Chapter 8
"No! You are not doing this to me! The last time I checked Lex, I am still the CEO of this company!!!! Hello? Hello? Agh."
Lena shouts as she throws her phone away, clenching her fist. It has been stressful for her lately. Lex, her brother, has been trying to do a hostile take over of the company. The media is making a fuzz about this and LCorp stocks are dropping as well. Somehow, Lex is putting thoughts in the minds of the board members that Lena is incapable of running LCorp. Lena has been working hard trying to stop this. She can't allow this to happen. Not now when everything seems to be finally in place in her life. She can't just give up the company she has built herself from scratch. It's not just her, it's the employees who have worked hard in her company too. She knows how Lex is. Lex doesn't care about people who have no power. All her brother thinks about is the power and money he could get through LCorp without really thinking of those he may cause harm to along the way. It's safe to say that Lena has been stressed and frustrated lately.
"Ms. luthor?"
"What!?" Lena snaps. She tries to calm herself and breathe as she sees her assistant slightly terrified. "Sorry, Jess. It's the nerves. What is it?"
"Mr. Wayne wants to set up a meeting with you regarding the condition of LCorp. As well as Mr. Queen and Palmer. Ms. Sinclair called and asked if you were still here. And Kara wanted me to tell you and I quote go home now and rest cause it's really late""
Lena sighs, looking at the phone she just threw across her table. She wasn't able to text Veronica she was staying late. She had not even noticed the time. She's tired and she just wants to go home.
"Thank you Jess. The men can wait. Please get a new phone for me with the same number. You can go home now too."
"Right away, Ms. Luthor." Jess says, wondering what can she do for her boss. Lena really looked drained.
"Ms. Luthor?"
Lena looks up from her Laptop and sees Jess' concerned face. She raises an eyebrow, waiting for her assistant to speak up.
"I know you're my boss but Kara can be scary too. She told me to remember that when she finds out you're still here." Jess stutters, looking at Lena's unreadable face.
"So um, Do you want me to tell Charlie to drive you to Ms. Sinclair's now?"
Lena sighs as she closes her laptop. She is the CEO of the company but it seems like her assistant is more afraid of Kara than her who is an actual boss. She shakes her head and smiles remembering the last time Kara scared Jess. Since Kara and Lena have been best friends even before LCorp, Kara was always there. Everyone knows Kara has a free pass in the building. Kara somehow befriended Jess. Lena didn't even know they text each other and were friends until that day when she noticed how distracted her assistant was. Later on, she found out that it was because Kara had gotten mad at her for forgetting Lena was allergic to shrimp. Something that was in Lena's lunch that Jess ordered. Kara basically lectured Jess about it. It was a scary experience for her assistant.
"Yes, plea-" Lena pauses, realizing she was smiling despite being stressed out because of that hazy memory.
"-you know what, never mind. tell Charlie to drive me to Kara's right now. I'll be down shortly"
"No need, Jess." Lena and Jess turn and see Kara smiling by the door.
"Kara?" Lena immediately stands, heading over to Kara. She gives a nod at Jess, signaling her assistant to go home. "What are you doing here."
Kara smiles at Jess before hugging Lena. "Well, i'm here to make sure Jess did her job. And I'm glad she did"
"You do know her job is to do what I tell her to do and not what you tell her, right?"
"Psh!" Kara settles on the couch, Lena doing the same thing as her. "Same thing. How's everything, Lena?"
Lena's smile turns into a frown. She doesn't look at Kara and lets out a deep breath instead. "I don't know if I can do this, Kara. Maybe Lex is right"
Kara shakes her head at the site of Lena like this. She never liked Lex. She could say she didn't see this coming but she saw this coming. Lex has always been a jerk. She just tolerated his presence for Lena.
Clearly, this thing with the company is taking a toll on her best friend. Lena needs to Relax! She lights up as an idea comes to mind. She pulls out her phone and texts a bunch of people for her to pull this off.
Kara smiles, standing and pulling Lena along. "Forget going home and rest. We are going on a roadtrip!"
They've been on the road for hours now. Lena had some sleep while Kara had none since she was driving. She offered to drive but Kara still wont let Lena know where they are going.
"Just trust me, okay? It's the weekend so it's perfect. No work"
"Kara, that doesn't apply to me especially now th-"
"Especially now that you have to relax." Kara cuts Lena off, pulling over as she parks. "We're here"
Kara pulls Lena with here. Clearly the blonde is excited. Lena doesn't exactly know where HERE is. But she's with Kara so it's alright. She lets her best friend take the lead in this road trip. After all, it's been awhile since they've had one. Lena sees Kara talking to the man who seems to be Kara's friend. Before She sees Kara thank the man, He leads them to a backyard which seems to be a chaos. There were plates everywhere, tvs, bottles, broken computers, car parts. They were basically scraps.
What caught Lena's eyes though was the artistic wall in front of her. There were big words on it in a shouting bubble like the ones you see in comic books. Words like ex-lover, mistress, sister-in-law, backstabbing bitch, brother, mother-in-law, classmates, professor, fuck boy, husband, boss, clients and so many more other words. It was a huge wall after all.
Lena turns to Kara, raising her eyebrow. Clearly confused.
Kara rolls her eyes and sighs as she gets one plate from the corner. "You see that wall? That's where you release your anger, Lena. Your emotions. Like this. Ahhhhh!!!"
Kara shouts at the top of her lungs as she throws the plate to the wall. Lena bursts out laughing.
"Come on, Kara. That's ridiculous. You look silly!"
Kara crosses her arms on her chest and pouts. "I'm not going anywhere until you try it"
"Fine!" Lena gets some plates. She throws them and shouts, still laughing.
AAAHHHHHHHHH!!
AAAHHHHHHHHH!!
AAAHHHHHHHHH!!
Lena was now screaming like there's no tomorrow. She was shouting like she's the only person in this world. She hadn't notice when exactly she stopped laughing and started throwing more and more plates at the wall, targeting the word brother.
She stops and tries to stop panting. Kara comes closer to her and rubs her back. Surprisingly, that wasn't useless. She feels like she finally let out all the anger she had been keeping in. Not just about the recent events but also all the negative emotions she's ever had since she was young. She somehow felt lighter. Better.
She turns to Kara, finally breathing normally. Kara smiles at her and pulls her for a hug. "See. It's effective. Let's go!"
The next thing Lena knows is they're in this Filipino restaurant ordering some of its exotic food.
"Kara I don't think I can" Lena gulps, looking at all the food in front of her.
"It's easy come on!" Kara gets the Balut and peels it off. She shows Lena how to eat it.
"Okay. At least that tastes okay." Lena points to another plate. "What's this?"
Kara takes some and eats them. "They're chicken intestines they're really delicious. And these are fried frogs I guess"
"What!? Kara I won't eat this!!"
"Lena, just try them. Remember you said before you wanted to try some exotic food?"
Lena rolls her eyes and gulps as she forces herself to try the food. She smiles at Kara realizing the food is quite delicious to be honest.
"See!" Kara smirks and whispers, "Now when I say go, you run as fast as you could to the car, okay? GO!!"
Kara stands and runs as she hears a confused Lena asking "what?"
She stops and pulls Lena. "Dine and Dash!"
They were both running as fast as they could, laughing as they hear the waiters shouting after them. Kara immediately turns in the engine and drives.
"Woah! I've always wanted to try that." Lena pants as she turns to look at Kara
"I know" Kara whispers, grinning, her eyes fixed on the road"
Lena sees her best friend smile. She can't believe how much fun she's having right now when only a few hours ago, she was so stressed out. She smiles as her gaze are locked on Kara's face. There's an unfamiliar feeling in her stomach. Her heart starts to beat faster. And the noise seems to fade. She couldn't really explain it. All she knows is she's here sitting on the front seat, looking at her best friend, feeling like this. All she knows is she's happy. She really is.
She realizes that her best friend is really beautiful. Even without sleep, Kara still manages to pull off an angelic face. She sees Kara's lips moving as if saying something. But the sounds were just blocked off her mind. All she sees is Kara smiling and feeling like she wants Kara to smile like that always. Every time. Kara turns to Face Lena.
"Lena? Did you hear me? I said We're here."
Lena watches Kara hug and talk to someone she seems to be close with by the bridge. Lena frowns at the sight of this. She wonders if Kara is dating this guy. Lena usually approved with the guys Kara had dated before but she doesn't like this guy. She doesn't like this guy near Kara. Although she doesn't know why but she feels a little jeal- No. She feels a little bit uncomfortable about this guy being close to Kara.
She heads over to Kara at the bridge as she sees her best friend signaling her to come over. Kara was putting some harness on herself and the man was helping her. She felt her stomach twitched as she sees the man touching Kara.
"Here you go."
"What's this?" Lena asks, confused, as she takes the Harness from Kara's hands.
She looks down and steps back as she realizes what Kara is trying to do. Lena has fear of heights. It's her greatest phobia. And seeing the distance from the bridge to the bottom of the river made Lena want to puke.
"No, Kara. Not this"
Kara ignores this as she gets the harness and puts it on Lena while her friend attaches their harness on the bridge. Despite objecting earlier, Lena let Kara put the harness on her.
Kara holds Lena's hand pulling her closer as she walks to edge of the bridge.
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes but-"
Kara shakes her head as she steps on top of the bridge's deck.
"no buts. Do you trust me?"
Kara needed not to ask. Of course Lena trusts her. She trusts Kara with all her life. And Kara has been the only person in Lena's entire existence that hasn't broken her trust. They say trust is earne
Lena would have never stepped on that deck. But seeing those blue eyes looking straight at her, asking the question like her life depended on it, Lena felt the urge to follow Kara. So she stepped on the deck, not looking down, her heart beating rapidly, her hands shaking and knees trembling.
Lena looks at Kara. She sees Kara smiling, slowly turning to face her. When their eyes met the blonde's smile turns wider. Lena's heart beats even faster than ever seeing Kara like this.
"Trust me." Kara whispers while squeezing Lena's hand, smiling. And before Lena could response she pulls Lena as she jumps.
AAAAHHHHHH
AAAAHHHHHH
AAAHHHHHHHH
AAAHHHHHHH
Both of the girls were screaming at the top of their lungs as they experience what Bungee Jumping truly feels like. Lena had initially thought she would feel scared to the point she might want to die but that's not what happened.
Her heart flutters as a memory keep replaying on her mind. It was the first time Kara and Lena met when they were still young. Lena had just saved Kara from a bully. When Kara asked her why, Lena said it's because She and Kara are gonna be friends And when they're friends, when Kara jumps, she jumps. Lena smiles at that memory, somehow forgetting she has fear of heights. She finds it amazing how she is doing the literal thing of what she said to Kara on their first meeting right now. She doesn't know if it's the adrenaline or the memory but she is feeling extra blissful right now.
"When You Jump, I jump!" Lena shouts, smiling at Kara, still holding each other's hands, as the elastic cord attached to them keeps moving up and down. She doesn't really know if Kara heard it. She doesn't care. She just had to say it. To shout it.
By late evening, they have reached National City already. Both girls were very tired and exhausted. So they decided that Lena should just sleep over at Kara's. As soon as they arrived in Kara's apartment, they run and settle for the couch, wanting to Lie down.
"Thanks, Kara. For keeping me distracted from thinking how right my brother is" Lena whispers.
Kara sighs, not answering Lena, leaving her confused. Kara stands and heads to the kitchen. She gets a spoon and the ice cream on the fridge.
"Mint-Pistachio ice cream?" Kara hands Lena the tub of ice cream and the spoon as she sits back at the couch.
"I thought you don't eat this anymore"
Kara smiles. "Some things never change, I guess."
When Kara heard about the LCorp news, she can't help but supply a stock of ice cream again in her fridge, thinking that Lena might want need it in the next few days. And she was right.
"Lena..." Kara starts to speak in a more serious tone. Staring at lena's green eyes intensely. "Lex is wrong. You can do it. I remember you saying before that you've always wanted to try exotic food, dine and dash and many other things but you knew you could never do it. But today, Lena, you did. Even when it's your greatest fear, you did."
Kara holds Lena's hands and squeezes them as she continues.
"That's what I wanted to point out today Lena. You are more than capable of doing the things you've dreamed of. And I wanted to show you that even though no matter how much you fear it, you are still capable of doing it. No matter how much you fear Lena, how much you doubt yourself, you can do it. Lex couldn't have been more wrong."
"Karaa... I... Thank you" Lena whispers, pulling Kara for a hug. She's still overwhelmed by Kara's words. Somehow, she feels a sudden courage, a strength. Somehow, since Kara Danvers believes she can, she believes it too.
What Lena doesn't tell Kara is that it's only because of her. What she doesn't tell Kara is she did everything, that she was able to do those things because Kara was there. What Lena doesn't tell Kara is that she could have never done it without her. What she doesn't tell Kara is that she's never gonna make it, that she's never gonna be strong enough for the next days, that Lex would probably be right without Kara.Because whether Lena admits it or not, lately Kara had been her source of happiness. Kara had been her source of calmness. Lately, Kara had been her source of strength, of courage. But she doesn't tell her that.
As they finish off their Ice cream, Kara shakes her head, still smiling, realizing that despite how tired she is right now, it has been one of the happiest days of her life. Before they left LCorp, she had texted the friends she'd needed to in order to pull off her plan. First, she wanted Lena to release all that anger she's been carrying. Then when she took Lena to that Filipino restaurant, she sneaked off to pay their bill in advance to her waitress friend there. She told them to pretend to run after them so that Lena would believe they actually dined and dashed. She took Lena bungee jumping trying to prove to Lena that her fears could be conquered. Despite being exhausted, she spent the day trying to cheer Lena up. Trying to make her best friend happy. But really, it was Lena who made Kara happy. She may or may not have feelings for Lena but spending time with her is still Kara's favorite past time.
Lena and Kara are still up talking and laughing. They have finished two tubs if ice cream already and Kara was getting the third one when Lena noticed something at the couch.
"Kara, did you spill something on the couch?"
Kara switches another light on to make the room brighter. She looks at what Lena was pointing at.
"Oh. That's just paint."
"I didn't know you're painting again."
With the room brighter, Lena looks around and finally notices the messy corner of the living room. The art work she made and the one Lucy made was there along with the other materials. Lena also notices some splattered paint on the walls and hand prints.
"Wow, your apartment's kind of a mess."
Lena sees Kara turn to the walls, realizing what Lena had meant. She hears Kara laugh genuinely. And what stings the most is that she thinks kara is actually blushing. "Ah. Silly, Lucy. We were painting here last time and she was so hyped and all we made a mess everywhere"
"Oh. Lucy. Lane." Lena says, coldly, thinking about that girl who was dancing with Kara at the bar. She clenches her fist, not really knowing why she feels the urge to hit something.
"Yeah. Lucy remember General Lane's daughter? I made this and..." She points at the other Canvas. "She made that. Seriously she's like a child. I think Lucy has too much energy sometimes"
"Oh. Oh. Yeah. I remember. Good for her then. Careful, the way you talk about her I might think you two are dating" Lena teases, trying to hide her disapproval.
"We are. Didn't I mention it to you? Oh my gosh I totally thought I did"
"Oh. Oh. Oh, you two are dating. Oh. Yeah. Cool."
Kara nods, smiling as she hands Lena the ice cream but Lena shakes her head. Lena is still using her cold tone of voice as she stands.
"No. I'm full now. Lost my appetite. I think I'm gonna sleep now"
Lena tried to hide the irritation in her voice but she guessed that wasn't the case. She just doesn't want to talk about Lucy and how she had been in Kara's apartment. And how they are dating. She doesn't want to talk about Lucy at all. Lena doesn't know why but she never liked Lucy. Ever since she saw her, there's this unfamiliar feeling that is building up. Whatever it is, Lena doesn't like it. She doesn't like feeling this way and she hates it. But Kara doesn't need to know that so Lena adds that up to the list of what she doesn't tell Kara.
***