See first post for disclaimer
Part 4
"You have the information on the Dubai ports deal?" Lois scanned her files while she listened to Senator Kent over the phone. "Who's scheduled to speak after the break?"
Lois' blonde streaked hair was pulled away from her face by an elastic but a few errant strands had escaped the confines and brushed at her jaw. "Okay, he's going to ramble about the history of economic theory for the first half of his time then draw a connection between the ports situation and whatever misquote of Adam Smith's he can think of. Just remember that no matter what he says he'll vote against the port sale."
"That's a good idea." Lois chuckled at Martha's words. "I'm sure it'll be the highlight on C-Span and CNN tonight. Alright, I'll talk to you when the Senate concludes. No problem; that's what you pay me for." Lois listened for a moment longer before hanging up the extension. Looking at the papers covering every surface in her office and the increasing number of unread messages in her email inbox she took a deep breath and rubbed at her eye.
"Hey Lois, the lobbyists for environmental clean-up are asking for a definite yes or no support by the Senator for the bill their sending to parliament next month. What do I tell them?" Sarah, a member of the PR group stood at her office door.
"Tell them that the Senator is in Washington currently, she'll address the clean-up bill as soon as she returns. Don't tell them when she gets back Sarah." Lois added, worrying at the possibility of loose-lips in house.
Sarah felt a presence behind her in the doorway and spun to find the Senator's son standing patiently, an upturn to his lips.
"I'm not interrupting am I?" His smile disappeared. "I can come back."
"What are you doing here?" Lois bit her tongue from calling him 'Smallville' in front of Sarah. "I thought I was going to call you." She was taken aback at his sudden appearance therefore didn't censor her words in front of the woman.
"I was in the neighborhood and figured you wouldn't have time to break for lunch, so…" he held a bag up from behind his back "I brought lunch to you." At Lois' non-reaction he ducked his head bashfully.
Sarah backed out of the room quietly, eager to tell everyone in her department that the Senator's son was bringing their Chief-of-Staff lunch. Most of the women in the building, single or not, were smitten with Clark Kent and were likely to be heartbroken that it was Lois Lane who had captured his attention.
"Great." Lois sighed as she watched Sarah make a fast getaway.
"What's wrong?" Clark took a step into the office.
"There goes the building's biggest gossip; you sure know how to make a spectacle Smallville." Lois pushed away from her desk and stood.
"What are you talking about?"
"Did you ever stop to wonder how it would look for me to have my boss's son showing up in my office with meals or to take me to lunch?" She moved around the room toward the door.
Clark blushed. "Not really." He admitted; he didn't see Lois as 'the Senator's Chief-of-Staff' but rather as the headstrong girl who had deposited herself in the center of his life. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make things harder for you." He shyly uttered, shifting to move for the exit.
Lois closed the office door resolutely, halting his motion. "Don't be sorry." She smiled. "Just try to use a little more discretion next time." She moved until she was in Clark's personal space, staring up at him with daring. "So what'd you bring me?"
Clark swallowed hard, words catching in his throat. "Ah…ahem…Greek Salad…"
"I told you I would call about getting together tonight; why the surprise visit?" Her lips twitched at his discomfort as she got closer still to him.
"What if I told you that I missed you and in case you called to tell me you weren't going to make it tonight I'd get to see you anyway?" Clark tried to control his breathing and maintain a grip on the bag of food still in his hand.
"I'd say that you were either codependent or really smooth for a farmboy."
"I'm not sure I like the sound of either option." Clark grinned, becoming at little more at ease at her close proximity.
"So why don't you tell me the real reason you're here?" Lois tilted her head in expectation of his answer.
Clark leaned in the short distance to her lips, greeting them in a gentle caress. "That's the real reason." He smiled at her open-mouthed astonishment
"I'm at work Smallville." She scolded once her brain began to function properly again.
"Call it retribution for Wednesday night; one shocking lip-lock deserves another." He teased.
Lois walked back around her desk, hoping the large piece of furniture between them would dissipate air of sexual tension. "Listen, I get that you're on a mission to make me swoon or something but if you actually want to see me tonight I'm going to have to kick you out." She went the extra step to stand behind her chair, knowing the added barrier could only help to clear her thoughts.
Clark's disappointment was evident but the promise of an evening with Lois was worth being chased from the building. "What time should I expect you tonight?" Somewhere there was a five year old in Clark jumping up and down with excitement.
"Some time after seven thirty."
"I'll see you then." He placed the salad he had brought for her on her desk, smiled knowingly, and headed for the door.
"Clark" Lois called to him "thank you, for coming all the way here just to bring me lunch. It's one of the….nicest things anyone's ever done for me." She cursed herself at the heat she was feeling on her cheeks; sure that Clark could see the blush.
The entire staff watched as Clark left Lois' office, a grin plastered to his lips and air of triumph surrounding him. By three in the afternoon the building was abuzz with the latest gossip of Lois and the Senator's son; many speculating that while the cat was in Washington the mice would be making use of an empty house.
Friday Night
Lois arrived at the farm later than she had wanted that evening. A cursory check of the house revealed Clark wasn't there. Despite her fatigue ladened body she marched to the open barn doors where sporadic streams of light caressed random pieces of hay scattered on the dusty floor.
"So this is where you're hiding." Lois greeted Clark, who was labouring over the aging tractor.
"Hey, I was wondering if you'd be able to get away after all." He dropped the tool in his hand and approached her.
"I ended up bringing some work home with me for the weekend but it was a better option than spending the rest of the night at the office."
"Have you eaten?" Clark was a ball of nerves now that Lois was a reality in front of him.
"Not since lunch."
"There's some food in the fridge that just needs to be heated up." He sidled up next to her hoping proximity would lead to another kiss.
Lois smiled at his thoughtful gesture. "Thanks, and while I'm eating you could do with a shower." Her raised eyebrows and slight step backward drew a groan from Clark.
"Do I smell that bad?" His crestfallen expression had Lois taking pity.
"Occupational hazard." She shrugged. "But all that manual labour does have its advantages." She nodded toward his broad chest and thick biceps.
Her eyes lost focus momentarily then reason returned to mind and she gave her self a literal shake. "Come on Smallville, there's food in your refrigerator with my name on it." Doing an about face any soldier would take pride in she began the trek back to the house, Clark two steps behind her.
Although he showered quickly, Clark couldn't scrounge up the courage to leave the relative safety of the bathroom. He had spent so much time trying to catch Lois' notice and shock her with his attentiveness that he hadn't stopped to question where or when his feelings for her developed.
It was strange to have someone other than Lana as his focus and yet he found he couldn't compare Lois to Lana because it didn't do the former justice. Less than six months previous, he had been prepared to propose to Lana; to spend the rest of his life with a girl he could honestly admit to no longer loving. Was his judgment faulty? Could he trust himself where Lois was concerned or were his feelings a result of the mounting comfort he felt in her presence? Was it the comfort or feelings that came first, was he trapping himself in another relationship based on familiarity and nothing more? Would he have pursued Lois so boldly if he hadn't been witness to her weekend interactions with Maddie?
"Hey Smallville!" He could hear Lois yelling from the bottom of the stairs. "Did you invite me over to hang out by myself cause I can do the same thing at my apartment but in my pajamas."
Smiling at her characteristic impatience, Clark shook his head at his own over analytical musings and supersped to his room to dress and return to Lois.
You know you're welcome to my clothes if you want to be more comfortable." Clark offered.
"Great, throw on the movie and I'll be back in a sec." She was already ascending the stairs before he could comment further.
His thoughts from the bathroom resurfaced at Lois' absence. He wasn't a shy teem outcast pining for the same girl as everyone else in the town anymore. He was a young adult with responsibilities and concerns no one his age or otherwise could understand; a young man falling hard for a woman that likely defied the impossibility of being more complicated than himself.
The power struggle in his relationship with Lana had existed beneath the surface; he could now recognize that she had used subversive tactics to keep the upper hand, it was part of why she hated the secrets. They kept her from absolute control. He couldn't really blame her for it though; it was one of the pitfalls of being in a relationship with someone you'd known so long. You end up playing the roles determined in childhood and unless both people are willing to grow and change the relationship becomes a handicap.
"So what movie are we watching?" Lois reappeared at the base of the kitchen stairs, sporting a Central Kansas sweatshirt and a pair of his boxers.
Startled from his musings Clark tripped over his words. "Umm, I- I didn't…"
"Smallville! I give you a simple task and you can't manage it." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "You'd fit in great at the office. I swear monkeys could take more initiative than the people I deal with every day." She rambled on, having moved to the TV cabinet to root through the movies stored within.
Lois was an entirely different breed, Clark realized. She didn't fight against change; she embraced it. Years of being uprooted by her father's transient military career had prepared her for life's little evolutions. And although she teased him she was the first to embrace and encourage changes he made in his own life.
"Sorry, I was thinking." He followed her to the living room to watch her bent over, looking for a title that interested her.
"Trust me on this Smallville, you do far too much of that." She looked over her shoulder at him. "See this is what a generation exposed to Dawson's Creek and Dr. Phil has become, over critical, self-analyzing and perpetually unsatisfied. You spend so long contemplating life that you miss out on living it." Satisfied with her movie choice she stood and turned around finding Clark inches from her face.
In one swift motion his large hand shot out, cupping the curve of her jaw and his mouth collided with hers. Lips that had been shy and uncertain earlier that day moved against hers demandingly. Lois felt her own lips parting of their own volition for his tongue; the DVD she had been clutching triumphantly, dropped to the hardwood as her fingers found the soft fabric of Clark's shirt instead. With nothing motivating her to break their kiss Lois settled for asking her question against Clark's mouth.
"What are you doing Smallville?"
He smiled at the use of the moniker in spite of their tongues battling for supremacy. Clark moved his free hand to her hip, pulling her tight to him. "Making sure I don't miss out on life." Hearing her own words repeated urged some sense into her brain, giving her the will to pull away.
"Living your life entails sticking your tongue down my throat?" She stopped staring incredulously at him long enough to locate the forgotten movie. Handing it off to him, she retreated to the kitchen.
"I'm getting a drink." She announced. "Want anything?" Clark merely smirked, setting about playing the movie.
In the next room Lois was hunched in front of the open refrigerator hoping the cool air would chase away the heat Cark had succeeded in suffusing within her body. She was actually wishing for a political distraction that moment; although she would be loathe to admit it, she would likely have more success reading a politician than she would have trying to get a read on Clark.
"Movie's starting." He shouted.
Allowing herself one more deep breath Lois grabbed two sodas and solidified her resolve to remain calm and collected no matter what Clark had up his sleeve.
"Thanks for not making me sit through a romantic comedy." He joked when she returned.
Lois eyed the space beside him dubiously, waging an internal debate over whether to sit there or safely in the adjacent chair.
"I save those to watch with Chloe." She smiled, plopping down next to him and depositing their drinks on the table.
"But Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story?" Clark raised his eyebrows at her. "I forgot we even had that movie."
"I haven't seen it for years." Lois pulled the blanket off the back of the couch to cover her bare legs.
Clark's blue/green gaze followed her deliberate movements; enraptured by the way she bit the edge of her bottom lip and scrunched up her nose until the cover was draped to her liking.
"I'm glad you're here." He allowed the impulse to speak reign supreme.
Lois met his eyes, holding them and drawing on the intensity emanating from their soulful depths. When she spoke he was not prepared for the question her lush lips formed.
"What are we doing Clark?" His surprise didn't cause her seriousness to waver. "I know you – or I thought I did." She didn't release his eyes, neither wanting to be the first to sever the connection. "You don't date casually. If you had asked me a month ago I would have said you don't date girls who aren't Lana."
"Lana and I are over." Clark interjected.
"Which I don't get. You pine for the girl for years and suddenly the two of you can't stand to be in the same room." There was no recrimination in her tone, just genuine confusion.
"No one could have been more shocked than me but everything that's happened this year's made me realize how far Lana and I have grown apart. I'll always care for her but staying with her wasn't fair to either of us." He concluded, finally dropping his eyes and sighing. "And you're right; I don't date casually."
"Bringing us back to my initial question. What are we doing?" She tilted her head in an attempt to see his face to gage his expression.
"Saying I like you and want to date you doesn't give enough weight to what I feel for you Lois." Fear flittered across her face but she steeled herself against it. "Being around you – with you, it's easy. You don't expect anything from me which makes me want to give you so much more. I've spent my whole life avoiding who I am; trying to be what I perceived everyone would want. When I met you I started to believe that I didn't have to change." A smile flirted at his lips. "Mostly because you likely wouldn't have been nice to me no matter who I was."
Lois smiled, nodding in agreement. "But we spend time together as friends; what's changed."
"What's changed is I don't want to have to think up an excuse to come to your apartment just so I can see you." His eyes flashed with guilt after reveal that truth. "I want to be able to tell you how beautiful you are." He replied earnestly, taking her hand in his. "You are beautiful." He insisted to which she shrugged in embarrassment. "I want to be able to touch you." His voice dropped as his fingers traced patterns on her palm and forearm. Choking down the doubt Clark decided to reveal his final card. "I want to be able to spend the weekend with you, whether you're working or sleeping or hanging out with Maddie." He kept talking, hopeful she had missed his words. "What's changed is the way I feel about you – if I'm honest I think I've felt this way since I met you, I'd just never felt anything like it so I didn't-"
"What'd you mean 'hanging out with Maddie'?" Lois had tuned him out after he had uttered those words.
"That's what you do on Saturday. Why you're never able to go to Metropolis or come over to work with my Mom." Clark answered carefully.
"Did she tell you that?" Lois asked wide eyed.
"Maddie? No." Clark shook his head.
"What would possibly give you that idea then?" She deflated slightly, sitting back into the cushions.
In his mind's eye Clark could see this conversation going many ways from this point and none of them boded well for him. "I went for a run last weekend and saw you and Maddie at the lake." He hated leaving out important details but the alternative was too dangerous to entertain.
"From that you gather I've been spending every Saturday with her? You're hiding something."
Clark glanced helplessly at the movie playing on the TV screen, searching for the appropriate words. "I was jealous." He finally said softly.
"What?" Lois aimed what could only be characterized as a frown of sarcasm at him.
"You were busy every Saturday and I was jealous. I thought you were seeing someone, and then I didn't know what you were doing." Clark neglected to realize his thought pattern wasn't very clear for Lois to track. "No one knew where you were going or what you were doing so I decided to um…follow you." He bit his own tongue for having let loose that truth.
"You followed me!" Lois sprung from the sofa violently. "You followed me!" The second time she said it, didn't make it sound any less pathetic.
"Yes I followed you. I was worried and I've seen too many things happen over the past few years to not pay attention when I'm worried. I tried to ask you about it," he pre-empted her question "you were evasive and changed the subject. I don't know why you didn't want anyone to know what you were doing, it's hardly criminal." He rolled his eyes.
"Hold it there Smallville, you don't get to be annoyed or upset about this. You're the one who followed me!" She pointed at him. "I like my privacy; I don't need to tell the world that I'm spending time with Maddie; you especially! Do you think I was chopping at the bit, waiting for your comments about my attitude toward her when we met or that I didn't deserve to spend time with her?"
"Lois what are you talking about?" Clark rose from the sofa to stand in front of her.
"And what's this about being worried? First you're jealous then you're worried, make up your mind and umf-"
Clark had found one more thing he wanted to be able to do: kiss Lois senseless when she was set to go on a rampage. He felt the anger drain from her as the kiss continued, sending both of them into a passion filled calm.
Clark broke away first, keeping a hold on her body. "I was jealous at first, when I thought you were dating someone. When I realized you weren't I started to get worried. That's when I decided to follow you" he forestalled any comment on her part by capturing her lips for another quick kiss "it was wrong and I shouldn't have done it but if you'd been in danger I never would have forgiven myself. But don't worry, I felt like a complete idiot when I found out what you were actually doing. It was all that, the jealousy and worry, that made me acknowledge that I felt more for you than I have for anyone ever before."
Lois was floundering. Clark had sent her reeling from one emotional high to another in a matter of seconds and now he was standing in front of her waiting for her to respond. With no words at her current disposal she leaned in to kiss him.
"You still haven't answered my question." She licked her lips seductively when they separated. "What are we doing?"
"Well I can't speak for you but I'm trying to win you over." He replied.
"Let's say for the sake of argument that you'd succeeded, but I'm still mad about you following me," she added "then what?"
"Then I'm going to try and persuade you to give me the esteemed title of Lois Lane's boyfriend." He ran his hand down the side of her face, watching as her dark green eyes began to shine brightly.
"Okay then, now that we have that cleared up." She pushed him hard onto the sofa, falling down with him. Her face hovered a breath from his but she made no move to close the distance. "You can start making up for following me tomorrow. My car needs to be washed and then I'm taking Maddie to the mall; you can come and carry our bags."
Clark's groan was muffled by Lois's mouth covering his in a fiery kiss.
4/6
Please R&R if you get the chance.