start with Clark? Was he going in order of importance? Not that Clark would have much anyway, barring maybe something about Superman. He seemed to be so good at that.
“Luthor is still the hottest subject in town, so I think we have to follow that one up,” Clark stated.
Of course. Duh! What did he think she was going to do?
“There’s still a lot that hasn’t been published anywhere yet, so I’m on that. And as more dirt is coming up, there’s always news on him. If needs be, I can also write an analysis or op-ed piece on him.”
He what? How could he steal her story? She’d better get that out of his head right this instant.
“As a matter of fact, that’s my story, Kent,” Lois said while she walked to the vacant seat.
If he was playing it like that, she wasn’t going to give him an inch. Forget about her earlier resolutions. They could wait. This was far more important!
“Ah, so you finally decided to join us, Lois”, Perry greeted her.
“Yes, and not a minute too late, I see,” she exclaimed. “Luthor’s my story. So back off, Kent!” She slammed with her flat hand on the table for effect and the noise resounded around the room.
“Your story, Lois? When were you ever *on* it?” Clark replied. The expression on his face told her he was serious and he wouldn’t give up without a fight.
“Have you suddenly forgotten who had all the insights? Who was close to him? Who knew him better than anyone here?” She knew those weren’t the best arguments she could have come up with, but she figured this would shut him up. Her former partner didn’t argue with her when it came to a story! He always let her win, let her have her way. The best way.
Since they weren’t partners any longer, they were now competitors. Both fighting for the same story. The scoop of the century, in this case. And Lois Lane would get it and finally win that Pulitzer!
He already seemed taken aback, remaining silent. Although, shocked was more the word to describe Clark now.
“Are you implying that since you married the man and never even saw all the evil that he was, you know what’s for the best here? For all we know, you were in on it with him,” Clark finally replied, eyeing her skeptically. .
She closed her eyes a bit before retorting. “How dare you accuse me of such a thing?” She stood up to yell something back at him. All of her earlier resolutions forgotten, Lois was now furious with Clark. That was twice he was accusing her of things in one week. What had ever happened to the mild mannered reporter she had grown to like over the past year? He was supposed to accept what she said and either turn the other way or work with her. Not *against* her.
“Lois.”
And what was all his talking about her being married? He had hinted at that during their fight, too. She was as single as possible. To whom did he think she was married then? Wait a minute... surely he didn’t think she was married to Lex, right? How could he think so? It had been all over the media; surely he must know she had said no! Or was he being deliberately insulting to hurt her more?
“Lois!”
She really... wait, was that someone calling her name? Turning her head, she tried to locate the person daring to use her name. Oops. Perry. Questioningly, she looked him in the eye, daring him to let her down. He always backed her up, so why would he do otherwise now?
“Great, I’ve finally got your attention, Lois. Now, as I understand it, I’m still the Editor here, which means I make the calls. Sit down and...”
“But Perry!”
“Sit down, Lois and we’ll discuss the subject of Luthor later. For the rest of you, all ideas regarding the former philanthropist are off topic for the time being. Understood?”
Perry’s voice of authority left her no other option than to sit down. She took a chair as far away as possible from Clark. Out of the corner of her eye she could observe him a bit now, while still pretending to listen to Perry.
Clark didn’t look at her once; he kept his eyes stubbornly on Perry. If she didn’t know him any better, she’d think he only cared for *his* story; but did she really know him after all? Ever since she had accepted Lex’s proposal, he had acted weird, defensive and downright hostile. Could he really be that different from the man he had shown her? The man she had started to love?
Lois couldn’t show any signs of weakness, she realized suddenly. She had come in here, acting like nothing at all had happened; as if she was still Mad Dog Lane, the best Planet reporter who never made any mistakes and always saw through façades. She had better keep up that pretence for the rest of her coworkers. So she turned her head to Perry, trying to pay at least some attention. Maybe she could give some snippy comments here and there.
The meeting went by without any further incidents. There was enough to write about in Metropolis, especially with reporters who were all eager to show their best. Perry hadn’t asked either Clark or her for their news. That didn’t bode well. One of them would get a stupid story like a dog show. Lois would make sure it wasn’t her! Luthor was her story; she had all the inside information and contacts. Perry couldn’t get past that.
The smell of coffee made its way over to her. Everyone around her had a cup in front of them. She could use some coffee as well. Too bad the coffee pot was too far away from her, she didn’t dare to draw the attention to herself if she got up to just get coffee. How much longer now? The meeting was going too slow for her liking - especially with the lack of coffee.
Finally, it was time for the last reporter to tell about his plans. Unfortunately, it had to be Ralph. Of course, who else, Lois groaned inwardly.
“So Ralph, what do you have?” Perry asked.
“One of my sources told me yesterday the mayor’s wife is having an affair.”
That got some attention; all heads turned to the speaker. Ralph had an arrogant grin on his face, smug with the sudden interest.
“Tell me more, Ralph. It’s not the first time you’ve claimed something that.”
“Okay. So this source of mine, who will stay anonymous, called me last night. He said he heard from a friend who saw the mayor at a 'massage parlor' a few days ago. It happened a few days ago, but he said he had heard it before. The fellow really looks like the mayor, so it has to be him. And with his campaign to clean the city from the sex industry, I think there's a story here." He broke off, looking around him and then glanced back at Perry, adding "I always knew the mayor was into this stuff," as an afterthought.
“Is this like all the previous times you’ve been proved wrong, Ralph?” One of the colleagues joked, followed by laughter all around.
“I want facts. *Facts*, Ralph. Unless you can give me hard proof, this will not be printed. So go get me the evidence. And while you’re at it, go cover the bird show in the Met Centre. I expect a decent story by the end of the day. Got it?” Perry barked.
With a nod and an angry look he agreed. Lois had to stifle a giggle. She had never liked the fellow and it always amused her to see him humiliated by Perry. Why he still worked for the Planet was beyond her.
The important part was about to start now. An excited Lois shifted in her seat, waiting for Perry to finally address her.
“Everybody except Lane and Kent knows what to do now, correct?”
A general murmur rose from the group of reporters. Lois detected anticipation on some of the faces. They were all expecting an argument, and not a small one even. They were right; Lois wasn’t going to give up without a huge fight. The story was hers, and hers alone!
“Good.” Perry looked to both reporters currently without a story, slowly observing them while leaving an uncomfortable silence. Lois didn’t like it and slipped down in her chair, mentally preparing for what was to come. Perry must have a plan, and it looked like something she wouldn’t agree with.
“Except Lane and Kent,” Perry addressed everyone, “is there anyone who has something to write about Lex Luthor?”
Lois looked around and saw with satisfaction that no one looked at Perry or indicated they wanted to start an argument. One point for Lois!
*****
Clark had remained silent during the entire staff meeting so far, except to answer Perry’s question and Lois’s accusations. She had put his mind to work; she had come in late without any explanation to her delay, and immediately, she had started an argument with him.
Clark had noticed her entering; there was no way he couldn’t pick up her heartbeat, even among all his colleagues and friends. So he had given her a quick glance. Her appearance had shocked him. She looked sad, but determined. The clothes she wore looked okay, but he knew she had other clothes that suited her far better. Her hair seemed to have been done in a hurry, or had she done it in the car again? Her cheeks looked quite red, like it was cold outside. He knew that wasn’t true, it was May in Metropolis, with normal temperatures. You could wear shorts if you wanted to, but for Clark, that was still a bit early. Why would Lois look flushed then? She hadn’t been crying, had she?
His heart cringed at the thought of that. He couldn’t stand it if she cried. To make matters worse, this time he hadn’t been there to comfort her.
Although... she might have been mourning her late husband. There was a lot he was prepared to do for her, but that was one step too far.
Ever since she had accepted that proposal, he had been in a state of devastation. With barely enough strength, he had managed to keep going, to keep fighting. But it had all been too late. Not enough. He had failed. He hadn’t just lost Lois, but also an essential part of himself. The past couple of days he had been out of the loop. Not even capable of saving the day and rescuing people in need.
Sure, Superman was back, but he simply couldn’t show the world what a fool he was and how horrible he looked.
Who would have ever expected that the Man of Steel needed comfort?
The staying home had slowly driven him mad. There wasn’t anything he could do. And there were only so many times he could clean his apartment from top to bottom. He had been lost in his wallowing over Lois. Later, his conscience had made him feel guilty about not being out there as Superman then.
But he hadn’t. He just couldn’t.
It was always Lois.
He had lost her.
Lois.
The winds had changed and brought her back to him. So what did he do? He blew his second chance with her as well. She was *never* going to see him the way he wanted her to. Their last conversation proved so.
It had been an ugly fight. They had both said a lot of nasty stuff. On top of it all, he had left in the middle of it. The pain in Lois’s voice still haunted him. He had really hurt her then. And he had been sure for days they would never speak to each other again. Except maybe the occasional exchange at work.
He hadn’t liked the way his thoughts had turned, so finally, he had left for Smallville. He had complained, whined and talked. Mostly, he had talked. Martha and Jonathan had been listening and had silently given him the support he needed. Of course, his mother had given him some advice. He hadn’t expected anything else from her.
So, according to her, he was a lunkhead who forgot to see the real situation. Not everything was Lois’s fault. He was no saint either, with his appalling behavior. And didn’t he still love her?
Right. She had a point. No matter what, he loved Lois Lane.
So last night, he had made some decisions.
As he loved Lois, he couldn’t bear to lose her, not even as a friend. He simply cared too much about her. It would break his already fragile heart if he lost Lois completely.
He still didn’t understand why she had married Luthor. Not to mention all the things she had accused him of. There had to have been an explanation for her behavior. He had finally come to the conclusion she was not herself. A result from marrying and almost instantly becoming a widow. And she had pulled him with her, unconsciously.
In order to get her to talk to him again, he had to apologize. He really wanted to. He did regret some of his hurtful comments in her direction. A lot of them had been born in his state of fury. It was just that the courage to call her or knock on her door had failed him. So he had decided to wait till this day. She *had* to come. With other people around, it would be easier to talk.
He hadn’t dared to go to her as Superman either. Their last talk had been awkward and full of high-charged emotions and pain. It had been rather embarrassing. Besides, he wasn’t sure what to tell her. That he was sorry? No, that didn’t sound right. It would look weird for Superman to do so. The correct policy of superheroes wasn’t fully known to him yet. He had to see about it when the time was right.
The fact that he had lied to her was more worrisome. He loved her. He wanted a relationship with her. But it all seemed so far away now... Not that he thought dating Lois as Superman was helpful. He figured she’d sooner die in the hands of some criminals than endure his presence.
Maybe he had to tell Lois about it as Clark?
No! Definitively not a good idea. That would include revealing his secret. He wasn’t ready for that. And the timing was totally wrong for that. Mrs. Luthor who knew the secret? He wouldn’t give Luthor that satisfaction.
He just had to talk to her and work things out.
So here he was today, facing Lois. And what happened? He was immediately back to fighting with her. Okay, so this time it wasn’t completely his fault. She wanted what was rightfully his.
He had spent weeks on gathering evidence against Luthor. Due to a collaboration with Perry, Jimmy and Jack, he had brought Luthor down. Too bad his arch-nemesis had jumped to his death. He deserved to spend the rest of his life rotting away in a low, filthy, cold, out of the way prison. Preferably on the moon.
Much of the evidence he had gathered hadn’t been published anywhere. Perry wanted him to write that down for the Planet. It would make a nice lead story on the front page. ‘Luthor responsible for last year’s attacks.’ Or ‘The crime life of Lex Luthor.’ He could always dig up more information now. The access was easier since the man wasn’t there to protect it any longer.
So how could Lois see this as her story? Only because she was Luthor’s widow and might have some nice inside sources? Pretty ridiculous if you asked him. Not objective enough for the Planet.
So what was she going for?
She hadn’t opened her mouth once during the rest of the meeting. She had just looked stiffly at Perry, not paying much attention. The jokes at Ralph’s expense had lit up her face, but only temporarily. She was as defensive as the first few weeks he’d known her.
Well, he was about to go find out what she had in mind. He’d better prepare to fight for his story, because knowing Lois, she wasn’t about to give up easily. Weird; as colleagues, they shouldn’t have to do this. But Lois just brought his competitive side out. The part his mom called a lunkhead.
This was strictly business. Their talk would come later. They *were* going to solve their personal mess! In the mean time, all he had to do was *not* loosing his temper again.
*****
TBC...
