Chapter Text
It was a stressful day at the office of Trikru Public Relations. The day had begun with a call by one of their high profile clients, a talent agency based in Los Angeles. Even though Trikru was based in Washington DC it was no exception for clients to be further away, they were the best PR firm in the country and they had worked hard to earn their reputation. Indra Forester was not only the founder of the firm, but also its highly respected CEO. Her best PR Agents were still young but they were not to be underestimated.
Lexa Woods had come to Trikru as an intern a year before finishing up her studies at university, and after her graduation she had started at the firm officially, working her way up to her current position, as the head of her team and one of the best PR agents in the US. She was known for being sharpwitted and thorough, having backup plans for her backup plans, discreet, and professional at all times. No mess was too big for her, as a client had once pointed out she was persuasive enough to sell a camel sand in the desert. Today's mess required the best of the best, so Indra had had her assistant Harper call Lexa up for a meeting.
When Lexa arrived at the meeting room she was excited. Being called in meant that whatever it was, it was urgent. Lexa loved those cases, they were challenging and they helped her fine-tune her skills.
When she entered the room she saw Indra already sitting at the conference table, a laptop in front of her. She had one hand on the keyboard, the other one signaling for Lexa to sit down by her side. On her screen there was an open conference call and the face of a young man with dark hair filled the screen. He was not someone Lexa knew, and he was much more fidgety than anyone in his line of work should be. Indra introduced him as Bellamy Blake, a relatively new manager working for the talent agency they worked with quite often.
Even though he was new one of his clients was an up-and-coming actress that could definitely be described as high profile. Lexa had never heard of her, but if she was honest with herself that was rather because of her lack of a life outside of work than saying anything about the fame of the actress. She made a point of jutting down the name, having to look into her client anyway. Bellamy had caught her up with the situation afterwards. The actresses ex-boyfriend had turned on her and threatened to release private information on her should she not agree to 'try again' with him. She had expressed her unwillingness to do so, but now she did not know what to do in case he did release information on her.
Lexa felt bad for the woman, it was by far not the first woman that was pressured because of her fame, and sadly she definitely wouldn't be the last. Now Lexa had to compile all the information she could on the actress and prepare a few strategies that would not only help with containing the information but also with involving a legal strategy. The rest would have to be solved in person. Harper booked her the earliest flight, so Lexa would have to fly to LA the next morning at 7 am.
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The next morning Lexa arrived at the airport at 5 am. She passed through the security section and went to buy herself a coffee, a small bag in her hand. She had taken her laptop with her and downloaded the most well-known movie the actress had starred in from a streaming platform. In all honesty up until now Lexa had only concentrated on the information that was out there about the woman. She had seen some photos of her accompanying the articles, but most were taken by paparazzi and those were never exactly flattering to anyone. Sitting in the waiting area Lexa decided she would make use of her time as efficiently as she could, going over all the information once more and thoughtlessly scribbling down notes on her small notepad, suggesting different strategies.
When the time came to board the plane Lexa had already gotten through all her notes once again. She took her seat in the middle of the aisle and secured her luggage. The flight would take her almost 6 hours, so after they had taken off and they had the opportunity to take out their things again and move around the plane she took it as an opportunity to set up her laptop.
Due to her client being as well known as she was it was absolutely impossible for her to keep working on that in public, not in good conscience at least. She knew very well just how much damage a small slip up could do, and just how fast sensible information was spread. As it was probably a much better anyways she decided to take the opportunity to watch the movie instead, so she took out her laptop and set it up, only waiting for the stewardess to pass by with the food and drinks. She politely smiled at the woman, ordering herself a small cheese sandwich and a bottle of water. Once that was done she got rid of her blazer and hung it up on the hook on the seat in front of her.
Placing her large earphones on top of her head and plugging them into the laptop she got comfortable and started the movie, reclining into her seat. To say “Sky-princess” was not what she expected would have been a massive understatement. Within the first few minutes she noticed that she was getting invested in the movie. The characters were relatable, well rounded and the movie actually took its time to focus on the character's dynamics. While she was no fan of the science-fiction genre she had to admit that it opened up doors to some incredibly fascinating philosophical discussions.
It was minute 13 when her breath got stuck in her throat. The sky-princess had appeared for the first time, and Lexa couldn't look away. She was absolutely gorgeous, but also contradicting in the most beautiful way. Her aura was wild but her demeanor calm, she commanded the attention of the room as soon as she had entered and even after she had left her prior presence was still very much noticeable in the way her people held themselves.
The more the plot moved forward the more Lexa relaxed into her seat, eyes glued to the screen and waiting in rapt attention for the story to unfold. After 30 minutes the man in the seat next to her softly touched her arm, signaling that he had to go to the toilet. Lexa almost murdered the poor guy with her eyes, he had interrupted right at the point where the sky princess confessed her moral dilemma of being a ruler to her most trusted friend. Lexa was angry as she restarted the scene to experience it fully, this time around. She would never know what it was like to see the scene unfold for the first time and be completely emerged in it now, she realized sadly. The rest of the movie were exceptional as well, it was a study of human morale, friendship and sacrifice.
However, as much as she denied it, Lexa now understood why the actress was so well loved. Her acting spoke of an immeasurable dedication as well as an incredible amount of raw talent and work. For the first time since the start of her career Lexa had a feeling being professional might be more difficult this time around. Not only because the threat was on such a personal level to the woman, but also because Lexa had to admit she was absolutely taken by what she had seen of her so far. A hard working person that did what she loved most. Lexa could relate to that.
Still, meeting her in person would most likely be a completely different endeavor. She had to remind herself that a public persona and the private person behind it often differed vastly. She let those thoughts go for the time being, after the movie finished she had listened to some music and now she read the update Indra had sent her in the morning, regarding yet another case. This one however was far less complicated. It was a favor to Indra's old college friend who had needed some guidance Lexa happily provided.
Before she knew it the safety signs blinked on again, it was time to pack away her luggage and prepare for the landing. The landing was smooth, and the chaos that ensued when all began to leave the plane was as controlled as it could be. She waited for her luggage for almost an hour because there had been a mix-up with another flights luggage. In the end she was just glad it was there at all.
Bellamy had someone pick her up and so she made her way to the pick up area. None of the people present looked like the person Bellamy had described, so she wrote him a text asking about it. A few seconds later she heard someone clear their throat next to her. It was a smaller dark haired woman with a fierce expression. She introduced herself as Octavia Blake, Bellamy's sister. They made some small-talk on their way to the car, but as soon as they were alone the woman stopped speaking, eyeing Lexa warily.
“Okay let's hope you're all you're made out to be, we could really use someone of that caliber in our corner right now.” she said quietly. Lexa was intrigued, the woman obviously cared for the actress, or maybe for her brothers reputation. One could never really be sure about such things. Still, she could appreciate the fierceness of the woman. So she smiled at her, extended her hand and promised her she would do her best to spare them from being harmed. It seemed to be enough for the moment. Octavia gripped her hand firmly and nodded at her, a stern expression taking over her features.
The drive to their destination didn't take more than half an hour, which Lexa was secretly thankful for. Octavia didn't seem to have a need to talk after her first, vaguely threatening remarks, but then again neither did Lexa. She was content to just sit in silence, finally letting the forced smile slip off her face. It was bad enough she'd had to put on a smile for the past six hours on the plane. Aside from Octavia periodically glancing into the mirror and throwing a sharp expression her way the drive didn't include many interactions. Lexa looked out of her window and watched the scenery fly by, but instead of heading into some well off neighborhood like she expected, the car drove down a narrowing path into an area where buildings were getting more and more sparse.
After another few minutes of driving they passed through a small oak forest and Octavia stopped at a wooden gate. She got out, unlocked it with the electronic key held to the keypad, and re-entered the car while the big gates' doors swung open. After driving further onto the property Lexa noticed that the driveway was quite long and winded, the end of it kept out of sight from the front by large trees, quite obviously a deliberate choice. At the end there was a garage which was placed right next to a nice looking house with walls painted in a warm yellow. The gate of the garage was wide open as they approached. Lexa was let out of the car in front of the house as Octavia parked the car and stepped out, opening the trunk to retrieve Lexa's things, while the taller brunette took a look at her surroundings.
There was little warning, other than the sound of gravel, when a giant dog suddenly appeared and made a beeline for Lexa. She was glad that she had grown up around dogs, otherwise she would have probably shrieked away. Within a few seconds of her noticing it, the dog already barreled into her, jumping onto its hind legs and putting its gigantic paws on her shoulders as it stuck out its tongue and licked the side of her face. She looked around but there was no one in sight. Lexa had no idea who let their dog roam free here, but it could definitely be better trained. She was ripped out of her train of thought when she heard a loud string of laughter from Octavia, who had just realized what was going on.
“I see that you've already met Pakstoka.” Octavia honest to god giggled, finding amusement in Lexa awkwardly petting the giant dog that was now panting in her face, paws still on her shoulders. “She's usually acquainted with everyone here, so she probably just got excited over you being new here.” she added with an apologetic grin. “Come on, let's find your owner, Pak.” she said in the direction of the dog. As she said it a woman with a messy bun of blonde hair flew around the corner, panting as she came to a halt in front of Lexa. She placed her hands on her hips as she caught her breath.
“Pak, you really have to stop running to greet everyone all the time.” the blonde scolded the dog. “If it were anyone but Tavia or Link they'd probably have a heart attack, so stop it.” she continued with a stern raise of her finger. Pakstoka did look genuinely uncomfortable with the scolding and started started to softly whine. Lexa didn't even think before she started stroking the dog's head softly while murmuring assurances to it. The sound of her voice caused the blonde to finally turn her gaze to her face, making her freeze as soon as their eyes met. Lexa swore she could see the second that she saw the realization that a stranger had in fact already been jumped by her dog seemed to dawn on the the blonde as she started blushing furiously. Lexa raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk before remembering to go back to her professional persona. Well mannered as if she didn't still have a giant dog's paws on her she stuck out her hand for the blonde to take.
“Good day Miss Griffin. I'm Lexa Woods of Trikru Public Relations, I was in that call yesterday as well. I believe we had a last minute meeting set up in -” Lexa glanced at the silver watch adorning her wrist, as if she hadn't looked at it two minutes ago already “five minutes apparently. It's a pleasure to meet you.” she finished with a timid smile. The blonde's mouth had fallen open somewhere within the first few words out of her mouth and now she was gaping at Lexa openly. She dumbly shook Lexa's hand as she seemed to try regaining her composure, without much luck as Lexa noted. After a few times of opening and closing her mouth Lexa started shifting on her feet and softly pushed the dog off her, making it huff out in displeasure. “Let's go and get that meeting going then, shall we?” she asked, wearing the same professional expression that she forced on her face whenever it was just uncomfortable enough of a situation for her to need to lay on the charm a bit.
She only heard Octavia snicker behind her back, followed by the clicking of a dog's paws closely following her as she headed for the entrance, as well as a pair of heavier and more reluctant footsteps, the ones that belonged to her client as it turned out. This was not what Lexa had expected, however it rarely was and somehow that was the thrill of the job. It was much more unpredictable than anyone would think. Looking back at the woman that was currently trying to fix her hair in a ponytail while following her, Lexa realized that this assignment was going to be even more fon than expected. After all, she loved making pretty women blush, and Clarke Griffin was incredibly pretty. It had been a nice surprise to find her client less stuck up than her usual, much more down to earth, at least from the first impression.
“After you.” Lexa stated as the door swung open, holding her arm out to indicate that the blonde should go first. The gesture earned her another bright blush and a nod of her head, as well as a shy smile, while Pakstoka barreled through the front door before either of them managed to enter. Lexa turned away her head to hide the smile that appeared on her face. This were going to be a few fun days.