A/N: Review please! Hope you all enjoy this chapter, planting a little seed of a certain couple ;)
Amber was stirred from her sleep in the early hours of the morning by the rapping of knuckles on the bedroom door. "Amber are you up yet? We have to leave soon!" Lois's voice was muffled through the wood of the door but Amber still heard her clearly. Amber groggily rubbed her eyes and sat up "yeah I'm awake, I'll be ready soon!" she called back. Lois walked away as Amber flung the blankets off her legs and slid out of bed. She got dressed quickly shivering as the cold air surrounded her bare skin.
Amber walked out of the spare room with her handbag over a shoulder and a coat hung over her arm to find Lois rushing from room to room. She was unplugging electrical appliances and locking windows. "Hey Amber could you lock the window in the spare room and unplug anything you've got plugged into the wall sockets?"
"Sure thing Lois" Amber put her things down on the recliner and walked back to the spare room, she'd heard about house fires starting from appliances left plugged in and did as Lois asked. Amber was tidying the room when she heard Lois call to her from the living room.
"You have enough time to eat something here for breakfast or you can get something later on at The Planet, I'm sure Clark will take you out for food." Lois said as she wriggled the plug for her television set out of the wall socket. "Um… I'll grab some toast here." Amber wanted to be as little nuisance as possible to Clark and asking him to take her out for food was the opposite of that.
Amber quickly plugged the toaster back in and put in a slice of bread. She pushed the lever down and pulled out a jar of jam from the cupboard. Soon the toaster popped and Amber spread a thick layer of jam over the hot piece of toast and ate it over the sink to catch any crumbs. She was wiping down the bench when Lois called out to her it was time to leave so Amber finished up and left the kitchen, only to double back and unplug the toaster.
Lois was applying compact powder to her face in the wall mirror when Amber joined her. She snapped the lid shut, put it back into her handbag and smiled at Amber "alright let's go." They locked the door and carried their suitcases down the corridor to the lift, wrapping themselves up in their coats as they waited for the doors to open.
Lois hailed a taxi and when they arrived out the front of the Dailey Planet she was quite stern with the driver to stay put while she took Amber upstairs and to get her plane tickets from Perry White.
Amber pulled her suitcase out of the trunk and tugged it along as she followed Lois into the building; there were only two people in the lobby including a security guard who nodded at Lois as she passed him. They rode the lift up several floors and Amber followed Lois's quick pace down a few corridors and into the 'heart' of that floor. The room was large and open, offices were divided off by glass walls and the area was filled with desks set out in groups. Lois's headed straight for the largest office, inside which an older man sat at a desk. He had white hair and a permanent frown.
"Just put your stuff down at my desk; that one just there. And make yourself comfortable, Clark should be arriving at about seven. I just need to go collect a few things from the Chief." Lois said slowing her pace enough to finish her sentence before rapping on the glass door. The man waved her in and Amber dropped her suitcase next to Lois's desk with a huge sigh shaking her aching arms.
Looking around Lois's desk Amber noticed how vigorous the woman was with her work. No wonder she spends whole nights out following stories, Amber thought while leafing through a pile of what looked like interview notes.
Lois returned holding a yellow envelope and she tucked some hair behind her ear. "Okay, I need to get going, I'll be in touch. Be nice to Clark." Amber wrapped her arms around Lois "good luck with the story." She felt Lois give her a tight squeeze in return "see you soon Amber." Lois broke away from the hug and swiftly left the room leaving Amber alone. Amber shrugged off her coat and sat down at the desk. She put her head in her arms and watched the daylight go brighter from out the window.
…
"Lois! Good morning Lois!" Clark waved at the brunette who just walked out of the lifts. "Oh hi Clark, sorry but I can't stop and chat. I can't miss this plane." Lois said to Clark as she offhandedly waved the yellow envelope at him.
"Oh that's alright. I just wanted to say good luck with the story and I was hoping, well, when you get back that is, maybe we could go out to dinner sometime?" Clark asked with a nervous smile. "When I get back I'll give you a call and we'll organise something, sound good?" Lois asked noticing Clark's face light up. The taxi waiting for Lois beeped impatiently and Lois looked over to it alarmed, "Sorry Clark but I really need to go, thank you for helping me out with Amber. I'll see you soon." She quickly dashed out of the lobby and got into the taxi not giving Clark a chance to answer. Clark watched the taxi drive away and out of sight with a small smile on his face. He was going to have dinner with Lois Lane! Clark turned on his heels and headed for the lifts thinking of somewhere nice he could take her.
…
Amber was doodling on a piece of paper when Clark arrived. He walked in with his briefcase in one hand and his coat hanging over his arm. He spotted Amber immediately and smiled at her as he walked over. "Hello Amber. How are you?" Clark asked as he hung his coat and fedora on a coat stand nearby. "I'm good thanks, a little tired still." Amber stood up and cracked her neck.
Clark walked past with his briefcase still in one hand but tripped on Amber's suitcase which sat next to the desk and in the way. Clark's foot hit the suitcase, kicking it over, and he stumbled losing his balance. He let out an off balance 'whoa' as he fell, letting go of his briefcase and hitting the floor heavily on his shoulder. Clark's glasses bounced and landed on the floor a few feet away, one of the lenses cracking on impact. Amber jumped up and knelt down next to Clark, "Oh my god Clark! Are you okay?" She helped him sit up and Clark rubbed his temple with one hand and kept his head low. "Oh yes I'm fine, can you see my glasses anywhere?"
Amber scrambled around on the floor until she found them, the relief in her stomach iced over when she noticed the cracked lens. "Oh shit. They're cracked, Clark I'm so sorry." Amber said looking over at Clark with the sides of her mouth pulling down. Her stomach twisted in dread and she prepared for Clark to look up at her angrily. She'd just caused Clark to trip over and crack his glasses, there was no way he wouldn't be angry with her.
"That's okay Amber; I have a spare pair in my briefcase. Could you bring it over to me?" Clark said still not looking up. "Uh… sure" Amber said getting up after a confused pause. She found his briefcase nearby and brought it over to him.
Clark took the briefcase and fumbled around with the clamps until it opened. Amber stood watching as he dug around in the briefcase until he found his spare pair of glasses. He slid them on then looked up at Amber with a smile on his face. His spare pair was identical to his regular pair.
Clark stood up and brushed his jacket off. "Good as new" he said pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Amber looked at him worried "I'm so sorry Clark. I shouldn't have left the suitcase there, are you okay?" The fear lacing Amber's words made her voice quiet. Clark noticed and put a hand on her shoulder, "honestly Amber I'm fine, nothing wrong but a cracked lens which I can get fixed later today." Clark assured her.
"Oh… well okay then. Here are your glasses." She handed the broken pair to Clark who tucked them inside his jacket pocket. Amber studied Clark for a few moments letting herself process everything that had just happened.
Growing up with a father like Doug, Amber, from a young age, had become accustomed to anger as the only emotion shown if she ever did something wrong. Punishments would always include yelling and breaking things, and sometimes Amber getting physically abused. In Amber's eyes getting yelled at was normal, and Clark's 'no harm done' attitude really confused Amber and threw her off. She was in unknown waters.
Clark put his briefcase down on a desk that was across from Lois's and began unpacking it. Amber took a moment to breathe gently then bent down and picked up her suitcase. She looked around for somewhere to put it for the day. "Would you like me to put that in a storage cupboard?" Clark asked eyeing the suitcase. "No thanks, I'll do it. Where is a storage cupboard?" Amber tried to sound casual as she held up the heavy suitcase. Clark silently pointed to one and she began lugging it over, again, trying to not look like she was struggling with the weight.
Clark chuckled at Amber, "are you sure?"
"No it's fine really, I can manage." Amber said not looking back at Clark. She missed the raised eyebrow Clark gave her and he crossed his arms. Amber lugged it a little further then put it down with a loud thud and exhale. Clark chuckled again and walked over to help, "I insist" he said standing in front of Amber. "Oh fine" she said politely as possible rubbing her hands together.
Clark lifted the suitcase with two hands. He exhaled loudly with a small 'wow' then carried the suitcase over to the closest storage cupboard. Clark disappeared inside for a few minutes then remerged wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "I can see why you were struggling so much, that thing was ridiculously heavy." Clark said once he was back at his desk. Amber laughed and quietly apologized though Clark just smiled at her shaking his head while taking a few more papers out of his briefcase.
