Chapter 6 “Subdued”

Jimmy had never seen the Daily Planet this subdued. The people were quiet. The only sound in the otherwise noisy room was the rhythmic ticking of fingernails on the keyboards.

Richard White had been a popular man in office. The news that he had died in hospital, two hours after the collapse last week, had had a devastating impact on the Planet’s reporters.

Lois Lane hadn’t made an appearance the whole week, Nobody knew how she was holding up, because she didn’t answer the phone or the doorbell. Rumour had it that she and Jason had moved out of the house.

Perry White was only present because he couldn’t be missed. He sat quietly in his office, and no one was summoned.

Jimmy found himself lost in thought every so many seconds. He hadn’t been that close to Richard, but he had liked the man and the image of his broken and bloodied form in Superman’s arms haunted him day and night.

No, it was in fact thanks to the hard-working people like Clark Kent that The Daily Planet managed to produce something at all. They were working fast, efficient, silent and around the clock to finish enough articles for the newspaper before the deadline.

Jimmy smoothed out a couple of wrinkles in his suit. This evening was Richard’s funeral, along with the other 25 people who had died that day. Most of his fellow colleagues were dressed formally for the occasion the entire Daily Planet crew was going to attend. Richard White had been a popular man in office, indeed.