Hope

12 - familiar

Following that moment, Clark drove home and dropped Alex off at her apartment, after a heated kiss on her doorstep. Once he knew she was at home and safe, he walked next door and stepped into his own home, shutting down for the night.

The next morning, Clark woke fresh and early, thanks to the fact that he and Alex had no alcohol the night before, which helped his ability to get up for work. Alex, too got up freshly, getting dressed with a smile on her face.

The two made their way to work again together, saying their goodbyes before going their separate ways. Clark walked into his office, brushing past Lois again, but not bothering to say sorry again. It seemed that no matter how many times he apologized, it went one ear and out the other. He felt he had done it enough at this point. When he made his way to his desk, there was another file, not much of a surprise to him. He opened it, and swallowed thickly, seeing more pictures of Alex, and newspaper articles, and most of all, a photo that someone must have taken of them on their date the night before. It was of them embracing in front of the restaurant, after Alex had told Clark about the calls she had been getting. Kent, furious, shut the file and shoved it into his bag with force, running hand through his curls with frustration and slight helplessness.

"Dang, Kent. You good?" A co-worker walking past the scene asked, clearly concerned.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Just.. a lot happening."

"Sorry, man. Hey.. uh, LexCorp is having this thing tonight. Aren't you going?"

   "Thing? I don't know about it."

"Have you checked your email?"

   "No, not yet."

"That's why. LexCorp is having a dinner to celebrate the upcoming anniversary. All of us are invited, and encouraged to bring a plus one."

   "I'll uh— I'll check with my plus one, if she'd like to go."

"Cool. Hope I see you there." The co-worker said, patting Clark's shoulder as he walked away with the paper cup of coffee in his hand. Clark sat down and used the phone on his desk to dial up Alex's number, to ask her if she wanted to go tonight. The electronic ring sounded for a few seconds, before someone picked up.

"Hello?" Her feminine voice came through.

"Alex. It's Clark, I'm calling from work."

"Oh, hey, what's up?"

"Nothing, really. I just got an invitation for some party at LexCorp HQ, and I was just wondering if you would be my plus one?"

"I mean— I don't have anything else planned, so yeah. Sounds fun."

"Great. I'll see you later then."

"Mhm, have a good day!"

"You too."

With that, the phone call ended, and Clark attempted to continue with his day, occasionally going through and reading the old newspaper snippets that were stored in those files. What was this person trying to tell Clark about Alex? Were they trying to drive him away? Warn him? Threaten him? He didn't understand. He also didn't want to ask Alex about all these things. Kent believed that a woman like her will share details about her life in time, that it was none of his business to ask too much about her past. Especially when she wanted to escape it by moving to a brand new city. He needed to pace himself, and be careful, especially since he knew that she had been receiving mysterious phone calls. Someone was trying to get to them.