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#4
NOV 13 |
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“The Cat's Meow” Part Four
In handcuffs, ankle chains and prisoner orange, Selina Kyle was lead to her cell, past all of the catcalls of her fellow inmates. She ignored these, just as she had everything else since her voluntary surrender. She had other things on her mind than her mugshot being taken or being made to give her fingerprints. Catwoman now had another alias to add to her list of them, that of Prisoner 98060404.
Police Chief Jim Gordon even came to see her put in her cell and informed her she'd be bound for Arkham Asylum in the morning. She had so many outstanding charges for theft that she should have been sent off to Blackgate already, but they were going to hold her here for the night since morning was only hours away. It somewhat amused Selina to hear that the asylum and the prison seemed to be arguing over who would get her, but the knowledge that the nuthouse won out was somewhat troubling.
It was after lights out that he came, just as she knew he would. “You didn't request your one phone call,” the darkness rasped.
“There wasn't a need. I knew you'd come regardless,” Selina replied from her cot as she remained there.
“I can talk to Jim. Considering what you did at the Ladyfinger, you hurt them all; if you were to hand over what you took from them, I'm sure a deal could be arranged.”
She hated him for thinking she did it. Well, she did, but still... not like that. Selina didn't want to correct him. “I hate that you know them on a first name basis,” she sat up.
“I'm not your enemy here.”
“Someone else told me that recently as well.”
Batman kept silent on that, which let Selina know that he wasn't aware she'd been to Leslie, at least not yet. It was good to know she was right to have trusted the doctor.
As Batman stared at her still, Selina spoke again. “I've spent it all already, anyway.”
She swore she heard him snort, but instead he intoned, “That's a shame.” For some reason she couldn't immediately pin down that really pissed her off. However, she got to her feet and met him at the bars to her cell.
“I'm here to help.”
Now it was Selina's turn to snort, which she made no effort to hide. Help with condemnation was of no use to her. “They didn't haul off the Mask when they took me in,” she noted aloud.
“They're scared of him,” Batman answered matter-of-factually. “Nor did they have anything on him. If you were to give me what you got, however...” He silenced himself as she turned her back on him, her sudden angry stare ripped away.
“I told you, I already spent it all.”
“I know what happened at your townhouse. I was there, after. Selina, the...”
She cut him off as she turned back to him, lips curled and hurt stung in her eyes. She wouldn't cry but she would be hateful. “You have no idea what he took from me!” Yet, an instant later, she calmed herself as Batman stood there motionless. He did know. “Or maybe you do,” she conceded, as she knew full well, of anyone she had ever known, he did know what it was like to suffer loss.
“I can help you.”
“Stop saying that,” she hissed at him, as that softening was gone again. “I don't want your help, not with this,” and with the impact of those words, she said much more than just those words. There was much she didn't say, everything she meant boiled down to two hurt, angry words; ever again. Batman's steady stare, the uncertainty in it, told her that he had 'heard' it. “I don't have anything to offer you anymore.”
“Selina, it's not like th–”
She cut him off. “I'm done feeling sorry for you. I'm done waiting, or expecting you to change, or trying to somehow do that for you. I can't, I won't. I never would and I never will. Things are never going to be like how you want them to be, do you know that? For how smart you are, you're so stupid, B... Batman,” she gave him. She wasn't sure who could hear them, but knowing him it was likely just them. Still, she owed him that much, to be safe.
“It doesn't have to be like this.”
“It does,” she answered him. She met his mask with her stare and Selina wished for a moment she could see his face, to see his eyes. She just had to trust that he saw beneath that damned cowl of his. “You'll never be the one to fix me and I'm done playing with a sad little boy.”
A silence hung between them for a long moment.
Finally, “This is the last time I'll ask,” Batman said.
“Don't help me,” Selina answered. “If I see so much as a pointed ear, I'll tell them. Tell them all. I'll tell everyone who will listen who you are, do you hear me? Don't stop me and don't dare be in my way, or I swear I'll scream your name until I make myself deaf.”
She was sure he saw what she wanted him to then, as Batman nodded. Good, she thought and took a deep breath, eyes closed for it. When she opened them he was gone.
Selina Kyle was no Batman, but she was still smart enough to prepare.
She had spent years getting to know every precinct, prison and even the Asylum inside and out. She'd memorized every one of them, down to the last security camera. Catwoman had snuck into each and every one of them, as evidence rooms were often the easiest vaults of valuables in any city. She had also thought to stash a pair of lock picks in as many cells as she could, and fortunately for her, this was one of those she had visited.
It was nearing dawn and the guards returned to recuff and shackle her. Selina knew that now would be when she'd be the least watched, chained up like this and locked in her cell with an hour before her transport. This is when they would think they had her for sure. Catwoman was going to prove them wrong, so very wrong.
She remembered the time that Holly came home to find her assortment of various bindings scattered all over the living room. Selina had meant to just revisit and study each one, not practice getting out of them. But then after she explained the value of knowing how to get out of each, she had Holly tying her up for the rest of the tight to demonstrate how. In fact, that is how they had spent many nights as it even became a semi-regular thing to do on Sunday night.
Selina didn't really think about just how much Holly had penetrated her life until that very moment, but then she couldn't dwell on it. She had an escape to pull off.
She'd spent the hours after Batman's departure stretching and limbered up as best she could. Once they came with the shackles and then left her, she acted. First, the handcuffs, which she didn't waste time trying to pick. She folded her hands, making them slightly smaller than her wrists, and they slipped right off. The picks she'd retrieved were used on her ankle-locks and finally the door to her cell.
The real trick was with the others in the other cells, who noticed her freedom well before she hoped they would. She whispered promises that if they kept quiet and gave her forty minutes, she'd spring them all.
She left them with that lie, as she had no intention of going back. She'd have twenty minutes, likely less, to make good on her getting gone. She doubted any one of those men behind her in those cells had the ability to last half as long as she hoped.
It was slow going from there, as she had a whole building of police officers and other personnel to avoid, which even for her was quite the exercise. Here's where being quick on her feet, and silent about it, was a distinct advantage. But with everything being so crowded and busy, Catwoman had her work cut out for her. It took more than ten minutes for her to reach the evidence room, where she found Leslie's boots right way, but her mask and gloves eluded her. That's when she heard the rush of footsteps outside and she knew her time was up, that either they discovered her missing or the prisoners had grown tired of waiting.
Selina pulled on and laced her boots quickly and was still knelt to finish when the door burst open and a pair of young officers entered with their weapons drawn.
“Freeze! Or we'll sh–”
“Shoot, yes, I know,” Catwoman sighed. It was unfortunate, but she'd have to settle for just the boots.
“Hands up, where I can see them,” one of the cops said while the other fumbled for his cuffs.
Instead, she planted them. She kicked up and out with her feet while she used her arms to help propel herself backwards. It worked, as she managed to surprise them and thus strike both men before they could fire. She easily recovered her footing, twisted around and jumped over them, onwards and out into the corridor. Behind her she heard one of them as he managed to get to their radio. “We have visual, confirm, visual at the evidence locker!”
Catwoman raced down the hallway and barreled into another officer as he rounded the corner. She landed atop him and chopped him in the neck, which left him choking on the floor. Before her was a choice, as up one flight of stairs would take her to the main level and thus offered a number of ways out. Or further up, she could access the roof. But down, that lead to the garage. They'd expect her to go for the rooftops, for mobility, but in the garage she could find any number of hiding places, or get a car. Down she went.
She practically crashed through the door at the bottom but quickly turned to duck back out, as on the other side was the patty wagon that was no doubt meant for her. Though she only flashed in the doorway a moment, her rather unprofessional “Oops!” drew their attention. Catwoman pulled the door shut behind her but had no time to find something to bar the way as already the transport guards were upon it. Quickly, she went the only way she could now: Up.
She heard shouting behind her and above her too now, as they definitely knew where she was. Catwoman had no choice if she was to get out of the precinct, as she barreled through the first door she came to. She'd just have to take her chances with whatever was on the other side.
Well, now she knew what floor the S.W.A.T. team was on, as she found many of them as they scrambled about to get into their gear.
“Oh, boy...” Selina sighed.
This was going to be a long night.
It took a hop, a skip and a jump to make it over, around and then over again to get past the S.W.A.T. members in her way. Catwoman avoided engaging them and thus delay herself any longer, as if she was going to make this escape happen she had to make it happen already. In the confusion of her startling appearance, she capitalized on that to avoid the grabs and lunges that came her way. Past the men and between her and the window, Selina grabbed a chair and hurled it at glass. She was right behind the chair and landed on the street outside amid a shower of broken window, and thus she was thankful for the good doctor's thick boots. She was still in her prison orange and thus was a good moving target as she sprinted away from the precinct. One of the S.W.A.T. members got his weapon pointed out the window and fired at her, but it was hurried so went wide, but Selina made sure that was the only opportunity he would get as she turned a corner.
She wouldn't be able to run all night long but for the moment that was her only option. The fact that she heard a helicopter wind up behind her only made her run harder.
She had to get up, to get where their cars couldn't go and they'd be slower to give chase. Or she could go down, into the sewers, but she didn't know her way around down there. She'd be able to hide, sure, but she would end up lost. Plus, ewww. If she stayed on the streets, she'd have to rely on some wild chance bit of good luck to pull off a disappearance. Selina hated to rely on anything less than sure.
Suddenly Catwoman was framed in a spotlight as the helicopter above had found her. Time to make her own luck, she thought.
There was a blaze of sirens behind her which Catwoman lead away from where she had just been, though the light overhead kept her well in view of everyone. Instead of going for cover she turned and leapt into oncoming traffic, quite literally. She dodged a truck, narrowly avoided a van and somehow managed to vault over a car before there the squealing of tires and the roadway began blocked. It was nearly morning, but Catwoman had chosen to dart across one of the busiest streets in the neighborhood. She raced towards the line of nightclubs and bars that operated in the relative safety of the nearby police station.
The bouncer of the club named Tutu that Selina headed for stepped up to block her way. She chopped him in his thick throat and he fell to his knees, and Catwoman barely slowed down as she charged into Tutu.
Patrons got shoved, drinks were spilled and not all of them by Selina. Several made a mess of things as they got out of her way, but soon she was deep into the club where the music muffled everything else. The GCPD had the building surrounded already and, even if not yet, then Catwoman had to operate under the assumption that they did.
At least here she fit in, as she panted, being out-of-breath from all of the running, which everyone else was also as the dancing was as fierce and erratic as the beat that thumped through the place. Selina knew that under the strobing lights her orange jumpsuit wouldn't really stand out, but she didn't plan to stay in the Tutu for long. She then spotted what she was looking for and hastily unbuttoned the top three buttons of her suit as she approached the buff frat boy 'dancing' by himself. He saw her approach and her decoy worked, as he didn't look at her clothing at all but got an eyeful but not of her eyes.
“... want to go somewhere more…private?”
“WHAT?!”
She just smiled at the boy and grabbed him by the collar to haul off to the dark corner.
By the time the music was shut off and the lights snapped on, Selina had ‘borrowed’ a change of clothes. She didn't have time to fully lace up the boots when she nabbed them from the evidence locker, but she'd made the frat kid tie them tight before she bound him with her 98060404 jumpsuit.
The pants were baggy but she preferred that, as Selina had no doubts about mobility now. She'd traded her police-provided white tank for the boy's ribbed black one, and his sweaty bandana went over her own slick hair. In general, she tried to carry herself a little more masculine, as it helped to hide her from quick glances from the ring of police that circled the silent club floor ground.
The police began to round them up to file them outside, where they could inspect each person as they exited. Selina had managed to get nearly to the other side and to angle herself to be somewhere in the middle of that line, before they found the boy she'd bound.
In the end it was the officer she'd run into in the hallway, the one she'd chopped in the neck, that spotted her.
Many things were shouted, even after Selina put up her hands. The police gathered in around her and everyone else scattered, even after being told to stay still. Why? Because as soon as they moved so did Catwoman; with so many innocent bystanders there was no shot to be taken for fear of hitting the civilians. As the cops became frantic, the patrons only became more so, which made it all the easier for Selina to slip among them untouched by the police.
She made her escape through a fire exit that a mass of screaming college-aged girls went through, but as Selina took in the night air, she saw at the far end of the alley the rush of S.W.A.T. officers that ran in her direction.
She leaped, grabbed the overhead fire escape and pulled herself up. She'd tried everything else, so she might as well try going up.
Catwoman made it across two rooftops before the helicopter and its spotlight found her again. She had been mid-leap from one building to the next when it blinded her, which sent her to a tumble. Selina scrambled for cover but soon that was denied her as another helicopter joined the first, and this one had a sniper. She knew because of his warning shot at her feet.
That's when she got a desperate idea.
Selina stood up and held up her hands.
It only took a few moments, but soon a S.W.A.T. team swept onto the rooftop with her. The two choppers hovered overhead and Catwoman was lit with a spotlight from both. A pair of men came forward, one with the cuffs out. She went to her knees when told. She put her hands behind her back when told. She felt the man stand over her as she wasn't able to look as she had to keep her head forward. One cuff went on. That's as far as it got.
She twisted and yanked, but kicked up with her feet to strike the man over her in the back. He was off balance, which was good as a man to her left fired a taser at her, but she pulled the officer above her in the way to take that for her. As he shook and fell, Selina kicked up to her feet only to immediately punch at the second man that had come forward. One hand struck him in the shoulder, also putting him off balance, as her other hand deftly plucked his baton from his hip. She struck him across the jaw to make sure he went down too.
Catwoman threw the baton at another one, who dodged it, but it kept him away for the moment. Another man charged her, but she sidestepped him and then caught him by the collar to spin and then shove towards the taser-shooter. They crashed together with Selina, who rushed in after the man she tossed, and she planted a foot in his back and leapt. Up she went, turned in mid-air and landed on her feet before another. He attempted to butt her with his rifle but Catwoman nimbly dodged and weaved around behind him. She gave him a bump to send him falling forward onto his face.
That's when she let the next man catch her with his baton, as it smashed into her stomach. Catwoman doubled over and went to her knees. She offered no further resistance as the cuffs were tightened around her other hand. From here, she'd only give a little struggle on her way to the patty wagon.
Hopefully they were far enough from the police station that it would be a trip back, even if a short one.
She was no Batman but she'd thought to stash lock picks in most of the prison transport vehicles as well.
“Ya made a real mistake comin’ here, kitty-cat.”
“You only feel confident saying that because you’re hiding behind that gun of yours. Why not put it down and we’ll have us a round two?”
Catwoman was sure that if Black Mask still had lips they would have curled into a smile then, but she had to settle for his sinister stare. It was true that the smart thing to have done would have to have gone anywhere else, but Selina couldn’t think of anywhere else she’d rather be. Roman Sionis had a lot to pay for and she was determined to see if she had it within herself to hold him accountable for what he had done to her.
“Nah,” Black Mask practically snorted. “No need t’get my hands dirty, not when I could blow you away sittin’ here.”
She didn’t move and a small part of her wondered if he would fire. He remained at the desk and she stood opposite him, beside the window she had come in through. Catwoman had thought she had luckily found Black Mask asleep at his desk here in his private office of his guarded mansion, but his unnatural features had proven difficult to accurately judge. She didn’t raise her arms, however, and tried her best to give him her sassiest look.
“True, but then you’d make a mess of these lovely walls.”
“’Specially with this baby,” Roman gave as he got to his feet. He never lowered the pistol as he came around the desk. “Since in my business it’s smart t’prepare for t’envitable run-ins with overgrown bats, I like t’be overly ready,” he chuckled. “Batman might wear a suit o’armor, but this’ll punch holes right through ‘im. You, well, you’d be chunks ‘nd paste.”
She had no doubt. Catwoman still cursed herself silently for having been so sloppy as he must have heard her coming, but her anger had more control over her than she had. “Well, aren’t you a charmer. Destroy a lady’s life, beat her up and then threaten to shoot her. Congrats on being engaged, by the way.”
That took Black Mask a moment, which in turn took Selina by surprise. He shook his head, not quite able to put it together how she could know that. “You’re t’one that ripped me ‘nd mine off. You’re t’one that came here,” he pointed out.
This was true. “Syvlia was there too. It was her plan for the Ladyfinger.”
Again, Roman was quiet for a moment but finally he shrugged. “Good for her. In a way, that robbery’s been t’best thing that’s come my way in years. Now, more than ever, everyone’s scramblin’ to find other ways t’shelter their money. I’m rakin’ it in,” he chuckled.
“So that was the plan from the beginning, was it? Syvlia was supposed to use her connection to me to lure me in to make your business boom?”
“How t’hell was I t’know Syl knew you?” Black Mask chuckled again, clearly amused. “Truth is, I first hired her ‘cause I couldn’t get you. You was too expensive!” If he could grin, Selina supposed that the little twitch of his teeth he gave would be it.
“So I settled on her to nab that little worm Rothgard’s money,” Roman went on. “Old name like that tryin’ t’muscle into my racket? Get into my world? Well, quickest way t’get rid of that dumb snot was t’bankrupt him, take ‘way everythin’ special ‘bout him. If I lost a heavy dime t’achieve that? Ain’t no skin offa’ my teeth…if I had skin over my teeth,” he snorted.
“How do you think that Sylvia knew everything about Crispin that she did?” When Black mask didn’t answer, Selina filled him in. “She was sleeping with him.”
Just hearing that hit Black Mask like a punch, which let Selina know that maybe he really did care about her. Or that he bought into her caring about him. It was in the way he crumbled back to his desk that she knew he had known, but hadn't admitted it to himself until she'd said it. Catwoman opted to twist the knife a little deeper. “She said you were all for that.”
Roman snarled and the gun lowered, though a second later he realized what he had just done so raised it again. “Figures,” he chewed on his disappointment, and added, “Shoulda' known. Damned broads, all t'same. Figures t'one I took an actual likin' too only wanted me for m'money too. No one ever loves me for m'looks,” he growled.
Here, Selina softened her edge. “She said you were very generous to her.”
“I was!” Black Mask sighed so hard his teeth almost rattled. “I gave her everythin'! Runna' all my stuff, the boys, bank accounts...bought her every damned thing a gal's supposed t'want...I thought...well, don't matter what I thought now, does it?”
“You love her.”
Roman's shoulders visibly sank. “Y'know, sometimes all' this...the Bat, the other families, the business…it's justa' job, every single damned day. Then somethin' comes along, somethin' ya' don't think ya' deserve but get anyway and ya' can't help but think it'll all be different...but it's the same damned muck every damned day, draggin' ya' down further 'nd further...ya' only get dirtier 'nd sink deeper...”
Catwoman kept quiet.
“... family, we're merchants, sailors by blood, I guess or some nonsense. I 'member asa' kid, goin' out on boats. Parts of me, well, would rather be out there just puttin' 'round the seas in some little sailboat thingy, away from alla' this,” Roman shrugged and waves his gun about to gesture to everything.”
“You could just do that, you know. Leave. Have your own life.”
Black Mask straightened at that and gave Catwoman a mocking smile. “You know what they say 'bout captains 'and their ships.”
“Well, you could at least let me go and appreciate the upswing in business I've brought you.”
Black Mask stepped forward, his gun pointed right at her face. “'Fraid not, kitty-cat. Can't have it known I letta' just take anythin' from me. Ain't good for business.” He was done entertaining her distractions, maybe because they were beginning to work, Selina mused. However, those thoughts were lost as he pulled the trigger.
*THHHWOOOOOOOOOMM!*
There was a brilliant flare from the muzzle and the kick from the weapon sent Black Mask's hand high. Somehow, she managed to dodge the shot. The wall by the window was pounded and punched away with the explosive impact and the whole mansion shook. It was like a bomb had gone off and most of the wall was missing.
Outside it was dawn, as the first rays of sunlight crept over the horizon. Outside there was a blaring of sirens as police cars swarmed the front gate, though neither of those in Roman's office heard that past the ringing in their ears. She had called the GCPD herself and told them where she was headed, though she intended to be done with Black Mask by now so that they would have found his body, with or without her standing over it.
Instead she kept moving as Black Mask brought his gun around to bear on her again, but she didn't give him a second chance. She rolled in close and then came up with her hands on his wrist and she twisted. Hard. He gave a grunt and then gave up the gun as she pulled it from him. Black Mask blinked but admitted his defeat as he held up his arms as Catwoman pushed the smoking barrel into his temple.
She didn't pull the trigger.
The door to the office burst open as Sylvia charged in. “Roman?! Roman, darling, what...!” She looked startled to see Selina there, though more for her position than actually being there, Catwoman thought. Especially when she noticed what Sylvia was holding.
“Nice detonator. That for me, 'sis'?”
Sylvia look of panic melted away and was replaced with a rather leering, hostile smile. “I knew you'd come here. It seemed only right to be prepared for you.” Her face was covered with two bandages on either side of her face where Selina had clawed her viciously the night before. The gauze was marked with lines of blood. Whiskers, Catwoman thought. Bloody ones.
“With me as bait,” cut in Black Mask who also eyed the device in Sylvia's hand.
Sylvia kept her eyes on Selina. “And with your men already so used to me having command of them, and with you murdered by Catwoman's hand, they'll easily be mine. Your whole empire, Roman, mine, and without needing to go through with the wedding even.”
“So, alla' it was fake, huh?” Selina thought he wasn't even concerned with the fact that she had his pistol to his head.
Sylvia was silent here and looked away from Selina to meet her fiancé’s angry stare. “I can't go back to that life, of living by my own means, of just getting by. Most days, not even that. You showed me that I deserved more and now I can't be without it, no matter what the cost. In the end, I thought you'd be happy for me.”
Black Mask snorted.
“I have to know why,” Selina said as she nudged Black Mask's head with the gun to get his attention. He looked at her and shrugged as he genuinely wondered what she needed to know. “Before we both die, I have to know why you sent your men to my place, why...why...”
Black Mask gave a brief shake of his head. “Your place? How t'blazes do I know where ya' live? I don't even know yer name, lady.”
Selina snapped her gaze to Sylvia.
Sylvia smiled at that, satisfied by the look of hurt and pain all over Catwoman's face. “I was so tired of you having everything that I wanted you to have nothing, Selina. Nothing!” She raised the detonator and started to back out of the room. “But in a moment, I'll have everything.” The sound of the police outside the mansion's walls became evident to those in the office. “And I have you to thank for it all, Selina.”
“You're forgetting one thing,” Catwoman cautioned.
Syvlia stopped, curious, and asked, “What's th–!”
Selina moved quickly, reached for and grabbed the belt to her burrowed pants. She still had on the baggy attire from the frat boy earlier, which came complete with a belt. In one deft, quick move she flicked it out and it wound around Syvlia's hand. Catwoman pulled, hard, and Syvlia stumbled forward. Selina spun and kicked her in the stomach, which sent Syvlia back, towards the blown out wall.
Syvlia tumbled and fell, out of the office and back onto the ground a story below with a very discomforting yelp of pain. Above her, the office was engulfed in a second shot from Black Mask's gun, and a piercing scream of pain; a man's pain. She laid there a split second, dazed, but very much aware that the man she was about to kill had been taken from her, that somehow Selina had managed to take even that from her.
She screamed. She roared. She pushed the button at her fingertip.
The neighborhood shook with the blast and flames burst out in all directions, but Syvlia Saint didn't care even as they swept over her, as now Selina Kyle was gone.
“Thanks,” Holly muttered as she settled into her seat that the stewardess showed her to, and the lady was kind enough to buckle her in. It was first class, but then she hadn’t bought the ticket. Dr. Thompkins had before she had sent Holly off with several medications and well-wishes. Holly hated to leave Gotham City as she had come to find a home here only to lose it again, and now, on a note from Selina she was going back to Metropolis. She’d watched the news and read the papers, from the ones that she could, for any detail about what happened at the Sionis mansion, but she had yet to find anything conclusive.
Holly’s hands were still bound in thick mittens of gauze and, while the medication Leslie gave her helped, the itching had only gotten worse. Holly tried to remind herself that this was a good thing, that it meant she was healing, but as she looked at her hands she was reminded how they had failed her.
Before she could spiral down where such thoughts left here, there was the welcome distraction of other passengers being let and lead on. There were all manner of travelers at this time of day, as that’s what Holly wanted, to get lost on an early and busy flight. There were bumps and shoves, but they shuffled and settled in around her.
Holly looked up briefly as the stewardess returned. “Here you go, Ms. Newmar.” With her was a thin, pale woman with large round glasses and an oversized handbag, who Holly thought was pretty despite being bald. She looked frail, as perhaps she was a cancer patient or something? They were putting the sickies together, Holly amused herself.
“Julie, please, darling,” rasped the woman who glided away from the stewardess and easily slipped beyond Holly’s knees before Holly could even think to move them. The stewardess turned and left, while Holly shifted in her seat, as she supposed she should make introductions with her seat buddy for the flight.
However, instead she watched Julie pull something from her handbag and hold it out to her. The latest manga of Lunar Guard, her favorite anime series.
Ms. Newmar lowered her glasses and showed Holly familiar green eyes. Quickly, Julie put finger to lip to shush Holly’s sudden surprised look, before there could be any kind of outburst. Then, she got a wink.
“Let me know when you want me to flip the page for you.”
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The End...
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