Working with Martha was such a pleasant experience for Evelyn so far.

It had been a full month since she was offered the job, and not a single day had gone by where she couldn't be bothered, or where she was dreading her shift, which she knew was rare in the working world. Yes, her commute to work was a little tedious - but that was purely because she didn't want to take the shortcut through the city, slicing her 45 minute walk to a very swift 8 minute journey.

Evelyn couldn't bear to pass the crumbled remains of The Incident in the city centre, so avoided it at all costs - no matter how more complicated it made her journey. She preferred to walk along the riverside instead, near the fishermen on their morning rounds. They always said hello to her, as she had become a familiar face to them each passing day.

It felt like a safer route anyway - less crime, less sadness, less memories, meaning her days were far easier.

Martha was a complete sweetheart, too. She had such a caring and motherly nature, and Evelyn could talk to her for hours without growing bored or uncomfortable. They had quickly learnt so much about each other, and how they operated, but Evelyn still found herself shying away from discussing anything regarding The Incident.

She did it for her own mental health.

"So two lattes to go and three lemon curd muffins. That'll be…$12.40 please," Evelyn smiled sweetly this particular morning, as she handed the order over to the customer and waited for her to pay. The customer in question was a seemingly stressed out middle aged woman, whose hands were trembling non-stop whilst she fumbled about in her handbag.

In fact, she looked so dishevelled that it threw Evelyn off slightly - but she was patient with her, because she was always taught to be. More to the point, there was something about the lady's disposition that was oddly familiar.

"Terrible tragedy, isn't it?" she was muttering to herself under her breath, still rummaging through her purse to find the cash.

"I'm…I'm sorry?" Evelyn blinked back, snapping out of her daydream.

"The Incident – it was a terrible tragedy, wasn't it?" the woman repeated a little clearer, finally handing the money over. She nodded towards the mounted television screen that was blasting the news, ringing from every wall of the cafe.

Evelyn didn't even have to glance back - now she understood exactly what was throwing this woman off so badly. That was who the customer so scarily reminded her of.

Herself.

"Oh! Yeah - it's really sad," Evelyn ended up humming, taking the money from her and counting it out for the till.

Sad? That was an understatement - the blasted thing ruined her life.

"Did you…lose anybody?" the woman whispered with an apologetic grimace. It was almost insane how easily and loosely everyone in Metropolis discussed death nowadays. It was so common, because everybody knew somebody who had been caught up in The Incident. These days, the question 'Did you lose anyone?' seemed to follow a casual 'hello' as standard procedure.

"I…no," Evelyn quickly hummed back. There was no need for the specifics - technically, everyone that she knew was alive. The random customer absolutely didn't need to know that Evelyn had completely lost her sense of self, now had lifelong scars scattered on her body, and that her little sister was still fighting for her life in hospital all because of a stupid decision that she'd made that fateful day.

She cleared her throat and refocussed herself once more.

"Here's your change - you have a lovely day now, ma'am." The woman simply smiled in return before breezing out without another word, gripping onto her coffee cups and paper bag of freshly baked muffins. Whilst Evelyn watched her go, Martha swept out from the kitchen with yet another order clutched in her own hands.

But she immediately noticed Evelyn's face was darker than usual, and that her unfocussed eyes were slightly tearful.

"Evelyn? Is everything okay?" she hummed discreetly. There was nothing discreet about Evelyn's reaction, though - the sudden sound of Martha's voice startled her, forcing her to hurriedly attempt to gain composure by changing the receipt paper in the till.

She had to snap out of it before she launched into a full blown panic attack.

"S-sorry, yeah, everything's perfectly fine," she lied breezily. Martha cocked her head to the side and raised a suspicious brow.

"Wanna try again, Evelyn?" she challenged her lightly, bumping her hip with her own.

Evelyn smirked slightly in defeat and shook her head. Somehow, Martha could read her like a book already.

"It's The stupid Incident - all anyone wants to do is talk about it! I don't wanna talk about it, but I've learnt to only talk about it because that's seemingly what every other person in Metropolis wants to do and I cannot understand why! That day was literally hell, Martha - and I have no intention of reliving it with anyone aside from my damn therapist," she ranted with a small grimace.

"And are you reliving it with your therapist?" Martha pointed out fairly.

"I…well, no. I've had no interest in going back."

"I mean you might need to in order to process what you went through Evelyn," Martha muttered, looking dead into her eyes so that her sincerity bled through. "People want to talk because people want to heal. Everyone is struggling. You're struggling, I'm struggling, even my son is…finding it difficult to come to terms with all that happened."

Evelyn glanced up.

"You have a son?" she blinked in surprise. "Wait, I didn't know-"

"I do, yes. Point is, you just have to keep moving forward by allowing yourself to feel everything that your heart wants to feel - whether good or bad is irrelevant. We can't pretend like it didn't happen. It did, and that's something we have to deal with forever unfortunately," Martha whispered, tucking one of Evelyn's curls behind her ear so that her face was clearly on show. She smiled bashfully and nodded.

"I guess."

"Plus, it's been three months. Get yourself out there again! Meet people! Have fun - don't let what happened put a hold on your life," Martha tutted, picking back up the customer's order. "The council wasted no time in re-opening the clubs and the bars, it's the least you could do."

"Goodness. Move on? What if…what if I literally can't move on, Martha?" Evelyn winced uneasily.

"Oh no, you can and you will. Cos you're a pretty girl with a warm heart and above all, I definitely won't have you staying at this shop all lonely and sad for the rest of your working life, that's for damn certain," Martha scoffed playfully, making Evelyn let out a real laugh - a proper laugh, possibly the first one ever since The Incident took place.

Martha chuckled at those glimpses of joy, knowing how rare they were for her, and went on to serving the customer's order.

The next day it was even quieter in the cafe. Both Evelyn and Martha put it down to the relentless rain gushing from the skies outside, which always meant that less people were keen to eat out - but the lack of customers didn't bother Evelyn one bit. It was nice to wipe down the tables and refill the machines with minimal concern.

But it soon transpired that customers interrupting her tidying flow would be the least of her worries that afternon.

"I think he's gonna propose!"

The loud, squealing voice from somewhere behind her made Evelyn jump out of her skin. She spun around with her whisk poised as a weapon, just to see her best friend stood behind the bar in a huge trench coat and jeans, her luscious red locks sticking to her face slightly from the rain. Her beloved overly expensive camera was hanging her neck, as usual, and she had an overly excitable grin on her pretty face.

"Lois? What the hell are you doing here?" Evelyn gasped as Lois zoomed straight over to her behind the bar to engulf her in a tight warm hug.

"What are you doing here, I should be asking! It is not lost on me that you didn't tell me where you were working now," Lois tutted as they let each other go again. Evelyn frowned and scratched the back of her neck in confusion. "So, I tracked you on Find My Friends and decided to surprise you. SURPRISE!"

"Surprise indeed, but I absolutely did tell you where I'm working," Evelyn squinted back. "I told you as soon as I got the job! In fact, it was you who never text me back!"

Lois' face dropped and her arms swung to her side again.

"Wait, you did?"

"I did!"

"Which phone did you message?"

"Your…regular one?!" Evelyn scoffed as if it were obvious. But to her surprise, that was when Lois clicked her fingers in realisation.

"That explains it - I swapped SIMs before I flew out!" she smirked casually. "I was travelling and you know one works better when I travel-"

"Ah, how on earth could I have forgotten," Evelyn raised an unamused eyebrow. She pulled Lois back over to the bar so that she could take a seat whilst she continued to work. "I have missed you though. Did you want a drink?"

"No, I- okay I feel like we've totally bypassed everything I just said on entry - I THINK HE'S GOING TO PROPOSE!" Lois reminded her loudly, grabbing Evelyn's flour stained hand and giving it an excitable squeeze.

Then the news finally set in for her best friend.

"Who- Matt?! You think MATT is going to propose to you? Meltdown Matt? Meticulous Matt? Moronic Matt?" Evelyn suddenly laughed in disbelief, pulling her hand from Lois grip and going back to rolling out the dough.

"Hey! You promised not to call him that anymore," Lois frowned playfully.

"Lo, you are waaaay too good for the guy. I'd just…I'd hate to see you waste your life for an idiot who is obsessed with things that nobody else but little kids are obsessed with," Evelyn groaned, leaning over the bar. "We all grew up out of the superhero phase after we turned about 13 - but not Matt! No no, Matt stayed right there!"

"Adults still like superheroes, Ev," Lois tutted.

"To the extent of Matthew's obsession, they absolutely do not."

"Alright I know how you feel about his interests, but he's honestly a great guy, Ev! You just refuse to give anyone a chance after the whole Reagan situation-"

"We don't say his name anymore Lois," Evelyn drawled.

"…and I know that wasn't the ideal relationship but honestly, I think Matt is the one. We're childhood sweethearts, he has to be the one," Lois hummed in a daydream, just as the kitchen door behind her swung open and Martha stepped through.

She was flicking through her stock inventory with a little frown on her face, totally oblivious to the conversation that was taking place around her - but finally she glanced up to see Lois and Evelyn chatting. Her eyes widened.

She had never seen Evelyn communicate with anyone else so casually in the cafe before, and these two looked so friendly that it genuinely made her heart warm.

"Oh! Evelyn, is this your friend?" Martha smiled sweetly, putting her inventory down on the bar so that she could welcome Lois properly.

"Hi, a pleasure! I'm her best friend, yes - Lois Lane," Lois introduced herself confidently, sticking her hand out before Evelyn could so much as open her mouth.

"Well it is lovely to meet you Lois - Martha Kent," Martha beamed, shaking her hand back. "I didn't know Evelyn even had friends!"

"I am right here?" Evelyn blinked whilst Lois bit back her laughter.

"Childhood best friends at that," she explained quickly, interrupting Evelyn again. "Quick backstory time - we were kinda the losers in school, but stuck together thick and thin, and have been best friends ever since. She ran an ultra successful coffee shop in the heart of Metropolis and I became the irritant lead journalist for the city's biggest paper. Together, we made the unstoppable duo - and got better looking, too."

"Mhm, lucky Daily Planet right?" Evelyn hummed as she pulled out the icing bags to get started on decorating the cupcakes whilst the dough rested.

Martha froze and looked back at Lois in surprise.

"You work for the Daily Planet?" she blinked repeatedly.

"Yes ma'am," Lois beamed back proudly. "I've actually been working abroad more often than not for the past year, but now I'm back to cover The Incident."

"Ah, 'The Incident'," Martha repeated, shooting Evelyn a little knowing look to reference yesterday's conversations. Evelyn simply smirked slightly and shook her head, refocussing on her cupcakes. "I see! Have you gotten very far with your article?"

"Nope, it's been a total bust - but we're keeping the faith. If I don't nail that story, I don't know who else would," Lois rolled her eyes, before glancing down at her watch. "Shoot - I gotta go pack before heading back into the office-"

"Pack for…?" Evelyn frowned again as she looked up.

"Mauritius," Lois announced brightly. "That's where Matt's taking me-"

"Oh I see - that's why you think the guy is going to propose to you," Evelyn nodded.

"Well yes - and also, Mauritius locals are allegedly the last ones to have sight over The Chosen One," Lois hummed to Evelyn as discreetly as possible, her eyes dancing with excitement.

But that was clearly the worst thing she could've ever said, from the look of horror merged with disappointment on her best friend's face.

"There it is! So you're flying out there to catch a glimpse of the Superman guy, and Matt's going for love?" she winced back, feeling guilty on his behalf. Martha raised a brow and glanced between the two of them amusedly.

"Actually, we're both going for both. Matt's the one who got the hit on his last bearings," Lois pulled a playful face.

"That's even sadder," Evelyn muttered under her breath.

"Hey! Further proof of him being the one," Lois drawled, zipping up her jacket again. "We compliment each other - it's a good thing!" She leaned over the counter and kissed Evelyn's cheek sweetly. "I fly out in a few days, so if I don't see you till then, I'll call you off my current number. Love ya Ev, bye!"

"Bye Lo - love you too. Safe flight," Evelyn hummed amusedly as she watched Lois disappear out of the cafe door. She turned to Martha, who was already staring at her with eyes of fascination. "Martha - don't even bother saying anything."

"I won't! I just…you're both so incredibly different that it's kinda laughable that you're best friends!" Martha smirked with her hands risen in admission.

"Yeeaah," Evelyn sighed, chucking her dishcloth over her shoulder and shaking her head fondly. "Ain't that the truth."