Chapter 5

"Oh my!" Martha Kent sat down her coffee cup to give all her attention to the morning edition of the Daily Planet. "Clark, this is…this is incredible!"

Clark piled another couple of pancakes on his plate and covered them with syrup. "Yeah. Isn't it?"

"She… she saw all this…it's wonderful! Oh, she's going to win some kind of award for this."

His mouth stuffed with a huge, drippy bite, Clark still managed to frown at his mom.

"You're not impressed with this?"

"Mom, I know it's good, but that's not me. I don't know who it is, but that is not me."

"Yes, it is, Clark. It is every bit of you transferred to paper and ink. Lois sees it all. She's put down everything in this one article that your father and I hoped you would be one day, everything that you have become. Son, this is you whether you realize it or not."

"No, it's not, mom. That man can do anything, set everything right. That man has all the answers."

"She didn't say that. You're not—"

"It's a puff piece, mom. She just wrote the biggest puff piece in the history of all puff pieces. I don't know how she got all that from the interview. It's not me."

"Did she quote you accurately?"

"Well, yes… I guess so."

"And you said you were with her for a couple of hours?"

"Well, yes. She had a lot of questions. I mean a lot! It was all I could do to keep remembering to lower my voice, keep out of the light, and not give away everything. She was like a tiger circling her prey on that roof, mom." He shook his head, remembering it clearly.

His mom only smiled and looked back down at the article. Her only regret was that her husband had not lived to see this day.

Clark picked up his milk and drained the glass. "Mom, I've got to go. I don't want to be late. I've got a meeting with Perry White."

"Sure, sweetheart. Have a good day, and tell Lois I loved her article."

"Mom! I can't tell her that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's about me."

"I thought you said it wasn't you."

"Mom. You know what I mean. If you want to tell her that, maybe you should to tell her yourself. I'm not mentioning the article to her. I can't afford to. She might…" He let the thought die. "I have to go. Bye, mom."

********

Clark felt his heart sink just a little when he arrived at his desk to find no Lois at hers. She had had a late night, he reasoned, so maybe she was sleeping in this morning. That was it. He looked over with disappointment at the empty chair one last time and then began working on his latest story.

It was dull going, and without the nagging comments from across their two desks, Clark was only plodding along at a story he should have finished in the first ten minutes of the morning. "Maybe some coffee," he mumbled to himself, and got up to go to the break area.

It was the most crowded he'd ever seen it. At least a dozen people were gathered there chatting away with a half dozen conversations going on at once.

"I heard she's getting her own office."

"Yeah, I heard that too, thirty-third floor, down the hall from White himself."

"But what about Kent? Aren't they partners?"

"Shhhh….there he is!"

"Oh, hi, Clark! How's it going? Heard about Lois?"

"Why in the world did you let her scoop you, Kent?"

"Uh…" Clark was being buffeted this way and that, and trying his best not to let anyone get hurt. The hearty pats on the back coming from different directions had him flinching continuously to avoid someone breaking a wrist. "What's going on? What have I missed, guys?"

"Oh, just Lois Lane being in White's office since before everyone else got in this morning. The buzz is she's getting a promotion!"

"And a raise!"

"And a new office!"

"We thought you were partners, Kent? How come you didn't know?"

"Well, I…" Clark could barely think about answering one question before another was thrown at him, and it was all he could do to keep ahead of the playful punches and slaps, not to mention unsuccessfully ignoring the uneasy feeling he was getting about this onslaught of news. Ten minutes later, he extricated himself from the fray and made it back to his desk, without any coffee, but with plenty of emotions crashing against one another inside of him, providing more than enough stimulant.

Her desk chair was still empty. A quick glance at the clock told him it was now 9:48. What on earth could they be talking about?

"Kent, how about that article! Heh?"

"Can you believe Lois Lane landed an interview like that? Incredible!"

"Clark, what were you thinking, letting her have that one all to herself?"

Clark smiled as, almost minute by minute, someone else passed by his desk only to comment on Lois, the article, or the possible ramifications thereof. Keeping that smile firmly plastered in place, he weathered the storm of it all and tried to work, mindful the full time of just how empty the desk across from him truly was.

What if it's all true? The question kept swimming through his mind. What if he never saw her at work after this, with himself relegated to a basement office and her up on the floors? So much for the new partnership, if that was the case.

Then suddenly she was there, sitting down in her chair as if nothing out of the ordinary had been going on at all.

"Lois? You're back." He pushed up his glasses in a move to hide a bit more of his face before he saw her reaction.

"Hey, Smallville." It was her normal everyday greeting, tossed his way lightly as she settled into her chair and pulled her keyboard toward her.

"That's it?" Clark prompted. "I've been spending the better part of the morning fending off rumors of your impending rise to the top, and all I get is a 'Hey, Smallville?'"

"Really? The news is already out?" She looked around, but as she did, every pair of eyes that had been watching her turned in another direction.

"So it's true then? You are moving upstairs?" Clark felt his heart plummet to somewhere around his knees.

"Clark, I'd rather not talk about this until you see Perry yourself."

"Perry? You're on a first name basis now?" Irritation was settling in; it was all he could do not to throw something. He felt betrayed. It wasn't that he was jealous of Lois' success. No, she'd earned that. An office on the top floor held no allure for him. It was just the taking her away from the desk next door that bothered him. He was used to her being there.

"Clark? Earth to Clark?"

"What?" Lois was waving at him. He'd let his mind wander there a bit.

"Clark, your appointment? You've got two minutes." She pointed at the clock. "Better get going."