She had been at his funeral; she had cried her eyes out, mourning the loss of that clown she had cared so much about. She had seen the plane crash. It had been all too real. Krusty had died—he was dead.

…Or so she had thought. He had only led everyone to believe that he had died. And for what? To escape taxes. This big charade—making millions of children upset—devastated that their TV hero, Krusty the Clown, was gone. They'd never seen another episode of their beloved cartoon.

He'd fooled her, too. Miss Pennycandy was a wreck. Losing the man she loved…She'd never even told him how she'd felt. She'd dreamed and dreamed of the day she would tell him—how perfect it would be. He'd confess his affections, as well, he'd take her in his arms and give her a passionate kiss. He'd invite her to live in his mansion. Oh, they'd live happily ever after.

But she had been sure that was a lost cause by now. She'd thought the man was dead—that scenario would never happen.

She had been readying herself to tidy up the man's unfinished affairs, to clean up the studio…

But then.

Then…

She discovered the truth. The man had lied—it was all a charade. A big, stupid charade. A harmful one, at that. Oh, she was so mad. Relieved, but so mad.

Had he even considered the effect it would have on people? The children who watched his show? His father? His daughter, Sophie? His co-workers? His faithful executive assistant?!

No. Clearly, he hadn't. He had only been thinking of himself. He was just a big, selfish clown. …But God, was she glad he was alive. But not glad enough not to give him a piece of her mind!

She gave him the cold shoulder at work. It went unnoticed when all he was doing was giving her orders, and of course she obeyed them.

The day was nearly over; she was running out of time. The anger had been boiling inside of her all day. Finally, she snapped. She spoke calmly at first, not even looking up from her desk. "How do you live with yourself?"

"Huh?" the clown responded. "How do I live with myself? Well, I'd say 'myself' is pretty good company!" He laughed—that goofy clown laugh that always made Lois smile. She giggled a little before remembering she was angry at the man and frowned. Her voice rose just a little. "You know what I mean, Krusty."

"'Fraid not!" the man shrugged, with an indifferent look on his face.

That was it. She could not be calm any longer. She exploded. Standing up, her fists clenched into little balls, and she exclaimed, "Did you think no one would care if you died, Krusty?!"

"But I didn't die, Miss Pennycandy…"

"You made everyone believe you did! You disappointed millions of children! You upset people who love you—your father, your daughter, Mel…." She counted on her fingers as she named them off, and added quieter, with a painful look in her eyes, "…and me."

"I…I'm sorry, Miss Pennycandy," Krusty frowned, still not entirely sure why she was taking this so personally. He was right here—alive. Shouldn't she be relieved? Why was she so angry?

"When I'd found out what happened—what you wanted us to believe happened—I was devastated. I felt like a piece of me was missing…"

"Missing? Oh—you'd be out of a good paying job, huh?"

Lois was getting frustrated with the man. She was trying to express how she felt, and he was too dense to understand. "It wasn't about the money. It was never about the money. The reason I love this job is because I can spend time with you…"

"Spend time with me?" Krusty raised his eyes. "You're not spending time with me. You're doing your job, I'm constantly giving you orders…Sometimes, I'm less than nice to you…"

"It doesn't matter, Krusty. I'd do anything for you."

"Well, yeah, it's your job," he chuckled.

Tears were brimming in Lois's eyes. Frustrated tears. "It's because I love you!" She blurted out. Realizing what she said, she blushed, clamping her hands to her mouth with a squeak.

If possible, what with his clown makeup, Krusty turned pale. He felt as if his stomach had dropped to the floor. "W-what? Since when?"

"A…a good many years," Lois admitted, not able to look at the man, as her eyes stayed fixated on her shoes.

"W-why didn't you say something?"

"Would it have made a difference?"

"…Possibly." Krusty had had his eye on his assistant from time to time, but figured she'd never in a million years want anything to do with a guy like him.

But Lois wanted everything to do with him. Sure, he had his flaws, he'd had his mess-ups, his downfalls…but she'd been right there with him through it all, selflessly cleaning him up and getting him ready again to go on stage for his next show. All out of love, admiration, desire…

Sure, he could frustrate her sometimes, but if she wasn't there to pick him up when he fell, who would? Even Krusty had to admit she was the best assistant he'd ever had. She was remarkable. He wouldn't let her go for the world.

The silence was killing Lois. She stepped forward, straightening the clown's bowtie. "That was bothering me," she said with a light chuckle.

Upon glancing up at him, she found he was staring at her with an innocent curiosity. She smiled softly to him, looking into his eyes, and his curiosity seemed to turn to admiration. The next thing Lois knew, they were leaning in to kiss!

Sure, this was not the exact scenario she'd imagined. The way she'd blurted out her love in frustration was not as planned, but…

As he swept her up and set her upon her desk and kissed her lips with such love, she knew she wouldn't have had this go any other way.

How could she stay angry at this man? Certainly not while he was kissing her in such a way.

But he had faked his death, caused a lot of people pain…

She was half tempted to pull away and express that she was still mad at him, but as his hand ran up her leg under her skirt, that notion flew right out of her head.

He'd melted it right out of her.

Look what you've done, Krusty… She thought to herself, a bit amused.