Table of Contents Previously, on Part 8:
On her way back to the dorm, Lois smiled. She wasn’t going to be stuck in research for long.
~*~
Both his mom and dad were worried as Clark returned on Sunday night, much earlier than he normally did. But it couldn’t be helped. If he was going to get what he wanted, Clark Kent was going to have to take risks. He was going to have to do whatever it took to get Lois to trust him.
Even so, as Clark headed north toward Canada, he found himself smiling. He wasn’t going to be alone for long.
_______________
And now, Part 9:
Lois was in a good mood as she walked into The Daily Planet Monday evening. She was doing well in her classes. She had a fine groundwork laid for her network of snitches and informants. Heck, she had even been able to get a good hour of studying in on the bus ride back to work. Life was hers for the taking. She put on her loveliest smile as the elevators opened, knowing in her heart that ‘Muscles’ would be watching.
~*~
As the elevator dinged, he lifted his head to watch her grand entrance. Her visage was as charming as ever.
She was a breath of fresh air after a trying day. The stories had seemed to go nowhere--not just for Clark, either, but all across the newsroom stories dried up or hit dead ends. And the grumps all around Clark were sagging his spirits.
The only thing that afforded him any hope that the day would improve was when he had snuff during his lunch break to deliver her package.
~*~
She took her place among the researchers in the back of the bull pen. It wasn’t long before she hit her groove, taking what the day shift had started and running with it.
A niggle in the back of her mind told her that in only a few minutes her white knight across the room would come a courting. It would be best if he found her totally involved in her work, so she plunged deep.
“CK!” A voice from across the room caught her attention.
“Hey, Jimmy,” came that silky voice she could recognize without looking. “It’s good to have you back. Hi, Ralph.”
“Clark, did you miss me?” Lois couldn’t help but swing around as she heard a woman’s voice that was sultry and pouty all at once. The woman was ten years her senior and dressed in Cher’s casual wear. And she had her hands all over Clark.
“It’s never the same without you, Cat,” Clark affirmed.
He dropped his arms from the bimbo’s embrace long enough to give the young guy a one-armed hug with a fake punch to the shoulder—a move that most men saw as highly friendly toward their buddies, but really only made them look as affectionate as a bunch of Marines.
“So how was it?” Clark wondered.
“Boring.” “Humiliating.” “Infantile.” The answers came all at once before ‘Mrs. Robinson’ complained, “They want me to dress conservatively. Can you imagine? How am I ever going to get my job done while looking like everyone else.” Her tone of voice made it quite clear what she thought of everyone else.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m checking in with HR, and I’m outta’ here,” Ralph declared as he summoned the elevator.
“See you, Ralph,” Clark waved.
The remaining three headed toward the coffee machine to finish their chat.
“So where is ‘Miss Goody-Two-Shoes’?” the woman inquired in a voice of ice.
“Over there,” Clark indicated. Lois ducked her head as she realized that all eyes were looking her way. She tried feverishly to regain her stride, but her train of thought had been completely derailed.
“Over where?” ‘The Fashion Diva’ strained her neck to take a look as Clark continued his explanation.
“She quit the morning after you three were suspended. That’s Lois Lane, taking her place.”
“She’s a little long in the tooth for research, don’t you think? And nothing to write home about.” Lois gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the old biddy. She believed in standing up for herself, but she couldn’t justify her own eavesdropping.
“Lois is okay.” Clark’s support was underwhelming.
“You wouldn’t
believe what we went through this weekend.” That old lady had her hand draped across Clark’s chest again. “Our flight was scheduled for Saturday morning, but it was
cancelled. They bumped us to a Saturday evening flight. We sat on the tarmac for
four hours before they finally admitted the plane was
too broken to fly us home.
Can you imagine what would have happened if they had taken off? By this time, the airlines were trying to find seats for
two airplanes full of people. They told us we couldn’t get a flight out until today at ten, but I was able to use my
womanly charms to get us a red-eye for three o’clock this morning. So we flew into St. Louis at seven a.m., with a connecting flight that was supposed to leave at nine, but—get this—the
President flew into St. Louis unexpectedly at nine-thirty this morning to deal with the strike there and the airspace had to be clear. So, every flight was delayed until after eleven. We didn’t arrive until after
two-thirty. I’m exhausted..”
At some point, Lois quit listening to the diatribe and just started listening to the drama that retired Rockette oozed as she told it. She pawed on Clark with every point of emphasis. It was sickening to behold.
“So how was your weekend, CK?” Jimmy enquired, but then continued before Clark could answer. “I bet I know what you were doing.”
“It was a pretty good weekend. It was cloudy, at first, but when everything cleared up… Beautiful! You ought to go with me sometime.”
Lois wondered what they were talking about. She hated being out of the loop all of the time.
“I don’t think I could last all weekend long, like you do,” Jimmy confessed.
Whatever it was, it required a lot of endurance. Maybe some bravado, if she read Jimmy’s tone of voice correctly.
“Come on,” Clark beckoned. “I’ll walk you down to HR. Let’s get this whole thing over with.”
They walked together to the elevator and Jimmy pressed the button to summon it.
“It’s good to have you both back.”
They entered the elevator and left Lois in relative silence, the day shift having cleared out while the three of them had been talking around the coffeepot.
That’s when Lois realized that Clark had left without saying good-bye. She knew that someday Clark would replace her on his women-to-do list, but she hadn’t expected it to come this early. And she hadn’t expected her replacement to be a show horse that had been put out to pasture.
It was probably good that it had happened sooner rather than later. This way, Lois hadn’t had the chance to get emotionally attached.
Still, Lois wasn’t in as good of a mood as before.
It was nothing, really. Her routine was just a little off.
~*~
During Tuesday’s lunch, Lois pretended she didn’t hear Clark’s approach. She submerged herself in her biology textbook as if an introduction to the scientific method was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. It was a rather sophomoric trick but, since Lois was still just a freshman, she didn’t care.
“What are you studying?” Clark inquired, obviously unfamiliar with the cold shoulder.
“School stuff,” Lois muttered without looking up.
“Hmmm, biology,” Clark noted. Apparently the man knew how to read. “That was never my favorite course. Physics was more to my liking--oh, and astronomy, of course.”
“Fascinating,” Lois droned.
“So what other courses are you taking?”
Lois chose to take a large bite out of her day-old sandwich rather than answering. She chewed meticulously, mesmerized by her text.
“I’ve seen you with sociology before.”
“Huh.”
“And art appreciation, I think.”
“Drawing I. Did you really want to talk to me about my class schedule? I can send you my mid-term grades when they come out, if you really care.”
“That’s nice of you, Lois.” Clark grinned. He made everything come out all wrong. She was put out and he was making it sound like a virtue.
She tore into another bite of her sandwich. Pit bull meets flank.
“Clark, is this really what you wanted to do with your life?” Lois challenged him.
“Yes, of course. This is The Daily Planet. What more could I ask for?”
“Kent, you cover stories like, ‘Girl Scout Jamboree Big Success.’ When was the last time you had a front page story?”
“My interview with you was a front page piece.”
“Front page of ‘On the Town’,” Lois pointed out. “That’s not the same as a true front page story. I’ve read your work. You’re really talented. You could be so much more.”
“I like what I do, Lois. Why does all the news have to be so bad? Why can’t we report on all the good things that happen?”
“Because, in this business, it’s either catastrophe or atrophy. Mayhem and murder sell papers… Besides there’s no feeling like the pursuit of a great story. I don’t know if you know the feeling—I mean, how could you really—of being the only reporter out there when the guns are firing and the bad guys are going after the good guys. A well-written story can change not only public opinion; it can change the world.”
Lois stared him down as she proclaimed her indictment, “And you’re missing all that, Kent.”
“But, Lois, it’s not my job to change the world. I do what I can when I can. I try to use my talents to do small acts of kindness everyday. That’s a great feeling.”
“Maybe we’re just two different people going two different places. You don’t understand my world, and I don’t understand yours. And maybe we’ll never get past that.”
Lois picked up her trash and headed back to the bull pen. This little lunchtime rendezvous was over.
