Always Someone Marches Brave Here Beneath My Skin

Chapter 3

It had been a month since Alex and Kara had seen each other. They'd texted back and here and there, mostly just Alex reminding her that she had a place with her and Kara telling her that she was fine. But she wasn't fine. Kara hadn't even left the house since the night Alex saw the bruises. James' new position enabled him to work from wherever he wanted as long as he had the proper equipment, so of course he'd gone out and purchased the fancy new computer and software he "needed '' for work so he could work from home. He said he wanted to spend more time with her, but Kara knew he really just wanted to keep an eye on her.

Kara kept herself busy. The first week she spent all of her time unpacking and organizing. Once that was done she started painting again, much to James' displeasure. He told her she was only allowed to paint out on their balcony and that she needed to put a tarp down so she didn't make a mess. She didn't mind painting outside really. The balcony was covered so she was mostly shielded from the elements, and the weather was pretty mild in National City. All in all, the balcony became her little oasis, and she spent most of her time there. She'd even managed to sell some of her paintings online - a fact that she kept from James so that she could have her own money without him trying to take it.

On the days she didn't paint or sketch in her journal, Kara would pull out her computer and write. She'd had a story in her head for quite some time now. A story of a young maiden who was the daughter of a cruel king. The young princess fell in love with her maidservant but was forced to keep their love a secret from everyone. Kara poured her heart and soul into this tale of forbidden love, and kept the file on a flash drive that she hid inside a box of tampons under her bathroom sink. She only wrote when he was busy on a work call or otherwise indisposed. Sometimes she'd stay up late into the night working on it because she'd had a spark of inspiration and needed to wait for him to go to sleep to write it down.

The Saturday before Christmas, Kara asked if they could go into town to get more art supplies, stating that she wanted to make a special painting to have hanging when their friends and families came to visit.

"Can't you just use the supplies you have? I have a teleconference with a client in half an hour and I need to get ready for it."

"I don't have a canvas big enough for what I'm painting. Please, James. I'll only be gone an hour, maybe two if there's traffic."

James looked at Kara, as if trying to read her mind.

"Fine," he groaned after taking a deep breath. "But I expect you to be home no later than 2pm! That's an hour and a half from now, Kara."

"Thank you! I'll be back soon, I swear!"

With her new found freedom, Kara grabbed her purse and made her way outside. The local art supply shop was only a block away from their apartment, so she didn't need to worry with the car or getting a taxi. Kara set an alarm on her phone telling her when she was due home in 20 minutes so she could be certain not to be late. J'onn's was a 10 minute walk away from her apartment, 5 if she walked quickly which she planned on doing.

Kara had only been to J'onn's once, but she loved it. It was a small coffee house that sold all sorts of art supplies. As she walked into the store, it was easy to find the canvas that she needed, and since she still had about an hour before she had to be home, she decided she'd have a coffee and look around. There was no way of knowing when she'd be able to get out alone like this again.

"Hey there, what can I get for you," the kindly store owner asked, smiling warmly at Kara.

"Hmmm...I don't actually know. It's been so long since I've had coffee. I usually drink hot chocolate or tea, but I'm kind of in the mood for coffee."