Alfred whistled to himself as he placed the unopened letters, and the one parcel addressed to Master Timothy, on the side, before he unclipped Titus' leash from the German Shepard's collar and hung it up by the front door as Titus ran off into the mansion. He was about to gather up the post and distribute it between rooms when he saw the newest Wayne hanging around the top of the stairs, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Is there something I can help you with, Miss Cassandra?" he asked, an amused smile hidden on his lips as he turned to look at her, though he was certain she had seen it.
"Post," said Cassandra, pointing at the letters behind him as she walked down the stairs. "For me?"
"Are you expecting something?" asked Alfred, smiling as he grabbed the letters and began looking through them.
"Barbara say letter come for me," said Cassandra, looking at Alfred. "From girl in England."
"Oh yes, the pen pal program," said Alfred, nodding. "I seem to recall Miss Gordon talking about that the other day. I did not realize it was coming so soon." He smiled as he found a letter addressed to Cassandra. "Here you go."
Cassandra smiled before taking the letter from him and heading back upstairs.
Alfred also smiled, and was about to head upstairs himself when the doorbell rang. He put the post back down before walking over to the door and opening it. To see Stephanie Brown standing there. "Hello Miss Brown. Master Timothy is still on his school trip."
"Actually, I'm here to see Cass," said Stephanie, smiling as she stepped into the foyer. "We're meant to be going shopping in Metropolis today."
"Of course," said Alfred, nodding. "Miss Cassandra is in her room. She had a letter."
Stephanie grinned, before saying "Thanks Alfred," and heading up the stairs.
"Knock knock," said Stephanie, as she knocked on Cassandra's open bedroom door. She could see the other girl looking intensely at a piece of paper in her hand, even seeming surprised when Stephanie had knocked. "Hey, you alright?" asked Stephanie, as she walked into the room.
"Am fine," said Cassandra, sitting up very quickly, hiding the letter behind her.
"I ain't buying that, Cass," said Stephanie, shaking her head as she took a seat next to her friend. "Is this the pen pal letter? What's it say?" Cassandra nodded before muttering something Stephanie didn't get. "Cass?"
Instead of replying, Cassandra just stood up and began pacing the room, leaving the piece of paper.
Stephanie sighed as she took the piece of paper. "This was meant to be a good thing, to boost your confidence." She gave Cassandra a small smile. "What's wrong?"
Cassandra stopped pacing to glare at the letter. "Big words."
"Ah," said Stephanie, nodding. "OK then. Why don't we forgo our shopping trip and I can help you with this, yeah? We can go shopping tomorrow."
"But you like shopping," said Cass, frowning. "We go."
"No, we stay," said Stephanie, smiling as she took her friend's hand. "Shopping can wait. Even if we do have Bruce's card." She gently pulled Cassandra onto her lap. "Come on, I'll read this to you. Then we can start on a reply."
Cassandra just nodded as she slipped off Stephanie's lap onto the bed, before lying her head on Stephanie's shoulder. "Go."
"OK then," said Stephanie, taking the letter in hand and beginning to read. "'Hey there, whoever it is that gets picked to be my pen pal. I am going to be honest, I don't know what to put in this first letter. Normally, I would personalise it a little to whoever is receiving but I don't know anything about you yet.'" Stephanie smiled. "Wow, she seems nice."
"Is all?"
"No, no, there's still more," was Stephanie's response, with an amused smile. Before she continued reading. "'My name is Rani Chandra, I live in Ealing, London, though I didn't always live there… I used to live by the sea, in a small town called Danesmouth. It was a nice quaint town, if boring. Especially compared to London. The only thing to do in Danesmouth was the fairground, or travelling an hour into the nearest city…'" Stephanie laughed. Causing Cassandra to glare at her, so she returned her attention to the letter. "'I admit, even with all that, I didn't want to move at first, all my friends, all one of them, were in Danesmouth and we were moving for dad's work. But moving was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I met the woman who would mentor me in journalism, and my boyfriend, and my best mates here.'" She paused again. "Oh wow, your pen pal is training to be a journalist. That's so cool. I wonder if they know Clark and Lois."
"Maybe," said Cassandra, looking intently at the letter. She appeared to be studying it. "All done?"
"Almost," was Stephanie's response, looking at Cassandra with a smile. Before continuing the letter. "'There's a lot of stuff I could write to you about, but I think I'll stop the letter here. I can't wait to hear all about you, whoever you are. Best regards, Rani Chandra.'" Stephanie smiled again. "She seems nice. Shall we get started on the reply now or do you want to wait a while? Maybe think about your reply for a bit?"
"Go shopping." Cassandra stood up, walking over to the closet. "Write later."
Stephanie grinned, before also standing up. She placed the letter on the desk, before turning to Cass. "You still have Bruce's card?"
Cassandra nodded, before letting Stephanie take her hand and lead her out of the room.
Two days later, Alfred was getting ready to take Titus on his morning walk when he found Cassandra waiting for him in the foyer. "Ah, Miss Cassandra," he said, smiling. "Breakfast is ready in the kitchen."
Cassandra shook her head before presenting a letter at him. "Post letter. Please."
Alfred's smile grew as he took the letter from her. "Your pen pal letter, I presume. I will guard this with my life as I take it to the nearest post office."
"Thank you," said Cassandra, before walking off towards the kitchen.
As Alfred tucked the letter into the inside pocket of his blazer, Titus ran up to him. Alfred smiled as he clipped Titus' leash to his collar, before leading the German Shepard out of the house.
Hope you liked this. I had such fun writing this. :)