Chapter Text
i.
Mon-El walked into Noonan’s twenty minutes behind schedule, armed with a book and a vicious desire to do anything to get his mind off work. He usually only got a 30 minute lunch break on Wednesdays, what with all the back-to-back meetings and the reports he was responsible for. But today, he pushed through his usual lunch period, making sure it was all finished. It hadn’t been easy. He hated dealing with his own financial planning, let alone anyone else’s, but it paid decent and he was good at it. Helping people. He liked that part.
In a surprising turn of events, Mr. Henshaw had been impressed — so much so that Mon-El got an hour of lunch to spend at his leisure. A little bit of an extra reward to encourage him to repeat the behavior, he knew… Still, he wasn’t complaining.
Instead, he high-tailed out of the office, pulled his book from his car and rushed over to Noonan’s. Because, at least there he could have a few minutes to himself with no one to bother him. And maybe he’d get more than just a coffee as his reward. Sit around at a table by the window and just read for a bit. Rao, that’d make the perfect treat after the last few hours of hell.
But when he got to Noonan’s he was disappointed — though not entirely shocked — to find that all the window tables were taken. Hell… every seat in the place was taken, he noticed as he stood in line. Except one across from a woman who was typing away on her laptop as she tried to balance her attention between what was in front of her and the tall man who seemed like he was trying to flirt with her — and rather poorly, he took, from the vague look of confusion on her face.
He kind of felt bad for the girl, and he really wanted a seat if he could manage one, so when the idea popped in his head, he went with it.
He jumped out of line and walked over to the table. The woman’s eyes caught his, so he waved and mouthed “play along,” before he walked up behind the open chair. She stared slack jawed ahead, her gaze passing between himself and the giant beside him. When he pulled the chair out and sat down, she tried to withhold a laugh.
“Hey babe, sorry I’m late,” he muttered quickly, without a passing look at the man beside him, who now looked just as confused as the woman across from him.
She held a hand in front of her mouth, contorting her face as far from a laugh as she could manage. “It’s no problem… Glad you could make it.”
“Who are you?” The man asked, starting to grow annoyed now that his plan had been so quickly thwarted.
“Mon-El,” he said, extending a hand, “her boyfriend. Obviously.” The man pointedly ignored his hand, so Mon-El drew it back and looked up with a ferocious intensity that he hoped was intimidating. And it must have been, because the man turned away without introducing himself and without saying goodbye, and walked right out of the restaurant.
With the man gone, Mon-El was left alone, without his coffee, at a table with a complete stranger, whose expression had gone from awestruck to annoyed in the brief time it took for him to watch that man leave.
“I could’ve handled him myself,” she said crossing her arms.
“Oh, sure. I’m certain you just staring at him with your jaw dropped and aimlessly typing at your computer was definitely going to drive him away.” Mon-El rolled his eyes as he spoke.
“I…had it under control,” she said, trying to remain as collected and confident as possible. She wasn’t doing a great job of it, although she had managed to look standoffish.
“I’m not so sure you're a good judge of what you can handle.” He leaned back, setting his book on the table so he could mirror her, crossing his arms, too.
“Really?” She was incredulous and incredibly frustrated, he could tell.
“Yes, really. You can’t just expect him to pick up on your facial expressions. That guy’s a motormouth and probably a little stupid. He wasn’t going to stop unless you said something, which you clearly weren’t going to.”
“So you decided to rescue me… and that had nothing to do with there fact that I have the only open seat left in this entire place?” This time, it was his turn to let his jaw slip, as he tried to come up with an explanation that didn’t make him look like as much of an ass as the guy who came before him.
“That is purely a coincidence.” It was a weak explanation, but it was a little better than he’d expected.
“Sure. Like I said, I don’t need your help and I’m not going to give you —”
“What exactly was your plan?” he asked, interrupting her.
“I was going to… I don’t know. Wait until he noticed I wasn’t interested?”
“So you were just going to let him talk at you until he realized you don’t —” Mon-El trailed off, pieces suddenly clicking together in his mind.
“What?” the woman asked in confusion and concern.
“You’re trying to do that with me now, aren’t you?”
“Is it working?” She didn’t look as triumphant as he’d thought she would, all things considered. Maybe because it wasn’t her plan, or maybe because she was good at acting innocent. Either way, it didn’t matter. He clearly had overstayed his welcome. And welcome she never gave, come to think of it.
“Little bit. Sorry, I’ll get out of your hair.” He quickly got out of the chair, pushing it in. The legs made a soft screech against the wood floor, and the woman winced.
“Uh, wait. Don’t go yet. Please.” She reached forward, and although she couldn't reach for him, she could get a hand on his book, so that’s what she decided to do — keep his book captive for a moment.
“I didn’t mean to bug you, it’s just you looked really uncomfortable and I just thought —” He was rambling now, and she showed a little mercy, cutting him off.
“You were right. I didn’t know how to get rid of him, so… thank you.”
“No problem.” Mon-El offered her a soft and restrained smile, his lips pressed together and the corners of his mouth barely pulled up.
“You know, you can sit with me… if you’d like.” She smiled at him hopefully, drawing her hand back from his book. “I mean it’s not like there’s anywhere else to sit. And you did do me a favor, so it’s the least I could do.”
She looked up from behind long lashes, and he smiled.
“I’m gonna go order a coffee and I’ll be right back. You need anything? I still feel like I owe you.” He gestured vaguely behind him. The woman laughed.
“You saved me from having to listen to that guy go on and on about his protein shakes, so I think we’re even,” she said. He nodded and headed back to the front counter.
He got himself an iced vanilla latte, since the mid-day sun was particularly intense and he was in the mood for something sweet. And when he rejoined her at the table, they remained in companionable silence. Her typing away at her computer. Him flipping page after page. Her tugging at her blonde curls, tucking a chunk behind her ear or pulling it all to one side or another when she got stuck or was rereading whatever she’d just written. Him trying desperately — and failing — not to get distracted every time she did. Him peeking over the top of his book watching her get all frazzled while still trying to pretend he was concentrated.
He liked that they could sit together, drinking their coffee and working without actually talking. He felt like they got each other even though they knew nothing about each other. But that was okay. At a time like this, it was exactly the company he needed.
He was so caught up in the story and in her that he didn’t notice the time until his alarm went off — the one that said lunch was officially over and he was already supposed to be back at the office.
The woman looked up in dismay as he stood, but he waved, the book still in his hand.
“Work,” he whispered, trying not to intrude too deep into her concentration.
“See you around, later?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” he said, offering her a smile before leaving, tossing his empty cup in the trashcan by the door. And Rao, he hoped he would.