Chapter 2: The Empty Office
Clark sat at his desk and stared at the one opposite. Cat Grant. It's right, I know it is. She's had that desk since she started here, but who sat there before? He continued to stare and his mind drifted off into a dream.
She was muttering and shaking a large piece of paper. He gazed at her from afar. The light shone round and illuminated her. She was breathtaking and he knew one thing and one thing only: he needed to kiss her.
He moved forward and spoke but she continued her tirade. Her passion was a fire, and inferno which blazed so brightly. And he caught on fire whenever he was near her. She was amazing. She was glorious. Why had it taken so long to see her beauty?
He stepped forward again and she waved the paper in his face, upset evident in her tone. He needed her to be quiet, but she wouldn't stop.
Her passion grew, it infected him even more. There was a deep need to touch and feel and taste. He needed to know if her lips tasted of wild cherry. He grabbed her and ...
"Hey there partner," came a chirpy voice. Clark came back to reality and looked up at his desk buddy.
"Miss Grant," he acknowledged then turned back to his work. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her come round to his desk and slide a large box onto the corner. She opened the top to reveal some home-made cookies. Chocolate ... in the shape of bunnies ... with pink icing.
"How was your vacation?" she asked forcing him to look back up at her. Clark found her cheery, up-beat personality grating. Why? She was nice, she was always positive about everything, she baked lovely cookies, although for some reason he felt like dumping them in the trash. "Go on, take one." She motioned with her hand then almost skipped back to her seat.
"It was fine, thanks. My mom really needed the break and it was such a lovely coincidence that the free vacation we won fit in with the fumigating at the apartment. All in all, it was great."
"And the bug busting's done now?" she asked in a sing-song tone.
"Uh, no. I'm staying with my mother back on the farm for another night."
"Smallville?"
What? What did she just call me?
"Huh?" he asked
"The farm, it's in Smallville, right?"
"Oh, yes." For some reason Clark didn't feel able to deal with Cat today, even though he'd just had a week away from her. It was as if his ability to counterbalance her up-beat cheeriness was missing. He gave a wan smile to end the conversation and tentatively picked out a small cookie. Thankfully some of them were ... baby bunnies.
"You know. I was thinking," she chattered on and Clark groaned inwardly. "We should go for that promotion together. We make a great team. Grant and Kent. Or ... Kent and Grant. Anyway. The promotion race last year seems to have fallen through, although I don't understand why. I mean, I was the only candidate but, for some reason, didn't seem to get the job. And now there's an empty office on the eighth floor that's, in my opinion, being completely wasted. And I don't think Human Resources would appreciate such a blatant waste of space."
Clark shot his head up at Cat's mention of an empty office. He'd almost tuned out her patter until then.
"What," he lent forwards and the cookie tin went crashing to the ground. "What was that about an empty office?"
"Oh, Clark," she sighed in acceptance, not answering his question.
"Sorry Miss Grant," he said while reaching down to pick up the mess his clumsiness had caused.
The idea of an empty office bothered Clark all morning. Cat's incessant chatter had him pinching the bridge of his nose, 'going for coffee' and making 'copies' on too frequent a basis. He eventually decided to take a longer walk heading out past the coffee machine and upwards. About to take the first step in the stairwell he suddenly paused then strode sideways and pushed the button for the elevator instead.
He stepped in, selected the eighth floor and, as the door closed behind him, his heart rate increased. A feeling of panic. Why would I be panicking? He rested against the back of the elevator and closed his eyes.
Swirling. Swirling and whirling. He was spinning round.
A little taste of heaven; a foretaste of pleasures to come. The sweet pounding of his heart was driving him insane with desire. Touching her, feeling her.
They smiled at each other and she gave the tiniest nod of the head. Then the spinning began again.
His hands roamed, oh they wanted to feel more, wanted to trail along her bare flesh. Take off the coat, it's in the way. More. I need more.
Faster and faster he began to whirl. The kiss became sweeter. The touch became closer.
Then, suddenly, the twirling was too much. It was out of control; creating a wind, a gale, a storm. She was being swept away. His grip on her arms was lessening. He tried to grasp the material in her coat but it fell apart, in shreds. The spinning increased again and the wind whistled past his ears.
"No!" he cried out.
Ding. The elevator bell announced his arrival on the eighth floor. Clark's eyes shot open and his pounding heart jumped in shock. He pushed away from the wall and adjusted his tie. What a strange experience, he thought. If it wasn't for the fact that Jor-El said they were over I would swear this were a trial. Jor-El's trials always came with obscure messages, powers or tests.
Clark stepped off the elevator and turned towards the office he knew was there. Glass panels separated it from the rest of the open floor. A door in the centre indicated that it was the City Room. As Clark reached out to turn the handle his vision focussed on a small patch above the wording.
He frowned and stepped back to confirm his thoughts. The words were too low. It was as if something should read directly above it. He glanced around, and when he saw no-one watching, he lowered his glasses and stared deeply into the glass at that point.
Micro-vision located minute scratches along the surface of the glass, tiny imperfections which did not match the natural warp of the glass itself. Scoring ... as if something had been rubbed ... or scratched off.
A name? But whose?
He opened the door slowly and stepped in. A sudden sense of déjà-vu overwhelmed him and he nearly toppled forwards. So strong was the feeling that he'd done that hundreds of times it was as if he experienced each and every one in that brief moment. He forced his hand to release its grip on the handle and he entered further into the office.
So, Cat thinks this could be our office. He shuddered at the thought of being cooped up here with his partner, day after day. Strangely a warm, cosy feeling stole over him at that thought. He shook his head in confusion.
Clark slowly paced the entire room. It really was empty. Oh, there was furniture; a desk, some bookshelves ... even a rug and a phone ... but that was it. He strolled over to the triple window and rested on the window sill. He closed his eyes for just a moment.
Giggles. Sexy, girly, giggles surrounded him. A vibrant, wild perfume permeated the air. A hand trailed along his back and then over his shoulder. He felt free, alive, uninhibited. I can take on the world. Nothing can stop me. He cleared off the desk in one sweep and the laughter pealed around him again.
"Kent," came the sharp sound. He spun round to see the editor-in-chief leaning on the desk positioned centrally. "Get yourself out of la-la-land and get me a scoop."
"Sure chief." He nodded. "Um, how did you know I was here?"
"I didn't." He looked around the office and up and down, taking in the empty scenery. "Came her cause it's the City Room. I expected to find ... I don't know. Anyway. Why are you here?"
"I'm not sure, chief. Cat was rambling on about how it should be her office as she went for the promotion last year, but no-one seems to have won. And this office has gone unassigned."
"Yeah, it is a little strange. I keep meaning to look into whose fault that was, but I've only been here a week and I'm still sorting out the mess made by all the previous Editors. Not to mention a shortage of staff covering the City Beat and the fact that our servers were hit by a virus last night which wiped out half our archived stories."
Clark pushed away from the wall and adjusted his glasses. "Do you want me to look into it chief?"
He waved his hand to dismiss the idea. "It's ok. Tech is on it. And I've got people searching out the hard copies in the storage room."
Clark nodded and then shuffled his feet in an awkward manner. He wasn't sure how to deal with Perry yet. The relationship dynamic was completely different to when they first met. Plus Clark has this whole, bumbling look, going for him now.
"Say, I hope you're meaning to go for the promotion this time round. You're works too good for the basement." Perry waggled a finger at him.
"I was thinking of it, chief. But I have ... other ... responsibilities that stop me from giving it my full attention."
"Nonsense, Clark. If you want it, you go for it. And you should go for it. You've got the makings of a top-notch reporter in you. I saw it that first time in Smallville. Just, get me that scoop and you'll be half way there.
"Ok." He strode for the door with more confidence than Clark Kent usually showed these days. Just outside the office he stopped and turned back. "Um, what scoop, chief?"
"The whole of Hobs Bay went without electricity for three hours last night and no-one at Metropolis Light and Power has an answer."
"On it." Clark nodded.
"Oh, and Kent?"
"Yes chief?"
"Don't call me chief."