Chapter Text
Business was like any other day at the newly renamed LCorp company. Lena had a few Skype calls with executives in Australia, Italy, and even Japan, a boring conference in the office with many snuffy Cheif Executives from CatCo and other lesser companies she officially owned. After some persuading from her assistant, Lena finally left her office to go home and get some rest, deciding to walk instead of having her driver take her, wanting some of the fresh midnight air. Black heels tapped rhythmically on the concrete as she walked through the city, the silence an extremely comforting relief to accompany her after a long, tiring day. Lena loved walking home whenever she could as it gave her a bit of time to think of how she’d go about her schedule the next day and—
Lena came to an abrupt stop on the sidewalk after hearing a faint, melodic voice in the distance. It sounded like singing. The noise was quiet, but Lena could tell it wasn’t far away. She began to look around, her only source of illumination being a streetlight from across the road. Lena took a few nervous steps forward along the sidewalk, hearing the singing mostly on the left side of her. The only thing she could see for quite a few feet was a dark alleyway in front of her.
The CEO’s heart started to beat faster in her chest, starting to think it a bad idea to investigate a strange but beautiful voice in the dark of night. Lena decided to take a risk and saunter over to the alley, peeking around the corner cautiously. The raven-haired woman’s eyes widened slightly. A thin blonde woman with her head and back leaning against the cold brick wall, face pointed up to the stars but had her eyes closed, as if fighting off sleep. She started to hum the little tune quieter then, knees pulled up to her chest and hands fidgeting in her lap. Lena contemplated talking to the blonde, asking why she was curled up in an alley singing to herself, but it was pretty obvious: this woman was homeless.
“It’s a little late out to be stargazing, don’t you think?” Lena spoke up, a hint of a smile on her face.
The woman jumped and clamped her mouth shut, eyes flinging open and darting around, trying to find a face to go with the voice.
“Don’t worry,” Lena stepped away from the wall, making herself known.
The blonde spun herself around to the CEO, clutching a hand to her chest. “I’m so sorry, was I bothering you?” The woman asked shyly, hurrying to stand up in the dark alleyway.
“Not at all,” Lena shook her head, reaching into her purse for her wallet. “Just wondering if I could pay back my entertainer?” She raised an eyebrow in question, not wanting to just assume.
“O—Oh, I couldn’t, ma’am.” The woman began to protest but Lena pushed on.
“I insist.” She pulled out a bill and handed it out to the woman, not able to see too well from the shadows of the alley, but enough to see the woman's tall form and surprised expression. “Can I get your name?”
The woman slowly walked over to accept the money with shaking hands, perhaps from the cold. “I’m Kara.”
“Lena.” Once Kara took the money she stuck out her hand to shake the blonde’s.
Kara took her hand with surprisingly warm and soft ones and shook it enthusiastically, smiling wide enough that Lena wished it was daytime so she could see it better than just in the dull brightness of a nearby streetlight. “Uh, t—thank you very much. For the—” the shy and awkward blonde held up the bill in her hand as she released Lena’s.
“It’s no trouble, trust me. I know how hard it is on your own.” Lena replied with a sad, sobered smile.
Kara didn’t respond, only looked down at her feet with a matching soft smile to the young Luthor’s as she thumbed over the crease of the money with her fingernail.
“Stay safe and have a good night, Kara.” Lena bowed her head slightly as a goodbye, turning around to continue on her way home, unable to shake the thought that she might have heard a small ‘you too’ as she resumed walking.
.oOo.
Lena sat in her office at LCorp, elbows resting on the shiny, pristine white desk in front of her. If only her mother could see her now, slouching like a ‘heathen.’ When she was younger, Lillian would walk by Lena hunched over slightly and pull her shoulders back, sticking her knee in the raven-haired girl’s back and stay like that until Lena stopped slouching over the table. That had taught Lena to keep her spine as straight as a board from then on, not ever relaxing her back in anyone’s presence.
A knock on her door snapped her out of her childhood memories and made her sit straight up once again. “Yes?” She called to whoever stood behind the door.
“My apologies, Miss Luthor,” Jess, her assistant popped her head through the opening of the door. “You have a woman here to see you. She’s not scheduled for today but she’s insisting and pacing a hole in the floor.”
Lena began to wonder who could be that insistent to see her that it made Jess roll her eyes, looking so… annoyed. It couldn’t be her mother; Jess knew who she was, and Lillian would always walk in any time she visited, despite her assistant’s protests. It made Lena feel a little sad that the only woman she could think of coming to see her at work was a person that would honestly rather have nothing to do with her or see her dead.
“I'm finished with this paper, send them in.” Jess nodded and immediately left before Lena returned to the paperwork on her desk while she waited for her guest to reach the elevator.
A few moments later Lena heard the tiniest knock on her office door. The CEO almost didn’t hear the noise. Lena called out for the figure behind the door to come in, straightening herself in her chair, smoothing a hand through her long, straight hair. The subtle click of the handle turning very slowly made Lena a little nervous. Most people who came into her office just marched in and sat down, barely waiting for an introduction to make themselves comfortable.
A familiar face nervously stepped into the room, turning around to shut the door behind her. When the woman turned back to face her Lena’s eyes widened a little:
Kara, the woman from last night stood in front of her in a long forest green t-shirt with a few small holes here and there, mostly on the short sleeves and torso area. She wore ripped and faded blue jeans matched with a worn and beat-up looking pair of black converse, looking down at her hands clutching some sort of piece of paper.
“H—Hi,” The blonde looked to Lena with piercing ocean blue eyes, and Lena just then regretted not seeing them in their full glory in the alleyway yesterday. She really was a beautiful woman... To put it lightly.
“Hello, Kara,” Saying her name made the woman lift her in surprise, perhaps in awe that she had remembered it. “What brings you here?”
“Um, I—I have to give you something.” Kara started to bounce up and down slightly on the balls of her feet, needing to move before she exploded.
Lena furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, standing up and walking closer to the blonde. Seeing this, Kara stopped her nervous bouncing. “Is it another song?” Lena smirked at her tease, but Kara’s eyes remained stuck to the ground.
“Did you want one?” the blonde looked up with what could only be described as absolute fear.
Lena laughed at her adorable awkwardness. “I’m just kidding, Kara,”
Kara breathed out a sigh of relief. “Oh.” She exhaled in relief, scratching a fist with her fingernails.
Lena’s eyes drifted to her company’s hands, noticing something still clutched in Kara’s somewhat shaky hands. “Are you alright? You said you had something for me?”
Blue eyes finally met green. “Y—Yes,” Kara started. “I don’t want you to think I’m being rude or ungrateful or anything, which I’m not! I promise. I just thought that you’d want this back.”
Lena looked down at Kara’s extended arm, holding out a folded up and slightly crumpled and worn out 100 dollar bill. It clicked in her mind what this meant.
“I just wanted t—to give this back. Even though it is very generous of you, I just—I don’t think you meant to give that much to me on purpose.”
Lena slowly took the bill out of Kara's slightly unsteady hand and raised an eyebrow, finding it slightly amusing that the blonde seemed to duck her gaze down under her powerful gaze. Never before had Lena met someone so humble and kind. "You're right, I didn't mean to give you this much."
The blonde watched Lena round her desk and reach into her purse. Maybe Kara was expecting her to exchange it for a 5 or a 10 but was utterly shocked in place when Lena appeared in front of her holding out quite a few $100 bills, including the one she'd given the blonde last night. "Is 1,000 okay?"
"I—I..." Kara opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish, unable to form words as her body went stiff in surprise. "Are you—Are you sure?"
Lena genuinely smiled and in the spur of the moment grabbed Kara's hand and laid the money in her hand for her to take. "Well, I hope so. You're gonna need it for tonight."
"Tonight?" She asked, confused.
The young Luthor waited a few seconds before explaining what she meant. She didn't know whether or not this was a good idea, but once again, it was in the spur of the moment. "I guess I should've asked first..." She laughed nervously. Lena composed herself and continued. "Would you like to accompany me on a date this evening? I—I swear I didn't give you money just to trick you into it, I think I'd just like to know you better...Maybe show me another song?"
Lena was sure that this whole ordeal was the craziest thing that had ever happened to her. The brunette was expecting Kara to turn and run. Anybody asked on a date by a Luthor would probably do the same, but they wouldn't do what the beautiful blonde did. Kara pulled herself out of her shock and relaxed, smiling down at something. It was only then that Lena realized she was still holding hands with her guest. Another nervous laugh bubbled up out of her throat as she released the woman's hand, money leaving with it. Another beat passed before either one spoke, but thankfully Kara started. "I would love to,"
"But?" Lena questioned, sensing the hesitance in the blonde's smooth voice.
"But I don't want to think I'd do it because of your money. I didn't even know who you were until an hour ago, but a quick google search at the public library and a few clicks later and I find out that you're, like, a billionaire, and I'm just a pathetic poor girl, a—and you're very attractive and pretty and I'm not."
It was Lena's turn to stand shocked. Damn, she's cute when she rambles, She thought, remembering the words the woman across from her said, said woman fidgeting with the money once again. Kara was sweet for not wanting the money although she needed it and Lena had plenty. Her logic might've been flawed, but Lena just felt lonely. She longed for somebody to come home to, someone to kiss and go on coffee dates with like a normal person. Kara was the first person to not grimace or run away at the truth of her last name, so letting her go without trying to know her better would be one of the biggest mistakes the Luthor could probably make in her life. Lena didn't care about money or status, she cared about those impossibly blue eyes staring into her soul in a way that made Lena somehow melt even further.
"You don't have to go on a date with me, Kara." Lena finally said, hiding her disappointment well enough, gaze pointed to her jet black heels. "But you should know that I don't care how much money you have. I'd like to get to know you more if that's something you're okay with..."
The tall blonde smiled and nodded at last. "I'm okay with it."
Lena almost groaned in relief at the attractive blonde woman's words, glad to be accepted instead of rejected. "Good. May I take you somewhere tonight? Say, 7:00 o'clock?"
"S—Sure!" Kara chirped. "I will say that this was not how I thought my day was gonna go,"
The brunette raised her perfect eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah. I thought I would get kicked out or something, but now I've got a hot date tonight."
"Hot?" Lena flirted, delighted in the crimson blush on Kara's face that started to spread down to her neck. She was going to say something else but a knock on her door pulled the moment right out of her hands. "Yes?" She called out to the person behind the double doors.
"Ms Luthor, your 2:30 is here," Jess said.
Sighing in disappointment, Lena turned her attention back to her visitor for a moment. She wanted to spend more time with Kara, but sadly work had to continue. "I'll see you tonight?" A hopeful lilt in her tone.
"Definitely." Kara nodded, giving one more brighter-than-the-sun smile before turning to leave. "Thank you again."
"Money is no problem," Lena responded, moving back around her desk and sitting down.
Kara chuckled quietly as she got to the doors. "For the date, Lena."
The Luthor looked up in surprise just in time to see the blonde disappear through the way she came in, for once in her life excited for a date. Lena was very glad she chose to walk home last night.