Chapter Nine
Clark laughed quietly to himself as Lois left. Perry had called him shortly after the reporter had left his office, telling him she had been extremely upset and deeply apologetic for her actions the other day. He had been surprised when his doorman had called and told him Lois was on the way up with a huge fruit basket.
He looked at the gift. Rather an unusual way to apologise, but from what the editor had told him, Lois had a habit of putting her foot in it then making some kind of gesture to make up for it. It must have cost her a small fortune. Not that he cared how much she’d spent. The gesture had been appreciated though.
He bit into the apple he’d offered her and picked up some papers from the table he’d been meaning to study before the announcement on Friday. As uncertain as he had been about taking over as publisher of the Daily Planet, both his brother and Perry had made a lot of sense. The newspaper needed someone who actually knew the journalism business and was interested in producing quality reporting, not someone who cared more about making a profit.
It wasn’t as if they actually needed the revenue, he thought. Queen Industries was doing very well for itself.
They would be calling a press conference to make the announcement. Perry had told him that he was going to get his best business reporter to cover the story. Since Lois was the staff investigative reporter, not to mention the fact that she was related to them by marriage, she had been told in no uncertain terms that she was to steer clear. She could be at the press conference but as an observer, not as a participant.
His housekeeper came in as he finished reading the documents.
“Your dinner is in the oven. If there is nothing else you’ll be needing tonight, Mr Queen, I’ll take my leave.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Mrs Adams. Have a good night.”
“You too, sir,” she said with a smile.
Clark watched her go. His mother had insisted he at least have someone to cook his meals and keep his apartment clean. Despite his abilities, and the two years he’d spent travelling and taking care of himself, she worried about him alone in the penthouse. She was subtly hinting it was time he settled down and found someone but given the problems he’d had in the past, he wasn’t sure he wanted the hassle of dating only to find they were only with him because of his money.
As much as they had not gotten along on the date, Clark had noticed that Lois didn’t treat him any differently than she would anyone else. She didn’t seem to care who he was or how much money he had.
Oliver had told him that when he’d first met Lois, she had punched him in the arm and told him he’d better treat her cousin well, or else. If Chloe hadn’t already warned him about her cousin’s tendency to follow up on those threats, he would have laughed it off. Despite her apparent abrasiveness, when she loved, she loved wholeheartedly and was loyal to a fault. She was far from perfect, according to Chloe, but then again, who was?
God knew, he had his share of faults. As a child, he’d been frustrated, hampered by the fact that he was unable to just use his abilities whenever he wanted. As he’d matured, he’d begun to realise exactly why that was. His parents had often warned him there were unscrupulous people out there who would exploit him. He’d learned that lesson the hard way when his father had died. He still didn’t know all the details but Oliver had told him it had something to do with the Luthors.
He’d had a couple of run-ins with Lex, as Superman. The man had made it very clear he didn’t like Superman and would do anything to expose him as a liar – that he wasn’t there to protect the people of Metropolis. As far as Lex was concerned he was dangerous and not to be trusted.
He took off his glasses and pinched his nose tiredly. There were times when he forgot he was wearing them. As much as he had hated the idea, Oliver had made a good point. He didn’t want people recognising him. As Superman, he also had a transmitter hidden inside the suit which allowed him to project a slightly different image of himself. That way, anyone who knew him when he was younger would also not recognise Superman as the youngest Queen.
He rose from the couch and went into the kitchen to check on his dinner. The housekeeper had put the oven on a timer so he wouldn’t forget to pull it out. It still had about five minutes which meant he had time to call home.
His mother answered. While they had a housekeeper and a couple of maids, she preferred to do most things herself.
“Hi Mom.”
“Hello darling. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. I just wanted to tell you I talked to Lois and she’s coming to dinner on Friday.”
“That’s wonderful, sweetheart. Your brother’s still at work, but Chloe’s here. Did you want to talk to her?”
“No, that’s okay, Mom. I’ll see her on Friday.”
“All right.” She paused. “What have you been up to today?”
“Not much. Just researching for an article. Lois came over. She brought a fruit basket as an apology for the other day.” His mother sighed.
“Oh, that poor dear. When I talked to Perry, he said she was beside herself. I hope you weren’t too harsh with her.”
“No, Mom. I promise.”
“That’s good.” The oven timer dinged loudly. “Is that the oven?” she asked.
“Yeah. The housekeeper left dinner for me.”
“Well, I should let you go eat. I love you, honey.”
“Love you too, Mom. See you in a couple days.”
That Friday afternoon, an hour before the press conference, Clark headed to the Daily Planet to meet with Perry. As he walked up the stairs to the tenth floor, he bumped into someone coming the other way.
“Hey, watch it!” The woman looked up, her eyes widening. “Uh, Clark. I didn’t … what are you doing here?”
He knew she’d been told about Oliver’s purchase of the Planet but didn’t know exactly how much she had been told.
“I’m just going to a meeting with Perry.” He looked her over. She was wearing a pink blouse today with a charcoal grey wool skirt and a jacket in the same fabric. While it was attractive, it looked a little too much ‘power suit’ to him, making him wonder if she was wearing it as some kind of armour. He didn’t know her that well but she gave off the impression that she put up a lot of walls to protect herself. “Anyway, the press conference is in an hour. Are you going to be there?”
Her smile was a little wobbly. “Uh, sure. I guess. I mean, I’m not allowed to cover the story. Conflict of interest and all that, but I guess I could provide some moral support.”
He smiled. “It’s not my first press conference,” he said.
“I wasn’t meaning you,” she said crossly. “I meant your Mom.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Lane.”
She huffed. “Well, I suppose you can’t be all bad with a Mom that cool.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She punched his shoulder. “Enjoy it while it lasts, Queen, but don’t get a swelled head over it.”
He shook his head, trying to think of something witty to retort. Lois smirked at him and carried on downstairs. He sighed and continued up to Perry’s office, wishing she didn’t affect him as much as she did.
The press conference was being held in the foyer of the Daily Planet. They’d invited reporters from all the local media. Unfortunately that also meant someone from the Inquisitor was in attendance. Clark looked over the assembled reporters, looking for Donner. He spotted the balding man in the crowd.
Oliver stepped up to the makeshift podium. Perry stood beside him, while Chloe and their mother were behind Oliver. Clark quickly looked around for Lois and saw her standing on the stairs. She obviously spotted him and sent him a nod.
Oliver cleared his throat.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. As of three o’clock this afternoon, Queen Industries is now the owner and publisher of the Daily Planet.”
There were a few murmurs among the reporters. Some put their hands up for questions. His brother held up his hand and gestured for them to put their hands down.
“We’ll have time for questions in a few minutes. Now, we know the Daily Planet has a proud tradition dating back at least two hundred years and has a reputation for hard-hitting journalism. We hope to continue that tradition. Yes, there will need to be some restructuring. Technology has changed and newspapers need to change with it.”
Clark tuned out as Oliver continued, watching the reaction from the crowd. Most of them didn’t seem too perturbed, although a few of them began fidgeting as the speech went on, clearly itching to ask questions.
He heard his name mentioned and looked up, realising Oliver was gesturing toward him.
“You all know my brother. Clark has agreed to take up the post as publisher.”
He glanced up at Lois, who looked stunned at this news.
“Now, we’ll take some questions from the floor.”
Donner raised his hand. “Mr Queen, there are rumours that your brother is in a relationship with a reporter on the Daily Planet. Given that you’re now the owner, wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?”
Oliver glared pointedly at the reporter
“Rumours which, by all accounts, you started, Mr Donner. And as far as I’m concerned, there is no conflict of interest.”
Oliver had explained it all to him in their meeting. He wouldn’t have editorial input as such, as he would be dealing mostly with the Planet’s legal and business teams. He would technically be the boss of the editor-in-chief and all department heads would report to both of them. He wouldn’t be assigning stories and would have little or no interaction with the reporters.
“I believe I know what you’re getting at, Mr Donner, and if you’re about to suggest there is any impropriety in our company’s purchase of the Daily Planet, then you may find yourself on the wrong end of a defamation suit. For those of you who do not know my company’s history, my father attempted to buy this newspaper a year or so before he died, but his purchase was blocked by Luthorcorp.
“The fact that my wife is a former Daily Planet reporter or that her cousin is still employed by this newspaper has little bearing on our decision.
“As for the so-called rumours that my brother is dating Miss Lane, let me lay that to rest now. At this moment in time, they are not a couple. Should the nature of their relationship change, that is up to them. Their personal lives are just that. Personal. And they will not be fodder for some tabloid rag to create problems where there are none.”
Oliver’s firm tone was a clear message to the rest of the reporters to drop the matter. Thankfully, they took heed and moved on to questions about the company’s purchase and Oliver’s plans for restructuring. Clark’s job would be to look into the paper’s budget and see where they could make improvements without it costing too much.
By the time the reporters filed out, it was almost six. Clark joined his family in the limousine.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Oliver said.
“I’m glad you shot down that weasel Donner,” Chloe said. “I got a call from one of my old friends at the Inquisitor. Apparently he was steaming mad over some photos that didn’t turn out.”
Clark bit his lip. “Uh, yeah, that was me,” he said. “He was pestering Lois and I might have, um, used my heat vision. Just a little.”
Oliver’s eyes widened. “You wrecked his camera?” He began to laugh.
His mother stared at him. “Darling, that wasn’t very nice,” she scolded.
“Well, he wouldn’t leave her alone. He just kept taking photos of her, even when she asked him to stop.”
Chloe and Oliver exchanged a look. “What?” he asked.
“It’s not like you to do something so un-Superman-like,” Chloe pointed out. “Especially in defence of Lois.”
“Well, she didn’t deserve to be hounded by the paparazzi,” he said.
“Yeah, right,” Chloe said with a snicker. “This from the guy who said she was stuck-up and rude? You know what Shakespeare said.”
He scowled at her. “I don’t like Lois that way.”
“Sure, and I’m a monkey’s uncle,” Oliver told him. “I think you’re in denial, bro.”
Clark glared at his brother. “I’m not in denial. And don’t call me bro.”
“Now don’t fight, darlings, please,” his mother said. “Clark, sweetheart, I think Chloe might be onto something. I’ve never known you to get this upset over a young woman before. I hate to say it, but I remember when you were dating Lana. The paparazzi were chasing you even then.”
“But we were dating!” he said, even knowing his argument was a little weak.
It had started when Oliver had returned supposedly from the dead. The press had sniffed a good story and like predators they had pounced on it. It hadn’t helped that both he and his brother were considered extremely photogenic. He’d even been approached by a photographer once and asked to model a new fashion line for men. He’d done his research on the man and discovered he was a sleaze looking to take advantage of boys. Luckily Clark hadn’t been that naïve.
Since then, every time they went to a red-carpet event, their photos would be in the society pages the next day. Before Oliver and Chloe had got married, every society column would have rumours of his brother dating the current ‘It Girl’.
It had certainly made things more difficult for them both when they decided to become Green Arrow and Superman respectively. Then again, Oliver had become adept at avoiding the press.
As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew his mother was right. There had been the odd occasion where Lana had been pestered because of their relationship, but he hadn’t been nearly as upset over it as he was over what had happened with Lois. Maybe part of it was the fact that they weren’t even dating, but he felt bad for her. She hadn’t deserved to be put in that situation, no matter how badly she had behaved when they were together, or afterward.
Clark laughed quietly to himself as Lois left. Perry had called him shortly after the reporter had left his office, telling him she had been extremely upset and deeply apologetic for her actions the other day. He had been surprised when his doorman had called and told him Lois was on the way up with a huge fruit basket.
He looked at the gift. Rather an unusual way to apologise, but from what the editor had told him, Lois had a habit of putting her foot in it then making some kind of gesture to make up for it. It must have cost her a small fortune. Not that he cared how much she’d spent. The gesture had been appreciated though.
He bit into the apple he’d offered her and picked up some papers from the table he’d been meaning to study before the announcement on Friday. As uncertain as he had been about taking over as publisher of the Daily Planet, both his brother and Perry had made a lot of sense. The newspaper needed someone who actually knew the journalism business and was interested in producing quality reporting, not someone who cared more about making a profit.
It wasn’t as if they actually needed the revenue, he thought. Queen Industries was doing very well for itself.
They would be calling a press conference to make the announcement. Perry had told him that he was going to get his best business reporter to cover the story. Since Lois was the staff investigative reporter, not to mention the fact that she was related to them by marriage, she had been told in no uncertain terms that she was to steer clear. She could be at the press conference but as an observer, not as a participant.
His housekeeper came in as he finished reading the documents.
“Your dinner is in the oven. If there is nothing else you’ll be needing tonight, Mr Queen, I’ll take my leave.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Mrs Adams. Have a good night.”
“You too, sir,” she said with a smile.
Clark watched her go. His mother had insisted he at least have someone to cook his meals and keep his apartment clean. Despite his abilities, and the two years he’d spent travelling and taking care of himself, she worried about him alone in the penthouse. She was subtly hinting it was time he settled down and found someone but given the problems he’d had in the past, he wasn’t sure he wanted the hassle of dating only to find they were only with him because of his money.
As much as they had not gotten along on the date, Clark had noticed that Lois didn’t treat him any differently than she would anyone else. She didn’t seem to care who he was or how much money he had.
Oliver had told him that when he’d first met Lois, she had punched him in the arm and told him he’d better treat her cousin well, or else. If Chloe hadn’t already warned him about her cousin’s tendency to follow up on those threats, he would have laughed it off. Despite her apparent abrasiveness, when she loved, she loved wholeheartedly and was loyal to a fault. She was far from perfect, according to Chloe, but then again, who was?
God knew, he had his share of faults. As a child, he’d been frustrated, hampered by the fact that he was unable to just use his abilities whenever he wanted. As he’d matured, he’d begun to realise exactly why that was. His parents had often warned him there were unscrupulous people out there who would exploit him. He’d learned that lesson the hard way when his father had died. He still didn’t know all the details but Oliver had told him it had something to do with the Luthors.
He’d had a couple of run-ins with Lex, as Superman. The man had made it very clear he didn’t like Superman and would do anything to expose him as a liar – that he wasn’t there to protect the people of Metropolis. As far as Lex was concerned he was dangerous and not to be trusted.
He took off his glasses and pinched his nose tiredly. There were times when he forgot he was wearing them. As much as he had hated the idea, Oliver had made a good point. He didn’t want people recognising him. As Superman, he also had a transmitter hidden inside the suit which allowed him to project a slightly different image of himself. That way, anyone who knew him when he was younger would also not recognise Superman as the youngest Queen.
He rose from the couch and went into the kitchen to check on his dinner. The housekeeper had put the oven on a timer so he wouldn’t forget to pull it out. It still had about five minutes which meant he had time to call home.
His mother answered. While they had a housekeeper and a couple of maids, she preferred to do most things herself.
“Hi Mom.”
“Hello darling. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. I just wanted to tell you I talked to Lois and she’s coming to dinner on Friday.”
“That’s wonderful, sweetheart. Your brother’s still at work, but Chloe’s here. Did you want to talk to her?”
“No, that’s okay, Mom. I’ll see her on Friday.”
“All right.” She paused. “What have you been up to today?”
“Not much. Just researching for an article. Lois came over. She brought a fruit basket as an apology for the other day.” His mother sighed.
“Oh, that poor dear. When I talked to Perry, he said she was beside herself. I hope you weren’t too harsh with her.”
“No, Mom. I promise.”
“That’s good.” The oven timer dinged loudly. “Is that the oven?” she asked.
“Yeah. The housekeeper left dinner for me.”
“Well, I should let you go eat. I love you, honey.”
“Love you too, Mom. See you in a couple days.”
That Friday afternoon, an hour before the press conference, Clark headed to the Daily Planet to meet with Perry. As he walked up the stairs to the tenth floor, he bumped into someone coming the other way.
“Hey, watch it!” The woman looked up, her eyes widening. “Uh, Clark. I didn’t … what are you doing here?”
He knew she’d been told about Oliver’s purchase of the Planet but didn’t know exactly how much she had been told.
“I’m just going to a meeting with Perry.” He looked her over. She was wearing a pink blouse today with a charcoal grey wool skirt and a jacket in the same fabric. While it was attractive, it looked a little too much ‘power suit’ to him, making him wonder if she was wearing it as some kind of armour. He didn’t know her that well but she gave off the impression that she put up a lot of walls to protect herself. “Anyway, the press conference is in an hour. Are you going to be there?”
Her smile was a little wobbly. “Uh, sure. I guess. I mean, I’m not allowed to cover the story. Conflict of interest and all that, but I guess I could provide some moral support.”
He smiled. “It’s not my first press conference,” he said.
“I wasn’t meaning you,” she said crossly. “I meant your Mom.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Lane.”
She huffed. “Well, I suppose you can’t be all bad with a Mom that cool.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
She punched his shoulder. “Enjoy it while it lasts, Queen, but don’t get a swelled head over it.”
He shook his head, trying to think of something witty to retort. Lois smirked at him and carried on downstairs. He sighed and continued up to Perry’s office, wishing she didn’t affect him as much as she did.
The press conference was being held in the foyer of the Daily Planet. They’d invited reporters from all the local media. Unfortunately that also meant someone from the Inquisitor was in attendance. Clark looked over the assembled reporters, looking for Donner. He spotted the balding man in the crowd.
Oliver stepped up to the makeshift podium. Perry stood beside him, while Chloe and their mother were behind Oliver. Clark quickly looked around for Lois and saw her standing on the stairs. She obviously spotted him and sent him a nod.
Oliver cleared his throat.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming. As of three o’clock this afternoon, Queen Industries is now the owner and publisher of the Daily Planet.”
There were a few murmurs among the reporters. Some put their hands up for questions. His brother held up his hand and gestured for them to put their hands down.
“We’ll have time for questions in a few minutes. Now, we know the Daily Planet has a proud tradition dating back at least two hundred years and has a reputation for hard-hitting journalism. We hope to continue that tradition. Yes, there will need to be some restructuring. Technology has changed and newspapers need to change with it.”
Clark tuned out as Oliver continued, watching the reaction from the crowd. Most of them didn’t seem too perturbed, although a few of them began fidgeting as the speech went on, clearly itching to ask questions.
He heard his name mentioned and looked up, realising Oliver was gesturing toward him.
“You all know my brother. Clark has agreed to take up the post as publisher.”
He glanced up at Lois, who looked stunned at this news.
“Now, we’ll take some questions from the floor.”
Donner raised his hand. “Mr Queen, there are rumours that your brother is in a relationship with a reporter on the Daily Planet. Given that you’re now the owner, wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?”
Oliver glared pointedly at the reporter
“Rumours which, by all accounts, you started, Mr Donner. And as far as I’m concerned, there is no conflict of interest.”
Oliver had explained it all to him in their meeting. He wouldn’t have editorial input as such, as he would be dealing mostly with the Planet’s legal and business teams. He would technically be the boss of the editor-in-chief and all department heads would report to both of them. He wouldn’t be assigning stories and would have little or no interaction with the reporters.
“I believe I know what you’re getting at, Mr Donner, and if you’re about to suggest there is any impropriety in our company’s purchase of the Daily Planet, then you may find yourself on the wrong end of a defamation suit. For those of you who do not know my company’s history, my father attempted to buy this newspaper a year or so before he died, but his purchase was blocked by Luthorcorp.
“The fact that my wife is a former Daily Planet reporter or that her cousin is still employed by this newspaper has little bearing on our decision.
“As for the so-called rumours that my brother is dating Miss Lane, let me lay that to rest now. At this moment in time, they are not a couple. Should the nature of their relationship change, that is up to them. Their personal lives are just that. Personal. And they will not be fodder for some tabloid rag to create problems where there are none.”
Oliver’s firm tone was a clear message to the rest of the reporters to drop the matter. Thankfully, they took heed and moved on to questions about the company’s purchase and Oliver’s plans for restructuring. Clark’s job would be to look into the paper’s budget and see where they could make improvements without it costing too much.
By the time the reporters filed out, it was almost six. Clark joined his family in the limousine.
“Well, that went better than expected,” Oliver said.
“I’m glad you shot down that weasel Donner,” Chloe said. “I got a call from one of my old friends at the Inquisitor. Apparently he was steaming mad over some photos that didn’t turn out.”
Clark bit his lip. “Uh, yeah, that was me,” he said. “He was pestering Lois and I might have, um, used my heat vision. Just a little.”
Oliver’s eyes widened. “You wrecked his camera?” He began to laugh.
His mother stared at him. “Darling, that wasn’t very nice,” she scolded.
“Well, he wouldn’t leave her alone. He just kept taking photos of her, even when she asked him to stop.”
Chloe and Oliver exchanged a look. “What?” he asked.
“It’s not like you to do something so un-Superman-like,” Chloe pointed out. “Especially in defence of Lois.”
“Well, she didn’t deserve to be hounded by the paparazzi,” he said.
“Yeah, right,” Chloe said with a snicker. “This from the guy who said she was stuck-up and rude? You know what Shakespeare said.”
He scowled at her. “I don’t like Lois that way.”
“Sure, and I’m a monkey’s uncle,” Oliver told him. “I think you’re in denial, bro.”
Clark glared at his brother. “I’m not in denial. And don’t call me bro.”
“Now don’t fight, darlings, please,” his mother said. “Clark, sweetheart, I think Chloe might be onto something. I’ve never known you to get this upset over a young woman before. I hate to say it, but I remember when you were dating Lana. The paparazzi were chasing you even then.”
“But we were dating!” he said, even knowing his argument was a little weak.
It had started when Oliver had returned supposedly from the dead. The press had sniffed a good story and like predators they had pounced on it. It hadn’t helped that both he and his brother were considered extremely photogenic. He’d even been approached by a photographer once and asked to model a new fashion line for men. He’d done his research on the man and discovered he was a sleaze looking to take advantage of boys. Luckily Clark hadn’t been that naïve.
Since then, every time they went to a red-carpet event, their photos would be in the society pages the next day. Before Oliver and Chloe had got married, every society column would have rumours of his brother dating the current ‘It Girl’.
It had certainly made things more difficult for them both when they decided to become Green Arrow and Superman respectively. Then again, Oliver had become adept at avoiding the press.
As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew his mother was right. There had been the odd occasion where Lana had been pestered because of their relationship, but he hadn’t been nearly as upset over it as he was over what had happened with Lois. Maybe part of it was the fact that they weren’t even dating, but he felt bad for her. She hadn’t deserved to be put in that situation, no matter how badly she had behaved when they were together, or afterward.
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