The Boss

When the last straw is broken
When the last door is closing
I ain't that dumb to stick around, stick aroundI ain't got the time for looking back
When you let yourself slip through the cracks
And you just keep going down, down, down
Mistake / Demi Lovato

You’re six months into your third year working for Cat Grant, Queen of all Media, when her company goes to shit.

Its sudden and completely unexpected and you have no idea how this could have happened. The company was at it’s peak, flourishing beautifully under it’s queen, yet it seemed that from one day to the next it was brought down to it’s knees. The worst part? No one had any idea why. Someone had hacked into CatCo’s servers and got into the CEO’s emails, revealing some rather embarrassing and even nasty emails. Cat claims that she never sent any of those emails, but regardless, the proof was there for all to see.

You know that Cat isn’t lying about the emails, but when the investigation concluded with all the facts, you could only stand by as everything Cat had built from the ground up came crumbling around her. Despite it all, she kept her chin up, even when they had her in handcuffs and escorted to some fancy prison. You’d heard from someone at HR that it was the same one Martha Stewart had been at.

There’s not much you can do at this point, you’d already tried time and time again to salvage what little is left, but whoever had started this sick, twisted game was thorough and there was almost nothing for Cat. Or you.

Really, you only have one option, to leave CatCo. and Cat Grant, but you’re honestly dreading the moment you have to leave your former boss. She had taught you so much and in many ways was your personal hero, and really you would much rather stay at her side, but having to take care of another person beside yourself requires an actual paying job, and the sad truth is that Cat has next to nothing to her name.

Clark still has to eat, and his Kryptonian metabolism demands almost 5 times the amount of food a regular person needs to eat. And that’s not even including your own caloric needs.

Thankfully Lena Luthor is kind enough to offer you a job working as her assistant, and it’s almost like working with Cat Grant, minus the constant yelling and threats of being fired, and the late hours and three-in-the-morning house calls. Plus at least Ms. Luthor remembers you have a young child in your care and is gracious enough to let you leave for any school meetings or emergencies.

Cat Grant is halfway to serving her sentence when you decide it’s time to let her know you’re leaving. Really, you’d plan to had done it sooner, but between working at L Corp and raising Clark, not to mention being able to actually hang out with your friends without any unreasonable interruptions has taken most of your time.

Cat is sitting poolside, clad only in a skimpy swimsuit you’re not even sure is remotely appropriate, when you visit. Someone, you assume from CatCo, is sitting beside her, sweating through his suit even though there’s a fresh breeze and you wonder suddenly if this was a bad day to come. Judging from the look on the man’s face as you approach, and the hot glare that Cat is shooting in his direction, it is.

It’s too late to back out as Cat’s sharp eyes spot you, and she immediately barks out a ‘Kiera!’ which makes you scramble over as quickly as you can.

“Hello Miss Grant” you mumble out, avoiding making eye contact with the sweaty suit sitting beside your former boss.

“Kiera, please explain to this man that he must be an idiot because surely what he’s saying can’t be true.” Cat sounds annoyed more than angry.

“I’m sorry? What’s untrue?” you ask, not entirely sure of what you’ve walked into.

“Jerry here is telling me that all my accounts have been frozen and my properties have been seized by the bank.” Cat glances over at Jerry and gives him a pointed glare, “Either he’s lying or those sleeping pills are really doing a number on me.”

“Actually Miss Grant, he’s right…” you trail off and contemplate jumping into the pool to avoid the conversation all together, but there’s something in Cat’s eyes, she looks suddenly vulnerable and it scares you, the way this powerful woman looks into your eyes, as if begging for you to tell her anything else, that it’s all a joke, but you look away, unable to look her in the eye any longer, “I’m sorry Cat.”

Miss Grant takes a sharp breath and lets it out slowly, and you brace yourself for yelling and cursing, but nothing comes and when you look back at her, Cat is looking down into her lap, hands clenching and unclenching into fists.

Just when you think that maybe you should say something to her she looks up suddenly and waves her hand in Jerry’s direction, and when she speaks, he flinches. “Johnny, leave. I’ll speak with you later.”

The man nods quickly and stands up, scurrying away as fast as he can, probably grateful to get away from the obviously upset media mogul.

“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you Kara?” Cat asks, voice suddenly soft, and you know that she believes you, know it not just by the tenor of her voice, or the way she suddenly looks smaller than she is, but that she says your name, correctly, which only happens when she’s too full of emotion to get it wrong on purpose.

“Of course not.” You say, “I’m really sorry Miss Grant, I thought you knew.”

Cat gives a low, humorless laugh, “of course not Kiera, ever since they trapped me in this cage, however luxurious it may be, no one has visited me, except you and that was a while ago. They’ve forgotten about me, and didn’t even think to notify me that they were taking everything away. Not just my company. Everything.”
“At least I still have you.” Cat’s lips tick upwards in a ghost of a smile, but it makes you swallow and her eyes immediately narrow in suspicion.

“Actually Miss Grant, um” you mumble, your words tripping over themselves on your tongue as you’re unsure just how to tell Cat that you will no longer be her assistant.

“Out with it Kiera, you know how much I hate mumbling.” Cat huffs out.

“I’m resigning as your assistant Miss Grant,” it all comes out in a rush, and your fingers twist themselves, a sure sign that you’re nervous.

“Excuse me?” Cat looks at you like you’re lying, like that one time you brought her Chipotle for her lunch and she looked about ready to chuck both you and the lunch out the balcony window out of pure disbelief.

“Yes, I quit Cat.” You repeat yourself, a little upset now that Cat thinks you’re joking.

“You can’t quit Kiera, who will assist me when I get out of this godforsaken place?” she gesture wildly around her with a flourish, and you look around briefly, an eyebrow raising at her exaggeration. This jail was less like what you’ve imagined a jail to be (which really the only thing you have to go off on is from watching Orange is the New Black but still) and more like a fancy hotel.

“Miss Grant, that’s the thing” you swallow and pause, carefully considering your next words lest Cat makes a scene again, “you don’t really have anything left. Jerry was right about them freezing your accounts and taking your properties. And as much as I liked being your assistant, I need an actual paying job, I have a child to look after.”

Cat splutters and her eyes widen almost comically “a child? Really Kiera? I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“He’s my younger cousin Miss Grant” you glare at her, it bothers you more than you care to admit that Cat conveniently seems to forget anything that you’ve ever told her about yourself and your cousin, “I’d already told you about him, remember? I asked you for a raise because he started school and you said me working for you was raise enough, and then threatened to fire me. Then you told me to go get you one of those moon smooth juices that were all the rage.”

“Now, the juicy I remember, not so much the part about your cousin.” Cat’s lips purse and she looks away.

Your phone chimes and you look down, it’s a message from Lena asking for a reschedule for a meeting with the Mayor.

“Alright Miss Grant, I need to go. I just came to give you a formal resignation I guess, and to thank you for all you’ve taught me.” You gather your purse and stand up, when suddenly a strong hand is wrapped around your arm.

“You know Kiera, out of all people who have ever worked for me, you’re really the only one who ever believed me and fought for my company.” Miss Grant sounds wistful, and she offers you a small smile before releasing your arm.

“I know you didn’t do any of those things Miss Grant,” you offer her a small smile and your phone beeps again, “ I really do need to go. Thank you for everything Cat, I’m really sorry about all this.”

“It’s okay, not your fault, you did the best you could and not even you, my guardian angel, could stop this.” Cat smiles back at you in return and dons on the large shades that had been sitting on the top of her head, “now run along Kiera, can’t keep your boss waiting, chop chop.”

You nod, giving her a small wave as you walk backwards and turning around as you make your way out. That went way better than you expected. But even so, you can’t figure out why you feel like you can’t breathe, like somehow you’ve betrayed Cat by leaving her after being her assistant for so long. Regardless, it’s for the better. You need this job because Clark is counting on you, and you already feel like you’ve let Cat down by not being able to resolve the hacking when it started. You can’t let your family down.

The last glimpse of Cat you get is her with head in her hands and thin shoulders shaking. You swallow thickly and look away. ‘It’s for the better,’ you think to yourself, but even the voice in your head that sounds a lot like Alex isn’t enough to convince you that you haven’t just made one of the biggest mistakes in your life.