Here is another chapter.
Thursday continuously kicked Kara's ass the whole day through. It rained on and off incessantly, so she never had an opportunity to dry off. The only upside to that was that it cooled her off in the unforgiving heat. It was as if the rain made it worse, simply adding to the humidity in the air.
She didn't begin to feel truly uncomfortable until her feet started getting wet. First it was just the tops of her feet and her ankles from rainwater dripping down her legs. Her feet remained dry because thankfully her hiking boots were waterproof—and they had better be after how much she paid for them. But then she stepped in a puddle a little too deep, her foot sinking in the mud, and a shiver of disgust ran down her spine as grimy, dirty water filled her sock and squished between her toes.
She immediately turned right around and went back to the truck, rummaging in her bag to find her extra pair of socks. She glumly kicked off her soiled shoes and peeled off her dirtied socks. After letting her feet air-dry for a few minutes, she put on the new, fresh socks, and it instantly made her feel a little bit better.
But that comfort quickly subsided because she'd changed into her rain boots, which were far from comfortable. They had no arch support, and the fabric along the top rubbed annoyingly against her calf. By lunch her feet felt like they normally did at the end of the day, and she had a brush burn along each of her calves where the boots rubbed her skin raw.
To top it off, her headset had gotten wet and thus broken, and she'd stupidly forgotten her extra one on the kitchen table. So, she had her walkie on the lowest volume possible when she was on set and tried to stay away from set as much as possible. It sucked, but there was nothing she could do about it.
Having an open walkie with no headset on set was unprofessional and dangerous. If someone happened to talk on the walkie while they were rolling—even though it was prohibited, sometimes it still happened—then the take would be blown. She'd heard of people being fired over having an open walkie on set. She didn't want to be one of them. She knew it wasn't her fault her headset broke, or that all the extras production had rented out had already been claimed by other crew—as was usual on rainy days, because everyone had the same problem—but she also didn't want to give the AD staff any more reason to dislike her.
So, she made herself useful around the trailer since it was parked all the way at basecamp, trying her best to clean up the mud and rainwater Nia and Sam tracked in when they came to grab things to restock. It wasn't hard to keep busy when she had the pass-arounds to cook and then cleaning up after herself. Even though the day started off slow, it seemed to fly by.
And while she'd been expecting second meal, she'd asked about it earlier and gotten told it didn't seem likely, despite the delays. They were running low on supplies, but they'd already made it through lunch and both pass-arounds, and she'd already cleaned the dishes and put them away. If there was no second meal, they were just coasting until wrap. Nia and Sam had set handled. That meant she could actually work on paperwork on set and off the clock instead of just doing it at home later because it was easier.
She went to the truck to grab her binder of paperwork and receipts off the seat, taking a moment to sit of the cab and look over them and organize them based on type. While there weren't too many from the past couple of days, she'd procured a backlog of them from the beginning of the week. Hopefully she could make it through at least most of them before they had to start packing up.
As she was climbing the steps into the trailer, she heard the last snippet of a conversation over the open walkie she had on the front table. It was Eve's voice saying, "I'll go find her."
Kara picked up the walkie, her heart racing. She really hoped she wasn't the her they were talking about, because that meant in the roughly eighty seconds she'd been away from her walkie someone had called for her and she didn't answer. Not answering when someone called for you over the radio never made you look good.
But to her dismay, Eve turned up a few moments later, looking perturbed. Kara's shoulders fell as the small blonde eyed her, and then the walkie on the counter.
"We were calling for you," Eve said bluntly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear it," Kara said. "What's up?"
"We need second meal."
Every muscle in Kara's body tensed, and she let out a deep sigh. "Are we actually doing it this time?"
Eve gave a sarcastic, surprised smirk. "Yeah, that's what Oliver said."
"He said that the other night, too, and it didn't happen," Kara shot back. "I just wanted to make sure."
"Well, it's happening," Eve said in an agitated voice. "So figure it out."
Kara stared at her for a few moments, her mind going blank with white-hot rage. But she just put on a huge, insincere smile and said, "Sure, I'll get right on that."
Eve rolled her eyes as she left the trailer, and Kara resisted the urge to flip off the petite woman's retreating back. But then a moment later over the walkie came Eve's voice in an obnoxious, sing-song manner, "Hey, Mike, channel two."
"Oh, this is going to be good," Mike cam back sarcastically.
Knowing this had to be about her, Kara switched her own radio to channel two to listen in.
"I saw her walkie, so she definitely has it," Eve said, and if Kara had any doubt before that this conversation was going to be about her, all of them were confirmed with that statement.
"Cool, so she was just ignoring us," Mike said, his arrogant voice grating on every one of Kara's nerves.
"She said she didn't hear us," Eve returned, then added, "She also wanted to know if we were actually doing second meal this time."
Mike sighed deeply into the walkie before saying, "What is her problem? This is a changing business."
Kara wanted to listen more, but then her phone started vibrating in her pocket, and she had to answer a call from Nia. The information about second meal had been passed along to her on set, and she wanted to know what they were going to do. Kara could barely think she was so angry, but thankfully Nia was on the ball and suggested a breakfast place and donut shop not too far from their location that had decent prices and was open twenty-four hours.
"If you can keep it under $320 and they can have it in the next hour and a half or so, I say go for it," Kara said. She trusted Nia completely to handle second meal. When they gave her the opportunity to prepare for second meal and talk it over with her team, Nia always came up with the best suggestions. She was also a lot better at placing the orders than Kara was. Somehow Nia just knew exactly what to order, how much, and was even able to charm deals out of people.
"I'll get it done, boss," Nia told her, instantly causing a weight to lift from Kara's shoulders.
"I'm coming to give you the credit card now," Kara said as she descended the steps to the trailer.
"Meeting you halfway, then," came the reply.
Kara smiled as she hung up. She loved the way she and Nia worked together, like-minded and dedicated to helping each other accomplish the same goal. And knowing Sam was on set to handle the upkeep while they took care of this made her less anxious about the added workload this meal was putting on them. At least her team was on her side, even if the AD staff wanted her to drop dead.
Nia was able to get a decent amount of food under the price constraints. It was basic breakfast food—bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns—but it was better than nothing, and crew seemed to be happy about it. And since it was a donut shop, the place had thrown in a dozen donuts free of charge. The best part was that almost immediately after the meal was over and they'd cleared out the near-empty containers, they called the Abbey shot over radio.
The girls kicked it into gear then, consolidating down to just a few things and taking the rest back to the trailer. By the time they called Martini they were down to one cooler, two trash cans, the coffee cart, and one small table with a few snacks that were already in a small box, ready to go for when they called wrap. Kara left her crew to it as she went to the trailer to get it ready for travel.
When she got back to base camp, she was elated to see Lena arriving back at set via one of the UTV's production had rented for the day to transport crew and gear back and forth. Kara's department was one of the few that didn't get one rented for them, even though having one would have been a huge help.
Someone from the makeup department immediately descended on Lena to take the wardrobe shoes the brunette was holding in her lap, appearing to have changed into her own boots for the trek back to set. Brainy allowed Lena and Jess to gather everything from the UTV before throwing it in reverse to head back into the woods to grab more crew members wrapping out.
Kara knew she needed to do things inside the trailer, but she couldn't help hovering outside for a moment with Lena standing so near. Lena still looked immaculate, having been under cover all day. There was a tent for cast on set, cast got umbrellas carried over them everywhere they went, and they had a trailer to retreat into if conditions got too rough. To top it off, there were constantly members of makeup and hair flittering around Lena to make sure she was camera-ready. Kara probably looked like a wreck, her clothes still soaked from the earlier storms and mud spatter dotting the back of her legs.
Lena's eyes instantly floated to her, and she pouted upon seeing the state the blonde was in. "Oh, Kara, you poor thing," the brunette said, actually seeming upset about how dirty her weekend bedmate had gotten throughout the course of the day. "You look like a drenched kitten."
Kara was glad it was relatively dark, even with the work lights set up outside the trailers, because her face went about as red as Supergirl's cape. "I was thinking more drowned rat, but I like what you said better." She smirked and looked down at her soiled clothes. "Somehow I thought working in film would be a bit more glamorous."
Lena shifted her weight from one foot to the other, suddenly feeling guilty for being clean. "I'm sorry," she said lamely, but it was all she could come up with.
"Don't be," Kara said, instantly looking back up and shaking her head quickly. "I love this job—most days." She gave a completely genuine smile. "I'm thankful for everything I have and what I get to do. I just… I'm tired and dirty, and I want to go home and take a shower and collapse in my bed and not move for, like, twenty hours." She exhaled loudly through her nose, and her face fell. "But it's only Thursday, and I have to work tomorrow."
"Well, we're on night shoots, and since it's almost six a.m., it's technically Friday," Jess chimed in, eliciting a frown from the blonde.
"Jess, why?" Kara asked with a whine. "Why did you have to remind me?"
"I thought I was helping!" Jess threw her hands up in exasperation. "Friday means it's one day closer to the weekend."
"Yeah, but at this point that means that I've been at work so long it's not even the same day as when I came to work. And since it's another night shoot tomorrow, we're going to work into Saturday morning." She sighed, shoulders hunching.
"Then you end up sleeping all day Saturday, so your only off day is Sunday, but you're so tired from the way the schedule fucks with your body that it's like you have jet-lag," Jess chimed in. "Then back to work on Monday morning." She frowned, looking to Kara apologetically. "Okay, I get it now. I'm sorry I reminded you."
"And me," Lena said, raising her hand a little. "Now I'm pissed about the shorter weekend, too."
Lena's and Kara's eyes locked for a moment, then they both quickly looked away—Lena to her feet and Kara pretending to examine her nails. Jess regarded them both, slightly amused but hid it well.
"Is she out?" came the shrill call of Eve's voice, and the three women turned to see the curly-haired woman stomping over to them. "Lena's wrapped, why is she still in wardrobe?" she demanded as she descended upon them. "Jess, you need to get her out of costume and off the clock, now. Kara, stop distracting Ms. Luthor. We're on Martini. Don't you need to be wrapping out?"
Kara's jaw became tight, and her face started to heat up. The detest she held for the tiny woman was etched across every line on her face as she glared at the PA. Jess simply kept her expression stony and neutral. Lena, however, was aghast. Her jaw dropped, and her eyes widened.
"I'm the one who started the conversation," the actress said boldly, taking a few steps forward so that she was slightly in front of Kara and Jess—putting her between Eve and the other women. "I was enjoying a nice conversation with my friends, so if anyone's at fault right now, it's me." Eve's lips puckered, and Lena smirked, knowing she had the upper hand on that one.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Luthor, excuse me," the small blonde woman said in an even smaller voice.
"Also, the way you addressed both of these women is completely unprofessional," Lena went on, crossing her arms over her chest. "Jess is a personal assistant. You're a PA. You are on the same level as her. I believe that warrants at least a little bit of respect."
Eve nodded emphatically. "Yes, Ms. Luthor, you're absolutely right."
"And Kara's a department head," the brunette went on, nodding towards the drenched woman. "She may not be the head of your department, but she is a superior, and you have no right to speak to her that way."
That seemed to stump Eve, and she sputtered a bit before saying, "I—I'm sorry, Ms. Luthor."
"Don't tell me." Lena shook her head. "Tell them," she said, standing aside and gesturing to the pair of dumbstruck women whose honor Lena had just defended.
Eve stared blankly for a few moments, looking like a deer in the headlights. "Jess, Kara… I apologize for the way I spoke. It won't happen again."
"That's better," Lena said, putting on her most charming smile as she continued in a honey-sweet voice, "I'm going to get out of wardrobe now. Jess will let you know when I'm out."
"Yes, Ms. Luthor," Eve said sharply, turning on her heel and slinking away.
"You're officially my favorite person in the world," Jess said, turning to Lena with a huge smile. "I've been wanting to go off on that little wench since I worked with her on By the Way. It's about time someone put her in her place."
"I didn't want to put her in her place," Lena said, instantly feeling self-conscious. "I just… Couldn't let her speak to you two that way."
The brunette quieted, a far-off look coming to her face. She took a tiny step back and crossed her arms over her chest as her eyes fell to the ground. Kara noticed the change, the shift in Lena's demeanor. It was as if Lena was retreating into herself, right there before her eyes. Jess seemed to notice the change, too, frowning at Lena's sudden withdrawal.
"We should get you out of wardrobe before the troll comes back," Eve muttered, placing a tentative hand on Lena's shoulder.
"Yes, we should," Lena said, snapping back suddenly. Yet all the fire she'd had before was gone, and she looked incredibly tired. "Good luck wrapping out, Kara," she said, her voice sounding somewhat hollow. "I'll see you later."
Kara nodded, a small frown on her face as concern settled in the pit of her stomach. But she couldn't push the matter in front of Eve. "Yeah, see you later."
As Kara watched the brunette slosh through the mud to her trailer, the blonde frowned deeply, an uneasy feeling settling over her. But she didn't have time to make sense of it. Eve was right, even if she was a royal bitch—Kara did have to finish wrapping out. So, she tabled the concern in the back of her mind and got to work, knowing the faster she and the girls finished the sooner she could get home and finally wash off the filth of the day.
Lena was slow getting out of her wardrobe, but she still managed to get changed back into her own clothes before production officially wrapped. By the time she was climbing into Jess's SUV she caught a glimpse of Kara and Nia loading the coffee cart into their trailer. But it must have been one of the last things they loaded, because by the time Jess was driving them away, she saw Kara turning off the lights and descending the stairs. The blonde caught her eye through the window and waved. But Lena didn't have time to react, so instead she texted Kara a waving emoji so the blonde wouldn't think she was ignoring her.
The whole way home, though, she couldn't stop thinking about Kara and the fact that they wouldn't have their normal weekend. It was the thing she looked forward to most during the week, kind of like a reward for making it through the rough workdays. And the fact that their time together would be cut in half made her want to cry.
All she wanted was to be able to go to sleep next to Kara. She was hardly able to sleep without the blonde next to her, so she was exhausted from both the long workday and not being able to sleep well all throughout the week. She knew she would sleep better at Kara's, yet the logistics of her spending a night that wasn't a weekend was usually too complicated—if they wanted to continue to keep it a secret. It could be simpler—but that was only if Jess knew.
The brunette had an inkling of a feeling that Jess already did suspect her and Kara. They had almost been caught by her in the bathroom at Noonan's, and then there had been the "Netflix and Chill" comment, along with the one about their friendship being cute. But Jess also made it emphatically clear that Lena could talk to her if she needed to. Maybe confiding in Jess wasn't the worst thing in the world.
Lena pulled her phone from her pocket, quickly typing out a text to Kara.
Lena: I know it's a weeknight… But can I come over tonight?
She waited for a few moments, surprised when the blonde got back to her quickly.
Kara: Sure! I'm turning in paperwork now. Pick you up at home?
Lena was tempted to accept the offer, as it would keep Jess from knowing about their affair for a little bit longer. But that would mean Kara would have to drop her back off at home in the morning, and all of that just seemed like a huge waste of time. It would be easiest on everyone if Jess dropped her off at Kara's and picked her up there the next morning. Their cover would be blown, but to Lena, that really didn't seem like the worst thing in the world.
"Jess, would you be willing to wait at home while I gather a few things, then bring me somewhere else?" Lena asked bashfully. "I'm sorry, I know you're tired, and it's extra time—"
"Lena, I'm fine. We had a half-day today, and a day off this week, remember?" Jess asked with a smirk.
"Oh yeah." Lena blinked at her for a few moments before blurting, "Then why the fuck am I so tired?"
Jess snorted out a small laugh. "You're tired and you want to go somewhere else?"
"I only intend to sleep somewhere else," Lena said, her face burning as a blush crept across her cheeks. "So I'll need to be picked up there as well tomorrow morning."
Her assistant was quiet for a moment, then simply said, "Okay, no problem."
Lena smiled a little as she typed out another text to Kara.
Lena: I can get there, just send me your address.
Lena packed as quickly as she could, blindly throwing in a few outfits, some underwear, socks, and sneakers for a few days. Everything else she needed was at Kara's, and she didn't want to keep Jess waiting, so she took what she had and raced out the door.
To avoid paparazzi, Jess dropped her off at the front of the building then took Lena's garage key and went around and into the garage so that the SUV was waiting at the building's entrance into the parking structure. The assistant seemed surprised to see Lena emerge so quickly, raising her eyebrows as she noticed that Lena hadn't even bothered to change out of her rainboots.
She had, however, put on a hoodie sweatshirt and pulled the hood over her head. As Jess pulled out of the garage, Lena put on a pair of sunglasses. They were partially a disguise, but as they drove through the city, Lena was glad she'd thought to grab them. Though their workday was done, the day for the rest of the world was just starting. The sun was coming up, and traffic was starting in the city as people began their morning commute to work.
But they still managed to make it to Kara's neighborhood in excellent time. Lena had never driven to the house herself, always being chauffeured there by Kara—and now Jess—but she knew when they were getting close. Her heart raced as they drew nearer, knowing the moment that behemoth truck and tell-tale trailer came into view that Jess's suspicions would be confirmed, and their secret would be out once and for all.
And just as expected, the moment Jess spotted the truck and trailer parked on the corner near Kara's, the assistant gasped loudly and said, "I knew it!" Jess composed herself, simply smiling as she stopped in front of the red house, spotting Kara's SUV in the driveway. "I have so many questions."
"I'll answer them in time," Lena said, giving a small smile in response. "For now, I just have one thing to ask of you, and that's for discretion."
"Done, easy," Jess said, her eyes somewhat wide and filled with wonder. "Wow… Just wow." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I know I knew, but I'm just a little blown away right now."
Lena shifted in her seat a little, her cheeks going pink. "It's not that hard to believe, is it?"
"No, of course not!" Jess reached across the center console and put her hand on Lena's knee. "Kara's great—she's funny and nice, and she seems to make you smile quite a lot." The assistant smiled herself at that. "I'm happy for you."
The actress was taken aback for a moment. She was just getting used to basic human decency since being around Kara, and it was still overwhelming sometimes. "I—Thank you, Jess."
"You're welcome," the assistant said, removing her hand from her boss's knee. "Now, go see your woman. Run the poor girl a bath. She needs it."
Lena chuckled at that, gathering her bag and opening the door. "See you in the morning."
"Have a good night, Lena," Jess said as the other woman closed the door to the SUV.
Lena waved as her assistant drove off, a lightness washing over her. It was as if there had been a sumo wrestler sitting on her chest, and with her admission to Jess, he'd gotten off and allowed her to breathe. She felt like she was nearly floating as she climbed the steps onto the porch of Kara's house.
The door opened almost immediately after Lena knocked, the blonde standing there still clad in her soiled work clothes, but barefooted. Lena didn't give her a chance to speak. The actress simply tossed her bag on the couch, closed the front door with her foot, then threw her arms around Kara's neck.
"I stink," Kara said, hands going hesitantly to Lena's hips.
"I don't care." Lena pressed her body fully against Kara's and buried her face in the crook of the woman's neck.
Kara then snaked her arms around Lena's waist, allowing herself to give in to the comfort of Lena's hug. After the day she'd had it was completely welcome. She felt her body releasing its tension every second she was pressed against Lena, and she didn't let go until she felt the brunette pulling away.
Lena cupped Kara's cheeks and asked, "Do you want to go take a shower?"
"Yes." Kara nodded emphatically.
She let Lena lead her to the bathroom, somewhat surprised when Lena started the shower and got towels out of the cabinet for them. It gave her a fluttering feeling in her stomach to see the brunette so comfortable in her home. She turned her back to Lena to hide her smile as she peeled off her disgusting shirt, instantly feeling relief when the fabric was no longer stuck to her skin.
Even though Kara'd been showered with water practically all day, showering was different—better. The hot water felt good on her sore muscles, and she could see a trail of dirt washing down the drain. Bathing after a day like she'd had was always a cathartic experience, and the only thing that made her leave the shower was the fact that her bed was calling.
When she and Lena finally pulled back the curtain steam hung in the air, and the bathroom mirror was foggy. Kara had to wipe her hand across it just so she could see to brush the tangles out of her hair. The moment Lena opened the bathroom door some of the steam rushed out of the room.
While Kara brushed her teeth, Lena went to the living room to rummage in her bag and find clothes. She dressed in them as she went back to the other side of the house, going to Kara's drawers and finding clothes for the blonde. She returned to the bathroom just as Kara was spitting out a mouthful of toothpaste. Lena handed the clothes to her before grabbing her own toothbrush.
"Thanks," Kara said, kissing Lena quickly on the cheek before heading out of the bathroom. Lena blushed at the interaction, heartbeat quickening at the affection.
The star was just finished brushing her teeth when she heard a loud groan from the other room. Lena rushed to the bedroom, finding Kara flat on her back in the bad, sprawled out with her eyes closed.
"Are you okay?" Lena asked worriedly, going over to the bed and kneeling beside Kara.
Blue eyes slowly opened, a lazy smile coming to Kara's face. "I'm fine. I just lay down and it felt so good."
Lena let out a sigh of relief then chuckled. "I'll bet."
Kara scooched over to allow space for Lena to lie down, and they both settled under the covers. Lena leaned over the side of the bed, smiling when she saw the phone charger she'd borrowed previously was still plugged into the outlet on her side of the bed. Once she plugged it in, she checked her email to see if she'd gotten a call time yet.
She had, and she was in the first scene of the day, so her pickup time was not long before crew call. At least she and Kara would probably leave the house at the same time.
"Do you have an alarm set for the morning?" she asked Kara.
"You mean this afternoon?" Kara asked with a smirk.
Lena looked around the room, which was lit only by the lamp next to Kara's bed. The blackout curtains on the window were deceiving, making the time of day anyone's guess. But her phone told her that it was just past eight a.m. "Shit, yeah." She blew out an agitated breath. "But do you?"
Kara nodded. "My call's 7:30, so I'm waking up for 6:30." She held up her phone, showing the alarm. "And I made sure I set it to p.m. because I have made that mistake before."
"Perfect," Lena said, setting her own phone aside. "Then I don't need to set one."
With that settled, the actress allowed her to really settle into the bed, enjoying the feeling of a warm body next to her. Her own bed always felt cold and vacant in contrast—almost like a hotel bed, barren and impersonal. It wasn't uncomfortable, it just didn't bring her comfort like Kara's bed did. But that had more to do with Kara than it did with the bed itself—she knew that.
The moment Kara switched off the light, Lena felt all those sleepless nights catch up with her. She wanted nothing more than to fade into the peaceful oblivion sleep promised, what she'd been without the entire week. She felt Kara scoot closer, and the actress turned her back so that she fit into the curve of Kara's body. Lena took Kara's arm and draped it over herself, holding onto the rough, calloused hand and kissing her on the knuckles.
Lena heard Kara sigh happily and felt her nuzzle her nose into the nape of her neck. A happy, warm feeling spread over Lena. A smile crept to her face, and it stayed, even after Lena fell into the deepest sleep she'd had in months.
Thanks, til next time.