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Just a Little Note TOC

Part 1

Sunday

Lois walked into the newsroom the next morning with two cups of coffee in her hands. It was much harder than it looked when Clark did it. Maneuvering around with both hands holding hot coffee. When she got to his desk, she noticed that Clark hadn’t arrived yet. She beat him in again? She shrugged, miracles could happen.

She set down his coffee on his desk and took a sip of hers, grimacing. Ooops. Wrong cup. She switched the cups. Then she noticed her lipstick smeared on his lid. Not good. So she switched the lids. From now on she would let him be the one to pick up the coffee; he was much better at it. She turned to head to her desk to find Clark standing behind her with two cups of coffee.

“Howdy, Partner,” he said with a Texan accent.

“Great minds thinking alike?” Lois asked, holding out her hand.

Clark smiled and handed her the extra coffee he had gotten her. “Guess so. What’s the special occasion?”

“I felt bad about the coffee going to waste yesterday. I figured it was my turn to bring breakfast,” she replied.

“You brought breakfast?” he asked eagerly looking around.

“I brought coffee,” she said with a weak smile. “Breakfast of reporters.”

Jimmy entered with dark sunglasses on. “Coffee.”

Lois handed him her extra cup. “See?”

“Gee, thanks, Lois,” Jimmy said with surprise. “I was sure you were going to kill me.”

She grinned innocently at Clark and moved Jimmy away to her desk. She set down her coffee and crossed her arms. “You lucked out on the coffee. Have you come up with an answer, yet, Olsen?” She hardly ever called him Olsen; she must have been channeling Perry.

Jimmy shook his head rapidly. “As soon as I know how to get both my sneakers out of my mouth, Lois, you’ll be the first to know.”

“As long as it isn’t considered ‘common knowledge’,” she stated.

“Absolutely not!” Jimmy replied, shocked and then lowered his voice, “It’s not true, is it?”

Lois’s eyes went to slits, before she snarled between gritted teeth, “Jimmy Olsen!”

“Leaving!” he said, hightailing it over to his desk. “Thanks for the coffee, Lois.”

Clark moved over to her desk, his lips pressed together. “Dream, huh?”

She winced. Damn. Clark figured it out. “Well, when I started to tell you about it yesterday morning, I thought it had been a dream. Then Jimmy called to apologize after you left.” She pouted, batted her eyelashes at him, and put on her sweet voice, “Forgive me?”

Clark shook his head, sadly. Or was it in pity? Why was she garnering so much pity lately? Then he sighed, before heading back to his desk. Yet, she heard him murmur, “Always.”

A new and genuine smile slipped onto her face. Maybe Mayson was right. Maybe she should look at the man under the suit. She shook her head. That just sounded dirty when she put Clark in the context. Now if only he were also Superman, then… then Clark would be perfect. A big fat liar, but perfect.

Lois drank her coffee while flipping through the stuff on her desk. As soon as she noticed Clark was absorbed in some file, she turned and stared at him. Why again had she thought he was Superman? Oh, right, the note looked like his handwriting. She kept on staring at him as she drank her coffee. And then there were all those disappearances. Lois glanced down at her Clark excuse list. Wouldn’t it be nice if she could explain those away by having him be Superman? It was better than the alternative.

Secret girlfriend? There better not be. Secret wife? Ditto. Secret boyfriend? Absolutely not! The man was in love with her. Wasn’t he? She sighed. Right; only on her wedding day and in her dreams. Well, he was dating Mayson. This line of thought wasn’t improving. Next!

Secret life of crime? Clark Kent? No. Secret gambling problem? Well, after watching him lose pathetically to her and Perry on poker night… big possibility. Secret drinking problem? No, she had never seen him drunk. Secret drug problem? Ditto. Secret medical problem? He did run off fairly often to the pharmacy for someone she had never seen sick. Did he still have headaches from the Nightfall amnesia?

Clark glanced up and caught her watching him. “What?”

“Do you have any lingering aftereffects from your amnesia?” she asked. “Headaches? Ear ringing? Memory problems? Anything like that?”

“Lois,” he said hesitantly. “That was over a year ago.”

“I know. I just want to know you’re okay.” She smiled. “I wouldn’t want you to be hiding anything from me.”

Clark returned her stare for a minute before answering, “I’m healthy, Lois. Really.”

Lois nodded with a relieved smile.

He returned again to his work and when he glanced up a few minutes later Lois was still staring at him. “What?”

“Who found you? Why were you dressed in those rags? Who gave you glasses? How did you end up at the Fifth Street Shelter?” she shot each question out at him and noticed him jump with each like she had actually shot him with a gun. “What happened to your clothes and glasses?”

“Why all these amnesia questions all of a sudden?” he inquired.

“I’m curious. We didn’t explore it much at the time because of Nightfall and then I got hunted by Mr. Make-Up and we never went back to it,” she said.

“Are we so lacking in story material at the moment, you once again have to delve into my personal life for your next headline?” he asked.

Had she really done that often enough for Clark to be bitter about it? Lois hadn’t thought so. “How about we just do it for us then?” she replied.

“Us?”

“You to know and me to satisfy my curiosity. Do you know any of the answers to those questions?” Lois inquired, walking over to his desk.

Clark got a perplexing expression on his face as he thought back. “It’s all kind of fuzzy, actually. I’m just happy to be me with my memories again. I don’t need to know all the details.”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him out of his seat. “Come on, Clark. One trip to the Shelter and your partner will leave the topic alone forever. Deal?”

He groaned but stood up.

“Who knows, maybe we’ll get a story out of it as well.” Lois grinned as she continued to hold his arm as they walked to the elevator.

“Lo-is!”

***

As soon as they arrived inside the Fifth Street Shelter, Clark got that funny expression on his face again. Lois waited for it and he didn’t disappoint. Well, not in the excuse department at least.

“I think we forgot to feed the meter. I’ll be right back,” he called already out the door.

“Clark! It’s Sunday; we don’t have to feed the meter!” she hollered after him, but he was already gone. She shook her head. One of these days…

The Shelter’s director came up to her. “Can I help you?”

“Lois Lane, Daily Planet,” she informed him, shaking his hand. “Last year around the time of the Nightfall Asteroid my partner…” She embarrassingly pointed her thumb over her shoulder out the door. Clark, this would be easier if you didn’t dash off all the time. “… who just ran out the door…”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Kent. We love Mr. Kent here at the shelter,” the man gushed.

“You do?” she asked. This surprised Lois. She knew he was a big supporter of the orphans – just like Superman – but she didn’t know he spent time here as well. “Does Clark Kent volunteer here at the shelter?”

“From time to time, but not often. But at least once a month, he comes by with a donation of pharmaceutical items, toiletries mostly: aspirin, shaving cream, combs and brushes, deodorant, bandages, ointment, toothpaste and brushes, that sort of thing. Our guests often comment on how nice it is to have access to some new personal hygiene items that Mr. Kent donates,” the director told her. “And if we’re lucky, he brings some exotic cheese as well.”

“Really?” No wonder Clark was always making trips to the pharmacy. But it wouldn’t explain the urgency of those trips if he only made donations once a month. And cheese?

“Is that why you are here today?” The man seemed quite hopeful.

“No, I’m sorry. We were wondering if anyone recalled when Clark Kent was discovered here last year with amnesia. We were hoping to find some answers as to what had happened to him that day,” she explained.

“Well, that certainly explains why he is so generous to us. Let me ask around.” The man nodded to Lois and went to talk to other members of the staff. Just in case, she had pulled Clark’s amnesia photo from the file so she could show it around.

Clark returned about five minutes later as Lois was talking to some men having breakfast.

“Get lost?” she teased him.

He didn’t answer but she saw the telltale signs of a blush.

“There’s the man you’re looking for, lady,” one of the homeless men said pointing at Clark.

“I’m not lost anymore,” Clark explained, his face still rosy. “But I was lost during Nightfall. My partner here thinks someone might be able to answer some questions she still has.”

Lois noticed that she was the only one with questions according to Clark, yet he wasn’t willing to fill in the answers to those questions.

“Thems look like one of Henry O’s specs and duds,” one of the men said. He took a closer look at Clark. “Yeah. I remember you. You came in with Henry O that night.”

“What does Henry look like?” Lois asked, excited that they had a lead.

“He doesn’t look like anything anymore except maybe worm food. He died around Christmas,” the man responded, taking another bite of his scrambled eggs.

Clark swallowed. He genuinely looked saddened by this news. “Older gent with a shopping cart? Wore lots of pairs of glasses around his neck?”

“That’s the one.” The man nodded. “He got hit by a lady in a minivan. She got off though. Something about being bitten by a rat from outer space or some other hooey.” He shook his head. “What a way to go. Henry was a good soul.”

Clark nodded. “He sure was kind to me. Thank you.”

Lois could tell that her partner was ready to leave. His eyes appeared moist and his shoulders slouched just ever so much. She patted his arm. “Come on, Clark. Let’s go. I think we learned all we can.”

Clark nodded again and let her lead him from the shelter. He seemed quiet on the walk back to the car.

“What do you remember about Henry, Clark?” Lois asked him, sliding her hand into his. He seemed to need some kind of physical contact.

He shrugged. “Not much. He found me lying in the dirt, gave me some clothes to wear, took care of me. Good man. Good, good man.” He was quiet a minute and then he chuckled softly to himself. It seemed contrary to his mood.

“What?”

“The reason I was wearing his glasses. He said that it would make me look smarter, having been found in a hole with no clothes on and not knowing who I was.” Clark smiled tenderly. “I was lucky he found me. He…” Her partner took a deep breath. “He had been my guardian angel that night.”

Lois gulped. Clark had never told her that before. He had been found in a dirt hole? Without any clothes on? Hadn’t Jimmy found part of Superman’s crest in a hole? Lois reassuringly squeezed his hand in hers.

“Death is horrible whenever it happens, but to die like that. Due to Space Rats.” Clark shook his head. “That’s a tragedy.”

They reached the car and Clark reluctantly let go of Lois’s hand to get in the passenger side. For some reason it felt like he took her soul with him. When they sat down in the car, Clark looked as if he wanted to say something, but then he didn’t. Lois just wished he would take her hand back in his and make her whole again.

***

They came across a fire on the drive back to the Daily Planet and Superman arrived while Clark went off to call the fire department. It was just a normal everyday type fire, old electrical, not arson. And thanks to Superman everyone made it out of the building alive. He really was quite an impressive man.

Clark went home shortly after they returned to the office and Lois offered to file the story on the fire and Superman’s rescue for them both. Clark had just nodded. The death of the old homeless man seemed to have affected her partner and brought him down. Maybe a little R&R at home would make him feel better. She decided that she couldn’t wait another night. Tonight she would tell him the truth about her feelings. No ifs, ands, buts or excuses.

***

Lois pulled her Cherokee up outside of Clark’s Clinton Street apartment and turned off the lights. A hint of smile appeared on her lips with a scoff. She remembered when she had followed Clark to this apartment, thinking he was meeting Superman. That was right after Superman had arrived in Metropolis. Right after Clark Kent had arrived in Metropolis. She shook her head again. Stop thinking that, Lane. There is no way Clark Kent is Superman. Please. Clark Kent?

Lois walked past the mailboxes to Clark’s apartment. She stopped and headed back to the boxes. There was a package addressed to Clark sitting on top of the row of mailboxes. Why hadn’t Clark picked up his mail the day before? He had gone out. She had seen him at the Planet. Surely, he should have noticed he had mail when he had come home.

She picked up the box with a shrug and carried it up the stairs with her. Glancing down at the return address, she saw it was from the Cheese of the Month Club. Lois’s jaw dropped. He really belonged to a Cheese of the Month Club? Why hadn’t he shared any of the cheese with her?

She pressed her lips together, marching up the last of the steps to his apartment. Just to make sure that Clark was alone, she took a glance in through the glass doors of his apartment before knocking. Her eyes widened. Mayson Drake was standing not ten feet from the door! Lois jumped off to the side to hide beside the potted plant there. Luckily Mayson was facing Clark and didn’t see her. Lois peered around the plant and looked through the window again. Clark – his back also to the front door and his hair dripping wet – was pulling on a t-shirt.

Lois leaned against the wall and slid down into a crouch. Why was Clark getting dressed? What had he and Mayson been doing that would require him to put clothes on? Unless they had taken clothes off! And his hair was wet like he had just taken a shower!

Lois dropped the box of cheese and ran down the stairs, a hand over her mouth to stop her sobs. No! Mayson and Clark had been intimate? No! It was too late for her. His and Mayson’s relationship had moved beyond just dating. Of course it was serious. Mayson had invited him out of town the weekend before. An out of town weekend meant intimacy. And he had accepted, which meant he was ready to take his relationship with Mayson to the next level. True, Clark had skipped out on Mayson. But Lois guessed they moved passed that little speed bump this weekend. It must have been that home-cooked meal. Oh, Clark! No!

***

Picking up her keys off the floor by her front door for the third time, Lois finally got it unlocked. She entered her apartment and shut the door behind her, relocking all her locks. She just let her briefcase slide off her shoulder and kicked off her heels as she wondered the best way to drown her sorrows. Heading straight for her freezer, she pulled out what was left of her half-gallon of fudge ripple ice-cream and then stepped out onto her fire escape.

“Superman,” Lois whispered through her tears into the wind. Her voice was hoarse from crying the entire drive home. “I know you can hear me. I know you aren’t usually my confidant, but I can’t talk to my best friend and I have no place left to turn. Can you please just be my friend tonight?” She took a bite of her ice-cream and let it melt a bit in her mouth before swallowing. “I have no one else I can talk with about this. And I need to tell someone what’s raging through me or I’ll go nuts.” She pulled her knees up to her chest. “I’ve lost Clark Kent.” Then she started to cry out loud again, her head buried in her knees.

“Lois?”

She looked up and saw Superman floating just off her fire escape. Jumping to her feet, Lois wiped the tears off her face. “Thank you for coming, Superman,” she tried to say cheerfully, but the raw emotion of knowing she had lost Clark to Mayson hit her again and the tears started to fall again in earnest.

He landed softly onto her fire escape and took her into his arms, comforting her. “How have you lost Clark, Lois?”

“He… and Mayson…” Lois tried to speak through her sobs. “They… they… they’ve become intimate.”

“What?!” Superman sounded as startled as Lois felt.

“I know… How can he be serious about her?” She wiped her nose on his cape and then realized what she had done. Ashamed, she looked away, hoping he hadn’t noticed as she rubbed the spot with her sleeve. “With you and him being such good friends and she thinking you’re some crazy vigilante.”

“Oh.” He nodded. “Maybe you should talk to Clark first and make sure you have your facts straight, Lois.”

She chuckled through her sobs. “You sound like Perry. ‘Cold hard facts, Lane!’ I saw them… Superman… with my own eyes…” Lois cried. “He was half-naked and wet and she was right there with him…”

Superman pulled her back from his shoulder and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Still, Lois. You should talk to Clark. Maybe what you saw isn’t what you thought you saw.”

“Huh?” she said and then started shaking her head. “No! No, I can’t face Clark. I can’t hear him confirm my worst nightmare. No!”

“He’s your best friend. If you can’t talk to your best friend, who can you talk to?” Superman asked, wiping the tears off her cheeks with his thumb.

A slight smile came to her lips through her tears. “That sounds like something Clark would say. Clark!” Lois wailed and buried her head into Superman’s shoulder as she started crying again.

“He’s not dead, Lois. And if you talk to him, I’m sure you’ll find…”

“I need to stop crying about this.” She pressed her lips together, sniffling, and took a deep breath. “I know what I need to do.” Lois looked Superman in the eyes. “Can you drop me into the sea?”

“What?” Superman exclaimed. “No!”

“No, a cliff would be better. I want to jump off a cliff.” Lois wrapped her arms around his neck. “Can you fly me to a cliff?”

“No, Lois. I won’t let you jump to your death,” replied Superman, refusing to pick her up.

“Who said anything about committing suicide?” She sniffled. “I love Clark, but I’m not going to kill myself because he’s made a bad life choice.” The sniffles turned back into tears. “Clark!” After a few moments, she swallowed, able to talk again. “After all, he didn’t try to kill himself when I almost married Lex.” She buried her head into Superman’s chest again.

“Lois,” Superman whispered softly.

She lifted her head. “I need the adrenaline rush of jumping off a cliff to get the tears to stop. Like when Perry did that bungee jump off the Metropolis Bridge for his fiftieth birthday. To remind me that I love life and that I want to live again.” Lois looked him in the eye. “If I wanted to kill myself, Superman, I wouldn’t have asked you to take me there. I want you to catch me.”

Superman ran his hand over her hair, brushed it off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Just when I think I’ve got you all figured out, Lois, you go and surprise me again.”

Lois shrugged with a slight smile. “What can I say? I’m complex.”

Superman gave her a rare smile as he picked her up into his arms and lifted them into the sky.

Lois didn’t ask him the question burning in her chest as they flew in silence. She knew Superman didn’t love her. Clark was right. Superman said there could not be a future for them and he didn’t lie. Still, she wondered why Lex caged him in Kryptonite on their wedding day. It made no sense unless Superman was planning on stopping the wedding.

Superman landed on a barren, rocky cliff far from spying eyes. The sky was lighter, either from dusk or dawn, she could not tell. There was a bit of a chill to the air.

“I would like to repeat what I said earlier, Lois. You should talk to Clark instead. If I were to miss…”

She smiled and placed a light friendly kiss on his cheek. “You never miss.”

“I’d hate for this to be the first time,” he murmured.

Lois hugged him and stepped back. “I trust you, Superman.” She took a few more steps away from the edge as Superman flew over the canyon.

“A running start would be best to get you as far away from the edge as possible,” he suggested.

She nodded in agreement taking a few more steps back. “Anyway, I can’t let Clark know how I really feel.”

“What?” he stammered.

Lois ignored his question as she took a deep breath to steel her nerves. She started running and when she reached the edge she jumped. “I love you, Clark Kent!” she screamed into the wind.

She felt like she had only fallen a foot, even though it was probably closer to ten before Superman swooped her into his arms. His chest felt warm against the cool morning or night air.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” he murmured, pulling her so tight against his chest that she could actually hear his heart beating, loud, strong and fast. Superman kissed her forehead. “I love you.”

Lois smiled and pulled back far enough to place a gentle kiss on his lips. “I love you, too, Superman. But I’m in love with Clark.” She set her head on his shoulder. “That’s why I can’t talk to him about Mayson. I can’t come between them or I’d lose him completely, just like I did when I agreed to marry Lex.”

“You never lost Clark, Lois,” Superman murmured.

“Do you know what I was thinking while I was walking down the aisle to Lex?” she asked.

“Lois, I’d rather not…”

“How I wished it was Clark waiting for me instead of Lex.” She sighed. “That’s why I told Lex ‘no’.”

There was a pause before Superman spoke, “You told Lex ‘no’?”

“Didn’t you… No, I guess you couldn’t,” she whispered. Then she asked that question burning in her chest. “Superman, why didn’t you tell me that Lex caged you in Kryptonite?”

Superman was quiet for a minute and then answered without looking at her. “Truthfully…”

Lois laughed softly, interrupting, “Sorry, Superman. But you always speak the truth.”

“I was embarrassed,” he murmured.

Her jaw fell open. Of all the possible answers out there, she didn’t expect this one.

“I felt helpless and alone. I was in more pain than I had ever felt in my life and I didn’t know if it was the Kryptonite or from the fact I could hear the wedding march playing upstairs, but there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it.” He sighed. “Lucky for me, it seemed that Clark Kent rescued you that one time without even knowing it.” He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re in love with Clark.” It was almost as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“I was going to confess to Clark how I felt when Mr. Stern announced the rebuilding of the Daily Planet, but then Clark said he had lied to me. That he didn’t really love me after all.” She took a deep breath, trying to keep the tears at bay as they were threatening to return already.

Superman didn’t speak but for moment Lois thought she saw pain flash across his face.

“Did he lie to me, Superman?” she whispered.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So, he lied to you as well.” She shook her head in disbelief. How could Clark lie to Superman?

“Me?” Superman asked in shock.

“Yes, isn’t that why you told me you couldn’t love me like I thought at the time I loved you. Because you thought Clark loved me and you didn’t want to come between us?” Lois inquired.

A smile hinted at the corner of his lips. “You figured that out, did you?”

“See, he lied to us both,” Lois told him. She shook her head. “Clark,” she sighed his name.

“No, Lois, he only lied to you, when he told you he didn’t love you,” Superman corrected, softly.

“What?” Lois gasped.

They were back in Metropolis now and Superman lowered them down onto her fire escape. They stepped into the privacy of her apartment.

“Talk to Clark, Lois. Things may not be as they seem.” Superman took her hands in his and gazed at her with love. For a moment, he actually looked like Clark. Then he blinked and his expression changed and she saw Superman again. “I hope you are feeling better. Go take a hot shower, make yourself a cup of hot cocoa and take yourself off to bed. Things will look brighter by morning, Lois. I promise.”

Lois took a step forward and kissed his cheek, lingering long enough to take a deep breath through her nose. He even smelled like Clark. “Thank you for being my substitute best friend, Superman.” She smiled weakly.

Superman let go of her hands, smiled gently at her and then disappeared through the open window.

Lois went to the fire escape and retrieved her half-melted ice-cream and then shut the window. She wondered why she kept seeing Clark in Superman. Then she laughed, remembering what she had told Clark back when she was doused by pheromones. “Every woman in love thinks her man looks like Superman.” This time she had it backwards. She was so in love with Clark, she kept seeing him in Superman.

***

Lois took Superman’s advice and was just settling herself down into bed after her hot shower when the phone rang. She set down her cocoa mug and picked up her phone, “Hello?”

“Lois?”

Her heart quickened as she heard Clark’s voice. She swallowed, trying to keep those pesky tears at bay. “Hi, Clark.”

“It’s so good to hear your friendly voice. I tried to call you earlier but your phone just rang off the hook,” he told her.

“I went out,” she replied simply. “And then I took a shower.”

“Can I talk to the part of you that is my best friend, Lois?” he asked, falteringly.

“Do you want to talk to me about Mayson, Clark?” Lois hazarded a guess.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I understand if you don’t want…” he started saying.

“I’m listening, Clark.” Lois winced in anticipation, hoping that if he just told her, she could get it over quickly, like pulling a band-aid.

“Mayson stopped by unannounced this evening and I told her that I didn’t want to date her anymore. That although I liked her, I didn’t like her for more than a friend,” he said, apologetically. Almost as if telling Lois this story was tantamount to telling Mayson again. “She told me I led her on and threw her glass of water in my face, ice-cubes and all.”

Lois sat up. Her heart beating louder. “What? You told Mayson what?” That was why he was changing his shirt. Why he was all wet?

“She was really upset at me, because she had made dinner for me last night and then there was this stand-off at an office building and…”

“Oh, Clark, you didn’t stand up Mayson for a story, did you?” Lois gently scolded as glee built up inside her.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Oh, Clark.” Lois shook her head. “Tsk-tsk. You’re lucky that she didn’t throw the glass along with the water and ice-cubes.”

“Yeah.” Lois could just picture Clark hanging his head in shame. “I feel like a heel.”

“You should. You are a heel. A total heel, Clark. And as your best friend, I’m not allowing you to date anyone else. As your punishment for being a heel, I don’t think you should date anyone else for a while,” Lois replied evilly. She didn’t want him to move on before she had a chance to build up her courage again.

“Well, the truth is, Lois, there’s someone else I’ve been wanting to ask out for a while…” Clark murmured.

Lois felt her stomach drop again. “What?”

“And no matter how much I liked Mayson, I know that this other woman is who I really want to be with,” Clark continued as if Lois hadn’t said anything. “I’m thinking about asking her out tomorrow at work.”

“What?” she stammered. Someone at work? No! Clark, no! She couldn’t watch Clark be in love with anyone else, not at the Planet. It was her haven. “No! Clark, it’s too soon for you to be asking anyone else out. Much too soon.”

“Oh?” Clark’s voice sounded sad. “I’ve been in love with her for a while now and the only reason I haven’t asked her out earlier is because…” He took a deep breath.

Lois hoped he didn’t say anything about making her feel uncomfortable.

“… because I lied to her about my true feelings a while back and I didn’t think she would forgive me.” He said this last part so fast, Lois smiled. “And she told me she didn’t like me that way. But I’ve gotten the feeling recently she might have changed her mind about me.”

“You’re picking up my rambling habits there, Clark. Soon Perry won’t be able to tell us apart,” she teased, wondering whom Clark was thinking about asking out. Because his explanation made it sound like he was going to ask her out. Lois Lane! No, he couldn’t possibly be thinking of her.

Clark chuckled. “Well, let’s see. We’re both brown-eyed, brunette investigative reporters who look cute in black chiffon. How in the world can he tell us apart now?”

Lois guffawed at his awful joke. “I love you, Smallville.” She gulped. Oh, God! Had she said that aloud?

“Right back at you, Metropolis,” he shot in trade. “Good night. Thanks for making me feel less like a cad.”

“Good night, you big heel,” Lois replied, her heart rising in relief that he hadn’t realized that she meant she loved him in earnest. She hung up the phone and picked up her cocoa again. Sinking back into her bed, Lois smiled in amusement at the thought of Clark in one of her black chiffon dresses. It made her tempted to wear one to work tomorrow. But black chiffon definitely wasn’t Monday morning work wear.

Lois had told Clark that she loved him. She could finally check that off her to-do list. She wouldn’t let herself think about who Clark was going to ask out the next day. She wouldn’t let herself hope.

*** End of Part 2 ***

Part 3

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