[[Chapter 2 took me sooo long! :)... But, due to the good reviews that I've gotten, I've decided to upload it... Now, please note that it's not entirely perfect, BUT I tried my best to not rush it... If you rush something then it turns out crappy and you really don't want that... So, without further ado, I now present Chapter 2: Familiar Fairy Tale]]
As Ariel was bathing, Clark was on the phone with his boss, starting to clean up after the mess she made. Perry answered the phone and cleared his throat. "Kent, you'd better have a good excuse for not being here already," he said, looking over a pile of papers that Jimmy had placed in front of him. Clark looked at the door and cleared his throat. "Sorry sir. I've just been busy with something," he said, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder. He replaced the drawer and walked over to the bathroom door, hearing splashing. He smirked and walked back into the kitchen. "I'll be at the Planet in a couple of minutes. I've just got a mess to clean up." Perry nodded and hung up with Clark. Clark sighed and heard water dripping on the floor and he smiled. She was out of the tub. Ariel sat there, looking at the clothes curiously. Tilting her head to the side and holding the strange fabric up against her torso and smiled, slipping it over her head. Unfortunately, she couldn't get it on right. She slipped her arms through the same arm hole and walked out, looking at Clark.
Clark saw her and started laughing, smiling. "Here. Let me fix you," he said.
He walked over to her and helped her, slipping her slender arms through the arm holes and zipping her dress in the back. He tied the bow and turned her around to look at him. "There. That's the way you wear clothes. Now, let's get you some shoes on. I can't leave you here," he said, sitting her down on the couch and grabbing some shoes and slipping them on her tiny feet. He helped her up, supporting her until she got used to her legs and helped her out the door, hailing a taxi. The taxi pulled up and he let her go in first, following her inside. He shut the door and looked at the driver. "To the Daily Planet please," he said. The cab driver nodded and started driving them. Ariel looked out the window, amazed at the buildings of the city. Skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and billboards amazed her so easily. She looked at the button that controlled the window and pressed it, rolling the window down. She giggled and rolled it up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Clark gave her a look and he stopped her hand, shaking his head.
"You could break it like that," he said.
She nodded and looked down sadly as she looked out the window. The city was neat. She had seen pictures of the buildings only in books. People walked down the sidewalks holding strange see-through plastic things. People sat at strange things called bus stops. Ariel looked at Clark and smiled, pointing at the biggest building, amazed. Clark looked out the window and saw Lex's mansion. He looked at her. "That's Lex Luthor's place. Not a lot to see," he said, shrugging. Ariel smiled and watched in amazement as they pulled into a building with a giant globe in the front. THE DAILY PLANET was the words that were on the front as they pulled in. Clark paid the cab driver and got out, opening the door for Ariel. Ariel looked in amazement at the big building. How long it must've taken them to build this place.
Clark walked into the bullpen, pulling Ariel along with him. He led her over to his desk and pulled out a chair for her to sit in. She sat down, feeling the seat. She looked at him, tilting her head to the side, looking at the computer. What a curious box. He looked at her and chuckled, turning the screen towards her. She looked at it, pressing a key on the keyboard. She giggled when the letter showed up. She pressed another button. What fun it was. Clark looked at her and shook his head. When he heard Perry walk out of his office and he looked at Ariel. Perry walked over to Clark and looked at the red-haired girl that was playing with the computer. "Uh, Kent. Who would this young lady be?" he asked. Clark shrugged and looked at Perry. "She can't talk so I don't know her name," he said. Ariel looked at Perry and smiled, her deep sea-blue eyes falling on the picture of Elvis that Perry had in his hands. Ariel clapped excitedly and pointed at the picture, causing Perry to look down at it. He looked up and he looked at Clark.
"If you need to help her, then you need to help her. Just don't let her get into any trouble," he said.
Clark nodded and Perry walked away. He turned the computer back around and started typing, looking around. "I've really got to get back to work," he said, looking at her. Ariel nodded and sat back in her chair, watching as people walked past the desk. Everybody was saying hi to him. Then she came in. Lois Lane, the lady that was with Clark when he discovered she was at his place. Lois had her arms crossed and was walking toward them. She cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow. "Wow. She cleaned up nice. Clark, what is she doing at the office?" she asked. Clark looked at her and stood up, putting his hands on his hips, and pulling on his tie. "I couldn't really leave her at my place. Besides, what's the worse she can do?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Lois smiled and walked away, sitting down at her desk. He sighed and looked at Ariel and held his hands out. "I'll be right back. Stay." Ariel nodded and sat straight up. Clark smiled and walked away, looking out of the corners of his eyes. Something about her felt familiar. A girl was here… a girl that couldn't speak with red hair and blue eyes. Why did that sound so familiar? It sounded like something out of a storybook. But, why is it familiar? He walked over to his desk, carrying two cups of coffee. He handed her the cup and she lifted it to her lips. "Careful. It's—" but, that was soon interrupted by Ariel sipping on the coffee and spilling it, waving her hands on her tongue. "—hot."
He looked around and blew out some of his superbreath, cooling off her tongue. "You've got to be more careful. Coffee can be extremely hot," he said.
Ariel nodded, watching as he bent down to pick up the coffee off the floor. She felt horrible, spilling the coffee on the floor. He was nice enough to not reprimand her for it. He looked at her and smiled, throwing the napkins away. "How about I get you another coffee? Be right back," he said, walking away and over to the coffee station. Ariel smiled and looked around, feeling comfortable… at home here. Clark came back with another cup of coffee and blew on it. He handed it to her. "There you go. Now you won't burn your tongue." She smiled and sipped on it. It was then that she realized that she liked coffee. Clark smiled, watching her sip on the coffee, practically gulping it down. "You like it?" She nodded, looking at him. He tapped his pencil's eraser against the desk, stretched, and looked at his computer. It'd be easier if he could think of something to write. He looked at Lois, who was bent over her desk and typing out the article. Working at a paper such as the Daily Planet had its good days and its bad days. Today just happened to be a slow news day. He looked at Ariel and smiled. "How about I show you around town? It's a pretty slow news day and I'm sure you don't want to just sit here and do nothing." Ariel nodded, enthusiastically of course, and stood as Clark pulled out his chair. He looked at her. "I just have to go let Perry know. Stay here.
Ariel nodded and waited, looking around at the people on their computers. Clark walked into the office of Perry and cleared his throat. "Mr. White. I hope you don't mind me walking out. I'm gonna show her around town. I don't want her to sit there and not do anything," he said. Perry looked up and shrugged, nodding. "It's fine with me. Keep your beeper on, we'll be in touch," he said. Clark nodded and walked down the stairs, grabbed Ariel by the hand, and started dragging her out of the building.
[[Chapter 3 will be uploaded as soon as I can get more reviews... Please keep sending in those reviews! :)... Hope you liked it!]]
