Lois ran quickly down the stairs of the fire escape, realizing Clark must have seen her jeep parked near the building. Shoot!
He watched through the walls as she ran down the fire escape. He turned and headed down his steps just as she was getting into her Jeep. Smiling to himself, in-between feeling a bit weak-kneed at what she might have found, he called to her.
“Hi Lois, sorry I didn’t make it back to the Planet before you left. I just got home, come on in.” He pretended nothing had happened. She looked up at him, a look of panic in her face. He smiled weakly. She just sat there.
He came down to the jeep and stood by her door while she opened the window.
“Hi Clark, I was just coming over to see if you wanted to go get something to eat, or maybe order a pizza. Isn't there a game on tonight?”
She was such a lousy liar, he thought to himself. But she was definitely the Lois that he loved. Had she found out his secret? He was sure he’d know in a few moments. She’d be madder than a caged cougar if she had. She was just looking rather guilty. Should he just watch her squirm? Guilt was better than anger any day!
He opened the door for her and she came up the stairs with him. Had he seen her in his apartment? I mean, he was Superman, right, he could have heard her in there. How long had he been at the door watching her through the walls? Did he know she knew? Or was he just playing Farmboy Clark, just glad to see her and sorry he’d missed her at the office? It was so hard to tell. He didn’t look like he was mad at her for breaking into his apartment.
He let her in first, then came in behind her. She was glad she’d closed the door to hide the Superman suits. Had she put all the bottles of aftershave away?
“I need to use your bathroom, alright?” she said and disappeared into the apartment. She headed into the bathroom while Clark opened the fridge and took out some juice.
She’d not left any signs of her intrusion, she realized with relief. She came back out in a reasonable amount of time and plopped down on his couch. Clark brought over the two glasses of juice and handed one to her before sitting down beside her at the other end of the couch. He picked up the remote and turned on the television, curious if there was anymore to learn about the accident he’d just helped clean up.
“So where did you go?” Lois began, looking at him, her partner and favorite person.
Clark turned to look at her. “I wasn’t really up to much. I walked for a long time. I had a lot on my mind, I guess,” he lied innocently, remembering the laps he’d done around the planet after he’d left the accident. “How about you?”
The news came on with pictures of the disastrous 25 car pileup. Superman was there, dashing from one car to the next, blowing out a fire, carrying people to ambulances. Her hero. She looked at him, wondering how he did it all so fast.
Clark was watching intently. Lois looked over at him. Of course Clark was watching! She’d forgotten already what she’d spent the whole day finding out. She didn’t want to think about it right now, though. She just liked being here with Clark. She needed to recover before she could deal with it all.
“Should we order a pizza?” Lois asked.
“Lois,” Clark turned to her. “Lois, would you go on a date with me?”
Shivers ran up her arms as she held her drink to her mouth. “A date?” They’d spent all their waking hours together, but they’d never really gone on a date before. She smiled a little bit, “Okay,” she said. “A real date you mean, like where we don't talk about work? Yeah, Clark that would be nice.”
“Really?” He wanted to hug her. He sort of hoped that she had found out about him, it would be so much easier. He didn’t dare hug her though, not just out of the blue like that. She might turn on him. He really had walked on a lot of eggshells in the time they’d known each other. He felt silly, he’d kissed her as Superman.
He started thinking about her investigation. He wanted to ask her what she’d found out about Superman. He didn’t dare ask though, maybe he’d better wait until she brought it up. What had she been looking for in his apartment? The suitcase? Had she put CK with his name? Was it the redrawn photo? She’d been so convinced he wasn’t Superman, he’d felt almost safe being with her.
He really just wanted to scoot over by her and watch the game together he didn’t want to have to face what she’d found out yet. She picked up the remote and scanned for the game. “When?” she asked him, handing him her empty glass with a hopeful look. He got up to refill it.
“Well, how about tomorrow?” he asked as he returned. They were already together this evening to order pizza and watch the game, right? “That is, unless you want to go out somewhere tonight? It’s still early, I could pick you up in a few hours so you could get all ready. I mean, if you need to get ready,” he added.
She smiled as she sat back down, “I'm kind of tired right now, how about if we just order pizza and watch the game?” She liked watching games with Clark, he was such a hopeless sports fan. She felt drained from all the emotions of the day, how her life had turned upside down. She hadn’t had time to put it all back together in her head yet.
“Okay, I’d like that” he said. It had been a hard day for him. Moving the cars around hadn’t been a problem, it was all the tension he’d felt from what Lois had been up to. He thought again about what she’d been looking for in his apartment. He could just ask, he could scan his apartment for fresh fingerprints. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know though. It was such an emotionally charged situation to think about.
He could hear Lois’ heartbeat. She was content. She wasn’t up to anything, not right now anyway. “I’ll order the pizza,” he heard himself saying as the pre-game announcements and introductions got underway. He picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number and ordered their usual fare. How often had they spent an evening here with folders and laptops spread about on the couch, the coffee table and the floor. How often had they hashed over the ‘whodunits’ of a case.
He set the phone back in its cradle just as he heard a cry for help. He had to go. He hated having to make up another excuse for dashing out.
“Lois, I think I’ll go down there and pick it up, it’ll be faster that way,” he said, heading to the door.
“Sure Clark, I’ll let you know what happens while you’re gone.” Lois replied, her eyes on the set. She settled herself back on the pillow under her arm at the end of the couch and put her legs up on the coffee table, holding her glass in her cupped hands.
The door closed behind Clark. She yawned. Here she was in Clark’s apartment again. She’d been here so often, she could probably find her way around in the dark, yet the things she’d discovered in this apartment today had been uncanny, things she’d never imagined. Surely he’d seen her in the apartment if he could see through the walls. Why hadn’t he said anything? She flashed back on what both Polly and Michael had said about the man they’d seen. He’d been afraid of them seeing him, finding out who he was. Why hadn’t he asked her about being in his apartment? He certainly knew.
Why had he just asked her to date him? What was he changing the subject for? Her investigative self was moving into gear again as she relaxed on the couch. She wished she’d changed her clothes. She was still wearing her light blue three piece suit. She thought about how important it had always been to her to look just right when Superman came over. She remembered the day when she’d been given an unwanted vacation by Perry, the time when her source had bailed out on her, leaving her with a fiery story, a lawsuit against the Planet and a potentially ruined reputation. She’d been sitting eating chocolate ice cream, her couch littered with rolodex cards and papers. She’d been a mess, mentally and physically. He’d flown to her window and come in and straightened everything up, even alphabetizing the cards as he replaced them in the holder. He hadn’t cared she’d not been wearing any makeup, been flustered, depressed and looked totally disheveled. She smiled. She loved him.
Why had Clark just asked her out instead of confronting her about her being in his locked apartment?
‘Okay, think like he thinks,’ she told herself. What was he thinking? Well, he didn’t want to be found out. He’d been helping her, sheesh. He knew she wanted to become close friends with Superman’s alternate self. She’d told him that. Was he just playing along with her? Was he humoring her by letting her become close to him? Was he going to drop her when she was entwined in his arms, let her know what an untrustworthy jerk she was for breaking into his apartment? What was he up to? She got up and went to the fridge, opened the freezer and looked in. Yes! He had chocolate ice cream. She took it out, tossing the lid on the counter as she reached for a spoon in the drawer before heading back to the couch, the game now in progress with the fans screaming.
She sat cross-legged, holding the cold container close to her chest and poking the ice cream with her spoon before sticking it into her mouth. The taste of the ice cream broke her train of thought. She looked at the game, picked up the remote on the couch beside her and changed to the breaking LNN news. Superman was on again. He was in the First National Bank of Metropolis. There had been a hostage taking. The police had been negotiating with the criminals, but they were now being taken into custody.
The newscaster said, “Bank officials said they will be upgrading the aging security system as soon as possible. Until then, security guards will be on patrol around the clock.” Superman nodded to one of the officials in the bank and then disappeared in a trail of red and blue. “Thanks to Superman, only one hostage had been shot. He is in stable condition at Metropolis General.”
Lois breathed deeply and took another spoonful of ice cream, letting the spoon hang from her mouth as she changed the channel back to the game again. She was a mess, wasn’t she! That was her hero. He’d probably come in the door soon, never speaking a word about what he’d just done.
‘Okay,’ she said to herself, bringing herself back to her original train of thought, ‘Why didn’t he demand to know what she’d been up to in his apartment?
Just then, the door opened and he came back inside. She turned and looked at him and smiled. He was still wearing his grey suit with that nice tie. His hair was hanging down on one side of his forehead. It was puffed up on top. What did he do to make it all slicked back when he was Superman? Did he wet it? Why didn’t it start to puff up when he was on an accident scene for a long time? Surely it must have dried.
She grinned at him, taking the spoon from her mouth. “Hi.” Then noticing his empty hands added, “Where’s the pizza?”
“Oh!” he said, suddenly remembering. He patted his pocket, “Forgot my wallet,” and slipped into his bedroom. “Got it,” he called as he dashed up the stairs to the door and left again.
“Humph!” Lois said and turned back around. He never took his wallet out of his pocket, did he? Of course he didn’t! Well, maybe he had when she’d been in the bathroom. Had he heard her putting the suitcase back? The feeling of panic raced up her spine again as she remembered. Big deal, she did stuff like this all the time, she told herself, poking the spoon back into the ice cream.
What if he really wants to go out with me? It was no secret how he felt about her. She could see it in his eyes. That’s probably why she felt so comfortable with him. What if he figures I’ve moved on to step two of my plan, cozying up to Superman’s alternate self. Is he just helping me out here? Giving me the lead he figures I'm looking for? He’s such a straight guy, he’s probably not too comfortable with a woman asking him out, maybe he’s just jumping the gun so he won’t have to feel like he’s being, whatever, chased by a woman.’ She sighed again. Relationships! She put another spoonful into her mouth, tasting it, letting it move back and forth on her tongue before swallowing it.
She should go home. What was she doing here anyway? She needed to change. She needed to sort her head out. She’d not come over here to watch the game, she’d been over here to investigate Superman and find out whatever that lead her into.
The door opened again, “Got it,” Clark announced, skipping down the steps the way he always did, that light lilt in his movements. He turned on the light at the end of the couch as he set the pizza on the coffee table and went to the kitchen for the juice container.
“Clark, do you have anything I could wear?” Lois asked, “I'm going to ruin this suit if I sit here and eat pizza on the couch with you.” He was looking at the tub of ice-cream she was holding against her chest. She looked down at it sheepishly. “Well, yeah,” she said lamely and waved the spoon off to the side of her shoulder and got up to put it back in the freezer.
“You upset about something, Lois?” Clark asked.
She dropped onto the couch beside him, looked sideways at him, raising an eyebrow and asked, “Why do you ask that?”
“Well,” Clark smiled at her, his straight white teeth showing just a bit as they always did when he was teasing her, “You’re eating my ice cream,”
“Oh that,” Lois tried to act nonchalant and looked ahead at the game.
“Yeah, that,” Clark said, laying a hand on her shoulder and smiling. “Here,” he said standing up, “I’ve probably got something that would fit you.” He disappeared into his bedroom. She could hear him opening his drawers and closing them. Would he notice if she’d made a mess of his nice straight piles of t-shirts and pants? Of course he would! What was she thinking, this was Clark, this is Superman! Clark kept everything in his house *just so*. Well, she really hadn’t made a mess in there, she’d only lifted the edges of the piles. It’d been pretty obvious there wasn’t anything red in there.
“Lois, my mom left some clothes here the last time they came, will these fit you?” He asked, holding up a pair of pants. She looked over her shoulder at him and got up.
“Thanks, Clark,” She said, taking them as he pulled a grey t-shirt from his top drawer and handed it to her as well. “I’ll just go change in the bathroom,” she said awkwardly, smiling and backing out of the bedroom doorway.
“Sure.”
When she’d gone, he gave in to his curiosity, flashed over to the couch and picked up the remote. He pulled down the lead crystal glasses he wore, mostly for his disguise, but also to keep him from inadvertently looking at things he shouldn’t be seeing, like Lois changing in the bathroom. He zeroed in on the fingerprints on the back of it. Most were his own, but there were a few new ones. He sped over to the closet and compared them to the ones on the door. He knew she’d been snooping. He opened the closet and quickly scanned the items, surprised to find her prints on the sides of one of his running shoes. He quickly scanned the tie rack for her fingerprints. There they were. The suitcase hadn’t been pushed back as far into the dark as it usually was. He took it out and examined it. Her fingerprints were all over it. On the handle, on the sides, on the gold lettering. He drew in a deep breath, hearing the buttons click against the door as Lois hung her suit jacket up on the bathroom door.
He flashed back over to the couch, sat down and pulled a piece of pizza out. Lois came out of the bathroom, shaking her silky hair out of the back of the t-shirt. It fell into place as it always did, cradling her face just the way he liked it.
