Chapter Text
Kate felt simultaneously like her childhood dream and worst nightmare were both coming true as she strut down the streets of Hawai’i having just moved from DC.
She had graduated law school a few years back and had got a placement at a top law firm, but unfortunate situations had meant that she had to get out of there and fast. She contacted her old university mentor, Jane Tennant, to ask if she could help, and lucky enough Jane said that she had moved to Hawai’i recently and had scored a high up position at the top law firm there, and that a spot had recently opened up in her ever underfunded and understaffed criminal law sector, the area where Kate wanted to work.
And so, the very next day Kate’s boss received her resignation letter on his desk, much to his dismay. Curtis was a nice man and thought highly of her, but understood why she might need a change, so he let her go with a glowing recommendation.
Kate was immediately brought back to the present when she realised that she was not dressed for the Hawai’i weather. She had arrived a few days ago, but had spent most of her time moving into her apartment and trying to surf. Today was her first day of work and the first time she would be seeing Jane in years, so she deemed that she had to look somewhat presentable. She decided to wear a fitting white shirt paired with a green suit jacket and trousers, along with a pair of white heels, complete with her signature gold jewellery. She felt confident, until she stepped out of her apartment block and faced the Hawaiian sun. Safe to say that she was regretting her outfit choice and moving to the country at the beginning of summer almost immediately.
Kate got into her car, which had been shipped over on the ferry weeks in advance, and followed her sat nav’s advice to the office. Her new home where her new team would be. She hoped to the god that she stopped believing in decades ago that she would fit in and enjoy her job, for once.
As soon as she parked her vehicle and stepped out of the car, with her sunglasses now on, she was hit with a wave of nausea. She had felt nervous, who wouldn’t be, but had managed to convince herself that she was well prepared and would be fine.
Kate managed to force her way to the front of the building and nearly bumped into someone when opening the door.
Well done Whistler. Already messing things up and you haven’t even got into the building yet.
She apologised profusely and rushed inside, taking her sunglasses off as she greeted the receptionist and let her know that she was here for her first day of work. The receptionist directed her to the fourth floor, where her office would be and Kate thanked her before making her way into the elevator.
It’ll be fine. She’s not here. You’re gonna be great. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fi-
The elevator dinged, interrupting Kate’s pep talk to herself and the doors opened to reveal an open floor office plan, with a door leading to a private office.
Must be Jane’s.
Kate opened the door and immediately regretted her shoe choice as her heels clacked loudly all the way through the seemingly empty office.
“Since when did we hire a six foot blonde to strut in the office?”
Scratch that last thought.
Kate couldn’t help but search every nook and cranny of the office as she became even more confused at the invisible voice.
“Over here, Elle Woods.”
Kate whipped around to see a shorter man standing behind her with an iPad in his arm. She immediately felt overdressed as the man was wearing a patterned shirt and simple jeans along with a pair of sneakers.
“I-uh,” Kate let out, not knowing what to say.
“Ernie, leave her alone,” another voice added, exasperated.
Kate whipped around again to be faced with a shorter woman with an unamused expression on her face.
Seriously where do these people keep coming from?
The man, named Ernie, walked briskly to stand next to the woman in front of Kate, and let out a “Sorry, Commander.”
Commander?
The woman just ignored his pleading eyes and mumbles and instead held her hand out to Kate, “I’m Commander Carla Chase, but you can just call me Commander, or Chase.”
Everyone used to tease Kate when she just went by her last name back in DC, so she was glad to see that someone else understood her logic.
Kate smiled warmly and took her hand, then said, “Hello. I’m-“
“Whistler!”
Kate made a mental note to check if there was a portal somewhere in the office where everyone kept popping out of.
Kate turned yet again and was faced with a familiar face, evoking a grin out of her.
“Jane Tennant. Wow, it’s been a while.”
Kate held out her hand, but Jane just reached up to pull her in for a hug, catching her off guard.
“I’m so glad that you’re here! You’re exactly what we need to make a name for this department.”
Whistler just nodded against her awkwardly and let Tennant turn her around to face Chase and Ernie again.
“So I see you’ve met the team.”
“Somewhat,” Kate answered.
“Ernie is our tech guy, best in the company if I do say so myself. Anything you need, he’ll be able to find it. Chase used to be focused in the medical field, hence her title of Commander, so she is the designated autopsy researcher, but she still helps out with the cases. And as the boss of this department, it seems you are now one of our new top lawyers.”
Kate didn’t know what to say, so she just nodded slowly and let Jane drag her to an empty desk.
“This is your new desk, sorry if you were expecting a private one. We don’t have the budget for that like in DC.”
“No no,” Kate quickly interrupted, “This is perfect.”
She secretly hated how isolated she felt from everyone when she was in her own office. She wasn’t part of the team.
“DC, huh?”
“As if you didn’t run a background check on her already, Ernie,” Chase retorted.
Ernie just opened his mouth and closed it again in response.
“To answer the question, yes, I’ve moved here from DC, and trust me I don’t plan on going back any time soon,” Kate promised.
The answer seemed good enough to satisfy them, until Ernie said, “You really need to
update your photo online, it doesn’t do you justice.”
Kate could feel herself blushing, before Chase said, “Don’t mind him. He’s just being friendly.”
Kate swallowed and said, “Good. Because that would’ve been awkward for many reasons.”
Her answer piqued Chase’s curiosity, as she then asked, “Why?”
“Chase,” Tennant reprimanded.
“No, no. It’s fine,” Kate said turning to Jane before turning back to Chase, “Well for starters, I’m a lesbian.”
It was silent for a few moments and Kate feared that she had messed it up. God why did I say that within five minutes of knowing them. They’re gonna hate m-
“Oh, I knew that. It was obvious from the minute you walked in, you might as well have a giant rainbow right over your head with the way you scream gay with your power suit and nails,” Ernie said.
Kate could feel herself closing up at Ernie’s reply, before she realised that she was being teased. She suddenly felt like she could be part of this team.
Kate let out a laugh and said, “Good to know that I’m hitting all the right marks for the queer women out there.”
Everyone chuckled and Kate felt more comfortable in the unfamiliar environment.
“Ok guys, enough teasing. I’m gonna take Kate to get some coffee, while you guys start researching our latest case, ok?”
There was a grumbling of “yes Tennant” as Chase and Ernie made their way to their desks, and Jane just chuckled as she led Kate away.
They made small talk as they went down the elevator and left the building, with Kate asking about Jane’s divorce and her kids, and Jane asking about Kate’s current life.
“I’m really glad you’re here, for the record,” Jane said as they made their way to the coffee shop a few minutes away.
“Me too,” Kate admitted. She was scared that it was going to be DC all over again, but she was pleasantly surprised at what she was faced with back in the office.
“Well, here it is,” Jane said as Kate looked up at the coffee shop.
the casual outlet for coffee.
“Are you being serious,” Kate said with an unimpressed eyebrow raised at the name.
Jane held her hands up and replied, “Hey, they’ve got the best coffee in town. Come on, I promise it’s not as bad as it may seem to you, Elle Woods.”
And with that, Jane made her way inside, as Kate just mumbled to herself “why does everyone keep calling me that?” before following her boss in.
Kate’s eyes were immediately drawn to the different decorations and furniture scattered throughout the store. To the left was the ordering bar, to the right was a selection of chairs and tables, and further back Kate could spot a small book and trinket shop.
The person who set this up has to be queer.
She was drawn out of her admiration by Jane gently dragging her to the front of the ordering counter as they joined the queue. The coffee shop seemed pretty busy, unusual for a quirky shop like this one.
Kate could see one man serving people and making drinks, and she wondered why they were so short staffed in such a busy environment.
Some douche is probably slacking.
As if he could read her mind, the only barista excused himself from the current customer to turn to the store room and yell, “Oi! Tara! Get back out here!”
Kate could just make out a groan in response that reminded her of her teenage job working in a coffee shop. She admired people who worked in customer service, as she barely survived two months over the summer as a teen.
Jane tapped Kate gently to signify that it was their time to order, except for the fact that there was nobody waiting to take their order. This fortunately gave her enough time to decide her order, as she didn’t want to embarrass herself at her new seemingly go to coffee shop.
Just as she was about to glance to the board behind the counter, the ‘douche’ finally came out of the storeroom, tying her apron whilst hurrying out apologies.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Jesse.”
The man who called for her before, Jesse, just shook his head and said, “Just hurry up and take Jane’s order.”
The mysterious barista finally looked up when her apron was tied and sweet holy Jesus-
Kate didn’t know how to function.
The woman’s curly hair framed her petite and gorgeous face perfectly and her eyes sparkled with a tint of softness. The grin that she gave Jane made Kate weak in the knees to the point where she wasn’t sure if she was going to stay standing at this point.
“Hiya, Jane!”
Oh god and she was southern. Kate had always had a thing for the Texan charm.
“I see you’re pretty busy today,” Jane said, engaging in a conversation with the gorgeous barista whilst being seemingly blind to Kate’s gay panic.
“When are we not?” The barista laughed in response.
Jane went ahead and ordered her ‘usual’ as the barista finished her sentence before she could explain it.
Oh it’s coming up to my turn.
“And this is my new colleague who just recently moved here a few days ago,” Jane introduced them.
“I-uhm. Hello,” Kate said, trying not to make it obvious that she was stumbling over her words.
“Hiya,” the stranger said warmly in response, “welcome to ‘the casual outlet for coffee’! What can I get started for you today?”
At this point, Jane had moved down to the other end of the counter to wait for her drink and make small talk with Jesse. Kate wasn’t expecting Jane to be so close with the baristas, but it wasn’t a complete surprise. After all, Jane could be quite the talker and the charmer.
Kate darted her head to the barista, who was still waiting there with a patient smile on her face, before looking back down to Jane again.
Shit I still haven’t picked a coffee. Just choose one, any one. Or ask the stunning barista for a recommendation?
Kate made eye contact with the barista again as she tried to work up the courage to be flirty, before backing out and saying, “I’ll have a,” Americano, cappuccino, latte, even a fucking hot chocolate just choose something-
“I’ll have a coffee.”
Kill me. Swallow me up now. Literally push me out the shop.
Kate’s embarrassing response prompted the barista to let out a small chuckle and a smirk before saying, “Well you’ve certainly come to the right place. We’ve got lots of types of that. What kind of coffee do you want, sweetheart?”
End me.
The fact that ‘hot shot’ lawyer Katherine Whistler could be put in a such a position by one teasing endearment from some hot, Texan stranger made her question her integrity as a lawyer.
Kate just blushed even more and let out, “Cappuccino. With oat milk. Please.”
The stranger just nodded with a smirk still firmly planted on her face as she rang up the order and wrote it down on the cup, before looking back up at Kate expectantly.
“Can I get a name?”
You can certainly get more than that-
Kate physically coughed at her crude thoughts as she felt embarrassment creeping up on her again.
You know your name. Just say Kate. Kate. Kate-
“If you’re worried about identity fraud I’m not gonna steal your name,” the barista teased, “besides, why would I put myself in that position with one of Jane’s colleagues. You must be good at your job if you’re working with her.”
What was this girl doing to her?
Kate just stood there malfunctioning at the compliment as the stranger asked again, “Unfortunately I haven’t got all day, so what’s your name, sweetheart?”
Not again.
“It’s uhm,” Kate, Kate, Kate, “uhh…”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know your name?”
Just say it-
“Whistler!”
Well done.
The barista paused and looked her directly in the eye, raising an eyebrow, and said, “Really? At least come up with a good, believable fake name.”
“It’s my surname,” Kate mumbled, wanting someone to pull her out of the shop straight away.
“So, I get the work name do I?”
Kate didn’t know what to say. Everyone called her Whistler! It was just what she was used to, and she had always gotten tongue tied around pretty girls.
“Uhm-“
The barista could see that she was struggling with a response, and so teased, “Cash or card, Whistler?”
Kate mumbled “card” and paid quickly, but was determined to tell the pretty barista her actual name, and started to say “You know, my name is actually-“
But before she could finish her sentence, the woman just walked off back into the storage room.
Bit rude.
Kate practically ran down to meet Jane, who had just received her coffee.
Had I really only been chatting to the pretty barista for like two minutes?
“Jesse, this is my new colleague,” Jane introduced them.
Kate stuck her hand out and said, “Whistler. Nice to meet you.”
Jesse put down the cloth and mug he was holding to shake her hand and said, “I’m Jesse, the manager here. So, Whistler huh?”
Kate let go of his hand and mumbled, “It’s my surname and what everyone calls me.”
Jesse just nodded in understanding, “I was called Boone for pretty much all of high school, so I get you.”
Kate was glad that somebody understood her, and for the next few minutes she witnessed Jane and Jesse dive back into their conversation as she waited for her coffee.
“Cappuccino with oat milk for Whistler!”
Kate wasn’t expecting the gorgeous barista to serve her the coffee, especially after Kate’s embarrassing attempt at conversation and the way that she walked straight back into the back room after serving her, but she wasn’t going to complain about it one bit.
The barista set down the coffee on the counter and Kate immediately went to grab it. Their fingers brushed, which extracted a gasp out of Whistler and for a moment it seemed like it was just them in the world. After a few long moments of staring at the gorgeous woman, Jane coughed awkwardly, which made Kate draw her hand back along with the coffee as if she had been burnt. The barista just went straight back to taking orders at the till, leaving Kate even more embarrassed and sporting a bright red blush on her cheeks and neck.
Nice one, Whistler.
Jane said goodbye to Jesse, promising to see him soon and telling him to say hello to his wife as usual, and made her way out of the coffee shop, with Kate following behind, trying to hide her blush by looking straight down at her heels.
As Jane exited the coffee shop and Whistler was about to do the same, a voice from behind her said, “See ya around, Miss Whistler.”
Kate whipped her head around, nearly spilling her coffee all over herself to meet the woman’s warm eyes, but before she could smile or do anything in return, the barista went straight back to taking orders.
Miss Whistler.
Shit, she really was in trouble.