"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Shego. "When you said tacos, I didn't expect this!" She gestured at the grande sized naco that was placed in front of her.
Kim laughed.
They had gone to Bueno Nacho for dinner at Kim's behest, and it was turning into one of those 'strange' date nights that Shego had never experienced before.
"I get the concept of the taco... And nachos... But nacos? What the hell!"
"I'm glad you're being yourself right now."
Shego gave Kim a bewildered look. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Kim shrugged. "It seemed like you didn't want to be at the meeting today... And it sure seemed like you were trying to avoid any eye contact." She took a bite out of her naco and swallowed before continuing. "With me."
Shego slumped back into her chair. "That... That..." She sighed and tossed her hands in the air. "Look, that wasn't what I intended, but Betty gave me a 'talk' before the meeting. About," she gestured between her and Kim, "us."
"Oh."
"She knows."
"And I bet she told you not to mix out personal lives with work, right?"
Shego nodded. "I'm sorry."
"It's ok, I understand," replied Kim. She reached for Shego's hand. "Look, I understand Betty's concern. To be honest, I'm not sure how we can't not mix our personal and working lives... Given that I'm probably going to see you a lot more now."
"If people find out... It won't be pretty."
It definitely won't, Kim thought. Immediately, she came to a decision. "I will have Bonnie go to you with all the design requests then. I'll have to remove myself from the process if we want to stay on the safe side."
"You want me to work with Bonnie?"
"She may come off as a bit headstrong, but she knows what she's doing... Most of the time."
Shego raised an eyebrow.
"Look, the worst case scenario is having people find out about us and saying that our working relationship is unethical. Frankly, I don't care if my staff members know, but I'm afraid I do have enemies in the publishing industry. If they catch wind of this, they might either try to bring both Middleton Daily and GJ Designs down, or give you and Betty unwanted press."
"I'm sure Betty would love that. She just wants us to be more popular... But I sort of get your point." Shego took a sip of her soda. "Enemies?"
Kim bit her lip. Might as well get this over with. "My ex is a well-known media mogul... Well, I guess you can call him that."
Him.
Him.
Wait, what?
Shego let that point simmer before speaking.
"I see."
Kim noticed that Shego was trying to remain nonchalant, but could see that the older woman was coming to grips with the fact that her ex was, well, male. Big shock? Yeah, probably not what one would expect from someone who surfed the 'girl-seeking-girl' personal ads...
Perhaps this wasn't a good time to tell her, Kim thought. This is hardly an appropriate place to have this conversation.
They both ate in silence for another fifteen minutes before Kim spoke again.
Her voice was almost garbled, but still soft, "I understand if that makes you doubt-"
Shego shook her head. "No, I don't doubt 'us'. It just came as a bit of a surprise, is all. I admit, not that many women surf dating sites after being in a relationship with a guy." She took a sip of her soda. "I think." She picked up a nacho and dunked it in cheese. "It's just... I don't want this to be an experiment for you..."
"I wouldn't do that to you!" exclaimed Kim. The other Bueno Nacho patrons looked toward their booth, and Kim lowered her voice. "Look, if you're worried that I'm just around to fool around, you're wrong." She took the nacho from Shego and ate it. "Besides, I've gone out with other women before. Didn't really click with any of them."
"And we click?" Shego raised an eyebrow when Kim stole her nacho, but raised the other when the redhead said that they 'clicked'.
"Well, I like you for who you are, and you're not trying to take advantage of my unwanted popularity."
Kim was rather blunt, Shego found. She didn't want to pursue the topic any farther when she came to a realization. "Did we just have our first argument?"
Kim chuckled. "Sort of? Not really, but if someone asked about my preferences, I just go with the flow, to be honest. I hope that won't cause any problems."
Shego waved her hand. "It's fine, I've gone out with men too." She winked. "Nothing serious, though."
Kim smiled. It didn't take much for them to argue about something, but not much to resolve whatever tension they had between them. Whether this would cause further imbalance between them could only be determined in the future.
Kim looked at her watch. They were done eating and it was only eight o'clock. "Do you have a long day tomorrow?"
"Don't think so," replied Shego as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Why?"
"Feel like taking a walk?"
"To burn off all the calories you made me ingest?" snorted Shego.
"Hey! You came willingly..."
"Only to see a cutie like you eat greasy food like this. Honestly, why do you even like this stuff?"
Kim looked sullen for a brief moment. "It was Ron's favourite place." Noting Shego's confusion with the name, she added, "My friend who owned the paper before me." Shego nodded. "I guess hanging with him made me eventually like the grease. Somewhat."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I just miss his cheerfulness, that's all. Lately it's just been work, work, and more work. But since I met you, you've made me happier than I was a year ago."
"Can I ask you something, Kim?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Betty wanted to tell me about the circumstances of your 'reputation', but I didn't want to hear any of it. It has to do with your ex, right? Just give me a 'yes' or 'no', you don't have to explain."
Kim nodded. "I can tell you if you want-"
Shego shook her head, got up, and offered her hand. "Come on, let's go for that walk."
Author's Notes: Shego and nacos... A messy combination?
Been getting a lot of subscription updates, but very little reviews. :( Let me know what you think of the story so far! Your opinions might change the course of the story!
Chapter title is from "Slow Burn" by Atreyu.