A/N: Lois's thoughts on Clark's first story for the Daily Planet. This is completely unbetaed and all mistakes belong to me. Please do not hesitate to voice them.
When I checked the word count, Word said there were 333 words. And this is my third separate story on these boards. Excuse me while I take a moment to shiver.
Vignette a la Lois
‘Beatrice was eighteen when she made her debut. Warren G. Harding was President, the Unknown Soldier was interred at Arlington, and Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees. She came to say goodbye, as we all must, to the past, and to a life and a place that soon would exist only in a bittersweet memory.’
I let the words roll over me as they rolled off of Perry’s tongue, and stared at the back of the man who had written them. Who knew that a hack from Nowheresville could write with such eloquence? Now I knew why Perry had dragged me in here. To watch my potential raise be handed to the man who could become my competition. He wrote almost as well as I did.
“Smooth,” Jimmy said, drawing my gaze away from Clark Kent’s back. There was no reason I could see for Jimmy to be in the room. Yes, he wanted to be a reporter, but most of his angles were outlandish and would be better off being published by the National Inquisitor.
Perry and Jimmy turned towards me and I realised, to my horror, that somewhere during the recitation I had lost all the tension in my body and was now using the column as a prop. And Kent was turning around as well!
“Um, yeah,” I said, managing to at least get my head off the column before he saw me. “If you like that sort of thing.” Sure, I liked that kind of thing, but I had a reputation to uphold.
Perry, of course, had always seen through me, and I half expected him to call my bluff. But I guess he was too busy gazing at Kent in adoration. I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as soon as Perry turned his attention back to Kent. They shook hands as Kent joined our staff.
And that was when the Messenger exploded. If it wasn’t so tragic, it would have been a fitting metaphor.
