Kitty plodded down the stairs early the next morning to do some stretching and get a workout in before Danny's yoga class started. Unfortunately, someone had already beat her there.
Felicia Hardy's stark white hair, which she would swear she had never bleached in her life, was tied back from her face in a high ponytail. Dressed in all black, a tank top and yoga pants, her torso was bent closely parallel to one of her v-ed legs as she pulled her foot back in an intense stretch. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was clenched in a tight, unhappy x.
"Hey, Felicia." Kitty said softly, with an air of awkwardness. Kitty knew Peter much better than she knew Felicia, so while the latter had always seemed like a perfectly nice a woman, Kitty had never had the chance to say much to her. Much like MJ (and Carlie and about half a dozen other girls), Peter had an on-and-off relationship with Felicia, and when they were off (which they very much were, now), they were off in a most spectacular way.
Felicia snaked her body slowly out of her stretch, taking a deep breath before opening her eyes and regarding Kitty. "Hi. Sorry to intrude. I asked Danny to let me in early. Been a rough week."
Kitty nodded sympathetically. She had heard only rumblings from Anna Maria of the soap operatic goings on. Felicia and Pete hadn't been seeing each other when Felicia hooked up with Matt Murdock, a friend of Jen's who, despite being blind, had a way of falling into the prettiest girls. Except Matt promptly skipped town for an internship at a big law office in California, not only leaving high and dry, but also indirectly getting her arrested for something that had happened back when she and Peter were together, maybe? The details were fuzzy, but the point was Felicia was mad as hell, and rightfully so, with both of them.
(While Kitty could stand Peter's denseness, Matt had always rubbed her the wrong way. He seemed to get the hopes of the women he dated up, only to abandon them when things got too serious for his tastes. Maya Lopez still sincerely believed that she and Matt would be together again, in the end. So did Karen. And Elektra. And maybe they were all right, but it still sort of bothered Kitty.)
"Look, I know we don't kno-" Felicia cut off Kitty's attempt at an apology.
"Okay, one, you have nothing to apologize for. You're friends with Parker, and that's fine. But I don't want fake sympathy. I just want the benefit of the doubt, that I'm not some crazy ex-girlfriend. Parker screwed me over, and so did his start up."
Kitty nodded. Everyone knew about Parker Industries, Peter's attempted start up, and the spectacular failure that had occurred. Felicia had been their primary financial backer, a trust fund baby socialite with money to burn for a good cause. But the deal had soured, in part, it seemed, to Peter's legal negligence, and he had dealt with the start up funding the correct way, which led to...Matt finding out and laying the blame on the company's biggest backer, one Miss Hardy.
Felicia tented her hands over her head, stretching as she stood. "My sob story aside, what's up with you? Patsy told me you were seeing some bad boy bassist now?"
Kitty's cheeks tinged pink and she shrugged. "I don't know if 'seeing' is the right word. He's going on tour with his band for the next couple months..."
"Okay, so it was a one night stand?"
Kitty shook her head. "He said...I mean, I think he wants us to...be sort of serious?"
Felicia rolled her eyes. "Maybe you should get a little something more than 'sort of serious' out of him?" She stopped stretching and made eye contact with Kitty. "Look, as much as I shouldn't be talking to anyone about relationships, if you like him, you should get definite terms; are you dating? A hook up? Monogamous or polyamourous? Fu-"
Kitty cut her off, embarrassed. "Felicia!"
"Look, all I'm saying is, if it's the right thing, if the fit is right, go for it. Figure out what you want and ask for it. When did he leave?"
"Not yet. Today at 11."
Felicia slapped her forehead. "And you weren't going to go see him off?" She continued before Kitty could even answer. "Look, we've all had shitty relationships. I am the queen of shit relationships, but if you want to be in a relationship, you've gotten keep trying.
"And let's be honest, sure the Russian was a hot number, but he's got that whole sister complex thing going on, which seems like bad news. And Bobby 'the Iceman' Drake? Seriously? Do something different, really move away from the safety net of guys you've known your whole life, guys you went to school with. Put yourself out there.
"Now, can you help me with a butterfly stretch, here?"
Kitty obliged Felicia and they spent the morning stretching together. She was glad they had a chance to chat, and the tension between the, cause by the rumors and Peter, evaporated easily. Once women started filing in for Danny's yoga class, Felicia ushered Kitty off, telling her to "take a shower and book your ass over to his tour bus or whatever it is."
Kitty thought that was actually some really solid advice.