Chapter Text
Kara was acutely aware of the fact that Cat was watching them from inside her office. The work room was hardly the place for a conversation with her boss’ son, at least one of a personal matter. Any of her coworkers could see and, even without super-hearing, listen in on what was said between them. But they’d been dating for a little over two months, so Adam coming to her job with lunch for her was normal for most people at that point in a relationship. It didn’t even bother her that he was there. She just didn’t like the scrutiny, and she wasn’t just talking about Cat Grant.
“So I was thinking,” she heard Adam say, but her attention drifted to over his shoulder where she could see James pretending to work as he looked up frequently to stare at them. “I know this is still new, you and me, but what do you think about hiking?”
That got her focus. She looked at him with a shocked expression and stuttered as she started to respond. “Hiking?”
“Yeah. You know, we could walk along a nature trail and see some of the better parts of California. Fresh air, time away from the office. It’ll be like a mini-vacation in a less than exotic, but beautiful place. What do you say?”
“Uh,” she looked around the room just to avoid his eyes while she struggled to come up with an appropriate answer. She caught Winn not even trying to be subtle as he watched them, but he at least had the decency to look away once they made eye contact.
Her phone pinged and she let out a nervous laugh. “Sorry. I, um, need to check this.”
She expected it to be Alex with a DEO update of some kind, but she was thrown by the text message alert. Alex usually called. She was even more surprised to see the text was from Cat. Her eyes widened further before she even opened the text, but the shock wore off as soon as she read it because the message was so like Cat.
“What is he saying? Is he asking you out again? Make yourself available.”
“What is it,” Adam asked, and she saw him smiling when she looked up from her phone.
“Oh, nothing. Not an emergency,” she assured him. She pocketed her phone and looked over her shoulder at Cat, whose eyes were not surprisingly fixated sharply on her. The older blonde even raised a pushy, expectant eyebrow at her.
She turned back to Adam and smiled at him before she said, “That actually sounds…nice. Really nice.”
“Great,” he said and beamed at her.
“But,” she stopped him before he could go making any plans for two. “I think, maybe, you should ask your mom to join us.”
Adam scrunched up his face, but he laughed even though he looked uncomfortable with her suggestion. “Seriously? I thought it would just be the two of us. A weekend getaway. And Cat doesn’t even like being outdoors.”
Kara laughed. “Maybe not, but give her a chance. You’ve barely spent any time with her since you got here and the only time I think you’ve ever even called her is when I unfortunately have to run out on our dates. It’s not fair to her.”
“Fair? I’m supposed to care about what’s fair to her? She’s the one that left me, Kara.”
“I know.” She sighed and pushed her glasses further up her nose when they slid down as she briefly averted her eyes. “But…she’s trying.”
“Not very well,” he muttered.
“Because you barely give her a chance.”
“Why are you taking her side?”
“I…I’m not taking sides. I just think you need to know, and see, things from her perspective.”
“She’s been a mother to Carter long enough to know how to be a better mother to me. So why does she need a chance?”
“You’re all grown up and Carter isn’t. She hurt you by not being there. Carter isn’t hurt. Do you see how things are more complicated than you think?”
He took a deep breath and seemed to consider what she said. After a moment, he nodded. “Yeah. Okay. So, do you want to do the hike?”
“Of course. It sounds great,” she said with a smile. “You said it would be for the weekend?”
“Yeah. This weekend. We could leave Friday and come back on Monday at the latest.”
“And…where would we stay?”
“Oh, I know a guy back home that goes to this lakeside community. We can rent a cabin. There’s the lake and a pond and it’s near the mountains so there’s a lot of stuff to do.”
“Um, don’t hate me for asking this, but is there Internet? And what are my chances of decent service?”
He chuckled. “I don’t think we’ll be using it, but there’s a cell tower maybe twenty miles away at most and wifi in the main cabin at least. Some of the cabins rented out have wifi, too. So I guess if it’s something you desperately need, we can look into one that has it listed in the amenities section.”
“Great. I just…want to know that I can still get in touch with my sister while I’m away. And then the Internet is in case your mom can’t help herself and wants to work while we’re there.”
“If she even says yes.”
“Oh, come on,” she said with a faint grin and poked him in the arm. “She’ll say yes to you. You’re her son and she’ll take any chance she can to bond with you.”
“Not if it means changing out her designer clothes and numbing high heels for loungewear or athletic gear. You want her to say yes? You’ve got to ask.”
“What? Why would she say yes to me?”
“Because you can get anyone to agree to anything,” he answered with a wide and disarming smile.
She rolled her eyes, but blushed a little.
“Besides, you’ve known her longer, so you know what it’ll take to convince her to join us.”
Her phone dinged with another message. That time when she looked down, she wasn’t at all shocked to see it was from Cat.
“What on Earth could you be talking about for this long without going somewhere private? He won’t stick around if you won’t even have a quick lunch with him somewhere.”
She sighed, and apparently that was a dead giveaway to who sent her the text.
“Is that Cat?”
She nodded and paused before she looked up at Adam.
He shook his head and lightly laughed. “You wanted to invite her so I’m letting you invite her,” he smirked and then pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. “Let me know what she says.”
“Wait, you’re not staying for lunch,” she asked with a furrowed brow. She must have looked like a wounded puppy.
“You’re not the only one that gets to run out on our plans,” he said with a slightly smug smile. Before he left, he thankfully gave her a reason for his soon-to-be absence. “I’m going to call about a cabin. We’ll need a place to stay whether or not Cat agrees to go and summer is a popular time of year for the area, so we’re better off renting as soon as possible. I already looked into a few of them that haven’t been snatched up yet. I’ve just got to close the deal on one of them.”
“Okay. Just make sure there’s enough room for—”
“For Cat. I know. Text me when you have an answer.”
She nodded and watched him leave. She chanced a look at James and Winn who both looked a little pleased Adam was gone, but avoided catching her eyes. They were guilty for not liking who she was with because it wasn’t either one of them she’d chosen and they knew it. Kara knew it. Adam suspected it, but never asked her or the other guys for confirmation. And even Cat mentioned it on occasion. Most of the time she said they were acting like spoiled children and most of the time Kara had to agree.
As if the woman’s ears were burning, Kara’s phone received another text from her suddenly suffocating boss. She groaned and slipped her phone into her dress pocket before even reading the message and decided to deal with Cat sooner rather than later, like ripping off a Band-Aid.
“You pushed him away,” Cat said without looking up as soon as she stepped into the office. “You bail on him almost every time he takes you out and now you’ve made him leave.”
She sighed. “It’s not what you think, Miss Grant.”
“Oh, really? And how is it? What exactly happened that made him walk out before he even got to enjoy the food he bought for you two?”
“He’s off making plans for this weekend.”
“Plans,” Cat asked with a curious expression, her brow raised. “Weekend plans?”
“Yes.”
“You’re…going away for the weekend.”
Kara was sure that was supposed to be a question, but Cat looked a little pale and distracted so it came out like a statement. “Yes. We’re going hiking.”
Cat’s face immediately scrunched up with disgust and judgment. “You’re going to spend an entire weekend outside?”
“We both like to get out and explore so that’s what we’re doing. And…we hoped you would, too,” she carefully mentioned.
“Me,” Cat said and motioned at herself with disbelief. “Did Adam ask for me to come with you or are you trying to ruin whatever my son is trying to…do with you this weekend?”
Then Kara’s face scrunched up in disgust. “We’re not- We don’t- We’re supposed to talk about that before we do anything and we haven’t talked about it,” she explained. Not that it was any of Cat’s business, even if it did involve the woman’s oldest son.
“You’re supposed to talk about it? Let me guess, that was your request.”
“That’s a little personal, but yes. Adam agreed to it.”
“Of course he did. He’s sweet. He’s not going to tell you how ridiculous that notion is because he’s a gentleman.”
She forced down her anger and bit back every fiery reply that was instantly on the tip of her tongue, because she believed talking about it before either of them tried to take things to the next level between them was important.
“You don’t have to like it or understand my reason for wanting to do things that way, but you should at least respect my decision instead of bashing it. Adam respects it and that’s what really matters since I’m dating him, not you.”
Cat blinks and rears back a little in her chair. Kara doesn’t wait for her to respond before she continues with her offer.
“Do you want to spend more time with Adam or not? Because I think this weekend would be a great way to get to know him better. You’ll be doing something he likes to do and you’ll be away from work so your attention can be on him.”
“But his attention will be on you.”
“I can help with that if I need to, but…I still think it would be better for you to show up at the very least. Let him know you’re here for him.”
“I am here for him,” she argued before her expression turned to worry. “He doesn’t think I’m here for him?”
“Words can be meaningless. Actions speak louder and can’t be taken back. Come with us and then he won’t have any reason to doubt you.”
She stood there in front of Cat’s desk with her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. She relaxed them and then squeezed again to keep herself calm and forget Cat ever asked about her sex life with Adam. Really just her sex life in general. Cat didn’t need to know why Kara wanted to wait and she didn’t need to know or understand why she wanted to talk about it with her partner, whoever that ended up being, before anything happened between the two of them. She instead focused on convincing Cat to agree to the trip, because no matter what was said or done she still cared about her boss. She still wanted to help in whatever way she could to bring Cat closer to her son.
“I’m sorry for questioning your decision,” Cat said calmly after a moment. “And it really is none of my business.”
“Thank you,” she replied, a little surprised Cat even bothered to apologize. She expected the other woman to move past it, even if she was actually apologetic for what she said. Cat Grant hardly ever said she was sorry.
“I know the offer wasn’t extended to Carter, but would it be okay if I take him with me? I’d much rather have a better excuse to leave you two alone than just vacating the room like a depressing third wheel,” Cat suggested. “And maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for Carter to get the chance to know his big brother either.”
Kara’s eyes lit up and she smiled brightly as she said, “Yes, I think that’s a great idea. It’ll be like a family vacation.”
Cat glared at her. “As long as you’re on this trip, it’s not quite a family affair unless my son intends to put a ring on your finger.”
Kara sighed, but her smile never waned. She left Cat’s office feeling good about the plan. In a few days, Cat would be unburdened by work and fully able to bond with both of her sons. And Kara would be able to witness, and be a part of, a family reunion.