Through the glass walls of her office, Cat Grant could very clearly see her assistant Kara sitting at her desk with her head in her hands vehemently muttering to herself. The younger woman had seemed... off lately, but Cat had chosen not to mention it. This was none of her business, no matter how curious she might be about what could bring her usually congenial assistant down like this. Cat doubted there was anything she could do to cheer her up without revealing how much she actually cared about Kara. She decided to try being subtle once she had an idea of what was wrong.
"KIERA! Get in here!" Cat yelled, looking down at the layouts on her desk as though she had never noticed her assistant in the first place. Over the course of her career, the CEO had become quite adept at acting. Despite the fact that they had been dating for weeks, Cat still struggled to open up to Kara, even though she desperately wanted to and knew that she ought to. Cat wasn't sure she remembered how that worked, though.
"Yes, Ms.Grant?" Kara ducked her head into the office, eyes swollen and puffy. "How can I help you?"
"Come and have a seat." Cat gestured to the incredibly uncomfortable chairs in front of her desk. "I can literally feel the dark cloud floating around out there in the bullpen and it's distracting me."
"Yes, Ms.Grant. I'll try to up the vibration in there." Kara said, her expression still completely bland and dull. Normally, she would have jumped immediately to attention and scampered off to do as Cat asked, but for the moment she just continued looking at her boss and waited for any more instructions.
"Dismissed." Cat waved her hand, disappointed at the lack of information she was able to gather. Apparently she had been out of the investigative reporting business for too long. She cursed quietly down at the layouts she'd been staring at for almost two hours.
Cat worked to refocus on what she was doing, finalized the layouts, and excused herself from the office. She made a couple of calls on her way to her favorite cafe and ordered two to-go coffees. Cat Grant barely once looked up from her cell phone the entire time she walked to and from the cafe. All of the headlines pertained to Supergirl and how she'd had her ass handed to her every night for the past week. Cat had been aware of the ongoing battles but hadn't expected them to be affecting Kara as much as it seemed they were.
Cat had to wonder about the seemingly unreasonable way Kara was reacting to the consecutive losses. Cat had absolute confidence that Supergirl would emerge the victor. After further thought, she realized that maybe Kara didn't have the same faith in her ability to win that Cat possessed. With that realization in mind and a coffee for each of them in hand, Cat returned to the CatCo office.
"Kiera, my office. Right now." she ordered, gesturing for the taller woman to open the glass door for her as she stepped out of her personal elevator and walked past Kara's desk. The superheroine was just as down as before, this time with a depressingly false smile on her face.
Kara took the same seat she had previously., with a petulant sort of pout on her face. Cat gave Kara her coffee and perched on the edge of her desk, arms crossed over her chest, and pensive expression on her face. Kara sipped her coffee quietly as she waited for whatever Cat was going to say. It was clear to Kara that Cat was thinking about her words carefully before she began whatever lecture was clearly incoming. Kara didn't know if it was going to be a good lecture or a bad lecture. None of Cat's lectures were ever particularly pleasant though.
"You can't be that dense, Kara. Of course... of course, I love you. I have always loved you. You are obviously not okay and I know that this has been a hard and terrible week. Don't try to argue with me, because we both know that I know why it's been a hard week." Cat held up a hand to call Kara to a halt before she could protest. "Your attitude towards this entire situation has been much less than helpful towards yourself and your ability... your ability to handle this situation. Get back to yourself, Kara. Remember who you are and remember why it is that you fight so hard to protect this city. We all depend on you. WE all believe in you. I believe in you. You just need to believe in yourself."
Kara sat quietly and listened, nodding to herself as she absorbed the points Cat made. As Cat watched, the other woman sat up a little bit straighter; rectifying her posture. Cat nodded to herself, proud that her speech seemed to have had its desired effect. This was the Kara she'd been missing and waiting for. This was the young woman who inspired the whole country to do and be better.
Kara stood up and crossed to the other side of the desk where Cat had now returned to her seat. She kissed Cat's cheek, lingering there for longer than seemed strictly necessary. "Thank you, Cat. I'll repay you all these favors one day, I promise." Cat blushed deeply, squeezed her eyes shut, and took a deep breath. When she looked up again, Kara Danvers was nowhere to be seen.
