That has got to be the quickest I've updated anything in my life. I can't garrantee this will be regular though, but thank you to those of you who have already given me lovely reviews. I really do appreciate the kind comments, makes it all worth while :)
Anyway, on with chapter 2!
Laura thanked her lucky stars that she was quick on her feet. Ditching the loon of a man had not been as simple as she thought. After storming off in agitation, the man had proceeded to follow her down the street calling after her. At this point, Laura had as much as announced with a neon sign that she was in fact the girl this lunatic was looking for. Not only was she the girl of his desperate search, but he also claimed to have vital information for her.
The gall of it!
Laura berated herself for having not just walked away when she had the chance. The clothes should have been the first clue, but really! Did the man actually think he was H.G. Wells?
Fortunately some fancy foot work down town had the idiot drowning in the migrating masses of commuters with Laura no where in sight.
She returned home with a sigh of relief and her prize clutched in her hand. Well, not so much a prize, but the potential of her prize. An application form for a competition the likes of which the world had never seen before; and Laura's ticket to her dreams!
DAILY PLANET GRAND PRIZE!
Be the envy of journalists throughout the world! Only one lucky winner can win the experience of the century! 3 months apprenticeship at the great metropolitan newspaper The Daily Planet!
One chance and Laura could shave years off of reaching her goal. But now she had less than eight weeks to come out with a prize winning editorial. Where on earth was she going to find a story in time that could compete with thousands of other entries from across the country?
If only that nutcase earlier really had been H.G. Wells. That really would have been the article of the century.
Maybe she could to do an exposé on the intentional encouragement of socially selective hierarchy to maintain structure within High Schools. No, that was far too cliché. Perhaps she could look into the extended hose pipe ban despite the level and consistency of rainfall being safely within the limits of the threats of drought for the past two Summers.
"Who am I kidding? They'll fall asleep in their coffee before then even get past the header!" Laura groaned and promptly slumped across her desk in defeat.
"Oh Miss Fielding…you should have more faith in yourself, my dear…"
Laura spun round in astonishment.
"Clark! Would you let go of me for five minutes!" Lois yelled in exasperation. But the beaming man behind her kept his arms securely wrapped around his wife's abdomen with his grinning face resting on her shoulder.
"Say it again," He pleaded.
"Oh for God's sake Clark! I've missed my period. I haven't kept my breakfast down in days! You won't stop telling me how much I'm glowing," She rolled her eyes, "and my doctor should be calling me back any minute now to confirm what the home pregnancy test already told me! So unless you've omitted some vital information on the effect hunky kryptonian men have on us pitiful earth women who fall for them…"
"Why do I get the feeling no amount of super powers are going to absolve me of the crimes I've commit against you for the next nine months?" Clark replied sardonically.
"It's not me you have to worry about. What do you think Perry will do to you once he finds out what you've done to me?" Lois warned.
"I would have thought Perry would have been thrilled. Sure we'll have different priorities once the baby's here but it doesn't stop us from being good reporters," Clark considered.
"Think about it Clark. If I'm pregnant now, that would make my due date in the middle of….?" Lois tried to emphasize to her husband.
"… the middle of that promotional apprenticeship… Perry's going to kill me! Our child fatherless!" Clark mocked cried and grasped Lois in despair.
Lois rolled her eyes again but was lost almost immediately in the depths of his puppy dog eyes. It was so infuriating. The raging sea of hormonal imbalance had only increased the effect that look had on her.
"Look, let's just keep this to ourselves until Dr Stepson has confirmed my test results. Perry doesn't have to know a thing. But you need to tone down the foetal worshipping! We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves." Lois hissed as they entered the bullpen.
"Hey Lois, there's a call for you on line one from a Dr Stepson. Shall I tell her to call you back?" Jimmy innocently called from across the bullpen.
Lois practically sprinted across the room and growled, "GIMME!"
Clark grinned to himself and waited for Lois to finish frantically nodding into the phone. Once she hung up Clark pulled her back into his arms.
"It's an affirmative. Everything seems fine and I'm booked for an ultrasound in a few weeks…" Lois whispered quite astonished.
Clark bent forward to whisper something in reply but was interrupted by the bellowing of their Editor-in-Chief ordering them into his office.
Leading Lois towards Perry's office he leant over to her ear and said, "Did you know in a couple of weeks I'll be able to hear its heartbeat?"
Lois groaned and stormed ahead of him into Perry's office.
"What the heck are you doing in my room, old man?" Laura screamed, "How did you get in my room? What are you even doing in my house?"
The man known as H.G. Wells bobbed his head guiltily.
"I do apologise my dear, but I'm afraid desperate times call for desperate measures."
"If you're not gone in five seconds I'm calling the police… and finding my dad's baseball bat!" Laura growled.
"Now, now! I assure you there'll be no need for that!" The little man quivered, "I promise I'm not here to hurt you. In fact my presence here is of the utmost urgency and imperative to your existence!"
Laura looked at him utterly perplexed. Something strange was going on here, but she couldn't figure out where the cameras were hidden or when her friends were going to jump and shout, "Surprise! Fooled ya!"
Because, of course this man could not be H.G. Wells.
"Look old man, a joke's a joke, but you're really freaking me out now. So if you just leave without any fuss I won't have to get the cops involved," Laura offered.
She marched across the room and opened the door wide for him to leave by. The man unfortunately remained timidly in his spot by the window, trying to look determined with little success.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. You will need my help very soon and I'm certain you must have a lot of questions…" Wells replied.
"I've asked three questions already! None of which you've actually answered. Not let me assure you, I have no questions whatsoever that I wish to ask you, and I am in no need of any assistance from the mentally deranged!" Laura said and emphasised her point by directing her arm towards the open door.
The man reluctantly walked across the room and was about to cross the threshold when he turned to face Laura again and said, "Didn't you ever wonder where you came from? Surely you've been curious about who your biological parents were?"
Yes, I'm leaving poor Laura in a state of aperplexy. Did I mention I love driving my characters nuts?
Hope you enjoyed chapter 2!
XJaxX