CH 4
The next morning, Clark arrived to work early and started Jimmy searching for a remote controlled recording and transmitting device that was small enough to plant and remain hidden. Jimmy said he knew of a few places to check that dealt with those sorts of things, but that it would take him out of the office all morning and away from the research he was helping out on in regards to Dr. Goldberg. Clark assured him that this was the top priority for right now and that he and Lois could continue the research.
After sending Jimmy on his scavenger hunt, Clark went to Perry’s office to check in and notify him of Jimmy’s whereabouts. He was disappointed when Perry told him that Lois had been assigned to cover the Mayor’s press conference on ‘what the city is doing about corruption in specific police precincts’, and that she would be gone most of the morning. Clark returned to his desk to resume his research on Dr. Goldberg. So far, he had struck out on finding a path to follow.
At ten, Clark received a call from Linda who invited him to join her for lunch at one. He knew Lois would be upset with him for accepting Linda’s invitation, but he had a suspicion that something wasn’t kosher about the Metropolis Star’s latest reporting successes. A lunch date seemed an easy excuse to follow her around, so he readily agreed.
Clark spent the rest of the morning immersed in Dr. Goldberg’s financial records. On the surface, it looked like all the doctor’s research grants were legitimate and his accounts were balancing, but Clark knew that there was more to it. Whoever had met with Dr. Goldberg last night made it clear that he was just an underling, adding another layer of complexity to the puzzle.
At a quarter to one, Clark put down his research and headed to the Tri Crown where Linda was meeting him for lunch.
*************
Lois was fuming after Clark recounted the elevator falling incident that happened while he was at lunch. “Clark, you were there when the elevator car fell; how did you let Linda get the front page pictures and not you?”
Clark didn’t want this to become another Linda tirade so he steered clear of the second question. “I had a suspicion and I went to check it out upstairs.”
“And did it pay off more than the front page picture Linda got?” she questioned with a hint of mockery.
“Maybe,” he paused to pull out a piece of cabling about eighteen inches long from his desk drawer. “Take a look at this.”
“And how is this better than a 4x6 shot of Superman balancing an elevator car and a scared family above his head?” she continued to mock.
“Superman gave it to me. It’s the elevator cable from the accident. Look at the ends, Lois; they’re both smooth. One side Superman cut with his heat vision, so it should be smooth, but the other should be frayed.”
“Superman removed evidence from the scene of the accident?” she asked, surprised that Superman would have done such a thing.
Clark stumbled around trying to find a reasonable explanation. “Um…Well, I’m supposed to give it to Henderson. Superman was called away before the inspector could get there, so he gave it to me.”
“Oh. So, you guys think it was cut?”
“That’s our theory,” he reckoned.
“So, that means that these accidents that the Star keeps scooping us on…”
“Aren’t accidents,” Clark finished.
“You think someone is staging them?”
“Possibly. At lunch Linda was telling me that she just got lucky with the fire story since she was across the street covering something else. The fire now appears to have been arson. Then she got a call from Carpenter, checking up on her, right before the elevator fell.”
“Do you think Linda’s in on it?” Lois asked, now intrigued by this turn of possible events.
“I’m not sure. I have an idea on how to find out, but I don’t think you’re going to like it,” he cautioned. He knew there was no chance she would readily agree to what he was about to propose.
Lois was not one to back down from a challenge. “Try me, Kent.”
“Let’s go to Perry, and I’ll explain it to both of you.”
They walked into Perry’s office and Clark got him caught up before he told them both his plan.
“So, let me get this straight. You want to pretend to quit, citing Lois’s obsession with Linda King is making her impossible to work with, so that you can go undercover at the Star and be partnered with Linda King. Then, you’ll see if stories just keep falling in your lap and find out who’s behind the setups,” Perry summarized Clark’s plan for clarification, and then turned his attention to Lois. “Lois, do you have any problems with this?”
“Yes, I do, Perry. You guys expect me to what, sit back and knit, while Clark’s following her around?” Lois spat. Clark had never tried to sideline her from a story before, and she was furious that Perry wanted her to go along with it.
“No, of course not,” Clark tried to reassure her. “There’s still a lot of research to be done on the doctor. I haven’t found anything in his financial records or a list of anyone he’s potentially working with. You could keep working on that. And, if I find out anything on the Star, you’ll be the first to know.”
Lois knew she wasn’t going to win this argument but she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. “Clark, how are we supposed to be working on our other story if we’re not working together anymore?”
“Well, we’ll get one more shot tonight to break in and gather what we need, and then we might have to take a break for a few days. I’ll see if I can sneak over to your place after work and we can go over whatever you and Jimmy find out during the day, but we can’t have Linda see us together.”
Lois bit her tongue to keep a verbal barrage of words from exploding from her mouth at the idea that Clark wanted to keep her on the bench while he went undercover to expose the truth at the Star. The look she gave Clark and Perry wasn’t lost on either of them.
“Now look, Lois,” Perry began his attempt to calm her. “Clark has a good idea here, and you know, I’ve said it before that I back my reporters one hundred percent; I think you should do the same. That said, Clark, I want you to wrap this up quickly. I don’t want to see your byline on that trash for too long. I’ll work on putting together the paperwork for your resignation while you setup an interview for tomorrow.”
“But Perry...” Lois made one more attempt to object.
“Lois, I know this is hard, but you’re going to have to go with it.” Perry left no room for argument.
Lois wrenched open the door and stormed back to her desk. Clark remained in Perry’s office.
“Now, son, are you sure you can get partnered with Linda?”
Clark thought about his previous encounters with Linda and knew she wouldn’t turn down the suggestion of working with him. “Yeah, Chief, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Good. As I said though, don’t let this take too long.”
Clark bowed his head in understanding before turning around and heading back to his desk. He decided it would be best to wait until the end of the day before calling Linda about setting up a job interview with Carpenter. He didn’t want to give her time to set one up today. He settled back in his chair, turned on his computer and resumed his computer search on Dr. Goldberg.
“So far these kids seem to be showing fewer side effects than the previous batch,” Clark recalled Dr. Goldberg telling the stranger in his office the previous night. What side effects and who were the previous recipients of the tests? Were the kids listed in the article part of it? He considered jotting down some of these questions, but knew he wouldn’t have an explanation if Lois found them. Though maybe he was on to something with the article; it did contain a list of patients that they could research.
He looked up to find Lois sitting at her desk completely absorbed in whatever was on her screen. “Hey, Lois!” he called out loud enough to get her attention.
“What is it?” she snapped and looked over at his desk.
Seeing that Lois was still fuming over his plan, Clark slowly walked over to her desk, hoping that getting back to their story would distract her enough to calm her down. “We should look up some of the patients he’s treated recently. See if there’s anything there.”
“Were there any listed specifically in that article?” she asked a little less upset.
“A few. We could start with them, and then try to get a list from his office.”
“The list of things to do in there keeps getting longer.”
“Well, I guess we could just divide up the tasks. Do you want to gather the samples or look through patients records?”
Lois considered her options for a moment. “I was never that good at the sciency stuff. Well, actually that’s not true; I never really tried, you know with my father and all.”
“Teen rebellion?” Clark guessed.
“Something like that. Don’t get me wrong, I still got an A in biology and chemistry. I knew the material. I just couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for the labs and, even if I did, my father would still find something to criticize me about. So I worked extra hard on acing the tests.”
Clark didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t identify with her problem, having never had this experience with his parents. “Therefore, you decided that since you weren’t going to impress him no matter how hard you tried that you might as well not bother. That’s so sad.”
“Well, that’s how it was. Anyway, I think you should probably take the samples. I’ll go through the files.”
“Works for me,” said Clark. “What time?”
“Ten?”
“Okay. How about we grab dinner at the Press Club beforehand and then just head over there afterwards? ”
“Why not? It’ll be the last time anyone sees us together in public for awhile,” said Lois somberly.
“That’s part of the idea. I was also thinking that if there were several Metropolis Star reporters there that we should put a show on for them. We could disagree over something just to spread rumors about how our partnership is unstable.”
“Humm...” Lois paused to consider the possibilities, breaking into a smile at some of the thoughts. “Sounds like it could be fun. I just hope Linda’s there, so I can really give her a piece of my mind.”
“If you have the chance, I’m sure you will.” Clark looked down at his watch. “It’s just past three now so we’ve still got a few hours. My computer is still running a search, so I’m going to run down to the lobby and see if there’s still a copy of ‘Scientific Medicine’ down on the racks. See if you can find Jimmy and have him show you what all he’s found for recording devices.”
Clark rose out of his chair and headed towards the elevator. He pressed the down arrow but, before the doors opened, his super hearing kicked in with a panicked scream. Clark looked back at Lois and found her headed towards Perry’s office, where Jimmy was being lectured on something. Clark figured this would buy him some extra time. Clark passed on the elevator, dashing towards the stairs and up to the roof.
*************
The cry for help came from an alley a few blocks from his apartment. Three teenage boys were harassing two teenage girls, dressed in khaki skirts and navy collared shirts with a nearby private school logo on them. Judging by the way the guys were dressed, it didn’t appear to Superman that they went to the same school.
“Gentlemen,” interrupted Superman as he floated down, using himself as a barrier between them and the girls. “Are you finished here?”
The tallest of the three boys spoke first, “We was just talkin’ to them. Askin’ 'em if they wanted to come to our game on Friday.”
Superman ignored the boy’s comment and turned around to the girls. “Are you two all right?”
“We are now, Superman. Thank you. We told them we weren’t interested in attending their game, but they didn’t seem to want to take ‘no’ for an answer. The one in the grey sweatshirt had me pinned against the wall, but when I screamed, he let me go.”
“Are you two all right to go home?”
They both nodded their heads. “Yes, we don’t live far.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
Superman faced the boys as the girls headed out of the alleyway. He then took a good long look at all three of them before lecturing them about their behavior. After he was sure the girls were long gone, he let the boys go.
***************
Before returning to the Planet, Clark made a quick detour to his apartment to pick up the magazine. When he arrived back in the newsroom, Jimmy had a pile of devices laid out on Lois’s desk and was showing her how each of them worked.
“Hey, what took you so long?” Lois asked as Clark approached her desk.
“Sorry, they had just removed the edition we need, so I had wait for them to get me one out of the stock room,” Clark lied as he held up the magazine.
“Oh, well, Jimmy has just finished showing me everything. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like there’s a single device that will do what we want.”
“Yeah, sorry, CK. It’s the remote control part that’s being difficult to find. Most of them are voice activated, but I know you probably don’t want to record everything that’s going on during the day. The best I have is this transmitter that has a receiver that will record. The transmitter is still voice activated, but the receiver isn’t. You could either manually turn the receiver on from the roof or put it on a timer. With the bigger receiver, you can get about sixty minutes on a tape per side. With the smaller, only about thirty.”
Clark winced at the thought of how often they would have to be there to replace tapes. “That’s not very much.”
“Sorry, guys. There’s better stuff out there but, for now, it’s the best technology I can get with our budget. With sales the way they’ve been lately, upstairs has really slashed department spending accounts. I did manage to talk the store down in price so you could get the upgraded receiver. It will record on both sides of the tape without you having to flip it. At least, that will buy you two hours of recording time.”
“Thanks, Jimmy,” Clark said, and then turned to Lois as Jimmy returned to his desk. “So, what do you think?”
Lois looked over the pile of recorders spread out on her desk. “I think we should go with this button transmitter here.” She picked up a silver disk about four inches in diameter, which resembled a paperweight. “It’s a little bigger than some of the others, but that allows it to take more batteries so it should last longer. It’s also voice activated, which should help prolong its lifespan. Jimmy thinks it may have a few days of use in it, possibly more.”
Clark picked up some of the other items on her desk and gave them a quick once over before agreeing with her selection. “Okay. What about the receiver?”
“That one is trickier. We’re restricted by the tape and how much we can record at a time. And Jimmy says since the device isn’t linked other than by frequency there’s no way to record only when someone is speaking.”
Clark thought about what she had for a second. “So if we set it on a timer, we’re just going to record dead air if no one is talking?”
“Exactly. But if we’re there then it’s obviously not a problem. Still, I was hoping he could come up with something better so that we wouldn’t have to be there every night to switch tapes.”
“I can take care of that, Lois,” offered Clark.
“Are you sure you can peel yourself away from Linda long enough to make the trips down there?”
“Won’t be an issue,” Clark said aloud, before thinking to himself, I can easily spare the few seconds it will take.
“So you say,” Lois said skeptically. “Now, what about those names in that article?”
Since recording devices covered Lois’s desk, they moved over to Clark’s and started browsing through the article. It listed three names; each person boasted about Dr. Goldberg’s treatment.
“Clark, here it is. Gage Hager, nineteen, broke both his tibia and fibula in his right leg and was back on the football practice in two months. Dillon Ladner, twenty, torn Achilles at thirty percent, no surgery, running a few miles a day after seven weeks. And finally Sergio Cabellero Ramirez, nineteen, had three broken ribs completely healed in under three weeks.”
“Lois, do you realize how ridiculous some of those times are? Dr. Goldberg has to be giving them something illicit to speed up those healing times,” said Clark.
“You didn’t realize this the first time you read the article?” asked Lois.
“I guess I just didn’t give the details much thought.”
“Well, maybe you should pay more attention next time,” she said accusingly.
“Maybe I should have, but it’s not like the article is very long or goes into detail on how he’s doing it. It’s more of just a puff piece. Do you analyze every random article you read looking for a story?” asked Clark rhetorically. “Look, I’m going to go find Jimmy and see if he can get us addresses on these guys. Why don’t you finish putting together our supplies for tonight?”
Lois looked over at the pile of recording devices on her desk and back to the box from STAR Labs sitting on Clark’s desk. “Fine,” she acquiesced, though still upset that Clark had cut their conversation short.
While Clark was off finding Jimmy, Lois packed all the supplies they had accrued for that night’s investigation. Her usual bag was too small to fit the medical supplies and the voice recording equipment, so she ended up using a duffle bag.
Lois looked across the office to see Clark emerging from the far conference room and heading back in her direction.
“All set?” asked Clark.
“Yeah. Hopefully everything we need is in here.” She pointed to the bag lying at her feet.
Clark took a look at the bag, and then smiled as he recalled her earlier statement. “And you thought you were only joking about needing a duffle bag for everything.”
“I didn’t actually think we’d be bringing this much stuff with us,” admitted Lois.
“Let’s hope he’s gone long enough tonight for us to use it all.”
“Let’s. It’s going to drive me crazy if we have to wait another night.”
Clark couldn’t agree more. He hoped they would record more of what he had overheard the previous nights to make it easier to bring up angles with Lois. “Me, too. You ready for dinner?”
“Sure”
“Good. Give me one sec. I’ve got to make sure Perry’s got all the official paperwork stuff done for tomorrow.” Clark walked into Perry’s office and was in there for only a brief minute before returning to Lois. “It’s all set.” He held up a piece of paper. “Carpenter shouldn’t have any doubts on my sincerity for joining his team,” he said mostly to himself.
Lois didn’t really look at it, but guessed it showed he was no longer a Daily Planet employee. “I guess that’s good,” she said with a hint of sadness.
Clark walked over to Lois and placed his right hand on her shoulder, giving it a slight reassuring squeeze. “Lois, everything will work out. We’ll bag whatever this story is, and then I’ll be right back here. Now, come on,” he said, picking up the duffle bag with his left hand leaving his right on Lois’s shoulder. “Shall we go make a scene?” Lois cracked a small smile as Clark slid his hand down her arm to her lower back. He then used it to guide her towards the elevator.
*********
Before heading to the Press Club, they made a quick stop at Clark’s apartment to pick up his dark clothes for later that night.
“You know, Clark,” said Lois as they returned to her car. “You might as well just leave a bag of clothes in my car for now. I do. Then we won’t have to keep coming back here.”
“That’s probably a good idea, especially considering you’re not supposed to be seen with me. I’ll leave another one in your car when you come back here tonight to drop me off.”
Lois put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb to head towards the Press Club.
“So, how are we going to do this tonight?”
“Do what?” There were several things Lois could be referring to and with no context, Clark was lost.
“Do whatever it is you want to do at dinner tonight?” she clarified.
“Oh. Well, I was just thinking that we could find something to argue about, and one of us would storm off and leave.”
“That’s your brilliant plan?” she stated sarcastically.
“I didn’t say it was brilliant. I just thought it would be a good idea to make it look like our partnership wasn’t working, so that I wouldn’t be questioned at the Metropolis Star tomorrow on why I wanted to leave the Planet.”
“Oh. What about your termination paper?” Lois asked somberly.
He smiled at her long enough for her to glance over and see before answering. “I hope after tonight, he doesn’t even need to ask about it.”
“I see,” she replied. “So, what do you want to argue about?”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you would think of something. You’re good at that,” he said with a teasing smile.
“True, well, I’m definitely better than you at it.”
You don’t normally question my quick thinking, he thought.
“Just remember to meet at the Jeep afterwards. Hopefully, nobody will see us drive off together,” Clark added.
Lois agreed, but didn’t respond and the air went silent between them. In the quiet, her mind began to wander back to a question that had been bugging her all day. “Hey, Clark,” she said, breaking the silence. “I was wondering, did you ever think of trying to find out more about your parents? Your birth parents that is.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Once I found the…home video, it told me enough. There was no reason to look for more.” Clark could only hope that one day the Globe would reactivate and tell him more of the story. Not just the part surrounding Clark’s journey to Earth, but about Krypton and the people themselves.
“Don’t you have more questions? Who were they really? What did they do that cost them their lives? Things like that.”
“Of course I do, but there’s really no way to find out more.”
“Well, have you tried? I could help, or Jimmy. It amazes me sometimes what he can find with a computer. We wouldn’t have to tell him the details and how it relates to you, if you’re concerned.”
“Lois, thanks for the offer, but…I just don’t think it’s possible.”
“Hear me out, Clark; this may be a shot in the dark. What if there is something out there, something big, but there’s some government conspiracy covering it up?”
Clark turned his face to the side window, hiding the smile that he couldn’t suppress. What Lois’s mind was capable of was far more amazing than what Jimmy could ever do with a computer. Could she be right? Could it be possible that the Smallville file Bureau 39 had contained something else the Globe hadn’t told him? Were there more artifacts from the landing site that the government recovered? Where had they taken his ship?
Lois took his silence as thinking she had gone off the deep end and felt the need to clarify her hypothesis. “You have to admit, from what you’ve told me, the circumstances surrounding their deaths are suspicious. What did they know and why did it cost them their lives? I just want to help solve this for you, Clark. I think your beginnings bother you more than you’re letting on.”
She was right, it did still bother him. The Globe hadn’t answered all the questions he had. It had helped, but in some ways, it just led to more questions that would remain unanswered.
Clark turned to Lois, placed his left hand on her shoulder and gave her his most sincere look, knowing that he was about to let her down. “Thank you, Lois, for your concern. And, as much as I think you could be right, that there may be more to the story, I just…I don’t want to go there right now.” He felt her shoulder tense under his hand as he finished and he removed it slowly, placing it in his lap along with his other hand. He turned to stare at his hands.
Clark knew that Lois genuinely wanted to help, not for some story, as when his apartment was robbed a few weeks ago, but for him, and he was touched. However, it wouldn’t be possible without bringing what was left of Bureau 39 into the picture and, for that, she would also have to know the whole truth about where he came from. Clark knew he wasn’t ready to tell her that.
“Clark, can’t you just please think about it?” she tried one more time.
“Look, we’re going to be at the Club in just a minute, can we drop the subject for now?”
“I just want to help.”
Clark looked up from his lap to glance at Lois. He could tell she was upset by how stiff and focused on her driving she was. He reached out and placed his hand on her thigh, trying to calm her. She jumped at first contact, causing the car to lurch abruptly forward. Clark kept his hand firmly in place, and she began to relax. “I know you do, and I really do appreciate it. I just can’t do it right now.”
“Fine,” she conceded for now. “If you change your mind, let me know.”
“Lois, I promise,” he said, removing his hand. And he meant it. There was no one else in the world he would want helping him.
A few minutes later, Lois pulled the Jeep into the parking lot behind the Press Club. They entered the restaurant and were seated immediately at a round booth in the center of the dining room.
Clark looked around the restaurant, before murmuring, “I think most of the dining room can see us from here.”
“I agree. Even people in the bar shouldn’t miss this.” Lois had just opened her menu when their waiter approached them for their drink order.
“What is this?” Lois snapped as the waiter handed her a copy of a newspaper after delivering their water.
“Complimentary issue on the house, Miss,” replied the waiter.
“Great. It isn’t enough Carpenter’s slashed his newsstand prices; now he’s giving the Star away.”
“What would you like to drink, Miss?” asked the waiter.
“Water,” she curtly replied.
The waiter ignored her rudeness and moved on to take Clark’s order. “And for you sir?”
“Club soda, please.”
“And would you like any appetizers at this time?”
“Not right now,” Clark answered.
After the waiter walked away, Clark opened the paper and began perusing it.
Lois looked up from her menu and found Clark reading the paper he’d been given. “You’re not actually reading that trash, are you?”
“I’m just trying to see what they’re covering. Look, Carpenter’s got an article in here calling for a criminal investigation into the elevator company.”
“So?”
“Well, he’s a fast writer. It’s in the same edition as Linda’s article about the accident,” Clark pointed out.
“That doesn’t surprise me, Clark; the man’s a walking opinion.”
Clark wasn’t buying Lois’s reasoning. “Still, if he’s as hands on at managing his staff as well as being owner, when would he have the time to write this article? Something isn’t right here.”
“I guess that’s your job to find out,” she whispered quietly so that only Clark would hear. “I’m going to go freshen up. If the waiter comes back, before I do, order me angel hair, no olive oil, with basil and extra parmesan cheese.”
Clark looked at her for a moment while considering her selection. It wouldn’t be a meal that filled him up, but it didn’t sound all that bad. Just a little on the dry side.
When Lois returned, the food had been ordered and delivered.
Clark pointed to the meal in front of him as she sat back down. “Food’s already here.”
“I see that. Sorry it took so long. I lost my bracelet in the trash when I went to throw away the paper towels.”
“No problem. It just got here.”
“Clark,” she whispered. “I have an idea. Play along. Go back to reading that crap while you eat.”
“Okay,” he said skeptically, wondering what scheme she had come up with while in the restroom.
Lois sat, picking at her food and trying to look annoyed, while Clark ignored her to read the paper.
“Are you just going to sit there and read that all night? I thought we came here to work,” she asked in a slightly elevated and irritated voice.
Clark hoped he had caught on to what her idea was. He carefully folded the newspaper in half and set it aside before raising his voice slightly to respond. “We had a slow news day. I wanted to see if someone else did better.”
“Well, maybe if you had been pulling your weight around here and not taking extended lunches we would have something better,” she accused him.
“I got the elevator story and a Superman rescue, what more did you want for the day?” he replied defensively.
“How about pictures to go along with it. Text alone doesn’t grab people’s attentions. Where were you with those?”
“I’m not a photographer. I did my job. I reported the news. What did you report on today? The Mayor’s press conference. Like anyone cares about that. I don’t recall you submitting anything else noteworthy to Perry today,” said Clark, raising his voice another notch trying to provoke her.
“Are you saying that I didn’t carry my weight today?” snapped Lois, loud enough to draw a few looks from neighboring tables. “I suppose you think I just sat around waiting for a story to drop in my lap. I wasn’t doing research or anything that could possibly be important while you were out. How would you even know when I was doing research? You’re always disappearing with either a lame excuse or none at all.”
“I don’t always disappear. Today, I went to lunch and then to the news stand to get a magazine. How was that ‘disappearing’?”
“I’m not saying you do it every day, just often enough to be annoying. How can I rely on you as a partner when I never know if you’re going to be there when I turn around?”
Clark was getting lost. Was this part of the act or was she genuinely upset about the time he spent off as Superman? “If I’m such an unreliable and terrible partner to have around, then why do you care so much?”
“I care because your work is a reflection of mine.”
“That’s not what I wanted to know.”
“Then what are you asking?”
Clark didn’t get a chance to rephrase his question as they were interrupted. “Clark, so nice you see you again. Hi, Lois,” said Linda calmly as if she hadn’t just intruded on a heated discussion.
Lois plastered on a smile before responding, “Linda, what a surprise, but as you can see we’re working here.”
Linda looked down at the barely eaten food on the table. “It looks like you’re having dinner. Or at least attempting to between the yelling.”
“We weren’t yelling and we can eat and work at the same time, unlike some people.” Lois didn’t bother to lower her voice for the last statement. “And by the way, what are you doing here? Decided you need to resort to following us around to find real stories now?”
“No, I just finished up dinner with a friend and saw you over here, and since it looks like you’re just having dinner, Clark, can I ask a favor?”
“You just had lunch with the man. Isn’t that enough?” Lois interrupted.
Linda ignored her question and directed herself to Clark. “Can you walk me to the train station? It would really mean a lot.”
Clark briefly looked at Lois before turning his attention to Linda. “Sure, it’s only a few blocks, and should only take a minute.”
“What? Clark, no. We’re supposed to be working here. I didn’t go and interrupt your lunch with her earlier,” Lois said, turning to Linda and accusingly pointing at her. “You’re not as helpless as you make it sound. I’m sure you know exactly where the train station is. How else would you have gotten here?”
Clark looked at Lois and raised his right eyebrow to give her a silent queue as to what she should do next. “Lois, just give me a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”
“Thank you, Clark,” Linda replied.
Clark put his napkin down on his seat and stood. He gave Lois a glance and a head nod before escorting Linda to the exit.
“Come over to my place. I can build a fire and take out a bottle of wine,” Linda offered once they were out the door.
“Lois is waiting for me back at The Press Club.”
“Waiting to what, continue tearing you up about your work performance?”
Clark didn’t respond, instead he led her across the street.
Once on the other side, Linda continued, “Clark, let me ask, just how many articles did you write today verses her?”
“I don’t keep track.”
“Well, from what I’ve read, if anyone needs to pick up their fair share of the load I would say it’s her.”
“She just had an off day, and I got lucky. Here it is,” he said, pointing to the station entrance. “Trains come by every couple of minutes.”
Linda started to head towards the gate before turning back to Clark. “Clark, you said your relationship with Lois is not defined.”
“Professionally it is,” he stated firmly.
“Well, if you ever want to redefine your relationship professionally or personally…” she left the sentence there and turned to head towards the train.
Clark returned to The Press Club to find Lois packing up to leave. She had just finished closing the lid on her pasta when Clark approached her.
“You’re leaving? I thought we were working,” he resumed his elevated tone.
“Well, I’m not in the mood to work anymore. Not with you just sitting there reading Linda’s stories while criticizing mine until she showed up and hauled you away. If you like reading her work so much and like being around her, why don’t you just go and work with her. This,” she pointed to the distance between them. “This isn’t working.”
“Well, fine. I thought our partnership meant something to you, but if that’s the way you feel about it, maybe I just will. It’s not like you’ve been easy to work with lately,” Clark shot back.
“Oh, so this is all my fault?”
“Well, yes. Ever since Linda came to town you’ve been a mess. You’ve been irritable and downright mean at some points. Grow up and get over whatever it is about her that bothers you.”
“Fine, if that’s the way you feel, I’m leaving. Get your own damn ride home.” She picked up her purse and food container and headed for the exit. Before leaving, she turned back for one last punch. “And Clark, the check is on the table. Thanks a lot for dinner.”
Clark turned his attention back to the table and saw it lying there. Then he looked back at the door and found her absent. A few dozen pairs of eyes stared back at him. Good, he thought, it seems they all noticed. He asked a waiter for a to-go box and handed him his credit card. The waiter brought a box back with the receipt. Clark signed, scraped his mostly cold uneaten dinner into the box and left the restaurant.
He walked back around to the parking lot and surveyed the area. It was full of cars, but vacant of people, so he quickly headed to the Jeep and jumped in. Lois backed out of the space and darted out onto the street, heading towards Dr. Goldberg’s office for what was hopefully going to be a long, but successful, night.
***End of Chapter 4 ***
