Work Text:
“Hey, I just got here, and I don’t see you, so I’ll get us a table. I’m in a yellow shirt. See you soon.”
0oOo0
Ruby nudged her mom under the table with her foot. “Hey mom, look.”
Sam took her attention away from her dinner to follow her daughter’s stare. A pretty blonde woman in an attractive yellow button-down shirt was sitting alone at a table a few seats away. She was fiddling with her napkin, and glancing around the room. “Ruby, it’s not polite to stare.”
“I wasn’t,” she insisted, as she continued to stare at the woman. “I just heard her make a phone call, and I think she’s getting stood up.”
Sam glanced again. “Well, if that’s the case, she probably doesn’t want you staring at her, so stop.”
“Yeah, but she got all dressed up, and if she’s getting stood up, someone should appreciate her effort.”
“Just eat your food, kid. I’m sure her date’s just running late.”
0oOo0
“Hey, just checking in, wanted to make sure you’re okay since you’re not here yet. We did say the new place by L-Corp, right?”
0oOo0
“She just sent her server away again,” Ruby said. “She’s definitely getting stood up. We should do something.”
Sam sighed. “Like what? I feel for her, but it’s not like I could sweep in and pretend to be her date like something on TV.”
Ruby gasped. “That’s a great idea!”
“Ruby, I just said no.”
“Not you, Aunt Lena!”
“What?”
“Text her! You know she’s probably still up in her office, she could totally come down and pretend to be her date,” Ruby said. “Sweep her off her feet, y’know?”
Sam stared at Ruby before grabbing her phone. “You are a ridiculous child, you know that?”
“You’re raising me, so I feel that’s more on you than me.”
0oOo0
Lena pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off her impending headache. She had been reviewing contracts all afternoon, and her eyes were beginning to cross. Her phone buzzed and Lena silently thanked the universe for the distraction.
Lena, I’m downstairs with Ruby having dinner, and there’s a pretty blonde with killer shoulders who has pretty clearly been stood up from a blind date
Your point being?
She’s your type, you need to get laid, and if you hurry you can save her, be a big hero
Lena sighed. The thought was tempting, but…
I still have work to get through
I know exactly what paperwork you’re looking at, and it can wait until Monday.
It is Friday night
You have no life outside of work
It’s literally downstairs
As your best friend you aren’t allowed to say no
You better come down here and save this poor girl
She just asked the waitress for another five minutes
Ruby’s sending you a picture
Sure enough, a Snapchat notification appeared at the top of her phone. Lena opened the app and found Ruby’s contact, right at the top of the list. Lena tapped to open the picture and gasped.
Sam hadn’t lied, the blonde was very pretty, and her shoulders looked like they could crack granite. Lena bit her lip and glanced at the contracts strewn across her desk, then back at the picture. Her phone buzzed again while she was thinking.
Lena this is your chance to be a hero just get down here now
Fine I’m on my way
0oOo0
Kara had a plan.
It was a brilliant plan, brought to her by one of the foremost intellectuals in his field.
It was a fantastic plan, and it was going to work, no matter what her sister thought, because Kara was confident.
She was going to get free cheesecake.
Winn had been the one who suggested it to her. Go to a restaurant, ask for a table for two, and wait. Once it’s clear you’ve been stood up for your blind date, BAM, free dessert. Alex said it would never work, because Kara was a terrible liar and could never pull off a convincing act long enough to get free pity dessert.
At that point, it became a matter of pride, to prove her sister wrong. Kara had to do it.
And with the way the server was looking at her, she was going to pull it off. Kara just had to wait a few more minutes, and it would be time to ask for some cheesecake.
Only there was a gorgeous woman standing across from the table, casually stealing the breath from her lungs, and her perfect mouth was moving, and oh, talking, she should probably pay attention.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, I got stuck at work and I know that’s no excuse, but I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Huh?” Fantastic opener, Danvers. Really showing off that journalism degree.
She leaned in and lowered her voice so wouldn’t carry. “Nobody deserves to be stood up. Play along, and maybe we can salvage your night together.”
The point of the evening had been free cheesecake, but when an unfairly beautiful stranger swoops in to save you, sometimes the best course of action is to let yourself be saved. “Thank you. My name’s Kara, by the way.”
“Lena, pleased to meet you.”
Before they could get any further, the server was at their table. Lena ordered a martini and Kara asked for the appetizer sampler platter to give Lena a chance to study the menu.
“So, do you save lonely girls from getting stood up often?” Kara asked.
“First time, actually, but my friend saw what was happening and once I knew what was going on, I decided I couldn’t let you sit here alone any longer.”
“That’s so nice of you.”
Lena’s eyes dipped for a moment, long enough for Kara to catch the motion. “It’s not entirely selfless, I’ll admit. Dinner with a beautiful woman is a better Friday night than I’ve had in a long time.”
“What does your Friday normally look like?”
“Paperwork, usually. Contract review, project updates, research papers. It never ends. What about you? What’s your usual Friday?”
Kara blushed. “Actually, I usually order take out and binge something on Netflix. My sister used to come, but then she got a girlfriend, and suddenly her schedule’s full.”
“That’s sounds awful. That your sister’s so busy, not take out and Netflix. Still, I hope I can show you a better time than that.”
“You’re already more than I was expecting. Honestly, I told myself that if I made to cheesecake I’d consider the night a success.”
0oOo0
Kara excused herself to the restroom, and Lena watched her walk away until she turned the corner. Down, Lena, no need to drool. She checked her phone, realizing she hadn’t done so once since sitting down. Sam had apparently been busy texting her, and she never noticed.
Holy shit
You really came
Good for you
She looks blown away
Get it girl
Oh god I really just sent that
Screw it
I stand by it
You aren’t reading any of these anyways
You’re so gay
Answer me you useless lesbian
Lena closed the conversation with a smirk and switched over the Snapchat. Ruby had been busy. She’d captured Kara’s face when Lena sat down, and turned on a heart-eyes filter. Another one of Kara laughing, captioned “good job making her laugh”, that Lena screenshotted without thinking about it. One of Sam, bent over her phone, captioned “she’s getting mad you’re not answering”. One of Ruby herself, giving her a thumbs up and an encouraging smile.
Lena saved that one as well, before taking mercy on Sam.
Her name is Kara, and she likes cheesecake
0oOo0
“C’mon, Alex, pick up, I need you, why aren’t you picking up?”
“Hello?”
“Finally! Alex, I need your help, I have a crisis situation here.”
“What’s going on? Where are you, I can deploy a team.”
“Not that kind of emergency! Remember how I told you my plan to pretend to get stood up so I could get free cheesecake?”
“Please don’t tell me you were serious about that.”
“Of course I was!”
“Of course you were. What happened? Did you get arrested trying to get free dessert?”
“No, Alex, I did not get arrested, thank you very much. No, this crazy attractive woman showed up and started pretending to be my date and I’m pretty sure she’s perfect and I’m freaking out, Alex, what do I do?”
“Hahahahahaha!”
“That’s not helpful!”
“Hahahahahahaha!
“Alex! Stop laughing and help me!”
“Hey little Danvers, your sister’s on the floor at the moment, anything I can help you with?”
“Maggie, all I wanted was cheesecake and now a pretty girl is flirting with me and I don’t know what to do!”
“Go flirt back, and see if you can get her to pay for your cheesecake. Problem solved, that was easy. Give me a hard one next time, little Danvers.”
“What if I screw up?”
“Hope she finds it charming, and don’t worry so much. You won’t screw it up, I believe in you. As your sister’s girlfriend, I give you my blessing, go flirt with the pretty girl.”
“Fine, I will! Wow, okay, good pep talk. Thanks Maggie.”
“Anytime, little Danvers.”
0oOo0
“You’ve got a little something right there,” Lena said, indicating a spot to the side of her mouth. Kara swiped around her lips with her tongue. “Not quite.” She tried again, and Lena’s thoughts drifted to exactly how dexterous that tongue really was. “Still missed it. Here, let me.”
Lena reached across the table, cleaning the spot away with her finger, lingering as she realized Kara’s skin was quite possibly the softest thing she’d ever felt. Kara caught Lena’s hand as she started to pull back, and captured the tip of her finger between her lips. Kara’s tongue flicked against her fingertip and Lena gasped.
“No stealing my food, I was saving it for later,” Kara teased as she released Lena’s hand.
“Oh really?”
“Yep. Somedays I just go through the whole day, my face covered in food so whenever I need a snack, I have one handy.”
Lena laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Sam caught Lena’s eye as she and Ruby headed for the door. She waved goodbye, and promised to do something nice for the two of them sometime soon. She was having more fun tonight than she’d had in a long time, and that wouldn’t have happened if Sam hadn’t texted her.
“That’s your friend?” Kara asked. “The one that saw me and told you.”
Lena nodded. No sense in denying it. “She said I wasn’t allowed to say no, and I’m glad I didn’t. Never would have met you, otherwise.”
“Can I interest either of you in some dessert?” their server asked, spooking both of them, too absorbed in each other to notice his approach.
“She’s been talking about cheesecake since I showed up, and now i want some too. Two slices of your finest, please.”
0oOo0
The night air was brisk as they stepped outside of the restaurant. “I had a really great time tonight, Lena.”
“So did I, Kara,” Lena said, smoothing a hair back behind Kara’s ear. “I hope I made up for your original date ditching you.”
Kara grimaced. “In the interest of full disclosure, I need to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“I didn’t really get stood up tonight.”
“Excuse me?”
“My friend told me that if you pretend to get stood up in a nice restaurant, you can convince them to give you free cheesecake. My sister said it would never work, so I was going to prove her wrong. I was getting ready to order when you showed up.”
Lena threw her head back and laughed. “Well, I’m sorry I ruined your master plan, but I’d say it worked even better than expected.”
Kara giggled with her. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I didn’t just get free dessert, I got to go on a date with an absolutely fascinating woman, and get free dessert. Now there’s only one question left.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“If we kissed right now, would you taste like cheesecake?”
Lena’s smile was sultry. “Only one way to find out.”
The answer was yes.