As an infant, Kate was what was known as a "flight risk baby". You took your eyes off of her for two seconds and you would find her two rooms away, crawling as though she had somewhere better to be and just couldn't wait to get there. Her parents nearly had a heart attack those few weeks when she began crawling, thankful that at least the infant Kate was unable to open doors on her own. But as she grew up, learned to walk and open doors, it only got worse. Running up and down the stairs, half-panicked mother chasing after her, the desire in Kate to keep moving could not be ignored. Her parents eventually bought her a child leash, just so that she would not get too far away, a fact that Kate resented every time the family went on a walk to the park. Looking back at her photo album, a chagrined Kate would laugh at the sight of her younger self pulling the leash, arms waving ahead of her, eager to keep moving. Yet, deep inside, she felt that she had never quite outgrown the leash.
When Kate, ever the flight risk, was six, she ran away from home. It was nothing serious; her mother lured her back at the three hour mark with the sweet scent of apple pie wafting out the kitchen window, the window directly below Kate's tree house, where she may or may not have ran off to. After Kate dropped the backpack she had packed (containing only a juice box, a pair of socks, her favorite book, and a microwave burrito), Kate's mother lifted the girl into her arms.
"Honey," she murmured, wiping her dirt-and-tear-stained cheeks off with a wet napkin, "you can't run away every time your cousin says mean things about you."
Little Kate only sniffled, and burrowed her face into the crook of her mother's neck.
"But, now that he's gone, we can keep this delicious pie all for ourselves."
That drew out a little chuckle from the girl, and mother and daughter ate the delicious treat together, the day's troubles melting away in the warmth of the room .
But that wasn't the last time Kate ran.
As the daughter of a soldier, Kate was used to moving frequently. She understood the value of not getting too sentimental about anything or anyone, because that would only make it harder to leave. So, Kate never had more than a suitcase full of clothes, and one more full of things. It was easier that way. She also ran from relationships at school; never trying to make close friends with anyone, and ducking out when someone tried to come too close. In fact, the only social club she ever joined was the cross country team, in every school that she went to (an irony that was not lost on Kate's parents as they remembered her past). Her distance was the only thing she could control, the only way to keep her heart safe from the constant movement that defined her life.
Kate had always been a flight risk. It was just easier to cut her losses and move on than try to fit into a mold that wasn't her. She resented being asked to change into a different person, just to appeal to someone she didn't care about.
So, when Adler offered her a job as his secretary, she was fully prepared to turn it down, expecting it to go just like every other interview that she had, with a powerful man looking for the prettiest face to show off to his fellow businessmen. Been there, done with that.
She was surprised, then, when she went into the interview, and found not only beautiful women lined up, but men as well, and not all dressed as elegantly as possible. In fact, one was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
Once it was Kate's turn to interview, Adler shocked her once more. He evaluated her seriously, flipping through her resume, not her physique, with an attentive eye.
"It says here that you worked for four years at the Associated Press. Why would you choose such a drastic change in workplaces?"
"Well, after my boss retired, the man who replaced her... well, he made it clear that he was less interested in my work and more interested in, ahem, other things, that he thought I could provide him. So I left."
Adler raised an eyebrow, but made no comment. She shifted in her chair, wondering what was going through his mind. She was surprised to find that she was not entirely opposed to the idea of working for this man. The way he composed himself was admirable, at least from what she could tell.
The interview continued without a hitch, and Kate left the room looking forward to hearing from him. She was sure that she had gotten the job, and was eager for the next chapter in her life. If she needed to abandon ship once more, however, she knew that she would have no trouble leaving behind another corporate office building. After all, Kate was a master when it came to running.
AN: Hello, all. I am back with another story. I have a few chapters written out, but it is in no way finished yet. Updates may be irregular; I should be working on my finals. But, I was looking back at all of my unfinished fanfictions, and I just needed to publish this one. Thanks, and if you like, don't forget to review.