This is short and sweet, but I wanted to get back in the swing of it! Feels like it's been forever! Also, it's been a while since I've watched any Ellen, so she may be a little out of character!
"So, Lena, I know we're here to talk about your company's latest developments in healthcare technology, but before I let you go, I just have one thing."
Ellen's words send a ball of lead sinking to her gut.
Of course she isn't going to make it through an entire interview without her family being brought up.
Of course making healthcare advancements that will save literally hundreds of thousands of lives isn't going to distract from her family name.
Of course she's still a Luthor.
"Actually, I have some pictures."
Ellen's smirk should be a giveaway, but she isn't paying attention - too distracted by trying to figure out what her family could have possibly done now.
And why did they have to let it be captured on film?
The crowd 'Oohs' and there a few wolf whistles, enough to make her jerk around to look at the screen behind her.
Her heart pounds in her chest.
This is not what she expected.
Instead of Lillian's smug grin, or Lex's bald head; it's a picture of her.
Well, her and Kara to be more accurate.
She recognizes the scene from the week before, when she had visited Kara at CatCo for lunch.
They're grinning, mid-laugh, and Kara's fingers are tugging at her glasses in that adorable way she has.
She feels a smile spreading across her face as she refocuses on the host sitting on the couch across from her.
"So, who's the pretty lady?"
She knows what she wants to say, that Kara is the most interesting, most beautiful, most genuine person she's ever met.
But she can't.
Because she isn't really sure if that's something that 'friends' say. The line between them is so blurred these day - the line between 'friends' and 'maybe something more'.
And Lena knows which side of the line she wants them to be on, but she isn't willing to risk everything she has with Kara on a chance for something more. So if she has to hide her feelings in order to keep Kara . . . so be it.
She just didn't expect to have to hide them on national television.
"Kara Danvers." Lena answers with an easy smile. "She's a reporter, actually. one of the best National has to offer." She prays that the blush she feels creeping up her neck isn't noticeable.
"I see, and do you and Kara eat lunch together often?" Ellen questions.
"Nearly everyday."
Is what she wants to say, because it's the truth, and because those lunch dates have long been the highlight of her day.
But her intuition tells her to hold off, that Ellen is digging for something.
"Occasionally." She says instead, hoping that's noncommittal enough to be the end of it.
But of course it isn't.
"These aren't the first pictures of you to circulate." The screen flashes through various shots of her and Kara, and she mentally curses National City's paparazzi. "In fact, several tabloids have suggested that you and might be a couple."
There it is, she went right for the sucker punch.
And now Lena once again curses her family as the cause for her aversion to tabloids. maybe if she picked one up every now and then she wouldn't be caught so off guard right now.
She doesn't say anything, just wishes for the ground to swallow her up.
"So you're just friends."
Lena nods eagerly, hoping this is the end of it.
"Like best friends?"
Another nod.
"Gal Pals."
She starts to nod, only to freeze when she realizes what Ellen is implying.
"Not- Gal Pals, I - uh no, no."
She can hear her heartbeat thrumming in her ears, as Ellen waves a hand."
"I'm only kidding, but for the record, you two should date, I mean it's totally your choice, but you'd make a beautiful couple." The crowd cheers, and Lena knows her blush is visible now. "After the commercial, we have the creator of the new emoji app everyone is raving about, but for now everybody give it up for Lena Luthor!"
She has a few other interviews to give across the city, and her day is such a whirlwind of activity that it's mid-afternoon and she's on her way back to the office before she has a chance to check her phone.
Kara Danvers: Saw the Ellen interview!
Kara Danvers: Amazing as always!
Kara Danvers: Wait
Kara Danvers: Why are we not gal pals?!
Kara Danvers: We're gals, are we not pals?
For once, she's grateful that she has an afternoon of board meetings to go to and that she can use them as an excuse to buy a little time.
Because this is one pop culture reference she has no idea how to explain to her friend.
Three little dots appear on her screen and she holds her breath.
Kara Danvers: Ellen wants us to date?
She wonders how hard it would be to move L-Corp back to Metropolis.