Hello, this is my first story. Scary, right? If you're still reading after that, I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Superman or any associated characters.

Chapter 1: The New Girl

Lois didn't like the new society reporter. It wasn't because Perry had given the extra budget money to the society section whose daily dribble could hardly be called "news." Neither was it because this new reporter was sexy and gorgeous and most definitely knew it. It was because the newly introduced Catherine "Cat" Grant seemed to have set her promiscuous little sights on Clark Kent, and he, being Clark, had no idea.

It had started almost as soon as she arrived. In the morning staff meeting, as Perry introduced Miss Grant to the entire staff, she scanned the assortment of individuals with a certain disdain. However, the look in her eyes had changed when they reached Clark Kent. A slow vertical scan up and down was followed by a shift to a predatory stare. Lois noticed the whole thing; she also noticed that Clark's mind seemed completely elsewhere. In fact, he had that distant look in his eyes that he sometimes got, the look that meant he wasn't really paying attention to anything that was happening around him.

Lois, as Clark's partner and friend, felt a certain obligation to protect him from Miss Grant's not-so-honorable intentions. She thought about warning him right after the meeting, but when they left the office, he dashed away murmuring something about forgetting an appointment. She resolved to speak to him when he returned.

Unfortunately, those plans were dashed, as Lois had to leave on another Superman assignment about ten minutes later. This assignment turned into three hours of interviews and another two of writing before going to pick Jason up from school. By the time she had gotten back to the bullpen with Jason in tow, Cat had already made her way over to Clark's desk and was shamelessly flirting with him. There was a rather lost expression on his face, one that just screamed for someone to come and rescue him.

She bent down. "Jason, why don't you go visit Mr. Jimmy for a few minutes?"

"Okay," Jason said as he trotted off to find the young photographer.

Lois turned and strode over to Clark's desk determined to remove Cat's claws from Clark if she had to pry them away by hand.

Clark had run out quickly after the morning staff meeting to attend to a fire in another part of the city. Several hours and many other small emergencies later, he finally arrived back at the Daily Planet bullpen glad that he could type faster than the average human. He glanced over to Lois' desk and, noticing she was not there, decided that she must be picking Jason up from school. He loved when she brought Jason into the office, giving him another chance to spend time with his kid. Not that Lois knew that, she still thought that Jason only spent time with his father when Superman came to visit him.

Clark sat down, prepared to finish writing the article he had been working on before the staff meeting. Just as he opened up the document, he heard the sound of an unfamiliar female voice calling his name.

"Clark Kent, I presume?" said the voice in an obviously amused tone.

Yes?" Clark lifted his head to look in the direction of this new voice and looked into the face of one of the most sensual women he had ever seen. He hadn't really been paying attention during the staff meeting and, for a second, couldn't remember who she was.

In that second, she held out her hand and introduced herself. "Cat Grant, the new columnist. I wanted to introduce myself after the meeting, but you seemed to disappear into thin air. That's quite a trick."

Clark stood up, took her hand and shook it, wondering why she wanted to talk to him. City rarely interacted with the society section, and when it had, he had never been involved. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Grant," he said.

"Cat, please."

Alright, ...Cat." Clark was nervous but didn't know why. Cat seemed friendly if forward. Maybe that was the problem. Clark wasn't used to women being friendly with him, at least not this side of him, and he certainly had never had one come and introduce herself to him unless they wanted something like his stapler or help reaching something on a high shelf.

Cat bent down, exposing just enough of her cleavage to incite the imagination. She grabbed Clark's planner off his desk and flipped it to tomorrow's page. Taking a pen out of Clark's shirt pocket, she wrote her name followed by the word "lunch" into the two hours after noon. "As I see you're not busy tomorrow," she sad as handing Clark back his planner, "we can have lunch together and get to know each other. How does that sound?"

Before Clark could answer her, Lois came up quickly behind Cat, and stepping in front of her proclaimed, "Clark, can you help me get something from the storage room?"

Clark, startled, quickly took back his planner, and said in a high voice, "Sure, Lois."

As Lois practically dragged Clark away, Cat's voice called out behind them, "See you at lunch, Clark."