"Oh! Fudgesicles!" Kara cursed under her breath as she found herself stuck at a turnstile. Today was just not her day. First, she'd gotten lost several times trying to find this subway (she took a wrong road, a wrong bus and then another wrong road before finally finding the semi-hidden entrance to this underground travel system). Then she'd nearly hopped onto the wrong train (she was supposed to be headed uptown but had instead almost taken a downtown-bound track) and now here she was, finally sort of in the right place, but now her metro card was acting up.
"Come on! Work! You stupid thing!" the Danvers whined as she swiped the card over and over again through the machine, but the metal bar blocking her path refused to yield. She could see a glowing sign up ahead, reading that her train was going to depart in about two minutes, and she was stuck at the stupid freaking gate! She gave a cry of frustration, seconds away from just jumping over the gate, when someone finally came to her aid. The person in question got her attention by tapping her shoulder.
"I'm trying! Ok?! Give me a sec! My card won't work!" Kara snapped on reflex as she whipped around. She had heard about how impatient city folk could be, but she really did not need to be on the receiving end of "Can't you hurry it along? I'm late for a meeting!" at the moment. She bristled, feeling frustrated tears burning her eyes, but the moment she got a look at the person who had tapped on her shoulder, her mind short-circuited. It was another woman, maybe a couple years younger and a few inches shorter than herself. She had long dark hair pulled back in a tight bun and she had gray-green eyes. She wore a white blouse and black pencil skirt and heels. There was nothing but concern and sympathy in her eyes and she didn't seem the least bit put off by Kara's angry response.
"I was merely offering to help you through," she said instead, voice low and silky. She extended her own metro card and swiped it for Kara. The turnstile buzzed and the metal bars unlocked. Kara nearly missed her chance to go through, however, because she was so entranced by her savior. All the helpless, hopeless blond could do was stare into those gray-green eyes, admiring the shorter woman's figure and gentle expression. It was only when the woman coughed a little and pointed at the turnstile that Kara managed to get a grip long enough to clear her own throat awkwardly and move forward.
"Thanks," she grunted, face turning red as she turned around and pushed through the metal bar. Finally, it yielded for her and she was able to pass safely to the other side. The gate buzzed a second time and the dark-haired woman was there again.
"Do you need help finding your train too?" the woman asked as she joined Kara on the other side of the turnstile.
"N-n-no! I'm fine! I got it!" Kara replied with a nervous smile, but only half a second later, she changed her mind. "Actually, yeah, never mind, I could definitely use the help..." she gave a sheepish smile that the woman brushed off easily.
"Where are you headed?" she asked.
"L-Corp," Kara replied.
"L-Corp?" the woman sounded surprised.
"Yeah, I'm supposed to be interviewing their CEO, Lena Luthor?" Kara explained. The woman gave her a curious look, an unreadable smile, but said nothing. Instead, she gestured for Kara to follow her along.
"I'm headed to L-Corp as well," she said as she led Kara through the bustling underground.
"Oh! You're an employee then?" Kara asked, secretly relieved to know that this kind woman was going to the same place she was. She didn't trust herself to follow verbal directions so knowing that her guide was going to be able to follow her every step of the way was a huge relief.
"Yes," the woman replied, but her tone of voice seemed to imply that there was more to the answer than a simple "yes". Kara, however, didn't dare ask, sensing that the woman did not wish to tell her, and Kara knew she had to right to demand information from a woman who had been so kind as to take her under her wing. Finally, things seemed to be looking up for the young Danvers!
Kara had been born and raised in a rather country-ish area. It wasn't necessarily out in the middle of nowhere, but she had never been to a city before. To have to leave a small town behind in favor of this giant metropolis was a bit frightening for her. It was all so sudden and new. But if she really wanted to branch out in her career as a journalist, she knew that she would have to get over her "fear" of cities. So now here she was, on a practice assignment of sorts, set to give a simple little interview about Ms. Lena Luthor, the new CEO of L-Corp. Kara could only hope that she wouldn't totally ruin the interview with her nerves. She really did want to broaden her horizons! But as a country (or small town) girl, big cities really were not her forte. They were too noisy, crowded, chaotic and confusing. It was only dumb luck she'd managed to find the subway at all, and it was even luckier that she'd found a kind city person to help her reach L-Corp. But the biggest luck of all in her mind, was that this woman was also an L-Corp employee. What were the odds? Kara could only hope this turn in fortune would carry on through until she could go back home to her quiet, sleepy little hometown of Midvale. National City was gorgeous, but it really wasn't her thing...
10 minutes later, Kara's guide stood up.
"This is our stop!" she declared and she led Kara up and out of the underground maze. What a relief it was for her to be able to see the sky again! She took in a deep breath as she felt the warm glow of the sun running through her hair and down her back.
"Glad to be out of there?" her guide teased her a little.
"Oh! Uhhh, yeah, I've, uhhh, just never been a fan of underground things, you know? Tight, crowded spaces and all of that," Kara mumbled, embarrassed at having been caught. Her guide gave her an amused smirk but said nothing else as she continued to weave her way expertly through the busy city streets, making sure that Kara never fell too far behind.
"I can tell you're not a city girl!" she remarked as she and Kara finally reached the doors to L-Corp.
"Nope, my first time," Kara admitted sheepishly. "I'm a bit more of a country girl myself," she confessed.
"Hmm! Interesting!" the woman replied, sounding sincere and not at all sarcastic or haughty. "I've never been to the countryside before!"
"Never?" now it was Kara's turn to sound amazed.
"Never," the woman replied seriously. "I've been a city girl all my life!" she said and Kara could only shake her head.
"I can't believe you've never seen a countryside before!" she murmured. "I wish I could show you around my hometown then!" she cried, but even she seemed to realize how weird that sounded and her more awkward side was quick to return.
"I mean, uhhh, thanks for showing me around," she said quickly, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I'm always happy to help," the woman replied with another fond smile that Kara got lost in once again.
But then the woman opened the door, gesturing for Kara to step inside. Kara thanked her again, goofy grin growing even larger, and then while the woman went towards an elevator on the far end of that main floor, Kara made a beeline for the receptionist's desk. She could only hope that this mysterious "Ms. Lena Luthor" would be half as understanding, kind and polite as that other woman had been. Fingers crossed!
Following a quick chat with the receptionist, Kara found herself headed up the same elevator her guide had ridden just a few minutes prior. With her was a new guide, a woman named Jess. She was Ms. Luthor's personal assistant.
"Wait here for just one moment," she requested as she and Kara stepped off the elevator and onto the very topmost floor of L-Corp. Kara gave her a weak smile in return and tried not to twiddle her thumbs too much as she watched Jess walk on ahead to alert Ms. Luthor to her presence.
"Ms. Luthor, Ms. Kara Danvers is here to do an interview with you," Kara heard Jess say. She did not hear Ms. Luthor say anything in response but she must've requested that Kara come in because Jess quickly turned back to her and waved her forward.
Kara gave Jess another weak smile, feeling her legs start to shake as she walked ever closer to Ms. Luthor's office door. Nerves were starting to get the best of her and she found herself terrified of what would wait for her beyond that office door. She hadn't even been able to catch a whisper of her voice because she'd addressed Jess so quietly. But with nothing else to do, Kara continued to walk forward until she was in the doorway to Ms. Luthor's office. She steeled her nerves, took one last deep breath, then poked her head inside. Her eyes and mouth went wide.
"You!"
"Yes, me," and amused smile, a familiar voice. Kara wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or panic, or both.
By the end of the interview, though, Kara felt much better. The butterflies in her stomach were the good kind now and she felt excited instead of nervous. Not only had the interview gone extremely well but Ms. Luthor, or as she'd requested that Kara call her, Lena, had also seemed quite interested in getting to meet up with Kara again soon.
"How long will you be in the city?" Lena asked as their interview came to a close.
"A week, maybe less," Kara replied. "The dates aren't set in stone, but now that I have this interview, I'm supposed to type up a manuscript to send in, and then I go back home and distribute it there as well."
"Will you be busy during the rest of your time here?" Lena asked next, an interested look in her eyes.
"Well, not all the time," Kara was suddenly nervous again, staring hard at the floor while Lena continued to stare deeply at her.
"If you have some free time, then, perhaps we could meet up again before you leave?" she asked and Kara had nearly had three heart attacks in response to this question. She managed to nod, smile politely and say yes, but internally, she was freaking out and doing a victory dance all at once. She could feel her heart pounding and her stomach churning as she reached out to shake Lena's hand and when they finally touched, Kara had to literally bite back a high-pitched and terrified giggle. To say that she was over the moon was an understatement.
The interview ended there, then, Lena politely leading Kara back to the elevator.
"You have my number, will you call me later tonight?" she asked as she handed Kara her business card.
"Absolutely," Kara promised, stomach still in knots as she tried not to jump when her and Lena's hands brushed together once again.
"Excellent!" Lena's eyes seemed to glow. "I will talk to you soon then!"
"You too!" Kara gave her a nervous and giddy smile in response, then the elevator doors shut. Kara wasn't sure if this relieved or disappointed her.
Kara and Lena both made good on their vows and over the course of the week, the two managed to squeeze in a couple brunches and dinners, Lena telling Kara all about city life. She talked about her life and how she viewed the city, but she also talked about the city in general, recounting its history and the way it operated. She was trying to give Kara a mental map of the city, explaining to her about all the tips and tricks she could use to help her survive the chaotic streets. Lena was a goldmine of information and helpful little ideas. She knew all the best and worst times to try and find restaurants or transit, she knew all the good and bad places to either avoid or try out, she knew how to handle crowds, rushes and time crunches and she knew who to talk to if she ever had a problem with anything.
"Wow!" Kara couldn't help but sigh in interest as Lena continued to offer up her mental map to Kara, describing all the buildings and streets and their relations to one another. But as dreamy as these "dates" with Lena were, the city life still proved a bit too much for someone like poor little Kara Danvers. She was courageous and spirited, but she was still very much a country girl at heart. There was just too much noise at all hours of the day and even though her hotel was fairly nice and soundproofed, getting to sleep every night was difficult.
"What the heck!?" she rolled over with a tired and frustrated sigh. It was 3:00 in the morning and someone's car alarm was blaring. It shut off after only about 20 seconds, but it had still woken Kara up. She growled in irritation, struggling to get back to sleep. Falling asleep in the first place at the beginning of the night hadn't been any easier because of all of the noise of the other hotel patrons. There were the loud footsteps from above, the shouting people in the hallway and all of the random people of the street who would occasionally scream or laugh, and the sound really carried quite well. It had taken Kara 45 minutes and three pillows to block out the noise enough to fall asleep for the first time, but after that car alarm woke her up, she knew with painful certainty that she probably wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon...
And since Lena couldn't be around to act as Kara's guide all the time, this still left most of the navigating up to Kara. It was far easier said than done. Even though there were maps all over the city, including on Kara's phone, she still seemed to have the worst luck when it came to trying to find her way around. How many wrong streets and subways had she taken? How many addresses had she messed up? The worst was when it took her an extra hour to get where she wanted to go just because she kept getting turned around. The streets all looked the same and so did the buildings, so landmarks weren't always easy to come by and since the streets always seemed to be teeming with other people, it was all too easy to accidentally get swept up in a tide going the wrong way.
"You've got to be kidding me!" the young reporter complained as she found herself right back to where she had started. All she had wanted was some lunch! But with nothing else to do, she could only heave a defeated sigh and try again, trying not to get run over too many times by other city-goers who were not at all subtle in their disdain and annoyance for her. Her country side was painfully clear to anyone who saw her and some of the city-goers had no problem in showing how much they disliked her for being a stupid foreigner.
"It's not my fault!" she grumbled at her shoes as several businessmen roughly elbowed past her, one of them shooting her a very dirty glare. Her feet were so sore by the time that she reached her destination that the ability to sit down was even better than the food, in her opinion.
"Thank goodness!" she sighed as she sank into her seat, menu in one hand and water glass in the other.
But it wasn't even just the chaos of the city that Kara didn't like. It was also the danger. National City was a good city and had a relatively low crime rate, but that didn't mean it was 100% safe. Kara, herself, never suffered any sort of trouble like an attack or robbery, but she was constantly on guard when she walked around, especially at night and especially if she was in an emptier part of the city. Having come here alone, she had no one to protect her, should anything befall her. Her eyes were always peeled for even the slightest sign of danger and she was ever on the alert for suspicious activity. At one point, she was pretty sure she'd almost walked into a drug den, but she had turned around at the last second and saw neither drug dealer nor drug user, thankfully.
When the week finally ended, then, Kara was all too happy to be headed home. As beautiful and impressive as the city was, it was just too opulent and overwhelming for her. But even though Kara had no regrets about leaving the city behind, she really was unhappy at the notion of leaving Lena behind. Kara had become very fond of Lena over the course of their one short week together and she almost wanted to stay just so that she could continue seeing Lena every day. Lena was just so kind, funny, friendly, understanding, polite and conversational! Who couldn't help but fall in love with her? So Kara made sure to visit her one last time before heading back home to her little hometown of Midvale.
"Kara!" Lena smiled brightly as the young reporter walked shyly into her office again.
"Hey Lena," Kara replied with a sad smile.
"Is everything alright?" Lena noticed the tiny note of sadness in Kara's voice and was on the alert immediately.
"Yeah, everything's fine, I'm just leaving today and... well... I wanted to say goodbye," she admitted, suddenly looking shy once again as she walked over to Lena's desk. Lena, however, looked distraught.
"Has it really been a week already?" she asked sadly, but she knew it was true. "I will miss you greatly, Kara Danvers."
"I'll miss you too, Lena Luthor," Kara replied, finally meeting Lena's eyes again. She saw her own sadness reflected in gray-green.
For a moment, there was only silence, but then Lena finally rose from her desk and opened her arms a little.
"May I... May... I?" she asked, then it was her turn to look away in embarrassment. But that one little request was enough to make Kara smile. She opened up her own arms in return and did not hesitate to pull Lena into them, accepting the Luthor's warm embrace gladly. Lena tightened her arms around Kara and the two held on for several seconds, sighing sadly as they shared one final farewell hug. Once the hug finally came to an end, then, Kara's smile faded back into sadness and apology.
"Will you ever visit again?" Lena asked.
"Probably," Kara replied. "But I don't know when. It may be quite a while."
"Ah," Lena's face fell, but then a flicker of something danced in the back of her eyes. "If it will take you a while to come back to me, do you think you would ever be alright allowing me to come to you?" she dared to ask, clasping her hands together hopefully.
"Really?" Kara sounded as if she was hearing something too good to be true.
"I'm sure I can secure some vacation time in the next few weeks," Lena replied. "But only if you would be ok with it..." she amended, leaving the choice up to Kara, but in Kara's mind, it was not a choice at all.
"Of course!" she replied, brightening up considerably. "Come whenever you want! Just let me know what dates you were thinking about!" and then her own smile was reflected upon Lena's face as well.
Although their parting now was rather sad, now that both of them knew that the other was ok with Lena coming out to visit Kara, the hope of a reunion gave them both the power to smile once again. Kara had hoped that Lena would've offered to come visit her, but she hadn't dared to put too much stock in it until Lena proposed the idea herself. Now that she had confirmation that Lena did want to see her again (enough to the point that she was willing to travel down to visit Kara) Kara felt over the moon once more. She could tell that Lena felt the exact same way. Lena had been worried, at first, that Kara would've only said goodbye and left, but when Kara did seem to show more grief than expected in response to their parting, it had been enough to give Lena the courage to hope for a future visit and Kara's enthusiastic response to the idea made Lena heave a sigh of relief and complete and utter bliss.
"So this is not goodbye after all, is it?" Lena asked as she led Kara to the elevator one last time.
"With any luck, no," Kara confirmed with a smile.
"Then I look forward to seeing you again someday," Lena stuck out her hand.
"And I you," Kara replied, taking that hand and shaking it fondly. Then even after the elevator doors had shut, separating the two officially, they both continued to smile and think of one another long after Kara had left the city.
AN: Like I said, here's the first chapter of the expanded version of the story. Also, this is somewhat based off my own experiences because while I'm not a country girl, I just went to NYC for the first time about a week ago (for World Pride and Stonewall's 50th anniversary) and in the first few days, it was painfully clear that I had no idea what I was doing, LOL.