Lara read the first sentence again, and again. She saw Jen wink at her,
and try to smile; she was none to successful in this. Lara knew exactly
what would happen if they crashed in the Himalayas. "I didn't know my
first mission would be so soon." She grinned, not at the fact that she had
a .1% chance of living, but at the fact that she had a dry sense of humor
and only she could laugh at the "jokes" she made.
Lara carefully placed four AA batteries in her laptop, and then shoved it into her bag. She unbuckled her seat belt and climbed over the two vacant seats next to her until she could reach up to the overhead storage bin, and yanked on her bag. Unsurprisingly, it was stuck.
A man saw she was having trouble and walked over to her. He tugged at the bag and it came down. Lara did not like to be shown up, especially by men. She had spent all her life in a crude sexist world where men had power and women enjoyed the "luxury" of having a husband. She dared to defy the rules and paid the cruel price- Loneliness. Her family disowned her and she had no friends. She did have her butler, Jeeves; that was enough for her. Who had time for a settled life when there was so much wildness to be explored? She thought she would never understand.
Returning from her thoughts she saw the man grin and hand her the bag, "Here ya go ma'am." He said in a disturbing manner. It wasn't that his voice was disturbing; it was his pronunciation and mannerism.
Lara hated it when people called her "ma'am". She shuddered, managing to look quite stunning in the process. She despised the way he was so incorrect. He slouched when he walked and he smiled too much. Slang was too much for Lara. "Thank you." She replied, straightening. The man was still smiling! Lara didn't have problems with this way of emotion, but smiling wasn't called for in this conversation, or at this moment!
"By the way," Lara turned to face the man more, "It's Miss Croft, not ma'am." She concluded. The smile was still there! "Well, Miss Croft, it was a pleasure meetin' you. Even though I don't think you think the same." How did he know what she thought? This made her angry! He thought he could read her mind and know exactly what was going on! Ridiculous. "I'm always glad to meet new people, but only if they are in the correct class as I. I don't tolerate ignorant or rude types." She finished with an angry snarl creeping up to her full lips. The man looked at her rather, excuse my choice of words but, weirdly. "You haven't even met me properly," He replied, "I'm David Barrington."
Lara stood there waiting for more words to escape. Not a word. Unimpressed by his rather boring "title", she flung her bag into the chair next to hers. David still wouldn't keep quiet. "I'm from New York," He said," Where are you from Miss Croft?" Lara, not wanting to answer the question, did anyway, so maybe he would leave her alone so she could get to thinking more about the crash, " I was born to Lord Henshingly in Wimbledon, London and I am the Duchess of Saint Bridget." David seemed satisfied. "Cool, I guess I better go sit now."
Lara watched as the little bugger walked back to his seat and sat down. Lara hated referring to herself as the Duchess that she was born to be. It was all nonsense to her. She didn't understand why it was so important. Why couldn't duchesses climb mountains or own guns? Lara was fuming at the thought of her parents denying her all of this, but soon, she relaxed. Now, she must think of the crash!
_______________________________________________
*A/N: Eidos made Lara the Duchess of Bridget... I did not make this up! It is in her official biography and whatnot. :)
Lara carefully placed four AA batteries in her laptop, and then shoved it into her bag. She unbuckled her seat belt and climbed over the two vacant seats next to her until she could reach up to the overhead storage bin, and yanked on her bag. Unsurprisingly, it was stuck.
A man saw she was having trouble and walked over to her. He tugged at the bag and it came down. Lara did not like to be shown up, especially by men. She had spent all her life in a crude sexist world where men had power and women enjoyed the "luxury" of having a husband. She dared to defy the rules and paid the cruel price- Loneliness. Her family disowned her and she had no friends. She did have her butler, Jeeves; that was enough for her. Who had time for a settled life when there was so much wildness to be explored? She thought she would never understand.
Returning from her thoughts she saw the man grin and hand her the bag, "Here ya go ma'am." He said in a disturbing manner. It wasn't that his voice was disturbing; it was his pronunciation and mannerism.
Lara hated it when people called her "ma'am". She shuddered, managing to look quite stunning in the process. She despised the way he was so incorrect. He slouched when he walked and he smiled too much. Slang was too much for Lara. "Thank you." She replied, straightening. The man was still smiling! Lara didn't have problems with this way of emotion, but smiling wasn't called for in this conversation, or at this moment!
"By the way," Lara turned to face the man more, "It's Miss Croft, not ma'am." She concluded. The smile was still there! "Well, Miss Croft, it was a pleasure meetin' you. Even though I don't think you think the same." How did he know what she thought? This made her angry! He thought he could read her mind and know exactly what was going on! Ridiculous. "I'm always glad to meet new people, but only if they are in the correct class as I. I don't tolerate ignorant or rude types." She finished with an angry snarl creeping up to her full lips. The man looked at her rather, excuse my choice of words but, weirdly. "You haven't even met me properly," He replied, "I'm David Barrington."
Lara stood there waiting for more words to escape. Not a word. Unimpressed by his rather boring "title", she flung her bag into the chair next to hers. David still wouldn't keep quiet. "I'm from New York," He said," Where are you from Miss Croft?" Lara, not wanting to answer the question, did anyway, so maybe he would leave her alone so she could get to thinking more about the crash, " I was born to Lord Henshingly in Wimbledon, London and I am the Duchess of Saint Bridget." David seemed satisfied. "Cool, I guess I better go sit now."
Lara watched as the little bugger walked back to his seat and sat down. Lara hated referring to herself as the Duchess that she was born to be. It was all nonsense to her. She didn't understand why it was so important. Why couldn't duchesses climb mountains or own guns? Lara was fuming at the thought of her parents denying her all of this, but soon, she relaxed. Now, she must think of the crash!
_______________________________________________
*A/N: Eidos made Lara the Duchess of Bridget... I did not make this up! It is in her official biography and whatnot. :)