Hope

05 - glow

the music for this chapter is Buzzcut Season by Lorde.

A week had passed, and Alex hasn't received any mysterious calls. However, Clark could say differently. He had been getting a file with Alex's name every day on his desk at work. They started to contain more content in them, like a copy of her driver's license, her passport, and different clips from old newspapers that she was mentioned in. It was all so mysterious. Clark threw the files away, but kept the content in the first file he had, incase he needed it. Clark, by all means, did not have any suspicion about Alex. He believed she was a good person, that was framed for something she didn't do, which caused everyone's eyes to be on her every move. He didn't blame her.

Alex never got anymore calls, but she got emails. Emails with strange greetings, even some with threats. The agent tried her best to ignore it. That didn't help. It began to keep her up at night, and then affect her work performance, which then resulted in berating from her boss. Already, Alex had eyes on her, whether it be from the curious journalists that have numerous questions as to why she left her home to this new city, or all her co-workers with similar questions, or Clark.. his eyes weren't hateful and harsh. His were gentle, welcoming. So blue, so serene, so peaceful. Every move he made was careful, and the way he looked out for her as she unpacked heavy boxes as if Alex was the most delicate thing in the world, despite her attitude and stature. They had only been friends for a while, but getting together for coffee or lunch almost every day for a whole week brought them closer, not to mention late night, drunken talks about whatever it was that came to their minds, yet they'd still remember every word the morning after.

Alex finished work that night, exhaustion evident on her face as she left the building. As soon as she was outside, she pulled out her phone and texted Clark:

A: Hey, just got done. Wanna come over for dinner?

C: hey, sorry, a little held up here tonight :(. i'll let u know if I get done early

A: No problem :) good luck

C: thanks

Once she put her phone away, Alex had an idea. She was going to surprise her friend Clark at the office. She rushed home as fast as she could, avoiding the subway. As soon as she got home, Parrish ran inside, dumped her stuff on the couch, and rushed to the kitchen, where she began making dinner. After she finally finished, Alex checked the clock to see if she took long. Forty minutes. Not too bad, considering she rushed, while also trying not to leave out any important ingredients. She packed Clark's dinner securely with foil over the top of the plate it was in, then took it in her hand to the Daily Planet office. Quickly finding a cab, she made her way to the office for her great surprise.

Finally, Alex reached Clark's floor, and her hazel brown eyes searched the room for the top of Clark's head. Found it. Dark, unruly curls that spiraled everywhere just couldn't be missed. She slowly made her way to his cubicle and gently tapped the plastic wall, making Kent's head jolt up, clearly startled. As soon as he saw her, standing there, with a witty smile on her face and a foil-covered plate in her hand, his shocked expression turned to relieved, flashing her a bright smile. The room was dark, only one other light besides the lamp on Clark's desk glowed through the maze of plastic walls, and that was another unfortunate soul, stuck in the emotionless, grey prison to complete unfinished work.

"Alex? What are you doing here?"

   "Surprise! I made you dinner, and I came to keep you company, duh."

Clark chuckled at her attitude and nodded his head, appreciating the trouble she went to, simply to show how much she cared for him. He took the foil covered plate and took the protective wrapping off to see that she made him pasta, which in fact smelled amazing.

"Wow... thank you, so much." He mumbled as Alex rolled a chair from another booth to sit in, Clark scooting over to give her space. Alex nodded, smiling at him as he started to take a few bites, humming out in satisfaction, which pretty much told Parrish that he loved it. She chuckled and rubbed his shoulder in response.

   "Unfortunately, I forgot the wine, so you're going to have to wash it down with water."

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on drinking tonight. Especially not here."

The two talked amongst themselves, Clark leaving his work on hold just to listen to the woman sitting across from him. Once he finished his dinner, he thanked Alex almost the fourth time that night and wiped his face after drinking some water.

"So.. how have things been over there? You look more tired every day."

   "It's been... well, I can't lie to you. It's been hell. Between the critiques I get from my boss, to the shade I get from co-workers that are too eager to get into my business.. it's been hell." Alex started, sighing and shaking her head, "and.. I left someone back in New York. I didn't love him, but I feels like everyone in the world knows, and they're all just— staring at me with disgust. None of them want to help me, I've made no friends.. I just... I don't know what to do.." as she finished her last sentence, her voice started to break. Alex began to cry. Warm tears made from frustration and vulnerability started to stream down her cheeks uncontrollably. The agent shook her head, trying to hold back whatever she's held back for the longest time, but the bottle was simply too full, so it overflowed in front of the strongest, yet most gentle man in the world.

Clark stared at her as she slowly began to break down. There she sat, breaking, vulnerable, emotionally and mentally naked, and to Clark, she still looked so pretty. He reached a hand over and pushed the hair loosely dangling in front of her face behind her ear, wiping the tear-stained cheek as he did so. Doing this to both cheeks made him roll closer to her. She lifted her head and stared back at him, sniffling occasionally. The warm light from the lamp sitting on Clark's desk highlighted her gentle features; her cheeks, the pool of tears in her eyes, her top of her upper lip. She was simply glowing. Clark's eyebrows remained furrowed as he stared into her sad brown eyes for a moment, silence engulfing the once chatty couple. Alex also stared at the journalist's eyes, how they looked almost turquoise against the warm light. She let herself drown in the pool of blue, for the first time in a long time, feeling safe, secure, protected.

Kent moved his fingers along Alex's cheek, letting them hold her jawline like it was the most delicate thing he had ever touched before pulling her face in whilst leaning in himself until both his and her lips met, meshing together the way blue and red did, making the beautiful shade of purple. It was perfect. Both Clark and Alexandra forgot about the hard times they've had lately, simply falling into each other.