By two o'clock, Shego and Betty were sitting in a spacious meeting room in the west wing of the Middleton Daily. Betty had skimmed through the designs before their meeting and had liked what she saw. She wasn't too sure about Bonnie's reaction, but was certain that Kim would like them.
Shego sipped on her coffee. The conversation from earlier was on her mind. She actively chose to move on from the past, yet Betty pretty much reminded her that she would probably never escape the past. The ghosts will always haunt her, whether she liked it or not. So what's to say that the present won't do the same to her?
Kim's not like that, she thought. Kim's not like her.
A loud entrance by none other than Bonnie Rockwaller broke whatever silence there was in the meeting room.
"Look, Kim, I'm telling you, that column by Monique shouldn't be there! It just clashes with the fall fashion insert that'll be included in Friday's paper!"
"B, can we talk about this later? We have to meet with Sheridan and Betty right now."
"Fine, but I'm just saying, you can't clash fall chic with Club Banana yoga attire!" huffed Bonnie.
"We're running a paper, not a fashion magazine, Bonnie. We don't have to be that fashion-conscious."
The look that Bonnie gave Kim could've curdled milk, but they were rudely interrupted when Betty cleared her throat.
"Ladies, if you could please continue this another time?" the oldest woman asked. She saw Shego stifle a chuckle in the corner of her eye, before continuing. "Sheg-Sheridan has managed to complete the designs you asked for." She pushed a purple folder toward the two executives.
Upon accepting the folder, Kim looked up at Shego and smiled. The action did not go unnoticed by both Betty and Bonnie, both of whom raised an eyebrow.
"As you go through these, keep in mind that we've come up on our end of the bargain," reminded Betty. She did not want this opportunity to go to waste. If GJ Designs could get more clients, it would definitely help business and let them become more well-known to other publishers.
The two executives were silent as they flipped through the designs. Bonnie had brought a notepad with her and scribbled something down as they look at each design. Kim murmured something to Bonnie as they reached the end. Bonnie nodded and then spoke.
"We really like your work."
Betty let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Shego, who remained silent for most of the meeting. Her friend was staring at the table and playing with her hands.
"Good, I suppose we will be commissioned a new or updated contract?"
Kim nodded. "Yes, we will definitely keep you on. These are wonderful." She looked at Shego and smiled.
Bonnie put out her hand. "Welcome on board, GJ Designs. We are definitely looking forward to your future work."
Betty took Bonnie's hand and firmly shook it. "I trust the contract will be drawn up effective immediately."
Bonnie nodded. "Yes, you'll get it by tomorrow and if you have any questions, feel free to call me or Kim directly." She withdrew two business cards from her blazer pocket and handed them to Betty. "These are our direct phone lines. We can even set up a office for Sheridan if she wants to do her work here, to reduce travel time and all." She looked at Shego, who seemed surprise at the gesture.
"We'll see if that will be necessary in the future," replied Betty. She noted the slight disappointment in Kim's face, but continued on. "At the moment, we would like to know what Middleton Daily needs from us, and we'll proceed from there."
"Agreed, let's not get ahead of ourselves," murmured Kim. Her gaze was fixated on Shego. She found it odd that her girlfriend - now that they were dating, it was fully plausible that Shego was her girlfriend, wasn't she? - had not said much during the meeting. In fact, it seemed like she didn't want to be there.
"Well then, we'll leave these preliminary designs with you and we'll be in touch." Betty got up, and Shego followed suit.
Bonnie led them out of the meeting room and even shook both of their hands. "Great, I'll make sure you'll get the contract tomorrow." She walked away leaving Kim with the guests and proceeded barking out orders for Middleton Daily's legal team to draw up another contract.
Betty amusedly turned to Kim and commented, "Miss Rockwaller is quite the character."
Kim laughed. "She is. She's got some sass but she helps to get everything done on time." She cleared her throat. "Well, let me walk you out."
The group proceeded out to the main entrance when Betty suddenly looked at her watch and said, "Oh! I have to go for teleconference with another design firm. Sheg-Sheridan, I'll leave first. I'll see you back at the office!" She winked at Kim and ran out the door.
"Huh, wonder what that was about," murmured Kim. She turned to Shego. "You've been awfully quiet today."
Shego pursed her lips. "Yeah, I tend to leave Betty to do all the business work."
"So... Are you free tonight? Want to grab dinner?"
Shego blinked. "Uh, yeah, sure. Where do you want to go?"
"Do you like tacos?"
Author's Notes: I've been pretty mean, haven't it? To be at twenty chapters and not even explain what went wrong with both Kim and Shego's prior relationships... yeah, I'm pretty cruel, I guess. =P
Chapter title is from "Smile" by b4-4.