I really like this, Barbara:
Lois ran through the streets of Metropolis as if Jack the Ripper was pursuing her. She had never felt so betrayed by someone. Why couldn’t Clark just say that he was married? She had made a fool of herself. What an embarrassing memory would that be! She had thrown herself at Clark like a drowning person. And he hadn’t even reacted. She had at least expected to be pushed away by a humiliated husband. He would have had every right to be mad and humiliated. Lois still blushed at what she had offered Clark. As strange as it sounded, she had felt that this was the right thing to do, and because of that she had dismissed all her personal objections concerning adultery.
I like how you write about Lois's feelings regarding adultery. She doesn't take such a thing lightly, and looking back on what she offered Clark, she is ashamed of herself. But because of her love for Clark, and because of the horrible situation she believed he was stuck in, she truly felt that this was the right thing to offer him. Like I said, I like how you show us Lois's relatively complex reaction to a very difficult situation.
Everyone deserved to be happy, and Clark just couldn't be happy with such a wife. He had made the wrong decision years ago, but that didn’t mean that he should have to pay for it his entire adult life. But even though he had briefly cried for help, Clark seemed to like being caged. But now that she had come to save him, he was sending her away and pretending that nothing was wrong. She had seen his misery, yet he had the nerve to call her blind.
Again, very well written. You manage to show how Lois's different ideas about adultery from different stages of her life come together to help her come to a conclusion - but there is no guarantee she won't change her mind about that conclusion again, of course.
Despite all her anger, she felt mostly sad for her best friend and new found love. There was a nagging pain torturing her heart that was the last bond between her and him. Right now, she felt the same incredible pain that he had to endure. This loss was the worst thing Lois had ever experienced; it was even worse than the pain Claude had caused her. She didn’t know how to bear it. Lois had the impression that she was never going to survive this and that she would die any minute because of a broken heart.
Lois feels that she knows Clark's pain and that she feels all of that pain for herself, too. Because now she knows what she has lost.
But she knew something else: there was no way she could marry another man now. If she couldn’t have Clark, she didn’t want to marry at all. Assuming that she would survive the day, she couldn’t imagine ever kissing someone else.
This is very good! Lois no longer wants to marry Lex.
Lois knew what to do and where to go. She had to break the engagement. She would visit Luthor and apologize for her mistake. She just couldn’t marry him anymore. But could she tell him this directly? Lois decided that she would make some detours to her apartment and LNN. She hoped this would help her find the courage to go to Lex.
Lois is scared of telling Lex that she won't marry him. The simple fact that she is scared of telling is all the proof she needs that she mustn't marry this man.
And right now, he was in the worst imaginable state. Clark hadn’t moved since Lois had left, but a constant shiver seemed to control him. His face was still buried in his hands, and after this first heart-wrenching moan, he had been terribly silent. Perry had watched him anxiously from a secure distance. He didn’t want to be sent away again. The scene hadn’t changed a bit for four hours. Clark seemed to be weeping silently, though he couldn’t possibly have tears anymore.
Oh, poor, poor Clark!!!
Of course he had overheard their conversation; he would have had to be deaf to miss it. Perry was well aware that only one of them could be right. Clark couldn’t both be married and a bachelor. He knew that Clark was a very bad liar and that his excuses often were rather lame. But he also knew that Clark was a very honest person.
Ah, but I don't agree here. Clark is not a bad liar. If he was, his secret identity would have been blown long ago. And because he is lying about himself daily, he isn't such a very honest person.
But Perry knew Lois as well. She was a great investigative reporter. She sometimes was blind concerning certain truths, and she never believed anything easily unless she could get proof. So Lois had to have evidence for her theory that Clark was married. And she wasn’t a liar either. When Lois said that she had met Clark’s wife, she had done just that. So what was the true story in this mess?
I'm glad Perry respects Lois's respect for evidence. At least she has a reason to believe what she believes!
He seriously hoped that Jimmy would help bring some light in this affair. Perry valued Jimmy’s research skills. He was talented in that way and had access to sources that Perry was too old to use.
Interesting - is Jimmy going to find the necessary proof that Clark isn't married?
Clark looked very determined. His eyes had a hard, almost aggressive note. It actually scared Perry, because he noticed that there was fatalism in them.
Clark stood up and had an air of strength that Perry had never seen in him before. How could the appearance of a person change so completely within a second? It was amazing.
“He’s going to marry her tomorrow morning, Perry. We have just 24 hours left to hunt Luthor down,” Clark said hoarsely. His voice was trembling and soft, totally opposite to the stance of his body.
“I’ve called Jimmy. He’ll help us to gather the evidence against Luthor.”
Good! GOOD!!! Clark is finally going to get some real evidence against Luthor!
But even worse than Luthor was that he couldn’t talk to Lois lately. They hadn’t been able to have a proper conversation for what seemed like ages. Luthor might have set the trap, but they had granted him success. They had caused this terrible misunderstanding themselves. If they hadn't been arguing so frequently, maybe Lois would have listened to him. And *he* would have really listened to her. Luthor didn't know that Clark indeed had something to hide from Lois. Clark was pretty sure of that. Otherwise his attackers would have had kryptonite with them.
Yes, Clark, that's so true! You have to be able to talk to Lois to sort this mess out!
He had to find Lois and do the one decent thing. He had to tell her the whole truth about his dual identity. He had to let her know that she didn’t have to decide between Clark and Superman. He had to tell her what he knew about Lex and why he was so convinced that this man was evil. He had to tell her about the people Lex had sent to hurt him and about the insurance Lex had had on the Daily Planet. Lex had told everyone that there wasn't any insurance. He had already told her that Lex was responsible for the explosion of the Planet, but it had been to no avail. There was one person left that Lois might believe - Superman.
Yes, Clark! Yes, yes, yes!!!
But I just shudder at how Mrs Cox has set a trap for Superman. It's so horrible that I can't quote any of it!
That had been half an hour ago, and Lois was impatient. She had wanted to do this quickly. There wasn’t much to do. She had to take the ring off and apologize. That was pretty much all of it. For her, this was a simple task. But unfortunately, what would happen between her and Lex just didn't depend on her. She didn’t love Lex. She had never truly loved him. Lois was at least sure about that. But what about Lex? Did he love her? Would he let her go so easily?
For heaven's sake, Lois and Lex aren't married. Can Lex refuse to let her go? What kind of society is it that won't respect a woman's right to break off her engagement?
Lois bit her lip. She was really fooling around with men’s hearts. Hadn’t she looked down on Cat because she wasn’t capable of a lasting relationship? But during the last week she had rejected Clark, she had accepted a proposal from a man that she didn’t even love, and she had messed with Superman’s heart. She remembered that he had wanted to tell her something, but she had barely let him say a word. What if he had changed his mind then? Hadn’t he even called her ‘sweetheart’?
Yes, I'm sorry I have to agree that you have behaved badly, Lois.
Lois shook her head. There was really no reason why anybody should find her lovable. She always reacted in the worst possible way. She could have been more sympathetic with Clark. And she really should have given him a chance to explain. He had deserved that.
You are so right, Lois.
“Hi Lex,” Lois managed to say. Her heart was beating so loud that she feared Lex would hear it from across the room. “I need to talk to you.” She added in a low and hoarse voice. Why was she so nervous? Lex had always been the perfect gentleman. He would let her go, wouldn’t he? He would understand.
She is scared of him. Good! She needs to be.
Had she ever felt so uncomfortable? Being so close to Lex suddenly disturbed her. It raised the need to run away and put as much distance between them as possible. Was it because she was afraid of hurting this man? Lois didn’t know. No matter, she had to break the engagement.
She is really panicking. This is good writing, Barbara.
Lex stared at it. For a short moment his eyes seemed to glow. He winced and then looked at her, and the expression on his face was hard, almost frightening. For a millisecond, she could see right through his eyes and into his soul. She didn’t like what she saw, but the moment had been too brief for her to really understand what she had seen. It left a certain uneasiness and fear within her. Lex' face softened almost immediately and he seemed to be as gentle as ever. Lois wondered if she had really seen this frightening version of Lex or if she was starting to hallucinate.
What a nightmare! Horrible and brilliant!
“It’s Clark, isn’t it? He is still confusing you, Lois,” Lex said softly.
“Yes, he does, Lex. I didn’t realize that I love him until you told me that he is married. How ironic can life be?” Lois sighed and felt tears in her eyes.
“And what did Clark say?” Lex asked.
“He isn’t going to leave her. He is still so infatuated with that woman. I can’t understand him, and it hurts like hell,” Lois replied sadly.
But... now she is conversing with that monster. Why doesn't she just tell him that their engagement is off?
Lex seemed to be so understanding and kind. Lois could hardly understand why she had become afraid of him. Shivers were running down her spine, but she knew that it would be impolite and childish to run away now. Lex didn’t pose a threat to her at the moment.
NOOO!!!! No, no, no!!!! Barbara, I don't understand it. Why is she reacting like that?
“Lois, why don’t you want to marry me?” he inquired. He held the ring out to her as he was offering it to her again. “You can’t have him, anyway.”
“Well, that’s the reason, Lex. I don’t want anyone but Clark. Even if that means that I have to stay alone and lonely.”
Well, I'm glad she dares to speak of her feelings for Clark, anyway.
“Lois. I know this is hard for you. But please consider this: If you marry me, you would never have to worry about money again. I would love and cherish you. I don’t care too much if you return this love. Maybe you’ll learn to love me one day. All I would ask of you is your respect. Please allow me to love you,” Lex declared desperately. “I will always care for you. Do you really want to be alone for the rest of your life? Please think about it, Lois. And it’s not as if these vows are literally made forever. You could still get divorced if you decide to do so some day.”
“Oh, Lex…” Lois said hoarsely. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Does she believe him? She can't, can she?
She felt sorry for Lex. He must be desperate. She still had this uneasy gut feeling, but Lois was more and more convinced that she had been mistaken. Maybe she had only seen his fear of losing her. She still felt her own despair after acknowledging that being together with Clark was impossible. Yes, that must be it - Lois must have seen the hurt in his eyes. There was just no way he could be such a good actor. She was tempted to say yes. Lois didn’t really want to be alone. And it almost killed her having to hurt such a kind man. There was still anxiety within her, but she dismissed it as ridiculous. She had no reason to be afraid of Lex. She believed in evidence and Lex was the gentleman he had always been. That brief moment that he had seemed so frightening hadn’t meant anything, had it? Had Clark really called him a devil? He didn’t know the man, not at all. Lex was different. She looked into those yearning brown eyes…
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I can't believe this, not in a million years!!! Please, Barbara!!!
Ann
I got to it ASAP. 
Send the next one to me Barbara.
