She’d been waiting for him to talk to her. It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed the glances in her direction every few minutes at first, but after awhile Lois had gotten so drawn into her work, so focused on what she was writing that she’d been able to tune Clark out for awhile. Which had helped because hearing him talk only reminded her of Chloe which in turn reminded her that she wouldn’t ever hear Chloe’s voice again. Throwing herself into article and research was easier to do than think about what had happened and what she needed to do.
“You know for a reporter you’re not all that good at seeing the obvious,” Lois murmured, trying to force her voice into its usual joking tone, but it sounded flat to her. “I’m making coffee.”
She looked at him and then nodded at the brewing pot before turning her attention back to it. Lois knew that wasn’t the answer he wanted, it wasn’t really answering his question, but she didn’t want to go into why she was wearing herself out in the office instead of...doing what exactly? Laying in bed crying like Lucy had done after their mother had passed away or going off to train soldiers again like their father had done shortly after they had buried her, leaving the burden of comforting her sister to Lois and no one to offer a shoulder for her to lean on. No one except the cousin who had called her every night. That same cousin she would never speak to again.
She stopped the line of thought immediately, steeling her emotions as she rubbed at her temples, trying to will away the headache she could sense coming. She dropped her hands once she realized what she was doing, not wanting to add anymore to what Clark was probably already worrying about.
“Why are you here?” Lois countered, tapping her fingers against the counter and wishing the coffee would brew faster. She knew he was finished with his workload, knew shift time had ended and he had no reason to be hanging around. Definitely had no reason to be following her into the breakroom. She glanced behind her, rolling her eyes as a number of their coworkers quickly turned away from the room, and she knew they had been watching them. This was only going to add fuel to the Lois and Clark joke fire that had been burning since she’d stepped foot in the door.
Sighing she turned back to look at him before picking up the pot to pour herself a cup. “Go home, Clark.”