Lois had her head stuck in the ground and it was obvious that it worked in more ways than one. Writing wasn't her only escape. She was deflecting his question and she was probably doing so in the hope that Clark would back off and let her be. If Lois was smart - and the last he checked, she was - then she had to know that Clark wasn't the type of person who would just turn the other way. Not now. Not when she was hurting so badly. Clark had sat in his chair for hours watching Lois function like a robot. He wouldn't do it again.
At her remark, Clark tipped his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it." That didn't mean that she was going to give him a straight answer. He wanted her to; if she did, he wouldn't have to go through with his plan. All of this burying would fall apart once she admitted that something was wrong. It had to, right? If she admitted that she was hurting, if she acknowledged that she was here trying to pretend like she hadn't just lost the only family she had in this world, then Clark could help her. No, he couldn't make her stop hurting and he certainly couldn't bring Chloe back, no matter how badly he wished that he could, but Clark could be there for her. He could and would support her, but only if Lois was willing to let him in. She had to let herself in first, though, and that just wasn't something that was going to happen in the middle of a stuffy office filled with prying eyes.
"I want to talk to you," Clark started. He paused, blue eyes flashing toward the handful of people who were attempting to master the noble sport of Awkwardly Spying on a Co-Worker Without Being Noticed. Maybe it was because he had been putting it into practice all day himself, but Clark had noticed that they weren't very good at it. He shook his head in exasperation. "Privately. I know you're --" Being difficult. Avoiding the fact that Chloe is dead. "-- busy, but it's important." He doubted that Lois would just walk off with him, knowing that he wanted to talk to her about the very thing she was steering clear of, so Clark added a little incentive to ensure that she did. "It'll be short. Couple minutes, tops. Then I'll let you get back to it, all right?"
Clark pushed away from the wall, large frame swinging around so that he was standing between Lois and the door that led back to her desk. "Please. Give me a few minutes. I can't go home until you do."