Caring Fake-Out

   Clark stepped into the Daily Star office and was quickly greeted by a stack of papers.
   "Sort these."
   Lois handed Clark a huge stack of papers about two feet high.  It nearly fell over.
   "Um... Lois?  What are these?"
   "They're hard-copies of every article we've published over the last year.  They're all out of order.  So sort them."
   Clark awkwardly tried to give her a raised eyebrow over the stack.
   "These don't actually need to be sorted right this second, do they?"
   She turned and gave him her ultra-serious "I own your job" look.
   "You got a problem with that, Smallville?  In case you forgot, I'm still your boss.  I say when our paper crap needs to be sorted.  Got that?"
   Clark figured that Lois was probably being abrasive either because she was hurting from being dumped or because she didn't want to deal with their "moment" the night before.  Probably both.  Then again, Lois being abrasive wasn't exactly unusual, so it was hard to tell.  If anything, she was back to "normal."
   Still, however, he figured he should at least try to get through to her a little bit.
   "Lois, um... about last night—"
   "Don't, Clark.  Just don't.  I know we had a bit of a... 'moment' there, but... I have to figure some things out.  By myself.  Talk can come later."
   Clark nodded understandingly.
   "Well, y'know, Lois, I've been thinking, and I should probably take a little bit of time off from the Star.  I mean, there hasn't been much news lately, and Luthorcorp's been really quiet."
   Lois was surprised.  "Really?" she said.  "No 'hey, Lois, you know I'm always here for you,' or 'are you sure you wanna be alone' speeches?"
   Clark smirked a little.  "Nope.  None of that.  You say you need to be alone, so you can be alone."
   Lois wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or impressed.  "Huh.  Okay then, Smallville.  Take a week off."
   "Thanks, boss," he said with a sarcastic grin.
   As he turned to leave, Lois's phone rang.  She looked at the call ID: Chloe Sullivan.
   "Hey Chloe.  What's up?"
   "Hey, Lois," Chloe said, "I just got a really weird call from Clark.  He said you probably needed someone to talk to?"
   Flustered, Lois turned to Clark, who was halfway out the door, a clever grin plastered over his face.  Apparently, he wasn't going to let her mope and brood, even if she wanted to.