CH 02
"Good morning, National City! Mona Vanderwall, here. Your favorite radio presenter. And, I have the biggest news ever. One of my many sources sent me this photo: 'Spotted at the Grand Central station, bag in hand, Morgan Edge in a secret rendezvous with William Dey of Catco Magazine' You might wonder what is the big deal about this? I mean, do not get me wrong, if this a secret love story, I'm more than ready to ship them. But, I don't think this is about love... I don't know what you think, but, if you ask me, this bag between them seems very suspicious to me. Could it be that Morgan Edge is trying to pay his way to the exclusive CatCo ranking of the Best Entrepreneurs of the year?" Lena keeps hearing the radio broadcast while she jogs around the biggest park of National City...
"Really, Edge? You're that desperate to get into the fucking list of a Magazine...?" Lena mocks "Pathetic..." The CEO doesn't seem surprised to the accusations against Morgan Edge. She really thinks that he has done worse things than trying to bribe a reporter. Really, how people like him can walk freely in the streets? Lena wonders. But well, it seems that Karma is finally reaching him since this time he got caught in the act. Lena is not a big fan of gossips, but, she must admit that every note done by this radio presenter has been actually true, so, if what she's saying right now is true too, someone will be really pissed today...
"KIARA! TO MY OFFICE, NOW!" The blonde reporter takes a deep breath while she walks towards the office of a very, very angry Cat Grant. "Close the door..." Kara follows the order of her boss, and, closes the door of the office.
Why she's here? She's not the one who pissed her off, that's for sure, right? Kara starts to wonder what she could have done to be called into the office of Cat. It's because she ate all the donuts this morning? It's not her fault that she can eat so much! Or, maybe it's because she hasn't been able to interview Lena Luthor as Cat wanted. In her defense, she has really tried, but, it's not her fault that each time she tries to get a meeting with the young Luthor, she gets a rotound 'No'.
Lena Luthors doesn't do well with reporters, and, till now, no one has been able to get an exclusive interview with her, not even CatCo Magazine. And, Kara feels a little down with that, but, she hopes that her inability to get such interview, it's not the reason why Cat looks so angry this morning. Kara's worries get worse when the Queen of all media starts smashing things in her office...
"Miss Grant?!" The blonde has never seen Cat like this. And, her worried look is enough to soothe Cat's anger. "My apologies for the display of... you know... but, it seems that you cannot trust anyone these days..." Cat says after breaking another thing from her office. Kara gulps hard, looking around, the damages might have raised already to more than ten times Kara's salary. The privilege of being rich Kara thinks, and, the blonde has no intention to say a word at least than Cat asks something. The last thing Kara wants to do, it's to throw more fuel on the fire of Cat's rage, but, when she sees something cracked all over the floor, her mouth speaks before her brain could register it...
"OMG! You broke your sculpture of Jeff Koons?!" The blonde says in a big shock, "That sculpture must cost more than just a few bucks!" Kara's jaw drops open, big blue eyes can't believe what she's seeing...
"Kiara, focus! I didn't call you to tell me how expensive are my things!" Kara nods, but still, that sculpture was so unique, and, beautiful. Kara loved her because it had a shape of a dog, and, she loves dogs, well, she loves many things: food, flowers, the sun, the rain, the wind...
Kara is so lost in her thoughts that she seems absent from their conversation. She's in her own world, so distracted of reality that she doesn't put attention on her boss' words till Cat drops a big file in front of Kara...
"What is this?" The blonde reporter asks, and, she regrets it the moment she sees the killer stare of her boss. If looks could kill, her sister Alex would be reading already her obituary right now...
"Good to know that you were putting attention on what I was saying, Kiera..." Kara gulps hard, and, like a kicked puppy she tries to stay stiff, and, not do something else that could make the situation even worse, and, it works. Cat deeply exhales, and, repeats what she said before. This time, Kara makes sure to put attention on everything she's saying...
"So, to sum it up. William Dey is dead to me, and, I need a new reporter to take over the list of the 20 most powerful people of National City..." Kara nods, it's more than understandable that if William is capable to accept a bribe from Morgan Edge, he cannot keep writing the article. And, Kara starts to make a big list in her mind of some colleagues that could take over William's article. She was ready to recommend someone till, it hit her... the reason why she's here...
"W-w-wait! Are you assigning me to write this article?!" Saying it out loud didn't make it more real. Let's be honest, Kara is a newbie reporter, just 2 years ago, she still was Cat's assistant. So, for her, to receive this assignment was more than a big deal... it was the opportunity to become a recognized reporter. Something that has been Kara's dream for so long...
"I cannot afford to jeopardize any further the integrity of this article. I need someone who I know I can trust at 100%..." Cat says with her serious voice, not her angry voice, but, with the kind of voice that lets you know that she's being completely honest...
"Awww! You trust me?!" Kara's face light up, like a golden retriever that has received a cookie for his good behavior. And, Cat rolls her eyes "Kara, do not make a big deal of this. Just take this file, and, get ready to work on this article..."
"You said my name right, this time!" The blonde points out, and, Kara's shine smile is so big that it's hard to look at it. That's why Cat avoids eye-contact, and, just waves her hand, indicating her to leave now...
"We are publishing the article on our annual anniversary, like every year. So, you've plenty of time to do your research and, do a proper job..." Kara nods. She has months to impress the Queen of all medias, and, she has no doubt that she will do a great job.
Such joy she needs to share it with someone...
"Wow, Kara, I'm so happy for you! We definitely should celebrate this! Dinner at Noonas? It's on me of course... Yes, Kara you can order a double dish if you want..." The doctor Alex Danver was talking on the phone with her dear sister while she was doing the paperwork of her shift. After hanging the phone, she signed the last chart and, she was ready to go home. Alex makes a mental note that the first thing to do arriving him, it's to get a shower, really, she's sure that she smell worse than the old milk she has in the fridge...
After a shift of 36 hours, Alex was more than ready to go home, but, when she passes by the Burn Unit, she stops walking when she hears little laughs. Intrigued by the little laughs she was hearing on the hallway, she resumes her walking, but, in another direction...
Curiosity took over her, and, before knowing it, she finds herself already peeking into a room where all the child patients were staying. Not a lot of people have the stomach to put a foot in a place like this. It's hard to see people with severe burns, especially kids. Each time that Alex has been assigned to work on this section of the hospital, she really sucks at keeping her emotions in line. The last thing that these kids need, it's pity or, someone looking at them with sorrow, and, sadness, so yeah, when Alex heard the little giggling, the happy laughs of the kids, the dear doctor needed to find out what was causing such joy in the hearts of the little patients, and, the source of it, it was none other than...
"Okay kids, who's ready for another trick?" All the kids say 'Me', and, the clown tries to do another magic trick, but, just like the previous one, she messed it up, and, the egg didn't transform in a little chicken; it just smashed against her head when she took off the hat. All the children, even Alex, laugh when they see the complete mess that's in the hair of the clown...
Trick after trick, the clumsy clown failed in doing magic, but, it didn't fail in making the kids laugh. Alex wasn't planning to stay, but, it was so entertaining to see the clumsy clown, that she stays till the end of the show...
The act ends when the clown shows all the toys that he brought for them. So many new toys, Alex wonders who did such donation. So, she approaches to the clown, and, asks who's making all of this possible. And, the clown replies with a big smile 'Me...'
Alex frowns, she doesn't get it. It's this another joke from the clown? The doctor seems to need more information, so, the clown simply gives her presentation card. "Alison DiLaurentis, CEO of -A Toys Co..." Alex reads what is on the card, and just now, she realizes that the clown is actually a girl...
"The CEO of a Toys company is acting as a clown in a hospital?" Alex is not subtle to express her surprise. There are no cameras around, so, this is not about publicity, this kind of things are not tax deductible, so, why she's doing this?
Sometimes, Alex acts like a secret agent, and, she wants to uncover the secret motives behind people's action. But, in this case, she's losing her time, because Alison hasn't a secret agenda about this...
"What is wrong with making kids laugh?" The blonde asks, and, Alex just opens her mouth and, she says nothing because she doesn't know what to reply. "No one really made the time to make me laugh or play with me when I was a child..." The clown sadly admits. Alison doesn't know why she's sharing this with her, but, she's already doing it, so, she keeps talking...
"So, yeah, I spend my free time, dressed as a clown, visiting hospitals, orphanage because any child deserves to laugh, and, have nice toys..." Alison's words were sincere, and, Alex gulps hard, feeling bad to push the girl to explain her motives. "Excuse me Doctor, but, this clown must go to work..." Alison says while she walks away...
Leave it to Alison DiLaurentis to make an unforgettable meeting. And, even if she didn't plan for it, Alex kept thinking about her, even during dinner...
"What is wrong Alex? Something in your mind?" Kara asks when she orders all the desserts on the menu. "I'm a doctor, not a millionaire, Kara..." And, the blonde reporter just giggles at her sister's comment, but, the reporter knows that Alex is just being dramatic, after all, this wouldn't be the first time that Alex pays her meals...
The desserts arrive, and, Kara giggles, happy with all the sweet things she's going to eat, and, Alex just chuckles, looking at her sister, she acts like a kid most of the time, it's so cute... and, talking about kids...
"Kara, about your article... have you considerate to put Alison DiLaurentis on your list?" Kara frowns, she wonders why Alex is talking about the CEO of -A Toys Co. "Why?" The reporter asks, and, Alex doesn't dare to reply immediately, she just shrugs till her mouth starts to speak by itself...
"I don't know what are the criteria to get on that list that you have to do for Catco, but... she's not like any other CEO. So, you should check her out..." Alex has no idea why she's saying this, but, it seems that the blonde really left an impression on her. And, Alison will not be the only one to leave an impression in a Danvers...
It's another sunny Sunday in National City when Kara wakes up, she smiles big time when the ray of sunshine pass through the window and reach her face. "It's seems that today it's the perfect weather for a walk in the park... so, what do you say Krypto, do you wanna go out?" The dog of the reporter happily jumps around the bed, barking. He's so in for a walk, and, Kara wastes no more time to get them out...
Krypto is a really nice dog, very energetic just as Kara, but, he doesn't go crazy. That's why her owner is shocked to see him run away from her, in the middle of the park without a reason... "Krypto! Wait!" The blonde wasn't planning to run, she didn't bring her sports outfit, but, she has no option. The dog might be fast, but she's faster... well, maybe not fast enough to stop the dog from tacking someone to the ground...
"OMG! Krypto, NO!" The blonde scolds the dog when she tries to remove the dog that's over a person. "Bad dog! Bad dog!" Krypto sadly pouts, he looks down, and, stays behind Kara while the blonde gives a hand to the woman who's still lying on the ground. "I'm really sorry, I... OMG! You're Lena Luthor!" Once again, the blonde reporter gets lost in tracks when she realizes who's the person in front of her...
Kara has seen her in TV, in pictures, but, she has never gotten the chance to see her in person till now... And, she's more beautiful than what the pictures show. Not lots of people are able to take your breath away, but, Lena is definitely one of those people who has that ability...
"Take a picture darling, it will last longer..." Lena teases when she sees how Kara can't stop checking her out. "I, I, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare... it's just that... you... you... ahm..." The reporter is normally very good with words, but, it seems that this morning her brain cells are still sleeping or, suffered a short circuit because she can't make a comprehensive sentence, something that amuses Lena a lot...
"Well, as cute as it's to see you out of words. I should keep jogging, so..." The raven-haired woman tries to resume her jogging, but, her right knee painfully crumbles when she makes the first step. "OMG! Are you hurt?!" Kara looks very worried that her dog just injured the CEO of L-Corp. "I'll be okay..." Lena says, pain reflected in her voice. And, she can pretend to be an indestructible woman, but, Kara will not buy it. "You are in pain... here, let me help you..." Against Lena's objection, Kara becomes Lena' support to walk towards the nearest bench...
"Wait here!" The blonde says when she notices an ice cart near them. In a flash, she's back with ice-cream, and, ice to put over Lena's knee. "Better...?" The blonde asks while she offers too an popsicle to the other woman. Lena is not sure that she wants to eat it. She's not a big fan of sweet things, but, the shiny aura of the blonde, makes it very hard to say 'no'...
"Thanks..." Lena mumbles with a little of blush on her cheeks, and, turns her eyes away from the blonde because that shiny smile, it's too bright too see directly. "I don't know what happened to him today, he has never done something like this, really..." Kara starts to make a light conversation, and, Lena goes with the flow of the conversation till her phone rings, and, she realizes that she should go to the office now...
"Are you sure that you can walk?" Lena nods, she might not run, but, walk seems to be okay. The CEO stands up, she pats the sad dog, trying to cheer her up, and, Kara smiles with such tender action. Maybe that's why she bluntly asks Lena out, you know, just for a lunch. As an apology for what Krypto did. There's nothing wrong with that right? Kara thinks. And, she's shocked by how boldly she asked for it, really, today is not just Krypto who's acting weird...
The CEO keeps caressing the dog, pondering on the proposition, mostly just because it was priceless to see how Kara was looking at her, desperately waiting for an answer. A big smirk spreads over Lena's lips when she decides that it was time to get the blonde from her misery and, tells Kara her answer. "Fine, it seems just natural to let you invite me for a lunch as an apology for tacking me to the ground..." Kara happily gasps, releasing the breath she didn't know she was keeping. They exchange phone numbers, and, the blonde reporter stammers one last time, a bunch of words before saying their good-byes.
Lena limps back to her car till she's sure that no one is watching, that the blonde is not in the picture. "Easy peasy..." Lena grins when she walks normal, like if she wasn't in pain. She arrives at L-Corp. She walks into the building like if nothing happened to her... "Did it work? Are you on the list? Will you be the n°1 in it?!" Her CFO, and, best friend Sam asks while Lena changes clothes on her office. A dog whistle drops to the floor when she takes off her sport outfit. "Lena, I know that you don't like to appear in Magazines and etc. But, after the arrest of your Mother as a leader of this secret organization, Cadmus. We really need good press! The stocks will keep dropping if we don't do a little of damage control about the public image of the Luthors!"
The CFO is really worried about the public image of the company. It's normal to panic in any crisis, but, Lena is a good soldier under any storm. That's why she doesn't feel worried at all. "Stop worrying, Sam. I will get my way to be in the top of that CatCo ranking..." She smirks, playing with the dog whistle, feeling confident about her scheme. "As planned, I approached the reporter today. I even get a lunch date with her, so, don't worry, in less than a week, I'll have her, eating out of the palm of my hand..." Lena smirks, already thinking that it will be very easy to make Kara do whatever she wants...
It seems that the casual encounter wasn't so casual after all. Nothing is what it seems. And, the Luthors are not the only one making schemes in this city...
"How this happened?!" Emily exclaims, with a mix of emotions while she stares at her dear father. The head of NCPD, lying down in a hospital bed, breathing with the help of a mechanical ventilator. She was patrolling, when she received the call from her friend and, colleague Tobby. It felt so unreal when she talked with him over the phone, and, it still feels so unreal to see Wayne like this.
Her man of steel... her hero... her only family is in coma because someone shot him in the back. A coward! A human garbage that Emily swears to put him behind bars! Whoever did this to her dad, will pay for this!
"I believe this has to do with the investigation of -A Toys Co..." Emily frowns, because as far as she knows the Police Department dropped the case when the procurator told them that they didn't have enough proof to prove that the company was doing more than just selling toys. Wayen was very sure that all the arms trafficking was done under waters by them. And, he was so sure about it, that he kept investigating, off the record...
"Without telling anyone, I was helping him with the investigation. The last thing I know, it's that he was meeting someone who was ready to talk..." Tobby confesses that he didn't want him to go alone, but, he insisted that it would be okay... but, it didn't go well at all...
Emily closes her fists very hard, a wave of anger spreads over her body. Why Wayne didn't come to her with this? Why, he asked for Tobby's help and not hers? She has so many questions that the brunette wants to ask to her father, but, right now she can't. She can't get mad at her Dad either, since he's over the edge of dying. The only way to channel her feelings right now, it's to focus her anger on -A Toys Co. She needs to find who shot her father, she needs to find the truth, and, the only way to do that, it's to continue with the investigation that her father cannot finish...
"Tobby, I'll need you to show me all you have about -A Toys Co's case..." The brunette is taking the lead on this investigation from now on. And, there's no one who can stop her...
Drama never takes a vacation. Instead, it takes the National City Expressway and heads directly to the life of these ladies. Deception... lies... Everyone is ready to play the game to get what they want. But, are these players ready to play the game of love too? You will need to stay tuned to find it out...
Author's note: What do you think about the story so far? It's clear so far?