Here you go. The interview.
And more! Have fun!
~.~.~.~
Part 7Clark had insisted that they not spoil dinner by jumping right into the interview. This, unfortunately, had not left them with much to talk about. Lois didn't dare ask anything personal for fear of the interview being over before it had even started. She noticed that he did not ask her any personal questions either. She wasn't certain if she should take that as a sign that he showed very little interest in her or simply that he didn't want to encourage her into asking him for the same type of details which she had agreed not to talk about tonight.
Lois hoped that once they did finally get started with the interview, that he would be a little more talkative or this might end up being a very short evening!
They sat near the fire after dinner. Lois pulled out her notepad and a pencil from her evening bag. She started off with a few easy icebreakers and the conversation was off to a good start. However, at one point, as she had asked something about the number of awards that he'd won, he had started laughing. She looked at him puzzled and a tiny bit offended by his reaction to a very valid question.
"I apologize," he said, "It's just... You've called me 'sir' about half a dozen time now and it's starting to make me feel very, very old."
"Oh... I didn't realize. I'm sorry, mist- uh... I mean..."
He laughed again. "Hang on, let's start this over."
He got up and took a few steps towards her. "Hello," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm Clark. Pleased to meet you."
She took his hand, looking up at him. "I'm Lois," she said with a small nod. "The pleasure is all mine."
Time seemed to stand still for a fraction of a second as their eyes met.
Lois looked away, hoping to hide the fact that this had completely thrown her off balance. What was it about this man, she wondered? Ever since the first time she'd seen him, he'd conjured up feelings inside her that she wasn't sure she could name or explain. She was definitely attracted to him - any normal human female would have been - but it wasn't just that, it was something else. Something more. She wondered if he felt that as well... Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she hoped he did.
Clark cleared his throat and went back to his chair. He was a little thrown off balance himself... Hopefully, she hadn't noticed, he thought. There was something that drew him to her; an unstoppable force that he couldn't fight. He had no desire to fight it, either. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he kept getting this strange sense of a connection between them. Every look, every touch, seemed to confirm this. Clark had never really believed in fate or destiny - it always seemed like a very pessimistic way of seeing the world - but he was starting to believe that they'd been meant to share these moments together. There was no other way to explain why it felt so right. He had never really belonged anywhere - he didn't even belong on this planet to begin with - but when he was around her, at that moment, he knew that this is exactly where he was supposed to be. Somehow, he was supposed to be with her.
"Have you actually visited all the places you mention in your books?" Lois asked after a moment.
"You know you're getting real close to the line marked 'personal' with a question like this," he told her with what he hoped resembled a teasing grin.
"Oh... I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." she stammered. She knew this would happen if she wasn't careful. Damn!
"No, no, it's fine," Clark said immediately. He definitely had a knack for making her uncomfortable, he though. How stupid of him! "I'm the one who's sorry. I... um... I was just kidding. I don't mind you asking that at all." He smiled at her. "I guess you can tell I haven't been around very many people for a while. I'm not very good at this, am I? I'll give you straight answers from here on end. I'm very sorry."
"I should have known better than ask about that, anyway," she explained. "I know the rule. I sort of have a hard time stopping to think before I speak... I'll make sure I stick to the rules properly, you should feel free to answer in whatever way you feel comfortable with."
"I have visited all these places," he informed her. "And you can ask whatever you like, Lois. I promise, if you step over the line, I'll let you know."
Her heart skipped a beat as she heard him speak her name. It sounded so much nicer when he said it, she thought. She wasn't sure she'd be able to work up the nerve to call him by his first name, though. Sure, he'd asked her to - and she'd make every effort not to call him 'sir' ever again - but it was a big step from here to actually saying his name out loud. She wasn't sure she was ready to take it just yet.
"You've really been through the desert and all the cities you've written about?" she asked, her curiosity was piqued. "Seriously?"
"Yep. Every single one." He smiled. "It's much easier to write about placed that I've seen. Besides, I wouldn't want to write about cities without having ever seen them first. You can't get a real sense of what it's like if you've never even set foot there. And I don't think the stories would be as believable if people could easily pick out all the factual errors about where the action takes place. Now, mind you, the places are real and I try to describe them just the way that I remember them, but the stories themselves are romanced. I didn't actually have all these adventures."
"But some of them are real?"
"All my novels contain a few things that I've really done, yes. But in some cases it's not even part of the plot. Like a sunset that I've seen or something someone's told me. That's usually how I start writing, as a matter of fact. A memory will surface - it can be anything. In one case it was the scent of a flower, it's never anything in particular. It just inspires me to write. And of course the source of the inspiration will make it into the book at some point, but the stories themselves are fiction."
"None of them are autobiographical at all, then?"
"Uh..."
"I'm sorry," Lois said, slapping her hand over her mouth. She'd done it again! "You don't have to answer that," she added a second later, "Pretend I didn't ask."
She was about to direct her questioning to another aspect of his work, but he spoke before she had a chance to. "Off the record? The very first novel I've ever written was autobiographical, from start to end. But I doubt you could tell which one it is. It's not the first that was published. I didn't actually write it in the hopes of seeing it published, in the first place. It didn't even occur to me at the time that it could even be made into a novel."
"Why are you telling me?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "I thought... well, it's definitely across that personal question line."
She was surprised and curious. Why was he answering a question that she knew fell into the category of those she wasn't supposed to ask about. Of course, it was off record, but still.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. But since you said I should pretend you didn't ask, let's just pretend I didn't tell you either." He smiled warmly.
She smiled back. For a quick second she imagined that she was in a 'pretend' universe, where they could talk about anything and where she wouldn't need the excuse of an interview to be allowed to have a conversation with him in the first place.
Lois asked a few more questions and then eventually decided that she couldn't get away with much more without really going into the personal stuff. She would have loved to ask why he moved around so much or what his relationship with Lana really was - she had to be more than his assistant, she lived in his home and didn't leave it anymore than he did; this was way beyond what a personal assistant would have normally be expected to be doing, she knew. But Lois had stuck her foot in her mouth a couple times already and she didn't want to take any more chances, so she left it at that.
As Clark showed her back to the front door, Lois thanked him for his time and promised that she would keep her article on the straight and narrow.
"I never had any doubt you would," he said.
"You know, if this makes as much noise as I'm thinking it will, you may just have saved me from my work partner a second time," she told him with a delighted air as they stopped in front of the main entrance.
"Glad to be of service," he replied, bowing his head solemnly. "The third time is free, by the way," he added with a lopsided smile.
"I'll keep it in mind." She smiled back.
"I'm... glad you didn't run off on me, this time."
"Oh... I apologize for doing that. It's just that... you always turned out to be someone other than who I expected to see at the time," she explained. "I thought you were just the groundskeeper and you turned out to be... well... you. And then I didn't know who the Phantom was, but I didn't expect him to be you again."
"What about the first time?" he asked, amused. "Through the hedge..." he added seeing that she wasn't following his train of thought too well. "Who were you expecting then?"
"Um... a cat?" she replied, trying to hide a grin.
He laughed. "Ah, well... it must have been some disappointment to see me there instead of a cute little creature."
"Quite the opposite," she replied, the words coming out of her mouth faster than her brain could analyze them. Her eyes grew wide as she realized what she'd just said. "Oh... I didn't mean... I wasn't... Uh..."
"You don't have to explain," he said softly. "I'm glad you didn't turn out to be a cat either, you know."
She gave him a shy little smile. "Thank you, again. For everything."
"It was a pleasure, Lois."
"Well, I guess this is it, then," she said, sadly. "I'll make sure they send you a copy of the paper tomorrow. I... um... I'll be looking forward to your future works," she added, not knowing what else to say.
This was it. The interview was over. The evening was over. She was standing at his door and... it was over. She'd have no more reasons to see him again. She couldn't explain why, but this realization was incredibly depressing. It was ridiculous, she thought; she barely knew him! Maybe that was it, though. She hadn't had a chance to get to know him at all - and now she never would. She looked at the floor and tried to stifle a sigh before she grabbed the doorknob.
Clark gently placed his hand over hers on the doorknob, to stop her from opening the door for just a few seconds more.
"You make it sound like I'll never see you again," he said, sounding downhearted himself.
"Well, now that you've given me the interview I kept trying to get, I don't see why you would..."
"Please don't finish that thought," he whispered, with a concerned expression. "The interview was just an excuse, Lois. You kept running off and I... well, I didn't think you'd ever agree to have dinner with me otherwise. It didn't occur to me that once it was over... that you would just leave and..." He cleared his throat before going on. "I'm not very good at this... what I'm trying to say is that I'd very much like to see you again. That's if you... uh..."
She looked up at him and, for a second, he thought he might drown in those soft brown eyes.
"I would, Clark," she whispered, "I would like that very much."
His heart leapt. She would! It was all Clark could do to keep both feet on the ground. Literally.
"I hope you don't think I'm being too forward," he said softly as he leaned in closer to her. A mere second later, his lips covered hers and he was kissing her, gently at first, then more fervently as she leaned into him and returned the kiss just as ardently.
It felt like floodgates had just opened up inside each of them. For several long minutes, they shared kiss upon kiss, caught as they were in a whirlwind of emotions that neither thought they could ever experience.
~.~.~.~
Lois went back to the Star after she had left the mansion. It took her forever to drive there; her mind was too busy replaying the soul shattering kiss that they had shared before she'd left. She didn't believe in fairy-tales and never for a second imagined that she could be the princess of a fantasy world in which she was whisked away by a handsome prince to his castle where they would life happily ever after. Things like that just never happened in real life. But there she was, a simple reporter, coming back from having dinner with a very handsome and very rich man whom she was starting to believe she was falling head over heels for.
Once she finally made it to the office, Lois went over to see the night editor and told him that she had landed an exclusive interview that she was sure would be the talk of the town once it got printed. She explained that she had managed to meet with Clark Kent and ask him questions about his work. The editor looked at her with an expression of utter disbelief.
"I swear to God, it's absolutely true," Lois told him.
"Sure it is, Lane. But do tell me how I can possibly get a fact-checker to verify these informations when none of them are in the public domain because no one knows anything about this man to begin with? Come on!" the editor protested.
"Here," she said, handing him a piece of paper. "This is the number where you can reach his assistant. Her name is Lana Lang. She'll verify that I was over there tonight and that I most certainly did get an interview with Clark Kent."
The editor grabbed the phone number and called up one of the kids from research. He told Lois to start typing and that if her story checked out, he'd make sure to save a great big spot on the front page for it.
Lois typed up her article, making sure she kept in everything she could use and left out all the personal details that he had told her off the record. The last thing she wanted was to scare this man away. She wasn't going to mess this up, whatever this was!
Once she felt satisfied with her piece, she went over to see the night editor. He had been able to verify that what she had told him was the truth and he'd made sure the story would run on the front page and that they would print a large number of extra copies, since this edition was sure to break sales records. Her story now in the hands of the editor, she went back home.
~.~.~.~
Lois woke up at the first sign of sunlight. She was so anxious to see her story on the front page of the Star that she had barely slept at all. Of course that wasn't the only thing keeping her up, but it was a big part of it. This could make her future a lot brighter, she knew, and she couldn't wait to see it happening. When she heard the delivery boy throw the paper in front of her door, she had gotten up from bed in a hurry and had rushed over to get it.
As she picked the newspaper up from the floor, Lois suddenly felt the world closing in around her. She stifled a cry of surprise and desperation. Stumbling back into her apartment, she kicked the door closed and walked over to a couch where she let herself fall.
Oh. God. No!
The front page of the Star seemed to scream at her, in the biggest and boldest type Lois had ever seen on a newspaper before. They had changed the title of her story into "I spent the night with Clark Kent". Under that was a subtitle in a much smaller font, which read "An exclusive interview by Lois Lane".
Lois was pretty sure that this is what it felt to witness the end of the world.
How could they have done this? How dare they have printed her story with a title like that? How was she going to explain that to him; that she wasn't responsible for it, that she hadn't picked that title. He wouldn't believe her, she just knew it. No one would believe that she hadn't come up with the title! Granted, it was sure to sell a *lot* of papers, but it made her story look like it was gossip, like it wasn't to be taken seriously.
She picked up the phone. He couldn't be allowed to see this. She had to explain!
"Lana? It's Lois... um... I'm sorry to call you this early. I apologize. It's just... ah... God... please, please, don't let Clark see this morning's edition of the Star. Please, I beg you!"
"Lois... calm down," Lana told her. "What's this about? What's wrong?"
"My story's on the front page, this morning. The interview from last night. But... oh... geez... Lana, I'm sorry! The title they put on the front page... it's horrible. It's not mine. It wasn't supposed to be like that. I'm so, so sorry!"
"Oh, come on! I haven't seen it yet, but it can't be that bad. I mean, I'm sure they made it so they would sell more papers. We expected that, really. Don't worry..."
"No, Lana! You don't understand. It is that bad. It's worse than bad. I can't even say it out loud. If they deliver it to you, just please don't let him see it yet! I'll bring a copy over myself, so I can explain. OK? I'll be right there."
Lois didn't wait for an answer, she just hung up. She ran into her bedroom and threw on the first pieces of clothing she found - a pair of jeans and an old University of Metropolis t-shirt. She grabbed her jacket on the way out and jogged all the way to her car. Less than half an hour later, she was standing at the door of the mansion on Eagle View Drive. She wasn't sure how she had possibly managed to get there in one piece... Her eyes had been filling with tears the entire way there. Her dreams were crumbling; her hopes for the future were falling apart. No one would ever take her seriously again! How could they when she had a front-page story with a title in huge bold letters that made her look like a skank? Worse yet, she was absolutely convinced that Clark would resent her for this. She'd promised him she would keep it professional... Well, this definitely did not fall into the professional category. Not by a long shot!
"I let Clark know you were coming," Lana said as she showed Lois in. "He should be down soon, I imagine."
"This is what they printed," Lois told her pitifully as she opened up the paper she held rolled up in her hand.
Lana took a look at the front page. "Ouch!" she said simply.
"You see? That's what I was trying to tell you. I'm so... so very sorry. It was supposed to be my big break and now it's ruined, everything is ruined! I'm... ah, damn!"
It was all just too much for her. Everything she could have achieved with this one article - and more! - was utterly and completely lost. The newspaper fell out of Lois' hand as she broke into tears again. Lana tried to console her, but she wasn't very successful at it. Clark joined them shortly. When he had heard the commotion, he had started to worry that something was seriously wrong.
"Hey, hey," he said softly as he placed his hand gently on Lois' shoulder. "You know... there's a rule that says you need a written authorization to cry in this house," he added, hoping that his attempt at humor wouldn't bomb this time around.
He turned to Lana and nodded. She took that as her cue to leave them alone, so she did.
Lois looked up and tried to smile. "I'm sor... sorry," she hiccupped between ragged breaths. She bent down to pick up the newspaper and handed it over to him. "I didn't know... they would pri... print it... like that," she explained. "I'm so sorry."
She couldn't bear to look at him while he checked out the front page of the Star. She let her head drop and stared at her feet, like a kid waiting to hear her sentence after having been caught by her teacher doing something she wasn't supposed to. She was mortified of his reaction, she didn't want to see it. She could already imagine the anger on his face and she was certain the next words out of his mouth would be ordering her to leave the premise.
Lois was completely flabbergasted when she realized that instead of the shouting she had imagined, he was laughing. Her head shot up and she looked at him in complete puzzlement.
"They sure know how to sell papers," he said, shaking his head and still laughing.
"You're not..." Lois started, but the rest of her sentence died in her chest before it had a chance to come out.
"What? Mad? No... This is really tame compared to all the nasty headlines I've read about myself over the years."
"But... it's awful! It's not true! I didn't think my editor would do that! He's never changed a title before. People are going to read that and think... they're going to believe... and it's not like that... I'm sorry..."
Her eyes filled with tears again.
"Shhh, don't cry over something like that," he said as he pulled her into him arms. "Shhh," he repeated over and over while he gently stroked her hair as she continued to cry.
She moved away from him after a moment. "I'm ruining your shirt," she mumbled.
He gently titled her chin up so she would be looking up at him again. "I don't care about the shirt," he said softly. "And I don't care much about what people may or may not think. They've got it all wrong no matter what they believe. The one thing I don't like is finding pretty reporters in tears at my doorstep first thing in the morning."
She gave him a weak smile.
"Come on, let's get you some coffee," he suggested
Clark placed his hand on the small of her back. Lois started walking forward in response. He led her to the kitchen where a fresh pot of coffee was brewing.
~.~.~.~
Kathryn got up early that morning. She went over to Timmy's room where she sat in a chair next to his bed.
They would have a better future, she told herself. She'd done what the FBI agents had asked and she had given them the information that they sought. At least, she hoped it would be useful to them. She understood enough of what the men had said to know that they were discussing some sort of illegal operation. So, obviously, the FBI would be interested in that. But she wasn't sure if there was enough information or even if it was important enough that they would do something about it. She hoped so... because she really did not see herself going in to work every day and listening in on conversations, then secretly passing it over to a contact. It scared her just thinking about it.
She watched her son for a while, as he slept peacefully and probably dreamt of things that he loved, like playing soccer or watching Bugs Bunny cartoons on TV. Timmy was such a special little boy, precocious and bright. He was her entire world and Kathryn wished with all her heart that she could give him what he needed to grow into the little man that she knew he could be, but the truth was that working as a waitress in that awful diner wasn't the best way to achieve any of that. She could barely make ends meet, not to mention she worked long hours, often having to take on double shifts and ended up seeing her baby so very few hours every day that she sometimes wondered if she wasn't going to wake up one morning and find Timmy calling the baby-sitter "Mommy".
When she looked at her watch and saw that it was almost 8, Kathryn got up from her chair and went to wake Timmy up. She didn't have to work the day shift today, so she had promised him a trip to the zoo. As he woke up, Timmy jumped out of bed and threw himself in his mother's arms. Tears welled up in her eyes. She carried him over to the kitchen and sat him down for breakfast. In between two spoonfuls of his Cheerios, Timmy told her all about the wonderful dream he had had. Kathryn smiled, hoping that someday, all of her son's dreams would stand a chance at coming true.
~.~.~.~
To Be Continued
