This was all new to her. Maybe she wasn't used to being friends first before diving straight into dating. She didn't know anymore. All that numbness from the past needed to go away. One thing was for certain, though, she was falling hard for Kim. Very fast.

They were at St. Jude's Club again, this time on a lunch date trying to get to know each other. She was still staring at her food, even though Kim was talking to her. She wasn't being rude, she was just shy.

"Let's play 20 questions."

That brought her out of her funk. "Why?"

"It might be better than telling you my life story. Believe me, I do not want to tell you my life story since there's some things I don't want to relive," sighed the redhead. "I'd rather you ask me questions that you want to ask. How about we split it to ten each? What do you want to know about me?"

She stabbed the piece of lettuce in thought. "Why did you reply my ad?"

"It was different than most of the other ones. 'Must enjoy the sun, must enjoy the sea' sounded a lot better than 'looking for a good time, give me a call'," Kimberly took a bite out of her sandwich before continuing. "Ok, my turn. Why did you place an ad?"

She faltered in her reply. "Been burned in the past, don't want to go through all that drama again. Figured it would be easier to just meet someone online than in a bar."

Kim nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean."

"How did you know it was me?"

Kim smiled. "You probably think I'm angry at you. I'm not." She sipped on her coffee. "To be honest, I sort of was hoping you wouldn't show up. Like I said, I was nervous. I saw you leave but didn't manage to get a good look at your face. After that day, I decided to stop by here for lunch, I noticed you in the back. You were always there."

"But I could've been a regular at the club," she found herself replying.

"I did think about that, but most of the regulars here seem to be middle-aged." Kim chuckled. "Thirty-three isn't middle-aged, by the way."

She tilted her head in agreement and confusion. What did being middle-aged have to do with anything?

Kim thought Shego's confusion was amusing. And cute. She couldn't deny the fact that she was attracted to the older woman; who wouldn't be with looks that could kill? She, too, was skeptical about how such a pretty face resorted to online dating.

"Ok, my turn. Why come back here even though we didn't arrange anything after our first meeting?"

The woman's reply got Kim to chuckle out loud. "The coffee here is good."

"Next question, why did you come back here as well?"

Kim smiled. "The coffee here is good and I wanted to confirm that you were you."

The older woman blushed and readjusted her glasses. "I guess it was pretty obvious, huh?"

Kim shook her head. "No, actually, I just thought you were someone else, but I had a feeling it might've been you. I don't know how to explain it, but I just sort of knew. And, I guess, you can blame caller ID too..." She bit her lip. Now that she thought about it more, it was pretty creepy to have called Shego since the woman didn't give her number to her.

"You really surprised me there," said Shego before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I know it was probably creepy and all..."

"It wasn't, really. I should've known that you had caller ID as well." Shego smiled. "I guess it all worked out in the end... since here we are..." Kim nodded. "You don't seem like a downbeat person, Kim, but why did you mention stuff about grieving over loss in your reply?"

Kim paled.

She froze. She asked a wrong question. Maybe she wanted to know too much too quickly. But the redhead regained her composure quickly.

"It's a long story. Maybe for another time."

Shego smiled. "So there'll be another time?"

Kim chuckled. "Yes, if you'd want there to be." Kim's gaze shifted to her hand, which was on the table. The redhead's next action made her heart race. Just a bit.

Soft fingers gently stroked her hand and she found herself staring into Kim's olive eyes.

"I know we didn't exactly get off to a good start, but I'm willing to get to know you better. I'm not sure what we both want out of this, but I feel like you're a good person and someone who might just want the same things as I do."

Her throat was dry. She didn't really have a proper response to... whatever that was. A promise for a future? Another date? She simply nodded in agreement and understanding.

The redhead looked at her watch. "I've got to go back to work. I'm sorry we didn't get to finish our little Q&A. Same time tomorrow?"

She swallowed and then cleared her throat. "Yeah, sure."

Kim picked up her purse and left enough money to cover the both of them. When she started objecting, the redhead winked and merely said "My treat" before walking out the door and into the bustling street.

She just stared dumbfounded at the now-empty chair across from her. Her heart fluttered. Just a bit - oh no - a lot.

Author's Notes: I'm finding it amusing how I'm getting more feedback on this ficlet... not my intention to update it frequently, but because of the reviews, I might just happen to pump out more updates. I'm actually a bit stuck with Loud Music, so this is a nice break from thinking of a plotline that won't explode in my face in the long run.

One thing that amused me was that I had some typos in Chapter 01 - I've fixed those, but I don't think anyone noticed... I want to see if I can do a chapter a day, but I have no idea where the plot is headed, so... it'll be interesting.