"And then an elephant stormed into the middle of the office and sat on the chairman's head."

"That's nice," Lois said, still looking at her watch.

Oliver chuckled, but said chidingly, "You haven't been listening to a word I said, have you?"

That got her attention, "Ollie, I'm sorry. I just have to take off early."

"Yeah, I caught onto that when you kept looking at your watch. Where do you have to go?"

"It's business. I have to um… meet with an informant of mine in about 15 minutes." It was the truth and yet, she wondered why she didn't tell him she was going to talk with the Blur.

"That's perfectly alright. I know the Lois Lane priority list and work comes before play. Can you do me a favor though and give me your undivided attention for this last 15 minutes? I won't let you miss your meeting."

She smiled and relaxed a little, "You're right. You were saying?"

"It was just boring business talk." He patted the spot beside him on the booth. "Come over here."

She didn't hurry over right away, but then realized he couldn't get too touchy-feely in the restaurant, so she slid into the booth with him. He put his arm around her and said, "You'll be pleased to know I'm attending a support group. It was a little, well, it was a support group, but it is nice to know people are going through the same things you are. It's all thanks to you."

"The June to your Johnny," she muttered.

"What?" he asked in an amused tone.

"Oh, nothing."

"You know for someone who never listens to country music, you certainly have a penchant for making references to country stars."

She looked up at him in puzzlement.

"You know the whine like Pasty Cline comment you made at the wedding," he said with a smile.

"Oh, I forgot about that. I guess it's a side effect of hanging around Smallville too long. That's his favorite kind of music."

Oliver got serious, "While we're on the subject, did you ever get over him?"

Lois looked at her watch again. Time was dragging by so slowly. She could feel her neck tingling with discomfort. She quickly nipped the embarrassment before Oliver caught on. She looked him in the face. "I never sulk about old romances that didn't pan out. I moved on."

"What about us?" he pointed out.

"We're different." This was a painful topic for her. She was lying to Oliver. She hadn't moved on from Clark. She would have gone out with him when he had asked her if it wasn't for Oliver. Even though he had stood her up for their coffee date, but to be fair she had asked him, not the other way around, and she had even said she didn't care if he showed up or not.

He smiled again. "Well, Clark was a jerk. He let you slip through his fingers. You can bet I won't make that mistake again."

Lois was getting more and more uncomfortable because she was starting to realize this was all going to blow up in her face if she wasn't careful. "Clark is not a jerk."

"Maybe not, but in the end he only has eyes for Lana Lang."

"He's over her," she grumbled and took a sip of her water.

"Really?" Oliver smirked. "When he would have been with her if it wasn't for—" he stopped abruptly.

Lois was interested. She had never heard why Clark and Lana didn't get back together after they had looked at each other with those woeful, tragic eyes at the wedding and hugged at the hospital. "Go on. If it wasn't for what?"

"I've said too much. I'm not supposed to say anything. I'll just tell you this. It wasn't because they had both matured and realized they weren't right for each other."

Lois felt like she had taken a blow to the chest. It was hard to breathe. "I have to go now."

"Our dessert hasn't got here yet," he told her.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to be late. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine," she said and she left before he saw that she wasn't alright.

She made it to the phone booth. She was a little early, but she didn't care. She needed a little time to gather herself. What was Clark doing to her? Making her a second prize or filling in the time until he could be with Lana again? What was Ollie doing to her? Did he know that she was still hung up on Clark and trying to turn her against him? Not that she thought he was lying to her. The phone rang. It must have been the Blur. He was a little early too. There was another problem. What was he doing to her that she had a crush on a voice and a blur? What was she doing to herself that she was trying to deal with 3 men at once, one of whom she knew she had no future with? She was so confused that she felt a headache coming on. Her feelings were all muddled and she didn't know how to begin to separate them out. She didn't think it was going to get any easier after talking to the Blur, but she answered anyway, "Hello?"

TBC