"Ow."
Kara grabs at her forehead and sitting up from her previously reclined position on the picnic blanket.
Her brain frantically searches for a reason, a justification for the sudden attack she just endured, and the answer isn't hard to find. Just a foot away from her sits a single acorn, proudly leering at her in all its acorn-ness, happy that it managed to get such a good shot on her forehead.
In anger she picks it up and tosses it as far away as she can, grabbing her book right after so she can try and go back to her so called relaxing day out in one of National City's most beautiful parks.
Her eyes skim the first paragraph, trying to put herself back in a zone where she can relax when all of a sudden she is being knocked backwards and her face is being attacked with what feels like a soggy piece of ham.
"Jasper! Jasper, no!"
Kara had barely registered the weight on top of her until it had been lifted off and now that her face is free of the attacker, she can open her eyes.
She never expected her attacker to be so cute though. The face of a panting collie stares right at her, fighting its equally as cute owner to try and get back to her to give her more kisses.
"I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" The cute owner is now leaning over her, gripping the excitable pooch by the collar to hold him back.
"I-uh…what?"
Kara is completely lost, unsure of what just happened, one second she was being assaulted by an acorn and then she was being devoured by a fluffy beast.
The pretty lady chuckles, trying to hold back her laughter as best as she can. "I'm sorry Jasper jumped on you like that, he really likes to play fetch so when you threw that acorn he got super excited. The boy has no loyalty so when he brought it back, he was pretty much professing his undying love to you."
"What?" Kara stares blankly for a second at the pair. "It think I might be concussed. Am I imagining this? Are you real?"
She reaches out for the fluff ball, running her fingers through the soft fur and getting her hand covered in puppy kisses in the process.
"Did he hit you that hard? I'm so sorry, I'll cover all of your medical expenses, I promise."
Kara frowns, not liking the sad look on the pretty lady's face. "No, no. The acorn fell and hit me on my forehead. I was angry at it, so I threw it. I suppose the best medicine for an injury like that is puppy love."
"Well, in that case I suppose I should apologize for Jasper bringing your attacker back to you." She points at the acorn that is now on Kara's lap, something she had missed in the ruckus.
Kara's eyes follow the finger pointing at the evil little object. She picks it up between a finger and thumb, disgust clouding her features when she notices that it is doused in dog slobber. "If I throw this will he chase it?"
"Absolutely yes."
"Great."
Kara tosses it as far away as she can, laughing at the shock written across the face of the owner as Jasper pulls free of her grip.
They both watch as the pooch scrambles to get his footing for a second before bounding across the grass after the acorn, sniffing hard to try and find the right one in the field of dropped acorns.
"You do realize that he is going to jump on you again when he gets back?"
"It's ok, he's cute." Kara smiles up at her. "I'm Kara by the way."
She offers her a hand to shake, which the woman then takes in a firm grip. "Lena."
Unfortunately for Kara, she got so distracted in trading names with Lena that she totally missed the dog flying in her direction at full speed. Her hand is snatched out of Lena's grasp as she finds herself once again flat on her back with a dog tongue lashing at her face.
She pushes him back a bit with a laugh. "Hi Jasper. I really should have learned from the first one, shouldn't I?"
"You really should have." Lena pitches in, laughing loudly at the scene before her. "Come on Jasper, let Kara sit up."
She drags Jasper back once again, clipping his leash in place and glancing down at her watch.
"Do you have to get going?" Kara asks.
"Yes…well, no." Lena looks down at the puppy by her side. "It's getting close to the time I usually get Jasper here a puppuccino from the local coffee shop, it's kind of his favourite time of day."
Kara beams at the duo, utterly obsessed with the air of cutie pies that she has somehow met today. "Let me get you both a drink to say sorry for winding him up with the acorn."
Lena shakes her head right away. "No, I can't let you do that. If it's anyone's fault then it's mine for letting him off the leash when he's still in training. I'll get you a drink instead."
"I believe I asked first."
"I believe that I'm buying you a drink and that's final." Lena crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow in challenge and staring her down, making her back off almost right away.
Kara huffs a bit. "I suppose so. You are really good at that."
"I know."
Lena waits for Kara to pack up her blanket and book into her backpack and then offers her a hand to get up, which Kara gladly takes, enjoying the tingles in her fingers where their skin meets. She may have a teeny tiny bit of attraction to the hot dog momma.
They walk side by side across the park to the nearest coffee shop, Jasper bouncing between them with a lot of pep in his steps, knowing exactly where they are heading to and happy that his new friend is joining them.
A comfortable silence fills the gaps between small talk, leaving them with the opportunity to bask in the serenity of the park on their way to Noonan's, the best coffee shop this side of town, a well known fact.
"So you work in the city?" Lena asks, curious about the stranger that she's somehow now going to get coffee with.
Kara nods. "I do, I work at CatCo magazine, I'm Cat Grant's assistant but hopefully soon I'll be able to transition and become a reporter. What about you?"
Lena pauses for a second, hesitant now that she knows where Kara works. "Do you already know?"
"What do you mean?"
Lena stops them in their tracks, holding Jasper to her side so there is no distractions. This is a question she needs a proper answer to. "Do you already know who I am?"
The baffled look on Kara's face tells her everything she needs to know. "No, why would I know who you are? Oh god, you're an escaped prisoner or something aren't you? That would be just my luck."
Kara looks ready to scarper and run for the hills making panic rise up in Lena's chest because she may have just scared off the only person in National City that is actually willing to talk to her. "No, no. I just…I'm a CEO so I thought you might have known already since you work at a media company. I'm not a murderer or anything."
A hand flies to Kara's chest. "Oh thank fuck for that, you had me worried that I would have to run for a second there and I hate running."
"If it makes you feel any better, I also hate running so there is no way in hell that I would have chased you if you did run."
"Surprisingly, that does help." Kara giggles, gesturing for her to keep walking. "So, if you're not an escaped prisoner, where do you work?"
Lena hesitates again, not sure if she should lie or not but she doesn't want to lie to Kara, even if she's only known her for a few minutes, she seems like a nice person so it wouldn't feel right. "L-Corp."
"The science company?"
"That's the one." Lena is grateful that the initial reaction isn't disgust but there's time yet.
Kara's eyes flit upwards like she is trying to remember something. "I know something about your company, I recognise the name, but I can't place where I know it from."
Lena is terrified, her body tense with dread. This is where Kara is going to realize that she knows the name from all the terrible things her brother has done.
Kara hums, face lighting up. "Your company doesn't release statements or do interviews with us, you're on our refusal list. I knew I would get it eventually."
"L-Corp is on almost everyone's refusal list, we only work with one magazine, and it is solely science related, no gossip." Lena breathes out a deep sigh of relief. She swears she might have a heart attack any second. "No offence."
"None taken." Kara laughs. "If anything I'm surprised that you, a full fledged CEO, are willing to talk to a mere assistant."
Lena reaches over to place a hand on Kara's forearm, dropping it when she realizes what she's doing. "You're more than a mere assistant, you're also a nice person. That's something this city needs more of."
It earns her a toothy smile. "Thanks."
They turn the corner out of the park gates and head across the road to where Noonan's is waiting. The closer they get, the quicker Jasper starts to move, knowing exactly where they are going.
Their drinks get ordered and they stand together waiting for them, Lena telling Kara off because when it came time to pay, she whipped her card out before Lena could so much as reach for her purse.
"I'm telling you, what you did was rude and unethical."
"How was it unethical?"
"It just was!"
Kara rolls her eyes, a smile crossing her face at Jasper with his snout firmly in his cup, trying to get every last bit of his puppuccino. She can't help but think that she wouldn't mind doing this again and hopefully soon.
"How about I let you pay next time?"
Lena stops her complaining, taken aback by the suggestion. "You want to do this again?"
Kara nods.
"I suppose I could be agreeable to that."
"Great, it's a date then."
"It's a date." Lena nods firmly, unable to hold back her gleeful expression at having the chance to see this mysterious stranger again, but next time, she's paying for the drinks.