Profession

Cultural studies

I studied until it was time to meet my friends. The pups decided to stay home. They were so relaxed in the sun that I thought they'd melt. Imogen and Justine wanted to know how my trip to Asgard had been and were disappointed that it had been so short and awful.

"It's good that you have that fire defense, though," Justine said. "It seems likely that that sort of man needs force to learn how to understand that his actions aren't acceptable. If he'd been genuinely hospitable, he'd have never treated you like that. He has probably no insight as to why that society is so unfair. But on the other hand, that's fabulous news about your head."

"I literally cannot remember the last time I felt this good," I said. "Since before I met you guys, certainly. That's when the stress reaction started really messing with my amygdala. Longer than that, actually, given the pressures I had from my family. But I don't care how long it's been. It's so blissful, such a weight off my shoulders. And I had an epiphany today, you'll laugh about this. Deri and I were talking about a guy who she thought might be interested in me, but she had him while she was in grad school. I said that I wasn't taking her castoffs, that I wasn't going to play second fiddle." My friends were silent a moment, then Justine started to laugh, so Imogen and I joined in too.

"I know, all of a sudden it's so clear," I said, dabbing at my eyes. "I just realized its effect. Deri was going to get the business, so I chose interests and and a career that was diametrically opposite of the Wayne monolith. I feel kind of childish, like the kid who takes his ball home when he doesn't get his way."

"But then you did a Wayne-ish thing, buying and renovating Holly Village, just showing that you have chops too," Justine said, with a last spurt of giggles. "That you're really good with real estate too. Unconsciously, you were thumbing your nose at the people who discounted you."

"It really is all clear now," Imogen said, grinning. "If you can't be on equal terms, you change the ground. It makes total sense. Strategic."

I was so grateful when I left the lunch to be alive right now, in a time and place where women were legally the equal of men and could live their lives as they saw fit. I wondered what the Amazons were making of Torunn. Probably, if I went to the sea at night when it was quiet and listened carefully, I could probably hear their roars of outrage on her behalf over here. And they would be right. 

I studied hard when I got home. I was so close to being done I could practically taste it. This was an associate's degree, and there was almost as much time in practice as there was in books. Overviews in medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology, health promotion, mental health, maternity-pediatric, and a special unit in management. I wanted to hurry up and get moving, because it looked like my vigilantes were developing solid leads. Honestly, I was past ready for all this to be over. Get rid of the demons from my past and focus on all my life had to offer now. Suddenly everything seemed possible. I wasn't thinking of nursing as a skill I needed for myself anymore, and I could suddenly see how I could take my photography to the next level. And now I knew why I was craving acclaim in my career, but it didn't make my desire to succeed less valid. I still wanted to kick ass. A family trait.

Grandpa Damian called and asked if I'd had dinner yet. I looked up in surprise; it was past six and I was hungry. He said that he and Grandma would drop by with carryout. I had just fed Thyra and Langley when the gate announced their arrival and passed them through. I opened the door to hugs and took the big bag of containers. Smelled like Chinese. Yum. "Sorry, I haven't got the table set yet," I apologized. Grandpa looked shifty.

"We don't want to put you to any trouble," he said. "We can just eat in the game room." I burst out laughing. He loved Alfred and the trouble he went to to provide my grandparents with a well-run household, but he guiltily enjoyed breaking the rules. Well, I lived outside of Alfred's rulebook. So we went into the game room, laid out the bounty on the big card table, and I provided plates and water and a light wine. Grandma fed Eira, joining the pups. There were five minutes of relative silence as we satisfied the first pangs of hunger in bliss.