Good lord! It's been too long since I updated this! I am so sorry. Life and other commitments threw themselves at me. And continue to do so.
Thank you for sticking around. I hope I haven't lost any of you yet.
This takes place about a year after the second chapter ended.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my crazy ideas and any OC's that may appear.
3
Rubbing her tired eyes, Grace stood from her chair and stretched her aching muscles. She rubbed her neck to work out the kinks. Writing her final essay on Ancient Greece & Rome wasn't so bad. It was the sitting for long hours typing it up that was such a drag.
She was in her second year at GU and majoring in history. It surprised Grace how much school helped with her personal life. She regained some sort of normality while attending her classes-it provided her an anchor of sorts. She was far from completely healed, but she had something to work towards – graduating university.
Then getting away from this hellhole, Grace thought. She rubbed her hands over her face. She winced as she heard a pop in her back.
"God damn it," she muttered softly. Grace walked around her room giving her muscles some exercise. She rolled her head a few times before returning to her desk. She was about to continue her writing when she received a buzz from her phone.
"Hey…you almost done?"
Grace smiled at Laurie's text.
"Almost. Why?" She replied back. Grace placed the phone next to her as she began to type the rest of her essay. The buzz of her phone distracted her once again.
"Because I'm bored! And I need my friend to save me from it. Left to my own devices…blah, blah, blah"
Grace laughed out loud. Laurie had a very odd habit of getting into some peculiar situations. She thought about ditching her essay for Laurie but Grace really liked this class. She texted her friend back.
"Give me an hour or so. I'll be free then. I'll text you when I'm all done."
Grace continued with her essay until she heard her phone buzzing once more. A brief glance at the message made her smile.
"I'm friends with a smarty pants. lol. See ya soon smart ass."
Shaking her head with a grin, Grace quickly finished her essay. She wanted to get the hell outta here.
"You dragged me all the way out here for this?" Grace looked over her soft drink and smirked as Laurie threw a fry at her.
"Says the one that inhaled that burger," Laurie retorted. The pair laughed.
"So, how is the job hunting going?" Grace asked after a moment of comfortable silence. The other girl shrugged.
"Alright I suppose. I had another interview at that place by Gotham Central Library…"
"Wait…that run down building? The one that was all boarded up a few months ago? That belonged to our cousin, ya know."
"Yeah, it was up until a few months ago. Your sister-"
"Step sister," Grace quickly corrected.
Laurie rolled her eyes but continued.
"…step sister bought the place. Said she was going to convert it to some real estate office or something. She was looking for an assistant and asked me if I knew anyone. I told her that I was looking. And here I am," Laurie finished with a flourish.
Grace thought for a moment.
"Real estate? Kate? Are you sure we're talking about the same person?"
Laurie just glared at her.
"It'll be a few years before it's all cleaned up and everything but Kate said she was going to pay me regardless. Said she needed a personal assistant right now anyways." Laurie finished. She watched as her friends' eyes narrowed as she thought for a moment.
"Personal assistant? Really?"
Laurie pursed her lips. She didn't understand Grace's beef with her stepsister.
"Yes! Personal assistant. Seriously, what is your deal with your step sister? She offered me a job Grace. And I took the offer! Some of us aren't born with money, ya know!" Laurie replied angrily.
Grace closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her now.
"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like tha-"
"I'm tired of you back talking your sister. I get it, you guys aren't really close. I get it ok. But she is trying to make good. You might want to give her a chance."
Laurie sighed tiredly as she finished. She didn't mean to snap like that but sometimes her friend needed a good smack to the head. At least a verbal one.
"You're my best friend Grace and I love you. But sometime you can be a mule about stuff. You need to grow up and let it go. Stop being so angry at everyone. The world isn't such a bad place."
With that, Laurie stood up and picked up her tray. She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her friends head then turned to toss the contents of their dinner into the trash. Before leaving, Laurie stopped by the table once more.
"I'll see you around Grace."
Grace watched as Laurie turned and left the restaurant. Her friend was right. But it was a hard habit to break. After a few more minuets of going over what Laurie had said, she sighed heavily. Getting up, she tossed her empty drink and turned to leave.
It had gotten a little cooler since they arrived. Grace pulled up the zipper on her leather jacket and stuffed her hands into her pockets. She started walking to where she had parked.
Unknown by Grace, the dark figure perched high above, just watching her.
The redhead looked on as Grace looked around before entering her car. The caped figure heard everything that had been said. A moment later, Grace drove off. Batwoman took out her device and shot up into the air before landing onto another roof top.
It was going to be a long night.
It was almost an hour since Grace arrived home. The house was empty; her mother and Mr. Kane at some charity gala.
The young woman sat in the large entertainment room, flipping through the channels; not finding anything of interest. She decided to power up her video game system. Tossing the remote to the side, Grace settled into the plush sofa and put her feet up on the coffee table and waited for her game to begin.
She heard the front door open the softly close about 20 minuets later. A moment later, Kate poked her head into the room.
"Hey…you on your own?" Kate asked softly.
Grace glanced up at her. Kate was in her regular 'attire'. Dark jeans, a white long sleeve shirt rolled up to her elbows and a red t-shirt over it.
She was about to give a snappy reply but remembered Laurie's words. She took a moment before answering.
"Uh, yeah. They're at some event or something. They won't be back to really late…I think."
Kate felt the small victory but quickly recovered. She sat on the armrest of the sofa and she looked down at her stepsister.
"Have you eaten? I was gonna order some pizza…if your interested."
"I already ate earlier. Sorry," Grace replied before turning back to the TV. Kate knew that already but she still felt a little disappointed.
"Oh…Ok. No worries. I'll see you around then." Kate got up and started to leave when Grace interrupted her.
"Um…I could go for an ice cream though…or something," Grace said awkwardly. She waited as Kate turned back around and gave her a small smile.
"Yeah…yeah we could do that," Kate said as she motioned with her head to follow her. Grace smiled and quickly turned off the TV and followed her stepsister out.
The pair headed for the door.
"Real estate Kate?"
Kate stopped and looked at her stepsister nodding.
"Yeah. How'd you know that?" Although Kate already knew, she still asked anyways.
Shrugging, Grace stuffed her hands into her pockets.
"Laurie. She told me. Said she was your personal assistant."
Realization hit her and Kate nodded.
"I don't want to tell you what to do but…she's my friend ok?"
Kate smiled at her and nodded in understanding.
"Of course."
The two sisters then headed out the door in search of ice cream.