Across The Universe
“Alright, someone give me the layouts for the next section so we can get this meeting over with.” Cat said, voice full of disdain as she reached out an empty hand.
“Here are next months layouts.” David Grent, head of editing said, as he handed Cat the stack of laminated pages.
Cat thumbed through the layouts quickly, eyeing each carefully before pursing her brow after a moment, saying ‘There’s a page missing. The spring style picks page isn’t here.”
“Sorry.” David grumbled as he searched through the stack of papers in front of him in the conference room.
After a moment, He looked up and said “I’m sorry, I gave them to Kara to look over and I’m sure the page was with them when I gave it to her.”
“Well…Someone find me that page. Now.” Cat said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it lazily.
“This wouldn’t have happened if I wouldn’t have given them to Kara in the first place. Always losing things.” He sneered as he glared at Kara across the room.
“I’m sorry, I finished editing them and I thought I had them all lined up properly again.” Kara said softly as she searched through her own files.
“This is why you shouldn’t have been promoted to my department, maybe something a little easier would’ve been more suited for you.” He said angrily.
Kara froze, looking at Cat for some sort of support, but was met with nothing but the small shake of her head.
“I….” Kara said, stopping, unsure of what to say.
“You don’t think is what you do.” David nearly yelled.
“I wouldn’t lose the pages if you didn’t send them to me to edit!” Kara said sternly.
“That’s your job. You are a junior editor.” He said flatly.
“Yes. But if your editing skills were better I wouldn’t have to spend half my job editing simple typos you should’ve caught in the first place.” Kara said with conviction.
David looked at her blankly before looking over to Cat.
“This meeting is dismissed. Someone get me the missing layout page within the next five minutes or you’re all fired.” Cat said, watching as her employees scurried out of the room quickly.
All that was left was Kara, who was slowly, and sullenly gathering her papers.
“Well done, Kara.” Cat said with a smirk, as she got up and left the conference room.
Kara smiled, and made her way back to her office to get the missing page.
“Why this book Lucy? Doesn’t it seem a little…juvenile.?” Kara asked over the phone.
“It’s good!” Lucy defended.
“It’s about space.” Kara said flatly.
“And you’re from space, so it fits.” She chuckled.
“Ha ha very funny. But it’s about teenagers.” Kara rebuttled.
“Teenagers, in love. In space. Two of the best things.” Lucy laughed again.
“Most of the other books on my list were classics or what Alex referred to as ‘fine literature’ and you added this.” Kara sighed as she sat down.
“Reading is no fun if you’re stuck reading books by stuffy old men who are all dead.”
“Fine…” Kara said, picking up the book and looking at the cover again.
“Just read it. I promise you’ll love it.”
“If it gets too cheesy I’m not finishing it.” Kara told her.
“You’re so dramatic.” Lucy said before hanging up the phone.
Kara stared at the book once more. Across The Universe. Even the title sounded cheesy. But she had promised that she would read every book on the list. And Kara did not break her promises.
So she sat down at her desk, picked up the book and kept reading.
Cat’s day had been dragging on. The only thing that cheered her up was when Kara finally grew a spine and told off the head of editing. She was going to intervene, fire the man on the spot. But she saw the fire in Kara’s eyes. The fire that she new would spark the girl to defend herself.
Cat had to try to contain the smirk and feel of mirth as the Kara called him on his idiocy. It reminded Cat of something she would say herself, just without as colorful of language. Maybe the girl was finally learning from her.
The full layouts had been delivered three minutes after the meeting ended, and David had been fired after four. No one was allowed to talk to Kara that way. She was good at her job, she was damn good, unlike David. Helping her grow into herself was something Cat prided herself on. If telling David off was all it took to get Kara to realize she deserved her job. Then she’d take it.
Cat sighed with an agitated smile. Realizing she still had a mountain of work to do before she could go home to Carter. Deciding to push it off just a bit, she got up and left her office to go to the private sanction of the balcony to Facetime and tell her son the bad news herself.
When Cat returned to her desk nearly twenty minutes later she was greeted with the sight of another book a top her desk. She saw the distinct pink post it note sticking out the side and opened the book to the marked page. Yet again, a quote was underlined, and ‘Cat :)’ was written along side it.
She traced her finger over the underlined passage and read:
“A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others so that they may have the strength to stand on their own.”
Her eyes fell to another post it note directly under the quote that just said “Thank you. –K”
Cat felt her eyes tear up slightly before she closed the book and sat down with a smile.
Not a moment later she felt her phone vibrate with a new message.
“Better?” Kara had asked.
“Much.” Cat replied, before putting her phone back in her desk and getting back to work.