Chapter Text
Adora shuffled the papers in front of her and fixed her trousers.
The bottoms chafed against her hips and felt uncomfortably tight around her thighs – she was more of an athleisure kind of gal, and the overly formal requirements of office wear rallied against her ‘ready for action’ instincts.
Still,
She prioritised professionalism over everything. She was a hard worker, and, more importantly, a team player. If her team could manage the chaffing then, so could she.
Even if she did have larger than average thighs.
She glanced over at the other characters that littered the shared desk in front of her. It was Monday morning, her first day. The group in front were at what was presented to her as a weekly team meeting.
Her senior – Lonnie – had taken the opportunity to introduce Adora to the squad. She scanned their faces and tried to remember their names while rubbing the sweat of her palms on her trousers.
Adora loved people.
But,
She didn’t have the most polished of social skills.
In certain situations, sure – on the rugby field, at the gym - she commanded the attention of everyone and all around her and the curation of her words would put any military commander to shame. However, while cramped inside this clammy meeting room, all she could think of was the type of trousers everyone was wearing, and all of their bottoms were hidden, dammit.
Actually – she needed to stop thinking about bottoms. Her brain was doing that thing again. A voice snapped her out of her head.
“-which is why her experience will be paramount to this campaign, but I’ll let her speak for herself.”
Adora zeroed in her focus with an ambitious smile to Lonnie’s words. Radiating enthusiasm to compensate for her previous daydream. Whatever Lonnie was discussing deserved her full attention.
“Adora?”
OH. Lonnie was discussing her. Her experience. That was fine. She cleared her throat and slipped into a familiar sense of authority.
“Uh, yes! Hi! Firstly, thank you all for such a warm welcome - I’m very excited to join the FC team.” She smiled brightly at everyone, slipping into her flow.
“As we know, The Salineas brand has been a household name for decades, and, rebuilding its marketing to connect with Gen Z is a big undertaking.” She paused, for effect. Time to bring it home. “However, I think with enough planning, some solid research, and a young enough team, we can really nail this campaign and bring Horde Inc to the forefront as-
“Sorry I’m late.”
Adora snapped her head up to the intruding voice.
The annoyance that rippled through her was quickly stifled by an immediate brain freeze.
The person – the woman – in the doorway, had one hand lazily placed on the doorframe and another gripping a steaming portable cup of coffee. She pulled her free hand through messy brunette hair that fell past slim shoulders, and yawned. “Sorry, keep talking.”
Adora couldn’t. Her previous flow was cut off by the presence in front of her.
Thoughts of synergy flew out the window and were instead replaced by other information.
For example; this woman did not wear trousers but instead a very tight, fitted, pencil skirt with a slit drawn up to her thigh. She sauntered past Adora and slumped in the empty chair next to her. From new proximity Adora added caffeine, Chanel, and cigarettes to her memory bank under the title: late brunette.
“Nice that you showed up this morning Catra. We can discuss your lateness later. For now, Adora - please continue.”
Adora fidgeted, glancing nervously at Lonnie’s encouraging face to divert her attention away from her now clammier hands, and the presence beside her.
She cleared her throat.
“Right! Yes well – in conclusion, I think if we pull this off, Horde Inc will be the go-to marketing strategist for every social media campaign in the North.”
A small round of applause littered around the desk, and Adora felt satisfied by her introduction. She knew she knew what she was talking about, and could rhyme off marketing techniques in her sleep, in spite of frustrating interruptions.
Still, it was her first day and she wanted to make a good impression. Better to wipe the slate clean than to hold on to any grudges. She should probably get to know-
“Wow. You almost make it sound interesting.”
Adora frowned, and turned her head.
She was just about ready to defend her undergraduate, masters, and e-diploma before noticing the teasing smile on the brunettes’ face. She had crossed her legs in a definitively unfeminine way and her smile began to grow into a wolfish grin.
“I’m Catra, by the way. Gosh -I knew we were getting someone new but I didn’t realise how enthusiastic she was gonna be.”
“Well, aren’t you? Or are you only enthusiastic about Starbucks.”
“Excuse me-” Catra took a deliberate sip “I would never drink from such a disgusting capitalist chain.”
“Oh! Well, it’s a good thing you’re in marketing, then.”
“Whatever pays the bills.”
“And funds the coffee?”
“Mhmm... Buys my sexy office uniforms.”
Adora snorted. “Well that’s definitely true-“
Catra’s eyebrows flew up and she regarded Adora with an expression of exaggerated intrigue. What the fuck did I just say?!! Adora felt the heat rise as she tried to backpedal.
“Um- uh, I mean-“
Catra scoffed, took another sip of her coffee, and swallowed.
“Hmm. Well.” She paused. “Maybe this skirt was worth the price then…”
Catra’s voice dipped a note, and despite her best intentions Adora felt her eyes wander down to said clothing, were Catra was drawing distracting patterns just above the thigh slit. Her throat suddenly felt tight and heavy at the same time - and she struggled to remember the point of clothing at all.
“Uh uhmm uhh-“
Ok. Think, think. Flirting is fine. Just roll with the punches. She could do this! She just had to remove her brain from her crotch and put it back into her skull. She enjoyed a bit of banter as much as anyone.
“B-being naked is free?”
Catra stopped. Deadpanned. Before bursting into loud, shocked laughter. Adora felt all that blood at her crotch rush to her face as she realised she said possibly the most un-sexy rebuttal ever uttered. Before she even had a chance to gather her shattered pride Lonnie approached their chairs, curiosity adorning her features.
“Well I’m glad to see you two getting along? I haven’t seen Catra laugh in years - except for that Kyle incident.” An affronted blonde shot his head up from across the table.
“Ah well, you sure know how to pick ‘em, Lon. Looks like you’ve hired us someone special.” Catra slapped her hand down on Adora’s back and she jolted back from her shame pit. “This has been a lovely Monday morning but I really got a lot of important work to do.” Catra rose from her chair.
“It was nice meeting you – blondie.”
Adora watched, helplessly, as Catra exited the meeting room and tried to process her own fantastic faux-pas. She stared, the feminine silhouette retreating and mumbled the remainder of their conversation under her breath.
“It’s Adora…” She sighed.
“Don’t mind her, she gets on everyone’s nerves but she’s great at what she does- unfortunately.”
Lonnie’s voice snapped Adora back to the present. “C’mon, I’ll show you to your office!”
Adora rose from her chair and followed Lonnie down the hall, wondering what on earth just happened.