Rachel sat at her post at the indoor public pool; at the top of a tall stool that allowed an eagle view of the rabble that were considered children. With her head in her hand and twirling her whistle with the other, she glanced down at Richard. They'd barely spoken through the last few hours after she had dug him up a uniform.
He looked ridiculous in his too big polo shirt and gym shorts. He wasn't exactly a muscular kid but man; he certainly looked like an easy gym target at the moment. Rachel scrunched her nose in disgust of herself. She was being so judgemental. Just because he looked like a dweeb didn't make him one. It was his personality that did that.
Rachel couldn't understand how Richard seem to find such peace in amongst all this screaming and chaos. It just gave Rachel a headache.
And damn it, Melvin was running around the pool again.
Rachel let her whistle scream across the pool to the young girl, who she only needed to shoot a glare at for the girl to stop dead in her tracks.
"Why are you such a buzz kill?" Richard joked from below.
He was answered by Rachel's sneaker landing on him from above. He only looked up to laugh at her while she fumed. He looked away for a second and looked back up to find Rachel lightly yet another cigarette. Richard had learned one thing very quickly from Rachel; she had a problem.
"You can't do that in here," Richard hiss.
"No one cares," Rachel replied dismissively, taking a drag.
Frowning, Richard quickly climbed the ladder up to reach her and yanked the cigarette from her mouth. With good aim, Richard managed to flick it away so it hissed as it went out in the Senior's hot tub.
"Richard!" Rachel snapped, glaring daggers at him.
"You can't smoke in front of children Rachel. It's not right," Richard reasoned calmly.
"And who are you Richard? My minder? Bite me," she growled.
A scream from the other side of the pool took Rachel's attention as she saw Melvin lying on the floor.
"Damn it Melvin! What did I say about running," Rachel called, still agitated from Richard's comment.
But it wasn't for herself that Melvin was panicked for. In the deep end of the pool, young Timmy had given his one last splash before he sank under the surface.
Without thinking and on pure instinct, Rachel leaped down from where she was. She ignored her knees scrapping against the concrete as she landed awkwardly on all fours and instead pushed herself forward onto her feet. She dashed through the swarms of idle children and dove straight into the deep end of the water.
Under the water, she saw Timmy's black form sinking to the ground. She could no longer hear the gasp and chatter as those around came to the realisation of what had happened. Everything here was still and quiet although heavy on her ears. She only had one single focus as she narrowed in on the young boy.
Breaking the surface with Timmy in her arms, her ears were brought back violently at Timmy's cries as he hit air. Through panicked screams and coughing, Rachel managed to register her name as Richard swam quickly towards her with a pool ring in his hand. Both of them secured the boy in the ridiculous yellow and pink inflatable before towing him towards the panicked arms of this mother.
The crowd immediately left them to crowd around the crying child as the two teens pulled themselves of the pool and sat on the edge breathing heavily.
"Rachel, that was amazing," Richard managed to say over his laboured breathing.
Rachel stared at him for a moment, taking the time to brush her plastered violet hair from her face. Seeing the sincerity in his voice, she simply nodded and turned her head away from him to glance across the now empty pool.
"Well," she finally managed as her breathing calmed, "I guess that's a day."
Nonchalantly and ignoring Richard's confused stare, Rachel rose and walked away to dress out of her soaking clothes.
When Rachel emerged, Richard was there with a few plasters in his hand. Rachel took them quietly as she sat down on a bench at the now deserted pool. Rolling up her jeans, she plastered up her now scabbing knees as Richard took a seat next to hear.
"Thank you," Richard finally said, breaking the silence between them.
"For what?" Rachel grumbled as she concentrated on her knees.
"Just... thanks," he replied, smiling faintly as she studied him with a confused expression.
"You're a weird one Grayson. And stubborn," she offered as her attention turned back to her knees, "I like that."
Richard's eyes seem to follow Rachel everywhere she went. All through the school halls, in class and even at the back of the school where she snuck out for a smoke. He always seemed to be watching, keeping an eye over her and that confused Rachel. She couldn't understand why and often meet his stares with a scrunch of her eyes.
That following Saturday Rachel was at her most hated job; waitress at the Moonlight Night. It was a restaurant that tried to serve contemporary cuisine to the small homely people of Jump that seemed to only attract the snobbiest and uptight staff and customers around. Stepping into that place every Friday and Saturday night made her want to smack her face with her drinks tray.
It also didn't help that her boss was a total ass kisser to every influential customer that stepped through those oak doors and onto that red carpet.
With her hair pulled back and a little make up on, Rachel felt super uncomfortable as she smiled and served the customers of her section that night. It wasn't in Rachel's nature to be overly friendly and dolled up. And her boss noticed often, pointing at his own smile when he caught her eyes to prompt her own.
Premature balding and with the last of the black in his hair swept to the side, her young boss Don seemed like a permanent fixture next to the chefs door. His friendly exterior concealed a ruthless business man that Rachel was secretly a little afraid of. This job though paid more than her other two combined, so she simply worked on keeping as far down on his raider as possible.
"Miss!"
Rachel quickly made her way over to a grey frail man calling her and looked attentive as he told her his soup was cold, again.
"I am so sorry sir," Rachel gushed as the man's scowl deepened on his long face.
"I will not have this happen again," he warned lowly as she walked away.
As Rachel rushed to the kitchen and back, she felt something watching her as she rushed back through the tables. It didn't take long for Rachel to figure it out who when she saw two blue eye across the room staring toward her.
Rachel internally swore.
There was Richard with none other than his benefactor Bruce Wayne sitting across from him in the section opposite to hers. Richard smiled as her eyes meet his and waved. Bruce, also offering a polite smile in her direction, turned back to Richard to speak as Richard nodded to him. Rachel stood, gob-smacked for a moment too long.
The shock of it all had scared Rachel stiff, so distracted that her co-worker bumped straight into her which knocked a beer off his tray and onto a woman next to him.
"Oh! Oh!" she cried dramatically as the beer dripped down her pearls and her white silk shirt.
As her co-worker chased the beer bottle down the hall, Rachel quickly went to work apologising profusely to the lady as she dabbed away at the beer dripping from her with the woman's napkin. Ducking her head, she tried to ignore the curious gaze of Richard and his guardian.
'Of all the days...' she hissed to herself.
"Oh! Oh!" the woman carried on as the brown stained to her shirt.
Knowing all this was fruitless, Rachel stood and promised she would return soon with club soda.
"Miss!" the frail man with his new soup called after her again.
Ignoring him briefly, Rachel tried to rush to the bar but was stopped by another customer.
"Excuse me but this has fish in it," a man in a tweed suit said as he looked over his vintage specs at her.
Rachel glanced down at his shrimp cocktail and looked back at him bewildered, "and?"
"I'm allergic to fish," he replied lowly.
"Okay sir," Rachel replied bewildered, taking a deep breathe as she calmed her panicked nerves, "I will be with you in one moment."
"That is not acceptable," he replied, "you need to sort this situation now. Or my main will arrive before I have finished."
"Miss!" the man with the soup called again.
"I will be with you in one moment," Rachel reasserted to the shrimp man, ignoring his protests as she ran to the bar.
Taking refuge for a moment behind the bar, Rachel tried to clear her mind of Richard's watching gazes. Her nerves were fraying and she needed to calm these customers soon for her own sake. What would he think, seeing her panic and mess up like this? Rachel had to wonder though; why did she even care what he thought?
Returning to the woman, Rachel began to pour the club soda into a napkin without the faintest idea if this would actually help.
"You're too late!" the woman cried, her anger growing as she realised the permanent stain on her shirt, "you took too long. Oh! Oh!"
"Miss!"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Rachel pleaded, her hands shaking as the club soda dropped from her hands to the cries of the woman.
Meanwhile the shrimp man had returned behind her and argued with his nose in the air, "this is not good enough. I am highly allergic and you need to sort your mistake now!"
"Just a moment," Rachel pleaded as she tried in vain to clean up the mess she had made on the floor.
Rachel stood as both the man and the woman yelled over each other at her. She turned away from them only briefly to take another breathe as the third patron she has ignored approached her. She did not notice him until his soup flew across her face and down her front.
She stood, mouth agape as the man stood in front of her with his empty soup bowl.
"This soup is cold, again!" he yelled to a now silent restaurant.
As the soup burned at her skin, she knew then how wrong he was. But she couldn't make herself speak, frozen in place with her mouth gaping and unable to process that this man had thrown his soup at her. The restaurant in shocked silence was broken by Don's silent tread across the red carpet towards the small group.
Without a glance in Rachel's direction, he calmly stated as he walked passed her, "you're fired."
She stared with wide eyes at him as he reached an apologetic hand on the frail man's shoulder. Instinctively she turned to meet Richard's concerned eyes across the room. Looking at him and realising how she had embarrassed herself and lost her job, her humiliation was complete when her face crumpled and she began to cry.
Rachel slammed the back door as she existed the restaurant through the kitchen, pausing by the trash cans to light a cigarette with her shaking hands. The thought of the money they had lost began to weigh heavily on Rachel as she realised the potentially dire situation her family was in. How was she suppose to tell Erna that she had let her down?
With tears still streaming down her face as she took a shaky drag of her cigarette, she tried in vain to calm her nerves as the realisation and fear grew inside her. With a brisk walk, Rachel began to walk hurried down the street with her head bowed so no one could see her.
"Rachel!"
She paused, recognising Richard's voice. But as her embarrassment prickled, she quickened her pace in a vain attempt to loose Richard. He could hear him running to catch up though and turned her head as she approached. Still covered in splashes of now cold soup and tears making her make up run, this was the last way she wanted to talk with Richard.
"Rachel," he spoke again as he reached her side.
He caught her shoulder and turned her so she faced him. The horror of him seeing her with soup and tears streaked down her face was clear on her features.
"What Richard?!" Rachel yelled as she angrily stomped her cigarette to the pavement, "what could you possibly want to say to me right now. If you haven't noticed, your timing right now sucks."
Richard opens his mouth to speak but stopped as he watched Rachel's shaky hands reach for another cigarette. He watched as his concern grew as she lit the thing between her lips.
"Why do you smoke so much Rachel?" he asked.
"I don't know," Rachel growled as she fumbled with her lighter and blurted, "I guess I never learned to control my emotions."
As she fumbled with the lighter, Richard reached out and pulled the cigarette from her mouth to her death glare.
"This," he said, holding the cigarette up in his hand, "is not what you need."
Rachel growled and stomped off down the street, trying to out walk Richard. It was futile, as the boy managed to keep in stride with her easily.
"Rachel," Richard began in a low concerned tone that made Rachel's eyes roll, "are you okay?"
"Just peachy," Rachel mumbled as she tried to wipe the mess off her face with her sleeve.
"Would you like to talk about it?" Richard offered gently as she froze on the sidewalk.
Rachel had stopped, staring up at an abandoned home next to him. Richard looked down at Rachel and then up at the overgrown weeds and the peeling white paint. He glanced at the tall wire fence with the battered 'No Trespassing' sign intended to keep everyone out. He glanced back down at Rachel, whose eyes were transfixed on the home with wide and panicked eyes.
"Rachel?"
She seemed to snap out of her gaze as she turned to Richard, "don't come near me again Richard."
The anger in her voice was betrayed by the wobble in her voice and the tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. But when she stormed away this time, Richard let her go and stayed standing back outside the worn white home.