Demons [Eddie Brock] Venom

17. Leap

Rory hopped off the tram when it came to a slow halt, then briskly walked two blocks down. Huddled in her long peacoat for warmth and a toque covering her head, she kept her hands tucked under her arms as she made her way to the coffee shop. It was a family-run business, and she felt good paying that extra fifty cents in order to support a family, instead of a big corporation that didn't care about its employees.

She spotted the woman she was meeting with and pulled off her toque as the warmth of the café hit her, then approached her. Rory extended her hand, "You must be Miss Weying."

"I am, please, call me Anne. Rory Kane, right?" The blonde rose and shook Rory's hand. She gestured to all the paperwork in manilla folders on the table. "You've sent me a lot of good information, and I think I have some good news for you. You're one of my most organized clients."

Rory smiled, pleased with herself. Ever since she ended it with him, or rather ran away from, she documented anything she felt necessary. First it was out of fear, fear that someone was going to come find her, go looking for her. Still to this day there was some worry, but she understood now that she was never really worth the chase; there were bigger, more important things he consistently dealt with, too much to take on trailing after a runaway girlfriend.

"Thanks," Rory said to snap herself out of going down that path. "Hey, do you mind if I order a drink and some food? I'm the worst procrastinator when I'm painting."

"Oh, you paint?" Anne asked.

"Just getting back into it," Rory admitted. "Do you want anything?"

"Oh, no thank you."

Ten minutes later Rory came back with a steaming hot cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun. To remain professional, and to keep her paint-stained hands from getting any worse, she used a fork and knife, but felt like an idiot all the same. Before her, Anne laid out all the possibilities of getting a restraining order against Mike, and what it would entail. There was a lot of work to be done, but Anne believed that she could make it happen.

"The biggest issue is that you live close together." Anne flipped though her paperwork and pulled out an address sheet. "The eviction is the hardest part here, it's a lot to uproot someone like that, so the order can't be put into place until he has somewhere else to live, or you move. That's where it is going to get messy."

"My landlord didn't care when I told him," Rory replied. "I filed endless complaints, but he said there wasn't enough evidence even though my neighbour, he saw a lot of it happening."

"Your neighbour sticks up for you?" Anne inquired.

"More than he should have to," Rory admitted.

"He sounds like a great guy," Anne replied. "Right, so, let's get to signing a few of these statements."

The talked business after that, neither of them knowing who the other one was and what their connection really was. When the meeting was coming to an end, Anne believed that they had enough to work with to make this happen. She suggested at the end of the meeting, though, "I understand what you're doing is making a stand, you need to feel comfortable in your home, but have you considered moving?"

Rory brushed her hair back, smiling wryly. "I like to remain where I am, to avoid the bigger fish finding me. I'm sure you have on record somewhere in there that my name isn't Rory, but Aurora. There's a reason I don't go by that name."

Anne looked at her folders in her hands, unsure what to say.

"I've got to go to work, but thank you, Anne. You've given me some hope."

Rory arrived at work only twenty minutes later; she'd missed the first half of her day, but arrived just as lunch came to an end. Alana smiled at her and Rory approached. Ever since they first went for coffee, they hit it off as good work-friends. Nothing extended beyond the work place, but it was nice to have someone to talk to during those long, boring days.

"You have paint in your hair," Alana noted.

"Want to buy a painting?" Rory joked. "Then maybe I can make enough money to quit here."

"You know what, there is a gallery a few blocks down from my place. You should check it out," Alana grabbed a sticky pad and pen, writing down the address of the gallery, and the name.

"It seems like things are really changing with you, for the better, Rory." Alana handed her the paper. "Not only have you been in a good mood, but Rory? You've been glowing. I don't know what changed over the past few months, but I think it's almost time for you to spread your wings and leave this dead-end job."

"And leave you?"

"Hey, don't you worry about me," Alana scolded. "I'm perfectly capable of taking my accounting skills elsewhere, but it is steady work. For me, the pay is pretty much the same anywhere. But for you? You're wasting away behind this desk. You're creative, you shouldn't be stuck in a cubicle answering phones and directing calls."

"I know," Rory admitted sheepishly. "I'm making changes, they're just... slow."

"Hey, I'll tell you what. Bring me a painting tomorrow, something... anything! Try and sell me on it."

"Oh, that's... No, Alana, I couldn't charge you."

"You, Rory, will suck at being a businessperson. You have to push it more than that, you have to be assertive. You do some boxing, right?"

"Not really, just some physical contact training, some self defence."

"Alright, but do you protect yourself and push yourself to come out the winner at the end?"

"Well, yeah, it's self-defence."

"What's the difference? Being the winner in your own life, sounds good, doesn't it? Sometimes you have to take a leap, and I know you've taken leaps before-" she referred to Rory leaving her ex- "and came out okay, so what is the difference here? What do you have to lose?"

It was the push Rory needed to try.

-----

So Rory met Anne but neither know who the other is.

Sorry for the boring chapter, I work really early today and had to crank out something fast so I can get ready for work and not be late!