Green-Eyed Monster TOCWhere we left off in Part 21...Lois would not cry. Not now. Not here. Not anymore. This problem was bigger than them. Protecting Superman was bigger than their relationship. She knew that. She got that.
“In
what together?” he asked again.
Again with the questions! Listen for once! We’ll talk later, Clark.“I told you. I can’t talk about it here. He may be watching me. He must not see us together. It would only make things worse.” Lois allowed herself to glance over at him, trying to convey to him what was going on with her eyes.
Clark’s voice got firmer, deeper, almost sounding like Kal’s. “What’s going on, Lois?”
“Tonight, please, Clark. I’ve got to go talk to Perry,” she murmured, heading towards the break room. Then she stopped, knowing the answer to her question almost as it popped into her head. Glancing back at him, she asked, “Has Perry ever met Kal?”
Clark moved closer to her, but still kept an aisle of bookshelves between them.
Finally, he’s getting it that this is dangerous business.“Lois, I’m not leaving you here while you’re afraid,” he said, avoiding her question entirely.
She sighed.
So, Perry knows. That will make things easier when you confront him.“I thought as much,” Lois replied. She took one last look at him, wondering if she would ever be able to be held and comforted in those arms again.
Tell him not to worry. There are still hours until you get off work.“I’ll be fine, Clark. He wants something else from me,” she continued, answering his question.
Not that Tempus will ever get it. Her inner voice shivered with disgust.
“I was able to stall him until Saturday. Maybe by then…” She didn’t know what they could accomplish between now and then, so she walked off to the break room without even a backwards glance at him. She paused as she typed in the code to the break room door. Lois spoke softly knowing he was still watching her and knowing he would still be able to hear her, even over the noise of the store. “Go. And keep Kal away, too. If he shows up, I’ll lose you both.” Then she opened the door and went inside.
“What in blue blazes…?” Perry stammered, meeting her half way across the break room.
Lois didn’t answer him until they were back in his office with the door closed and could face him privately. “You’re stealing from Lexco?”
Part 22Perry’s jaw dropped. “No! I’m not stealing.”
“Then why is Clark getting paid five times more than my hourly rate to work overnight one day a week?” she asked, a brow raised and her arms crossed. “He couldn’t have done that on his own.” When the Chief didn’t answer right away, Lois rolled her eyes and sighed. “I know you know Kal.”
“Who?” He genuinely seemed baffled by this name.
Lois was beginning to lose her patience. “Superman.”
“Oh.”
When her boss didn’t elaborate, she said, “Clark told me. How did you meet him?”
“Clark?” Perry asked evasively.
“Super Clark,” Lois said between clenched teeth.
“Oh. You
do know.” Perry pressed his lips together and sat down at his desk. “He saved me from being shot during a robbery a few years back.” He exhaled with relief like it was the first time he had ever spoken the words to anyone.
“Well?”
“Well what?” he snapped back.
“The money? Tell me why you’re stealing from Lexco,” she bellowed.
“Why don’t you say that a little louder, Mad Dog? I don’t think they heard you in Gotham City,” Perry replied softly.
“I’m putting my life on the line for you two, so I want some answers.”
“Who was that man who grabbed you downstairs?” he asked.
“Tempus. B. Gerald Tempus to be exact. An auditor from the corporate office.” She raised a brow and watched as Perry’s face went ashen.
“He told you about Clark’s paycheck?”
Lois nodded. “Now you tell me.”
“If he thinks we’re stealing funds, why did he tell you? Why didn’t he just come in and arrest me?” Perry asked. “Does he know about Clark?”
She rubbed a hand down her face as she dropped into a chair. “I don’t know. He’s blackmailing me. If I agree to date him, he’ll lose the paperwork on the extra funds.”
“Clark’s not going to like that,” her boss stated the obvious.
“Ya think?” She stared at him. “I need to know, Perry.”
The Chief sighed. “Clark needed the money, so we worked it out that he got paid fairly for his time.”
“Fairly?” Lois asked skeptically.
“He agreed to work at super speed one night a week shelving books and doing odd jobs, like putting up your shelves, and I agreed to pay him what it would cost if I hired regular people to do the same work,” Perry explained.
“So what you are saying is that at super speed Clark can accomplish in eight hours what I can in forty?” she clarified.
“No, more like two hundred average employee hours, but Clark wouldn’t take more.” Perry let a small smile slip onto his face. “An average employee like maybe a Ralph or a Claude or a Sophie. You’re not an ordinary employee, Lois. You’re extraordinary. Not very respectful, but still extraordinary.”
“Don’t try and butter me up,” Lois rebuked him with a sneer. “And you and Clark justified this to yourselves by calling it ‘fair pay’?”
Perry shrugged. “From a certain point of view…”
“From a certain point of view? What is this – ‘Return of the Jedi’? This is real life, Perry.” She exhaled in aggravation.
At least Clark wasn’t trying to steal money from Lexco. He was using his abilities to do a job faster. If he couldn’t slow down time to give him more opportunities to do more jobs…“We’ve got to do something about this,” Lois told her boss. “Because unless you and Clark want to go to Lexco and tell them why this one employee has honestly earned a weekly paycheck for one night’s work, you’re still in a jam. I’m doubting one date with Tempus is going to solve all our problems. And, personally, that’s one date too many for me.” Lois stood up. “We have until Saturday night to come up with solution.” She walked to the door.
“So, Clark tells me you got a Superman exclusive,” said Perry casually.
Lois froze, closed her eyes and sighed. “Clark and I wrote a piece about Kal…” She shook her head.
You’ve got to stop referring to his super side as Kal. Nobody else knows that name and one of these days you’re going to say it when you shouldn’t.“…Superman flying me down to Costa Rica to explain himself to me. I wrote it for the
Smallville Post. It got picked up by the
Wichita Eagle and also the
L.A. Times.”
“You wrote it or Clark and you wrote it?” he inquired.
Lois winced. “Clark and I. But his byline is missing.”
“Missing? Or omitted?”
She turned around, her hands clenched. “Okay. Fine, I admit it. I thought he ditched me last night and that really ticked me off, so I didn’t tell my editor that he wrote the piece with me when I phoned it in.”
“Ouch!” Perry shook his head. “You know being a reporter has always been his dream.”
Lois looked down at her shoes, chagrined, and murmured, “I know.” Then she lifted her gaze at her boss. “I did call my editor and correct the mistake this morning. How in the hell was I supposed to know my article had been picked up for the morning edition by some major newspapers?” She pointed at Perry. “And, you know, it’s all his fault. If he had just told me that he was you-know-who and that he had gone off to fight fires in Suicide Slum, I’d have included his name last night.”
Perry looked skeptical. “His fault?”
Lois stood up straighter. “Yes, I’m sticking with that analysis of the situation.” She nodded.
“And it’s never going to happen again?”
“No.” She pouted with a slight roll to her eyes. “No, I won’t do it again.” Then she waved the idea out of the air. “Like Clark and I would write anything else together again. It was a one shot deal.” A wistful smile danced onto her face. “I did enjoy shooting ideas and lines back and forth. It was nice. Fun. Cozy.”
Cozy?Lois hit herself on the forehead. “That’s why other dimensional me married Clark. He was her writing partner.”
Perry raised a brow. “Writing partner?”
“Tempus, that guy from the future I told you about, said that in his dimension I was a hard-nosed investigative reporter who married her colleague who just happened to be Superman.” She flipped up her hands. “Who knew?”
His jaw dropped. “Lois, didn’t you just say the name of the man from Lexco was named Tempus as well?”
“Apparently, I’m stalked by all incarnations of Tempus. The one from Lexco is from
this dimension. I thought he was the other guy at first too, but he had no recollection of proposing to me or telling me about my ‘big, brawny and blue wearing’ husband-to-be.” She shrugged.
“You told that guy from Lexco that you’re engaged to Superman?” Perry spoke slowly and in disbelief.
“No,” Lois retorted. “I told him I had a big, brawny boyfriend who looks good in blue.” She grinned faux innocently.
Like Tempus would never connect the dots.Perry grimaced. “Why? Why – in the King’s name – would you do that, Lois?”
“Well, I thought he was other guy back to razz me some more. How in the hell was I supposed to know he was a different Tempus, one from our dimension?” she explained.
Her boss nodded. “That’s why you pulled his beard. I wondered about that.”
Lois took a step back, in shock. “Have you been spying on me, Chief?”
Perry pointed to the security monitors behind her.
“Oh.” Lois pointed back over her shoulder with her thumb. “Well, I’m going to head back to work while I still have a job.”
“So, am I going to hear wedding bells soon, now that you and Clark have everything out in the open?” he asked with a wink and smile.
“Yeah. No. Clark still hasn’t told me his secret. And, personally, I’m getting sick of faking that I don’t know. We don’t ever seem to do anything other than fight and make out. It just doesn’t seem like a strong basis for a relationship.”
“Fiery,” said Perry.
Lois just shrugged.
Could be if you could ever get him past first base.“What secret do you know that he hasn’t told you?” her boss inquired.
“That he’s Superman, of course. He’s under this delusion that I can’t…”
“He
hasn’t told you?” Perry repeated back to her.
“No. Why do you think we keep fighting?”
Not for the make-up sex, that’s for sure.“Lois, you told me that Clark told you that I knew he was Superman.” Perry glared at her.
“And he did.”
“How exactly did Clark do that if he thinks you don’t know he’s Superman?” the Chief asked, incredulously.
“Because when I asked Clark if you knew Superman, he completely avoided the question. He says he doesn’t lie and since he always takes everything to the nth degree, he must mean it. So, sometimes with Clark, you have to read between the lines to know what he’s actually saying.” Lois pressed her lips together in annoyance.
“You got me to admit that I know he’s Superman on a hunch? And you scooped every other reporter in the world with a one-on-one interview with Superman?” Perry replied in wonder, with respect. “You
are an investigative reporter at heart, Lois. I could use someone like you to write for
The Planet.”
The Planet? What Planet?“Unless you want stories submitted from a jail cell, we need to find a way out of this mess. By the way, the thief struck again,” she said, placing her hand on the doorknob.
“The thief? The CD thief? Where are the wrappers?” Perry asked.
“Tempus took them. He thinks I’m the thief. It’s just his word against mine,” she responded, shoulders slumped. She took a deep breath and stood up straighter. “I’ve got work to do.” She opened the door and left Perry’s office.
***
Monday - NightClark sighed as he turned the key of the truck and pointed it in the direction of the bookstore. A part of him wondered what he was doing. Lois had told Clark to trust her and he was having difficulty doing so. Not only had she cut him out of his first byline, she had agreed to go out with another man. But evidently the latter action had taken place under duress. Lois was worried about
Clark. That bearded man had somehow threatened him.
And Kal?Something was off about that whole conversation over the bookcases. A couple of times Lois had spoken so softly that Clark
had to use his super hearing. Had she realized he could still hear her? Or had she thought she was still speaking loud enough for him to hear her?
She knows, Kent. She knows you’re Kal-El.But Lois referred to Superman, not once but twice, as Kal. As someone other than himself.
Wouldn’t it be easier if she knew without you having to tell her? No more hiding from her. No more secrets. No more holding so tightly onto the ropes of your control, burning your hands every time they slipped. You would be free to be yourself around her.That did sound nice. If she still wanted to have a relationship with him, that is. Clark had felt like Lois had dumped him when she had told him to ‘grow a pair’. And then she had asked for her keys back. He knew he should have returned her keys when he left for work that morning – left them on the dresser or something – but he had wanted a plausible excuse to see her again.
Passive aggressive much there, Kent?When Lois had accused him of telling her he loved her without actually
demonstrating to her how he loved her, Clark had realized she was right. He kept telling himself that he loved her – not to mention, kept trying to tell her – but his actions spoke differently than those words. She was right about that. He needed to work more on that if he didn’t want their relationship to implode entirely.
Maybe they had gotten too close too quickly. But how could he backpedal his love when he has finally found the one person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with? Personally, he was ready for fast forward.
Perhaps he should have no right to be angry at her for accepting a date with another man. But then again, when Clark had told her that he might be ‘too busy’ to pick her up, Lois told him – in her round-about way of speaking – that if he didn’t
want to pick her up, then he might as well break up with her. So, she still thought of them as a couple. The shattered remains of a couple perhaps, but still a couple.
The fact of the matter was, what Clark really wanted to do – if he lived in an ideal world, which he didn’t – was to swoop down and take Lois home in his arms. He wanted to tell her that he
was Kal-El. Or – since he would be in the Superman suit – tell her that Kal-El was Clark Kent. He would then apologize for being such a blockhead, beg for her forgiveness, and spend the night making up.
Clark sighed again. But he didn’t live in a perfect world. Superman had already paid Lois so much attention that he had actually gotten a question about her after putting out a fire from a car accident. He had been able to ignore the inquiry with the excuse of taking someone to the hospital. What if someone asked him again about Lois? Would he be able to fly off in avoidance? What could he say and still be truthful? “Lois and I are just friends”? That didn’t really sit in the truth category. “Lois Lane is dating Clark Kent”? That was true, he hoped. The real truth would be “Lois Lane is in a hugely complicated, often confusing, relationship with his alter ego Clark Kent.”
No, obviously not that one, Kent.Lastly, Clark wouldn’t spend the night making love with Lois. Even though he wanted to do nothing more, because – frankly – the thought terrified him.
Lois is going to leave you, Kent. Leave you for that man Tempus told her about.And to make love to her and then have her leave him for that someone else. Clark didn’t know if he could ever recover from that.
Yeah. It would be better not to be intimate with her and then lose her, his conscience stated, every word dripping with sarcasm.
Because then you would have all those fond memories of you not making love with her to look back upon.Clark felt like hitting the steering wheel in frustration but resisted. He really could not afford the repair bill.
Trying to get his mind off dwelling on Lois, Clark turned on the radio. The dedications to Superman had finally ended.
Too bad. It had been nice to hear from the fans.Clark tried to focus on the advertisements, so his mind wouldn’t drift back to thinking about the possibility that Lois knew he was Superman and had been taunting him.
Too late.He turned the corner by the bookstore as music started playing again.
Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind? by the Loving Spoonful.
“Where is she?” Clark muttered. Here was the corner and she wasn’t on it. He glanced at his watch: 8:25pm.
Oh, crap! You’re late!Clark hadn’t meant to be late. Actually he was usually conscientious about being on time, on being early in fact. He turned the corner and drove down the street, looking for her. His headlights lit up someone sitting hunched at the bus stop. Clark’s heart ached at seeing Lois so forlorn. He pulled the truck up next to the bus stop, cranked down the passenger window and called out to her, “I’m sorry I’m late.”
When Lois flashed her eyes at him, he expected the usual expression of anger but it wasn’t there. Relief flooded her countenance and, for some reason, that emotion worried him more than her anger.
“Clark,” she said nothing else as she stood up and walked to the truck, getting in. They were quiet for a few minutes, listening to the music, before she said, “I don’t deserve you.”
So true. So very true. You deserve someone much better.“I’m sorry, Miss. But I must have picked up the wrong woman. I was supposed to meet Lois Lane and though you look just like her…” Clark replied with more levity than he felt.
Then the strangest thing happened, Lois smiled warmly at him and kissed his cheek. “You’re right, Clark. I
do deserve you.”
Did Lois just admit that you were right and she was wrong?“I owe you an apology. More than one apology honestly,” she continued.
Oh, my God! This isn’t Lois Lane. It’s a clone!“I was really cruel to you this morning, Clark. I said some hurtful things I wish I could take back.”
Zombies! Yes, zombies must have eaten her mind, leaving her with mush between her ears.She sighed. “And the truth is I did put your name on the Superman article. Only I didn’t do it until today. By that time it was already too late. I’m sorry.”
Her passion is gone. It’s like you blew out her fire with your super cooling breath and there is nothing left but this empty shell.Clark glanced over at Lois and graced her with a tender smile. Then he reached over and squeezed her hand.
“The truth of the matter is that you made me mad last night and I did it on purpose,” she said, her pilot light starting to flicker again. “If you had just told me that Kal needed you to help with those fires in Suicide Slum.” She glared at him. “Instead you just left me there wondering what the world had happened to you, why you weren’t coming back, and what I had done to anger you.” She was practically hollering at him now.
There is the woman you love with all her spit and fire. She isn’t a clone and wasn’t attacked by zombies. Thank goodness.“Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” she finally snapped.
Clark smiled at her with amusement, knowing he was going to regret the words before he even spoke them, but he just couldn’t resist. “I thought you told me you were up to here with my apologies.”
Lois screamed in frustration and Clark laughed quietly to himself.
They didn’t speak for a few minutes as he let her simmer in her anger. Finally, she said, softer than he expected, “Is that true? Is that how I make you feel?”
“What?” he asked, having no idea to what she was referring.
Lois nodded to the radio.
When A Man Loves A Woman sung by Percy Sledge was playing.
Oh, yeah, Kent. That’s your anthem.He smiled sheepishly at her. “Sometimes.”
Like every second of every day since you first saw her roll her eyes at Cat in Receiving.“Oh, yeah. Well, you make me feel like that sometimes, too,” she said sharply, turning to look out her window.
Clark’s heart skipped a beat, then two.
Did Lois just tell you that she loves you? Tell her! Tell her right now that you’re Kal-El. That you are Superman.“I’m sorry, Lois, for last night and this morning. I was cruel and thoughtless and …” His voice faded. She didn’t want his apologies. And he was tired of always begging for forgiveness.
Tell her.“Lois, there’s something…” Clark pressed his lips together.
No. You can’t tell her until she tells you about that man at the store.“Who was that bearded man?”
Lois swallowed and turned her overcast eyes back to him, making him miss her usual sunshine. “Ah, yes, him.” She didn’t appear anxious to speak about him.
“Please, Lois, tell me.”
“Tempus.”
Clark pulled the truck off to the side of the street and turned off the radio, so he could concentrate fully on her. “The man from the future?”
Yes, that was why he looked so familiar.Lois shook her head. “No. I thought so at first as well, but the beard threw me.” She reached over and took his hand. “He’s from the corporate office and is investigating you for misappropriation of Lexco funds.”
Clark’s jaw dropped. “Me? What? Never!”
Lois squeezed his hand, reassuringly. “Your paycheck is five times higher than it should be, Clark.”
His mouth went dry.
Oh, God! You’re done for, Kent.“I’m not…” he stammered unable to give the details to clear himself.
Lois smiled at him tenderly. “I know. Perry explained that Kal comes in during your shift and shelves books at super speed. He’s getting paid – through you – for working forty hours, because at super speed it’s like five people coming to shelve for eight hours.”
“Truthfully, Lois, there’s something…”
She held up a finger. “This Tempus guy – the auditor from Lexco – promised to lose the paperwork from the investigation into you and Perry, if I went out with him.”
“No!” Clark shouted. “Absolutely not, Lois. I won’t let you do this.”
Lois raised a brow. “Won’t let me?”
“That’s right. I won’t
let you, Lois, do this for me,” Clark replied sternly.
Lois cupped his jaw in her hand and gently placed a kiss on his lips, effectively erasing part of his anger. “I’m not doing this
for you, Clark. If he finds out that we’re dating then I could be roped into a conspiracy charge.”
“Conspiracy for what? Dating me? You weren’t involved in this deal Perry and I made.”
“True. But I know about it now, and if I don’t report it – which I won’t – I’m a conspirator. Also, Tempus threatened to have me arrested for stealing CDs.”
Clark’s anger was back. “You’re no thief.”
“He walked into my Receiving Room right after I discovered more CD wrappers and accused me of stealing,” she murmured.
“There’s no way that evidence would result in a conviction,” he reassured her.
“I know, but it’s still his word against mine. He’s a Lexco auditor. I’m some nobody from Smallville, Kansas. It’s enough to put me in jail. And if I’m in jail there is no way for me to help you and Perry and Kal,” she explained.
No matter how she excuses her actions, Kent, she’s still doing this to save your butt.“Lois, there’s something you should know about Kal and me. We’re…”
“No!” She unbuckled her seatbelt and pressed her lips to his, cutting off his confession.
The passion of her kiss made it impossible for him to do anything but deepen it.
“Don’t tell me,” she murmured.
“You have been begging me to trust you, Lois. Please, let me show you how much I trust you by telling you…”
Lois kissed him again.
A grin of amusement came to his lips when she once again let him breathe. “What are you doing?”
“You were right not to trust me, Clark,” Lois informed him. “I am totally untrustworthy.”
Clark leaned back and crossed his arms thoughtfully. “Are you now?”
“Yep.”
“Do you want to illuminate for me how you are untrustworthy?” he asked.
Lois bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath. “I told Tempus – this Lexco Tempus – that my boyfriend was ‘big, brawny and looks good in blue’.”
Clark’s teeth ground together. “You told someone who works at Lexco that you were dating Superman?” He spoke slowly, enunciating each word.
“No! You’re big and brawny and look good in blue, too.” She grinned at him with faux innocence. “I just realized later that – in light of the article in the
L.A. Times – you could be easily confused with Superman.”
“Lo-is!”
“I thought he was that other Tempus,” she said in a rush. “You know the one from the future, who knows all about me and who I’ve dated. By the time I realized that he wasn’t, the damage was done.” Her eyes looked at him apologetically. “See, absolutely untrustworthy. So don’t tell me any of your secrets.”
Clark wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her next to him. “Just one?”
“No!” Lois gasped, covering her ears and humming loudly to herself.
His eyes expressed the laughter he felt bubbling inside of him as he pressed his lips to hers. “I love you, Lois Lane. Blabbermouth or not.”
*** End of Part 22 *** Part 23 Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind? by John Sebastian, performed by The Loving Spoonful
When A Man Loves a Woman by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, performed by Percy Sledge
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