|
  |
Another day out in New York and most people were getting down to work for the morning. For a certain redheaded woman however? She had only woke about half an hour ago after getting in late from her 'night job'. If nothing else, it was fortunate that the young woman had become used to getting prepared in the morning early and to having a late night. There was always one thing that helped those of the nocturnal crime-fighting vein wake up too that Barbara was willing to partake of: Coffee.
Even at this hour there was still a few people coming and going as Barbara approached the doorway of the small business here in the east village, her fingers resting lightly on the strap of her handbag while the other hand drummed lightly at the leg of her pants. She could already practically taste the much needed infusion that was her morning coffee.
"No, thank you, really, I've got it," says the woman at the head of the line. Dressed smartly in a light, sleeveless red turtleneck and grey trousers, she stands out a bit from the pack of women wearing their office dresses and jackets on their way to work across town. It's not immediately apparent what her job might /be/ given her appearance; she's on the tall side, even not counting the heels that bump her up to six feet and change.
"Aww c'mon sweetheart, don't be like that," the fellow next to her says, trying to push her hand out of the way and intercept with a fistful of cash. "Lemme buy your coffee for ya, ain't no need for a dame like you to be shopping on your own."
Jessica sighs heavily, looking a bit frustrated at being unable to politely talk the fellow down, and glances around for help with mute appeal in her eyes.
The plight is familiar enough that even without the senses sharpened by experience it would be easy enough to pick up on it, tired as she is. Barbara is left standing in the doorway for a moment as she considers. This wasn't like the folks who got physically aggressive the other day, it wasn't a problem that called for violence or anything of that flavour. It didn't however leave her without any options, however less satisfying they may be.
"Oh good!" she calls as she comes walking up, flashing a bright smile at the woman whose attire was actually quite similar to her own, albeit with a different color palate and the lack of her jacket.
It didn't take much to guess she was flashing a look of familarity, stepping up next to the woman. "I was hoping I would get to run into you again!" she says, excitement seeming genuine enough as she glances to the man and then fixes her green eyes on Jessica with a bow of her head. "I wanted to thank you again for the help you and your -husband- gave me the other night," she offers with quite an emphasis on the word husband and a glance to the insistant man. "It's so nice to see a serviceman on leave willing to help others out."
Jessica blinks at Barbara, but hey— when you need a lifeline…
"Of course! …Maaaggie," she says, gripping Barbara's hand in a gentle handshake. "My husband … Earl .. was just so glad to help out," she says, plastering a smile on her face. "I was just getting myself some coffee, let's… sit and … have our coffee, so we can catch up!" She flings some change on the counter while the disappointed fellow struggles to interject into the conversation, collects a drink for each of them, and with a muttered 'Bye!' at the man she links arms with Barbara and steps out with a long stride that covers a lot of ground quickly.
"Oh my holy heavens /thank you/," she tells Barbara, strress and relief in her voice. "He would not take no for an answer and I didn't want to get rude about it. It's not his fault, I mean, he… urf." She glances around. "Will you sit with me a bit though?" she pleads, turning green eyes on Barbara. "Just until he leaves would be… amazing."
AM
"No problem, really," the redhead chuckles, although now she's found herself with drink paid for by another. She'll not put up a fight about it right now though and give the man a chance to interupt again, instead she just lets the other woman move her away from the counter. She'll consider the coffee her reward for a good deed. Lord knows she rarely gets one for the nights she ends up dodging bullets and other dangers. "I've been there, and coffee is better with company, right?"
A few quick steps and they're able to claim seats, Barbara's head gets a light tilt to oneside. "It's Barbara by the way," she offers with a little grin, "I suppose I should probably know your name at the very least, since you're buying -me- coffee now."
"Jessica," the tall raven-haired woman remarks, squeezing Babs' fingers in greeting. She has a faint accent that's hard to place— vaguely Eastern European, but she's clearly cosmopolitan enough that no single accent jumps out immediately.
And there's a strange perfume about her. It's impossible to pin down the specific scent, too— not floral or herbal, but noticeable enough that it doesn't fall into the category of 'vague scent pattern'.
"Do you work here in town, Barbara?" Jessica inquires, giving Babs a once over. "One of those awful graveyard shifts, I bet," she says, sympathetically.
Compared to the scent that Jessica is putting out, the basic mix of shampoo and perfume from the redhead is rather simple and plain, but then there was only so much one could do with the speed that she got up for the day and the salary she had. Still, it brings a little blink to her when Jessica is able to pick up on her lack of sleep. Maybe she'd been pushing it a bit even for her. "I do a lot back at home, paperwork and typing, that sort of thing, for the district attorney."
A shrug, she gives a little dismissive wave. "I guess it shows, I'm never at my best before the morning coffee and these day it always seems like we're rushing around madly.
"The… oh! Yes, the DA, I know who that is," Jessica says, starting a little. "I hear people talk about him a lot." She sips her coffee, then grimaces and reaches for cream and sugar to stir into it. LOTS of cream and sugar, the coffee turning almost white. "I know how you feel— that morning cup is the only thing that gets me out of bed. I can never quite make it as good as they do here, though. I don't know what they do with the beans, but…" She makes an 'mmm' sound and hugs her coffee in her hands, as if absorbing the heat and caffeine through her palms. "It is wonderful. How do you like working for the DA?"
"It's work," Barbara smiles, sipping her own coffee lightly and letting out a small sigh of measured relief. Was it an addiction at this point? Probably, but it was a functioning one she could manage! "I like doing what I can, and it's as close as I can really get to doing what my dad does." A little grin remains on her features at Jessica's own bean-praise, but Babs does incline her head a little to the side as she grasps her mug with both hands. "What about you Jessica? What do you do for a living besides get harassed by strangers in coffee houses?"
"That takes up /most/ of my time, but to be honest I'm between jobs right now?" Jessica tells Barbara. "I know, I know, 'get married and start having kids', but I'm not ready to give up the single life," she says, hair tossing across her face as she shakes her head. She brushes the curls back with one hand, squinting out the window.
"What does your dad do, then?" she inquires, curiously. "Is he in the city government or something too?" she asks, picking up a spoon and lazily muddling her coffee with it.
That, funnily enough, earns a laugh from Barbara, who shakes her head with a dismissive wave of her fingers. "I get it, truly. My mom was throwing the same things at me, it's why I moved here to the city among other things." Another sip, she nods her head and follows a glance towards the street, but she's only really giving the impression of a lazy gaze rather than searching for anything specific. "Sort of?" she offers to the question of her father. "He was a soldier, came back home and became a cop, a detective. I was really young when he moved away but he tried. We're working on it. I guess I always saw him as a superhero when I was a kid and wanted to do the same thing…or as close as I could get, even if that was just shuffling paper."
"It's hard to break into," Jessica says, with real sympathy. "You know they say, 'you girls can do anything', but that's easy for the college kids to say. Harder when you're trying to work with men," she says, wryly. "I know a little about that. They don't think we can handle the tough stuff so it's always 'file this' or 'cream with my coffee, thanks'." She snorts in a very unladylike fashion, shaking her head.
"I'll have to get back into work at some point, though, and I'm sure I'll be putting up with that nonsense again."
"You live here in town?" she inquires. "Or did you come in on the subway? I'm just a few blocks up from here— it's a little noisy but at least I don't have an hour commute to come into town."
"I'm a little closer to Midtown," Barbara nods, sipping her shoulder. "But I have a day off and this place makes some pretty decent coffee and cake. Got to have something to do with your day, right?" a wink, she lazily traces a fingertip over her rim of her coffee cup and looks back to Jessica. "So what is it you used to do then? If you don't mind me asking. I know we all sort of do what we have to sometimes, before we can do what we want. Which were you coming from before you ended up…in transition of employment."
"I'm here on a travel visa," Jessica tells Barbara, shrugging one athletic shoulder at the girl. "It's a government plan. New life, visa, a little stipend to get me settled in. But it won't last forever, and even if it does, I'm /so/ bored. I can only listen to the radio for so many hours a day. I've been at the library in the afternoons and the park during the evenings, just so I don't go stir crazy," she admits, wryly.
"So, you know. Need to find a way to fill the hours, but honestly the only job I've had recently was working as a waitress. I'm sure I'm not qualified to work for a DA or anything like that."
"Maybe that's a place to start?" Barbara comments, another drain of her coffee before she sets the mug down. "A library has to have someone to work in it right? A librarian or something? Might at least give you something to do if you're not sure where to go next." A shrug, she smiles at the woman lightly. "It's a thought anyway. Sometimes we just have to stumble through till we find something that makes us feel like we're doing what we were ment to do." Even if, in Barbara's case, that was dressing up and bringing criminals to justice in the guise of a 'bat'. Different strokes and all that!
Reaching now into her handbag, she starts digging for a few notes. "But stipend or not, if you're still looking for work it wouldn't feel right to let you pay for my drink. Let me pay you back, and you can get the next time we meet, when you've found your feet?"
"Well… sheesh, I'd say 'no' but I'm not exactly rolling in the bucks," Jessica admits, wrinkling her nose. "But it would be nice to meet up again!" she says, smiling at Barbara. "Midtown's not that far off— I can take the C line and be over there in two shakes," she assures the woman. Digging in her own purse for pen and paper, she hastily scratches out some numbers on a notepad and hands it to the redhead. "Here's my number. Give me a call next time you've got a day off— we'll do a proper lunch or something?" she suggests, smiling at the other woman.
"Sounds fair!" Barbara grins, pushing the notes over to the woman and taking the number in return. "Who knows? I might need you to rescue me next time!" A little wink, she starts to push up from her seat, clearly intending on heading off now that the man from earlier had departed and her coffee was empty. "It'd be nice to chat again soon Jessica, I wish you all the best." As she begins to turn away, a blink crosses her features and she turns back with a sheepish smile, reaching out as if she intended to borrow the pen. Should it be offered? She'll scribble her own number down for the woman.
"Just in case," she offers lightly, "I'd hate to lose a page and the chance for lunch with a new friend." After all, her last handbag hadn't fared so well when she'd had to discard it while changing in the field, she couldn't be sure she wouldn't have to do it again, eidetic memory or not it was good to have the certainty that Jessica could call her first if need be.
"Anyway!" she grins, handing the pen back. "I'll see you around, sometime soon I hope!"