Chapter Text
“Absolutely. I will see you on Thursday morning, 8 AM sharp. Thank you!”
Kara hung up the phone and let out a squeal of delight that brought her boyfriend Mike running to the bedroom.
“What? What is it?”
“That was HR at L-Corp! I have an interview on Thursday to be Ms Luthor’s assistant!”
Mike’s smile seemed a bit forced.
“That’s great, babe. But I thought you liked working with me at Noonan’s? We wouldn’t spend as much time together if you quit. I thought you were applying for the assistant-manager job?” he asked.
Kara walked to her boyfriend and gently kissed him. “I know I said I would apply but L-Corp is my dream job! And I’m not sure I’d be comfortable being your boss. You should try to get the job. You’d be great at it, I know it.”
Mike’s smile became more genuine.
“Yeah, I’d be a great assistant-manager!” he gloated. “Maybe even manager in a couple of years. And you’re right, you’d be horrible as my boss.”
Kara kissed him again, happy that he approved her decision to change job.
“Hey, I have an idea, why don’t we go to Vegas and let loose for the weekend?” Mike suggested.
Kara bit her bottom lip. They were supposed to go apartment hunting and have dinner with her sister and her mother on Sunday night. Mike saw the hesitation on her face and brought her closer to him.
“Come on! It’ll be cool! We could drive there and listen to my awesome road trip playlist and stay in a nice hotel, go to the casino and maybe even win some money and have a romantic evening,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.
“You promised to come with me to look at apartments this weekend!” Kara protested. “And I told Eliza we’d be there on Sunday. I’m pretty sure Alex has a big announcement to make.”
Mike sighed and rolled his eyes.
“She’s probably finally going to announce that she’s pregnant. I told you last time we saw her she’s getting chubby.”
Kara slapped his arm sharply.
“I told you to never say that again. And you promised me we’d go see a show when we go to Vegas.”
Mike massaged his arm and didn’t protest when Kara took a little distance from him.
“Come on, babe, you know we can’t afford the circus!”
Kara glared at him and crossed her arms on her chest.
“It’s not the circus, it’s Cirque du Soleil and you know it. And if we can’t afford a show, maybe we can’t afford Vegas either!”
“We can if I do the job for Mister Lord. It’ll only take a couple of hours and then I’ll be done with it. I promise. It’s good money, Kara. I could make big with it on the Strip. And I could buy you tickets for your show. Please? We’re young, let’s be foolish once in awhile. We have all our lives to be responsible adults. Let’s celebrate your interview this weekend. I promise you won’t forget it,” he said, almost pouting.
Kara sighed and uncrossed her arms before she let herself fall backward on the bed, enjoying the way her body bounced before it settled.
A few weeks ago, she had won the argument about Mike working on the side for a billionaire inventor who had hired him to do odd business. Mike had agreed to stop but Kara knew he was right. It was good money and they did deserve a break. They both worked a lot and it didn’t leave a lot of time to be a couple.
Mike climbed on the bed and lay next to her, gently drawing nonsense with his finger on Kara’s forearm. Kara rolled on her side to face him.
“Alright. One last job for Mister Lord and we go to Vegas,” she conceded.
“Yes! You’re the best!” Mike went to kiss her but Kara stopped him with her finger on his lips, pushing him backward.
“But! You talk to Claire to get us days off work and you call Eliza and Alex to tell them we’re not coming for dinner.”
“Oh please! Your sister hates me!” Mike whined.
“She doesn’t hate you. Those are my conditions for Vegas. Take it or leave it. And those tickets better be good.”
***
The first morning in Vegas, Mike woke up to find Kara looking around her luggage and her purse.
“What are you doing, babe?” he slurred. “Come back to bed.”
“Have you seen my pills? I can’t find them.”
“I flushed them last night. I thought we could take advantage of this trip to start working on a baby.”
Kara was stunned.
“What?”
Mike sat on the bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“I’ve been thinking and we could use our time here to get married and start a family. Vegas could serve as our honeymoon. What do you think?”
Kara looked at him with her mouth open in surprise.
“You flushed my birth control pills? And you want us to get married? Just like that? No demand, no ring, just being practical? You flushed my pills!”
Mike got out of bed.
“What’s the big deal about your pills? You can’t take that crap if you want a baby. And I thought you weren’t the kind of girl who needs a knee to the ground and a ring. We’ve been together for three years and living together for two. It’s about time I make an honest woman out of you! I just thought it was the normal thing to do. What’s the matter? Don’t you love me? You don’t think I’m good enough for you, is that it?”
Kara put her fist on her hips and glared at her boyfriend.
“I never thought that and you know it. Those pills are important, they regulate a bunch of stuff in my body.”
Mike put on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
“Fine! I’m gonna go to the pharmacy and get you your stupid pills!” he spit.
Kara shook her head.
“You can’t, Mike. You need a prescription and I’m going to the doctor next week to get it renewed.”
“What about the other thing?”
“What other thing? Oh you mean getting married?” Kara started to breathe faster, unsure of what to do about it. “I… I need some air.”
Kara quickly put on a sundress, sandals and took her sunglasses and her purse before she left their hotel room.
She walked until the hot air became unbearable and she sought refuge in a restaurant. She ordered a tall glass of lemonade and once again tried to make sense of what had happened with Mike. She had been thinking a lot and so far she had come to the conclusion that she wasn’t ready to be a mother. As for marriage… She let her eyes wander in the restaurant and saw a beautiful blonde woman who was reading a book and eating scones.
Kara stared at her for a while until the woman noticed and smiled at her. Kara smiled back and lowered her head, blushing. It had been awhile since a beautiful woman had smiled back at her.
A few minutes later, the waiter brought her another lemonade and a small plate of scones.
“I didn’t order this,” Kara protested.
The waiter smiled at her.
“It comes from the lady over there,” he said, pointing to the woman who had caught Kara’s attention. Kara looked at her again and the woman smiled and nodded at her. Kara smiled back but her attention was caught up by the smell of the freshly baked scones, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since the night before. She quickly popped a scone in her mouth and couldn’t help herself when she moaned loudly and closed her eyes in bliss.
“I knew you’d like them,” a deep voice said to her left.
Kara opened her eyes and saw the blonde woman standing next to her table. She wanted to talk to the other woman but with her mouth full of the delicious scone, all she managed to do was smile like a doofus and point to the chair opposite her to invite her benefactor to join her.
Fortunately, the woman understood her intent and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I can’t stay. But do enjoy the scones for me. Have a great day!” she said before putting her sunglasses on and leaving.
Kara managed to chew fast enough to be able to yell “Thank you!” before the other woman exited the restaurant.
After her snack, Kara felt the day’s emotions and heat taking their toll and decided to go back to her room. She would have to talk to Mike eventually so might as well do it now. She checked her phone to see how far from her hotel she was and realized it was already mid afternoon and Mike hadn’t called, texted or tweeted. It was unusual for him to be so silent with her.
Kara left the restaurant and hailed a cab to go back to the hotel. When she arrived in the hallway leading to her room, Kara could hear a woman who was enjoying her trip to Vegas thoroughly.
“Oh yes! Harder!”
Kara winced as she looked for her room key in her purse. The noises seemed to come from the room next to theirs. She hoped they would be able to sleep tonight. She entered the room and placed her purse on the chair next to the door.
“Mike, I’m back! I think we should… talk.”
Her last word stuck in her throat as she saw Mike’s naked butt drive into the screeching woman she had heard earlier.
“Oh yes! You’re so good!”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Aaaah!”
“Mike?” Kara’s voice was small.
Mike rolled on his back and saw Kara standing at the foot of the bed.
“Oh shit. Babe, it’s not what you think!” Mike yelled as he fumbled out of bed as the woman covered herself.
Kara was crying as she went back to grab her purse and left the room in a hurry. Mike ran after her, shouting her name only to find himself locked out of the room, naked.
Kara walked until she found an empty bench where she sat and tried to make sense of what had just happened. Her sister had warned her against that situation for years. How could she have been stupid enough to believe that Mike had ever been sincere? She cried and thought until the sun came down. She had to find a place to sleep and a way to go back home.
Maybe she could call Alex and ask her to come and get her or maybe she could fly or take the bus… Serves her right for not having her driver’s licence. She needed to get to a hotel first.
Kara found a room in a dirty hotel that charged by the hour. It was far from ideal but it was all she could afford. She tried to sleep but with the various screams coming from the other rooms and the smell of the sheets, she decided to go out instead.
She ended up in a small casino advertising it was ladies night. In a matter of minutes, she had a drink in her hand and a pile of chips in front of her. She tried her hand at Blackjack and managed to win a few hundred dollars as the weak drinks kept coming up.
Once she got bored of the card game, Kara moved to the roulette table. She sat next to a blonde woman who had a large pile of chips in front of her.
As Kara placed her chips on the table to bid, she felt her glass being removed and she knew it was still half full.
“Hey, I’m not done with that!” she yelled.
The blonde woman placed the glass further on the table.
“You were about to tip it off. Fancy meeting you here, scone girl,” the woman said with an amused smile.
Kara was stunned when she realized it was the same woman she had met earlier.
“Hey! Heeey! It’s you! Are you following me?” Kara asked, happy to see a friendly face.
“I could ask you the same thing. I’m Helena. Nice to meet you again,” Helena said as she extended her hand in greeting.
Kara shook it enthusiastically. “I’m Kara. Thanks for the scones, they were very good. I will repay you of course,” Kara said as she took a chip from her modest pile and added it to Helena’s more impressive one.
“Nonsense, it was my genuine pleasure.”
“Thirteen black,” the croupier announced.
People around the table applauded as the man push a pile of chips in front of Helena. Kara winced as she watched her chips being taken away. She had bet on ten black, half an inch to the left and she would have won! Helena placed a pile of chips on twenty-seven red, including the chip Kara had given her.
Kara preferred to play safer and placed a single chip on the red. When the croupier announced “Twenty-seven, red”, Kara couldn’t refrain a small cry of surprise that her new acquaintance had won again.
“Well, it seems like you did repay me in full. You are my lucky charm.”
They played for about an hour, winning and losing small amounts for Kara and bigger ones for Helena. They laughed a lot and Kara finally felt good. In a bold move, she placed all her chips on twenty-four black and almost fainted when she won. She now had several thousand dollars worth of chips, she could find a better hotel for the night and fly home in the morning.
“We have to go celebrate!” Helena said close to Kara’s ear. “Wanna dance? I know a place.”
Kara let herself be lost in Helena’s beautiful green eyes before she nodded. Helena smiled and gathered her chips while Kara did the same.
“Let’s go change the chips, you do not want to walk around with them,” Helena warned Kara.
Helena took Kara’s hand in hers and led the way to the other side of the room. They took a cab to a huge bar where Helena brought Kara on the dance floor. They were in the middle of dancing very closely on ‘I wanna know what love is’ when Mike pulled on Kara’s arm and separated them.
“Hey! What is wrong with you? We’re dancing!” Helena protested as she pulled on Kara’s other arm to bring her back against her.
Kara pulled both her arms back but remained close to Helena.
“How did you find me, Mike? Are you following me?”
“I tracked your phone. I’ve installed an app years ago to always know where you are, it’s my way of making sure you’re safe, babe. Come on, let’s go back to our hotel and talk about this. It’s a misunderstanding.”
Mike took Kara’s hand again and started to pull but Kara was having none of it. She freed her hand and firmly placed it in Helena’s who interlocked their fingers.
“Do you know this guy? I can have him removed if he bothers you,” Helena offered.
“Helena, this is Mike, my ex-boyfriend as of this afternoon when I caught him with his dick in another girl! So, no Mike, I’m not going anywhere with you because this is not a misunderstanding! Now, go away, I’m dancing!”
Kara felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She turned her back to Mike and smiled at Helena before she started to move in sync with the music.
“Babe, please! It was a mistake, you have to give me another chance!” Mike pleaded as he squeezed Kara’s arm.
“Do we have a problem here?” a huge man asked, his hand on Mike’s shoulder to make him release his grip on Kara.
“Bruce! I’m so glad to see you! Could you remove this gentleman, please? I’m trying to dance with my friend,” Helena asked.
“No problem, miss.”
Bruce firmly escorted Mike toward the exit.
“This is not over, Kara! I will see you at home, babe. I love you!” Mike yelled.
Once he was out of sight, Kara felt the tears in her eyes again. Helena led her to the bar.
“Oh, Honey I’m so sorry! Here, take this!” Helena gave Kara a glass of cuervo. Kara took it while Helena wet the side of her neck with the lime and poured salt on it. Then she placed the piece of lime between her lips, offering it to Kara with as much smile as she could. Kara gulped the tequila, licked Helena’s neck and bit on the lime before she removed the peel and shared a passionate kiss with Helena.
***
When Kara came back to consciousness, she felt wonderful for a moment. Then the headache attacked her with full force. She realized she was naked and the wetness between her legs told her she’d had sex in the last few hours. That last thought made her sit straight on the bed, grab her head in pain and shut her eyes.
She felt her stomach starting to protest and took deep breaths to calm it down. Once she felt she had control over her stomach, Kara slowly opened her eyes to try to figure out where she was and with whom.
The room was far better than where she had left her things the night before and it was an upgrade from the room Mike had booked for them. The thought of the man who had shared her life made her stomach churn again.
What if Mike had come back the night before and convinced her to rent this room and to sleep with him? What if he had tricked her so she would get pregnant? Kara rolled to the side of the bed and started dry heaving. She burped and the taste of cuervo invaded her mouth as her gaze fell on a pink bra she was sure wasn’t hers.
Relief washed over Kara and settled her troubling stomach. She rolled on her back and once again took deep breaths to calm her racing heart. She ran her hands through her hair and winced when her left hand caught up in a knot. Untangling her fingers, Kara noticed something shiny on one of them. Looking closely, she saw a beautiful diamond ring on her finger. The feeling of dread came back in full force.
Had Mike gotten his way and gave her lingerie? She tried to remember what happened the night before but the only image that came up was Elvis. Kara was starting to panic again when the door the bathroom opened and Helena came out, wearing a black satin robe, her face looking freshly washed.
“Hey. How do you feel?” Helena asked softly.
“Confused.” Kara’s voice was raspy and her throat hurt. “Did we get married?”
Helena sat at the foot of the bed.
“What do you remember?”
Kara frowned and took a moment to gather her thoughts.
“I remember… dancing with you and Mike interrupting us and kissing you and… Elvis?”
Helena chuckled.
“After that kiss, we danced some more and then you became upset when your song with Mike came up. I had to stop you from… how did you put it…. oh yeah, digging your keys into the side of his ride, carve your name into the seats, take a Louisville slugger to both headlights and slash his tires. So I took you for a walk and the last part is fuzzy for me too so I guess we ended up drinking some more and…”
Helena showed Kara her left hand which had a gold ring shaped like a heart surrounded by a pair of hands and topped by a crown.
“I found the licence on the table with a note from my… driver, saying he helped us get here.”
Kara slowly sat up and held on to the bed sheet.
“What are we going to do?”
Helena lay on the bed and held her head with her right hand, looking at Kara.
“Well, they say what happens here stays here, so I can have my people get an annulment. Just leave me your number and I’ll call you when it’s ready to sign.”
Kara stayed silent for a moment, thinking about the proposition. Her head was still pounding and her stomach didn’t feel so stable.
“Your people, uh? It would seem I married well. Can you really do it?”
Helena reached for Kara’s left hand with her own and brought it to her lips to kiss the fingers lightly.
“I promise that in 48 hours this will all be a bad memory and no one will know about what happened on your wild weekend in Vegas.”
Kara looked into Helena’s eyes and smiled. Somehow, she knew that everything would be fine.
“I wouldn’t say all of it was a bad memory. I mean, sure I found out my boyfriend was a cheating bastard but I don’t regret meeting you,” she admitted.
Helena let her fingers play with the top of Kara’s hand.
“I have many regrets in my life but meeting you isn’t one. Too bad I don’t remember what we did once we got here. But judging by the way my body hurts I think we had fun,” she said with a smile that reached her eyes.
Kara stared at Helena, her cheek resting on her bended knees.
“I should go get my things and head home,” Kara said reluctantly. Helena didn’t remove her hand.
“I think I’ve seen your bags in the living room. I must have sent for them. Would you… would you like to spend the day with me?” Helena asked sheepishly. “I could order food and you could shower before you have to leave. That is if you don’t already have plans,” she added precipitately.
“I don’t have plans. I was supposed to… never mind. Are you sure I wouldn’t be in your way? I can ask for another room.”
Helena smiled.
“I wouldn’t offer it if it bothered me. Stay with me. You probably need something to help with the hangover. I don’t know how you manage to look so… radiant after all the drinks you had. I woke up feeling sick.”
Kara felt herself blushing.
“I don’t know… I feel like a wet dog moved into my mouth and had puppies.”
Helena burst out laughing then winced when the pain invaded her head.
“Ugh! Painkillers first…” she moaned.
She slowly got off the bed and went to her purse. Kara took the opportunity to check Helena out as the other woman searched through her bag and successfully retrieved a bottle of pills.
“I’m going to order a gallon of coffee to wash those off. Would you like anything?” Helena asked.
Kara opened her mouth to answer but she was cut off by the sound of the Imperial March.
“Ugh! I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” Helena grabbed her phone then went to the living room and closed the door.
Kara got out of bed and found her underwear and sundress spread on the floor. She took her panties and winced when she put them on. They were still wet and cold and uncomfortable but it was better than nothing. As she put her bra on, she sensed her head and stomach starting to protest again, Kara went back to the bed and crawled under the covers. She spotted a pad of paper with a pen on the nightstand and grabbed them to write her name and phone number before putting it back. Her eyes were burning so she closed them and tried to remember more about the night before. She was almost asleep again when Helena came back in the bedroom.
“Kara? Are you sleeping?”
“Mhn…” Kara mumbled.
“I’m sorry, I have to go. Work emergency. I’ll send someone to pick up my things. Stay in the room as long as you like. I’ll call you in a few days for the annulment.”
Kara nodded slightly, already half asleep.
“Number’s there…” she pointed to the nightstand.
Helena got to the bed and picked up the piece of paper before she pulled the covers up to Kara’s still naked shoulders, tucking her in. Kara grabbed Helena’s hand and kissed her fingers lightly.
“Stay.”
Kara was fully awake now and she turned her head slightly to see the other woman. Helena hesitated.
“I want to, believe me. They really need me, otherwise I’d stay. I’ll call you in a few days. Maybe we could talk about all this.”
Helena kissed Kara’s cheek before she left the room. Kara took what must have been Helena’s pillow during the night and hugged it tightly, sniffing to find the other woman’s scent. She fell asleep, thinking about bright green eyes and a smile so bright it could outshine Vegas.
***
Kara was exhausted when she arrived at Alex’s place on Sunday morning. She was still not back to her normal self after the Vegas hangover. Although she had managed to get some sleep after Helena’s departure, she hadn’t slept since.
Knocking on the door, she waited for her sister to open. She knocked again a few minutes later until she remembered that it was Sunday morning and that Alex was probably on her insane 15 miles run she did every week before she drove to Midvale for the family dinner. Kara really wanted to have her sister’s advice about what to do with Mike and all the details of her wild trip to Vegas. Well… most of the details. Maybe she should hide the fact that she had slept with a total stranger. And had waked up married to her yesterday morning.
Since her key was at her apartment, Kara sat on the porch and closed her eyes to enjoy the rising sun.
“Kara? Kara!” Alex’s frantic tone woke Kara up with a start.
“Alex? Ugh… I fell asleep waiting for you.”
Alex took deep breaths to regulate her breathing. She was covered in sweat, her hair falling in her eyes.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in Vegas? Mom told me you were doing a spontaneous trip,” Alex said as she unlocked the door.
“Mom told you? Mike didn’t call?
Alex unzipped her sport vest and removed her shoes.
“Why would he call me?”
Kara entered and closed the door, growling.
“Hey! What’s with the attitude this morning? What’s going on?”
Kara marched to the kitchen. “Do you have sticky buns? I’m starving!” she asked, opening the fridge.
“Kara, enough! What is going on!” Alex yelled.
Kara sighed and pulled up a chair.
“You better sit down. I have a lot to tell you.”
***
“Let me get this straight, you went to Vegas with Mike, he wanted to get married and start a family, you caught him cheating, you got drunk and you got married to a complete stranger who happens to be a woman?”
“And I won big at the casino,” Kara added.
“How big?”
“Uh… 97K…”
Alex choked on the water she had been drinking. Kara quickly cleaned the spilled water while Alex coughed up to regain composure.
“Are you… sure?” Alex croaked. Kara nodded as she put the rag to its place.
“I went back to the casino yesterday. I thought it was a mistake and the amount was 17K, which was closer to what I remember winning, but they told me there was no mistake and that I really won 97 thousand dollars.”
“What are you going to do now?” Alex asked as she risked taking another sip of water. Kara hesitated.
“I was thinking about getting my things in storage and get a hotel room until I find a new place to rent. I don’t want to see Mike again or hear him trying to convince me it was a misunderstanding. I mean, he tells me we should get married and start a family and when I asked for some time to think he slept with the first girl he could find! What kind of person does that?”
The tears were back in Kara’s eyes and she became angry with herself. She had cried enough over Mike in the last two days. Alex came to hug her and caressed her back soothingly.
“Hey I have an idea. Rizzoli finally moved in with Isles so she’s renting her condo until one of her brothers moves in. Call Winn and James, I’ll call Jane and check if Vasquez is free.”
Kara dried her tears and looked puzzled at her sister.
“You want me to move next door? Today? What about the furniture?”
Alex went to get her phone and dialled her former neighbor.
“The place is fully furnished. Now get your ass moving!”
Twelve hours later, Kara was eating pizza with Alex in her new apartment.
“So, what are you going to do?” Alex asked while finishing her glass of red wine.
“About what?”
“About Mike. You still have to work with him tomorrow. And your… wife?
Kara finished her slice of pizza and cleaned her fingers with a napkin.
“I’ll ask Claire to put us on different shifts as much as possible. And I’ll have no choice but to put up with him. Hopefully I’ll get the assistant job and never see him again.”
“You know… I could take care of him…” Alex offered nonchalantly. Kara threw a pillow that caught Alex right in the face.
“He didn’t commit any crime punishable by law. He was just a jerk who broke my heart,” Kara stated.
“You were so heartbroken you married the first chick who smiled at you and you banged her too,” Alex muttered in her glass of wine.
“What was that?”
“Hum? Nothing. What about… Helena?”
“What about her? We’ll get an annulment and forget it ever happened.”
“But you like her, don’t you? You’d like to get to know her.”
Kara thought for a moment, looking at her next pizza slice. “Yeah,” she admitted quietly.
***
On Thursday morning, Kara was waiting nervously for the job interview at L-Corp and was lost in her thoughts when she heard a door slam and the sound of high heels clacking on the floor.
“Are you out of your mind?” a female voice shouted.
“Good morning to you too, Cat. What are you yelling about?” a second female voice answered.
“This! You’re lucky my assistant brought it to me before it got out. What were you thinking? It was totally unsafe! Do I need to remind you that your mother is out there trying to kill you?” Cat asked.
“I took all the usual precautions, I had Bruce with me and Sam knew where I was. I was fine!” the second woman protested.
“Lena, please, you think calling yourself Helena and wearing a blonde wig is protection enough? This photo of you getting married in Vegas is proof that your system is flawed.”
When she heard the last part, Kara froze on her chair. It couldn’t be.
“We’ll talk about this later, Cat, I have an interview for a new assistant. Jess? Can you make my 8 o’clock enter, please?!
A young woman came out and gestured for Kara to come over. Kara got on her feet and went to a room where a dark haired woman was reading a file while going to sit behind her desk. It took Kara two seconds to recognize the woman who had been haunting her nights since the weekend.
She cleared her throat and the woman looked up. There was a twinkle of recognition in her bright green eyes, quickly masked by surprise and dread.
“Hello, wife.”