The Possibilities are Endless
SATURDAY
“Okay, Kelly. You and Alex are up!” Kara sits back on her couch next to Nia. It’s Saturday game night again with James, J’onn, Winn, Kara, Nia, Kelly, and Alex. It’s been a great distraction for Kara, especially after what Lena said to her yesterday morning. She’s been trying to decipher what Lena meant. Nia thought it was a good sign, that Lena wants to spend more time with Kara, but she isn’t convinced that’s right.
“We got this babe,” Alex says, kissing her girlfriend before grabbing a marker and a Pictionary prompt card. She scans it thoroughly. “Okay, I’m ready. Winn?” Alex uncaps the marker and begins starting after Winn flips the timer, yelling go. Unfortunately, that’s the only thing Winn has been doing tonight. Last weekend, when he tagged along with James and J’onn, Winn tripped on a tree root, spraining his ankle and breaking his right arm. When the story circled the friend group, Kara and Alex bust out laughing (after checking to make sure he was okay). Kara smiles at the memory.
“People! Trees! Forest! Uh, a woodland,” Kelly begins guessing. The sand trickles through the plastic tube. “Fire? A burning tree? OH! A wildfire!!” Kelly finally gets the answer. Alex laughs, crossing the room to high-five her girlfriend.
“How is that a wildfire?” Kara asks, bewildered. Alex’s drawing looks like several stick figures with bad haircuts. She tilts her head, trying to understand how Kelly guessed the answer.
“Oh, shut up, Kara!” Alex shoves her shoulder. “We can’t all be artists.” Kara laughs. Her sister glares at her, but Kara knows it’s all in fun.
“More wine, anyone?” Almost everyone shakes their head, but Kara gets up to pour herself another glass anyways. Placing the now empty bottle by the kitchen sink, Kara turns to find Nia hovering nearby.
“How are you doing, Kara?” Nia rests her palms on the kitchen table. Kara opens her mouth, but before she can reply, Nia raises an eyebrow. “Please don’t just say you’re fine. I know Lena said something to you yesterday morning that distracted you.” Kara sighs, taking a sip of the wine. Nia isn’t wrong. After she left Lena’s office, her words constantly churned in her mind, wondering what Lena’s intentions are. Even now, the cryptic words spin in her thoughts, creating apprehension and fear about taking this new position.
“I…” Kara falters, unsure of what to say. “Honestly, Nia. I’m mostly just confused. Lena hasn’t been the nicest person lately, but she offered me the promotion. I’m getting mixed signals and it’s messing with my head.” Kara lets out a breath. If she’s being honest, Lena has been hostile outside of the workplace, yet polite within beyond professional standards.
“Oh, Kara…” Nia offers her a sad smile. “Why don’t you just talk to Lena?” She suggests this like it’s the most obvious thing. “Open communication between the two of you will make it easier to work with each other.” Kara contemplates this, biting her lip. A conversation with Lena could make things easier for Kara when she starts her new job. On the other hand, it could go disastrously. What if Lena takes her straightforward demeanor the wrong way? She could demote her, or worse, fire her for being disrespectful.
“I’m not sure, Nia. Lena’s very….complex.”
“All you can do is try.”
“Try what?” Alex walks up to the two women, empty wine glass in hand. Kara and Nia share a look. “Kara?” Alex pointedly looks at her sister. She takes a long sip of her wine. Kara hasn’t mentioned Lena’s behaviour at the pub to Alex, since she’s been preoccupied with Kelly.
“Um, I’m just going to talk to Lena, I guess.” Kara shrugs.
“About what?” Alex sets her glass in the sink. Nia starts to stand, trying to remove herself from the sisters’ conversation. Kara widens her eyes and mouths ‘stay,’ but Nia shakes her head. The younger woman gestures like ‘talk to her’ before abandoning Kara with her nosy sister. “Kara Zor-El.” Rao. Alex only uses her full name if she’s serious.
“Alex…,” Kara pleads.
“C’mon, Kara. I’m your sister. We share practically everything,” Alex says, sitting across from her. “I just want to know so I can help,” She adds. Kara suppresses an eyeroll.
“Lena just said something… weird. In our meeting yesterday.”
“What did she say?”
“Something about looking forward to working more closely with me.” Kara watches as Alex’s eyebrows furrow together. “I’m not sure what the meaning behind it is, especially after what happened last Sunday.” That was the last thing Kara should have said.
“What happened last Sunday?” Alex’s voice raises slightly. Luckily, the rest of the guests are louder, laughing and chatting away.
“I…I went out with Nia to a new pub and ran into Lena. She wasn’t exactly nice.” Kara shrugs, although recounting the interaction throws her stomach for a loop. She knows she shouldn’t have asked about the woman with Lena, but Lena definitely could have been kinder to her. It wasn’t like Kara cheated on her or something.
“That bitch!”
“Alex!” Kara cries out. “That’s not nice. She’s still my boss.”
“I don’t care, Kara. Who the hell does she think she is?” Alex’s voice has rose to the point of catching the attention of the others. There’s a deafening silence in Kara’s apartment. Downing her wine, Kara throws her hands up.
“Alex, I can’t deal with this right now. I’m stressed about it enough.” Kara swallows hard, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes. Kelly walks over now, gently touching her girlfriend’s shoulder. At the touch, Alex seems to calm a little, relaxing her shoulders. She reaches over the kitchen table, taking Kara’s hands.
“I’m sorry. I get a little overprotective when someone hurts you, Kara. You’re my sister.” Kara smiles.
“I know, I get it. I’m pretty defensive over the ones I love too.” Alex squeezes her hands. “I think maybe we should call it a night?” Alex and Kelly nod. With a quick hug goodbye to each of her guests, Kara begins cleaning her apartment from the event. The conversation with Nia still swirls in her brain as she clears the dishes from the coffee table. Maybe talking to Lena wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
MONDAY
Yesterday, Kara jotted down a few notes that she could use to begin the necessary conversation with Lena. Waiting for the elevator in the lobby of CatCo, she pulls out the notebook and skims through the topics she wants to address:
Things to Address:
- Lena’s hot and cold behaviour
- BOUNDARIES – Super important
- Editor-in-Chief contract
Things to NOT Address:
- Their dating relationship/history
- My identity as Supergirl (sore spot)
- Lena’s fantastic ass
The elevator dings, doors sliding open, and without glancing up, Kara enters the elevator. Well, she tries to anyways. Unfortunately, she ends up smacking into someone, dropping her notebook.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Kara begins. She looks up, directly into the sparkling green eyes of Lena Luthor. Oh, Rao. Not again. The heat rises quickly into Kara’s cheeks. “I didn’t see where I was going,” she mutters quietly.
“It’s fine, Kara,” Lena says, bending to pick up Kara’s notebook. She arches an eyebrow as she catches the contents of the page. Kara inwardly cringes, biting her lip and hoping for something, anything to remove her from the awkward situation. “What’s this?”
“N-nothing, Ms. Luthor. Just my notes for – for…” Kara scrambles, trying to come up with an excuse. Unfortunately, with Lena’s stare and the abrupt interaction, Kara fails to come up with a witty explanation. “It’s for an article,” Kara finishes lamely.
“An article?” Lena smirks. “An article that definitely doesn’t discuss my ass, huh?” Embarrassment burns in Kara’s stomach. She casts her eyes down.
“Ms. Luthor, I – ” A sharp look cuts her off. She bites her lip.
“No need, Kara. Excuse me, I’m late.” Lena thrusts the notebook toward Kara before stalking out of the elevator. Prior to the doors closing, Kara sticks out a foot to block the door.
“Where are you going, Ms. Luthor? I was hoping we could have a conversation?” Lena looks exasperated as she turns back to Kara. Despite the flush of embarrassment, Kara’s stomach flips not unpleasantly with Lena’s gaze.
“I have a breakfast meeting.” Kara nods, although her stomach sinks. Lena never plans business meetings outside of the office. It’s unusual that she would start now at CatCo. “It’s about LuthorCorp, Kara.”
“Oh.” Kara frowns, unsure of what to say. This conversation has been the longest they’ve had since Kara revealed her identity and she doesn’t want it to end.
“I’ll be back before lunch. We can have our conversation then, Kara.” With that, Lena disappears through the outer doors of CatCo, leaving Kara standing in the elevator, mouth agape. On the way up, Kara replays the conversation in her head. It’s astonishing that Lena didn’t become extremely upset when she saw Kara’s notebook. And it doesn’t make sense as to why Lena would reassure her that the breakfast was an actual business meeting. Kara feels a small flutter in her stomach. What if Lena is suddenly being nice to her because she wants her back? As soon as the thought comes, Kara shakes it from her head. That’s impossible. But is it?