Chapter Text
and the tennis court was covered up
with some tent-like thing
and you asked me to dance
but I said ‘dancing is a dangerous game’
oh, I thought
‘this is gonna be one of those things’
now I know
I’m never gonna love again
I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve
takes one to know one
you’re a cowboy like me
-
“I’m just saying, slapping the word ‘fundraiser’ on it doesn’t exactly make me like Morgan Edge any more than I already don’t. ”
Kara turns her head as she takes a seat at the bar, glaring teasingly at Maxwell Lord as he crosses his arms beside her. He offers a friendly smile to one of his colleagues that passes by. It immediately drops off his face once they’re out of range and he looks back at Kara, “Can you please just behave tonight?” He taps the bar, the bartender nodding to him and mixing something up quick, which he slides over to Kara. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
The second he turns around, Kara pokes her tongue out and mocks quietly, “ Don’t do anything stupid. ”
She sighs once she’s alone, kicking one heeled foot rhythmically as she glances about. Almost every person she’s ever been hired by is in this room: all of them being high-status, rich men with sticks so far up their asses there isn’t even a point in trying to dig it out. She rolls her eyes as she makes eye contact with one of them and he winks at her.
It’s almost enough to make her want to drink.
Maxwell Lord should have known better than to order her something alcoholic. She passes her drink off to some guy beside her and orders a glass of water instead. She never drinks when she’s working. She hardly drinks, period. She made that mistake once, back in the beginning, and she’d be a fool to make it again.
Kara Danvers has been an escort for just over eight years now. Most of her work involves going to dinner with and attending parties such as these with anyone willing to pay a… rather large hourly fee. She doesn’t do sex, and she certainly doesn’t do love. She’s definitely faked love with some of her clients, if only to get a few extra hundred out of them, but she’s never felt it. Most of these men are just looking for arm candy, anyway.
Maxwell Lord has been her only client for just over a year now. He’s always outbidding anyone who tries to purchase her time, and because she’s rather fond of the money she’s been making, she puts up with it. Plus, he’s probably the least annoying client she’s ever had.
Kara thinks that the most non-annoying part about him… is that he doesn’t pay attention to her more than he has to. Kara is fairly certain she’s the only escort he’s ever hired, and it only took her a month into their working relationship to figure out why. When she’d told Alex about her new customer, the CEO of Lord Industries, Alex had done a spit-take. She’d then told this wonderful tale about how she’d been investigating an attack in his lab (seeing as she’s an agent for the FBI) for a few weeks prior to him hiring Kara, and he’d tried to ask her out three times. Half of Kara’s conversations with him are about her sister, and half of Kara’s conversations with him end right after they’ve begun. The most annoying part about him is how much of a puppy dog he is for Kara’s sister. Kara’s gay sister.
(But she’s making good money. So, maybe she sometimes plans outings where they run into Alex, and maybe she lets the occasional update slip.)
This quote unquote ‘fundraiser’ being hosted by Morgan Edge is probably the least interesting party Kara has been to all year. It’s supposedly to raise money for a local children’s hospital, but Kara remembers when Alex had gone to her begging for her to stay away from him. Kara listened. He’s been on her mental hitlist ever since. She doesn’t even need to know why, she just trusts her sister.
She thinks she spots Max off across the room, talking to a girl Kara doesn’t recognize. It doesn’t bother her either way. She spins around once on her stool and begins eyeing the place for food. She’s sure her eyes grow three sizes when she spots the buffet across the room. The only thing these parties are good for…
She gets about two feet away from her spot at the bar when she feels a tap on her shoulder and turns.
The first thing her eyes land on is a pair of expensive-looking diamond earrings. They’re gorgeous, and Kara spends a few seconds letting potential prices run through her head. She tries to imagine them on her own ears. They would go perfectly with the current black and white, skin-tight dress she’s wearing.
The second thing her eyes land on is a set of green eyes, watching her attentively. The third is a pair of bright red lips rising into a smirk the longer Kara stares. And oh, does she stare. After all, it’s not every day Lena Luthor approaches her at a party.
“Care for a dance?” Kara looks at the perfectly manicured hand she extends, then glances off towards where she knows Max is. She sees him watching her carefully.
Thinking about how much money he’s paying her tonight, she eyes Lena’s hand warily, “That… might be a little risky. I’m here with Max Lord tonight.”
Lena Luthor shrugs, her smirk growing, “What’s he gonna do?”
Kara tilts her head slightly and considers her words. She is Lena Luthor. She makes more every minute than Max probably makes in an hour…
Kara smirks back and takes her hand.
It takes Kara all of five seconds to realize that Lena Luthor is a little possessive. She’s confident, and (after asking for consent) places her hands on Kara’s hips and pulls her very close. The music has a moderate pace, but it’s quick enough that Kara can put a little extra sway in her hips. She settles her own arms over Lena’s shoulders and links her hands behind her neck. It feels a little intimate, considering the fact that they just met, but Kara is nothing without her boldness, and from what she’s gathered neither is Lena.
“I know who you are,” Kara says as they sway, eyes flicking between Lena’s.
“Well, I know about you, too.”
“Oh, really?” Kara smirks. She isn’t really that surprised. Her prior job at Catco as a reporter had gotten her an entrance into this world of big CEOs and folks in the 1%. And when you pick up a new vocation such as Kara’s, word travels fast. But Lena Luthor knowing about her… that is interesting. She’s always seemed just out of reach for Kara. “What’s your move, then?”
Lena shrugs her shoulders and leans forward, whispering into Kara’s ear, “You’ll have to stick around to find out, unfortunately.” Lena’s breath simultaneously sends a shiver down Kara’s neck and warms her. Kara hums, merely finding Lena’s words intriguing.
“I’m a little curious,” Lena continues, “Do you even like these parties?”
That makes Kara laugh, “To an extent. Do you? ”
“I like dancing,” Lena says, bringing her head back so she can look at Kara once more. Kara feels like she’s peering into her soul. She changes the subject, “I saw you with Max earlier. You hate being around him.”
“You say that like it isn’t obvious.”
“I said it because it’s obvious.” Kara hums, unable to keep her lips from rising slightly. Lena presses, “Why are you with him, if you hate him?”
“First of all, I’m ‘with’ no one,” Kara raises a brow, “But why, are you interested?”
Lena doesn’t hide the way she glances down at Kara, “Maybe.”
Kara clicks her tongue and looks up as if in thought, “I’m pretty expensive.”
“Well,” Lena says, pulling Kara a little tighter against her, “Money isn’t an issue for me.” Kara smirks knowingly. “What will it take for you to leave this party with me?”
Oh. So it’s gonna be like this.
Kara glances over Lena’s shoulder, meeting Max’s eyes across the room. He’s shooting daggers by now, no doubt having been watching almost the entire time. As she breaks the eye contact she’s had with Lena, she starts to feel the countless stares they’re getting all across the room. She isn’t entirely sure how to describe how it makes her feel. It excites her, being seen with Lena Luthor in this way after knowing her for all of five minutes. But it also makes her feel a little… dirty. In a bad way.
Fuck the consequences, she thinks, I’m not in the mood to be oogled tonight.
“Hmm,” Kara finally says, bringing her gaze back to meet Lena’s, “Probably not much.”
Lena takes a moment to draw Kara away from her in a twirl, bringing her closer than before on the way back. Kara feels her breath catch in her throat as they stop inches from one another’s faces, and she watches dumbfoundedly as Lena smiles and steps back, releasing Kara and beginning to walk towards the exit.
“Excellent.”
-
Lena takes Kara back to her penthouse. Almost immediately when Lena unlocks the door, Kara is overwhelmed by how spacious the entrance feels. Kara does a little 360 spin as she steps inside, walking ahead of Lena. Lena pauses by the door to type the security code in to prevent an alarm from going off. Her eyes roam, taking in as much as possible in the first sixty seconds.
Lena’s apartment is incredibly white. That’s one of the first things Kara picks up. The marble backsplash in her kitchen and red-cushioned stools at her kitchen island are some of the biggest accents, with almost everything else being some form of white or grey. It all looks expensive and somehow so Lena Luthor, even though Kara hardly knows her. She almost feels like she shouldn’t take off her shoes; like she’s entering the lobby to a really fancy hotel, or something.
Kara lingers closer to the doorway, stepping to her left and eyeballing the electric fireplace. Lena heads to her kitchen and comes back with two glasses of what looks (and smells) like brandy, offering one over to Kara. Kara accepts, and Lena steps back into the living room, taking a seat in one of the white leather armchairs, her gaze locked on Kara as she inspects the area.
Kara runs her hand on the smooth stone over the fireplace, bringing her head down and looking at her own reflection in the dark glass closing up the fireplace. She pauses for a moment, picking up some kind of black and white vase carefully in her free hand. Lena doesn’t comment on it, so she takes that as a sign that she isn’t bothered by Kara touching her things.
(Kara’s sure she could replace it in an instant, anyway.)
“I’ve always been curious about you,” Kara says as she sets the vase back down, walking past the fireplace and stopping by the wall of windows. A sliding glass door sits slightly ajar, leading out onto a balcony that overlooks some of the best parts of the city. Kara grabs the handle and tugs it open a little more, breathing in the nighttime air. “I didn’t realize you were into women.”
She glances back just in time to see Lena smile at her over her glass, one brow in the air. She shrugs and says nothing.
Kara steps a little closer, stopping by a small table and spinning the small potted plant. Its vase is sleek and black. Kara has to actively force herself not to cringe when she sees the fingerprints she leaves behind. She runs her fingers over the leaves of the plant. Lena watches her fiddle with it. Kara looks a little closer when she realizes the leaves don’t feel quite right, and fake-gasps, “Lena Luthor can’t afford real plants?”
Kara has heard Lena ‘laugh’ once or twice tonight. Or, at least, she thought she had. She realizes that none of them had been genuine until the one she releases now. “Do you know how often I actually exist in this space, Ms. Danvers?”
“Please don’t call me that,” Kara says, “Kara is fine.”
“Alright,” Lena nods once. “Kara it is, then.”
Kara steps around the small table and stops at the glass coffee table just in front of Lena’s armchair. She picks up a magazine with Lena’s face on the cover and is in the middle of looking for the article written about her when Lena speaks again.
“What exactly does Max Lord ask of you?”
Kara looks up, seeing a quizzical, curious look in her eyes. “Why are you so interested in my relationship with Max Lord?” Kara raises a brow, stopping on an article about the best fall desserts. She continues, “He isn’t even selling anything, you know.”
“Funny that you think Max Lord would discuss his business dealings with you, ” Lena says coldly.
Kara tries her best not to look offended. She knows she’s merely his escort, but… she also knows she’s the closest he can get to Alex. He does tell her things, every now and then.
“So you are after something of his. What is it? Is it me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Kara,” Lena says, taking a long sip of her drink. Kara has yet to touch hers. She sets it down beside the magazine, back on the coffee table. “Besides, you’re already with me, aren’t you?”
Kara hums.
Lena stares at her for a moment, “Max Lord hasn’t had a solid partner in a long time. You might not be quite that, but you’re still the longest-running relationship he’s held, whether that’s for business or something else. Consider me curious.”
“You’ve bought out most of the men who’ve hired me in the past. I highly doubt you’re only curious. ”
“You say that like they’ve gone bankrupt,” Lena rolls her eyes, “All of the men I’ve bought out are just fine. They still have their money. They weren’t selling because their businesses were failing. They were selling because I gave them more money than they would have made in five years running their businesses the way they were running them.”
“Kinda seems like they got a little stiffed, then,” Kara tilts her head.
“How so?” Lena shrugs, “It isn’t my fault I’m better at this than they are.”
Kara laughs, “No. I suppose it’s not.”
Kara is a lot of things, but one thing she absolutely isn’t is stupid. Naive. She prides herself on that. And she prides herself on her ability to smell bullshit from a mile away. And every time Lena asks about Max and gives a vague response… she can feel she isn’t getting the entire story. But she’s also gathered enough in the past hour to know Lena isn’t going to reveal anything just yet. Not even with Kara’s usual methods of persuasion.
Unless…
Kara steps around the table, approaching Lena on the armchair. She runs her hands over Lena’s shoulders and brings herself into Lena’s lap, taking a careful seat. She secures her hands behind Lena’s neck and plays with the dark hair there. Lena lets it happen, setting her drink aside and peering up at Kara cautiously. Kara leans in close, “I’m gonna figure you out, you know.”
Lena does the opposite of what Kara thinks she will, leaning so close that Kara can smell the brandy on her lips, “Promise?”
Kara lifts her chin slightly, but not enough so their faces actually touch. She clenches her jaw subtly, trying to hide the way her head is spinning being this close to a woman this beautiful. She eventually smiles and brings her head back a bit, eyes narrowing.
Lena speaks again before she has a chance to respond, “How much was Max paying you for the night?”
“Five thousand for the party. I never go home with him, though.”
Why did I feel the need to say that?
“Consider it doubled. For leaving with me, and for staying.”
Kara tilts her head, saying quickly, “I don’t do sex.”
Lena is just as quick, “I wasn’t asking for it.”
Kara purses her lips. She never does stuff like this. But so rarely does she have an opportunity to be in the presence of someone as A-list as Lena Luthor. She thought Max was high on the food chain, but Lena? Lena is the food chain…
After a few moments, she nods.
-
Kara sleeps in the bed beside Lena, but they don’t touch. Lena respects her personal space. Kara likes her a little more for it.
(Kara likes her a little more in general. She gets the sense Lena has never hired an escort before. Kara can just sort of sense that type of thing on someone. And while she still isn’t entirely sure why Lena hired her, she can already securely say she’s simultaneously the most interesting and the least annoying out of all her clients.)
When Kara wakes in the morning, she’s completely alone. She knows Lena is one of the most powerful people in National City, and she knows she’d probably trigger some kind of deadly alarm if she even tried to steal or anything of the sort, but she still finds it odd that Lena trusts her enough to leave her alone.
She takes her time getting up. She uses Lena’s shower, and glances not-so-subtly through Lena’s closet, touching the expensive fabrics and admiring them closely, then heads out into the kitchen, getting ready to leave.
She spots a thick envelope on the kitchen counter, her name sprawled across it in black ink. She puffs out a breath and picks it up, spotting a note folded up directly underneath it. She opens the envelope and flicks through the money, sure that Lena didn’t stiff her. She closes it back up and tucks it in her bag, picking up the note and opening it up.
There’s more if you want it. You can start by coming to dinner with me tonight. Text me. -L (455) 567 8575
Kara smirks and tucks the note away alongside the envelope, heading for the exit. She pulls out her phone as she steps into the elevator, her eyes immediately being drawn to a text from Max Lord.
Max: Don’t even think you’re getting paid for last night.
Kara snorts.
Kara:
Good thing Ms. Luthor paid me double, then.