It's been interesting, I've spent the last few days wandering around the city with Commander Ares or E-Girl or someone else from the Compound. I'm still a raw newb there as far as they are all concerned, but they admit my electrical skills have come in handy now and then.

Like the time that Dr. Destructo was trying to rob one of our big banks, bringing along a bunch of minor villains in pretty shoddy clothing and gear, then had those idiots start firing submachine guns at us right out in the darn street, with people wandering here, there and everywhere!

Chapter 35

The whispering around me was very different today. Other girls in particular, were smiling at me and saying hello. I stayed friendly but didn't encourage any further conversation. They asked me if I knew Laura Kind, to which I answered yes. No elaboration, just yes. I knew that Laura did not want my adoption to be public before she announced it on television during an interview on the red carpet. I thought lunch was going to be interesting and I was right.

“Here she comes!” Hayley squeaked excitedly as the black London taxi pulled onto the street. Sophie fidgeted nervously in her loose dress, forcing a smile on her face as she prepared to hold up the banner that she and many of her friends had spent the previous evening making.

“Everybody ready?” One of the two identical ginger-haired Scottish women asked, smiling as everyone nodded affirmatively.

“On three,” the other ginger-haired Scotswoman said. “Ready? One, two, three…”

CHAPTER 25
Waterstone’s may be a huge and faceless chain of book shops, but I have always found the staff quirky, especially in a University town like Cardiff. I suppose a lot of jobs in what is referred to as ‘retail’ are like that, more so when the items sold are niche stuff. There is a cliché image of record shop employees, or employees in goth or hippy clothing shops, merging with the merchandise, and while I will leave the comparison there (and avoid all mention of employees in, er, ‘Adult’ shops), Cardiff Waterstone’s is absolutely in that league.