Rumors - Act 2: Observations
They think we're lovers kept under covers
I just ignore it, but they keep saying
We laugh just a little too loud
We stand just a little too close
We stare just a little too long
Verse 1 - Something To Talk About – Bonnie Raitt
The rest of the day passed in a blur as Lois kept busy with her own work. Still, she kept finding her thoughts drifting back to Clark and his mystery girlfriend. She glanced over at his desk to verify that he was still out of the office. He’d been out interviewing leads on their Senator Johnson investigation early this morning, but he should have been back before noon.
She was about to look around for him when she sensed more than felt someone leaning over her shoulder. “Sorry I was gone so long,” Clark said. “I was on my way back to the office when I came across a Superman rescue.”
“What happened?” she asked, without turning around.
“There was a runaway tanker truck. Superman appeared and stopped it just before it plowed into school bus taking a group of elementary school kids to the Metropolis Natural History Museum.”
“Was anyone hurt?” Lois asked.
“No. Superman stopped it just in time.” There was a pause as if Clark were thinking for a moment. “We should look into the Five Star trucking company,” he continued. “I’m sure I remember other accidents where failures in their equipment were contributing factors.”
She gave up on her story and half-turned to face Clark. “Are you sure you don’t want to take it yourself? After all, this bus accident is your story.”
“I only stumbled across it because I was out working on *our* story.” Then he broke into one of those killer Clark Kent smiles. “Besides, this looks like it might involve corporate corruption, concealed records and possibly criminal negligence. How could I think about approaching a story like that without having the master with me?”
She couldn’t help but smile back. Clark was good for her. They both knew that he was more than capable of taking this story himself. But she was arrogant enough to believe that given the nature of this story, it would turn out better if both of them were involved. There were good reasons that Clark really was the only person that she enjoyed working with.
Lois turned the rest of the way from her workstation to face her partner. “You know it, Mister,” she said in mock indignation. “This will probably call for bold investigation steps. What’s likely to happen the first time you need information from a locked room if I’m not there to … encourage the lock to open?” It was all she could do not to laugh as she finished the sentence.
“Lo-is,” he pleaded with a smile, “There are other ways to gather information.”
This time she did laugh. He was so cute when he was in Boy Scout mode. “But my way is so much faster.” She lifted her hands up to make her point. “These are filled with talent for getting into locked places. How can I possibly let such skills go unused?”
Clark reached out, took her hands in his, and made a show of inspecting them. “Now I understand,” Clark said as if he were addressing her hands. “Well you two need to behave yourselves. Remember that Lois can’t break stories from a jail cell.” Then he paused as if in thought, then addressed her hands again. “At least it’s a lot harder.”
As they both laughed, Lois happened to glance around the bullpen. Several people, including Jimmy and the two women from the restroom, had watched her exchange with Clark. Her fleeting look around the room had caught Madge nodding her head with what looked like a satisfied smirk on her face.
~~~***~~~
An hour later, she finally managed to finish her story. It should have only taken a few minutes, but she had trouble getting her mind off Clark and the fact that their exchange had drawn the attention that it did.
As she hit the “send” button to dispatch her story to Perry, she pushed back from her desk. This particular act coincided with Jimmy scurrying by behind her. She bumped into the young gofer, causing him to stumble and fall to the floor.
“I’m sorry, Lois,” he said quickly as he stood and started to collect some rolls of film he’d dropped.
“No need,” she responded. “It was my fault.” She took a second to glance around the room. Clark was off somewhere again and the other members of the staff were all busy with their own work. “Jimmy,” she ventured tentatively, “have you heard about the big office mixer this weekend?”
“Sure,” he answered brightly, clearly looking forward to the gathering. “It’s supposed to be a big deal. From what I hear, everyone in the building that isn’t married or dating someone seriously is going to be there.”
Jimmy’s simple reply wasn’t what Lois wanted. She’d hoped he’d ask if she was going to be there. The instant she’d seen that look on Madge’s face a while ago, Lois had a sneaking suspicion that she herself might be Clark’s supposed significant other. It made a certain kind of sense, but she was looking for some level of confirmation. She was about to ask why she hadn’t been invited when Jimmy lowered his voice to an almost conspiratorial level. “Do you and Clark have any plans?”
There was the information she wanted. If she understood what Jimmy was implying, she was the mystery woman that Clark was supposed to be seeing. But where had this story started? Suddenly she had a flashback to Claude and the stories he’d spread. She thought she knew Clark better than that. If Clark Kent was telling people in the office that they were a couple, she’d kick him so hard he’d be able to say hello to his parents in Kansas when he finally came down. “Did Clark tell you we were seeing each other?” she asked in a tone that reflected the irritation she was feeling.
Jimmy threw his arms up defensively. “No!” he answered emphatically. “He hasn’t said anything. Ralph tried to ask him last week, but Clark insisted that nothing was going on.”
She could see the truth in Jimmy’s denial. Clark hadn’t been spreading any rumors. In fact, he seemed to be trying to rein them in. She still wasn’t happy about being the object of rumors, but the fact that Clark wasn’t part of it made her feel much better.
She shifted her attention back to Jimmy who was still talking. “Everyone figures that you and Clark want to keep it to yourselves. Some of the women down in accounting said that…” He seemed to realize he’d said too much and got suddenly quiet.
Lois’s eyes narrowed, but she kept her voice calm. “What did they say?” Lois asked.
Jimmy squirmed a bit under the intensity of her glare. “Well, they said that you got burned a couple of years ago and probably wanted to keep the thing with Clark private.”
“Is that so?” Lois asked skeptically. “Well, if Clark hasn’t said anything, and I know I haven’t, why does anyone think Clark and I are seeing each other?”
“Well, I never said you were, but the rumor has been all over the building for weeks,” Jimmy explained. “You two make such a great team and you both seem so comfortable around each other. I really got to thinking after… well, this woman pointed out how you two … act around the office. That’s when I found out that there was this rumor going around that you and Clark were… involved.”
“What do you mean, the way we act? We haven’t been sneaking into the storage room.” Lois could hear her irritation leaking back into her voice.
“Nothing like that,” he replied quickly. “It’s all those little things. You know, like the way he puts his hands on your shoulders when you two work and the way you talk to each other.”
Now she was more curious than angry, but there was still an edge in her voice. “I have no idea what you mean. I talk to Clark just like anyone else.”
“Lois, I don’t want to get you upset. I swear I haven’t been one of the people spreading these rumors. You two are my best friends here in the office. Whether or not anything is going on between you and CK is none of my business.”
She figured that the best way to find out what was going on was to find out what Jimmy thought he saw. She took a second to make sure she purged any possible anger from her voice. “Relax, Jimmy. I’m not upset with you. As for the rumor, well, right this minute I’d rather not say exactly what’s going on between me and Clark, but I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me what you’ve seen. For example, I’d have sworn that I talk to Clark just like anyone else.”
“Well….” Jimmy was clearly still worried about that flash of irritation she’d shown a moment ago.
“Please, Jimmy. I’d like to know.”
“All right,” Jimmy said with a resigned sigh. “As for the talking part, it’s not so much you as Clark. You don’t talk to Clark very differently than you talk to other people. Although you do seem more relaxed around him. But I see a big difference when he talks to you.”
“How is it different?”
“Clark is always friendly. But you must have noticed that there is his everyone else voice and his Lois voice.”
Jimmy stopped and waited for a reply. A Lois voice? Not being sure what else to do, she simply shook her head.
At her motion Jimmy continued. “I first noticed it when he answered the phone one day. He picked up the phone and answered with ‘Clark Kent, Daily Planet’ or something like that. Then after a second his voice changed. It got softer. It was only later that I found out he was talking to you. Since then, I’ve always been able to tell if Clark is talking in his Lois voice or his everyone else voice.”
Lois voice? How come she’d never noticed that he was talking to her in a different voice?
“And you have to admit that you two spend a lot of time together. Most people figure that you have been seeing each other since…” Jimmy trailed off nervously.
“Since when?” Lois insisted.
“Since Lex Luthor died,” Jimmy answered hesitantly. “Everyone who was around back then noticed how down Clark was when you first got engaged to Luthor. Since the Planet’s been open again… with you two spending so much time together… well, it just figured.”
Then she remembered the other night. “That was why you called Clark’s apartment to reach me.”
“Well, yeah. I noticed about a month ago that if you didn’t pick up your phone at your apartment, you’d almost certainly be at Clark’s.”
Jimmy was right. How had she not realized what people might think? After the whole aborted wedding thing, she hadn’t wanted to be alone. It had started with Clark bringing dinner and a movie to her apartment. Then, once the Planet got going again, she’d fallen into the habit of spending her evenings with her partner. It was usually work related, but now that she thought about it, many of those evenings had been as much personal as professional.
She needed some time to digest this. “Please don’t tell Clark we talked. And if anyone asks, please tell them…” Lois paused. To her own surprise, she wasn’t sure what she’d want Jimmy to say. “Just remind them that spreading rumors isn’t good for anyone.”
“Thanks, Lois. I’ll do that.”
After Jimmy had left, Lois realized she really needed to get her head around this. The part about the rumor was just office gossip. After hearing Jimmy explain what he – and surely others – had seen, the rumor made sense. For Lois, the confusing part was her own reaction. She’d have sworn that she would have exploded at being the object of a rumor like this.
But this was Clark. Somehow that was enough to make a difference.
A big difference.
TBC
Bob
