She hadn't even finished her first latte of the day and already Cat was ready to hurl her laptop off the balcony.
And it was all Kara's fault.
Cat had started her day on a high note. Waking up relaxed after a weekend with Carter. Getting to hear all about the upcoming science fair at Carter's school over breakfast, before taking him to school. Receiving a check in text from Adam.
Overall it had been a great morning. Things looked to be staying on a high when she arrived at work to find that Kara wearing something that showed off her arms for once, and her latte was the perfect temperature. Even hearing her schedule for the day hadn't done anything to lower her mood either. It was going to be a relatively easy day. No board meetings, no sign of her mother within a hundred miles of National City, and between the upcoming elections and the hype still surrounding the awards night from the weekend before last there was no shortage of material to be reporting on.
Once Kara had left on her first layouts run for the day Cat had turned to look at her wall of screens, hoping to catch something interesting that she could turn into a bigger better story. Or perhaps some news about her assistant had been up to this weekend as her alter ego.
This was where Cat's day had taken a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse.
Kara was on one of her screens alright. Three of them actually. But not as Supergirl. No, she was on there as the beautiful mystery date of some old hag Hollywood producer.
Rather than drawing attention from the bullpen by unmuting one of the screens running to story -an unspoken signal to all within earshot that Cat had found something she deemed interesting enough to investigate- Cat had turned to her laptop.
Cat wasn't sure what made her angrier. That another station had been the first to break a story featuring her assistant. Or that the original headline featured a photograph of the greying old crone kissing Kara goodnight in front of her hotel.
Maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that not a single story she had read so far had cast their obvious age difference in a negative light. Or that of the few articles with journalists capable enough to identify Kara as Cat Grant's longest suffering assistant, -Cat had snorted in derision at that line- none of them had suggested that Kara was just another twenty something trying to better her position in the world by seducing an older, richer, partner.
No. All any of the headlines focused on was how wonderfully inspiring it was to see two women of relative renown enjoying a first date just like any other couple. As if their date was some massive statement in the face of recent uproar about how media as a whole treated the LGBT community.
One of the articles suggested that Kara had met her date at the previous weekends award show. An event the girl had only attended because Cat had demanded she be there to keep track of larger goings on while Cat mingled.
Cat may have been a little forceful with her mousepad when she closed that particular tab.
She had such a lovely start to her day and in less than fifteen minutes it had all come crashing down. Now Cat was just sitting there with half a cup of cold coffee, glaring the image of botox filled bag of winkles, pressing overly painted lips to Kara's.
How dare Kara do this to her?
The girl has the nerve to barrel into Cat's life, all sunshine and smiles, and make Cat care about her. Make her interested. Make her wanting. Make her protective. Make her forget how she ever functioned without Kara there helping. And then she goes and throws it all in Cat's face like this?
After Cat has spent so much time mentoring her. After Cat brought her out of her shell. After Cat helped her stand up for herself. After Cat kept her secret, without even being asked. After Cat stood by her when everyone else was willing to condemn her.
From the moment Cat hired Kara, from the moment she branded Supergirl, even if she didn't know it was Kara at the time, Cat had held a stake in Kara's future. She knew from the moment Kara stepped into her office for her interview that the girl would be something special, and Cat had wanted to make sure that whatever heights the girl one day soared to, people would always remember she had started at Catco.
By the time Cat had realised she was starting to have feelings for Kara it was too late. Her own stubborn pride wouldn't let her act. Whether the girl knew it or not Cat had placed Kara on a trajectory. Even if Cat hadn't been clear on the specifics she knew that with a little help from her Kara would one day go up in the world, and nothing would jeopardize that on Cat's watch. Not even Cat's own feelings.
Because Cat declaring her feelings for Kara would be a massive risk. For both of them, but more so for Kara.
Cat was older, she'd played the game and now she owned the board. While a relationship with her young blonde assistant would probably cause a stir -accusations of cradle robbing, of having a midlife crisis, of being just another cliche- it would hardly ruin her career.
It would be a different story for Kara. People accusing her of being a gold digger and a whore. Always starting from a second impression because people would already have opinions on the girl screwing the most powerful person in National City who happened to be twice her age. Forever dogged by rumours that any success would achieve were because of Cat's influence and bank account rather than her own talent.
Cat might hold considerable sway over the media these days but she's not naive. If she ever acted on her desire for Kara there would be no way to keep it from ending badly for Kara. Either they would get dragged through the papers and subjected to every ridiculous fake-scandal in the book which would unavoidably affect their professional lives, or Cat would put her foot down on the stories, which would act as a massive red flag for everyone in their professional lives anyway.
So instead of embarrassing herself, and knocking Kara off of her trajectory Cat had kept her feelings to herself. Had pushed Kara towards safe, easy options. Like Adam and Olsen.
But now, without even a shred of consideration for the larger consequences Kara had burned it all to hell.
She had gone out with an older woman in a position of power.
The harpy in the picture with Kara might not be on Cat's level, but she was rather well known in the film industry and had more than a few awards for her work under her belt. For the media there was enough of a gap in their professional standing that Kara would be seen as one-sidedly gaining from their relationship.
Not to mention, of course that Cat was also reasonably sure the she-devil was a year or two older than Cat herself, and very likely having a legitimate midlife crisis. At least Cat had the benefit of having fallen for Kara over a long period of time.
The longer Cat stares at the picture the angrier she can feel herself getting. Disgust unfurling in her stomach at the thought of someone, who probably doesn't even see Kara's true worth, daring to kiss the girl.
Even as she scowls at her laptop Cat can feel the bitterness pulling at the edges of her anger.
Maybe the situation isn't exactly the same, but there is Kara on screen, with a poor man's version of Cat, and by some miracle the media hasn't done anything to tear her down.
It could have been me, is the thought that whispers in the back of her mind, with each dull throb of her heart.
"Miss Grant, here are the layouts you asked for."
Kara's bubbly voice and approaching footsteps cause Cat's gaze to snap up.
She doesn't imagine she looks all that happy. She might even go so far to say she looks intimidating if the way Kara freezes mid stride is indicative of anything.
"There you are Keira," Cat says, forcing her face into a cold smile. "Just in time to explain this."
She brings the image into full screen view and then turns the laptop to face Kara. Under other circumstances Cat might have enjoyed the bright pink that flushed Kara's face and neck.
"I- That's- I had a date last night," Kara manages to force out. "But how do you- where did you get that photo?"
Kara stumbles up to the desk doubling over to inspect the image closer up.
"Well I suppose that answers the question of what the hell were you thinking," Cat says, standing abruptly to avoid glancing at Kara's chest. "Clearly you weren't."
Kara doesn't answer immediately. She taps at the computer to remove the image. Her eyes widen comically when screen comes up with a news site rather than a file folder as where the image was opened from.
Cat can't deny the small petty flash of satisfaction at the panic in Kara's eyes. She's unknowingly or not hurt Cat's feelings, and she put her own future at risk. She deserves to panic a little at seeing some of the consequences.
"I can't believe this," the girl mutters, eyes flickering across the page, speed reading the article.
A scoff slips past Cat's lips.
"You can't believe it? How do you think I feel getting scooped on a story about my assistant?"
Kara's eyes dart to meet Cat's and she draws herself into an upright posture. Shoulders hunched slightly under the weight of Cat's gaze, looking every bit like a kicked puppy.
It makes Cat want to take her hand and tell her it will all be ok. Something that is completely unacceptable. Just because Kara has completely disregarded all of the reasons for Cat's boundaries doesn't mean Cat is going to step over them. Especially since Kara chose to cross those boundaries with someone else.
"Miss Grant. I can explain, it was jus-"
"I don't want to hear it Keira," Cat cuts her off sharply. "In fact I don't want to hear anything from you until I know what direction they plan to take this whole story."
Kara opens her mouth to comment but Cat doesn't give her a chance. She can't give her a chance. Right now it's taking all of Cat's self control not to scream at the girl. Whether she'd confess her feelings or just spew insults to make Kara hurt just as much as she is, she isn't sure. Ok so she'd probably jump to insulting her, it's her go to defensive mechanism. All the more reason to stop the conversation, at least for the moment.
"I had better not hear you've been speaking to anyone else on the subject either. Just because we've been scooped doesn't mean I'll let them keep control."
Kara closes her mouth again, smart enough to realise that trying to speak isn't in her best interest.
"Now go fetch me a fresh latte, and then see how the lawsuit against the cash grabbing monkey has progressed since Lucy left."
Slowly Cat lowers herself back into her chair, keeping eye contact with Kara. Kara squirms under her gaze, clearly wanting to speak up but finally she folds.
A muttered "yes Miss Grant" barely reaches Cat's ears as Kara trudges out of the office. Cat watches her the entire time, pointedly ignoring the tightness in her chest at Kara's dejected posture.
It takes everything Cat has not to let out a sigh and slump back into her chair when Kara steps out of view. Not just because of how it would look to those morons in the bullpen, but because Kara would probably hear her with those damnable super-senses.
Instead she turns her laptop back to face her and scowls at the news article and picture for another few moments before closing the tab and opening her emails. Unsurprisingly a number of them are enquiries as to whether or not the girl in the photo really is her assistant.
Taking a long steadying breath Cat unfolds one of the pairs of glasses on her desk and presses them to her face.
She'd had such a promising start to her day, now all she wants is to get this day over with. And maybe a glass of M&Ms.
