I waited for over an hour at the little coffee shop at the train station. I sat idly on a sticky faux leather stool stirring my cappuccino, watching all the unhappy people walking past the window. I checked my watch again: 10:36. I sighed and took a sip. Dan was late…again. He was supposed to pick me up since I couldn't walk that far to his house. He'd probably slept in, it wouldn't surprise me.
Now, technically an orphan, I had to drag my underage ass to live with my cousin until I could access my trust fund to buy my own apartment. It was only for a couple of months, but it wasn't exactly getting off to a good start. I hated New York.
Everything about it just screamed at me, the thugs, drugs, attack statistics etc. It made my skin crawl. Yeah, I knew every city had it's dark areas, but none of them were this bad surely. The streets were over-crowded, over-populated, filled with murderers and rapists in all the darkened apartments.
Well, it was either this or going to live with my other cousin in England. I think new York was the lesser of two evils if I was honest. I had nothing against England, but I knew Dan better and my chances of getting attacked were very slim if I lived with him. The Nite Owl. I had a small chuckle to myself. I called them his "rodeo days". The masked bandits of New York, the Watchmen. He showed me the picture of them all together, he looked…happy.
It was a strange thing, to think that he thought he could protect justice with his gang of vigilantes. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think what he was doing was wrong…it's just, for every good guy out there, there was going to be three times as many bad ones. This world was rotten, I wish Watchmen had worked for New York. The police was useless, what justice could they "extract" in this shit-hole of a city? The death penalty was just a joke, and prison was the biggest laugh of all. You killed a child? Oh, well, we'll put you on death row for a couple of years where you can watch cable and eat nachos and then we'll put you right to sleep. It was pathetic, frustrating.
I looked at the people rushing past: late for work, late for job interview, dentists etc. It was so tedious. People drag themselves out of bed for a days work for nothing, get money, buy things, die. I was in such a dark mood, I didn't notice Dan rush into the coffee shop. I started when he sat opposite me. His goofy grin always made me smile. There were beads of water on his glasses and they were starting to steam up.
"Kathy! I am so sorry I'm late," he began, taking off his glasses. "The traffic was horrendous and the weather leaves something to be desired." I smirked at him.
"You want anything to drink?" I asked. He shook his head, still smiling. I called the grubby waitress for the bill. She sneered as she walked past, thinking I couldn't see. I rolled my eyes and asked Dan how he was.
"I'm fine, healthy as a horse," he said, stretching. "And yourself?" His expression turned sympathetic. He was just so darn nice. I shrugged. "I'll survive." He nodded, and began cleaning his glasses. The waitress came back and practically slammed the bill onto the table, causing my half drunk cappuccino to spill over the sides of the cup. She then flounced off, her greasy blonde hair swinging in it's ponytail. I peeked at the tiny number and got out my purse. Dan shook his head and got out his wallet.
"Hey, I'm paying for this. It's my fault you had to wait so long." I hesitated and he put down double the amount that it said on the bill. I snatched up the money and put down the original and shoved the rest of the money back at him.
"Don't you dare tip. It's bad enough having to pay that much for a cup of liquidised, watered-down shit. She can learn to adjust her attitude problem first before she gets anything." Dan laughed and raised his hands in defeat, putting the rest of the money back into his wallet.
"You wanna scoot out of here?" He asked. I nodded so enthusiastically my head nearly came off. I picked up my suitcase from underneath the table and Dan looked shocked. "Don't you have more stuff?" I shook my head.
"I like to travel light." He smirked and led the way out of the "Coffee" shop into the pouring rain. I was drenched nearly instantly.
"Don't you have an umbrella?" I shouted above the roar of the rain smacking down on the tarmac. He shook his head, sending rain flying around his head in a halo.
"It wasn't that bad when I set off," he shouted back, that goofy smile on his face. "We'll have to run, my car isn't that far away." I laughed at him and held onto the tail of his coat like a baby elephant holding onto it's mother's. I looked at all the business people holding onto newspapers over their heads, and I laughed all the harder. They might as well as had their god-damn laptops over their heads for all the good that little scrap of paper was doing.
There was one person, who like me and Dan, had no protection from the thundering rain. He was holding a board reading "The End is Nigh", his dark red hair plastered over his forehead, a dark green suit thoroughly wet through. He watched me and Dan run through the rain with some curiosity. Then his eyes struck me. They were a beautiful shade of blue and so stunning that I stopped running completely. We both stared at each other across the street. He just captivated me with those beautiful eyes that pierced me with loneliness. They were a stark contradiction to his face, which wasn't beautiful. I wouldn't have called him ugly, but he wasn't handsome either. He had a rugged toughness that instantly demanded my respect, but those lonely eyes were the only insight into his feelings. His face was stony, cold, remorseless. Rain poured down his face in small rivers, breaking up across his cheekbones. There was some grey coloured stubble which contributed to his haggard appearance.
I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't know exactly what to say. He gave me one more curious glance but was lost in a sea of people, and was gone. I waited for him to reappear, but he just…vanished. I stood in the rain, watching the place where he stood until Dan came rushing back up to me.
"You're going to catch a cold," he shouted in my ear. I barely flinched and, still watching the space, I opened my mouth to ask him who he was, but Dan dragged me off to his car around the corner. I shut my mouth instantly as I sat inside, I knew it was a pointless question and Dan wouldn't even know who it was anyway. There were loads of homeless tramps in new York, but none quite as fascinating as him. I heard the slam of the trunk as Dan put away my suitcase and he sat down beside me, shivering. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with a rag he'd taken out of the door pocket. We were both breathless. He caught my eye and we both started laughing.
"And now," he said, still chortling. "We set off to my humble abode." He put the key in the ignition and we were on our way. We drove for a while in a comfortable silence, Dan was humming and I was watching the rivulets of water run down the window, past the stark grey of the buildings. I looked at my reflection in the window. My hair was straggly and looked black because of the water, which isn't a good look for me because I'm really pale. I was a Goth for a couple of years back when I was thirteen, I was quite good at it. Then I realised that Goths weren't socially accepted and it made me a bit unapproachable when I went looking for a summer job. That phase didn't last long.
My Dad didn't really give a damn and my Mom was killed when I was less than a month old. We lived in New York back then, but after my Mom died we moved to Canada. Lovely, pretty Canada where there is actual grass and trees as opposed to this depressing grey jungle ahead of me.
Dan cleared his throat and asked.
"So, erm, how was the funeral?" I peered at him out of the corner of my eye. I smirked sardonically.
"It was bullshit. A load of priests who didn't know him started preaching about how good he was and how he had given so much to the world. I only went to see the last nail hammered into his coffin, and then they set fire to the bastard. His whore was there crying, I didn't say anything or talk to anyone. I just wanted to get away." My Dad died last month: heart attack. Dan nodded.
"I don't blame you. He wasn't really a nice person." I scoffed, that was a bit of an understatement. Five years after my Mom died, he hooked up with a gold-digging whore. She was barely my age now when she met him…he had just hit fifty. I hated her, she always turned him against me. And in the end, it was her who got his legacy. He was an oil-tycoon, or in other words, made a shit-load of money for sitting on his fat ass. She got the house, the cars, the money: nearly everything. I was surprised when I was called to the hearing, the smug bitch was smiling all the way through. He had left me some money since it wasn't entirely possible for little-Miss-blonde to tear me from his "heart". I barely even knew him since he just dumped me on nannies from birth until I was twelve because "babies scared him". Apparently, I was an accident. He was married to my Mom for twenty-five years, he thought she couldn't even have children at her age. He only wanted to know me from twelve onwards because I had "some sense about me". He spoiled me rotten, up until the whore thought I was getting a bit too much attention. In the end, she told lies and, the stupid fool he was, he believed her over me. So I lived with Dan's Mom, until she became too old and had to be put in a nursing home. Then he died. So here I was.
"What did he leave to you?" Dan asked curiously. I shrugged and was quiet for a moment. I didn't like disclosing this information to anyone, but I trusted Dan.
"Fifty million," I muttered. His reaction was akin to the Bitch's when she heard, but his was more polite.
"Holy crap? You being serious?" He exclaimed, taking his eyes off the road. I turned his head back around before continuing.
"Yep, it appeared Daddy dumpling didn't want his little accident to go hungry in the big, bad world. I can't touch it until I'm eighteen, so I have the bad luck to have to live with you until I can write my first check." His mouth was still open, then he laughed along with me. I continued.
"I studied as a nurse back when I was living with your Mom, So I'd like to work at the hospital, but donate my wages to the children's section." Dan smiled and grabbed my hand. He gave it a squeeze and said.
"That's real nice." I grinned at him. We were silent again for the remainder of the trip, and I just couldn't stop thinking about the red haired guy in the street. He sparked my curiosity like nothing else ever had. He fascinated me, ensnared me, captured me with the lonely sadness in his piercing eyes.
X
The beginning of my first Watchmen fanfic, I hope you enjoy ^^. I've decided to try and write long chapters for this one as my other two have very short chapters that aren't really that popular. Well, if you could tell me what you think that would be great. Thanks for reading
xxx