"They will not force us. They will stop degrading us. They will not control us. We will be vi-"
Laurel slammed off her alarm, closing her eyes to the sliver of light sneaking through her cheap blinds. She knew she needed to change them, she just really didn't feel like it, nor did she really have the money. Fresh out of law school, Laurel really had little money, save for the help she got from her parents every now and then between jobs. All she needed was to find a firm willing to hire her so she could get a living wage. Anything would do, just enough to keep the lights on in that crappy studio apartment. Luckily in winning a all of the cases she's been able to grab onto, Laurel was able to find work at a quicker pace and now had 2k in her savings account rather than the $200 she started out with.
Laurel slid out of bed, her feet instantly slamming against the ground from the ledge of her extremely low bed. She took a moment to glance at the clock beside her bed before getting up and walking to the kitchenette, placing two pieces of toast in the toaster and grabbing a banana before going to the bathroom. She quickly u-turned back around to her closet and grabbed a few nice underclothes; underwear, spanx, tights, bra, and a cotton tank top. Laurel quickly changed and went back out in time for the toast to pop up. She slathered on mixed berry preserves and finished off the toast, gulping down a glass of water and eating the banana. Laurel grabbed a grey blazer, with a matching pencil skirt, and a light green button-up shirt. She finished up her makeup and daily routine and quickly went out the door, rushing to the bus with her phone in her hand, and her briefcase in the other. A short drive to her temporary firm, Laurel quickly left the vehicle before she got stuck on it for another round and walked three blocks to her office. She walked into the nice building, clocking in and taking the elevator to the 5th floor where other trainees were. She went to her desk and spread out her latest case. Her current one was for a high-profile out of state politician, and she knew she could win it. Apparently, this young woman damaged his car and there's video evidence and witnesses. This woman couldn't win even if she tried. After a few hours of going through her case and calling up her client, someone rapped on her desk.
"Miss Lance, good morning." Mr. Jurist greeted. "You have a visitor."
"Who?"
"Miss Queen."
"Oh, yeah, I'll be down in a moment!" She smiled cleaning up her desk and reorganizing her notes before standing up.
Laurel stood up and stretched as she made her way to the elevator with another co-worker she really didn't know that well, only that he was the trade of the office to many other co-workers. Laurel got to the bottom floor and walked to the lobby where Thea was sitting, texting someone on her phone.
"Thea!" Laurel smiled.
"Hey, Laurel." She greeted back, hugging her friend.
"Sorry, I totally forgot. How long have you been waiting?"
"About three minutes."
"Thank god I told you to come here."
"You didn't, but I knew you'd forget."
"Oh."
"Yeah 'Oh'." Thea laughed. "Come on, let's go."
"So do you wanna go to Johannes'?"
"Sure, but this time I'm not ordering peppers on mine."
"Seriously not that hot. Just a basic pepper for a kick."
"That kick knocked the hell outta me then."
"Come on princess." Laurel teased going out to get a taxi.
It took four minutes to finally hail one, and they took a fifteen minute drive to the small local restaurant. Thea paid the cabbie, eliciting a snarky joke from her friend.
"Still on your parent's bank account?"
"Of course, why not? Why work when I can just bother my brother whenever I want? Him and you."
"Thank you for taking time out of your day to bother me." She smirked.
"Always. Come on before the line gets too long." She laughed. Thea opened the door, letting Laurel walk through and get into line for her. "What're you getting?"
"Food."
"Yeah, obvs, dude. What's gonna be on it?"
"More food, it's like food-ception."
"Jerk."
"Hey, you took me out of work, what else did you expect?"
"Nothing more nor less. Talking about work-"
"Something you have no experience in."
"What's your current case like?"
"I'm working with a politician on a crime committed against him. Some young woman vandalized his car."
"Who?"
"Representative Sanchez from Maine."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's bad. She took a sledge hammer and spray paint to it. I feel bad, but at the same time, he can just buy another one, she just needs to spend time away before she should come back into civilized society." Laurel shrugged. "Hey, Johan, may I have the Cali on whole wheat? How is Calli, by the way?"
"Great, thanks Laurel. How are your parents?" He answered with his rolling R's and a great big smile.
"As good as they can be." She shrugged. "Dad got promoted again, he's really happy, but complains a lot about his taxes now."
"I can imagine him doing that." He smiled, sliding down to fix Thea's sandwich. "And what would you like, Thea?"
"I'll take a… Recharger with no peppers."
"But that's what give it the kick!"
"That's what I told her." Laurel laughed thumbing to her friend.
"I found that peppers don't really like me at all. At all." She shrugged. "Thank you Johan." Thea pushed Laurel away from the register as they both got out money. "My treat, Laurel. Put your money away."
"God, so pushy."
Thea smirked and typed in her card number into the device as Laurel chose a table outside, setting the food down as she waited for Thea to join her.
"So, you told me that you were looking for a job." Laurel began.
"Yes, you got anything for me?"
"Yeah, you can be my assistant when I get big."
"Walk all over me?"
"Yeah." She joked. "I actually have been getting some offers, but I do have to get this case over with before I can move to a different firm, it's in my contract, 7 cases and I'm free to move onto another firm."
"So, who's been seeking you out?"
"A few other firms, but there was a letter sent to me be the D.A. who was hopeful in having me become one of their assistants, but I don't know. I'd rather help people than hold a cool title."
"The D.A.?"
"Yeah, wait do you not know who the D.A. is?"
"No, not really."
"Spencer, Kate Spencer. You should really know who she is."
Thea's phone began to ring in her pocket, "Screw you." She laughed answering the phone. "Hey Ollie."
"Hey, you having fun with Laurel?"
"Yeah, and what about you and Sara, is she with you?"
"Hey T!" She heard Sara greet.
"Hey. Am I on speaker phone?"
"Yup."
"Awesome. So, why'd you call?"
"Just checking in on our agreement."
"Now's not the time, Oliver."
"I think now's the perfect time. Food always makes Laurel happy, as long as she doesn't make it, and you took her to Johannes like I told you right?"
"Yes, I did."
"Good, now tell her. Don't chicken out of it."
"I mean isn't it weird, like a family affair thing?"
"You mean because the Queens are with the Lances?"
"Yeah."
"Sara and I have fun, you really like Laurel, so… yeah. Anyway, just checking in and reminding you. Why spend your money on cats when you can spend it on a canary."
"How long did it take you to think of that one?"
"Actually off the cuff."
"Impressive."
"I know right? Good bye Thea."
"Bye, Ollie." Thea ended the call and looked up at Laurel who was halfway through her sandwich. "He says hi, and so does you sister."
"Oh my god. I really wish she'd just find someone to settle down with rather than just screwing you brother, no offense."
"I agree. They're better friends with benefits than a couple."
"What did he want?"
"We have an agreement that I have to keep."
"What is it?"
"A stupid bet I made last night."
"All best bets are made at night." She sarcastically jibbed.
"Not mine."
"I know, it was a joke. Ha ha ha." She explained with a fake laugh to finish.
"I think it was smart, but I really don't have the guts."
"What is it, Thea?"
"Ijust wanted to tell you, and I hope this doesn't negatively affect our relationship, that I… I'm interested in you."
"You want to date?"
"... Yeah?"
"Wow, that's… amazing, I'm glad you had the courage to tell me. Umm… I honestly don't know what to say. I-" Laurel's phone blared an alarm. She stood up, finishing her sandwich. "Shit. I have to go, my boss is paging me. We'll talk about this later, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Take your time."
Laurel leant over the table and pecked Thea on the lips. "We'll take our time."
She quickly jogged to the side of a busy street to hail a taxi and hopped in. hea watched her fly away, feeling like her heart was in fire and her adrenaline pumping through her body at her latest outing.