I'd like to apologize in advance to Oliver Queen for defamation of character.
Kara didn't think the overwhelming feeling of dread she had in the pit of her stomach was a good sign as she readied herself to leave for the first day of shooting. But she tried her best to push it down as she groggily got dressed and grabbed the backpack she'd prepped the night before. She didn't like to do it in the morning because she was usually so tired she forgot something nine times out of ten. She'd learned, though, to have her backpack, keys, and fanny pack waiting on the couch so all she had to do was grab them and walk out the door.
First days of filming usually had an early call time. The earliest she'd ever had to be on set was four-thirty in the morning. Those were the hardest days for Kara. She was a night owl, hating mornings with every fiber of her being. Waking up before noon was something she simply didn't do in her day-to-day life when she wasn't working.
But she knew as filming went on there was going to be deviating from the schedule, and call times would undoubtedly start to push later as they began to really get into it. Plus, there were the night shoots closer to the end of the movie. She couldn't wait for those. That's when she thrived.
The promise of that helped propel her out of bed when her alarm went off. And a huge glass of ice coffee helped somewhat to make her more coherent, but it was gone much too quickly. She had a second in her hand as she climbed into the truck to start making her way to the sugar plant to pick up the trailer.
She sighed as she looked down and remembered the truck had no cupholders. Settling the cup between her legs, she grabbed the portable Bluetooth speaker from the side pouch of her backpack and set up the music before starting her journey. She despised the radio, but even if she listened to it, it wouldn't have mattered—the truck's radio hadn't worked since 2012, according to Clark. But she needed something other than the roar of the truck and her anxious thoughts to occupy her mind.
It was just after six a.m. when she pulled the truck away from the curb in front of her house and started making her way across National City. Thankfully traffic wasn't heavy yet, and she arrived well before the sun started to come up. Nia was already there, out of her car and ready to help Kara back up the truck to hookup the trailer. Siobhan was to meet them at set since Kara had a feeling she would have not only been useless, but would have probably slowed them down.
It didn't take too long to get hooked up, and thankfully they were on their way soon. Nia led in her SUV, Kara following as closely as she could behind. She'd been tired before, but pulling the trailer surely woke her up. Every nerve seemed to be alive, and her anxiety was through the roof. Thankfully, though, they didn't have to go far. The first day of filming was in a small veterinary clinic only about ten minutes from the sugar plant.
The closer they got to set, Kara began to see the yellow signs that pointed them in the right direction. They were accompanied by black arrows and the letters "PL," which Kara knew meant Puppy Love. As they approached the clinic, the working trucks came into view, and Kara knew they were there.
A tall, pale, skinny man about her own age with brown hair was in the street holding a walkie. He also wore a yellow safety vest, so Kara assumed he was with the Locations Department. He flagged her down, and she screeched the truck and trailer to a halt as Nia pulled off to the side to wait for further instruction.
The young man motioned for Kara to roll the window down, but Kara just shook her head and opened the door. "Sorry," she said loudly to be heard over the truck. "Windows don't work."
"That's okay," he said with a smile as curious brown eyes roamed over the contraption then back to her. "I'm Barry, Locations," he said, holding his hand out for a shake.
"Kara, Crafty," she said, returning it briefly before asking, "Do you know where I should be going, Barry?" She made sure to repeat his name because she had a hard time remembering, especially in the first few days. She met so many knew people it was hard to keep track.
"Yeah, we've got a spot for you right up there," Barry said, pointing to an area further down marked off with cones. "Let me get those cones out of the way, and I'll help you pull in."
"Thank you," Kara said appreciatively. "My assistant is right there with her vehicle." She pointed to Nia's silver Nissan Xterra idling on the curb. "Think we can find a spot for her?"
"Sure." Barry nodded. "Just have her pull up right behind you." He started to walk off to move the cones.
Kara breathed out as she watched Barry gather them up, then he motioned her forward and she eased off the brake. He guided her into the spot, helping her to straighten out alongside the curb, and thankfully there was no backing up involved, so she was able to get it correct on the first try.
"Thanks," she said again as she hopped out of the truck. "This isn't my rig, and I'm new to driving it," she said hastily. "I'm probably going to need help with it in the future."
"No problem, Kara," Barry said with an easy smile, and Kara oddly felt herself liking him already. "Let me know if there's anything I can do." He nodded and smiled again before walking off.
Nia parked her SUV behind the trailer and hopped out as Kara was grabbing her phone from the front seat of the truck. "Where's Siobhan?" she asked instantly, looking around to see if she could catch sight of her.
"She texted me as we landed to say she was at base and catching a van," Kara said, typing out a response before sliding the phone into her pocket. "Should be here soon. In the meantime, let's start getting shit out."
"Roger that, boss," Nia said with a smirk.
Kara smiled at that, for the first and hopefully not the last time that day. Then they busied themselves with dragging coolers out and draining them—they'd loaded them with drinks the day before. Then they lined a few trash cans with bags and each took one and a cooler and headed up the street to the veterinary clinic.
It wasn't a long walk, but Kara knew it would get tiring lugging stuff up and down the block all day. And as the sun began to come up and the humidity in the air thickened, Kara was sure it was only a matter of time before she was drenched in sweat.
In the parking lot of the vet's office there were a number of crew scattered about already working. Call time was seven, and crafty hadn't had a pre-call—which was weird. It made sense for them to be called at least half an hour before crew, that way they could have everything set up for when people started coming in. Starting at the same time of the rest of the crew meant they were already starting in the weeds.
But she tried not to let it show as she plastered on a smile and approached the thicket of AD staff. She knew two of them from a previous show—Oliver and Mike. They weren't so bad, she didn't exactly have a problem with them. But they were total dude-bros, the kind of guys she would never associate with outside of work.
"Good morning," she said in greeting as she and Nia walked up, trashcans and coolers in hand.
"Hey, Kara," Oliver said, nodding stoically in her direction. He was tall, towering over her. He kept his blond hair cropped short she noticed the few times he took off his ballcap. She also noticed when they started going well over schedule, he became agitated and rubbed as his stubbly beard so incessantly she wondered how he didn't have bald patches. "What can I do for you?"
"We were just wondering where to set up," Kara said.
"Well, this whole parking lot is in frame for the first shot, so nowhere out here," Mike said, jumping in as usual. That was something she picked up on about him. He was a Key Set PA, sure, but Oliver was the second-second AD. He knew way more than Mike. But Mike thought he was hot shit. It was obvious in the way he carried himself. He had brown hair he'd made sure to stick up in just the right fashion to appear like he didn't spend much time on it, even though Kara was sure he did. And since she'd last seen him, he'd grown a beard to match Oliver's. When he spoke, it was always with an air of arrogance, and Kara had to try really hard to like him sometimes.
"It's just an establishing shot, though," Oliver said, already starting to rub at his beard. "Should have space for you right at the edge of the parking lot, then we move inside, and this whole lot is fair game."
"Copy that," Kara responded with a nod. "Do you have walkies for us?"
"Sure," Mike said, then turned to whistle at a PA standing a few yards away. "Hey, Brainy, do you have walkies for crafty?"
"I do," Brainy responded, instantly jumping into action and going into the box of walkies at his side.
"How many do you need?" Mike asked.
Kara opened her mouth to answer, but Brainy beat her to it. "There are three members of the craft services department: the key, Kara Danvers, and her assistants, Nia Nal and Siobhan Smythe," he said, taking three walkies from the kit, then briskly walking over to hand them to Kara and Nia. Their names were already written on them in neat handwriting. "There is Siobhan's as well. I trust you'll give it to her."
"Sure will. Thanks, Brainy," Kara said, dropping the things in her hands briefly to take them from him, instantly clipping them to the strap of her fanny pack.
"How long 'til coffee?" Mike asked, looking to Kara questioningly.
Kara stared at him for a moment, feeling on the spot. They'd only just landed and hadn't even officially put out drinks and trash cans yet. Obviously, they were nowhere near having coffee ready. But Kara just put on a smile like she'd learned and tried her best to keep the agitation off her face.
"Just give us a little bit and let us get set up," she responded and turned away to drag the cooler to the corner of the parking lot.
"What an ass," Nia muttered when they were out of earshot. "We literally just got here. Can he not wait five minutes?"
"Nia, it's like you're reading my mind, dude," Kara said with a sigh as she dropped the load. "Come on. Let's just leave this here and start getting stuff."
When they got back to the trailer Siobhan was waiting inside, and it appeared she was texting. Kara bit her lip because even if she didn't know exactly what to do, surely the numerous coolers still taking up the walking space in the trailer was an obvious first task.
"Good morning, love," Siobhan cooed, slipping her phone into her pocket before hugging Kara. "What's up first?"
Kara gestured to the ice chests. "Can you help Nia get these out while I fire up the generator?"
Siobhan eyed the objects in question, her face falling at the prospect of manual labor. "Okay," she said dully.
"Great!" Kara did her best to sound upbeat.
While those two lugged the coolers down the wooden steps, Kara busied herself getting power to the trailer and then getting coffee started. With that going, they all began to drag equipment up the street to set. But when they were halfway there Kara heard them calling for crafty on the radio.
She stopped to answer, Nia continuing with another cooler, while Siobhan stopped and unnecessarily waited for Kara. Kara had to wave her hand and urge her on while she switched to channel two on the walkie—channel one being for main stuff and two reserved for quick chit chats.
"Crafty on two," she said, holding up the walkie to her mouth to talk because she hadn't put on her headset yet.
"Hey, crafty, it's Eve at base," said the voice that responded, and Kara recalled seeing someone named Eve on the callsheet. She was the basecamp PA. "Can we get a cooler down here when you get a second?"
Shit. That should have happened already, but she was so preoccupied with getting set situated that she completely forgot.
"Sure thing," Kara said quickly. "I'll bring one over in a bit."
"Thank you," Eve responded. "Back to one."
Kara finished bringing the cooler she was dragging to set, thankful Siobhan had already set up the table she'd carried with a table cloth. Nia was about to head back to the trailer when Kara caught her.
"Hang on one second," Kara said, stopping Nia in her tracks. "Siobhan," Kara said in the tiny brunette's direction, dragging her attention away from meticulously straightening out the tablecloth. "Come see really quick."
"What's up, babes?" Siobhan asked with a smile as she bounced over to Kara and Nia.
She motioned for them to follow her, and they began walking back to the trailer, Kara talking over her shoulder as she went. "I have to run to basecamp and give them a cooler," Kara said quickly. "So, I need to unhook the truck and go do that. I need you two to continue getting set up here. When the coffee in the trailer is done, put it in the airpot and get the coffee cart down here." She pointed to Nia. "Can you find an electrician and see about getting power to where we'll be?"
"Sure," Nia said, nodding. "I saw Cisco a minute ago. He should be able to help out."
"Great," Kara said with a smile. One of the best things about working with Nia was she was friends with nearly everyone. She was the biggest extrovert Kara had ever met, and she needed someone like that because it always made her uneasy to ask favors of people she didn't know. "If you can't find him, look for my friend James. He's on this show, too. Tall, bald, African American."
Nia nodded again. "I know of him. Copy you, boss."
Kara smirked. She could get used to being called boss. "And Siobhan…" She paused to think how Siobhan would be most useful. "Just help Nia get stuff down there and keep on making coffee."
"Sure thing, my dear," Siobhan said in a sing-song voice, and Kara wondered for a moment why she always referred to her by a pet name instead of her actual name.
But that wasn't important then. She needed to get drinks to base, so she made a beeline for the truck and began unhooking it. And then she was off, truck rumbling through the narrow streets to the basecamp a few blocks away. She pulled into the lot with all the trailers and parked where she wouldn't be in the way of the transportation vans going in and out.
Kara lifted the window to the covered bed and hopped on the back of the truck. The tailgate always stuck when pulling it down, so she had to finagle it by pulling the handle, pushing up and in, then pulling it down. All without falling flat on her ass, like she was prone to do with her clumsy nature. But she managed and wrestled the heavy cooler out of the back, glad she and Nia had the sense to load it in the previous evening.
Then she found the AD trailer and set it right outside the door. As soon as she did the door opened, and a tiny woman with blonde curls stood there and blinked at her.
"Oh, thanks!" she said with a smile. "Are you with crafty?"
No, I'm just dragging this cooler around for fun, Kara thought, but simply nodded instead of voicing her thoughts.
"I'm Eve," the woman said, walking down the steps and extending her hand. "We spoke on radio."
"Kara, nice to meet you," she said, returning the formal shake before dropping her hands to her side again. "I've got your cooler, and I'm going to put together a care package of snacks for your trailer when I get a second."
"Awesome, thanks!"
"I also have some snacks for Jack Spheer that he requested that I want to get into his trailer at some point," Kara went on. "I was going to get stuff for Felicity Smoak, but I heard she pulled out."
"Correct," Eve said, nodding. "We have a different actress now."
She didn't say who, and Kara didn't want to ask, so she instead she questioned, "Do you know if she has any requests or anything?"
"I don't," Eve said. "But I'm about to go invite her to set, if you want to follow me. Maybe you can ask her assistant."
"Sure," she said, though a little nagging voice inside her head told her she needed to get back to set as quickly as possible.
She followed Eve to the next set of trailers, where a man she'd met before named Winn was talking to a dark-haired woman she'd never seen before.
"Jess, this is Kara. She's with crafty. She wants to know if there will be any requests," Eve said when they approached.
Kara glanced at the door to the trailer they were standing outside of, but the tape on the window did little to tell her who was inside. Only the character's name was written on it, and Kara hadn't thought to look at that part of the callsheet to see who'd replaced Felicity. But now curiosity was getting the better of her.
"Hi, Kara," Jess said warmly. "Uh, no, I don't think there will be any requests. She's pretty easy-going."
"Are you sure?" Kara asked, glancing over at the trailer again as Eve went to knock on the door to the trailer. It was rare one of the main stars didn't ask for at least something.
"You should ask her," Jess said. "I've never heard of her making demands, but I've also never worked with her directly like this before." Kara's eyes widened at that, and Jess quickly added with a smile, "Don't worry, she's really nice. Just ask her when she walks out."
But Eve had only just knocked on the door, so she didn't know how long she would have to wait, and she had to get back to set. It was making her nervous every moment she wasn't there helping Nia and Siobhan.
Thankfully, though, the trailer door opened moments later, and Kara's blue eyes looked up out of pure reflex, but when she saw who stood in the doorway, she wanted to kick herself for audibly gasping. She should have looked at the callsheet. That way maybe she could have been mentally prepared to see Lena Luthor existing in the same vicinity as her, but she didn't know if there was anything that could truly mentally prepare a person for meeting their biggest celebrity crush.
Corny as it sounded, time seemed to slow in that moment. Everything around Kara faded away, and all she saw were green eyes staring back at her as Lena paused in the doorway. Kara's heart was in her throat as she realized Lena was looking back at her, and she knew she should look away, but she was frozen on the spot.
"We're ready for you, Ms. Luthor," Eve said, snapping them both back to attention.
Lena shook her head and smiled down at Eve. "I'm ready," she said, descending the steps as Eve moved out of the way.
"Lena, this is Kara," Jess said as Lena approached, and Kara felt her face burning. "She's with crafty. Is there anything special you want for your trailer?"
Lena eyed Kara, who stiffened in awareness of how stupid she looked. She didn't dress up for work. If anything, she dressed down. She wore old t-shirts and athletic shorts because she always somehow found a way to get dirty, and she had a fanny pack fastened around her waist to keep track of her wallet and belongings throughout the day. Fanny packs were lame, but they were essential onset, and she wasn't the only one who sported one. It didn't make her feel like any less of a dork, though. At least hers had the Supergirl/Superman logo on it, so it was kind of cute.
"No, that's quite alright," Lena said, but she held out her hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Lena." She grinned, all beautiful and pearly white teeth, and Kara's heart skipped a beat.
Somehow, she managed to reach out and take the hand, instantly reveling in the softness of Lena's hand compared to her own, which were rough and callused. "Kara," she heard herself squeak out, and then cleared her throat. "But some people call me Supergirl." As soon as she said it, she hated herself for it, and she hoped the heat could excuse the blush creeping up her neck. Why did she say that?
Lena laughed, though, as she gestured to Kara's fanny pack. "I won't forget that." She smiled again, and Kara felt slightly better. "Is that pack why?"
"Yes and no," Kara said with a shrug. "Some people started calling me that before I got this, so when I needed a new one, I just got one with the Super logo on it. This just solidified the nickname." Oh god, she needed to stop talking. She was just making herself look like a huge nerd.
But Lena seemed intrigued. "Why did they originally start calling you Supergirl?"
Kara scuffed the toe of her hiking boot on the ground and ducked her head shyly. "It's kind of dumb, but this guy one day told me that every time he sees me, I'm running somewhere or carrying something no one my body size should be able to carry, so he said I'm like Supergirl. He started calling me that, other people heard it, it caught on, and now here we are."
"Fascinating," Lena said, though Kara felt like it was anything but. But when she picked her head up again, the way Lena was looking at her made it feel like it was, and her whole body hummed with excitement.
"Yeah," she said lamely, then she glanced at Eve to see the PA staring at them impatiently, and she remembered herself. "Well, I better get back to set."
"Yes, they need me there as well," Lena said. "Are you going to take a van? Eve could maybe take you, too, instead. Might get there quicker."
Kara was taken aback, and the naïve part of her hoped Lena's question meant she wanted to spend more time near her. But that was illogical. "No, I have a truck—my boss's truck," she said, making sure Lena knew the piece of shit she was going to drive away in didn't belong to her. She smiled, pulled the keys from her pocket, and jingled them in her hands. "Lena, it was nice to meet you. I'm sure I'll see you at set. And if you change your mind about snacks, or if you think of anything you want, please let me know."
"I will. Thanks, Kara," she gave another smile, and Kara practically melted inside.
She watched wistfully as Lena and Jess got into a black SUV before remembering there was another star of the movie and turning to Winn. "Hey, you're Jack's assistant, right?" Kara asked him. She'd met briefly on another show a while back, but they'd been put in contact through production about Jack's list of requests for this one.
"Yes, Winn," he said with a nod, and Kara was thankful she didn't have to do yet another handshake. "You were on a day of Darkness Comes, right?"
"Yeah, that was my first show Clark and doing crafty," Kara said with a smile, glad he remembered. "Now I'm running this show."
Winn whistled lowly through his teeth. "No kidding. Good for you."
"Thanks," she said, then added, "I got everything for Jack. Let me know what he wants in his trailer, and we'll make sure it gets here."
"Thanks, Kara," Winn said appreciatively. "He hasn't asked for anything yet. He's actually pretty chill so far, and I'm hoping it stays that way."
"Me too," Kara agreed. Needy and demanding actors made her day significantly harder.
She said goodbye to Winn and started to head back to the truck, and Jess drove by with Lena as she walked through the gravel lot. Lena was in the front seat, and as they went by, she locked eyes with Kara again, and Kara was so startled she dropped the truck keys and had to pause to pick them up again.
As she watched the vehicle pull out of the parking lot and onto the road, Kara silently cursed herself for getting so worked up over an actress. It'd never happened before. She prided herself on keeping her composition in front of the talent, even if she loved them. She'd actually become pretty desensitized to it, hardly even batting an eyelash when she was introduced to someone famous. But this was Lena Luthor, someone she'd been so enamored with at one point that she'd tracked down and watched every single thing on Lena's IMDB list.
So for the first time, Kara was truly starstruck.
Lena was quiet on the way to set, her mind not able to leave the blonde woman she'd just met. Objectively there was nothing special about her. Sure, she was cute. That much was obvious. But there was absolutely no reason Lena should have been sitting there thinking about how blue her eyes were, or how strong her hand felt when she shook Lena's, or the way her hair swung in its ponytail underneath her cap.
Yet there she was, thinking about her—about Kara. The initial attraction she felt when she first stepped out of her trailer and saw this woman standing there registered, but she was utterly confused by it. Kara was in no way her type.
Lena usually went for edgy women, women who mainly only wanted her company for a night rather than long-term. It was easier that way, with no steady partner to try to take her out in public or make their relationship known. The women she dated dressed to kill as well, and in all honesty, they sometimes made her feel inadequate. But Kara was standing there in a black t-shirt that said, "Feminist AF" and basketball shorts, and there was no reason it should have awakened anything in Lena. Yet, as they pulled up to set, she couldn't help wondering what those rough, strong hands would feel like roaming her body.
As she stepped out of the rental vehicle production had gotten for Jess to transport her to and from set, she took in a few breaths to calm herself. She needed to get her mind out of the gutter and back on track. The first scene was hers. It was simple enough, just walking across the parking lot and into the veterinary clinic, but she still needed to be in the right headspace. She was about to go into a day acting out lines she'd barely learned, become a character she hardly knew. There was no room for uncharacteristic fantasies popping up.
The director was Maxwell Lord, and he seemed nice enough, but something about him made Lena feel uneasy, and she was glad she'd never had to be alone with him yet. Something about him heightened her fight or flight senses, something she couldn't quite put her finger on but was uninterested on thinking too deeply into. She was just here to do a job. She didn't need to get chummy with the director.
Thankfully they were all about business that morning, and she did the entering scene quickly after getting to set. Then they moved inside, and she was directed to a chair inside to wait for them to finish lighting the next scene, where Dean would bring his dog into the vet for the first time. Jack's chair was set up and waiting for him next to hers, and she hoped he wasn't feeling especially chatty that morning. She just wanted to go over her lines in peace so she wouldn't make a fool of herself by forgetting them when they went to roll.
She was studying her script when he arrived, and when he greeted her with a good morning, she didn't even look up from the sides in her hands. He yawned as he sat down beside her, a set of sides in his hands as well.
"Excited to start?" Jack asked, glancing at Lena briefly.
"Nervous," Lena admitted, her eyes still not traveling to him. "Just want to make sure I get my lines down."
"Me too," Jack said, holding up his set of sides. "Want to run them with me?"
Lena hesitated for a moment. She wanted to say no since normally she didn't need help. But normally she had much more time to prepare and had done a read-through with the cast beforehand. It was probably a good idea to run lines with Jack before they got on screen together. Also, before they brought the dog in, which could add some confusion to the mix. Cast animals were always hit or miss. It was hard to get an animal to take direction, and if the animal wasn't well-trained sometimes things got rough. If there was going to be a dog going bonkers throughout her scene, she wanted to at least make sure she knew her lines in case she got distracted and had to easily pick up the scene again.
"Sure," she said finally.
They began to read together, and Lena had to say she was impressed by Jack. His lines were kind of shit, but they didn't sound so bad with his deep voice and British accent. Maybe that was why they cast him—so no one would notice how awful the things he was saying were as long as it was said in a pretty voice and coming from an attractive man.
The scene wasn't a major one, just the characters seeing each other for the second time and hers offering to help his learn to be a pet owner that can actually keep his dog alive. But there were still lines that were flirtatious, and Lena felt so false and robotic when saying them.
No one else seemed to notice when they filmed the scene, though, and thankfully the dog was more well-behaved and took cues better than most human actors she'd worked with, so they were moving onto the next camera angle in no time. It was supposed to be a closeup on Jack, but she still needed to be there to say her lines. She felt better about it since she wouldn't even be on camera and she'd had the wide shot to feel reassured in her ability to remember her lines.
That was why she felt okay walking away from her chair for a cup of coffee in between the next setup. She'd been wanting one all morning, and though Jess was there and able to get it for her, Lena wanted to make it herself. It wasn't about her being picky over the way she wanted it—she drank it black most of the time—but because even though she couldn't explain why, she really wanted to go near the crafty setup so she could catch a glimpse of Kara.
But when she approached the tent that had tables of food and a cart with coffee fixings under it, the blonde was sadly nowhere to be seen. There was a different woman, tall and wearing all black, stocking coolers with ice and drinks, but that was the only other person at the setup other than herself. Lena almost turned around and went back inside when Kara wasn't there, but then she smelled coffee brewing and couldn't resist.
She poured the cup much slower than she needed to and added creamer and sugar to it, which she never did, simply to prolong the amount of time she spent there in case Kara turned up. And even when her coffee was obviously much too sweet for her to even enjoy, she still stayed loitering by the tables, scanning their contents in an attempt to look like she was curious about the setup, and not the girl doing the setting up.
"See anything you like?" came a voice behind Lena, and her heart hammered in her chest as she whirled around the see the person she'd come looking for standing there, as if Lena's wanting her to appear had made it happen.
Lena smirked at Kara. "Just browsing," she said, taking a quick sip of coffee before gesturing to the table. "Impressive spread. I didn't know there were this many types of Oreo's." She gestured to the six different packages of flavors, ranging from regular to pistachio.
"This isn't even close to all the kinds they make, either," Kara said conversationally before picking up the package that was peanut butter flavor. "These are my favorite, though."
"I'll keep that in mind," Lena said with a laugh. "Maybe I'll try one after lunch. It's a little too early right now."
"Suit yourself." Kara shrugged and set the package back down. "They may not be around, though. The good stuff goes fast." She paused for a moment, seeming to remember suddenly why she was there. "Which reminds me… Excuse me."
Kara turned and went over to the woman stocking the coolers, who Lena heard Kara refer to as Nia. Bad as it was to eavesdrop, Lena was standing close enough to hear their conversation.
"Maybe if things slow down after lunch, I'll send you shopping for tomorrow," Kara was saying to Nia as Lena pretended to read the nutrition facts on the back of a granola bar.
"Why can't you send Siobhan?" Nia shot back. "I'm better on set."
"I know," Kara said with a nod. "But you're also better at shopping, and I need someone who will be quick about it and get everything we need." She shrugged. "Normally I'd go, but I don't feel right leaving."
Nia sighed, but also nodded her agreement. "You're the boss."
Lena nearly dropped the granola bar at that. Kara was the boss? How? She looked to be about Lena's age, nowhere near old enough to own and operate her own company. And Lena had explicitly heard Kara say she was driving her boss's truck. And why did her being key crafty instead of an assistant make her inexplicably more attractive to Lena?
"Thank you," Kara said to Nia. "And you're kicking ass today, by the way. Seriously, thank you for being a part of my team. I'd be completely fucked without you."
Lena smiled at that, respecting the way Kara built up her employee and made sure she knew her value. Too often she'd heard crew members yelling at and belittling the people under them, and it was unsettling how often the crew just took it without batting an eyelash.
"Tell me about it," Nia said with a groan. "What the fuck is Siobhan even doing? I haven't seen her on set once."
"I don't know what she's been doing, to tell you the truth," Kara said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I have her cutting up meat and cheese to pass around to crew right now, but every time I've gone back to the trailer she's been playing on her phone."
Nia shook her head and sighed. "Dude."
"I know," Kara said quickly. "I'm going to have another talk with her."
"Good because I'm gonna go off on that bitch," Nia said, starting to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Kara called after her.
"To light a fire under her ass in case she's taking too long," Nia returned over her shoulder and kept walking.
Kara sighed and turned back to the setup, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise when she saw Lena still standing there. She cleared her throat and approached slowly, almost bashfully.
"Sorry you had to hear some of that," Kara began, not meeting Lena's eye.
"It's okay."
"No, it's not. It's unprofessional," Kara said, sighing heavily. "No one needs to hear about our shit."
"Kara, seriously, it's fine," Lena said, and when the blonde finally looked her in the eye again, she gave her a reassuring smile. "I've heard plenty worse from just about every department. Don't worry about it." That seemed to calm the slightly taller woman, because Lena saw some of the tension ease from her shoulders. "So, you're key crafty?"
"Yes," Kara said with a nod, swelling with pride. "This is the first show I key."
"Really?" Lena's eyebrows shot up with interest.
"Yeah, I usually work under this guy named Clark, but his wife had a baby, so he's taking time off," Kara explained with an apprehensive smile.
"Wow," Lena said, taking another sip of the disgusting coffee she'd made and trying not to grimace as she swallowed. "Are you excited?" she asked, to which Kara hesitated, and Lena added, "Or nervous?"
"Uh… Little of both," Kara said with a small chuckle. "It's really exciting to get this opportunity, but incredibly daunting at the same time. I just want to do a good job my first time on my own, you know?"
Lena nodded, somewhat understanding. At least she understood not wanting to fail. It was a universal feeling, after all. "How long have you been doing crafty?" she asked.
Kara opened her mouth to answer before stopping, mouth still open, and held her hand to the earpiece in her right ear. She listened for a moment before looking to Lena apologetically. "Sorry, they're calling for me—"
"No, it's fine," Lena said quickly, not wanting to distract Kara from her work. "I should probably get back to set anyway."
"Probably," Kara said, smiling. "Talk to you later?"
"Sure," Lena said, and couldn't stop herself from biting her lip as she glanced at the ground and walked away from the crafty tent.
Sadly, later never came because every time Lena saw Kara after that she was doing exactly what she'd said she did in order to earn the nickname Supergirl. Literally the only time Kara wasn't doing something was the two times she'd spoken to Lena. Other than that Lena only saw her from afar or in passing as Kara walked almost inhumanly fast with a look of determination on her face—until she made sure to lock eyes with Lena and smile if their paths did happen to cross. But she didn't stop to talk to Lena again, obviously too busy.
Lena hoped that after lunch it would slow down like Kara had said so that the blonde could idle at the crafty setup and talk to her about something stupid like the different flavors of M&M's or something, but if anything, Kara seemed busier after lunch. When Nia came in with plastic shopping bags three hours after lunch when Lena just happened to be at the setup again, she realized why. Supposedly there was a third to their team, but Lena never once saw anyone doing anything at the setup other than Nia or Kara.
It wasn't until they were on the last shot of the night—or the "Martini"— that she saw what must have been the second assistant. Lena went out to get her fourth coffee of the day and saw a petite brunette woman trying to dust off a tablecloth while Nia grabbed a cooler and started to drag it away and Kara loaded cases of water onto a green dolly.
"Siobhan, don't worry about that," Kara said as she placed another case of water onto the dolly and tilted in back to start following Nia. "We can shake it out when we take it off."
"But it looks bad," Siobhan said with a slight whine.
Lena pursed her lips as she turned her back to them and appeared to be minding her own business while she made her coffee, this time thankfully sans creamer since she'd already seen the person she'd really walked down here for.
"It's fine," Kara said, and even though Lena didn't know her, she sounded exhausted. "Just grab that box of food and bring it back to the trailer. We're on Martini. We have to start getting out of here or we'll be here all night."
Lena turned around in time to see Siobhan roll her eyes behind Kara's back, and it made her lip curl in distaste. That was rude and uncalled for.
"Okay, whatever you say," Siobhan said in a terse voice as she abandoned the table—which, admittedly, to Lena, looked fine—and grabbed the box set off to the side before skulking off with a huff.
Kara stared after the woman, shook her head to herself, then caught Lena's eye long enough to shrug and give her a tired smile before heading off after her assistant.
And that was the last Lena saw of Kara for the rest of the night.
Unfortunately meeting Lena Luthor had been the highlight of Kara's day. Not that it was unfortunate, just that everything else that day completely sucked. Meeting Lena and knowing she got to look forward to seeing her every day was the one thing that kept her going all day.
That and Nia, who always did what was expected of her without Kara having to ask, and if she did ask her to do something, Kara didn't have to question whether or not it would get done. Unlike Siobhan, who would do literally nothing unless Kara specifically asked her to do it, and even then, it was a toss-up as to if she'd do the task.
Like when Nia went to the store and Kara had to run to base to restock coolers. All she asked of Siobhan was to make sure the coffee and drinks stayed stocked on set. She was gone not even fifteen minutes. But when she got back the coffee was almost gone, more wasn't being brewed, and the coolers weren't empty, but they were getting there. And then there was the fact that Siobhan questioned and undermined just about every decision Kara made. And no matter what Kara said, she couldn't get Siobhan to see her way, so she eventually just gave up and let Siobhan have hers. It was easier than wasting her time and energy fighting with someone. She just wanted to do her job.
And then there was the fact that she'd forgotten to put a couple of crucial things on Nia's list, so someone had to go back to the store before wrap. She sent Siobhan because she couldn't lose Nia again—she'd been drowning without her. But when Siobhan got back Kara nearly shouted in frustration when she saw that Siobhan had once again taken the liberty to leave off two of the items, and by the time she got back it was too late to send her again. And she refused to go after wrap, even when Kara told her she'd still be getting paid. So that meant Kara would have to go on the way home again. At least she wouldn't have the trailer; she was allowed to leave it overnight with security to watch since the location was the same the next day. But she still had receipts to do when she got home, so any extra trip just added to the length of her day, and it had already been a long one.
It hadn't even been a twelve-hour day, but it was a rough one. The trailer was parked much farther from set than Kara would have liked, and lugging gear back and forth in the hot sun proved to be just as excruciating as expected. The last thing Kara wanted to do was go into a grocery store and shop. She wanted to go home and take a shower.
But there she was, nearly an hour after wrap, rushing through the grocery store near her house. She was nearly done when Nia called her, and she got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
All Nia wanted to do was complain about Siobhan and urge Kara to fire her. Yes, she heard Nia's concerns and frustrations. She felt, them, too. But she felt stuck. What was she supposed to do? Fire her friend, even if she was starting to question why they were friends in the first place? All she could do was try to talk Nia down with promises that it would get better, that she would put Siobhan through the ringer tomorrow. But Nia wouldn't let up, and Kara had to interrupt a rant when she got to the register because she hated being on her phone while in the middle of a transaction. That's how she got off the phone and sighed as she slid her phone back into her pocket.
When she got home, she brought in all the perishables and immediately rewarded herself for her long, hard day with a hit from her pipe. The smoke hit her lungs, familiar and calming even before its effects had begun. She let it out, and imagined her anxiety exhaling from her body along with the cloud of smoke.
She brought it to her desk and finished it while she entered all the credit card receipts into the website on the computer and finalized all the paperwork. It usually didn't take her long, but this accounting team wanted the receipts to be done a different way, and it took her a while to figure out just what that was based on a mass email they'd sent out. What should have taken her five minutes took nearly an hour, and she was almost certain she'd still entered them in wrong by the time she emailed the completed form to accounting. Then she was anxious again, so she packed another bowl and took a few hits before hopping in the shower.
Showering after working in the hot sun all day was like a religious experience. She never realized how truly disgusting she felt until she got into the shower and started to wash away the visible layer of dirt on her skin. But afterwards she felt refreshed, even if every muscle in her body was sore and tired.
She got her things together for the next day, all sitting in a neat pile on the couch like usual, and finally made her way to bed. She set her alarm, groaning when it told her she had a little over four and a half hours to sleep. It was nowhere near enough. But hopefully tomorrow would be better and she wouldn't have to shop or do receipts after work. Hopefully things began to get easier, because throughout the whole day Kara never felt like she was able to catch her breath.
From constantly fighting with Siobhan, to burning the pass around she'd prepared for after lunch and having to half-heartedly pass out popcorn because she had nothing else. And then there was the constant back and forth to the trailer. Not having it directly on set was exhausting because every time she needed something, she had to jog up the block and back. And not to mention the trailer with all of her ice and water they'd rented was parked at basecamp, so every time they needed more, she had to take the truck to drive down and get it.
And tomorrow was going to be the same, and she knew no matter what she said Siobhan probably wasn't going to get better, and as she spiraled in those negative thoughts, tears pricked at her eyes. She took in deep breaths to calm down, willing herself not to cry. She couldn't be this stressed and distraught. Not on the first day. How was she going to make it through the rest of the show?
Then she thought of the moment she saw Lena, when she opened her trailer door and their eyes locked, and Kara could have sworn it made Lena stop in her tracks. She replayed each of their brief conversations in her head, over and over again, until her anxiety medicine kicked in and made her groggy, like it was supposed to do. But even as she drifted off, her clouded thoughts remained on Lena, and when she fell into slumber, somehow the green-eyed beauty made her way into her dreams.
they've met, now here comes the pining.
until next time!