Chapter 1
It was a particularly busy day and Cat Grant was in a particularly bad mood. Everybody in the office had noticed and everyone was doing their best to avoid her at all costs, with the exception, of course, of Kara. In three years she had done her best to become familiar with Miss Grant’s moods and she had developed strategies for dealing with each of them. It had become easier yet since Supergirl had emerged and allowed Kara to spend even more time around her boss. In the past few months, Cat and Kara had been considerably more friendly with one another and the threats of dismissal had been far and few.
“Miss Grant, is there anything I can get you?” Kara offered warmly as she entered the office with a cup of chamomile to set upon the desk.
“Absolutely nothing, Kiera, unless you can conjure an eligible bachelor from thin air in the next few hours.” Cat retorted snappily, plucking her glasses from her nose and dropping them down on the desk. Standing up, Cat straightened out her skirt before strutting around to the front of her desk and standing close to Kara’s face. “Has crossing the barrier to 50 made me so utterly repulsive to men that I can’t even find a date for one evening now, Kiera? I know full well that I am still just as attractive as I was five years ago so there has to be something wrong with the men in this city!”
“Absolutely, Miss Grant. They’re idiots if they think they could find a better date than you in National City, or in the entire country in fact! I can make a few calls around and see who’s in town that might be free this evening if you like, but is there something in particular that makes it so urgent? Only there’s nothing on your schedule planned for tonight.” Kara answered without missing a beat. She didn’t bother taking notes anymore, she didn’t need to - at this point, she could almost anticipate what Cat was going to ask for before she even summoned her assistant.
“Carter’s father is having me over for dinner tonight; it’s nothing big but I can’t get out of going and I don’t want to turn up looking like a lonely old spinster…not now that Michael’s getting married to this Linda woman. I could probably cancel and say that I have too much work to do, or say that I’m not feeling well but I don’t want to let him think he’s won. It’s childish, I know, but we all have a competitive streak.”
“Well then we certainly can’t have you going alone, we need to find someone who can adequately rub it in that idiot’s face just what a terrible mistake he made in letting you go. You deserve so much more than he ever had to offer you, Miss Grant, and we’re going to make sure he sees that tonight.” Kara outstretched a hand and rested it warmly upon Cat’s forearm, offering a small comfort as she reassured her boss that she’ll figure it out. “Why don’t I call Todd Renwick and see if he’s free tonight? If worse comes to worse, you could always ask James to stand in - I’m sure he’d be thrilled to have your company for the evening.”
“Kiera you are a genius!” Cat exclaimed, eyes lighting up as some stroke of magnificence proffers itself in her mind. “Kara - if you have no other plans tonight - how would feel about accompanying me to a dinner party?”
The young Kryptonian’s eyes were wide and her expression blanched as she met Cat’s gaze with questioning in her eyes and caught the inside of her cheek between her teeth anxiously. Ever since she’d first realized her feelings for Cat, she had been trying to limit the time that they spent alone together in the hopes that she might find a more realistic target for her affections. On the other hand, she couldn’t let Cat down…she couldn’t bear to do that so she forced a smile on her face and shook off her concerns.
“It would be an honour if you really think I’m the best candidate.” Kara uttered cautiously, settling her tone as Cat casually crossed to her decanters and poured a glass of bourbon.
“I’ll pick you up at 6, wear something at least mildly sophisticated, you can leave early so you have time to get ready but finish your work for the day first.”
Nodding gratefully, Kara excused herself before stepping out of the room and typing up the notes from the content meeting before packing up and preparing to leave. She was going to have to stop off at the mall on her way home if she was going to have something even close to Cat’s standards to wear.
Meanwhile, Cat spent the rest of the afternoon being far more tolerable than anyone had seen her in weeks and she didn’t yell at anyone all afternoon…apart from the idiot who brought her the wrong coffee order, but that was deserved. Leaving earlier than usual, Miss Grant headed home to change into the dress she had planned to wear and hope that it wouldn’t clash terribly with whatever abysmal piece Kara would undoubtedly decide upon. At around 5:45, she headed downstairs and got into the back of her car before wordlessly handing over a note detailing her assistant’s address.