Act 3: Possibilities
I feel so foolish, I never noticed
You'd act so nervous, could you be falling for me?
It took a rumor to make me wonder
Now I'm convinced I'm going under
Verse 2 - Something To Talk About – Bonnie Raitt
As the day began to wind down, Lois finally conceded that the talk with Jimmy had wrecked her ability to accomplish any productive work in the afternoon.
If it was just that there was a rumor of something going on between her and Clark, it would be one thing. A few years ago, when the Claude mess had happened, she’d been a lot greener about office politics and rumors. With the experience and maturity she’d gained in the intervening time, she was confident that she could flatten the rumors. At the very least, she was sure that she could flatten anyone spreading them. That had been her first thought when Jimmy had told her about this rumor. However, when Jimmy started talking about Clark having a Lois voice, that plan went out the window.
Jimmy’s mention of Lex sent her thoughts back to her aborted wedding. She’d originally stopped the wedding because she realized that she might be in love with Clark. Lois was pretty sure that no one alive, except for maybe the Archbishop, noticed that she’d said no to Lex before the police broke in and stopped the wedding. She had been going to tell Clark, but before she could say anything to him, he’d retracted his words and told her that his own declaration of love was a lie. At the time, she’d been heartbroken. She had been so sure that her best friend was also the man she was looking for.
Now…? Could everyone else in the building be wrong? It was possible, but in light of everything else that she was suddenly noticing, Jimmy’s perspective was hard to dismiss. What if Clark had been lying after Lex died? His declaration of love the day before she’d become engaged to Lex had seemed very real. She could still remember the way his face had fallen when she’d told him that she didn’t feel that way about him. What if his declaration had been true and his retraction later had been the lie? Could it be that he was afraid she wouldn’t want to work with him knowing he felt … so strongly? Would he do that? Would he lie about his feelings just to make her comfortable working with him?
A plan popped into her head. It might be a little underhanded, but it could provide some information from the only source that mattered. She glanced over toward Clark’s desk. Good, he was there. She fixed a smile on her face stood and started toward him.
“Clark, you won’t believe the call I got earlier today,” she said with feigned excitement when she reached his desk.
He seemed to pick up on her enthusiasm and smiled back. “Whatever it is, you seem awfully excited.”
“I sure am,” she replied brightly. “I got a call from an old friend at the London Times. There’s an opening for a reporter on their American desk. It would be a two year assignment based in London and would give me the chance to get an international perspective that I’ve always wanted. She told me that she’s sure that the job is mine if I want it.”
Lois watched Clark’s face carefully as she spun this tale. With each phrase, his face fell a little more. By the time she was done, he looked positively miserable. It was a good thing she was already smiling. Only now, a genuine smile had replaced the fake one she’d started with.
It took several seconds for Clark to compose himself. “That sounds great,” he forced out. He had pasted a smile onto his face. It was as fake as the plastic fruit her mom had always kept in the bowl on the dining room table. “But we’ll sure miss you here.”
It had been such a simple reply, but his tone and posture had revealed so much more. She could see that he was utterly dejected at the prospect of her leaving. Of course, it could be that he just didn’t want to lose his partner.
Now that she had seen Clark’s reaction, and had her information, it was time to let her partner breathe again. “I don’t think I want the job right now,” she said. “But it’s nice to be asked.”
She wondered if Clark realized how much he was giving away in his expressions. She was still watching him carefully. This time when she finished speaking, Clark looked as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders.
“I’ll probably call her back tomorrow and tell her thanks, but right now I have commitments that are going to keep me here in Metropolis for some time.”
Now Clark was practically glowing. After a second, he seemed to realize she was waiting for him to say something. “It’s a great opportunity, but this is your home and… I need you,” his voice trailed off as he seemed to lose his train of thought. Then his eyes got wide as he suddenly realized what he’d said. “We need you. Here!” He blurted out. “We need you here at the Planet.” He said in a rushed voice.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing that I’m planning to stick around,” she said with a cocky grin as she turned to head back to her desk.
Lois sat down and picked up some papers while being very careful not to look in Clark’s direction. She was looking at the papers in her hand, but she wasn’t seeing them. Did she really just see what she thought she did? He didn’t react like someone losing their work partner. He reacted like a man losing his girlfriend. And maybe more…
And if he did feel that much more, what should she do about it? When she’d called off the wedding, she’d been so sure. The idea of ‘Lois Kent’ had felt so right. Then he’d taken back his confession, and she’d buried those feelings somewhere deep in the back of her mind. Did she really want to bring them out again?”
She’d thought that was all settled after the Planet reopened. Clark was her friend and partner but nothing more.
Now there might be the chance to look at those feelings again. Did she want to? What if the rumors were wrong? What if she was reading more into his reaction to her London tale than was really there? Maybe Clark was just upset at the prospect of losing her as a partner.
No matter how she approached the problem, there didn’t seem to be an answer. If the truth about their relationship was out there somewhere, it wasn’t clear to her.
TBC
Bob
