We had lunch the next day. Yeah, I know, I'm surprised too. I bumbly ask her to join me for something to eat and to my surprise, she says yes. I truly hope that this time, we can form a real friendship, and not one out of circumstance.
Now here we were, at the Talon, conversing on all matter of things.
And the first thing I notice about her is how attentive she's been. I talked a lot about astronomy and I'm incredibly thankful that she made a very convincing effort to be interested. I know that it isn't the type of subject matter most people enjoy.
Little did Clark know - across the room - two pair of eyes watched Lois and Clark talk in happy animated fashion.
"That's her?"
Chloe nods. "Yup"
"She's look a lot different than I remember"
"Lana," Chloe started like a mother trying to explain something very simplistic to a child. "She was bleeding to death the last time you saw her."
"So…" Lana dismissed. She couldn't stop staring at them two. Clark looked so happy with her. Happier in the twenty minutes they've been watching them together than she's known Clark the past four years. "Are they dating?"
Chloe shrugged, not really knowing. "As far as I know… No"
"So she really is the friend Lex never talks about?"
"Yup," Chloe answered.
"I wonder why he's never mentioned her to us. At least I thought Lex and I were friends"
"I've stopped trying to figure out how Lex's brain functions work. Besides, she really seems like a good person"
"How do you know? Is that a reporter's instinct or something?"
"No," she nods thoughtfully. "I just feel that she is"
Lois is laughing at my lame attempt at a joke, and for a moment I feel like I've got the upper hand until she says something that makes me laugh even more. I cover my face with both hands, trying my best to keep my laughter at bay. She never lets up.
"You're crazy, you know that?" My sides ache a bit but I continue to laugh because it's still funny.
"I'm not crazy!" She throws me a crumpled up napkin and I catch it with ease. She smirks, and I smirk on back. "I prefer to be called unique"
"Unique?" I smiled, and then I shake my head.
"That's right, unique," she repeated with that infectious smile of hers.
"So, Miss Lane," I say in a gentlemanly manner. This was it; I'm going to ask her a very important question. "Are you seeing anyone?"
She smiled again and leaned back on the booth.
"That's a bold question, Mr. Kent," she played along and used a tactical maneuver to invade answering the question.
I raise my eyebrows and wonder, is she messing with me?
"It's a bold era," I say, trying to figure out where exactly this conversation is going to end up in. I never know with her. "So tell me, do you have another half waiting for you on a carrier or in another country somewhere?" Selfishly, I really wish she didn't. Really.
She smiled again, and I can never tell if that's a good or bad thing.
"Nobody special," she answered quickly, sitting herself a little more upright than her reclined position a moment ago.
I frowned. "So there is someone?" Then she laughed, and I wonder, "What?"
"Have you ever had a girlfriend, Clark?" Ooh, she turned the tables on me, and I'm not even stopping her.
I felt myself go shy, and I don't know where it came from. My experience with the opposite sex has not been the greatest. I shake my head in a quiet manner.
"Not really"
She looks at me oddly and I rephrase.
"I've had… one… No, two… wait, one and… a half." I didn't just crash and burn, I totally obliterated myself.
Suffice to say, Lois didn't seem to mind. "How exactly would there be an 'a half.' Who'd you date, a paraplegic?"
I shoot her a look.
"No"
"Well…" she waited.
"I went with Chloe to a dance once, and I dated this girl Lana for a day or two," I finally admit. After hearing it coming out of my voice, that didn't seem a whole lot.
She broke out into laughter and under normal circumstance, I'd be mortified. Surprisingly, I grew amused at my situation as well.
"That's sad"
"I know," I completely agree with her.
"Do you mind explaining it with a little more detail?"
"Ahh…" I grew somewhat reluctant; there really isn't much to tell. "Lana is this girl I've been in love with since we were kids"
Lois looks at me with understanding.
"One of those"
"Yeah"
"So what – being with her isn't what you imagined in your dreams?"
How can she be so comfortably forward with her questions? No wonder why she's aspiring to be a reporter, she'll make a hell of an interviewer someday.
"Kind of like that"
"Dreams rarely ever are. If everything was perfect, I'd be bored to death"
"It's a lot more complicated than it seems," I reveal vaguely, but it didn't diminish her belief.
"Complications and challenges are not the same, Smallville. What most people see as a complication, they should really see as a challenge. In the end, you'll feel a lot more satisfied knowing you got through it instead of wallowing in self-pity because of it"
"Is that your philosophy?" I'm amazed by her insight. I've never looked at it that way before.
She smiled with confidence. "I live by it. If I didn't, I'd be a very lonely and regretful person, and I don't like regrets"
"I can tell you don't"
"Lois!"
I turn at the direction of the voice and its Lex Luthor walking to our table. He leans down to kiss her forehead and a pang a jealousy suddenly hit me.
"I didn't know you were in town," Lex says. Our eyes met and I knew I was threading on another complicated ground.
Perhaps I should take Lois's wisdom and look at this as a challenge. Lois doesn't belong to anyone but herself. If I wanted to have a friendship with her, Lex would have to accept that even if he didn't particularly like it.
"I didn't realize I'd be in town either, but I needed to speak with Clark on a few things"
The mention of my name made both me and Lex move stiffly. He looks at me and forms a weak smile.
"Thanks Clark, for helping her." Lex held her hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss lightly on it.
"Anytime," I say, that sting of jealousy coming at me again. Why do I feel like that? I've only just started to get to know her.
Lex's cell rang and I sat grateful at the interruption. Lois and I spent the next couple of minutes talking awkwardly about subjects we already covered. Then Lex returns.
"I have a meeting in Metropolis, did you need a lift?"
She shook her head. "No, but thank you. I've got my car; I'll be heading out soon anyway"
"Are you sure, I can have someone else bring it to the city?" he pursued. I get the feeling that he didn't want me hanging out with her too much.
She glanced at me and smiled. "No, I'm good"
"Very well. I'll see you later"
"Thanks Lex"
When he was gone, I breathed out a sigh of relief not realizing that Lois noticed.
"What did I tell you about making things complicated?"
"That it's better to see it as a challenge," I answer, a slight grin coming off on my face.
"That's correct"
"I'm sorry about what's happening here," I suddenly confessed.
"And what exactly is happening here?"
"You… me… and Lex"
"I've known Lex since we were kids. He's my best friend and I love him, but my life isn't lived by what he dictates"
I nod at how deeply honest her words were.
"I'm beginning to see that."
I'm totally mesmerized by her.
To be continued…