SO THIS WAS GOING TO BE A ONE-SHOT BUT I REALIZED THAT THE BEST WAY TO DO IT JUSTICE WAS TO MAKE IT A SERIES.

BCC (Before CatCo)

"Um..."

"Take your time, there's no rush."

Kara leans forward, which causes the barista named Elizabeth to do the same, and says, "The four people behind me with irritated looks on their faces would say otherwise."

Elizabeth leans back with a smile. "Why don't you tell me what you like and I'll go from there."

"Um, I'm a fan of spiced pumpkin and cinnamon."

"Okay…I can work with that. Size?"

"Medium."

Elizabeth reaches for a cup with her right hand as her left grabs a sharpie marker. The marker makes a scratching noise as it marks up the paper cup as Elizabeth asks, "Name?"

"Kara."

"Okay, Kara. A medium spiced pumpkin latte coming up." Kara steps to the side to allow other people to order. A rather flustered barista named Dan had rushed to the cashier just as Elizabeth had finished with Kara.

"Sorry, sorry," he kept mumbling under his breath in between orders. Elizabeth just waved it off but warned him not to do it again.

It was 9:30 am and Kara had an interview at CatCo Worldwide Media in 45 minutes. It wouldn't take her long for her to get from National City's Beanery to CatCo but Kara wanted to take her time that morning so she wouldn't appear flustered.

A woman comes up from behind Kara and slaps her hands gently on the counter. "Hey, Liz. Mocha with whole milk, no whip cream." Liz gives her a pointed look before motioning to the line in front of the register. "Oh I see it. I just wanted you to know so you wouldn't have to waste your time waiting for your newbie to tell you." Liz gives a dramatic eye roll and continues making Kara's drink. The woman briefly turns to Kara then puts out her hand. "Hi, I'm Meagan, and you are?"

"Oh, um…" Kara struggles to move a blue folder and her purse around before she can take Meagan's hand. "Hi, I-I'm Kara."

"Nice, to meet you Kara. What's the folder for?" Kara flinches a bit at Meagan's bluntness while Liz gives a soft laugh.

"Don't mind, Meagan. She's naturally nosy."

"I'm the 'gossip columnist' at the National Tribune." The way Meagan gives "gossip columnist" air quotes and the sarcasm in her voice makes Kara think this woman isn't entirely thrilled with her job. "It's part of my job."

"I'm about to interview there, well, not the Tribune but for CatCo?"

Meagan's right eyebrow raises some. "Really? For what position?"

"Personal assistant to, uh, to Cat Grant." Liz flinches, which causes the latte machine to spurt some foam out of the cup."

Meagan gives a rather dark chuckle then says, "Well, we'll see how long that lasts. And that's if you get the job."

"Here's hoping you do, and that you last," says Liz as she sets the cup on the counter with a lid next to it. "Sorry, about the extra foam." Kara waves away the excuse. "The cinnamon is over there with the assorted creams and sweeteners."

"Thank you." Kara sprinkles the cinnamon on her latte before snapping the black lid on over the cup then sits down for a moment to go over her resume and cover letter one last time and the prepared monologue she has in her head. It's nearly 9:45 when Kara knows it's time to leave.

"Let me know how your interview goes," Meagan calls out to Kara just as she sits down at a booth near the Beanery's front window. "I'll be here for a few hours." Kara gives her a soft smile with a nod, adjusts her glasses, and then leaves. Meagan watches her through the window until the adorkable blonde is out of her line of sight. "Oh, you poor little Golden Retriever puppy," she says under her breath as she turns on her tablet.

After The Interview

"Checkmate."

Logan frowns and rests his elbow on the table. "What?"

"Checkmate." His brow furrows and he leans on the table to get a closer look at the chess board on Meagan's tablet. "Surely, by now, you know what it looks like to lose?"

Logan throws Meagan an irritated look then sits back in his chair with crossed arms. "Okay, I'm not playing with you any…more." Meagan turns in her seat to see what Logan is entranced by and notices Kara standing by the doorway of the Beanery. Shortly after Kara left, Logan arrived. He didn't like the way the sun was hitting him through the window, so after a few snide comments, Meagan agreed to move to the rear of the coffee shop.

"Hey, Kara." Kara jumps then notices Meagan before giving a slight wave.

Logan reaches across the table and taps Meagan in the arm. "You know her?"

"A little. I met her this morning and she is too young for you. Hey, Kara," Meagan says the last part loudly just as Kara steps up to their table. "How'd your interview go?"

"Hi, Meagan. Really well, actually. I, uh, I got the job."

"Really? Can't say I'm not surprised. I didn't think Kitty Cat would go for a millennial."

Kara gives a slight shrug and then says, "Um, can I ask you something? Does Cat typically put out ads to hire people before she hires someone new?" Meagan begins laughing silently, the only indication of her mirth being her shaking torso, then rests her temple against her right forefinger.

"Cat Grant has a huge preference for efficiency. You have to if you're going to run a multimedia conglomerate." The sound of a throat clearing pulls the two women's attention to Logan. "Kara, this is my friend Logan," Meagan says with a slightly amused grin. "He works over at Lord Technologies in their Super-Secret Department."

Logan narrows his eyes at Meagan before speaking to Kara. "It's nice to meet you, Kara." He shakes her hand. "And just for edification, I work in the Advanced Technologies Department not the Super-Secret Department." Meagan uses her hand to discreetly hide her amusement; it doesn't entirely work.

Kara smiles warmly as she lets go of Logan's hand. "I didn't think so. But Lord Technologies. That's impressive."

"Yeah, it is. But in reality I applied there because I wanted to work for a great humanitarian. So it was either him or Kord Industries. In the end, Maxwell Lord turned out to be a better choice."

"Oh please," Meagan crosses her arms, "Logan just doesn't want to admit to his man-crush on Lord. He's geeked out over that man since graduate school."

Without skipping a beat, Logan says, "This coming from the woman who was willing to be bullied by Cat Grant just to get a chance to work for her." Logan looks up at Kara who is completely amused by the two in front of her. "I bet she didn't tell you that she used to be Cat's assistant back in the day, when CatCo first hit it big."

Kara adjusts her glasses glasses and glances at Meagan who is now looking a little ashen. "Uh no, that didn't come up in the few minutes we had together this morning."

"No," Meagan slowly draws out, "it didn't." She then clears her voice and adjusts how she's sitting. "Not that it matters. I have the job I've always wanted, kind of, and I am no longer working, directly anyway, under Cat Grant. So I'm fine. In other news, did you see that forest fire that broke out in north Cali? Apparently they're still trying to beat it back."

"No, I didn't," says Logan with a look of concern. "Is that what you were listening to on your phone while we were playing chess?" Meagan nods. "Why isn't Superman doing anything?"

"Apparently, he's preoccupied with an exploded oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico."

"Wow. It's times like these we could really use a second Superman."

Meagan gives a hum of agreement and stares off briefly into the distance before she glances up at Kara. The space between her eyebrows crinkles slightly when she sees Kara looking at her phone with a deep frown. "Kara, are you alright?"

"Hm?" Kara's glasses had slipped down to the edge of her nose, which gave Meagan a clear view of the young girl's charming blue eyes. "I, uh, I'm fine. I just remembered I need to pick up lunch for my sister. Have a good day. It was nice meeting you, Logan."

"Nice meeting you too, Kara."

"Maybe we'll see each other around," says Meagan.

Kara adjusts her glasses and nods. "Maybe. Have a good day." Logan and Meagan begin a third game of chess as Kara orders two sandwiches and two coffees then leaves.

"Five bucks says, Kara doesn't last a month."

Meagan looks up at Logan over her reading glasses, which had been sitting on the top of her head since, then smirks. "Twenty says she doesn't last two weeks."

SO, I NOONAN'S WASN'T THE COFFEE SHOP FROM THE PILOT TO EP 4, I THINK, WHICH IS WHY IT ISN'T IN THIS CHAPTER; NOR WILL IT BE IN THE NEXT FEW ONES