Moment 7 ~ Infamous Part 2
She could hear his footsteps. Of course, she had hoped he wouldn't follow her. She was in no mood and in no state of mind to deal with him yet.
But she knew he would. Because he was Clark, and he wasn't going to let her off that easy.
Shuffling through the papers in her hands, Lois prepared herself to look monumentally busy, studying the copier in front of her with feigned interest.
This was the sight that greeted Clark as he entered the copy room. He noticed her shoulders stiffen, having heard him come in. He quickly closed the door, leaning up against it as if to ensure she couldn't escape.
"Lois…"
"Damn machine," she grumbled, pretending to inspect the various buttons as if something were amiss. She began leafing through her papers, making a show of separating them into piles.
"Hmm…this goes with this…oh and I need this one back-to-back with this one," she said to herself, albeit much louder than necessary.
"Lois, please…let me explain."
She sighed, not having to turn around to know that he was giving her his 'puppy dog' eyes. She knew she'd be hard pressed to get out of there, what with one oversized farmboy surely blocking her exit. Snatching one of the papers, she lifted the copier lid and slammed it down onto the glass, attempting to make as much noise as possible. She pressed the copy button, for the first time thanking the Planet's budget priorities that the basement still had a relatively antiquated copier, complete with obnoxiously loud humming.
Clark ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He had two choices. The first was waiting her out, which he knew could take a long time, even with him blocking her exit. The second was talking over the noise she (and the copier) were making, and hoping she let some of his words sink in.
Taking a deep breath, he decided to choose option two.
"I'm sorry about last night," he began, his voice rising to compensate for the sputtering and buzzing copier. "Really, I am…."
And she tried, she really tried to drown his voice out. She could feel herself panicking, just a bit, not wanting to hear it, not this morning. Not after convincing herself last night that he simply blew her off to brood over his recently departed girlfriend.
Damn it, she wanted to be mad at him. It helped keep her in complete and utter denial of her feelings for him. Feelings that remained despite all she had tried to do to squelch them.
His raised voice continued. "I was on my way to get you, when…"
Suddenly, an even louder male voice floats into the room from beyond the closed door.
"Come on Lane, you think you're the only with copying to do?"
The slightest of smirks graced her lips.
She had her escape.
Yanking up the top of the copier, she retrieved the paper on there, slammed the cancel button, and whirled around, ready to stroll freely from the room.
And then she saw the look on his face.
She'd tried to avoid looking at him at all, it was just easier that way. But as she'd turned, her eyes had caught it. The look of utter defeat on his features that, despite herself, tugged at her heart.
Sighing, she leaned back against the copier. Glancing toward the door, she yelled, "Like there aren't any other copiers in this place? Go find another one." Her eyes then settled back on Clark, who had the look of a man who'd just been given a stay of execution.
"You've got two minutes," she said quietly.
Clark nodded eagerly, grateful for the reprieve. "Okay, so, like I said," he started quickly, wanting to make sure he got everything in, "I was on my way to the airport, and I'd left the farm in plenty of time to get you…"
"And yet, you never showed up," she interjected.
"Well, something happened…"
"Lana called?"
"What? No…Lana's gone! And I haven't talked to her since she left!"
"Oh, so you were brooding then? I can see how that would distract you from the drive to Metropolis."
"Lois…"
"One minute and twenty seconds."
"Hey, you were doing most of the talking just then, that should buy me at least another twenty seconds. And for the record, my not showing up had nothing to do with Lana."
"Right," she muttered snarkily. "You know, it's not so much that you didn't show up, but the fact that you made a point of leaving me a message that you would be there, and then didn't show up. So, excuse me for being a little ticked at you for blowing me off so you could, what, mope over Lana for the thousandth time? I mean really, Clark…"
"Lois, I was helping someone!"
His loud, not to mention obviously frustrated, interruption took her aback, quieting her instantly.
"What?"
"I was helping someone. As I was leaving Smallville…well, there was an accident. A woman and her son, he was trapped in the car. So, I stopped to help her."
She let the words sink in, before a guilty look flashed across her face.
"Oh. So, now I feel completely selfish," she said, then quirked an eyebrow in his direction. "Of course, you still could have called," she continued, a note of accusation in her voice. "You did have the two hour drive ahead of you. Would it have killed you to leave me a message, saying you'd be late?"
"I didn't have a two hour drive ahead of me," he said quietly.
"Did the distance between Smallville and Metropolis change while I was in Star City?" she snarked.
"No, it's just…I wasn't driving," he said, his heart beginning to pound a bit harder as the weight of what he was about to reveal to her began to hit him fully.
"So, what, you were taking the bus? As far as I know, the bus doesn't make it to Metropolis any quicker. In fact, it's probably slower. Not to mention, that's how you were gonna pick me up? The bus?"
"My truck was in Metropolis. And I didn't take the bus."
"Really?" she asked, the note of sarcasm in her voice not lost on him. "So, what were you doing? Flying?"
"No. Running."
Her eyes widened for a moment, and then a burst of laughter sprang from her lips. She shook her head, biting her lip to try and regain her composure.
"You know," she said, the giggles subsiding a bit, "I'm almost tempted to let this go just based on that ludicrous statement alone. Because, honestly, it must have taken you all night to come up with that one."
"I'm not kidding," he said, his tone serious, causing her laughter to completely die away.
"Oh, come on Clark," she said, rolling her eyes. "Running? Well then, you most certainly had plenty of time to call me after your heroics. Because if you were running? It'd take way longer than two hours."
"Actually," he replied, taking a deep breath in preparation for what he was about to say, "It only takes me about two minutes."
He had to admit, he utterly enjoyed the look of confusion on her face. It wasn't often that he was able to utterly stump Lois Lane.
"Two minutes?"
He nodded. "More or less. Probably less, though."
A disbelieving chuckle escaped her lips. "Come on, Clark, the only person with that kind of speed is the Red and Blue Bl…", she stopped suddenly, realization dawning on her. She blinked rapidly a few times, her eyes fixed on his face, noticing the slight grin now gracing his lips.
"Holy crap."
