Damsel no more, p.9
Damsel: No More, page 9
part #1 of Damsel Series
It was actually a good idea. Not perfect, but instead of asking for more thoughts on the matter, she pulled her phone, quirked her mouth to the side and dialed her dad.
He picked up, since it was late, but not so much so that he wasn’t by a phone.
“This is Charles de Peyser, how may I help you?”
“Hey, Dad! Do you want to help me start a food bank?” It was a bit out of the blue, but she went on, before he could answer. “You and maybe some of your friends? We can use it for some positive publicity and if we get things wholesale and spread the costs, as well as the credit, around a bit, it won’t cost us too much for the possible benefit.”
She didn’t know that would work, but instead of scoffing and explaining that giving things away wasn’t a very good commercial model, there was a considering sound.
“That... We can do that. I’ll want the plan in writing, of course. That includes how you plan to get that advertising done for it. We could meet for that tomorrow? Over dinner? It’s been a while since you’ve been around. We have some things to talk about vis-à-vis the discussion of last night. That... From my contacts, it sounds as if the situation you mentioned should be fine enough. There are some potential risks, which is what I’d like to discuss.”
She thought for a second. It would be tight, trying to come up with a real plan, worth doing for business people, in that time.
“I’ll be there. Call it... Seven?” That was the traditional family mealtime, after all.
“Sounds great. I’ll see you then. I need to go now. By hon.”
The ending was a bit abrupt, but he did things like that, on occasion. It was a thing that Hannah had always lived with. He was a good man, but business came, if not first, then certainly far from last, in his life. It was what he did for fun, after all. Like a videogame addict, only making money, instead.
Looking up, she laughed a bit.
“Okay, step one is started. Now I just have to come up with a real plan for it. I... Also need to get to bed. Noon, tomorrow, Kate? I hate to just leave you...” That wasn’t going to work, or shouldn’t have. Veronica nodded.
“Okay. I get the idea. Still, we’re going out in a few days, right? I want some of the sweet sweet lovin’, which is my due as your fake girlfriend. Here, let me give you my number? Actually call though, or I’ll be all sad.”
That was entered into her phone, while the other two finished eating seconds. For a moment Hannah was a bit jealous of them. If she ate like that, she would have rapidly taken the shape of a beach ball. When they were done, not too long after, she had to force Veronica to take the remaining food with her, since leaving it there was an invitation for her to eat it.
She managed that kind of thing with the clever life hack of not having food in her house. A little, but never enough for her to actually go over the top with. Kate hugged her on the way out, with Veronica smiling on, but not trying for her own bit of cuddling, even after all of her earlier hinting. Flirting, and really, fairly heavy-handed offers. Then, Hannah had started it, saying they should claim to be dating.
That was on her then. After all, if you made the invitation, you couldn’t whine later, when people took you up on it. Plus, she was hot enough that Hannah was probably going to hit that, after she healed up a bit. Even if she was a bit off in the head. Fighting crime in a costume wasn’t normal.
It hit her then that police did that all the time, but she made herself not think about that, since random laughter as people left her apartment might be taken the wrong way.
Katie was in the building’s system, which basically meant that she lived there, after a fashion, as far as the management there was concerned. The doorman still called up to make certain it was all right for her to be there, but the truth was that, if she drove in, Kate could have simply gone up the elevator without being stopped at all. Hannah could do the same thing at her friend’s house, but that was a private residence. She had a key for it though, in case it was ever needed.
Normally she would have waited for a text, before going to bed, but that night she just washed her face, stripped and fell into bed, exhausted. That meant she slept, pretty hard, until nine in the morning. An almost regular time for real people to get up.
She grimaced as she got ready, still sore from the rest of her life and the attempted murder. The falling on her behind hadn’t helped, she was willing to bet. At first, she was planning to call a cab to get her to the gym, which wasn’t a club at all, being a private exercise facility. A few other people used it, but it was actually owned and paid for by Kate. Out of her own money. She made that kind of thing, from a half dozen different sources. Television was only part of it.
Hannah had a few concerns as well, but wasn’t nearly as smooth as the other woman was that way. Not that it was a big difference, when it came down to how they lived. Truly, Hannah had more money than her friend did. Then, the only people that kind of thing was really important to were poor. Which, once she thought about it, made perfect sense. There was danger in not having the resources that she did. True, having them could be a problem as well, but it wasn’t supposed to be that way.
Her being taken for ransom was a side effect of her father’s value in the world. Being poor was always thought of as a bad thing, really. Sometimes a failure, but always a negative. At least as far as she knew about.
Which, she decided, was a good enough reason to run with the plan that Katie had come up with. Also, she needed to get with her and ask if there was another season of her show coming out and if, possibly, she could help her shill the new project, since that had to count as advertisement. It would give her at least one thing to mention to her father later. Which, of course, needed to be in writing. That... Was strange. He’d never asked for that kind of thing before from her. Even the ones that had, in the end, cost a lot of money. Part of her wanted to squirm at the idea and go all super princess on the matter, crying and asking why he hated her.
The rest, probably the more adult portion, if she had such a thing, kind of got it. She, for the first time in her entire life, had suggested something that wasn’t just for her or even a personal friend. Hannah hadn’t suggested it as a lark or game, either. It was a humanitarian project. Sure, she had an ulterior motive, but even that could be taken as being positive. Even in the press. Not that she was going to let that part happen. Really, that was another portion of things that she kind of had to look into. What Alistair wanted. He might have another plan already, or even have something else lined up, that simply didn’t show on the internet. Assuming otherwise was, in the end, probably her being a mega-bitch.
Her plan had been to wear sexy lycra once there, but then she realized that doing that would mean having to go unarmed. She put on regular clothing, which were, commonly enough, an old pair of barely worn blue jeans, little white socks, her running shoes, since they went with the jeans, and a large, almost baggy sweatshirt. A thing that, she realized, had been left by a short-term boyfriend of hers, years before. The guy had, actually, been nice.
He just hadn’t been into her partying four nights a week, since when she did that, she tended to go home with other people. So they’d broken up, without even a shouting match being involved. A thing that meant he, Donald, had been pretty cool. It certainly hadn’t been her great behavior handling things at the time.
That meant one cab ride, which wasn’t too long, and a heavy sports bag, got her to the facility at about eleven forty-five. They had a reception area, but no guards in sight. Then, no one was going to force their way in there, most days. There was nothing inside to steal and only a select few people even knew that it existed.
It was huge, given that. The kind of place that businesses couldn’t have supported in that area, if they had to pay rent. The trick there was one that Hannah was up on. Kate’s family had owned the building for over a hundred years. It had been refurbished, but while the rent on it would have taken a good chunk of a million per year, all that was required were the taxes on it be paid and the upkeep. That wasn’t cheap, but also wasn’t what most people would have had to pay to do the same thing.
The woman at the desk, Darla, who she recalled because she had both a name tag and stunning light blue eyes, even if she was a bit round and not much taller than Hannah, lit up on seeing her.
“Hello! Ms. Sinclair mentioned you’d be here at noon, to use the facilities.” She glanced at the clock and nodded. “Which are open right now. She just came in, about five minutes ago, in fact. In the changing room?” There was a pointing then, to the left-hand side.
“Thanks, Darla.” Not knowing what else to say to the receptionist, she waved a bit and walked in the direction indicated. She had been there before, a few times, so knew the way.
It wasn’t exactly a locker room on the inside, though, if the fancy furniture was taken out, the nice mirrors and art on the walls, the rest of the place would look pretty similar. There was a soft salmon colored tile on the floor and the walls were a slightly different shade of that same hue. There were no baskets, but there were a half dozen small rooms to change in, and cabinets to stow the gear in, along the far wall. Getting ready took a few minutes, but most of that was about trying to hide the knife on her, since she didn’t have a pocket that day.
In the end she had to borrow some sports tape and simply put it on the back of her left wrist. It looked funny, but it was a private building, so hopefully she could explain the strange lumps and obvious weapons.
Then, after hearing a door open and close, she moved to the indoor track, which was on the ground level. It wasn’t vast, of course, being less than the footprint of the building. It also wasn’t out in the rain, or in a place where a dozen cameras would catch her trying to do her bizarre walking trick.
She started right into that, the gun on her waist, under her shirt, feeling awkward and heavy. The knife wasn’t that bad, thankfully. Then, focusing, trying to relax every muscle in her body, she began to move. Attempting to flow through the world. Not moving up, or down. Simply forward. She failed, a lot. Plus, even if it was supposed to be easier, her ankles started to get sore after fifteen minutes or so. She just turned and went in the other direction, which, after a while, meant she noticed that Doctor Dan the hottie, looking muscular and more like eye candy than a fitness guru or whatever his degree was in, and Kate, her hair pulled back, were both standing and watching her.
Only one of them was smiling.
It wasn’t the doctor.
“Sink your weight more. Like you’re about to sit down. Not too much... There! How does that feel?”
Hannah grimaced, but had to agree it was a bit better. Plus, she was moving a little faster, for some reason.
“Good. My ankles are starting to kill me though. Plus, I’m... Gasping... a bit.”
That part was hammed up, because it wasn’t that difficult really. The man clapped though. Happily.
“That will fade with practice. This is... A pretty good example of the fourth gait. Most people don’t know what that is. You’ll have to put in, oh, a hundred hours before it really feels natural to you. How long are you doing today?”
“An hour? If I can. I have orders not to go beyond an hour and a half a day, but to try and do this every day, even if it does look funny.”
Kate nodded at that, grinning, but the man next to her seemed far more serious.
“Heh. People thought jogging looked strange, in the late sixties. People should be doing this instead. It’s lower impact and less stressful, while giving just as good of a cardio work out. When you’re done with this, come see me?”
She nodded, not getting why he’d want her to do that kind of thing. Kate, who owned the track, so was used to daily running on it, moved in next to her, keeping up easily enough. Jogging fast, instead of slowing down to match what she was doing, which was a first.
“I told him that you wanted to get more flexible for your hot new girlfriend. So... Veronica seems nice.” There was a grin then, as if the teasing wasn’t what would be expected.
Hannah just nodded.
“A bit weird, too. Not enough to be an instant deal breaker, but I’m not thinking wedding bells yet, you know?”
That had Kate coughing, for some reason.
“Oh... Right. That would be a bit quick. Didn’t you meet last night? Or was that... I mean, if you were dating her, I’d have no problem with that.”
Hannah kept moving, not speaking for a long time. Then she shook her head.
“Of course you wouldn’t... I mean... You know that I’ve dated women before and didn’t have an issue with it then. Also, if you’re getting jealous... Well, you don’t really swing that way. Unless you’ve changed your mind? Then... Well, we aren’t really dating, if you want to take a crack at her? She’s freaking hot, so I can’t blame you.”
That got a sound that seemed suspiciously like a snort.
“Not that one. I just meant that it would all right for you to, you know, go out with someone like her. A superhero?” She waited then, clearly expecting some kind of a big reaction. Which truly was what Hannah was feeling.
Instead of running with that, she snapped the fingers of her right hand. It got a sudden look, which was the point.
“Right... Are you doing your show again, or was that a one-time thing?” There had been talk, but no confirmation, before. Which was fine, since, normally, she didn’t even want publicity. She’d only gone on the thing as a favor to her friend, or at least the producers of the show.
There was a pause then, as they kept moving, speeding up a tiny bit, in fact.
“We’ve been re-upped for another season. In fact... I was kind of asked if I could have you on more, this time? People actually like you, for some reason. I mean, you didn’t even have to flash the goods to get their attention, or anything.”
It was an old joke between them really. The easiest way for people like them, or at least her, since Kate was already kind of famous, to get public attention, was to flash a camera. That was a bit short lived and after a while stopped working. Not that there was anything wrong with nudity or even being a bit underdressed in the right circumstances.
She made a soft sound then. Like a hum, really. A soft thing that was probably out of place.
“I guess? We could put forward your excellent food bank idea, on the show, if I can get any backing for it? I want partial credit for it, so, you know... We can call it Kate and Friends Gourmet Food Bank?”
It suddenly sounded crass, putting it that way, so she grimaced.
“That isn’t... I mean I’m good with your name being on it, if that works for you? I just don’t want to be a cunt like that. Real people need help, sometimes. I just...”
Her friend ran with her for a bit, as she leaned forward a bit more, pushing her hands out to get that to happen. She was breathing hard, but they both were. The important thing was that she was keeping up.
Her best friend touched her sweaty arm, suddenly.
“Look, I get it. You’re doing the right thing. That’s good enough. You don’t have to pretend to be offended at everything in the world to make me happy. I might roast you for a bad joke, but I won’t throw you to the wolves over it.”
The words made sense, given the social climate they lived in, still, for once, Hannah got to shake her head at the idea.
“I honestly didn’t mean it that way. Which, I know, shock and awe, right? I just want to be a better person. If I’m going to change everything else, I might as well try to do that, too.” She took a deep breath, kind of wanting to be done with the slightly painful funny walk for the time being, but pushing through it anyway. “Now... Veronica is a superhero? What’s with that?”
Kate laughed then, smiling for a few moments.
“Well, she told me that you two went and fought a guy with fire powers last night. Her transforming into some kind of liquid combat armor and you... Helpfully getting the fire department to handle things? Then I looked it up, and noticed that, indeed, right there on the web is a blurry picture of a superhero called Cry Diamond, with a certain blonde woman in the background. No one bothered to point out that you two were together, but...”
“But what?”
“Well, a lot of people know who she is. I mean, I found it on Google, in like, five minutes, with no more than her name. She told me that she’s really small time, but that isn’t exactly true. I mean, she has actual fan clubs and people who track her every move. She’s been involved with some big things, too. I mean, the names that she’s linked to... Well, for the most part, she just dated them, but it’s there. That could be a bit dangerous, if you were hanging around her. Not that you can’t handle yourself. Just, I mean, I’m good with it, and no one really goes after people who are with that kind of person, thankfully. Still, they attract trouble, you know?”
She kind of did, actually.
“More to the point, they find it and wade headlong into it? That isn’t the best way to live your life, really. A lot of them do help people though. Still... That guy? The one with the fire dripping from his body and hands? He was pissed, because the court gave his cheating wife most of his net worth. That was what it sounded like, anyway. I mean, he wasn’t trying to take over the world, or break into a bank... He was just a normal guy having a bad day, who, by the way, had powers. Now he’s going away for it. They... The government isn’t kind to people with that kind of ability at the best of times. I don’t even know what they’ll do to a person like that. Only, I mean, sure, maybe he’s always burning stuff down, but what if it was just this one time, after being screwed over in a way that might make a lot of people snap?”
She didn’t know where the words were coming from really. Most of her life had caused her not to think that criminals were ever in the right, at all. Not that burning down the house the night before had been. People could have been hurt, after all. That didn’t mean she couldn’t understand that it wasn’t fair to begin with.
Honestly, she doubted that Kate Sinclair was going to have an opinion on such things at all. If it came, she had to figure that it would be a tiny bit moralistic and conservative, even though she really wasn’t that, most of the time. There was a glance at the knife on the back of Hannah forearm, then a wrinkled nose.
