Archive of Our Own

Although Sadie isn't typically prone to magical thinking, she's increasingly coming to believe that her encounter with Katherine at the Chop House precipitated a series of crises that shows no sign of abating—as evidenced by Payne's CFO abruptly giving notice and throwing the other executives into a tailspin.

"Sadie, see if you can stop him from leaving," Katherine snaps once the news has come to light, which Sadie's 100% positive isn't her job.

"Wouldn't that be more convincing coming from you?" she asks tactfully, because the last thing she needs right now is to draw Katherine's ire, and Katherine tilts her head.

"No, he's pretty intimidated by strong women; I think it'd be better coming from you."

The words sting at first, and Katherine waits as if to let them before permitting herself a slow, knowing smirk that Sadie can't help answering with a smile.

--

So Sadie's duly having lunch with Jin, trying to hear him out before she attempts to make him reconsider, and she's surprised by the degree to which his disdain for Katherine raises her hackles.

"Have you ever noticed how she says right at the end of everything and you have to say right like you're agreeing with her even when she's wrong?"

"Sure," Sadie acknowledges, because she has noticed that and finds it endearing. "Katherine's an acquired taste."

"If anything, that woman is completely tasteless," Jin scoffs.

Sadie casts her mind back to watching Katherine's speech in Iowa, to how she'd so thoroughly compartmentalized what had just happened between them in the bathroom of the Millbank Town Hall that the folly of absently lifting a finger to her mouth and nibbling at the edge of her nail didn't occur to her until her tastebuds started prickling at Katherine's unmistakable tang.

"It's, you know, I respect where you're coming from," she stutters, and, yeah, strong woman or not, Katherine's going to have to talk to Jin herself.

--

Katherine's talk with Jin evidently doesn't go any better than her impromptu speech at the Payne Employee Appreciation Party because when Sadie knocks at her office door as a last port of call before heading home, the other woman looks more shaken than Sadie's ever seen her—and that's really saying something, because Katherine had handled even their first official introduction with commensurate grace, betraying no acknowledgment of their Chop House bathroom encounter as she extended her hand with a refined amusement that had struck Sadie as equal parts impressive and psychopathic.

"I think I'm in trouble," Katherine admits, and the slight crack in her voice makes Sadie's heart hurt. "I think the board might want me out."

"Oh," Sadie breathes, wondering why the prospect of a Payne without Katherine makes her feel so empty inside. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Katherine taps her index finger against her almost-empty glass, and while Sadie can't quite tell what's in there, she's positive that she wants some.

"No, it's late; you go home," Katherine says with a sigh. "I need some time to think, anyway."

Sadie bites her lip. "Or…"

Katherine raises an eyebrow.

"You could pour me some of that and we can talk about it."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, Sadie realizes the other woman was expecting her to suggest something more in line with banging it out in the executive bathroom—and, honestly, she isn't sure why her brain didn't go that route.

"I mean," Katherine begins lightly, "you had lunch with Jin today; you probably need a drink more than I do."

--

Although Katherine's workday brashness and bombasticity tend to leave little room for anything else, she strikes Sadie as softer after the sun's gone down—more authentic and less self-conscious, with a quick wit that Sadie can't help envying. In short, she's actually… OK, so Sadie would never admit it, but she's actually pleasant to talk to.

Once Sadie pulls up a chair, they put together a plan that involves leveraging the upcoming 65th Annual Payne Foundation Fundraising Gala to approach the board members individually and get them onside, and by the time they've finished discussing who they think will react better to Katherine than Sadie or vice versa, Sadie's feeling warm and confident, like the two of them can conquer the world.

"You're drunk," Katherine observes, leaning back in her chair, and Sadie suppresses a brief surge of defensiveness before realizing the other woman's right. After all, she hasn't eaten since her cursed lunch with their newly minted former CFO, and being around Katherine is pretty intoxicating on its own.

"I'm buzzed," she corrects nonetheless, because semantics make her feel better, and Katherine's lips quirk ever so slightly upward.

"Still, maybe you shouldn't be driving."

"You give me a ride home this time," Sadie says boldly, and she knows Katherine doesn't drive but she wants this anyway, wants to be chauffeured to her apartment so she can invite the other woman in.

Katherine leans across her desk. "Give me your phone," she demands in what Sadie recognizes as the tone she affects when she's trying not to laugh. "I'm ordering you an Uber."

Sadie's just drunk enough to think it'd be funny if she gripped the phone more tightly in response, although she lets go as soon as Katherine raps one perfectly manicured finger against her knuckle.

"Thank you," Katherine says reprovingly, and when she frowns down at the phone, Sadie steals a moment to visually trace the planes of her face.

It seems like their bathroom trysts happened so long ago—back before they were… friends, if that's even the way to describe things between them—and while she'd never venture down this mental path sober, her intoxicated self wonders vainly whether Katherine could ever see her as anything more than a means to an end.

"Your driver, Jack, is six to eight minutes away," Katherine informs her smoothly, reading the Uber notification aloud.

"What about you?" Sadie murmurs, accidentally-on-purpose grazing the other woman's wrist with her fingers as she takes back her phone, and Katherine eyes her steadily for a couple of seconds.

"I need to wash these out," she replies resolutely, indicating the glasses, but Sadie can't shake the feeling that part of her wants them to go home together.

"If you're worried about taking advantage of me, I don't think I'm drunk enough for that," Sadie volunteers helpfully, and Katherine lets out a throaty laugh.

"Whatever you say," she intones indulgently, and Sadie would be annoyed with her if not for the sweetly wry expression on her face. "Now, don't keep Jack waiting."