Chapter 2
Clark watched her walk away until she turned the corner and disappeared from sight, and then let out a long, slow breath. He could not believe Lois Lane had agreed to meet him for dinner, and if he was honest, he wouldn’t be surprised if he got to the lobby at six only to find a message waiting for him with a polite cancellation.
He had been reading her articles for years and had loosely followed her career since she had won the Pulitzer last year. He knew she was one of the youngest winners in the category, so he hadn’t been surprised by her youth or intelligence. But he hadn’t expected her to be funny. Or charming. Or gorgeous.
He had been looking forward to her speech tomorrow night. And while he waited in the hall for his students, the thought had crossed his mind that if he went into the conference room to retrieve them, he might have the opportunity to meet her and tell her he was a fan of her work.
But the second he saw her, he was enchanted. She had teased him about his students and his hometown, and immediately he had wanted so much more than just to tell her he was a fan.
And then she had drawn out his story.
It was easy to see why she was such an unparallelled reporter. She knew all the right questions to ask. She drew him in with her piercing gaze and patient silences. She saw him. She was dangerous.
He turned and walked quickly toward the exhibit hall, running into Lana with six of their students in tow before he made it all the way there.
“There you are!” she said, as he turned and fell in step with them, heading back to the elevators. “You disappeared.”
“Sorry, about that,” he replied, suddenly flustered.
She gave him an intrigued look. “Where were you?”
“I… I went to meet the kids at the master class,” he said.
She nodded. “I know. They came and met up with us an hour ago. I thought you’d be right behind them.”
“I wound up talking to the woman teaching the class – Lois Lane?” he said, forcing his voice to stay casual. “She was asking me about the Pacemaker we won and the work the kids did. We wound up talking a lot longer than I expected. Sorry about that.”
Lana laughed. “I swear to god, you never meet a stranger, do you? I should have figured.”
“I sort of invited her to join us for dinner,” he added, as they stopped in front of the bank of elevators.
Lana laughed harder. “Of course you did. Is she coming?” He nodded in confirmation. “She didn’t have other plans? Isn’t she the featured speaker tomorrow night? Doesn’t she have other obligations?”
He shrugged. “I guess not. She said she was looking forward to continuing the discussion with the kids. Apparently they had a lively dialogue in class.”
Lana shook her head in amusement. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. A few men in business suits emerged, and then they filed in.
In his room, Clark splashed cold water on his face and then quickly shaved and applied aftershave. He decided against changing. The blue shirt, tie and dark gray dress pants might be slightly overdressed for the restaurant, but the only other option he had brought besides businesswear was jeans, and he didn’t want to go that casual. On second thought, he yanked down the knot of his tie and slipped it over his head, tossing it on the bed. He undid the top button of his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. That was better.
He checked his watch. Ten minutes until six. He checked to make sure he had his wallet, and glanced at himself in the mirror one more time, giving himself a quick lecture about the futility of the nerves he was feeling.
She was just being polite, joining them for dinner. It didn’t mean she was interested in him. What in the world would she see in a small town English teacher? She was Lois Lane. Pulitzer prize winning investigative journalist for The Daily Planet. She lived half a country away in the biggest, most exciting city in the country. She socialized with billionaires and media moguls. She was not going to give him a second glance.
And that was for the best. Because the last thing he needed was the best investigative journalist in the country looking at him too closely. He was just going to enjoy the pleasure of her company at dinner and then file this memory away with all the other once-in-a-lifetime opportunities he had been fortunate enough to experience.
He opened his door and crossed the hall, knocking on Lana’s door.
“Just a minute!” she called. He waited a minute, and then the door swung open. Lana had changed into jeans and a brightly-colored, ruffled sleeveless shirt.
She brushed past him, letting the door swing shut behind her, then paused and turned back to look at him, eyes narrowed.
“You smell good,” she said suspiciously.
“That’s ridiculous,” he said, hoping the mock annoyance in his voice hid his embarrassment. “I smell exactly like I always do.”
She raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced. “And you lost the tie and did this,” she said, waving a finger at his shirt.
“It’s a casual restaurant, Lana. You changed your whole outfit. I’m just getting comfortable.”
“Uh huh,” she said. “If you wanted to be comfortable, you would change into jeans and one of your god awful plaid shirts.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my flannel shirts. But I didn’t bring any to Miami. It's ninety degrees outside.”
“Uh huh,” she said again, unimpressed by his explanation.
The door beside Lana’s room opened, and a gaggle of teen girls burst out, giggling. He herded his students toward the elevators, exchanging amused glances with Lana on the ride down as the girls made thinly veiled comments about the budding romance between Sarah and Henry.
In the lobby, Henry and Alex were seated in a large, otherwise deserted lounge area. Everyone claimed a seat to wait for the final two students in their group and the giggles and whispers increased as it was not-so-subtly arranged that Sarah would sit on the couch beside Henry.
Clark and Lana sat in a set of armchairs off to the side.
“She’s about as subtle as you were once you finally decided you were in love with Pete,” Clark teased.
Lana laughed. “Well, he doesn’t look like he’s putting up any more resistance than Pete did, so maybe they’re destined for a happily ever after.”
They talked for a minute about the walking route to the restaurant, and then Clark looked over Lana’s shoulder and spotted Lois heading their way. She had changed into a simple yellow sundress and sandals, and her glossy hair swung as she walked, the perfectly curled tips brushing her shoulders.
He stood immediately, his heart hammering in his chest, and he focused on keeping his feet on the floor as she approached.
“Hi,” he said, cringing internally at the breathless sound of his voice.
“Hi,” she replied, giving him a little smile that made his pulse accelerate.
Behind her, Lana stood, the shocked look on her face morphing into a smug smile. She looked from Lois back to Clark and silently mouthed, “Oh, hell yeah.”
Clark tried valiantly not to react. He put a hand on Lois’ arm, and gestured to Lana with his other hand. “Lois, this is Lana Ross. She’s the other English teacher at Smallville High.”
“I’m so glad you could join us,” Lana said, looking far too delighted with this development for Clark’s liking.
“Thanks for letting me crash your dinner,” Lois replied.
Before he could say anything else, they were interrupted by the last two students arriving via the elevator bay. All the students were on their feet, jostling and laughing, the girls pretending to be disgusted by the boys’ discussion of potential menu items like squid and octopus.
“Hey,” Clark said, and they quieted immediately. He gestured to Lois, standing beside him. “Those of you in today’s Master Class are familiar with Ms. Lane. You all know she’ll be the featured speaker at tomorrow's award ceremony. She’s agreed to join us for dinner tonight. It was very generous of her, and if any of you had any questions for her that you didn’t get to ask today, you should be sure to take advantage of this opportunity.”
The news was greeted with a chorus of excited whispers, and Clark waited for them to quiet down before continuing. “Let’s go. The restaurant is only a few blocks away, so we’ll walk. Pay attention and stay with the group.”
Clark watched approvingly as his students peppered Lois with questions during the walk to the restaurant and continued to ask follow up questions once they were seated, and he found himself as interested as they were in her answers.
Once the waiter brought their food, the students began chatting about personal topics, leaving the adults to their own conversation at one end of the table.
“Thank you for that,” Clark said quietly. “They’re going to remember this dinner forever.”
Lois blushed and tried to demure, but Lana cut her off. “He’s right. Most of these kids have never been outside Kansas. If they go to college, they’ll be the first person in their family to do it. Traveling halfway across the country and having dinner with a Pulitzer winner? They are going to tell this story for years.”
“Well, then I’m very glad to give them that,” Lois replied. “But it was no sacrifice on my part. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about the interactive portions of this conference, and they’ve made the whole experience much more enjoyable than I was anticipating.”
“You’re not generally a fan of teens?” Lana teased.
Lois laughed. “Just lack of experience. How has the rest of the conference been so far? I remember loving it when I was their age.”
“I think they are loving it too,” Lana replied. “So, you attended when you were in high school?”
“All four years,” Lois replied. “My school always sent a delegation. Did you write for your high school newspaper?”
“Clark didn’t mention?” Lana asked, her eyes twinkling. “We were the founding staff of the Smallville Tiger Times.”
“Oh,” Lois said, clearly surprised. “I didn’t realize you were an alum as well.”
“Lana and I grew up next door to each other,” Clark replied. “She’s the reason I stayed in Smallville after my dad recovered.”
Lois’ eyebrows shot up, and immediately he realized how that sounded and wanted to kick himself.
“Guilty,” Lana said with a laugh, shooting him a quick look that said he was an idiot. “I was about to go on maternity leave and begged him to sub for me for the rest of the year. I knew the kids would love him, but I was surprised he loved it as much as he did. It was lucky that old Mrs. Murphy finally decided to retire that summer. Otherwise I might have been out of a job.”
Clark watched Lois’ face relax as Lana explained, and tried not to think about what it meant that she cared.
“How long ago was that?” Lois asked. “Three years ago?”
“Four,” Lana corrected. “Caleb just turned four.”
“So you’ve been back home for four years now,” Lois said, turning her attention back to him.
He saw Lana’s brief smirk, and realized she had understood immediately from this exchange that their earlier conversation hadn’t been limited only to professional topics.
“Four and half,” he said. “I spent about six months running the farm full time before taking over for Lana. This is my third year teaching full time.”
“Hey, Mrs. Ross!” Travis interrupted from the other end of the table. Clark whipped his head around and gave him a sharp look.
“Uh, I mean, excuse me, ma’am,” he corrected. “Do you know what time that session on resume building is tomorrow? Is it at one or two?”
“It’s at two,” Lana replied, and the kids went back to discussing their game plan for the next day. Clark turned back to find Lois and Lana both stifling laughter.
“What?” he asked, sure he had missed something.
“Did you see his face?” Lana asked. “I thought he was going to salute.”
Clark rolled his eyes. “They’ll live up to or down to whatever standards we hold them to, Lana. If he shows up to an interview-“
“I know, I know,” she said, waving a hand at him. “It’s just funny.”
She turned to Lois conspiratorially, “He’s always been a big old Boy Scout. You should have seen him in high school. He was always trying to keep Pete and me in line.”
“He wasn’t helping you terrorize the town?” Lois asked with a laugh.
“Clark’s never terrorized anyone in his life,” Lana said. “Except maybe the single female population of our town. I swear, every woman between the ages of 16 and 60 is in love with him, and he pretends to be oblivious. I keep trying to tell him-”
“Lana,” he said, trying to keep the warning tone in his voice light but clear.
Lana waved him off, never the least bit intimidated by him. “Nowadays the women in town know better than to waste their time, and just pine away silently, but you should have seen the girls throw themselves at him when we were in high school,” Lana said to Lois.
“Lana’s exaggerating,” Clark said, trying to wrestle back control of this conversation. “She had a one-track mind in high school, so her memories of that time are clouded.”
“Did you two date in high school?” Lois asked, and he could see her assessing their dynamic.
“Ew,” Lana said immediately.
Clark couldn’t help but laugh, even if he was irritated at her for initiating this whole conversation.
“Ew to you too,” he said. He turned his attention to Lois. “Lana is the closest thing I have to a sister. I’m an only child, and Lana’s brothers are all ten or more years older than we are. Our moms are best friends and we lived next door to each other. We grew up like siblings. She’s two months older than I am, so she thinks that means she can boss me around.”
“And then I married his best friend, so now he’s doubly stuck with me,” Lana teased him. She turned her attention back to Lois. “Clark was Pete’s best man, and is the godfather to both our children. I think that earns me the right to boss him around a little bit.”
“The same Pete that you had to keep in line in high school?” Lois asked, giving him a grin that made his heart stutter.
“We met in kindergarten and have been best friends ever since,” he confirmed.
“They were the most popular boys in school,” Lana said with a laugh. “I snagged Pete just before junior prom, and then poor Clark was left to fend off the horde of girls chasing him all on his own.”
“The horde? Really, Lana?” He was dying of embarrassment and desperate to change the subject, but Lois was laughing and seemed to be enjoying the visual.
“And then he led the team to State and won us a championship, and he was a bonafide celebrity,” Lana added, and Clark rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what she was doing, and there was no way Lois would miss her intention either. He knew she meant well, but he felt pathetic watching her try to impress this incredible woman with tales of his glory days as a big fish in a tiny pond. Surely it would only highlight how unimpressive his accomplishments were contrasted with hers.
“Football?” Lois said with a playful smirk.
Clark nodded.
“Quarterback?” she guessed.
He nodded again.
“And a decade later, people still like to reminisce about your big plays?” she teased. He shrugged, seeing his life play out through her eyes and feeling the smallness of it. She was being kind, but he couldn’t imagine she felt anything other than pity or amusement. He found himself wishing suddenly for another life. One that impressed her. One that gave him a chance to see that smile again after tonight.
“You laugh, but it’s true,” Lana said. “He still holds a bunch of school records. When he agreed to take the teaching job, all anyone could talk about was how Coach Kent was going to take us to State again.”
“And then you decided to start up a newspaper instead? Was there a mutiny?” she asked, eyes dancing with amusement.
“No mutiny,” he replied quietly. “I do both.”
She looked taken aback. “You managed to build a Pacemaker-winning newspaper in three years while also coaching the football team?” she asked. Then she paused and assessed him for a minute, a suspicious grin spreading slowly across her face. “Did your team go to State this year?”
He said nothing, just raised an eyebrow, and she laughed out loud.
“They did!” she exclaimed. “Well, well. You really are something, Clark Kent.”
His heart clenched at the warmth in her smile; the twinkle in her eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Lana giving him a self-congratulatory grin.
