Clark's utter confusion in the office is priceless, and I gasped and laughed
almost as much at his "Seakay" goof as I did when it first appeared in the previous version of this story.
You give your Lois and Clark a sweetness that is just irresistible to me:
She parked the car at the side of the street in front of a huge building that had to be The Daily Planet. Clark swallowed hard as he felt an unfamiliar source of heat that threatened to inflame his body. His glance wandered down to his knee where Lois had rested her hand distractingly close to his… No, he wasn't going to think about something like that right now. Otherwise he was going to embarrass himself and that was the last thing he needed. He was already balancing on a knife's edge and he definitely didn't want to push himself over said edge.
"Focus', he silently reprimanded himself. But that wasn't easy as she lightly stroked him and Clark had trouble breathing evenly. Did she notice what she was doing to him, he wondered almost desperately? He tried to force his concentration back on their conversation. Lois, however, didn't seem up to talking to him.
“I'm so glad to have you back,” Lois said and placed a soft peck on his cheek.
Her gesture was sweet and innocent. No passerby would have guessed that it was a silent promise for more. Clark assumed his face had to have the healthy color of a ripe eggplant. He swallowed again, even harder this time. He felt her tender fingers on the prickly line of his jaw and she gently guided him to face her. Lois gave him a loving glance. If his heart hadn't already been racing as quickly as it possibly could, it surely would have started to do so now.
“So glad…” she muttered and leaned in to close the distance between them.
That's just wonderfully sweet. I absolutely love it.
And this was so funny and so touching at the same time:
“Are you sleeping?” she asked. “Or are you about to get that far away look again?”
Clark could tell by the tone of her voice that she wouldn't like either of the possibilities, though the second one seemed to be worse than the first. Again he didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about. Perhaps asking her was a good option. But he couldn't tell her everything right now, not with all the people around to listen.
“Far away look?” he muttered as the elevator doors closed.
“Yeah, that look you get when you suddenly remember that you've got to return a video or feed your neighbor's cat or wherever it is you're usually running off to.”
She sounded impatient as if this was a common topic among them. Clark flinched. The explanations were so bad that they were either true or a taste of his awful lying skills. He feared it was the latter. But where did he go when he left Lois? And moreover, if he had a good reason for leaving, what was happening now that he didn't go? Clark couldn't really imagine it would lead to catastrophe. It was unlikely that a man like him, even if it was a strange man, would be doing something important that he couldn't tell his partner about. But what if he did? How was he going to know when he had to get that far away look and make his excuses, and where should he go then?
This should tell Clark about the dangers of keeping too many secrets from the woman he loves. I'm so glad that he has decided to tell her, if he can only find the opportunity to do so.
And he is going to find that opportunity when Lois drags him into the conference room! I'm very much looking forward to the next part, Barbara!
Ann
