Clark found a small story by Lois Lane – on page eight – about rehearsals beginning for a new musical production.
They allow freshmen on the paper?
Wells had emphasised the importance of Clark slipping into her life, securing her safety, and slipping out again without causing any ripples that could swell to tsunamis with the passage of time.
So, getting her pregnant is probably not a good idea. Neither would be saving her virtue from Paul. Oh boy. /waves bye-bye to the timeline/
A man of Clark's age showing any unwarranted interest in a female college student had the potential to be memorable for all the wrong reasons.
She wanted to share everything with him. Her hopes. Her dreams. Her successes.
Her life.
*yulp* /rushes off/
It made Lois feel part of the elite, the select group of Young People Going Somewhere. The World Changers.
Oh Lois. He’s just using you and Linda as beards while he’s hitting on Barry.
What she needed - really needed - was The Breakthrough Story. Something so brilliant, so cutting-edge, so significant that it elevated her above Linda and Barry in Paul's estimation.
So, you’re going for freshmen boom?
Lois would never have admitted it to anyone, but the load was taking a toll.
On her health.
On her energy.
On her mood.
On her patience.
On her composure.
*G* /remembers dramedy where the golden girl from highschool met college reality and her first… was it a D?
The dream that fuelled her relentless pursuit of all her ambitions.
The dream where she, Lois Lane, future Pulitzer winner, meets a stranger.
/cocks eyebrow/
She conducts a brilliant investigation, based on inspired intuition and watertight research, and writes a breath-takingly perceptive exposé.
Oh boy.
He would want to be with her. He would seek out her company. He would -
Make readers regurgitate their lunch?
Lois looked around and gasped. The man who had spoken was tall and dark. And a stranger.
Lois surreptitiously glanced to his left hand. He was married. Did that bode well? Did his wife know the truth about him? Or had she been fooled by his squeaky-clean Boy Scout image?
Yes. And now she’s lying unconscious in a seedy motel while he’s out and about, picking up coeds.
"I am one of the senior reporters. Paul and I work closely together."
/cocks eyebrow/
"I know he has a very important meeting all afternoon," she said. "And not with you."
/imagines the important meeting being either a round in the hay with Linda or a personal…emergency that binds him to a little room with only one seating place/
What if this man were planning to kidnap Paul? To murder him? It wasn't unheard of for psychopaths to target newspaper editors.
Well… maybe Lois should keep his number for when she needs to kidnap and murder said college newspaper editor?
What if Lois's investigative skills not only landed her an exclusive, but actually saved Paul's life?
Now *that* would get Paul Bender's attention.
Ugh.
Not a chance. Not on a Saturday.
This is going to be fun. And how will Clark handle maid Lois when she comes cleaning the rooms?
"Robert James."
Lois stared at him. Had there been the slightest hesitation before he'd given his name?
Oh boy.
By four, she would be here. Safely out of sight. When Mr Robert James realised he'd been stood up, she would track him.
/gets popcorn/
It was unfortunate that she couldn't follow him now. But that would mean missing Friday lunch with Paul - leaving him alone with Linda and Barry and giving them the chance to press for an advantage in the relentless contest for the editor's approval.
And that was something Lois just wasn't prepared to do.
Not even for her Breakthrough Story.
Lois. Lois. Lois.
Uuuuuuh, this is fun. She’s a bit nauseating in her stary-eyedness, but I’m quite sure that’s intentional
Michael