"Well, that was interesting."
She looked at her companion, who was still smiling after Bonnie had left the office.
"Yeah, it was," laughed the redhead. "I do enjoy pushing her buttons every now and then."
"I trust that you both don't really get along?"
"We normally don't. Long story short, we were rivals in high school."
She nodded. Maybe she didn't understand the relationship between the two, but she felt that they still got along in their own weird, strange way.
"You were..." Kim paused. "Just great." She patted Shego's hand. "Thank you for taking control of the situation. If I pushed her more, she would've thrown a fit and I'd have hell from the shareholders."
She blushed. Kim's hand was still on hers and she just wanted time to stop.
Kim noticed that Shego was trying to keep calm but she removed her hand. Now wasn't the time to be a flirt, she thought. They would settle this contract business and then deal with whatever growing feelings they had for each other. Don't mix work with pleasure, she reminded herself.
"Let's get this contract out of the way and then we'll... talk, if that's ok with you."
Shego nodded. "GJ Designs does bill by the hour, but I don't set the rate. You're actually going to have to talk to Betty. She adjusts it for every project we do to make sure there's still some profit."
Kim leaned back on her chair. "I understand. I'll give her a call tomorrow morning. Do you have to head back to your office now?" She looked at her watch; it was now 4:30pm.
Shego had also checked the time and shook her head. "Betty told me to give her a report tomorrow, so I guess I'm off the clock right now."
Kim grinned. Things were working in her favour. "Dinner?"
She blinked. Not even four days of knowing Kim and she was head over heels in...
No.
She refused to think it.
She needed to level the field. She had been hurt in the past the same way.
Shaking her head, she mumbled a "No, I have plans, sorry."
Kim literally recoiled. It was like she fired a gun that was now aimed back at her. Moving things too quickly, she mused.
"Ok... But we're still on for the weekend?"
Shego nodded.
"Look, I understand if /this/ is making you uncomfortable... And if you think we're moving too-"
Shego looked confused. She shook her head. "No, no, I forgot that I have to stop by to help out my brothers. They're moving into a new apartment and needed help."
"Oh? You have brothers? How many?"
"Four, if you count the twins as two separate people... I swear, sometimes they think they're one person..."
Kim laughed. "I have twin brothers too... I hate it when they..."
"...finish each other's sentences?"
Kim looked at Shego in understanding and they just both burst out laughing.
"Are you going to be ok helping them out?"
"Yeah, it's just a few boxes, I think."
"It could be more than a few."
Kim was breaking down her barriers. She knew the redhead was testing the waters, trying to gauge how far she'd be willing to go. Maybe it would be a better idea to humour Kim.
She pretended to think real hard about the situation. "Oh, maybe you're right. Guys keep a lot of junk, don't they? But it's just the twins moving... They're here for a few months to work on some project with the Middleton Space Centre."
She noticed the Cheshire grin that Kim had plastered on her face... It was creepy.
"Space Centre?"
"Yeah...?"
"My dad works there. I wonder if your brothers are working with him?"
She could not believe her luck. Or was it luck that she met this girl who made her feel like a high school girl crushing on the star athlete? Was it a mere coincidence that her brothers were working with Kim's dad? Or was it fate?
Kim was amused. Very amused.
She was still amused as to how she managed to convince Shego that it would make sense to carpool together instead of taking two cars to Walter and Wallace's place.
She was amused that she was now sitting in the passenger seat of one very nervous Shego's car.
"Relax." A soft hand covered her own. The death grip that she had on the steering wheel loosened a bit.
She turned to look at her newfound source of comfort.
"Why are you so nervous?"
"I just don't want to get hurt. You're not making it easy for me not to be."
Kim didn't know what to say. She, too, didn't want to be hurt but she was playing everything by feel. What she felt right now was to tell Shego that everything would be all right, tell her that nothing bad would happen, but how could she make these guarantees? She had be burned rather badly from her last relationship and it took her a year (or was it two?) to recover. On top of that was the fact that her BFF wasn't around anymore.
"I can't promise you anything, but what I feel right now is that this will work itself out and whatever happens, happens."
Shego nodded and put her other hand on top of Kim's. "Thanks."
The drive to her brothers' place was made in silence. She turned to look at Kim every now and then, and was greeted with a warm smile.
Kim had not let go of her hand after their talk, so she was driving with one hand (occasionally breaking away from Kim's to make turns, but finding her way back into those warm hands).
When they arrived, they found the twins walking around the apartment in nothing but boxers. Apparently they had forgotten their sister was coming over to unpack.
Author's Notes: Y'all probably hate me for making Shego the shy, but not necessarily submissive, one. It's a sharp contrast than how I portray her in Loud Music, but we shall see how she breaks out her shell. I owe you her back story too...
Chapter title is from "You Make Me Smile" by Blue October. I feel like most of the chapter titles are from songs... la di da.