Clark watched Lois sleep. There wasn't much else to do. He actually found her slow, deep breathing restful. Then her breathing began to get ragged and she jerked out of her sleep.
"Bad dream?" he asked.
"Yeah, I dreamed we were old and gray and still locked up in here."
"If it makes you feel any better, we would have been moved to separate prisons long before that. Jails are used before the trial and are short term. Prisons are for people serving sentences."
"How very reassuring," she said sarcastically. "So have you rethought my proposition?"
"Lois, things would never get so desperate that I would have to kiss you. You forget that unlike most people, I'm very tolerant, in fact, immune to your presence. We lived together for quite some time."
"Don't remind me. So what are we going to do if we're stuck in here together until Wednesday?"
"Grin and bare it."
The sheriff came back at last. "Sorry, I didn't bring you back any rolls. I was hungrier than I thought. Don't worry though. You'll get breakfast."
"He gets to make a phone call," Lois reminded him through gritted teeth.
"I know, I know," he said, as he took the key out of his pocket. He led Clark to the phone.
Clark called Chloe like they had decided on earlier. Unfortunately, he got her voice mail.
"Hi, Chloe. This is Clark. As soon as you get this, do you mind bailing Lois and me out of jail? We're in Troutsville. It's the only brick building on Main Street. Thanks."
Faster than a speeding bullet, the sheriff put him back in the cell with Lois. The sheriff sat down at the desk and began to flip through a book of America's most wanted.
"That went well," Lois said, clearly irritated.
"Being New Year's Eve combined with the fact that she has a boyfriend now, you can hardly expect her to be reachable. We've got roughly an hour until midnight. Maybe she'll check her voice mail before she turns in for the night."
"She's a reporter. She should never miss a call if she can help it. The person could have her next big story or lead."
"Just because you've decided to put journalism over your romance life, doesn't mean everyone else has."
"This is Chloe Sullivan we're talking about, right?"
"She really likes Jimmy Olsen. It doesn't surprise me she puts romance first. I've always thought of her as more of a romantic than a hard-nosed reporter."
"I haven't had a chance to really meet this Jimmy guy yet. What's he like?"
"From what I can tell he's very much a kid in a good sort of way. The important thing is that he makes Chloe happy."
"I have to sit down and get to know him one of these days, but right now I want to hurt him because he's distracting Chloe from answering her cell phone."
"I'm sure you'll end up liking him. He sort of grows on you."
Suddenly a very loud snore erupted from across the room.
"One thing's for sure," Lois said, "I'll never get back to sleep. He's loud enough to wake the dead!"
She stood up and began to pace around the cell, not that there was a lot of room for it. She seemed to get angrier and more anxious with each step. She was like a mad dog that had been locked up in a tiny cage. Mad Dog Lane was perfect name to describe her and Clark had to admit it had a nice ring. He was afraid of what she might do if Chloe didn't come for them in the near future.