Chapter 9
Lois jumped up from her desk the moment Clark entered the door. She'd been watching the stairs for ten minutes, and the moment she'd seen him coming down them in that deep blue shirt, her mind had been made up for her.
His own hands were straightening his tie – did he never do that until he came through the door? She grabbed the end of his tie and pulled him forcefully toward the glass-door enclosed phone booths. Since he didn't want her to sprain a wrist, he allowed himself to be pulled inside one and then thrown up against the wall.
He figured she was mad. He didn't know why, but when did that matter? He was about to hear about it. As his back slammed the side of the booth as gently as he could manage, he braced for the onslaught that he knew was coming. In the limited privacy of the phone booth, he was only hoping one thing – that she would keep her voice low enough so that they weren't overheard.
A kiss was the last thing he expected.
Especially a kiss like this one.
It seemed to go on forever. He wasn't even aware that he was returning it with enthusiasm, or that his own hands had encircled her waist. He was totally lost in it – until she pulled away from him.
"Just thought we needed to get that out of the way, Smallville. Now, let's get to work."
"What?" He was wiping at his mouth, sure that her lipstick was now more apparent on him than on her. "Lois, wait!" She was about to open the door of the booth to leave. "That was—"
"Just a test, Clark, nothing more. Back to work now, okay?" She seemed perfectly at ease, but he was a wreck.
"Lois?"
She was gone. When he recovered enough to go back into the newsroom, he found her back at her desk looking through some police files on her computer, the very picture of the word calm.
He was well aware that the entire basement staff had witnessed more than enough of the little scene that had played out between them to embarrass him for weeks to come, but she seemed oblivious to it all. Well, now it was his turn.
"Lois," he said firmly, as he whirled her chair around to face him. He leaned over her to whisper in her ear. "What was that all about?"
"Oh, its' a Lane thing. Chloe said she kissed you when you were kids for much the same reason. No big deal."
"Lois, you just can't—"
"Yes, I can. I just did. Actually, I think you noticed I just did. And it is nice to know Clark Jr. is still doing just fine, by the way and he noticed too."
Clark was speechless once again, his mouth hanging open as he still gripped the arms of her chair.
"Clark? If you keep leaning over me like that, you're going to have the whole bullpen buzzing." She crossed her arms and stared at him. There was nothing to do but straighten up, walk back to his desk and sit down, but he glared at her the whole time.
"Like they're not already thinking—," he began, but she cut him off quickly.
"They're thinking I'm keeping you in line. That's what they're all thinking."
"Oh, is that what you're doing?" he scoffed. "And here I thought you were just going crazy."
"Not entirely," she muttered to herself, as she began sifting through files on her computer.
"Maybe that red carpet isn't such a bad idea," Clark mumbled to himself.
"Kent!" The shout came from the doorway. Perry White stood there. "There's a bank robbery at 4th and Baxter. They've got body armor and A-K 47's. Get down there."
"We're on it, chief," Lois said, rising in unison with Clark.
"Not this time, Lane. I want him to handle this one on his own. Besides, you haven't given me the article on the mayor yet."
"But—" she began, while she watched Clark smile at her in triumph as he exited through the door.
"Don't you owe him one?" Perry just smiled and turned his back on her.
She fumed and sank back into her chair. "Partners," she huffed.
