Jealousy
A young figure drives up in a van and parks outside Clark's apartment. It was early - 7:00 AM - and Clark should be leaving for work shortly. Until then the man hunkered down in the van so no one would notice him.
Like a clock, at exactly 7:10, the crouching figure saw Clark leave the building. That was another thing he had grown to hate about Clark Kent. His punctuality. Always on time, while the young man himself would drag in a few minutes late for meetings. He was tired of being told 'why can't you be more like Clark'.
He had been the up and coming young dude at the Daily Planet. Well, until Clark blew in and blew them all away. BC, as he called the time before Clark had arrived at the Planet, he had regular Friday lunches with Lois. He liked to think of them as dates. But no more, Clark was Lois's bud now. She had little time for her former "boyfriend" anymore.
It had cut him to the core that day he overheard Lois ask Clark "Are there any more at home like you?" As if Clark was the perfect American male. The Boy Scout every mother wanted her daughter to marry. It made him sick to think of it.
In the past 6 months he had grown to hate Clark Kent. Clark - perfect in every way to his own always evident flaws. Dress down Friday's used to belong to him but no more. Clark would come in wearing tight jeans and a snug tee and looked like a model. He was clearly absorbed by his body and worked out a lot. He had to, no way anyone could have a six-pack like his naturally.
They say hate does strange things to a person and he knew this to be true. He was about to kill Clark. Or set in motion a plan that would do it in short order. His chemistry major, which he thought he'd never use, came in perfectly handy for what he was about to do. Oh yes, he knew about poisons. More than most people who are in the business of knowing about poisons. The little concoction he'd worked up was similar to that used to take out foreign leaders and others without leaving a trace of evidence of the cause of death.
The sign on the side of the van gave a hint at what he was planning - "Metropolis Plumbing".
It was a simple plan really. He would locate the water feed to Clark's apartment in the building's basement. With that he would replace the filter with one he had specially made. It would release a small, but deadly amount of the toxin every time Clark turned on the water in his apartment.
Clark was too politically correct to drink out of the tap. No, bottled water only for him - another thing he hated about Clark. Whatever the latest fad, he was on it. Not out of a core belief, but because he had to do the "in thing" always. Clark had no integrity and followed the crowd. Another zombie of the social media age that was taking over everything.
But he didn't need Clark to drink the toxin in order to kill him. The nice thing about the concoction was that it absorbed easily through human skin. A few showers by Clark and he'd be fatally poisoned. He had monitored Clark's water usage and knew he took 2 showers a day. One in the morning before work and one late at night. Around 11PM usually. He thought that was odd, but put it down to Clark's vanity about his body.
Given the rate of showering, Clark would be dead in 2 - 3 days.
Then the world would be right again. No one would be able to find a trace of poison in Clark's body. He would be the up and coming young guy at the DP once more. Friday lunches with Lois would resume. Oh yes, Lois will be broken up by Clark's death and that would give him the opportunity to comfort Lois. Let her she just what kind of man he really is.
Once he was sure Clark was long gone, he entered the apartment building and told the doorman he was here to fix a basement leak. No questions asked, he was ushered to the basement and in short order had set everything in place. He felt a great relief to know that in days he'd be rid of Clark.
Quickly leaving the apartment, he reached the van. A passerby looked at him and asked "Aren't you the Daily Planet photographer?
Taken aback for a moment, he replied, "No. All us redheads look alike. You wouldn't believe who I get mistaken for at times."
With that he got into the truck and headed for work. Once there, and upon entering the internet division where he, Lois and Clark had their desks, Perry was waiting.
"Late again Olsen! Why can't you be more like Clark." Perry bellowed.
"Sorry chief." Jimmy purposely replied knowing how Perry hated being called chief.
Jimmy got to his desk and was shuffling through descriptions of several assignments he'd been given for that day. Suddenly he was aware of someone standing at his desk.
He looked up. It was Clark.
In a low tone Clark said "I hate it that Perry always compares you to me. I've always been punctual. It's just one of those things. But I couldn't do a photo spread like you do if my life depended on it."
"Thanks Clark." Jimmy responded - a bit taken aback by the whole thing.
"Hey Jim." Clark said, "The Metros are in town tonight. Critical game. I know you love baseball. I have two tickets. Will you join me?"
Again taken aback, Jimmy stuttered out "I, uh, what about dinner? I had planned to go to this new restaurant." Jimmy was doing his best to get out of this.
Clark replied, "Welling's I bet! I've heard great things about it. Tell you what, let's leave work a bit early and I'll buy us both dinner at Welling's, then we can go to the game".
Jimmy could only muster "Uh, yeah. That sounds good. Thank you for asking."
After Clark left and went back to his desk, Jimmy thought to himself, "What just happened here? Why now? Why did he have to ask me to the game and dinner today - of all days. I can't get him a promotion or a raise, I'm a nobody here. What could Clark possibly expect to get from me - I don't get it?!"
"Penny for your thoughts." he heard a voice saying. Looking up, it was Clark again.
"One more thing Jimmy, rents are ridiculous in this city. I have a two-bedroom and, its just something to think about, would you want to share an apartment with me? No rush to decide - you should come by and check the place out."
