2. Kara Falls for an Angel

“Hello, please allow me to be the first to welcome you to Theonia.”

The crowd of press were gathered a few hundred yards away from the plane, surrounded by a security force that had been sent to meet them and watch them all closely. Nearby was three large buses waiting to transport the country’s visitors to the capital. The woman greeting the arrivals had long brown hair, bright hazel eyes and a friendly smile which had a reassuring effect on the nervous crowd who still weren't overly sure what to expect.

“I’m pretty sure the soldier who gave me a very thorough pat down was the first to welcome me.” Winn muttered out of the side of his mouth, causing Kara to jab him in the ribs with her elbow. Winn winced sharply but dutifully shut up.

“My name is Samantha Arias and I will be your guide and point person during your stay. Please feel free to come to me with any questions or requests.” Their guide, Samantha, was dressed smartly in dark blue suit trousers and matching jacket over the top of a light blue blouse. She seemed perfectly at ease addressing everyone and not even remotely perturbed by the numerous armed personnel surrounding her, Kara couldn’t help being ever so slightly in awe of her confidence. “Accommodation has been set up for everyone in the Royal Palace,” that revelation caused a stir and a wave of whispers throughout the crowd, “itineraries for your visit will be handed out during the journey to the Royal Palace. Over the course of these two weeks, you will be given plenty of opportunity to meet this country’s citizens and see the sights. Everyone has also been randomly given set interview slots during their time here with Her Royal Highness, the prime minister and other key officials.”

“Damn.” James murmured under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” Kara questioned quietly, keeping an ear out as Sam began to read out which bus each media outlet should get on.

“Random interview slots. It’s a lottery on which journalist will get the first story.” James grumbled with a shake of his head.

“A lottery we could win…”, Kara said trying to put her usual optimistic outlook on the situation.

“Yeah, right.” Winn scoffed, earning himself another poke to the side.

“Winn’s right, we should work under the presumption we are not going to get the first story out.” James regrettably agreed, reaching down to pick up the bag that he had set down by his feet as the crowd began to disperse to their various allocated coaches.

“Okay, so… we don’t get the first story out, we’ll just make sure that the story we do get out is better than all the others, especially LYNX news.” Kara cheered, trying to amp up her unimpressed friends. “Team cheer! CatCo on three?” Kara questioned holding her hand out, palm down, between the three of them expectantly, a wide, encouraging grin on her face.

“Nice try, Kara.” James said patting her shoulder compassionately, ignoring her hand and making to move past her whilst Winn moved his hand in a ‘so-so’ motion to rate her effort. Kara instantly deflated, her hand dropping back to her side. “Come on, we’re on bus number two. We can come up with a better plan when we get to the Palace.” James called back over his shoulder.

“We’re staying in the Royal Palace, how cool is that?” Winn squeaked out, skipping away excitedly at the notion.

Kara let her two friends rush ahead of her, choosing to walk after them at a far more sedate pace. Despite being one of the last ones to board the coach, Kara was lucky enough to grab a window seat allowing her to continue to stare unabashedly at the scenery. Kara took it all in gleefully, noting the differences in the architecture of the towns they drove through. Timber houses seemed to be the staple, all of them individualised with different colours and decorations. She also noted how, even though Theonia had been cut off from the wider world for years, their technology appeared to not only match the capabilities of America but surpassed it many other ways. The vehicles and houses they passed by all seemed to have solar panels on the roof. During the two hour journey, Kara took copious notes and observations, generating an array of questions to go alongside everything she saw.

The Royal Palace was located a couple of miles outside of the capital and Kara almost didn’t realise they were nearing their destination due to the canopy of trees arching over the road preventing a clear view of the looming castle waiting for them at the end of a long drive.

It was shifting into night by the time the cohort of press disembarked the coaches to stand in the dark shadow cast by the ominous, brooding castle and towers they stood in front of. The Palace was grey brick with blue roofing tiles, stained glass gothic windows and stonemason gargoyles that stared down at Kara with hollow eyes and threatening expressions.

A shiver ran down Kara’s spine as she blinked up at the intimidating building that exuded an unsettling coldness. “It’s like the Disney castle had a bastard child with Barad-dûr.” Winn commented nervously, shrinking behind Kara to use her body as a shield from whatever ghosts might charge out at him from the large double doors.

“I’m sure it’ll look better in the daylight.” Kara forced a smile, but even she couldn’t hold off the audible gulp of fear.

“If we make it till then…”, Winn whispered under his breath.

“Alright, everyone!” Samantha had moved to stand between the crowd and the entranceway to the castle, her yell for attention impressively bringing the chattering crowd to silence. “Please follow me, I will take you all to your rooms where you will have some time to settle before dinner.” Samantha waved her hand, gesturing for everyone to follow her.

“What are you guys waiting for?” James asked curiously, joining the two of them as they lingered anxiously at the back of the crowd.

“Nothing!” Kara and Winn answered quickly causing James to raise an eyebrow as the pair exchanged a glance before rushing to join the rest of the press as they made their way into the Palace.

Kara’s jaw dropped in wonderment upon entering the Palace. The atrium was bigger than Kara’s entire apartment, the walls were a royal blue with gilt patterning and a breathtaking vista of the night sky was painted onto the ceiling. An impressive staircase stood before them diverging one floor up to split off to the left and right. Various Palace workers wandered by, only stopping for a breath or two to scrutinise the newcomers, as they went about their tasks.  

Samantha continued to instruct them as she led them up the stairs and took the right hand split. “All of you have accommodation in the West Wing of the Palace and we kindly request that you do not enter the East Wing as it is contains the private residence of Her Majesty and the Royal Offices.” Kara barely took in what was being said, in fact she was so entranced by the elegance and artistry surrounding her James and Winn had to grab her by the elbows and guide her along to make sure they didn’t get left behind. “Dinner will be in an hour. A Palace staff member will come round to collect you and bring you to the Dining Hall where you shall have all of your meals during your stay here.”

The corridors Samantha led them down had clearly been recently redecorated if the pristine light blue panelled walls were any indication. Numerous windows and bright landscape paintings at regular intervals along the way made Kara feel remarkably at ease and realise that was probably the aim of the redecoration in the first place. However, she couldn’t help wondering what it had all looked like before and why it was deemed necessary to change.

“The plan is for you all to rest up for tonight and then hit the ground running tomorrow with a day trip to the capital, National City.” Samantha slowed her pace now as she turned onto a hallway with multiple doors; she then began to read out news groups and gestured at doors to give people their room assignments.

CatCo was given a set of rooms, halfway down the corridor, that consisted of two bedrooms and a small living area which had a sofa and a couple of desks presumably to give them a private space to set up their computers and work in peace. James and Winn took the room with twin beds leaving Kara with the smaller single bedroom that looked out over the expansive gardens.

The three of them quickly set to work, unpacking and helping Winn set up his equipment. Internet had been the main concern as they didn’t know the access that Theonia would have. They were pleasantly surprised to find Ethernet cables that plugged easily into their computers meaning they wouldn’t have to rely on the less than consistent satellite connection. Winn even believed he could set up a router giving them greater mobility and a method to be able to post photos and quick updates when they were out travelling that would give a massive edge on getting the first story out.

Kara was partway through typing up the observations she had made during the bus journey and her first impressions of the palace when a skype message popped up.

[Alex]

You better have only just gotten access to the internet, because if you started working before messaging me to say you got there safely, you will be in serious trouble…

“Uh oh.” Kara muttered, images of her sister stealing a jet to fly after her and make sure she was safe flashing before her eyes. James and Winn seeing the mildly frightened expression flash on her face, stepped behind her to read the threatening message over her shoulder.

“I told you to message her as soon as we landed.” James admonished lightly.

“I know, I know.” Kara flapped her hand at the pair hovering behind her dismissively, at the same there was a knock at the door followed by someone announcing that dinner was ready. Winn laughed cruelly as Kara’s eyes flitted from between her computer to the door where food was literally calling out to her.

“Talk to your sister, otherwise she will go full Liam Neeson on this country.” James ordered grabbing a still chuckling Winn by the shoulder and leading him out the door which closed behind them with an audible click.

Kara pouted, her disgruntled stomach gurgling and rumbling as she hit the call button on skype. Barely one ring went out before Alex accepted and her sister’s face appeared on the screen. It was obvious from her damp hair and make-up free face that she had just gotten out of the shower, having presumably been to the gym earlier. Due to the time difference it was probably around eleven in the morning back home and Kara’s eyes instantly felt heavy upon realising how little sleep she was working on due to travelling.

“I hope you appreciate this, I’m missing dinner to talk to you.” Kara huffed out in greeting.

Alex tilted her head in an ‘are you serious’ manner that always made Kara truly feel like the younger sister. “I’m sorry, I think I misheard you… See that didn’t quite sound like the ‘Alex, I’m sorry I forgot to drop you a message to let you know I’m safe and making you worry unnecessarily.” Kara frowned childishly at her sister’s not even remotely accurate impression of her that consisted of a pout, higher octave voice and over-exaggerated furrowed brow.

“I don't sound like that.” Kara denied with a roll of her eyes.

“Sure, you don’t…”, Alex sarcastically agreed. A moment of silence fell between the sisters as they took the other in.

Yes, Alex was being protective and veering significantly towards having an ‘over’ being attached to that description.

But, Kara understood.

Mostly because she was just as bad, if not worse when you looked at past history. (Kara may or may not be currently banned from the police station Alex worked at after causing more than a few of her sister’s more threatening suspects to beg and plead for police protection).

The two girls had suffered more than their fair share of loss. Kara’s parents had died in a fire when she was thirteen and Alex’s dad, Jeremiah, had died in a car crash on the way home from work. The two had become sisters by clinging to each other tightly and shielding one another to the best of their abilities from the darker parts of the world. Eliza, Alex’s mother and Kara’s adoptive mother, had left the country to work for Medecins Sans Frontieres a few months ago and both of them had felt the loss of not having their parental touchstone on hand. The void left by Eliza’s work abroad and Alex going through a pretty rough break-up with her girlfriend she had been with since the police academy produced a very understandable protective surge for her best friend and sister within Alex. So, for the time being, Kara knew she just had to ride it out until they had both adjusted to their new normals.

“So… tell me everything.” Alex requested with a light, encouraging smile as she pulled a bowl that had been just out of the view of the camera towards herself and began to dig in.

“Do you want to hear about my interaction with my nemesis first or…”, Kara allowed a moment of suspense to build, “do you want to hear about the Royal Palace I’m currently staying in?”

“Palace. Definitely the Palace.” Alex answered with a keen nod of her head, “But, first, what detritus of humanity could possibly have garnered the title of ‘nemesis’ from my sunbeam of a sister?”

Kara groaned, her expression turning sour, the image of Mike’s smarmy smile filling her mind.

“Wait, nevermind. I recognise that look. LYNX news sent Mike?”

“Of course they did.” Kara sighed, “I think they are hoping he can charm the Queen in much the same way he did with that actress last year.”

“Ugh…”, Alex grunted out between spoonfuls of cereal.

“I want to beat him so bad, Alex.” Kara said determinedly, her eyes burning with passion, “I just want to put him in his place and show him that news is still about informing and enlightening people rather than the superficial clickbait LYNX is known for.”

“I have total faith in you.” Alex offered her support sincerely, “But… you know... “, Alex began tentatively, mischief starting to dance in her brown eyes, “If the high-road doesn’t work for you… I have plenty of ideas on how you can take LYNX down a peg or two…”

“No.” The rejection came immediately from Kara. “You have a lifetime ban from pulling pranks after what happened with the fire department.”

Alex spluttered indignantly, “That’s unfair. They started it with blacklight painting the precinct and they massively overreacted-”

“Alex, they called in the bomb squad!” Kara cut in forcefully.

“See massive overreaction!” Alex exclaimed as the blonde continued to shake her head, “Nevermind… just remember my offer is on the table when you change your mind.”

“I won’t, but… thanks.” Kara added the final word in a softer tone hoping it conveyed how much she appreciated the way Alex always had her back and believed in her work.

“Anytime.” Alex responded with a matching gentleness before she shook her head and tilted her head expectantly, “So… you’re staying in a Royal Palace?” Kara smiled brightly and quickly set into describing everything she had seen so far.

James and Winn returned sometime later, both of them squeezing into the frame to catch up with Alex. Their conversation wound down not much later and Kara promised to speak to her again in a couple of days. The three CatCo representatives bid each other goodnight, the real work began tomorrow and they would need to be at their best.

Kara changed into her long blue cotton pyjamas, fell into her single bed and snuggled down. Due to the age of the building and the single glazed windows, there was a distinct chill to the room and the darkness was almost pitch black.

(It was really creeping Kara out).

She was jet-lagged, under immense work-related stress and becoming more and more convinced she was about to star in her very own horror movie.

But worse than all that?

Kara was hungry.

Starving.

Her stomach was so vocal about missing dinner that Kara stood absolutely no chance of falling asleep because of the noise. It was approaching midnight when Kara reached her breaking point and threw the white covers off herself. She stealthily tiptoed out of her room and poked her head out into the corridor that led to the rest of the Palace.  She could hear footsteps in the distance which made her act without much forethought. She hurriedly stepped into the corridor and turned in the direction away from the audible pacing from the nearby hallway.

Kara would tell anyone that she used logic, common sense and knowledge garnered from multiple history documentaries about medieval structures in Europe to try and find the kitchen.

In all honesty, though?

Kara pretty much let her stomach lead the way, her food deprived mind just barely managing to keep track of the various twist and turns she took in her hunt for something edible.

It was after four right turns, two flights of stairs, another right turn and then a left that Kara’s nose twitched and sniffed, smelling a waft of delectable cooking that made her stomach roar in desperation. Kara found herself in a dimly lit corridor, with dark wood panels up to the waist, creamy plastering from panels to the ceiling and cold wooden floors that made her toes curl inwards to limit exposure.

“-so what do you think?” Kara practically jumped into the air upon hearing a voice approaching from further down the corridor. It was then that Kara had the sudden realisation that anyone she ran into wouldn’t really think her desire to raid the kitchen was either believable or a good enough reason to be wandering around the Palace.

“They shouldn’t be here.” A second voice replied bitterly, whilst Kara dashed from door to door, jiggling the handles to try and find an unlocked room.

“Yeah, but if they weren’t here, the Palace wouldn’t need so much extra staff and I, personally, quite like getting paid…”, The original speaker justified with a teasing tone that was followed by an annoyed grunt.

The Palace workers were seconds away now and Kara quickly moved to hide in the next doorway along, knocking loudly against the dark wood when she pressed her back to the closed door. She hoped the slight depression caused by the doorway into the wall would provide suitable cover if a miracle occurred and the two speakers didn’t turn down into the hallway and instead merely walked by.

“Okay, I see your point. But I swear... if any of them write a negative piece on Her Majesty-”

Please don’t turn down here, please don’t turn down here, Kara begged of whatever deity would listen as she pushed herself harder against the door and closed her eyes awaiting the inevitable.

“Spiders in their beds?”

“I was thinking scorpions… but spiders work as well.”

Laughter followed and reverberated down the passageway. Kara was just about ready to step forward and accept her fate when everything went sideways.

Well, not everything.

Just Kara.

“Woah!” Kara yelped as the door she had been resting the majority of her weight against swung open behind her and she fell backwards landing painfully on her back.

Kara groaned, her hands moving to rub the back of her head where it had connected with the grey tiled floor she was now lying on. Her eyes, that had been closed, blinked blearily open to take in her surroundings.

“Holy moly, am I dead?!” The exclaimed question fell easily from Kara’s lips in her dazed and confused state as she stared up at what she could only describe as an angel.

Standing by her head, staring down at her with wide, entrancing green eyes hidden behind large round glasses was probably the prettiest woman Kara had ever seen.

The angel had dark hair that was thrown haphazardly into a lopsided loose bun from which locks were escaping to frame her sharp, angular face. She was pale, her skin almost appearing to glow as her body blocked out the light cast from the fire behind her causing a halo of light to ring her form. It was as Kara’s gaze dropped down from her face to take in her clothing that she realised she might not be dead. Kara’s angel was dressed in a baggy grey hoodie with ‘National City University’ printed in bold, blue lettering across the chest and equally overly large sweatpants which were a dark blue. Kara’s eyes must have looked like they rolled into the back of her head as she took in the blue, fuzzy socks that were the final surreal piece of attire completing the image of the woman who had literally swept her off her feet.

“Are you okay?” The question came out desperately, finally breaking through Kara’s trance. Kara’s eyes dashed back to the woman’s face who was staring at her with obvious care and concern that inexplicably had Kara’s heart jumping into her throat and preventing any words from coming out.

The woman’s expression of distress and worry appeared to increase tenfold at Kara’s continued dumb silence. She moved round to kneel by Kara’s side, her face hovering over Kara’s, inspecting her for clear signs of injury.

“Did you hit your head? How many fingers am I holding up?” The woman’s hand appeared in Kara’s peripheral vision and it took far more effort than Kara expected to drag her eyes away from the vibrant green eyes that had captivated her.

“Three.” Kara mumbled, moving to push herself up when she suddenly felt a touch of light pressure on her shoulder which encouraged her to move much more slowly. She looked over and was only marginally surprised to find the dark-haired woman’s hand gingerly placed on her shoulder.

“Be careful.” The request was soft and sincere, the verbal equivalent of the kindness flickering in the green eyes watching Kara closely.

Not trusting her voice, Kara nodded and the woman’s hand shifted away from Kara’s shoulder, leaving a warm imprint that radiated through to the rest of Kara’s nerves. The woman stood up, offering her hand out for Kara to take and help her stand. Kara hesitated for a second, her skin buzzing from the previous point of contact and arcs of electricity sparking along her fingertips in anticipation of touching the pale, luminescent hand in front of her.

The woman arched a shapely eyebrow at her in question causing Kara to swallow thickly and jolt enough to grab the proffered hand and be pulled to her feet. As soon as she seemed stable on her own, their hands disconnected and yet again Kara was left with that warm fuzzy imprint burning where they had touched.

The woman stepped back and Kara finally got a good look at the room she had fallen into. A fire was burning off to one side providing warmth and light, there was modern-looking red cupboards topped with marble that ran along one wall and also stood as an island in the centre of the floor space. An industrial fridge hummed in the background whilst a saucepan loaded onto a gas stove simmered and popped.

Kara’s mouth watered as she recognised the smell of spaghetti bolognaise.

“Would you like something to eat?” Kara dragged her eyes away from the cooking food to look at the woman who was now closing the door Kara had fallen through.

“More than anything.” Kara eagerly answered, her eyes moving between the midnight chef and the food calling out to her.

“Well, you don’t seem to be concussed…”, The woman stepped closer to inspect Kara’s face.

“No concussion, I swear.” Kara tried to reassure with a bright smile, her breath coming out a bit more choked under the scrutiny of piercing green eyes. “Just midnight munchies from missing dinner.”

“Take a seat.” The chef ordered lightly, gesturing to a stool by the island counter. “The least I can do after nearly knocking you out is feed you.”

“It was more my fault…” Kara admitted, slipping easily onto the stool whilst the other woman returned to cooking, her back to Kara. The blonde watched her closely, taking in how at home the other woman was moving about the kitchen, leisurely grabbing a couple of jars of spices nearby to add a final touch of flavour to the food.

“True.” The woman agreed, shooting a small smile over her shoulder at the blonde, who was forced to duck her head to hide a growing blush, “Good manners, however, prevent me from letting you take all the blame and leaving hungry.”

“But I still need to take some of the blame.” Kara guessed, fiddling with the corner of her glasses.

“If you want food… yes.” The small smile on the raven haired woman became a smirk and Kara’s blush spread to the tips of her ears.

“Deal.” Kara huffed out with a forced tone of disgruntlement. The chef turned back to the food, flicking off the gas and retrieving two plates to begin dishing up. Kara watched her work, examining the rest of the kitchen so as not to give the impression of a total creep. Pots and pans were strewn everywhere, various utensils littered the counters and a leatherbound book was open on the island in front of the seat across from Kara. “So, can I ask why you are cooking what looks to be a three course meal at midnight?” The question came out easily as Kara found herself keen to engage this kindly Palace worker in conversation.

“I like cooking. I enjoy doing it when everything is quiet and there’s no chance my failed experiments will be seen by others.” The green-eyed woman answered honestly, her gaze flicking over her shoulder to meet Kara’s own eyes. “I also missed dinner.” An almost imperceptible flash of sadness crossed her face and Kara instantly opened her mouth to offer comfort or support when a bowl of spaghetti alongside a knife and fork were placed in front of her. “Here you go.”

“Thanks.” Kara gratefully said, digging in without hesitation as the other woman pushed aside the overly thick book to put her own food down and eat. Kara took her first bite, and had to forcibly restrain herself from letting out a moan of appreciation. The whole meal was splendidly seasoned, the sauce rich, the pasta savoury and the grated cheese on top the perfect addition. “Oh my god, this is amazing. Like the best I’ve ever had.”

“Says the girl with a head injury.” The girl sat across from her deadpanned.

“I’ve always been told my stomach does most of the thinking, so no loss there.” Kara replied, enjoying far too much the amused twinkle her honest and wry comment garnered in the green eyes staring back at her. They both ducked their heads down at the same time and resumed eating.

“You’re not working too hard, are you?”

Kara had just finished her serving and was contemplating whether it was appropriate or not for her to lick the piece of crockery clean, not wanting to waste any of the food she had been given, when the softness of the question pulled her out of her thoughts.  “Huh?” Kara eloquently said highlighting her confusion.

“You missed dinner.” The chef explained, pushing her own empty bowl aside and leaning forward to scrutinise Kara better through her wide round glasses. “I just wanted to check that you are not doing too much or being asked to do too much.”

Kara’s heart fluttered and soared at the thoughtfulness of the woman, “Oh no, nothing like that. It was actually my sister’s fault, she wanted to catch-up.”

“Ah, okay.” The woman’s expression, which had been lined and furrowed in concern, eased and softened as an easy half-formed smile settled on her face upon hearing Kara’s reassurances.

“You know, I could ask you the same thing...” Kara began, wanting to ease some of that sadness she had glimpsed earlier in any way she could.

“Hmm?”

“Working too hard?” Kara prompted in response.

“Always.” The dark haired woman revealed the truth of her one word answer by immediately yawning, her eyes beginning to blink sleepily. Kara then felt her own wave of exhaustion, with food warming her belly and the promise of a heavy day tomorrow, Kara’s energy started to seep out of her.

“What are you reading?” Kara asked curiously, pointing to the intimidating book by the chef’s elbow.

“Well, I don’t really know if you can call what I’m doing reading.” The woman admitted, her nose scrunching up adorably in frustration as she eyed the book distastefully, “I read about a page a week. And I’ve been reading it for nearly a year now and I’m not even halfway.”

“Mustn’t be a very interesting book.” Kara remarked with a shake of her head.

“It’s very critically acclaimed.” The chef weakly defended, her hand moving to close the open pages.

“Uh huh… that’s simply a pretentious way of saying boring.”

“Excuse me?” Kara winced at the curt tone her comment had garnered. Her dinner companion had crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin defiantly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean any offense.” Kara raised her hands imitating a surrender, causing the green eyes to become less defensive and the crossed arms facing the blonde to unfold slowly. “It’s just…”, Kara licked her lips, her brow furrowing as she struggled to find the words, “A good book, and by that I mean a book you actually like, you’ll be desperate to read the next page. You’ll carry it with you everywhere in the hopes that you can find time to read even one more sentence. It’s treasured and loved. And you…”, Her blue eyes flickered over to the leather-bound book sat miserably by the chef’s elbow, “look at that book as if it personally insulted you.”

The chef shook her head slowly in disappointment unable to meet Kara’s gaze as she muttered sadly.“I’ve never read a book that makes me feel like that…”

“You just haven’t found the right book yet.”

“Hmm, maybe you’re right.” The woman hummed in agreement granting Kara another glimpse of that shy, small smile that she had been blessed to see a couple of times already.

Kara knew then, if she didn’t pull herself away from this table, she wouldn’t find it in herself to leave and she was close to falling asleep on the marble counter. “I should probably get back to my room. Early start tomorrow.” Kara explained, rubbing the back of her neck ruefully. The woman across from her nodded her head in understanding and got to her feet at the same time as Kara. “It was nice meeting you.” Kara couldn’t help but think those words were wholly inadequate.

This was the first day of probably one of the most important and unique trips of Kara’s life. She had seen so much since getting off the plane. She had gotten to be one of the first outsiders to step foot in this beautiful country. She was currently staying in a Royal Palace. And yet… the best part of Kara’s day?

Eating spaghetti bolognaise with the Palace’s sleepy, casually dressed chef.

“It was nice meeting you too.” The chef led Kara back to the door she had fallen through and moved to open it for her as she ordered with faux-harshness. “Don’t work too hard.”

“Little hypocritical.” Kara commented with a cheeky smile, stepping past the chef to linger in the doorway, not quite ready to leave the warmth, comfort and company of the small kitchen despite the fatigue in her body.

“Are you calling me a hypocrite?” The chef asked raising her eyebrows and forcing a completely fake expression of offense.

“Well, I would call you by your name but I don’t believe you ever introduced yourself.” Kara felt rather smug about her comeback until she saw the confusion on the chef’s face.

The dark haired woman shook her head in exasperation, a beautiful chuckling sound escaping from her as she smiled, commenting in amusement before swinging the door shut, “Funny and cute.”