From part 22...
"Lois, stop." Clark put his hands on her shoulders and held them firmly. "Listen to me. You are not going to break into any buildings, you hear me? Quit being so stubborn and impulsive for once. I'll talk to Jimmy about getting that research first thing in the morning and tell him it needs to be top priority. He'll get the information we need fast, don't worry." He fixed her with a stern look. "Okay?"
"Fine," Lois said after a moment, sighing in resignation.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"Okay, then." He released her shoulders, then turned to resume his straightening.
Lois watched him for a moment, pouting. Then she brightened. How would he know if she went ahead and did her "research" tonight? He didn't live anywhere near San Francisco. Surely he wouldn't be hovering over the city, watching her to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Besides, there wouldn't be any trouble. She'd done this kind of thing before and had never once been caught. He may not think so, but to her it was a perfectly acceptable means to an end.
That accounting firm held the answers she needed. She was sure of it. And tonight she was going to find out what they were, whether Clark wanted her to or not.
**********
Now on to part 23...
**********
Lois glanced at the clock on the bedroom wall. It was just after midnight. Now was a good time to set off on her "fact finding mission." She grinned. This was going to be fun.
Climbing out of bed where she'd been watching TV and reading for the last two hours, she felt her adrenaline start pumping. This is what she lived for. Covert missions in the dead of night, locks to be picked, security cameras to be avoided…it all made her feel alive.
She hurried over to her closet and started pulling things off hangers--her black, long-sleeved turtleneck, her black jeans, her black leather jacket…. It took her only a few minutes to get dressed in her "breaking and entering" clothes, then she pulled her black knit cap down over her brown hair, leaving the ends of her short hair poking out the bottom on the sides and back. She deliberated for a moment about tucking them in, but ultimately decided her dark hair would help cover her pale skin.
With a quick look at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she decided she was ready. She slid her apartment key into her jacket pocket along with her pen flashlight, then felt the inside pocket to make sure she had her lock picking tools. Deciding she had everything, she slipped on her black leather gloves and tiptoed quietly out of her apartment and into the elevator.
In a matter of minutes she was in her car, heading toward the accounting firm of Knutsen and Lawes. She'd had to look their location up on a map earlier that evening, but had no problem finding their building, since it was only five minutes from her apartment. It was on the ground floor of a multi-story building, and she had no problem slipping past the dozing guard in the front lobby and winding her way down the back corridor to suite 114.
She stopped in front of the beautiful oak double doors with glass sidelights and glanced around. There were no security cameras in sight. She smiled. She was home free.
Silently, she pulled her lock-pick kit from the pocket inside her coat and went to work. In only a matter of moments the lock clicked and she turned the doorknob experimentally. It opened.
Feeling very pleased with herself she grinned. "That was even easier than picking Clark's lock," she muttered under her breath.
She looked around to make sure she was still undetected, then slipped quietly inside the darkened offices. Pulling the penlight from her jacket, she rotated the head to turn it on. Then she made a beeline for the hall behind the reception desk and turned into the first office on her right.
Bingo. File cabinets.
The next half hour felt like five minutes as she carefully pulled folders out of the file drawers and skimmed through each one, looking for anything that might give her more information on Mesopotamia, Inc., Sandstone Enterprises, or any of the companies linked to them.
When she opened the bottom file cabinet drawer nearest the wall, she found what she was looking for. Client lists. She flipped on the copy machine in the far corner of the room and began looking through the folders as she waited for the machine to warm up.
She scanned the list and fell on one name in particular. Her eyes widened in shock. Could it be? Was she really seeing what she was seeing?
Her heart pounding, she realized this was it. This was exactly the connection she'd been looking for.
She quickly copied the pages, then turned off the copy machine, put the originals back in the proper folders, and returned the folders to the drawer. With one last look around the room to make sure she hadn't left anything out of place, she left the office suite and managed to tiptoe past the dozing security guard once again. Then she was home free.
She grinned triumphantly when she climbed safely into her car. She had done it. She glanced down at the small stack of papers she'd set on the passenger seat. Regardless of what Clark thought, the end had justified the means.
Clark.
She grinned again and quickly started the car. She could hardly wait to tell Clark what she found.
~*~*~*~*~
It was hard for Lois to be quiet as she stepped off the elevator and tried to hurry into her apartment. The adrenaline coursing through her body made her hand shake as she tried to slip the key into her lock, and it took her two tries before she finally accomplished the task. As soon as the door was unlocked, she pushed it open and rushed inside, barely remembering to shut it behind her.
She pulled the rolled up copies from her inside jacket pocket and hurried over to the stacks of research on her living room floor. She quickly compared the names of the companies on the accounting firm's client lists with the list of company names on her own research. What she found confirmed her suspicions. This was it. This was the break she had been looking for. She had to tell Clark.
Her heart pounding with excitement, she glanced up at the clock on her living room wall. It was a little after four a.m. on the east coast. Clark would be asleep. She hesitated. What if he'd been out being Superman until late? Maybe he'd only been asleep for a short time, and she'd be disrupting his much-needed sleep. But then a thought came to her. Did he even *need* to sleep? He'd already told her he didn't need to eat, so maybe it was the same for sleep.
She went back and forth with the debate for several moments, then finally decided to go ahead and call. What she'd discovered was simply too big. He'd be as excited about it as she was, she was certain.
Her hands still shaking from her adrenaline rush, she dialed his number, then waited anxiously as the phone range. Once. Twice. Three times. Just when she suspected she was going to get his answering machine, a tired, gravelly voice came across the line.
"Hullo?"
"Clark! Wake up," she told him, her voice breathless with excitement. "You won't believe what I found!"
There was a pause on his end of the line. Then came a sleepy, "Lois? Is that you?"
"Yeah, Clark, it's me." Her excitement sent her launching into babble mode as she hurried to explain. "I know it's just after four a.m. there and that you were sleeping. I'm sorry, I really am. Well, maybe I'm not, and you won't be sorry I called you either in a minute, because you'll realize what a break I made in our story and you'll forgive me for waking you up. In fact, not only are you going to forgive me, you're going to *love* me!"
She heard a sleepy and impatient sigh from the other end of the line. "Lois, your babbling isn't as endearing at four in the morning. Is there a point to all this?"
"Yes!" she exclaimed, a squeal sneaking into her voice. "I found an amazing connection. Amazing! I broke into the accounting firm and got a look at their records--"
"You what!"
Lois's excited babbling stopped abruptly at Clark's angry--and suddenly very awake--response. Her enthusiasm waned as she realized she might have approached that wrong. She hadn't meant to so blatantly admit to her wrong doing, especially when she knew how Clark had felt about the idea in the first place.
She licked her lips and thought quickly, feeling very much like a child with her hand caught in the cookie jar. When she continued, it was more cautiously. "Umm, yeah. I know you didn't want me to, but the more I got thinking about the possible connection, the more I realized how important it was to take a look around."
She paused, waiting for Clark's response.
Nothing.
"Clark? Clark, are you there?"
Just then a breeze ruffled the ends of her hair poking out from beneath her black ski cap. She whirled. Then she cringed. A very angry, intimidating, and formidable-looking Superman was coming in through her open living room window.
She looked at the phone in her hand, then back at Clark. She swallowed. Suddenly very aware that she was still dressed in her black clothing looking very much like a cat burglar, she knew it gave no doubt as to the activities she'd just been involved in.
She was in trouble. Big trouble.
She had barely placed the phone on the cradle before Clark was stalking across the room toward her.
"Lois, what were you thinking!" Clark demanded, his eyes flashing dangerously as he stopped in front of her. "You told me you weren't going to go there tonight. You promised!"
Lois took a half step back. Then she looked down at her feet, unable to meet his angry gaze. "I know I did. I just--"
"You couldn't resist getting the story, is that it?" He let out an aggravated groan. "Lois, do you know how lucky you are that you weren't caught? You could have gone to jail! Or worse, somebody could have taken matters into their own hands and hurt you when they found out you were snooping around. Is that what you wanted to happen? Is it?"
Lois finally looked up, her eyes flashing with a hint of her usual spirit as they met his. "Geez, Clark, what are you, my father? No, that's not what I wanted to happen, and it didn't. Nobody was going to catch me; I was careful. And where do you get off storming in her and yelling at me? I can take care of myself, Clark! I've been on my own for a long time, and I don't need you hovering around me, telling me what I can and can't do. It's my life, Clark, and investigating is what I love to do. I know my methods aren't yours, but this is how I do my job. If you don't like it, fine! But don't yell at me and treat me like I'm stupid or something!"
Clark softened. His shoulders relaxed a bit and he rolled his eyes. "Lois, I don't think you're stupid. Impulsive and a little reckless, yes. But I just don't want to see you get hurt." He reached out for her hands and held them tightly in his own. "I care about you, and it makes me crazy when I hear about you rushing into dangerous things like this. Why do you insist on taking years off my life?"
Lois's anger dissipated and the corner of her mouth quirked into a smile. "I'm taking years off your life? I didn't think that was possible, you know...with you being Superman and all."
He rolled his eyes again and shook his head. "Don't start with me, Lois. I'm still mad at you."
"Really? You're still mad?" When the muscle twitched in his jaw, Lois squeezed his hands and closed the gap between them, pressing herself up against his front. Then she stood on her tiptoes and tipped her face up to his flirtatiously. "Would you still be made if I did this?" She leaned in, closed her eyes, and gently, almost imperceptibly touched her lips to his.
He didn't respond at first, and Lois opened her eyes to look into his. She saw his eyes flicker open, so she knew he had closed them to savor her kiss. She smiled victoriously and quipped in a mere whisper, "It looks like it's working."
"Lo-is," he protested, though his voice no longer sounded angry.
Her smile broadened as she released his hands and slipped her arms around his waist, slipping them beneath his hanging cape. She ran her fingers along the smooth fabric of his Suit, causing him to close his eyes briefly at her touch. Then she stood on her tiptoes once more and kissed him again, this time more deeply.
Clark moaned. "Lois, you can't flirt your way out of this," he murmured against her lips, a tone of reprimand in his voice. "I'm still mad you took those chances."
Lois laughed as she kissed him, loving the way his reprimands sounded softer muffled by kisses. "But you have to admit, they paid off. So it was justified."
"I don't know about that," Clark mumbled, his lips otherwise occupied. "You still should have listened to me." He kissed her back, the last part of his sentence almost inaudible.
She grinned and pressed yet another kiss to his softening lips. "But if I had listened to you, I never would have found what I did."
His only response was a moan as their kiss deepened even further. Finally, breathless, he pulled back, gripping her upper arms firmly in his hands to keep her at a distance. He looked at her sternly, but the intensity was now lacking due to the distraction.
She grinned. "You don't look as mad as you were a minute ago. Do I win?"
"Lo-is," he groaned, still keeping her at a distance. "I don't think you're getting it. You can't win this argument, no matter how you try to distract me."
But his consternation only made her grin broaden, and he realized he wasn't going to convince her what she did was wrong, no matter how hard he tried. Finally he sighed and released her arms.
"Fine. We'll talk more about this later. For now, show me what you found."
Lois gave a little squeal at the mention of her successful venture, and she grabbed the curled papers from the end table next to the phone. "Okay, this is what I learned." She stood next to him, her excitement returning in full force as her fingers pointed to various pieces of information on the pages. "Sandstone and Lawes not only handles accounts for Mesopotamia, Inc. and their subsidiaries, but the San Francisco shipping company involved in the drug bust; the conglomerate who owns Metropolis Shipping, where the diamonds were discovered; most of the subsidiaries of the conglomerate; and…are you ready for this?"
She paused, letting the suspense build. "They also handle most of LexCorp's accounts."
Clark's eyebrows flew up his forehead. "You're kidding."
"No, I'm not." Her excited grin broadened, causing her eyes to sparkle. "And what I'm really interested to look into is the list of clients' names I don't recognize on the Sandstone and Lawes client lists. I'd be very curious to see how many other clients they have that ultimately tie into LexCorp."
It was quiet for a moment as Clark digested the information. "So you think Lex Luthor might be behind all these companies? Behind Mesopotamia, Inc?"
"I don't know for sure; it's just a hunch." She shrugged. She thought for another moment, then said, "Clark, maybe this is far fetched, but do you remember when I had dinner with Lex at his penthouse?"
Clark frowned. "Yeah, I remember."
"Well, during the tour he gave me of his house, he showed me his impressive gallery of antiques. He had one thing in particular that sticks out in my mind. It was a Macedonian sword that was used by Alexander the Great to defeat Darius."
Clark nodded. "I remember you mentioning it. So?"
She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Didn't you ever take World History in school? Alexander the Great fought Darius near the ancient city of Assyrian city of Nineveh, which had been destroyed by the Chaldeans a couple of centuries earlier. It was the last battle between them." She paused. "The name of the city was Mesopotamia."
Understanding flashed across Clark's face. "You think the name alone is enough to suggest that Lex is behind Mesopotamia, Inc.? Would Lex be that bold?"
She shrugged. "Maybe he would see it as a sort of private joke on everybody, that he didn't think anybody would be smart enough to link it back to him. But the name seems awfully coincidental for someone with an Alexander the Great fixation. Besides, if you look at Lex's rise to power, it stands to reason he got where he is today by conquering. Maybe he looks up to Alexander the Great as kind of a role model for controlling the world...only this time, with power and money. And if he's really behind all these things, he probably sees himself as untouchable, just as Alexander the Great felt."
Clark shifted uneasily for a moment and looked as if he had something he was hesitant to say.
Lois furrowed her brows. "Clark? What is it?"
"If what you're thinking about Luthor is true, and he sees himself as some kind of world conqueror, who do you think would be his biggest threat to his so-called kingdom?"
"I'm not sure I know what you're asking," she admitted, confused.
"Superman," Clark stated simply. "Put yourself in someone like Luthor's position. A superhero arrives on the scene with some truly incredible super powers, so what would you do?" When Lois didn't answer right away, Clark rushed on. "You'd want to test him, wouldn't you? To see what he's capable of. You'd want to know what you were up against."
Clark paused, letting his words sink in. Then he continued. "What if it was Lex behind all those tests, and what's been happening to me?"
Lois's jaw dropped. "What!"
"Think about it, Lois. If he's behind all this, surely he'd want to find out everything he could about me, learn if I'm a threat to him, or capable of stopping him. Those two suicidal jumpers were employed by LexCorp. With everything you just told me, my theory seems to make sense."
"I wouldn't rule it out," Lois admitted. Then she bristled. "And to think I actually had dinner with the man! Maybe both your and my instincts were right about him hiding something. If all this is what he's been hiding, it's enough to put him behind bars for the rest of his life."
"All we have to do is prove it."
Lois made a face. "It's not going to be quite that easy." She glanced down at the papers in her hand. "This is far from hard evidence of any wrong doing, but I do think there are enough coincidences to keep us investigating."
Clark nodded. "I agree. I'll have Jimmy get us a list of Lex's holdings and financial records. I know it won't be easy to go through all of that, but there's got to be something there to give us some more leads."
"That would be great." Then she smiled. "I can tell we're going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next few weeks. We're going to have a lot of investigating to do."
Clark leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "I can't wait." But then his expression grew more stern. "But no more late-night escapades, understand? I don't want to get another phone call from you at four in the morning, hearing how you broke into some other building. I'm under enough stress as it is."
"Okay, okay." Lois laughed. "I'll try to be good."
He sighed. "Why don't I find that reassuring?"
**********
The next day, Clark was just coming down the ramp to the newsroom floor after lunch when Jimmy ran up to him, sounding out of breath.
"CK! There you are. I've been looking all over for you."
Clark slowed his steps for Jimmy to fall in beside him and he glanced at the large stack of papers in Jimmy's hands. "It looks like you've been busy. Are those for me?"
"Yeah, and I have the archives sending up everything they have on Luthor, too." Jimmy's forehead creased into a frown. "What are you working on, anyway?"
Clark took the stack of papers and thumbed through the first few. "Lois and I have some questions about his…business dealings," he mumbled, distracted by the information he was skimming.
"Lois Lane?" A surprised grin flashed across Jimmy face. "You've been working with Lois Lane?"
Clark's steps faltered. Had he just said that? He couldn't believe he'd let that slip. Hadn't he just recently warned Lois to be careful of what she said to people about their relationship? With a frown, he realized it wasn't quite as easy as that.
"Yes," he said finally. "We've talked several times."
Jimmy's grin broadened. "No kidding! So…is there something to this? Are you guys an item?"
Clark sighed. How exactly was he supposed to answer that? "Jimmy, it's kind of hard to be an item with somebody who lives 3,000 miles away."
"True," Jimmy persisted, "but it’s not impossible. You guys would be cute together! You should go for her. I would if I were you!"
The younger man's response drew a chuckle from Clark. "Thanks for the advice, Jimmy. We'll have to see how things go. In the meantime," he said, changing the subject, "what's going on with the research? Is this all of it? Except of the stuff coming up from the archives, I mean."
"Well, there's so much on Luthor and his enterprises it wouldn't fit on all the reams of paper in our building. But that's the stuff you said you wanted to look at. If you need something else, just let me know. It could take a while, given the amount of data I'd have to go through, but I'm sure I could find it."
"Thanks," Clark told him before parting ways with the younger man and heading over to his desk. Once there, he set the stack of papers down with a thump. It was definitely a lot of information to go through. It could take days to go through it all.
Then he smiled mischievously. It could take a *normal* person days. All he needed was a little "super" help.
Glancing around at the bustling newsroom, he stood up, grabbed the stack of papers, and headed into a windowless research room down the hall.
~*~*~*~*~
Lois sat, her elbow propped up on her desk and her chin in her hand, staring at her monitor. She sighed. She'd been going through all LexCorp's list of financial records, holdings, and subsidiaries for the past three hours since arriving at work, but she was getting discouraged. There was simply too much information to go through.
Just then the phone on her desk jingled. Grateful for the distraction, she picked it up and leaned back in her chair. "Lois Lane."
"Go check the fax machine." Clark's excited voice came over the line and spoke without as much as a 'hello.' "You should have just received a bunch of stuff I just sent."
Lois smiled as much at his boyish enthusiasm as she did at the pleasure of hearing from him. "Why?" she asked. "What did you find?"
"Just go get the papers. I'll wait."
Still smiling, she shook her head as she put him on hold and pushed her chair back from her desk. She loved it that he was so excited to share what he'd found with her.
For the hundredth time, she found herself wishing once again they could be working together. It would be so great to not have to rely on phone calls and Super visits to share their investigation reports. And today, she could sure use someone sitting at a table with her, poring over research. Maybe then it wouldn't seem so tedious.
Lois walked over to the fax machine across the newsroom and spotted a dozen or so pages sitting on the machine. Making sure her name was on them, she picked them up and walked back to her desk. She sat down in her chair and picked up the phone.
"Okay, I have them in front of me. What am I looking for?"
"That stack of papers is a just a small portion of LexCorp's financial records," Clark explained. "I have the other hundred or so pages on my desk, and those are just for the past year."
Lois gasped. "A hundred pages for the past year? You've got to be kidding!"
"Well, LexCorp is a huge company, with a lot of subsidiaries and financial dealings. But this particular portion of it was something I found interesting."
Her tone teasing, she asked, "Do I dare ask how you went through all that information since you got to work this morning?"
"Well, I have been at work three hours longer than you with our time difference…" Clark hesitated, then admitted sheepishly, "Oh, okay, you got me. I had a little speedy help."
She laughed. "I figured as much. Who would have known you'd be such a handy research partner?" She studied the pages in front of her. "So, what is it you found so interesting?"
"I told Jimmy to also look up any donations Luthor has made to charities, organizations, and things over the past couple of years, whether personally or through LexCorp, and I've been cross-checking some facts. I recognize all the businesses and organizations he's made donations to over the past two years…except one. I circled in on the last page."
Lois flipped through the pages until she reached the last sheet. She frowned. "Bureau 39? What's that?"
"That's what I asked, too," Clark told her, his voice gaining momentum as he launched into an explanation. "I did some digging, and I found out they're a rogue government military group. While I couldn't find any solid evidence of mission objectives, it appears that they investigated more secretive things, like UFO sightings and other phenomena. They've apparently been doing a lot of scientific research the last twenty years or so, as well, because several of the men supposedly associated with the group are well known scientists. Even more interesting, though, is that one of was apparently threatening to go public with something…then turned up dead a week later."
"It sounds like someone was trying to keep him quiet," Lois murmured thoughtfully.
"I wondered about that, too. But what I found interesting is that that Bureau 39 had its funding cut about two years ago…"
"But started receiving rather sizeable donations from Lex Luthor at about that same time," Lois finished for him, glancing down the faxed sheet at the donation amounts. "Sounds rather convenient."
"I agree. It makes me wonder what Bureau 39 might be working on that Luthor found interesting enough to fund."
Lois nodded. "Nobody makes those kinds of donations to a company out of the goodness of their hearts. He wants something they have."
"That was my assessment, too," Clark said. "I know this isn't what we set out to investigate, and it has nothing to do with the shipping company leads we've been pursuing, but it's suspicious enough to make me wonder what else he might have up his sleeve. If we find out what it is, maybe that will help us tie some things together."
"I agree," Lois nodded. "Let's follow this and see where it goes. None of our other leads have panned out at this point. How much have you been able to find out about this Bureau 39? Do you know where they are based?"
"That's just the thing. I haven't been able to find that out about them," he admitted. "They must still be operating covertly, because there's no record of a research lab location, or a headquarters, even."
"Do you know anybody who might be able to get you some information like that? Some ties in the military?"
Clark thought for a long moment, then sighed. "I do have a couple of connections, but I don't know that they'd know anything about Bureau 39. I suppose I could ask around."
Lois sat up in chair and reached for a pen. Switching the phone to her other ear, she jotted down the information he'd shared. "Okay, I wrote it all down. I'm going to ask around out here, too. Maybe together we can learn more about what this Bureau 39 is up to, and what they might be doing that Lex is interested in."
"Deal. The one who gets the information first owes the other one dinner," Clark challenged.
Lois laughed. "You're on. But I'm going to want something foreign. You may even have to take me overseas."
"Hey," Clark exclaimed indignantly. "What makes you think you're going to win?"
"I always win." Lois leaned back in her chair and grinned. "You'd better get used to it, buddy."
His warm laughter sounded across the line. "We'll have to see about that."
There was a pause, then Clark spoke again. "On a different subject, I have something to ask you. But if you feel like I'm jumping the gun here, tell me, okay? I know we agreed to take things day by day, and this might be too much too soon, but…"
Lois rolled her eyes as she started to doodle on her notepad. "Clark, you babble as much as I do when I'm nervous. What did you want to ask?"
"Well…" He hesitated. "My parents called this morning and wanted to know if I could help them with a few things out at the farm tonight, and stay for dinner. I said I would, and then they asked about you, and how things were going between us, and…"
"And?" Lois prompted.
His tone was apprehensive. "…and they mentioned how much they'd like to meet you. They wanted to know if you'd like to come, too."
Lois's hand froze, her doodling ceased. For a long moment she didn't respond as she tried to decide what to say. She'd loved talking to his mom on the phone not long ago, and she'd seemed so nice…but was she ready to officially meet his parents? It seemed like such a big step.
On the other hand, she didn't consider her relationship with Clark as trivial. It was a big thing in her life, and she knew Clark felt the same way. His parents were bound to want to know who the woman was in their son's life.
"Lois? Are you still there?"
Clark's voice brought her back to the present with a bump. "Oh, yeah…sorry, I'm still here. I was just thinking about that."
His disappointment was evident in his voice as he responded. "Too soon, huh? I knew it. I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry, Lois, I didn't mean to--"
"No, Clark, it's okay," she quickly cut him off, her tone reassuring. "You just caught me off guard, that's all. I have to admit, the idea of meeting your parents makes me nervous, but…well, as long as you're there for support…"
"You mean you'll come?" Clark asked, his voice reflecting his earlier enthusiasm. "That's great! My mom will be so excited. You're all she's talked about since that night she talked to you on the phone. And you're going to love my dad--"
"Clark, stop. You're making me more nervous." She laughed stiffly. "They're not going to give me the third degree, are they? They're not going to ask about where we think our relationship's going, or what our future plans are, right? Or if we're going to be giving them grandchildren anytime soon? I'm not sure I could handle that this soon in our relationship."
He chuckled. "Lois, I promise you they're not going to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. They're good people. You'll like them."
She let her breath out slowly in an attempt to calm her now-jittery stomach. "Okay. You are coming to pick me up, though, right?"
"Absolutely. What time are you leaving work? My mom was planning on serving dinner around seven, but that's four your time, and--"
"I can sneak out of here a little early," Lois interrupted. "You just tell me what time would be good and I'll meet you at my apartment. You'd better make it the balcony, though. Agnes has been hovering near her front door lately, and I don't want to have to explain how you got into my apartment without using the elevator or front door."
He laughed again. "You got it."
They made arrangements, then Lois heard Perry's voice bellowing in the background. "Uh-oh," she said. "Sounds like Perry's not happy."
"No, he's not. I guess I'd better go before he realizes this call is more personal than business."
Lois smiled a little nostalgically. For some reason, she found herself missing Perry. "I'll see you in a while, then. Oh! Tell me quick what I should wear. I want to make a good impression."
His voice grew husky as he answered. "Lois, my parents will love you no matter what you wear, the same as I do. If it helps, though, I'm just planning on jeans and maybe a button-down shirt. It's a casual dinner. Don't worry about dressing up."
Perry's bellowing grew louder in the background, and Clark's voice lowered to a whisper in order to keep from being overhead. "I've gotta go; Perry's coming. I'll see you tonight, though, okay? I love you."
The words entwined themselves around her heart, making her feel warm all over. "I love you, too," she told him quickly before he hung up.
When she heard the dial tone, she hung up the phone, a silly smile on her face. Suddenly the idea of meeting his parents didn't sound so scary…not when Clark, the man she loved, and who loved her in return, would be at her side.
She glanced up at the clock, then sighed. Tonight was going to be a long time in coming.
**********
to be continued in part 24...
