"Shego, can I have a word with you?"
Shego looked at Will. Her younger colleague looked back at her impassively. Hesitantly, she replied with a "Sure."
Their new client had just left - a local pizzeria was looking to redo their logo and some of their lunch menus - and Betty had left the two to themselves for the rest of the afternoon.
"What is your relationship with Miss Possible?" Will asked.
Shego narrowed her eyes. Either he was going to rant about how relationships were a waste of time, or find some way to insult Kim using his strange words and phrasing. "I think it's pretty obvious that I am seeing her. What of it?"
"I have noted that, for the past fifteen weeks, your tardiness to meetings has worsened... And that you no longer come into the office to work on your projects," Will coolly stated.
"What business of it is yours to keep tabs on my private life? One, Betty has stated before that I am welcome to work at home if I want, and two, no one's going to flip their shit if I'm late for a meeting or two."
"I am not keeping tabs on your life. I am simply stating the facts. Your focus in work appears to be suboptimal. I am merely indicating that you should pay more attention-"
"You know what, Will? I appreciate the concern, but not everyone here wants to be employee of the month." Shego nodded her head in the direction of Will's stack of 'Employee of the Month' certificates. Honestly, Betty should have never started these things to keep him motivated, Shego thought.
Will shook his head. "That is not my reason for this talk. I am talking about your performance. You appear to be distracted."
"Will, why do you even care?" sighed Shego.
"I am merely concerned about the future of GJ Designs if its principal designer is unable to deliver."
"That's as close as you calling me a friend and telling me you're worried about my well-being, huh?" laughed Shego. "Look, Will, don't worry about me. I got it."
"As you wish," said Will as he returned to his work.
Shego smiled a bit. Maybe he's not much of a robot after all.
"Hey, Will?"
"Yes?" he said replied without looking up from his spreadsheet.
"Thanks," said Shego as she got up and headed out the door.
Will turned around to see only the door close. And he smiled.
"So then I grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed that sucker down. Too bad my soufflé was ruined," laughed Hana.
The Doctors Possible laughed as Hana concluded her story of creating a monster soufflé, only to have it explode everywhere in the oven. The twins were still in town for the end of the week, and they were sitting at the end of the table talking about some astrophysical equation that could possibly be proved wrong.
"Kimmie-cub?"
Kim looked up from her plate. She was unconsciously rolling the peas on her plate around with her fork.
"Yeah, Dad?"
"Where's Shego?" James asked.
"Ah, I guess she was busy-"
"-she didn't want to come, felt like it was more of a family thing since I'm back for a few weeks," interjected Hana.
Kim sighed. "Hana..."
"Kimmie-cub, you know Shego's welcome to come over whenever she likes."
"I know, but she wanted to give you guys a chance to catch up with Hana since it's been a while since she's been back home."
"That's considerate of her," Anne replied.
"Or, you both scared her during Thanksgiving," laughed Hana.
"I hope we didn't," said James. "She seems like a nice girl, a bit timid, but her brothers insist that it takes some time to get to know her."
"I guess... She's got a bit of attitude and spunk too," Hana added.
"That's only because you aggravated her," replied Kim. "Can we not talk about this anymore? Shego's got her own reasons for not coming and that's that."
"Ok, Kimmie," said her mother. "Boys, what are you doing?"
The twins were building some sort of structure with just their forks (and mashed potatoes as an adhesive).
"How many times have I told you not to play with your food?" sighed Anne. "Really, to think you're both twenty two..."
"Mom, think of it as we're just furthering our knowledge of physics," laughed Jim.
"And, not to mention, your mashed potatoes are fantastic. So fantastic that it's just begging us to be moulded into structures."
Anne looked to her husband and murmured, "I think they got all of their 'genius' from you," which garnered chuckles from everyone at the table.
"Boys, just eat the food, ok?" James laughed. He turned to Hana. "So, anything new in Paris?"
"Not really... Some of my teachers are totally not fun... They're pretty strict with everything... My carefree spirit continues to get into trouble every now and then."
As she went into the kitchen to retrieve dessert, Anne commented, "I hope not too much trouble..."
"Don't worry, I've got it all handled," Hana grinned. "Besides, it's all good as long as I'm still in school and making awesome food."
"Speaking of which," said Tim.
"This cake looks amazing," finished Jim. Anne had just brought out a chocolate mousse cake that Hana made when she came over in the afternoon.
"I was so glad to find things I could bake with when Kim and I came over in the afternoon... You cannot believe the state of Kim's kitchen," groaned Hana. "She basically has no food! Not even in the pantry."
"Kimmie-cub, you shouldn't always eat so much take-out," commented her father. "All that salt is not good for you."
"Kim... Do you want to go grocery shopping with me later in the week?" asked Anne. "I can at least give you some pointers about what to make with your busy schedule."
"No thanks, I should be ok... Hana came back at a time where all the food was eaten anyway... Leaving and staying here for Thanksgiving and all."
"That's true... I think," replied an amused Anne. Kim's logic often confused her at times, but as long as her daughter was happy, getting enough sleep and eating (somewhat) healthily, that was all that really mattered.
Maybe Kim was annoyed with her, Shego thought. Opting to not go to dinner at the Possibles' was ultimately my choice... But why do I feel like I let her down in a way? I can only handle meeting the parents in small amounts. It's not like they were that scary...
Shego rolled to her side and stared at the moonlight seeping through her curtains. She had called Kim after she left GJ Designs to tell the redhead that she decided not to come along.
"Hey."
"What's up?"
"Busy with Hana?"
"No, she called up a few friends and they went to catch up... She'll be back in a few hours, I think."
"Oh, ok... Listen, about dinner..."
"You don't have to come if you don't want to..."
"Ok... I was thinking of skipping this time 'round since your family would probably want to catch up with Hana."
"Ok, that should be no problem."
"What time will you be back?"
"Not sure... I guess I can give you a call when we're leaving. We're probably going to head over there in the afternoon since Hana mentioned she wanted to bake something for dessert."
"Ok. Whatever works for you. Sorry again."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it."
But Shego did not get a call, not even a text.
She looked at her bedside clock. 11:00PM. Why was she in bed so early?
Is this what I've been reduced to? Waiting for a call? Lying around until I have something to do with my girlfriend? Is this what I've always done? Waiting around, hoping someone would call... Hoping that I can busy myself and not see how pathetic I am?
A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts.
Should I answer it? I'm really not in the mood.
"Shego..." came the muffled voice of her late night visitor.
Shego shuffled her way over to the door quietly. Looking through the peephole, she saw the familiar flame of red hair. Unlocking the door, she found Kim rubbing her eyes.
"Hey... Did I wake you?"
"Not really." Shego smiled. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at your parents' for dinner."
"I was, but Hana really got on my nerves because she wouldn't stop talking about you."
"Me?" Shego moved aside to let Kim in. "Do you want anything?"
"Tea would be nice," said Kim as she took a seat. "Yeah, Hana was going on and on about the different reasons as to why you didn't come and why I should've made you come."
"I see... And what did your parents say?" Shego set down two cups and sat beside Kim.
"Not much, they did ask, but I think they got the point that you all had just met and it was probably better to catch up with Hana since they hadn't seen her for about six months."
"So what's troubling you?"
"Hana likes to meddle."
"Oh... I sort of figured that from this morning and last night..." The kettle started whistling, so Shego got up to fetch it off the stove. Pouring boiling water into both of their cups, Shego continued, "She's a bit blunt, but I guess that's how teenagers are these days. As for meddling..."
"She asked me a bunch of things she shouldn't have asked."
"Young people these days are rather inquisitive-"
"-Whose side are you on?" laughed Kim.
"Kim," Shego patted Kim's hand, "I'm just trying to rationalise things out... It might just be that Hana is curious about the nature of our relationship."
"Which is what... Right now?" Kim used her free hand to twirl strands of her hair around, as if expecting Shego to give her a definitive answer.
Shego leaned back in her chair. "It is whatever it is... I'd rather just let things unfold instead of forcing things. If I say something, we'd end up trying to mould the relationship into something we might not even like... so why categorize or put a label on it? Yes, we're dating, but that's as far as I'd like to go with labelling. There's always some sort of fascination with just 'going with the flow'... Ah, I'm rambling... What do you think?"
Kim continued to twirl her hair. "I don't know, to be honest. I'm just taking it day by day, but Hana is just-"
Shego used her other hand to stop Kim from ruining her hair. "Since when should we-" Shego emphasized the word heavily "-let a teenager dictate the pace and outcome of our relationship?" Shego squeezed Kim's hand. "You said she asked a bunch of things she shouldn't have asked. My guess is ... she asked you if we've slept together. Is that's what's bothering you?"
Kim shrugged. "This isn't like my other relationships-"
"-It is unique in its own way-"
"-The pacing feels just right, so I don't see any point in moving so fast... Actually, I don't think I've ever moved 'fast' in a relationship-"
"-Teens are just curious about sex in general," laughed Shego. "The Wegos sure as hell asked me a lot of questions when I was with my exes. 'Did you sleep with her?' or 'Well, you totally came home this morning, you definitely slept with her' and the whole 'Oh, you totally slept with her, you're glowing.' They were always joking with the questions, but I guess they also wanted to know too."
"Isn't that awkward? To talk about this sort of stuff...?"
Shego shrugged. "Depends on how close you are with the person. Doesn't feel as weird if it's a BFF I'm talking to, but yeah, it's weird having a sibling or two know about my sex life... Which wasn't always as wild and crazy as one might think being in a relationship that lasted so long."
"I see... I don't know, Hana's just been asking me a bunch of things and I feel like I haven't lived up to being the 'ideal' girlfriend because I haven't done those things."
"You do whatever you want, Kim. No pressure. If you feel bad, then I should just as well feel bad. We need to reciprocate our feelings but... Honestly, you shouldn't let the things Hana ask you bother you... It's your life. Live it to the fullest and know that living up to someone else's expectations isn't truly living."
"I'm just afraid of doing something wrong or not doing anything at all... And it might cause you to be frustrated with me."
"Don't be like that." Shego patted Kim's hand. Noticing that the redhead had finished her mug of tea, she asked, "Want more?"
Kim shook her head. "I'm good. Is it ok if I sleep over tonight? Hana's sleeping over at my parents' for the night, but I managed to get away since I told them I had to be at the paper first thing in the morning. My dad'll give Hana a lift to the space centre in the morning so I don't have to go pick her up from the house..."
"Sure," replied Shego. "Do you need anything? I think I might have some PJs that fit you..."
"It's ok." Kim patted a bag beside her - Shego had not noticed it when the redhead came in. "Taking a page out of your book. I brought an overnight bag."
Shego chuckled. "You wanted to come over anyway... And knew I wouldn't turn you down."
Kim smiled. "Yup."
Author's Notes: Will isn't exactly a robot, Kim is frustrated with Hana, and Shego's insecurities might take a different form later...
Forty chapters and... I guess there's progress with the relationship. The end is not in sight just yet, however. I don't even know how it's even possible I've written so much already, but this is all the updates for this week.
Chapter title is from "Rebecca" by Tesla Boy. New Wave music is always fantastic.