Chapter Text
Every time Kara caught a glimpse of Cat in the halls of CatCo, her lips started tingling, despite the fact it had been over four days since they’d been pressed against Cat’s. It was ridiculous — Cat hadn’t even spoken to her since that night, not really — and even though Kara wanted to kiss her again, that didn’t seem possible. Not until they talked, at least, which, so far as Kara could tell, was not going to happen.
Kara found herself wandering aimlessly long after most of the other employees had gone home for the evening. It was foolish to hope that she might run into Cat, but Kara was grasping at straws. Every time she replayed the night over in her head, she couldn’t understand why Cat hadn’t spoken to her yet. Cat had been the one to kiss her, to leave an undeniable mark of proof on her neck. True, Kara had been the one to pull away, but only because of a call from Alex and she’d apologized profusely. Based on the smirk Cat’d been wearing, Kara hadn’t thought she’d been that offended, but it was the only reason she could think of as to why Cat was avoiding her.
Kara glanced at her computer’s clock and saw it was almost nine-thirty. Everyone else was gone and while Kara still had a deadline to meet by the morning, she didn’t have to do it in the office. Cat was almost definitely gone, too, back at home with Carter, so there was no point in sticking around. Normally on nights when she had the office to herself, Kara would fly home, but she craved coffee. Tragically, the caffeine of it had no affect, but habits were habits.
She took the elevator down to the first floor and went into the coffee shop across the street, extremely thankful for the fact they wouldn’t close for another thirty minutes. The barista wasn’t a familiar face, which was strange considering that after two years of picking up Ms. Grant’s lattes and, on occasion, her own beverage, Kara was on a first name basis with nearly all the staff. She placed an order — she was positive the amount of chocolate and sugar in it disqualified it from really being coffee — and took a seat on the counter to wait.
Thirty seconds into tapping at her phone, Kara jumped at a hand on her shoulder. “Hello there.”
Kara gaped up at Cat Grant, amazed that she hadn’t noticed the woman’s presence before. “H-Hi?”
Cat smirked at the question-like greeting, still standing over her with arms crossed. By the warmth in her face, Kara was certain that she was a bright shade of red. After a few seconds of gears turning furiously in her head, Kara managed to recognize two thoughts going through her head: lust and frustration. While she was semi-irritated with Cat for not talking to her before this moment, it was hard to think about that with Cat leaning so closely to her.
“We should talk,” Cat said lowly, eyes flickering down to Kara’s lips for a moment. It made Kara’s head spin. Still, the words slightly angered her.
“Why now?” It sounded sad rather than angry, but her tone had a visible effect. Cat’s face softened and while she regained her composure almost instantly, the fierceness was gone from it. Kara almost wanted to apologize.
“You’re mad at me.” Cat didn’t phrase it as a question so Kara didn’t answer. She just waited for Cat to continue. “Is this because I haven’t spoken to you at work?”
Kara nodded weakly. “I just don’t get it. I mean, you kissed me and then—”
“Kara.” It was hard not to shiver at the sound of her name being pronounced correctly. “At CatCo, regardless of everything, I am still your boss, and it would be highly inappropriate for us to have that sort of conversation there.”
As much as she hated to admit it, Kara hadn’t thought of that. “It just felt like you were avoiding me,” she murmured weakly.
Cat smirked and leaned impossibly close, her breath hot against Kara’s ear. “Well, I might have been afraid that if I was in a room alone with you, I wouldn’t be able to keep things appropriate.”
If the barista hadn’t called her name at that moment, Kara probably would’ve pulled Cat into her lap there and then. That smirk was absolutely unfair. “I’ve gotta,” Kara said slowly, “Go. Get drink. My drink, get my drink.”
Cat raised an eyebrow, her lips quirked upwards. Kara almost fell off her stool as she went to grab her plastic cup. The barista threw her a knowing smile and Kara choked slightly on the beverage. She was practically shaking when she turned around to face Cat.
“Come back up to my office with me,” Cat commanded. Kara supposed she could refuse, but she wasn’t naive enough to think that was ever going to happen.
Kara followed her out, brain speeding and stumbling over itself. “I thought you went back home?”
“I forgot my phone,” Cat admitted. She waved the paper bag with the coffee shop’s logo in her hands. “Carter asked me to pick up some pastries, too.”
Kara found the knowledge adorable, picturing Carter giving his mother puppy dog eyes and Cat, of course, caving in. “That’s sweet of you.”
Cat hummed her acknowledgement. She seemed to be deep in thought and while Kara wanted very much to ask her what she was thinking of, the fear of scaring Cat into silence kept her mouth shut. The security guard at CatCo was within earshot and given the fact Cat had dragged her into an alley to kiss her away from strangers’ prying eyes, Cat wouldn’t take the risk of talking about such a personal matter in front of him.
Once they entered the private elevator, though, Kara couldn’t keep herself from refraining any longer. “So talking?”
“I owe you an apology, don’t I?” Kara didn’t know how to answer that, especially when it was followed by a low chuckle and the shake of the head. “I’m sorry for ignoring you and for not trying to talk to you sooner. However, you do realize you could have come to me if it was bother you so much?”
Kara fiddled with the fabric of her cardigan. “I don’t think you realize how difficult that can be.”
There was silence for a beat and Kara was terrified she’d ruined everything, but then Cat simply said, “We’ll have to work on that.” Her eyes went wide and Cat straightened into a stiff, board-like stance as she realized the implications of what just escaped her lips. “Add that to the list of things to talk about,” she muttered under he breath angrily.
“Thank you for apologizing,” Kara said softly. She took another sip of her drink and tried to think of something to say. “What exactly am I to you?”
Cat’s sigh was audible. “I don’t know, Kara. Not yet.”
“Oh, okay.” It wasn’t the answer she’d been hoping for, but it wasn’t awful, either. The elevator’s doors opened and Kara followed Cat out. The emptiness of the office was staggering. “It’s just, if you want us to be just a casual thing, that’s fine. Just tell me. But if you want something more,” Kara took a deep breath. “If you want something more, I’d like that.”
The smile on Cat’s lips made Kara’s heart flutter. “More?”
“Like dating?” Kara offered, daring to raise her hopes. “Dinner, movies, that sort of stuff.”
“It has been a very long time since I’ve dated,” Cat said slowly. “Are you sure you have the patience to put up with me?”
Kara didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.”
“Kara, I need you to think about this. Really think. You’re young. God, you’re my former assistant. I can see the headlines now.” They were standing by Cat’s desk at that point, Cat leaning against her desk and tapping the surface impatiently. “Even without all of that, I’m twice your age. With a son. I can’t possibly be worth this.”
“I really feel like that’s for me to decide.” Kara stepped forward, heart beating out of her chest and smile almost painfully wide. Regardless of how self-berating it all was, Cat was admitting she wanted more than a series of flings. That most definitely inspired hope. “Do you want a relationship with me?”
“Yes,” Cat breathed. Kara couldn’t think of a time she’d heard more perfect sounding word. “But Kara—”
“We don’t have to figure it all out right now,” Kara cut her off. “We can take it one step at a time, no one has to know straight away.”
“Kara,” Cat whispered, her eyes closed shut.
“Please,” Kara whispered back.
“You’re standing on my shoe,” Cat pointed out, her voice still strained. Kara jumped back immediately and started apologizing profusely, but Cat shut her up quickly by kissing her. Kara’s apologies died in her throat against Cat’s lips, moaning when contact was lost. Cat smirked against Kara’s neck before placing a kiss against the pulse point. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
Kara let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. “Absolutely not.”
“We’ll see,” Cat hummed, finally pulling back to grab her phone from the desk. Kara was still standing unfairly close to her, making it impossible to fully clear her head. The only think keeping her from pinning Kara to the desk was a text from Carter asking if she had her phone or not. “I need to get back home.”
There was no denying the look of disappointment on Kara’s face, but she nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
Without thinking, Cat ran a hand through Kara’s hair, admiring the softness of it against her fingers. “I will take you on a proper date soon, I promise. But I don’t want you to feel offended if I don’t acknowledge any of this at work tomorrow.”
“All's good here,” Kara said with a laugh. “As long as I get to do that again at some point, then yes, we’re one hundred percent good.”
Cat rolled her eyes but kissed her once more. “Deal, but now I’ve really got to go home to Carter.”
“Okay. Good night,” Kara murmured. “I should get back to work.”
“Yes, you should. It’s still due tomorrow,” Cat was walking out of her office towards her elevator, smirking proudly. “Are you coming?”
Kara shook her head. “I’m going to finish in my office if that’s okay.”
Cat raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised that Kara would voluntarily in that glorified supply closet, but shrugged. “Make sure to get some sleep.”
Once Cat had left the vicinity of the building, Kara decided flying home was the way to go, after all. The night was to beautiful to resist the urge.