Continued from:
-
A ring of truth (1/?) -
A ring of truth (2/?) ~.~.~.~.~
From part 2:
"Ok! It's a date! uh, I mean... I'll meet you there at 7:30." She turned around and made for her desk as quickly as her legs could take her, hoping to hide the fact that she was blushing like mad again. <A date? He hasn't said anything about a date! Great going, Lane, you're spoiling everything again!> Grabbing the first phone message note on her desk, she started dialing the number as if her life depended on it.
<A date? ...is that what she thinks this is? Uh oh.> Clark picked up the envelope and placed it in the inside pocket of his suit jacket. <Hey, wait a minute... that means... she was willing to go out on a date with me?> It was all he could do not to break into a blinding smile. Things were definitely looking up! ~.~.~.~.~
The Daily Planet's front-page story about project Shock Wave and the tsunami was making waves of its own by mid-afternoon. Yet again, Lois and Clark had managed to bring down the bad guys, scoop every other reporter in the city *and* land a Superman exclusive.
Another Superman exclusive.... For some reason, Lois didn't find this nearly as exciting as she used to. Was the 'wow' factor starting to fade already? Could it be that the wide-eyed adoration she'd had for him had somehow subsided?
<When did that happen?> she asked herself. <How could that happen?> How indeed. But she knew the answer to that, didn't she? It had to do with the fact that she'd finally acknowledged something that had been staring her in the face for some time. A simple truth that she was starting to accept. That while Superman was of the unattainable kind, there was someone else who... might be attainable.
She glanced at her partner for a few seconds. Long enough to see what a handsome man he was, but not long enough for him to think she was ogling him. She wondered how come she'd never really *seen* him. No, that wasn't right... She had seen him. In fact, she'd done nothing but notice things about him. How kind he was, how caring, generous, friendly, witty and bright, and <oh, go on, that's not all and you know it!> absolutely gorgeous! <Remember that morning back at the Apollo?> She may have been a little oblivious, but she wasn't completely blind to his many charms!
It also hadn't escaped her that women seemed easily drawn to him. If she were being honest, she'd have to admit that whenever anyone of the female persuasion started gravitating around him, it made Mad Dog want to bite and... and... give them rabies! <I don't want them anywhere near him!> How dare they? Couldn't they see that he was with her? Oh... wait... he wasn't with her, was he? He was there and she was there, but there was no one that was with anyone else, was there? <Boy, this is giving me a migraine!>
Just what *was* this attachment she felt towards him? <Oh for crying out loud! Would you stop denying it, already? You sound like a politician at a Senate hearing!> Lois knew she was just lying to herself. She was attracted to Clark. Very much so. And her being jealous of the attention other women lavished on him wasn't solely based on the fact that while he was busy with them, she was being completely ignored. But... admitting what she was trying so hard not to think about required so much more courage than Lois thought she possessed.
She couldn't push aside her fear of any new relationship turning into another "Federal Disaster". She had fought very hard to protect herself against just this sort of thing. So she couldn't fall and get hurt. So she wouldn't have to suffer from a broken heart ever again. That's why she had never had a new relationship since... well, a very long time.
<Wait a minute!> Lois thought as something occurred to her, <this is just dinner! We're not talking long-term commitment, here, it's just dinner! And anyway, since when has Clark Kent become potential relationship material?> Of course, she knew perfectly well when... it had happened about the same time as her excitement over a certain hero in blue-tights had started to weaken.
She had to admit, Clark was different from every man she'd ever known. He was nothing like them. <He would probably be in serious contention for the "last decent man" award,> she thought, smiling. Never once had he treated her like a trophy to be won or, worse, a prey to be caught by the big strong hunter-man. He'd never even fed her a lame pickup line of any kind. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn he wasn't attracted to her at all. But she did know better. She knew from the kiss they'd shared in the honeymoon suite. A kiss like *that* couldn't possibly be devoid of feeling, no one could pull that off. No one.
Yes, while Superman was definitely of the unattainable kind, Clark might not only be attainable, he would be well worth the effort, too.
Maybe if she didn't throw herself into it this time... maybe then it wouldn't end in catastrophe.
~.~.~.~.~
By 5:30, Lois had been looking anxiously at the clock every few seconds for over half an hour. She had decided that she wouldn't leave a second before 5:45. She thought that if she left any earlier, it might look like she was in a hurry to get ready for their "it's probably not a date, but that's what I've called it" dinner date. The truth is she would need all the time she could get in order for everything to be just right - her dress, her hair, her make-up. It wasn't a casual dinner with a co-worker anyway, was it? It really didn't anything feel like that. If the butterflies in her stomach were any indication, this was a date all right. And the truth was, she just couldn't wait for 5:45 to roll around. These three little digits held a lot of promise.
Somewhere between the time she admitted she probably had feelings for her partner and her last check of the clock, Lois had decided that she wasn't going to let the chance of... something... slip by her that evening. She was done with missed opportunities. If there was even an inkling of a possibility, she would explore it. Slowly, yes, but surely. This time, Lois vowed, she would stop and check the water level before jumping in the pool.... It wasn't a relationship yet, anyway, was it? It was just dinner for now. She could worry about things later on, *if* there was a 'later on' to have to worry about.
Lois' constant - almost manic - reflex to check the time was starting to worry Clark. He had no idea whether this meant Lois was hoping time would stop or fast forward. Either way, it didn't bode well for him. What if she was reconsidering? Maybe she didn't want to spend any more time with him - they'd spent the last 2 days practically joined at the hip, after all. On the other hand, if this was a sign of eagerness, that meant he'd have a lot of expectations to live up to. Clark wasn't sure he measured up, especially sans Superman. She hero-worshiped his alter ego, but she pretty much ignored the real him. The bottom line was that Lois was all worked up about something and it made Clark grow more nervous by the second.
Several more looks and sighs later, Lois noticed that the clock had finally turned to 5:45. She felt a wave of relief. <Calm down!> she told herself. She needed to act normal, casual. Not like a crazy person whose nerves were getting the better of her. A crazy person who hadn't had a date in... oh, she didn't remember the last time she had a *real* date. <Darn it! Stop thinking about that, girl. You need to relax, at least until you get out of here. Breathe in... breathe out... yeah... like that.> She made herself get up slowly and grab her things as casually and calmly as she possibly could.
She turned to Clark. "I'll see you a little bit later," she said, with a shaky little smile, trying to sound self-assured. With that, she picked up her jacket and walked out of the newsroom.
"See you..." he started, but she was halfway to the elevator by the time he managed to finish his sentence. "...later." He shrugged. There was no way of knowing what was going through that head of hers, why bother trying? He'd find out soon enough. Hopefully he'd find out about a few things tonight, if he played his cards right.
A short while later, Clark shut off his computer and headed for the stairs. He got up to the roof, spun into the suit and flew back to his apartment.
~.~.~.~.~
Clark made it home shortly after 7:00. Superman had had to make a few stops along the way, as usual. A robbery in a pawnshop and half a dozen muggings. Nothing major, thankfully. Nothing that required more than a few minutes of his time, either. Clark didn't even want to imagine what might have happened if he'd been needed for several hours and never made it to his rendez-vous with Lois. She'd be beyond angry!
He prayed that the world would be able to manage without Superman tonight. Lois had already started to notice his habit of disappearing without a word at the worst possible moment. He didn't think he'd be able to find a possible reason of abandoning her right in the middle of dinner if he'd heard a cry for help. How would he be able to explain that he absolutely *had* to leave? It was likely she'd never want to speak to him, ever again. For just this once, it would be really nice if Superman didn't get in the way of Clark's life. Just this once - if wishes were horses....
~.~.~.~.~
To be continued... Apologies to anyone anxiously expecting the big date... it's going to be in part 4 for a few reasons, some of which include length and time to think about it.
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