The sun rose once again on National City, basking the towering skyscrapers in yellow light that glistened off the windows. The dawn cast an optimistic glow over the horizon chasing the dark night away. But some shadows were harder to dispel than others, especially those cast by guilt.
Kara Danvers walked through the streets towards her regular café to retrieve her morning coffee. It was still early for her usual clock in but she couldn't risk another late one. James could cut her a lot of slack for being Supergirl but he couldn't be expected to cover for her indefinitely, especially after her appalling half day yesterday. So after getting some sleep she made the effort to arrive on time and get some work done.
There wasn't much she could do right now anyway. Hank was underground again, his militia off the grid and untraceable. Alex had the DEO scouring the country for them and promised to call her when they got an alert. She also had Brainy monitoring the other three fusion reactors similar to the one at the docks, in case he decided to target them next. The relevant security forces had been alerted so the moment their presence was detected they'd know about it. So until then Supergirl wasn't needed, advised to sit tight and lay low, especially with a new enemy that seemed to be able to remove her powers.
Kara didn't like sitting still, but she figured she needed the time out. Her last battle was beyond reckless. She almost had Hanks dead to rights, or maybe dead all together. But the cost would've been an explosion at the reactor that could've killed hundreds of people and destroyed the docks. She was out of control last night. She needed a break to take a breath. Last night made her think about the hospital five years ago, the devastation her conflict brought and the lives lost. She almost repeated her mistakes again, this time threatening even more lives. She couldn't take another memorial. She needed to be better.
She stood in line and placed her regular order, waiting patiently while she worked through why she was so reckless. It all came down to her date with Jake. It was going so well until she ruined it. She still believed she had cause to be mad, but maybe Alex was right. Maybe she did overreact a little. She couldn't explain why this bothered her so much. She'd only met the guy yesterday and she was acting like a hormonal teenager. She never bought into that "love at first sight" stuff, and this wasn't anything like that. She'd been in love before, she knows how it felt.
The other thing Alex suggested, that she was purposely looking for a way to sabotage her date with him. She wanted things to go bad so nothing would happen. It sounded crazy but Kara had to admit there might've been some truth to it. Was she really ready to risk going into another relationship?
"Kara Danvers!" the girl behind the counter called, bringing her back to the present as she offered her coffee to go. Kara thanked her and left the café, sipping the piping hot drink barely noticing the temperature. She released a sigh and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts looking for Lena's number. She felt she needed a friend right now. Her thumb hovered over the number and paused. She wasn't ready to talk yet. So instead she texted her, arranging a time to meet up instead. Lena texted back ten minutes later confirming the lunch date. Hopefully she'd be ready then.
Unfortunately, the universe seemed to have a different schedule to hers as she walked down the street and found a familiar motorcycle parked a few yards up as its rider stood in her path. He was on his phone tapping the screen, dressed in a leather jacket with the front unzipped, his helmet on the seat behind him. Kara froze when she saw the young man, gulping the coffee in her mouth with trepidation. He hadn't seen her yet, she could just turn around and find another route to work. But she knew she'd have to face it eventually. She couldn't avoid all her mistakes.
Jake was finished typing his text and sending it when Kara cautiously approached him, his head turning to see her with a hint of surprise. "Kara, hey" he said, standing up straighter staring at her.
"Hi" she said in return, humility making her nervous as she stood in front of him.
He was about to ask how she found him when he glanced behind at the street, the Cacto building a few blocks away. He recalled where she lived and deduced she was on her way to work. "I'm sorry, I'm not following you or anything. I was just…"
"Its fine" she said, brushing her blonde hair behind her ear adjusting the glasses. "I'm glad I bumped into you" she said. "I wanted to apologise for how I…how I acted last night." He nodded, remaining silent letting her speak. "I was rude and I shouldn't have left the way I did. I'm sorry."
He released a slow breath, putting his hands on his hips as he replied "I'm sorry too. You weren't the only one to act badly. Which was a shame, because I was starting to…starting to enjoy our date."
"Yeah, me too" she confessed. Her eyes instinctively were drawn to his hands, the ring still on his finger. He caught her staring and looked down at it, awkwardly turning it in his palm. "I know I shouldn't have lost it the way I did" Kara said carefully. "But for the record, I'm not interested in being a…I don't know…"
"No, I know, I understand" he replied, sparing her from having to say it. From being an adulterer. "I promise, it's nothing like that. This doesn't mean anything."
She looked at him suspiciously. "Are you saying you're not engaged?"
"No, I'm not. Not anymore" he said, his voice turning hollow as his gaze drifted from her. Kara was silent as she waited for him to explain. "It's complicated. And I'm not ready to talk about it, not yet. I know it's not ideal but…I promise, there is no one else. I'm sorry I can't give you any more than that."
Kara wasn't sure how to take, but listening to his heartbeat and watching the micro expressions of his face, she could tell it wasn't a lie. Or maybe she hoped it wasn't a lie. For now, she chose to believe him. "Alright" she said cautiously, her expression turning softer. "Maybe when you're ready, you can tell me about it."
Jake looked at her with surprise. "I thought you never wanted to see me again" he said.
Kara sighed fidgeting on her feet. "I said a lot of things I didn't mean last night" she replied apologetically. "I don't know. For some reason I like…I like hanging out with you."
"So do I" he smiled. He shrugged, taking a chance in asking "maybe there's a way we can just hang out again?"
Kara chuckled. Then she turned to him warning him "I don't think I'm ready to trust you on another date Mr White."
"Then next time won't be a date" he suggested. "We could try to be friends instead. No baggage or expectations. It can't go any worse than last time."
She smiled, shaking her head realising he was going to be impossible to say no too. "Fine, friends" she agreed, holding out her hand. "My names Kara Danvers" she said, deciding they should do this properly.
He shook her hand. "Jake White. Nice to meet you" he smiled. After a moment of silence he asked may I walk you to work."
She considered it, nodding "alright. You sure you'll have time?"
"I'm between jobs right now. I've got nothing but time" he reminded her. They were able to laugh as the two of them continued down the street. By the time Kara walked through the lobby of Cacto she felt a thousand times better.
As the morning light shone through the towering structures of the city, much of the sunlight was cast into the windows of apartments waking many of its residents from a deep slumber. Lena Luthor was such a lucky resident to receive a warm wake up call, her eyes fluttering open to gaze out the glistening windows into the blue sky overhead. At first she embraced the urge to remain curled in her silken sheets and lie in, but then her phone buzzed and reminded her there was no rest for the CEO of a multinational corporation. She reluctantly slid out of bed, her bare feet falling to the carpet as she stretched her limber arms and back after such a relaxing night of sleep. Her eyes scanned the room and made a note of the mess she appeared to have made last night. She climbed off the mattress and walked a circuit, picking up the dropped articles of clothing and placing them in the basket to be dry cleaned, including the suit and jacket.
Her next stop was the shower, the water flowing over her naked body as her raven hair fell between her shoulder blades. She savoured the moment under the running water as she massaged the soap into her skin, leaving her perfectly refreshed when she stepped out to dry herself with a towel. Several minutes later she was dressed in her business suit with her make up applied, circling the room retrieving her heels and bag and work documents.
"Don't I get a good morning kiss" a charming voice asked from her bed.
Lena smirked as she looked over and found Maxwell Davies still in her bed where she left him, the covers draped over his bottom half as he sat up on his elbow to admire her elegant figure. She sauntered over to him and took a seat on the edge of the mattress to put her shoes on, telling him "don't you think you got more than enough last night?"
"from the way you ravaged me, I don't anything I had to offer would've been enough" he quipped, his hand running along her back up to her shoulder to brush her hair behind her ear. "I'd be happy to try and fix that."
"Tempting" she smiled. "But I have to work. You're not the only one with a business to run."
"Benefits of being the boss, we have the privilege of choosing when to come into work" he said, sitting up trying to tempt her back to bed by kissing her neck.
"We both know it's not that simple" she sighed, indulging his seductive attempts before hooking her finger underneath his chin. "You know this doesn't change my decision about our partnership" she reminded him.
"I know" he sighed. "But it doesn't make last night any less extraordinary" he said, stroking her cheek. Business partners or not, I would love to see you again."
She hummed in thought, the memory of last night lifting her spirits as she leant in and gave the man a peck on the lips. "I need to go" she said, gently prying herself away from the man and his magnetic charm to finish preparing for work.
Maxwell lay back on the bed and watched the woman compose herself, commenting "this has to be the first time I'm on the receiving end of the impromptu walk out. Perhaps I should let people say no more often" he joked.
"I have a cleaning service arriving in an hour" she warned him, putting the finishing touches to her lipstick in the mirror. "I'll trust you to see yourself out" she said, leaving her laptop on the table hoisting her bag over her shoulder. She looked at the naked man in her bed and smirked. "I'll call you if I ever have need of your services again."
"I look forward to it" he grinned, watching the sexy young woman leave him hanging as she left for work. He collapsed back onto the mattress sighing, content to relive the extraordinary night with Lena Luthor one more time before he himself forced himself to return to work.