Chapter Text
“Alex I will pay you $2,000 a day to pretend to by my girlfriend for the weekend.” Lena said.
“I can do that as a cover for security.” Alex replied non-chalantly. “But why so much money? I already do security for you. Is it some high risk assignment?”
“Well, you wouldn’t exactly have to do the security part. I just need to show up with a date. My brother kind of pissed me off and I kind of lied. Then I buried my head in the sand, and now it’s this upcoming weekend. So it’s high risk as it’s my family. But not security high risk, just emotional high risk.” Lena grabbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. “I’m so stupid.”
“One, no you are not stupid. I know how family can be. Maggie’s family kicked her out and abandoned her when they found out that she was gay.” Alex said compassionately. “But two, I can’t this weekend. But as long as you’re not expecting sex for that price, my sister Kara’s done stuff like that before.”
Reader, that’s where the first miscommunication happened. What Alex meant is that her sister Kara had pretended, on two different occasions, for two different friends, to be their girlfriend. But that Kara wasn’t sex for hire.
What Lena understood was that Kara did work as a professional escort, but that wasn’t enough money for her to have sex. Privately, Lena wondered how good Kara was at sex if six G’s wasn’t enough to get her into bed.
“Are you OK with your sister doing that for me?” Lena asked incredulous.
“Yeah, sure.” Alex answered as she pulled out her phone. “Let me just make sure she’s available. I want to make sure that she doesn’t have anything this weekend with her regulars.”
Reader, that was the second miscommunication. Alex had previously talked about her sister to Lena. Alex had told her all about Kara just starting out as a reporter and how she was cultivating regular sources for her job. That’s what she meant by regulars. Unfortunately, Lena was often distracted with work when Alex was around, thus she never really paid attention to Alex when she spoke about her family. Instead what Lena understood was that Kara had regular clients for her escort services.
This brought up a different worry for Lena. Would the sister be known to one of the guests that would be in attendance? “How long has your sister been doing, er, working that line of work?”
“She just got promoted. She was Cat Grant’s personal assistant for the last four years.” Alex answered.
And yes, I think you see exactly where the miscommunication was there. Personal assistant really was what Kara had been. But Lena took it as personal 'assistant', nudge, nudge, wink, wink. And no wonder Kara was worth that much money, Cat Grant was known for being very demanding in the work place. Lena couldn’t imagine how demanding she would be in the bedroom. Kara must have some skills to be able to keep that job for three years.
Lena was a bit confused about how a sex worker gets a promotion. Or for that matter, what a promotion would be for a sex worker. But that wasn’t exactly a priority for her brain at this time. She needed a date for this weekend. If this woman was available then the whole promotion thing wasn’t an important concern.
“Yeah, she’s available. I’ll send her your number and the two of you can communicate over what’s appropriate.” Alex said as she was texting. “If it works out send the money to me. You’ve already got my pay information. I’ll pass it to Kara. It will be easier. Oh and by the way, don’t tell her the price we negotiated, because I’m taking a standard finder’s fee.” Alex winked.
Yes Reader, this one here’s on Alex. She had no intention of staking any claim to the money being offered. She just thought she was being funny. (It wasn’t the first time Alex was wrong about humor. But that’s another story.) So yes, you can clearly see how Lena took it as Alex was Kara’s pimp and was taking her standard pimp fee.
“Of course.” Lena answered, then suddenly realized that she had no idea what Alex’s sister looked like. “Oh wait, do you have a picture of your sister? I mean I hate to be shallow, but is she pretty?”
Alex flipped through a couple screens on her phone then held it up for Lena. Lena had to use her business acumen, and not reacting to a good offer, to not let her jaw drop. The blonde haired blue eyed vision in the photo was very good looking.
“Yeah, she’s alright.” Lena said. She didn’t want to admit how pretty she found Kara, for fear that Alex may raise the price. Although, Lena did contemplate then and there negotiating for a more personal girlfriend experience. But it was again, her business sense that told her to hold off. After all, Kara could be an impersonal bitch or have other flaws that weren’t apparent in a photo. Hell, since Alex was her pimp it was entirely possible that the pic was photoshopped to lure in clients.
“Ok, I sent you the pic along with her contact information.” Alex said. “Are you sure you won’t need security? I could make arrangements as needed. My fiancé is a cop and has connections nationwide.”
Now this miscommunication isn’t like the others. For one, Alex was lying. It wasn’t her fiancé that had connections it was her, because of the DEO. But second, Lena sort of took it as a cross between a threat and an offer of further services; a threat because Alex was a pimp trying to protect her property nationally; an offer of further services because Alex was stating she had connections everywhere, in case Lena wanted to expand the menu.
“No, I’ll be fine. But thank you.” Lena felt a buzzing and looked down at her phone. “Oh, looks like your sister is already texting me.”
Unknown Number: Hello, I’m Alex’s sister Kara. I’d like to know what arrangements need to be made for this weekend. Like what clothing should I bring? How much PDA are you expecting/ comfortable with? Are there any specifics I should know in order to pass the familial girlfriend inspection?
“I’ll get out of your hair then.” Alex said.
Now Reader, you can see from Kara’s perspective she’s trying to figure out if she’s willing to do the PDA that Lena is requesting. From Lena’s perspective, well, she just thinks it’s part of the job to negotiate details.
Lena looked up at Alex and nodded as the redhead walked out the door. Lena hadn’t thought about what Kara should wear or what was or was not allowed or needed. She saved Kara’s number into her phone then, after a few moments of thought, texted back.
Lena: I’d say it would be the same as what you would wear for a weekend away with someone like Cat Grant or Maxwell Lord. We’ll fly out Friday morning. It’s for my brother’s wedding. I’m in the wedding party. Walk through and rehearsal dinner Friday evening. (Cocktail attire) Saturday late morning, we have brunch with my mom and her latest whatever on Sunday (Dress casual). The wedding and reception is Saturday night. (Formal attire) Then fly back Sunday.
Lena: Currently there are no plans for Saturday morning or afternoon. But I would not be surprised if my mother hasn’t set some sort of something up.
Lena: My family isn’t exactly the touchy feely type so occasional chaste kisses and hand holding, perhaps an arm around the waist. Nothing too demonstrative.
Lena: I can send you a basic bio and we can discuss our pretend first date etc. on the plane.
Kara Danvers: Butch or femme? I’ve got more femme clothing than butch. Most I got from Cat Grant, so I’m sure they’re appropriate. But can also get additional clothes from Alex. And location/ what will the weather be like? Any outdoor activities?
Lena sat and thought a minute. It was rather indiscreet of Kara to be admitting to having a relationship with Cat Grant. But then again, if she had posed as a personal assistant then perhaps that version of the relationship was already public knowledge. Lena made a note to confirm with Kara that she was not to tell anyone about their business arrangement.
Lena was going to text that whatever Kara had was fine. But then worried about what her mother might say about anything and everything that Kara might wear. Then again, Cat Grant was a fashionista with a fashion magazine that was distributed worldwide. So surely Kara knew something about fashion.
Lena tried to do a social media dive on Kara. But there were surprisingly few single photos of Kara on her page. Lena could decide if it was a positive or a negative that Kara’s page wasn’t full of selfies. Basically every picture posted was Kara with the same group of people. At the bar together. At someone’s home together. No close up shots. And she was almost always dressed in jeans with either a T-shirt or a sweatshirt or dressed like someone’s grandmother in a cardigan and button down.
It made Lena rethink her belief in Kara being properly capable of fashion. This was especially true because while Kara always looked pretty, she always had her hair up in a ponytail or bun. And always wore big thick glasses.
Lena decided to do a search on Cat Grant and see if Kara appeared in the background. She also figured this would give her a better idea of what Kara actually looked like, as there would be no photoshopping of an assistant in the background.
Kara wasn’t easy to find. Either she seldom attended events with Cat or she avoided the cameras. Finally, Lena found Kara off to the side and half out of a few shots. Lena decided that the picture that Alex had undersold Kara. When dressed up, the blonde wasn’t just pretty, she was gorgeous. And at least the gown she had on, in the photo Lena was looking at, was more than suitable.
The pictures also answered Lena’s other questions. Kara had posed at Cat’s assistant, so it wasn’t indiscreet of her to talk about ‘working’ for Cat. And Kara had stayed in the background enough to not be recognizable.
Lena finally decided to text back.
Lena: Femme is fine. But please bring extra selections. The wedding is in Metropolis. No outdoor events to my knowledge. But perhaps bring something just in case. Don’t worry about having excessive baggage. We’ll take the company jet. So more is better. It will give you choices.
Lena: Oh, do you ever wear contacts or go without glasses?
What Lena really wanted to write was that bringing extra clothes would give Lena the ability to pick through them and select what she wanted. Honestly, she wanted to go to Kara’s home and pick everything out. Or maybe send a stylist over. Lena forced herself to take a deep breath. It was her own fault for putting everything off until the last minute. So she’d have to rely on the fact that Kara was a professional.
Kara Danvers: Oh my goodness, if we don’t end up with plans for Saturday afternoon, I know a great place to have some fun!
Kara Danvers: Severe astigmatism both eyes. If you want to play Marco Polo, just swipe my glasses. I won’t be able to cheat.
Lena wasn’t exactly sure how to take either of Kara’s responses. What kind of fun? Lena couldn’t imagine where on earth a professional escort would go for fun. Well, she could, and it made her blush. Was that going to be the ploy? Alex made the original deal then Kara would use her wiles to up the ante? Lena may just be head of R & D, but she was trained in business since the day that she had been adopted by the Luthors. She wouldn’t be upsold.
Next, Lena searched Marco Polo and in addition to the historical information that Lena already knew, she discovered a children’s game where one person closes their eyes. This must be Kara’s odd way of saying that she couldn’t see without her glasses.
Friday morning came sooner than later for Lena. She was happy to see that Kara had indeed overpacked. And that in person, Kara was truly beautiful. Kara wore black dress slacks and a lovely crème colored blouse. (What was her obsession with beige?) Although Lena still didn’t like the glasses or the ponytail.
Once settled into the jet, Kara asked. “I went over the dossier you sent. It didn’t include a meet-cute story?”
“I thought that might depend on what we decide your official job title is. Which will depend on what you can pull off pretending to be.” Lena said. “Then we can base our meeting off of that.”
“Oh, well I am a writer for CatCo magazine.” Kara said. “I’ve only written a couple fluff pieces but I am published. Miss Grant wants to become more relevant, you know less ‘high waist jeans- in or out’ and instead more ‘children in cages- in or out’. We could say I tried to do an interview on you, you didn’t allow it, but we hit it off anyway.”
“Are you really a reporter?” Lena asked.
“Well, yeah.” Kara answered. “I figured that Alex had talked about me, or that you would’ve done a search on me.”
Lena didn’t want to admit that she had only searched for images of Kara and nothing actually about Kara. “I just knew that you were Alex’s sister. And she’s good at her job. So I figured that you would be as well.”
Kara shrugged. “OK well, do you think that no one from this weekend will search my name? Because if they do, then it will come out that I’m a reporter. So….?”
Lena internally chastised herself, why hadn’t she done a regular search on her ‘date’ for the weekend?
“Yeah, then yeah.” Lena said. “That sounds good.” Then Lena thought a little more. “You’re not going to do an article on my family are you?”
“Not unless you want me to.” Kara answered.
“No, I most definitely do not.” Lena said.
“No problem.” Kara answered. “What was our first date?”
“Dinner and the theatre.” Lena suggested.
“What movie did we see?”
“No, not movie theater, I meant the actual theatre. Or would you prefer the opera?”
“Um, I could research the opera. But I don’t know if I could do so in the amount of time we have. If anyone asks me any questions in conversation, I’m not sure I could pull it off.” The Kara offered an alternative. “Although, I have seen a lot of musicals. Wicked, Cats, Grease, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Hamilton, West Side Story-”
“Uh, have you seen any plays?” Lena interrupted because she felt like Kara was going to name every musical ever.
Kara pulled up her phone. “I just realized that we should check to see what was on stage when we ‘started’ dating. How long have we been dating? I’ll search for what was available.”
“Good thinking, it would be a silly mistake to say we saw Death of a Salesman if it hasn’t been seen in National City in years.”
“That play was so depressing.” Kara responded.
“Agreed, poor Biff being forced to conform to a dream that isn’t his. His father set him up for continual failure.”
“That’s an odd take.” Kara chuckled. “But at least it sounds like something we’ve both seen.” Kara paused. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t playing during the time frame of our first date. Maybe we shook look up movies instead.”
“I don’t go to the movies.” Lena said plainly.
“Oh, you wait for them to come out on a streaming platform?”
“No, I mean I don’t watch movies.”
Kara sat and stared at Lena for a moment then started laughing. “Oh, you almost had me there.” She stopped laughing when Lena didn’t join her.
“When I was still living at home, movies were considered a frivolous waste of time.” Lena explained. “I had a double major in college Chemical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering with minors in Business and Physics. So there wasn’t a lot of time for anything else.”
“So what do you do for fun?” Kara asked.
“There’s chess and I’ve learned French, Mandarin, Spanish, and am currently working on Swahili. I think it would be cool to know at least one language from every continent.”
“No, I meant fun fun. You know like things you do to relax, not for edification.”
“Chess is fun.” Lena defended.
Kara stared at Lena. She decided against saying something negative about chess. “What music do you like?” Then suddenly added. “I mean other than classical.”
"I occasionally listen to jazz.” Lena responded.
“Old school like Billie Holiday, Etta James and Ella Fitgerald? Or new stuff like Esperanza Spalding and Brad Mehdlau?” Kara asked.
“I usually don’t listen to anything with vocals.”
Kara blinked several times. This was not going well. “Look, I know that you don’t actually know me. And I accept that you may be holding information back from me for fear that I will share something with your family or the press. But now you’ve got me worried about you. I mean, if I promise not to tell anyone will you admit to at least liking P!nk? You’re only a couple years younger than I am, and I had the biggest crush back in the day.”
Lena kind of eyed Kara for a moment, then broke out into a huge smile. “Actually, I was a Backstreet Boys fan.”
Kara laughed. “Then we are sworn enemies.”
Lena laughed. “Fine, but you cannot tell my mother.”
“Cross my heart and hope to die.” Kara made the proper motions across her chest. Then smiled a smile that melted Lena. “Now then, who do you really listen to?”
“Again, you cannot tell my mother.” Lena warned. Kara made the motion of zipping her lip. “I love crappy top forty pop nonsense.”
“I’m worse, I love show tunes, especially Disney musical tunes.” Kara laughed. “But mines not a secret. All my friends know. I have a habit of breaking out into song. And whenever I get to choose on movie night, I always choose along those lines. Last week I chose Mamma Mia.”
“Disco?” Lena laughed. “That is waayy worse than top forty.”
Kara stood up, swiping and typing on her phone. “You said there’s a reception after the wedding.” The beginning of the ABBA song came on to Kara’s phone. Kara held out her hand. “You know there’s gonna be top forty pop playing. And you know that your brother will be dancing so that means you can, too.”
“I can’t dance on a jet.” Lena demurred.
“Why not?” Kara asked. Then began to sing along, her hand still extended. “Look at me now, will I ever learn? I don’t know but I suddenly lose control. Come on Lena, I can see you want to.”
Lena had not intended to let her guard down. It was her intention to give Kara just enough information to pass this weekend. But the blonde was so full of joy and sunshine, it did indeed make Lena want to dance with her. Lena glanced up to make sure that the divider between the cockpit and the passenger area was closed.
Kara grabbed Lena’s hand as the chorus began. Lena allowed herself to be pulled up as Kara sang. “How can I resist you?”
Lena allowed herself to be campy and silly. Kara spun her around and tried to get Lena to sing along with her. But Lena dissented with a giggle each time. At the end of the song, Kara dipped Lena low. Then waggled her eyebrows as Lena clung to her and laughed.
Lena didn’t intend to feel Kara’s biceps the way she did. Her hands just naturally landed there when Kara dipped her. But when she did, Lena was so surprised at how muscular Kara’s arms were. As Kara lifted her back to her feet, Lena felt the blonde’s arms up and down. She noted that Kara appeared to notice and blush slightly. Also of note to Lena, was that Kara kept her biceps flexed even after they were both standing in each other’s arms.
Lena looked up into those beautiful sky blue eyes and felt her heartbeat increase. Then she caught herself and chuckled for a moment as she sat back down. Lena had to admit the blonde was good at her job. Kara had gotten Lena out of her shell.
Kara following Lena’s lead, turned off the music as she sat down. But continued playing on her phone for a second. “I actually found a couple of websites that pose questions to get to know someone. There are two kinds. One that’s intended for team bonding like at work. The other is intended to actually have two people fall in love.”
Lena remembered using the team building questions at Luther Corp. They had been silly and dull. “Let’s try the fall in love ones. I’m sure they won’t work. But at least we’ll be able to pass as lover’s better.”
Kara nodded then read. “Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?”
“This is the fall in love questions?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, does it say alive or dead?” Lena tried to clarify.
“It doesn’t. Do you want to do one of each?”
“Would that be cheating?”
“Well, it’s all about getting to know each other on an intimate level, so more info is better?” Kara guessed. “I can answer first. Dead, it would totally be my mom. Alive, I don’t know. Is it wrong to say all my friends and family? I mean I kind of do that a lot. My friends and I get together every week for either game night or movie night. And usually, Thanksgiving is at my place with everyone coming over. But that’s the best every time it happens, so I’d want that to happen every time.”
Lena smiled. It was a nice answer. And it kind of went against her pre-conceived notions about support systems for sex workers. Well, except for the dead mother bit. “How old where you when you mother passed?”
“Both my parents died when I was thirteen. That was when I went to the Danvers.” Kara answered.
Lena had been wondering how Alex could pimp out her own sister. The fact that Kara wasn’t actually her ‘real’ sister explained it. Lena wondered how young Kara had been when Alex first sold her. It made Lena’s heart melt a little.
“I can relate to losing your world and having to go live with other less than stellar people. My mom died when I was four. At the time, I didn’t know that I was the bastard child of Lionel Luthor. I don’t really remember my mom. I just remember the culture shock of going to live with the Luthors.”
“Culture shock is a good word for it.” Kara said. “But the Danvers were totally loving and caring. Alex can be over protective at times. But she’s my best friend.”
Lena pitied Kara even more. Alex had obviously done some kind of mental mind fuck to Kara, probably some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. Lena hoped that Kara was actually able to make a career out of journalism. Then she might be able to get out from under Alex’s thumb. Maybe Lena could even help with that in some way, she was definitely going to try.
“So who are your dinner companion choices?” Kara asked.
“I guess I would also go with my dead mother.” Lena responded. “The other would probably be Superman.”
“A fangirl, huh?” Kara asked.
Lena noted that Kara stiffened a little at her answer. “No, actually I’d love to learn about another planet. And I’d love to find out all about him and his abilities. But mostly the science of it all. My family is a bit anti-alien. But I’m not. I think that there is a lot of science to be discovered from aliens. Most of them traveled here from outside our galaxy. There’s just so much information that they can give.”
“I’m impressed. Most people see aliens as a threat to be dealt with or feared. Seeing them as a fount of knowledge is an amazing take.” Kara said, her eyes raked over Lena appraisingly. For some reason, this flustered Lena slightly.
“Would you like to be famous? In what way?” Kara read off the list.
“Well, I’m already famous in the way I want to be. I’m well known and well respected in my field. I don’t think that I’d like to be celebrity type famous.” Lena answered.
“Funny, when I read the question I thought that I would like to be famous for my work. I hope to be a great journalist someday.” Kara answered. “But yeah, I don’t think I’d like to be celebrity either. They don’t seem to be able to have private lives.”
They continued on with the list of questions. At times Lena was surprised to realize how much of her own life revolved around work. (But she brushed it off, she was a Luthor, after all, work was important.) She was also surprised how often her answers actually seemed compatible with Kara’s. They both would prefer to retain their minds over their body. Neither would change their lives dramatically. Both would save their computers after saving family and pets in a fire.
When their answers varied it was almost always due to differences in upbringing. Kara loved and adored her adopted sister and mother. Whereas Lena was cordial with her step mother and felt a bit distanced from the brother she used to be close to. Kara was sunshine and warmth across the board. Lena had trouble relating to the questions which revolved around interpersonal relationships. Kara always responded to Lena with such care and concern when she would have trouble answering.
At times it almost felt to Lena as though their roles should be reversed. Lena should be the emotionally stunted sex worker. And Kara should be the well-adjusted department head. Then Lena would chastise herself about stereotypes. Obviously there was more than meets the eye to Kara.
The last question, question thirty-six wasn’t a question at all. It was to share a problem that you are having and have the person give advice, then also reflect back the emotions of the problem. Since Lena’s life revolves around work, so do her problems. She shared a technical problem she was having with a device. Lena really didn’t expect much from Kara as far as the actual problem.
Kara’s answer showed an understanding of quantum mechanics. When Lena had asked about Kara’s education, Kara had shared that she was an English major in college with a minor in journalism. Thus making Kara’s answer even more stunning.
Then Kara nailed on the head why Lena’s work problem had been an issue. Because it was all about pressure put on Lena by both herself and the expectations of her family. Which lead to a myopic vision of her work. Lena needed to step back and see the big picture.
By the end of the questions, Lena felt that her opinion on sex workers had changed. Kara did not appear to be a damaged person. She was warm and happy. Lena wondered if she herself had not been raised with unlimited money, would she have resorted to selling her body for money? Is that how Kara started? Was it a financial necessity? Kara was a happy person who simply needed the money? Was it simply another form of physical labor?
Instead of Alex enlisting Kara, did Kara approach Alex for help because of the risks sex workers face? Was that why Kara had called Alex overprotective? Had Alex originally disagreed but now supported Kara's choices? For a moment, Lena’s mind flit back to the veiled threat from Alex. Lord knows that having someone like Alex as a pimp would be a benefit. That woman was scary. No one who knew Alex would ever think to hurt Kara.
“I know we touched based on this via text but we should go over what is and what is not acceptable touching.” Kara said. “I nearly brought it up after our dance because it was a perfect moment for a kiss. But I didn’t want you to get the wrong impression.”
Now Reader, this is the first miscommunication between Kara and Lena. But it’s based on the miscommunication between Alex and Lena. We all know why Kara’s in this situation, because she has done her friends the favor of pretending to be their girlfriend. The money was just an added bonus. (Alex had explained it as ‘Lena’s mega-rich if she wants to toss money around, let her. It’s pocket change to her. Just do me this favor.’) Thus what Kara means is that it would have been to forward to do, because they weren’t yet pretending, and it would have been the real Kara putting herself out there for the real Lena. And that wasn’t happening, when they barely knew each other.
But of course, what Lena understood was that certain details of their agreement hadn’t been nailed down, therefore Kara didn’t want to be unprofessional. Lena had to admit that Kara’s brand of business acumen was quite savvy. Kara knew how to draw someone in and get them to open up. While still keeping a professional distance until the terms of the agreement were settled. Mix that with her knowledge of quantum mechanics and Kara was definitely much more intelligent than she seemed.
“Ah, yes well,” Lena began. “everything you did while dancing was acceptable. No contact below the waist. No vulgar grinding or excessive groin contact.”
Kara stood up and held out her hand. Confusion ran across Lena’s face but she took Kara’s hand and stood up. Kara stood next to Lena, facing the same direction, and put her arm across Lena’s back, her hand landing on her waist. “So if we’re talking to someone. Is this acceptable or would you prefer space?”
“This is fine.” Lena said.
“Now I know some of this is play by ear.” Kara said, turning to hold Lena in her arms again. Lena’s hands automatically went to Kara’s biceps. Kara flexed without thinking. “But what is exactly acceptable as a kiss? You said chaste kisses. So, can I assume something like this…” Kara kissed Lena gently on her cheek. “…is acceptable?”
Lena nodded. Being in Kara’s arms felt so… safe. It was an odd feeling for Lena. It’s not that she felt in danger in the rest of her life, but something about Kara’s strength and demeanor just put Lena at ease and made her comfortable. Lena realized that she had been analyzing her feelings and not listening to Kara. Because Kara was eliminating the space between them with her eyes closed.
Lena closed her eyes just as Kara’s lips touched hers. Lena had kissed plenty of women. Well, mostly girls. She had attended an all-girls boarding school, after all. She had also had a couple of encounters with women at work. But those usually occurred while drinking in celebration of a work breakthrough. And were often by subordinates trying to get something from her.
Since Kara was already receiving something from Lena, Lena didn’t have to worry about what this kiss meant. Lena could just enjoy it. And despite the fact that it was a closed mouth kiss. Kara’s soft lips, and hard arms, made the kiss absolutely delightful.
Kara pulled back. “Was that OK?”
“That was perfect.” Lena replied.
Kara ducked her head a little and blushed. “Sorry, it’s just I’m usually the one setting boundaries of what is and is not acceptable. I really believe in consent. But if we’re pretending to have been together for six months, then I can’t ask every time. It’s just when I’ve done this before, I didn’t allow kissing on the lips. So I want to make sure that we are on the same page.”
Reader, do you see how these miscommunications just keep piling up? Kara is referring to pretending to be her friend’s girlfriends. And in those cases, she set that neither Winn nor James could kiss her on the lips. But of course, for Lena the movie Pretty Woman comes to mind. In the movie. Vivian, the prostitute with the heart of gold, would have sex with clients but not kiss them. Kissing was too personal.
“Why are you doing it for me then?” Lena asked, gazing into those blue eyes. “I mean you agreed before you ever met me.”
“I had a good feeling. Alex has talked about you before. She likes you. She’s a good judge of character. She says you treat all your employees well. And I also thought that because you’re a woman, you wouldn’t try to take advantage or force something. Was I wrong?” Kara’s eyes flit between Lena’s eyes.
Lena saw insecurity inside those beautiful orbs. Lena was constantly being forced to change and adapt her assessment of the blonde before her. Alex may be formidable, but then again, Alex didn’t go on the dates with Kara. That left Kara vulnerable on those dates. And a weekend away was especially fraught with peril. Lena’s mind wondered back again to how Kara got started in this business.
“No, I would never force you or try to take advantage.” Lena answered.
Kara’s face lit up light the sun. It made Lena’s heart pound. As much to quit looking into Kara’s eyes as anything else, Lena put her head on Kara’s shoulder.
“Is this OK, would this kind of contact be acceptable?”
Kara wrapped her arms around Lena and squeezed. “Yes, it’s nice.”
Lena could hear Kara’s heart pounding. It was quite confusing. Maybe her earlier assumptions about Kara were right. Then Lena struck on something Kara had said.
“I do want to state clearly, that I don’t want anyone to know about our arrangement.” Lena said, without lifting her head.
“Of course not.” Kara answered. “I mean, this is a little different than what I’ve done in the past. In some ways, it’s easier, safer. In other ways it’s the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“Yeah, I mean you’re beautiful and smart and you have such a big heart. That’s pretty scary.”
Lena’s brow furrowed. Her mind raced. Honestly trying to figure out how someone as apparently sweet as Kara was a sex worker was causing Lena come pretty extreme mental gymnastics. Some of her pre-conceived notions about sex workers didn’t seem to fit. Others seem to fit in one moment and not in another. Kara was definitely an interesting woman.
Lena knew that men wanted a beautiful young thing to parade around. Neither Kara’s intelligence nor her personality were a priority. However, whatever Kara did for Cat Grant it wasn’t about public looks. There were no pictures of Kara on Cat’s arm. Cat didn't parade her around like an object.
Finally, Lena settled on, that in at least this case, Kara referring to Lena being scary was about women being more sensitive than men, and the public nature of a wedding. Kara calling Lena beautiful and smart meant that Lena would have higher expectations out of an escort. It was the expectations of the client that were scary.
Yes, dear Reader, this miscommunication was all Lena. (It was another misconception of course because the truth was that what Kara meant was that she could fall for Lena very easily.)
“So we’ve gone over our history and what is physically acceptable.” Kara said, pulling away. “Should we go over other guests or anything like that?”
Lena pulled herself out of Kara’s arms and sat back down. Kara followed suit.
“The Rojas will be there.” Lena explained. “They’re old family friends as well as occasional business partners. Bernardo and Marta have one daughter, Andrea who went to boarding school with me. She and I used to be…” Lena pondered for a moment. “…friends.”
“Will there be any other ex’s there? And do you want me to be possessive or jealous?” Kara asked.
“I didn’t say she was my ex.” Lena’s brow furrowed. “And I certainly don’t prefer possessive or jealous.”
“You don’t take that long to find a descriptor and come up with friends, unless you were not actually friends. Which leaves either you were less than friends, but have to pretend to be friends because of your family. Or you were more than friends and it didn’t end well.” Kara explained. “If it were a forced relationship, you would appear more annoyed. But you appear sad. That means ex.”
For a moment Lena wanted to argue. But then she smiled, damn, Kara really was good at her job. Kara was already forming the ability to read her. “Yes, she’s an ex.”
“Will there be any other ex’s there?”
Lena took in a deep breath and thought. “Jack Spheer. He and I actually formed a start up together. We were working on nanite technology. But Lex insisted that I come back home to Luthor Corp.”
“Is that why you broke up? Or was it an excuse because you’re a lesbian?”
“I’m bi actually.” Lena answered. “But it was maybe a bit of an excuse. I wasn’t sure which was more relevant the work or the relationship. I loved the work. I thought I loved Jack. But when given the opportunity to head the R & D division for all of Luthor Corp, I…”
“You chose the tech.” Kara filled in.
“I actually asked him to come work for me.” Lena said. “But he didn’t want to be beholden to big tech, which is funny considering his family. Anyway, we broke up.” Lena's voice betrayed a hint of sadness, while her face retained a simple smile.
Kara nodded in understanding. “Is this the first time you’ll be seeing him since then?”
“No, Jack and I are friends. He's in on this charade. His parents will be there as well.” Lena explained.
“Any more ex’s? Or for that matter any one of importance that I should know about?”
“I doubt there will be any more ex’s. And while there will be plenty of faux friends, and even more business contacts, none have any importance.”
“Alright, well is there anything else that I need to know about, that we haven’t discussed or anything else that I should be aware of?” Kara asked.
Lena sat pondering for a moment. “Not that I can think of right now.”
“Then tell me more about your daily routine.” Kara said. “As your girlfriend, I should know it.”
“I usually get to Luthor Corp at nine AM like most business people.” Lena said. “But some days that’s earlier if I have a project going on with the East coast. I have to account for the time change. So that would be six our time. I oversee a lot of projects in the building but there are, of course, special projects like the one I described earlier. That means that after the staff leaves at six, I usually go over all of the other projects to check on them. I usually leave by ten.”
“So between a thirteen and sixteen hour day is normal?” Kara asked incredulously.
“No, I…” Lena stopped herself and thought. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
“Then I’m the kind of girlfriend who brings you lunch and or dinner and hounds you to eat.” Kara said. “And I probably would complain about all that time spent at work and away from me.” Kara stuck out her lower lip in a pout.
Lena laughed. “Yeah, that’s acceptable. It will make me look like a workaholic.”
“Which you are.”
“Which will, well, it won’t make my mother happy. But it will keep her from being disappointed.”
“That’s a whole other. Anyway, what would I bring you to eat? What’s your favorite restaurant?”
“Salad. I eat lots of salads. Kale is a super food.”
“Kale is a super bad food.” Kara feigned disgust. “I will agree to bring you salads. But I will also occasionally tempt you with Big Belly Burger.”
“Well, that won’t fly. Because I’ve never actually eaten Big Belly Burger.”
Kara’s jaw dropped. “What… what do you mean you’ve never eaten Big Belly?” Kara looked at Lena like she was crazy. “Alright now, tell me the truth. Your whole ‘aliens are acceptable bit’ is because you are an alien, right? Because there’s no way that any human could resist Big Belly Burger.”
Lena laughed. “I am not an alien. I’ve just always had to watch and pay attention to what I eat.”
“That doesn’t make sense. I wasn’t giving you false flattery when I said that I thought your pictures were photo shopped. You are really an attractive woman.”
Lena blushed slightly. “Well, it’s because I don’t eat Big Belly Burger.”
Kara rolled her eyes. Then narrowed them playfully. “Just wait. You’ll see. I’ll corrupt you.”
Lena blushed even further at that thought.
The pilot came on the overhead. "Miss Luthor, we will be landing in approximately fifteen minutes."