Diana's Social Day

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 20, Post Number 478

-Capital Crocus, Capital Coffee, 11:00 A.M.-

Wearing her purple short-sleeved t-shirt, black skirt with pockets containing a medium-sized bag of Jewels in the left pocket and her iLac in the right pocket, white thigh-high stockings, and black tennis shoes, Diana sat in her usual seat in Capital Coffee facing the mall. She was sitting in the chair and sipping from her white styrofoam cup of double espresso while watching people walk by her. Overhead played a cheerful pop tune with a female singer singing about a sunny day at the beach with her friends, but Diana did not pay it very much attention. She had greater concerns than what kind of music was playing in a coffee shop.

She was thinking about the direction she wanted her life to go from here.

A couple of months ago Diana had become a Guildless mage after her former guild had suddenly disbanded. She was free from the burden of her double life and free to live without having to hide from the world, but something very important was missing. It did not take very long for her to put her finger on what she was missing.

She was missing a sense of purpose.

Diana did not know what to do with herself now that she was free. She was a legitimate Guildless mage, which meant that she was free to choose her own destiny. No longer did she have to take orders from someone else.

Therein lay the problem.

She had been taking orders from someone else for so long that now that she finally had her freedom she did not even know what to do with it.

While pondering the best solution to her problem Diana took another sip of coffee while looking out of the window in front of her. She saw people streaming by her going about their daily lives. She saw people streaming into and out of the mall that was only a short distance away. They moved like they had a sense of purpose, something that Diana was currently lacking.

Diana sipped from her cup of coffee again as she tried to figure out how she was going to find her sense of purpose. She sipped more coffee and pondered that question until she ran out of coffee. Having drank all of her double espresso and not wanting another right away, Diana decided that she would pay a visit to the mall and do some window shopping to take her mind off of her current problems.

Diana stood up from her chair, walked over to the trash can near the door, and tossed her empty coffee cup into the proper trash receptacle before leaving the coffee shop to go to the mall.

-Capital Crocus Mall, the first floor, 11:25 A.M.-

After leaving Capital Coffee and walking to the mall Diana now stood on the first floor of Capital Crocus Mall. The food court was already beginning to fill up with hungry shoppers forming lines to their restaurants of choice. Diana was not hungry, so she would not be waiting in line for anything to eat. Instead she walked towards the stairwell to go up to the second floor to begin her window shopping.

-On the second floor-

Diana emerged from the stairwell, stepped to the left side to avoid holding up foot traffic, and looked around the second floor for a shop that interested her enough to go in and look at what it had to offer. Since there was nothing interesting in the immediate area, Diana decided to do a lap around the second floor to see what she could find. She had just walked to the first bench on the right side of the second floor when she sat down on it and thought about something.

She had been here several times in the past.

She should have known where everything was by now.

Why was she wandering around like she had never been here before?

The huntress had never felt this lost before. She was not only lost in the physical sense, but also the sense of not having a direction to take her life in. She highly doubted that she was going to find it in a shopping mall.

[Post Word Count: 706]
[Total Word Count: 706/11,000]

-Capital Crocus Mall, the second floor, twenty minutes later-

Diana had spent twenty minutes sitting on the bench trying to figure out what she was going to do about finding a new purpose for her life. That had been twenty minutes wasted because she had not come up with any compelling new purpose for herself. Even being a legitimate Guildless mage who no longer had to live a double life did little to console her.

Seeing no point in sitting around on the bench any longer, the blonde stood up and was going to make a lap around the second floor to at least do something other than sit around and take up space. At least she could distract herself from her problems for a short while.

-On the second floor, twenty minutes later-

Diana had made a lap of the second floor and had still not found any interesting stores to go in. She did not need clothing from The Modern Woman or The Athlete's Edge. She did not need new lingerie from Intimate Secrets. She could not think of anywhere else to go in here except maybe for The Music Vault. Maybe that store would be interesting enough to distract her for a few minutes.

Feeling like she was just wasting her time as she followed a crowd of shoppers to the stairwell she used to get to the second floor, Diana eventually reached the stairwell and began climbing the stairs to the third floor.

-The Music Vault, the third floor, ten minutes later-

Ten minutes later Diana was standing inside The Music Vault and browsing through the music lacrimas as music began began to play overhead. According to the announcer, it was the newest single from a band named Bringer Of Strife. The single was called "The Sinews Of War."

The piece started out with the quiet scribbling of an ink pen on paper. Then a motor vehicle started up. Next came the sound of a jet aircraft taking off. Then came the sound of a magazine being loaded into a firearm. Finally the music started off with a fast guitar solo mingling with the sound of artillery pieces firing.

After a minute the guitar solo stopped and the scribbling sound of an ink pen on paper played again. The sounds of a motor vehicle starting up, a jet aircraft taking off, and a firearm being loaded repeated before the sound of a belt-fed machine gun being loaded played. The charging handle of the machine gun was pulled and released, then a furious drum solo started just as the weapon began to fire.

The drum solo last for as long as it took for the ammunition belt to be expended. Once the weapon stopped firing the drum solo ended and an uneasy silence prevailed... until she heard the scribbling again. Then the previous sounds played one behind the other and mingled for several seconds before stopping and being replaced by another uneasy silence, then the scribbling could be heard one last time.

Once the musical piece had ended the announcer listed the band and the name of the album the single was from. The album was titled "The Clausewitz Engine" and it was now available in music stores everywhere, including the one Diana was standing in. Shortly after that announcement more music came on, but unlike the last piece this one was an upbeat pop number. Diana took a moment to let the abrupt shift in mood flow through her as the music transitioned from serious to cheerful in the space of thirty seconds.

Diana listened to the new pop song play as a female vocalist sang about meeting her friends at the club for a lively night of fun. She listened to it for about twenty seconds before she mentally tuned it out and turned to walk towards the racks of t-shirts on the left side of the store. She reached the racks of t-shirts and began to sift through them. She was not really looking to buy anything... she was just doing this to distract herself from her problems.

Diana sifted through the t-shirts and found that a lot of bands were represented. She found t-shirts for bands such as Bringer Of Strife, Mechanized Mayhem, Power Overwhelming, and others. She sifted past the metal band section and skipped over the pop section until she eventually reached the electronic music section, which had a few DJ Dynamo t-shirts in varying colors. The huntress began to look through them on the off chance there was a purple DJ Dynamo shirt available.

After a brief search she found a purple t-shirt with "DJ Dynamo" on the front printed in white letters and gently removed it from the rack. She examined her find and smiled a little at her luck. It soon faded when she realized that the shirt was smaller than the others.

It was too small for her to wear.

Overcome by disappointment, Diana put the shirt back on the rack and did not even bother to search through the rest for a purple DJ Dynamo shirt her size. Diana wordlessly turned around and left The Music Vault. She was probably going to go home and try to look for work to get her purpose back... or she was just going to lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling.

[Post Word Count: 894]
[Total Word Count: 1,600/11,000]

-Outside Diana's townhouse, Crown Lane, one hour later-

Since her shopping trip had not panned out because the one purchase she wanted to make was not the right size for her, Diana had decided to quit wasting time at the mall and go back home. Diana was standing outside her door and reaching to knock on the door to try and get Ami to let her in when she heard someone call her name. The voice was coming from her right.

Diana looked in that direction to see a dark-haired young woman approaching from the right. At first Diana thought that she was seeing Amber, but then she noticed that the dark-haired young woman had longer hair than Amber did. The huntress looked closer and noticed that the person approaching her was... Catherine Corvinus?

"DIANA!" The young woman called out. Diana took her hand out of her pocket and turned to face the young woman. Catherine was wearing her blue DJ Dynamo t-shirt and black gym shorts with white tennis shoes.

"Hey Diana! It's been awhile since we last met!" Catherine greeted Diana in a cheerful tone of voice. Diana blinked.

"Yeah, I know it's weird seeing me out in broad daylight." Catherine made a self-deprecating joke about her tendency to stay indoors most of the time. Diana gave a small smile and felt her malaise lift just a little.

"Hello, Catherine. It has been some time since we last met." Diana returned the greeting in a calm voice. Catherine smiled at her.

"Amber told me that you live here now. Is that your house?" Catherine asked, pointing towards the door Diana was standing in front of. Diana nodded.

"Mind if I come in for a few minutes?" Catherine asked Diana.

"Certainly. As soon as I can get the door open, you are welcome to come inside." Diana consented to Catherine dropping in. Diana turned her attention back to the door and knocked on it. Moments passed and no response from Ami.

Diana knocked on the door again. This time she could hear the sound of the lock being unlocked before the door opened.

"Oh, hi Diana!" Ami greeted Diana warmly.

"I apologize for that, Ami. It seems that I forgot to take my house keys with me when I left for Capital Coffee this morning." Diana apologized to Ami for forgetting her house keys and thus making her have to open the door.

"It's no problem, Diana. I'm here to help you!" Ami assured her that she did not mind opening the door for the blonde. The android looked over Diana's shoulder and saw Catherine standing just behind and to the left of Diana.

"This is my friend Catherine Corvinus." Diana introduced Ami to Catherine. The raven waved at Ami, who returned the wave.

"Don't just stand there. Come on in!" Ami bade them. Diana entered first followed by Catherine. When both young women entered the house Ami shut and locked the door behind them.

-Inside Diana's townhouse, the living room-

Diana walked into the living room as Catherine followed close behind. Ami brought up the rear and stood in the living room while Diana walked into her mini-kitchen. The raven looked around at Diana's place.

"Would you like something to drink, Catherine?" Diana offered a drink to the second guest to ever visit her home.

"Do you have any Strawberry Slam?" Catherine asked Diana. The blonde walked to her refrigerator and opened the doors. She peered inside and saw that she did not have any Strawberry Slam sodas, only Cherry Charge. Diana turned around to face Catherine, who was now standing a short distance to her left.

"I do not have any Strawberry Slam drinks, but I do have Cherry Charge. Would you like one?" Diana asked. Catherine nodded.

"Yeah, Cherry Charge will do the trick." Catherine expressed her willingness to accept a can of Cherry Charge. Diana turned to face the open refrigerator door and reached inside, grabbing a can with her right hand. She shut the door with her left hand and walked over to Catherine, presenting her with the canned drink. The raven gratefully accepted it.

"Thanks, Diana." Catherine thanked her hostess for the drink before opening the can and taking a swig of the cherry soda. She then faced Diana, who was still standing in the kitchen.

"I bet you wanna know what I'm doing in your neighborhood, huh?" Catherine asked Diana.

"I am." Diana replied laconically but with sincere interest.

"I was in the neighborhood to visit my old pal Amber. You know, to let her know that I was OK after I didn't answer her calls or text messages that day a few weeks ago. I felt that I owed her a visit in person to explain that I was really OK." Catherine informed Diana why she was in Crown Lane. Diana read the raven's body language out of habit and learned that the latter was telling the truth about the purpose of her visit to Crown Lane and to Amber. After learning the truth behind Catherine's visit Diana relaxed a little.

"So, how is Amber doing?" Diana asked Catherine in an attempt at making small talk. Even though Diana was not really keen on it, she had little choice in the matter. For better or for worse, Amber lived in her neighborhood and the huntress would have to act friendly towards her even if she did not consider Amber a real friend. That was one of the costs of living in a nice neighborhood like Crown Lane.

[Post Word Count: 926]
[Total Word Count: 2,526/11,000]

"Amber's doing fine, Diana. She's gotta work tonight... as usual. We don't have much time to hang out anymore because both of us are busy with our respective jobs, but that's just the way things go." Catherine replied to Diana's question. Diana stood silently for several moments before coming up with a way to continue the conversation.

"I have been a bit busy myself, but not as busy as you or Amber." Diana said, trying to keep the conversation on the topic of work. Catherine looked at the huntress.

"Really?" Catherine asked Diana. It sounded like that she was humoring Diana by keeping the conversation going. Or maybe Diana was so bad at understanding other people that she did not see that her friend was genuinely interested in what she had to say.

"As you can probably tell by the way my home looks, I am still in the process of buying furnishings for it. Shopping is nowhere near as important as your work or Amber's. I have not taken a "real" job in some time." Diana replied to the question. Catherine looked around her immediate surroundings and looked like she was choosing her words carefully before giving a response.

"I'd say that you're doing a good job furnishing the place, Diana. I like what you've got going on here." Catherine said. A skeptical Diana read the raven's body language and learned that Catherne was telling the truth. However, just because Catherine was telling the truth did not mean that Diana automatically knew what she was talking about.

"What do you mean by that?" Diana asked to both keep the conversation going and to learn what she was doing right.

"I mean that you haven't gone overboard with the furnishings. The living room's tastefully decorated... you didn't go for a loud wallpaper and you didn't coat the wall with pictures or framed inspirational quotes." Catherine explained exactly what she had meant. Diana nodded in sort-of understanding. Catherine finished her drink and set the empty can on the counter next to the sink in the mini-kitchen, then dug her iLac out of her left pocket and tapped the screen with her right index finger. She glanced at the device and her eyes darted back and forth like she was reading something. Catherine then put the device back in her pocket.

"I hate to leave so suddenly, but I've gotta go, Diana. I've just been called into work to cover for someone who got sick. I'll have to catch you later." Catherine said. Diana read her body language a third time and for the third time Catherine was telling the truth.  Her excuse was legitimate, but Diana hoped that her poor social skills did not drive Catherine away.

"All right, Catherine. See you later." Diana replied. Catherine waved goodbye and walked down the hall towards the front door, then unlocked it and opened it. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. Ami walked to the front door and locked it back, then walked back to Diana.

"So, what are you gonna do from here, Diana? What are you gonna do for the rest of the day?" Ami asked her owner. Again Diana shrugged her shoulders.

"I have no idea, Ami. I was hoping that one of my usual clients would call me with a job offer, but so far that has not happened." Diana answered and listed one option that was currently unavailable. She was hoping that she would get a call by now so that she could have an escape from her troubles that also paid well, but right now that was not happening. Diana was really not sure what she was going to do with the rest of her day.

Suddenly she got an iLac call. Diana fished the iLac out of her pocket and tapped the screen to get a look at who was calling. The caller was her old acquaintance Angela Helton!

"Hello?" Diana asked.

"Hey Diana!" Angela greeted her enthusiastically.

"It's been awhile since we last talked! How's it going?" Angela asked Diana how things were going before the latter could greet the former.

"It is going OK." Diana replied calmly. Angela chuckled a little.

"Yeah, same here. I'm doing OK in my classes at Crocus Magicka University. I'm not at the top of the class, but I'm not in any danger of failing my classes, so things are going OK for me too." Angela informed Diana of how her classes were going.

"Say, I was gonna go to the mall and look in The Music Vault for a Marina Renault album that I'm missing. Do you wanna come with me?" Angela invited Diana to go with her to The Music Vault in Capital Crocus Mall. It was only a matter of seconds before Diana made her decision.

"I would be glad to go with you to The Music Vault, Angela." Diana answered.

"Great! I'll meet you in the mall food court in about an hour!" Angela informed Diana.

"An hour it is." Diana replied calmly. She had no objection to that timeframe. She did not have anything urgent to do today, so she did not mind taking another trip to the mall. Maybe having Angela with her would make the second trip more fun.

[Post Word Count: 880]
[Total Word Count: 3,406/11,000]

-One hour and fifteen minutes later, the Capital Crocus Mall food court-

Diana walked into the food court of Capital Crocus Mall and spotted Angela standing on the threshold between the sparsely populated entrance hall and the very busy food court. Angela was wearing a pink short-sleeved t-shirt with the letters CMU printed in black letters with white borders on the front and a short black skirt with white tennis shoes. She had a black purse on her left shoulder. The brunette spotted Diana and came walking over to her as fast as her legs could carry her.

"Hey Diana!" Angela greeted Diana warmly. She wrapped her arms around Diana and hugged her tightly. Diana's skin crawled until she was let go.

"Hey girl, you look great! Did you do something with your hair?" Angela asked Diana and stepped back, looking the blonde over.

"No." Diana answered laconically. She had recently taken to wearing a short-sleeved shirt rather than a long-sleeved one, but other than that nothing had changed about her appearance. Maybe Angela was just trying to be nice.

"Well, I noticed you're wearing a short-sleeved shirt now. That's a good look for you." Angela commented on the purple short-sleeved shirt Diana was wearing. Again it sounded like she was just trying to be nice. Diana gave a small smile.

"Thanks." Diana said, choosing to accept the compliment at face value instead of looking for hidden meanings where there might not be any.

"No problem, Diana. Are you ready to go to The Music Vault on the third floor?" Angela asked Diana.

"I am ready when you are." Diana replied in the affirmative. Angela began to walk towards the busy food court.

"C'mon, Diana. Follow me." Angela said. The blonde followed Angela into the food court and the pair paused in place to let a stream of shoppers head for the stairs before they joined the end of the line and followed it up the stairs.

-The Music Vault, the third floor-

Angela and Diana entered The Music Vault to find that it was fairly busy. Angela made a beeline for one of the display cases in the middle of the store and began browsing at it while Diana slowly walked towards Angela while slowly and patiently weaving through clusters of other patrons and soon reached the brunette, who had put her finger on the glass display case and had hailed an employee to unlock the case for her. Diana stood by as a dark-haired young woman walked over to the case and unlocked it from the back, then pulled out a pink music Lacrima and the accompanying case.

"Thank you." Angela thanked the employee for her help. The two then went to the counter while Diana followed silently behind them. It seemed like Angela had already found what she had come to The Music Vault for, defeating the whole point of Diana coming here. The blonde was perplexed. Angela must have sensed that because she turned around and faced Diana.

"In case you were wondering, I just found a Marina Renault album that I was looking for, but it's not the album I was looking for. Does that make sense?" Angela asked the blonde. Diana nodded.

"It makes sense now." Diana admitted. The employee who had helped Angela overheard the conversation and chose this moment to speak up.

"Excuse me, Miss, are you looking for the Marina Renault album named Strings Of The Seasons?" The dark-haired young female employee asked Angela. The brunette nodded.

"If you'd like, I'll go check the back and I'll see if we have it in stock." The young woman offered. Angela nodded.

"That'd be great, thanks." Angela replied. The employee went to check the back while the two young women stood patiently waiting for her. After roughly seven minutes the employee returned and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Miss. We don't have that album in stock." The employee informed Angela. Angela smiled.

"That's OK. I'm more than happy with what I have." The brunette replied. She took her purse off of her shoulders and the employee rung up the music Lacrima Angela had picked out earlier. Angela paid for it and the Lacrima was given to her along with the receipt in a white plastic bag with the shop's name spelled in golden letters.

"Thanks for shopping at The Music Vault!" The employee thanked Angela for her patronage. Angela nodded and turned around to leave the store. Diana followed her and together the pair wound their way through the busy store until they were outside.

-Outside The Music Vault, the third floor-

"Well, I didn't find Strings Of The Seasons, but I found another Marina Renault album that I was looking for." Angela summed up the results of the shopping trip so far.

"Even though I found part of what I wanted, I'm not ready to call it a shopping day just yet. Would you like to go to Earthland Eagle with me?" Angela asked Diana. The blonde nodded.

"Sure." Diana replied laconically. It was not like she had anything important to do right now. Besides, part of her was enjoying spending time with Angela.

"Great! To Earthland Eagle we go!" Angela said. Together the pair walked towards the stairs that led back to the first floor, barely keeping ahead of a stream of shoppers that were right on their heels.

[Post Word Count: 898]
[Total Word Count: 4,304/11,000]

-Inside Earthland Eagle, the first floor, twenty minutes later-

Diana had followed Angela into Earthland Eagle and now stood near the brunette while the latter looked for more short shorts on a rack on the left wall. Diana listened to some generic "mall pop" music with a synthesizer beat playing overhead. She could have sworn that she had heard this tune during her last visit to Earthland Eagle, but she was not certain. A lot of "mall pop" music sounded alike.

Diana stood by with The Music Vault bag containing Angela's purchase in her right hand and watched the brunette shop for short shorts while the music played overhead and people passed by her on the way to browse t-shirts. The huntress was not exactly pleased with the store's selection of clothing, which looked to be composed of short shorts and crop tops. Maybe it was just the fashion for the season.

Angela was digging through the rack when she paused and made a gap between two pairs of blue jean short shorts that had the "well-worn" look. The brunette grabbed something and pulled it out, then turned to show Diana her prize.

"Hey, look! I found a pair of short shorts that don't look so old!" Angela proudly informed Diana while holding up a fairly new pair of blue jean short shorts. Diana, not sure how to react to that, gave a small smile.

"Great." Diana said laconically and with as much false cheer as she could muster. Angela handed the hanger holding the shorts to Diana and turned back to the rack. The blonde wordlessly accepted the burden and took the hanger by the hook, which she held in her right hand.

After roughly six more minutes of searching Angela stopped looking through the short shorts and turned to face Diana.

"OK, I think I've found the only intact short shorts I'm gonna find here. I'm gonna go look at the shirts for a bit." Angela announced and walked towards the t-shirts, which were hanging on racks against the right wall. Diana wordlessly followed her over to the right side of the store while dodging other customers, including multiple young women who were Diana's age.

Diana eventually reached Angela, who was already browsing through a rack of t-shirts while searching with a determined look on her face. After three minutes of searching Angela moved aside a bunch of red crop tops to reach into the rack and pull out something. Angela's left hand emerged with a pink crop top.

"Hey, I found one! And it's my size too!" Angela said with pride. It was a pink crop top with the Earthland Eagle logo in white print on the front. She handed her new prize to Diana, who took the hanger into her right hand. Angela's eyes looked at Diana's purple t-shirt for a moment before the former's face lit up.

"Say, you seem to really like the color purple. Lemme find you a purple t-shirt like the one I just found!" Angela offered. Diana immediately knew where this was going and tried to politely stop it right now.

"That will not be necessary, Angela. I assure you." Diana attempted to persuade Angela not to get her a purple crop top. Angela proceeded to cheerfully ignore the blonde's request and dive back into the rack of t-shirts. Diana could do nothing but watch helplessly and wonder why she had agreed to go with the brunette to Earthland Eagle.

-Inside a dressing room, ten minutes later-

Diana stood in the dressing room trying on the purple crop top Angela had picked out for her. It was a purple version of the pink one Angela had picked for herself. It even had the store's logo in white print on the front.

The blonde was hating every minute of this, but she had little choice in the matter. Angela had asked her to try it on and since Diana lived in the same city as Angela and the chances of them meeting again were high, the huntress agreed to try on the short shirt to play nice with Angela. The blonde's reluctance was written all over her face as she looked in the mirror at herself.

She hated this garment.

It made her feel so exposed.

Knocking sounded on the dressing room door and interrupted the blonde's thoughts.

"Hey Diana! Are you OK?" Angela asked through the door.

"I am fine, Angela." Diana replied, struggling to keep her voice calm. She was really not fine right now. She hated the short shirt she was wearing.

"Are you wearing the shirt I picked out for you?" Angela inquired. Diana wordlessly walked over to the dressing room door and opened it. Angela saw her and smiled.

"You look so cute, Diana! You look so casual and relaxed!" Angela said. Diana did not agree with that assessment at all, but she kept her mouth shut.

"I'm gonna buy it for you and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" Angela informed Diana. The blonde knew better than to argue with a determined Angela and resigned herself to her fate. She wordlessly shut the dressing room door and took off the shirt, then put it back on the hanger. She put the plain purple t-shirt she had entered the store with on and grabbed the hanger with her new short shirt, then walked out of the dressing room with it in hand.

As soon as she got home it was going to the deep recesses of her closet, deep recesses from which it would never emerge if she could help it.

[Post Word Count: 936]
[Total Word Count: 5,240/11,000]

-Outside Earthland Eagle, five minutes later-

"That was fun!" Angela said to Diana while the pair walked away from Earthland Eagle. Diana was not sure if "fun" was the right word for it, but it was certainly an experience. Holding her "prize" in an Earthland Eagle shopping bag clutched in her right hand, Diana waited for Angela to announce their next move.

"Hmmm... is there anything else that I want to shop for today?" Angela asked herself out loud. Diana kept quiet and let the brunette think until the latter had reached a conclusion. Angela reached into her purse for her iLac and pulled it out, then checked the time.

"Well, I was thinking of going to Intimate Secrets, but I'd better not. I've got to get home and study for a test that's coming up in the next few days." Angela said to Diana. Diana analyzed her companion's body language and learned that she was being truthful. Angela was cutting her shopping trip short because she really did have a test to study for and not because Diana was bad company.

The blonde was relived to hear that she would not have to go into Intimate Secrets... at least not today, anyway. She disliked how the saleswomen kept trying to get her to buy undergarments she did not need. Diana also believed that at least one of them had a crush on her.

Without further delay Angela began to walk for the mall entrance while Diana wordlessly followed at her side.

-Inside Diana's Home, two hours and twenty minutes later-

Having walked Angela home, Diana returned to her home with her Earthland Eagle bag clutched in her left hand. She stood outside the door and fished her house keys out of her left pocket, then put the key into the lock. Diana turned the key right and turned the doorknob right. The door opened and she went inside.

"Hey Diana! How's it going?" Ami asked her while standing in the living room. Diana pocketed her keys and raised her right hand in greeting.

"It is going all right." Diana replied calmly. She walked past Ami and was going upstairs to put her new Earthland Eagle purple crop top in a far corner of her closet, somewhere that was so far that it would never see the light of day again. Had it not been a gift from Angela it might not have even made it home.

-In the living room, three minutes later-

Having accomplished her goal, Diana walked back down the stairs and walked into the mini-kitchen to get something to drink. Diana opened up the right door to her double-door refrigerator, fished out a bottle of water, and opened it. She took a drink from it and gently closed the door, then walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Diana was about to sit down on the couch and plan out a brief trip to buy a television for her home when her iLac began to ring. Diana quickly walked back into the kitchen, set her bottle of water down, and fished the ringing iLac out of her pocket. She swiped on the screen and learned that Amber was calling her.

Diana quickly answered the call and brought the phone up to her right ear.

"Hey Diana! It's me, Amber!" Amber identified herself.

"Hello Amber." Diana greeted her acquaintance.

"I was supposed to work tonight, but it turns out that I'm not needed at the hospital tonight." Amber informed Diana. Diana wondered whether Amber was calling to cash in her rain check for a movie night.

"Say, remember the other day when I asked if you wanted to go to a movie with me?" Amber asked Diana.

"Yes, I remember." Diana replied in the affirmative.

"I'm gonna have to put that off a little bit longer since there's no movie that I really wanna see, but in the meantime would you mind going to the mall with me?" Amber asked Diana if the latter was up for a trip to the mall instead of a trip to the movie theater.

"Certainly." Diana replied. She was willing to take a third trip to the mall since Amber lived in her neighborhood and she needed to begin building a relationship with the dark-haired young woman.

"Great! I'll meet you at the food court in about two hours!" Amber said.

"See you then." Diana replied. Amber hung up and Diana ended the call. The blonde was going to have to put off her plans to buy a television a little bit longer because it would take her almost two hours just to go to the electronics store. Considering that she was supposed to meet Amber at the mall in a little over two hours, she had better save the trip to the electronics store for another day.

-Capital Crocus Mall, two hours later-

Wearing the same outfit she had worn during her earlier excursion, Diana walked through the entrance hall and into the food court, which was a lot busier than it had been when she was here with Angela. There were at least fifty people waiting in line for food, if not more. Then Diana had a thought.

Maybe Amber was running a little late.

Deciding to wait and see if Amber would arrive soon, Diana decided to wait on the right side of the entrance hall. She walked over to an empty bench, sat down on it so that she would not be impeding other shoppers, and waited for her acquaintance to arrive.

[Post Word Count: 928]
[Total Word Count: 6,168/11,000]

-Capital Crocus Mall, one hour later-

Diana had been sitting and waiting patiently for Amber for an hour, but she had not yet seen Amber nor had she heard from her. The blonde was starting to wonder if Amber had forgotten their plans, but she need not have worried. Moments after thinking about Amber she spotted the dark-haired young woman walking briskly towards her. She was wearing a white t-shirt and short black skirt with white tennis shoes.

Diana stood up to greet her acquaintance and was hugged. The blonde's skin crawled until she was released from the embrace.

"Hey Diana! Sorry I'm late! I was on my way to the mall when a friend of mine called. We got to talking and I lost track of time! I'm so sorry!" Amber explained why she was late before apologizing for losing track of time.

"I told her that she could join me on this shopping trip. I hope you don't mind!" Amber said apologetically. Diana had not anticipated Amber inviting another person, but long ago she had learned to expect the unexpected.

" It is no problem." Diana replied calmly. She was not mad about the unexpected guest. Besides, she needed to learn to start interacting with people outside her tiny circle of acquaintances.

Within moments a young woman with wavy waist-length copper red hair walked up to them. She was wearing a lavender Crocus Magicka University t-shirt with the letters CMU printed in black letters on the front and short white skirt with white tennis shoes. She approached and hugged Amber, who readily returned the embrace. The redhead then faced Diana.

"You must be Diana! Amber told me about you earlier!" The redhead said to the blonde.

"I am Diana Winchester." Diana introduced herself to the redhead.

"I'm Ashleigh Watson! Amber and I have been friends since middle school. We went to high school together, we went to nursing school together, and now we work at the same hospital together!" Ashleigh cheerfully introduced herself to Diana and explained how she and Amber knew each other. Diana wondered what it was like to have a friend like that. Diana did not have many friends, but she had Ami and she had Aliarey. They were good enough for her.

"So, are we ready to get started?" Amber asked Ashleigh and Diana. Both young women nodded.

"Great! Let's go shopping!" Amber said. Amber took the lead and the redhead and the blonde followed her out of the entrance hall and towards the food court. There they went left and took the stairs to the second floor.

-The Modern Woman, the second floor, twelve minutes later-

After walking up the stairs and working their way through a crowd of shoppers passing in front of the store, the trio were now standing inside a clothing store named The Modern Woman. As the name implied, it focused on modern casual clothing for women. The store was brightly lit and neatly organized with racks of garments on the left and right walls. It currently had only eight other shoppers besides them, so the trio did not need to worry about being crowded out. Their fellow shoppers were all young women their age.

Diana looked around and noticed that Amber and Ashleigh were already busy browsing a clothing rack of skirts located on the far right side of the store. They must have gotten started while Diana was looking around at the number of people in the store. Not wanting to stick out like a sore thumb, Diana quietly went to join her shopping partners.

Diana casually walked over to a rack of t-shirts positioned to the left of the rack of skirts Amber and Ashleigh were looking through and proceeded to look through the t-shirts at a leisurely pace. She was doing that just to blend in with her shopping partners. She was not really looking for anything in particular, but she was mildly curious as to what the shop had in the way of t-shirts.

Diana browsed through them until she came across a black crop top. She frowned and quickly moved the hanger left. She already had a purple crop top courtesy of Angela and she was not going to get another one if she could help it.

The blonde searched a little more and eventually found a baby blue t-shirt to the far right side of the rack. She took its hangar off the rack and looked it over. She was happy to find that it was a normal t-shirt with no print on it, which was exactly what she wanted. Diana liked the color and she wanted something that was a color besides pink, navy blue, or purple. The blonde was sorely tempted to buy the garment, but she did not need to make an impulse purchase that she might regret later.

Diana stepped back from the rack while holding the baby blue t-shirt and began to carefully think over her potential purchase.

Did she really need this?

[Post Word Count: 836]
[total Word Count: 7,004/11,000]

-Outside The Modern Woman, forty minutes later-

Diana walked out with a shopping bag containing both the baby blue t-shirt she did not come here to buy but found attractive enough to buy and a lavender t-shirt that was too good to pass up. She had spent a little more than she had intended, but that was OK. She could easily earn the money back with a job from Mister Burke or another one of her clients.

Right behind her walked Amber and Ashleigh. To the blonde's surprise Amber emerged from the shop without buying anything, but Ashleigh had a shopping bag clutched in her left hand. She had bought a hunter green t-shirt along with a black t-shirt, a pink t-shirt, and a gray t-shirt. Now that the trio had finished shopping at The Modern Woman, Diana was curious as to where they would go shopping next.

Just as long as it was not at Intimate Secrets.

"Hey guys, I want to go shop at The Fashionable Lady on the first floor. I know that to get there we're gonna have to go all the way back down the stairs and that's gonna be a real pain with as many people as there are in here." Amber told Ashleigh and Diana where she wanted to go shopping next. The trio watched a large group of people walk by them and head right for the stairs, where another large group was just beginning their descent. Coming up the stairs was yet another large group of shoppers. To say that there was a traffic jam at the stairs was an understatement.

"I don't mind going all the way to the first floor, but just look at all the people at the stairs!" Ashleigh chimed in.

"I do not mind a bit of travel, but we will definitely need to find an alternate route to the first floor. Perhaps there is another staircase that we can take." Diana said to her shopping partners. Amber snapped her fingers and smiled.

"Actually, there's another staircase on the other side of this floor. Follow me, ladies!" Amber said before spinning on her heels and walking away from them. Ashleigh and Diana hurried to follow the raven as Amber set out for the other staircase at a brisk pace. They had better hurry up if they did not want to get separated from her... a crowd was heading for The Modern Woman and they were not slowing down for anything.

-The first floor, in the food court, eight minutes later-

"Well, that... that wasn't so bad." Amber said to Ashleigh and Diana once the trio had set foot on the first floor. The stairwell they had taken to get here had been so packed with people that the trio had literally rubbed shoulders with several people on the way down. Diana hated every minute of being on that crowded staircase and she was glad to have some personal space again.

"I hope that we don't have to go back upstairs for any reason... we're not gonna get to where we need to go any time soon." Ashleigh mused aloud and jerked the thumb of her left hand back towards the stairwell, which was filling up with people again. Diana looked towards it for a moment, then turned away and looked towards Amber and Ashleigh.

"I hope not either." Diana seconded the redhead's opinion. Amber ignored the pair and looked towards The Fashionable Lady, which was all the way on the right side of the first floor. She turned back to her shopping partners.

"Hey, there it is! Let's get in there before everyone and their brother decides to go shopping in there!" Amber said, setting off at a brisk walk. The redhead and the blonde had to hurry to catch up with the raven a second time. They walked past the food court and hurried by a bookstore and a sports-themed restaurant named All-Star Grill that was a short distance from The Fashionable Lady. Speaking of that store, the front was packed with shoppers... it looked like a special sale was going on today.

-Inside The Fashionable Lady, ten minutes later-

Having finally gotten past the frenzied shoppers clustered around the perfume counters in the front of the store, the trio were now standing on an aisle in the lipstick section of the store. The section was almost deserted except for a shopper or two on other aisles, allowing them to browse at their leisure. Diana did not have any real interest in the wares that The Fashionable Lady offered... she was here because Amber and Ashleigh were.

Amber and Ashleigh were looking at tubes of pink lipstick while Diana was standing by and keeping an eye on them. Every once in awhile one of them would find a tube that was particularly appealing and carefully pull it off of the shelf to examine it more closely. Diana glanced at the lipstick every once in awhile but did not pay it very much attention. She had no need for it because she did not have a significant other she needed to impress.

While Diana was not interested in this store, her partners were, so Diana would patiently until Amber and Ashleigh were ready to move on.

[Post Word Count: 880]
[Total Word Count: 7,884/11,000]

-One hour and fifteen minutes later-

After a little over an hour spent inside The Fashionable Lady the trio emerged from the store and walked off to the right of the entrance before stopping. Amber and Ashleigh had one small shopping bag apiece with their new lipstick inside while Diana did not buy anything. Since she had no boyfriend/girlfriend to impress, she had no need to buy lipstick. Now that they were finished shopping in that store for this trip the blonde waited for Amber to announce where they were heading next. As long as they did not go to Intimate Secrets Diana did not mind shopping wherever Amber and Ashleigh wanted to shop.

"Hey guys, where would you like to go next?" Amber asked the pair. Ashleigh and Diana made eye contact with the raven.

"I don't have anywhere in particular that I wanted to go, really." Ashleigh said.

"I second what Ashleigh said." Diana chimed in. Having heard the opinions of her shopping partners, the raven spoke.

"I'm ready to call it a day if you guys are." Amber said. Diana did not expect their shopping trip to be so brief, but she was not going to complain. The huntress had just about had all the social contact that she could handle for the day. She wanted to go back home and do something other than be in public for the rest of the day.

"That works for me." Ashleigh said.

"Same here." Diana chimed in. She had had a good shopping day with Amber and Ashleigh. They had made for agreeable company and aside from having to put up with large crowds of fellow shoppers she had actually had a bit of fun. She had also found two new shirts for her wardrobe, so that was another small triumph.

"All right then. Since no one has anywhere else that they want to go and I can't think of anywhere I want to go, we'll call it a day. We'll come back for another shopping day some time in the future, like a month or two from now." Amber informed the redhead and the blonde when their next shopping trip was.

"Works for me." Ashleigh said.

"If I can make it to the next shopping trip, I will be glad to go on it." Diana replied. Amber smiled at both of them.

"Great!" Amber said. She turned to Diana.

"Hey Diana, I'm going to walk Ashleigh home since she lives farther away than you do. Will you be able to make your own way home?" Amber asked Diana. Diana nodded.

"Yes, Amber. I can make it home by myself." Diana replied in the affirmative. The blonde was used to traveling on her own. She had traveled to a lot of places by herself, including some places that were not for the faint of heart like Silent Cemetery, Haunted Castle, and Haunted Guild. Besides, she was a powerful mage, so she had little to worry about from the local hoodlums.

"All right then. See you later, Diana!" Amber said. As Amber and Ashleigh started to walk away Ashleigh faced Diana and spoke one last time.

"It was nice meeting you, Diana. I hope we meet again!" Ashleigh said. Diana gave a small smile.

"I hope we meet again as well, Ashleigh." Diana exchanged farewells with the redhead. With that final exchange of pleasantries Amber and Ashleigh started walking towards the exit while Diana remained behind. The huntress planned to go by Capital Coffee and get a double espresso before returning home. She watched Amber and Ashleigh turn left to go back into the entrance hall and waited until they were out of sight before she started walking towards the exit.

-Inside Capital Coffee, twelve minutes later-

Diana had left the mall and reached Capital Coffee without incident. Now she was waiting in line to order her usual double espresso. In front of her was a group of twelve Crocus Magicka University students, all of them young women wearing pink or white CMU t-shirts. They were chatting excitedly about their classes, about campus events, about planned social activities, and other topics. Diana quietly listened to them talk while she waited for her chance to order and wondered what it would be like to be a university student.

Eventually her turn to order came and she placed her order. A minute or two later she received it and decided to leave the coffee shop since it was too crowded for her liking. It was so crowded that even her favorite white pod chair facing the mall was occupied. Instead of waiting around for seating Diana took her coffee and left the coffee shop to start the walk home.

-Inside Diana's house, one hour later-

Foot traffic had been more intense than anticipated, but after a lengthy walk Diana was finally back inside her house. Ami was standing in the living room and facing the door to keep watch for home invaders. When the winged android saw Diana she began to walk over to her mistress.

"Hey Diana! I'm glad to see that you made it back safely!" Ami warmly greeted Diana.

"Hello, Ami. I am glad to be back home" Diana greeted her faithful android companion. The android's eyes gravitated towards the blonde's shopping bag.

"Did you find anything good?" Ami asked Diana. Diana nodded.

"Yes, I bought two new t-shirts for my wardrobe." Diana replied and told Ami what she had bought and pulled the shirts out to show Ami. Ami smiled.

"Great! We should wash them right away!" Ami suggested. Diana smiled a little.

"Do not worry, Ami. We will wash them soon." Diana replied. She would wash them as soon as she could get a moment to relax. She had had a busy day and wanted to have a few moments to slow down.

[Post Word Count: 976]
[Total Word Count: 8,860/11,000]

-Diana's house, one hour and twenty minutes minutes later-

Almost an hour-and-a-half after getting home from the shopping trip with Amber and Ashleigh Diana had washed and hung up her new shirts and was now standing in her mini-kitchen with a bottle of water in hand. She was about to open it when her iLac began to ring on the living room couch. Diana had just taken two steps towards the living room when Ami walked into the mini-kitchen and handed the device to her.

"Thanks, Ami." Diana thanked Ami for handing her the iLac. Ami smiled and stepped out of the mini-kitchen and Diana answered the call while bringing the device up to her right ear.

"Hello?" Diana asked.

"Hey Diana! it's me, Catherine Corvinus!" The person on the other end identified themselves. Once she knew that she was talking to a familiar face Diana became somewhat more cheerful. Well, as cheerful as she could be considering how tired she still felt.

"Hello, Catherine." Diana greeted her acquaintance.

"How's it going?" Catherine asked her.

"It is going all right." Diana calmly replied.

"Great! Listen, I'd like to talk to you about something. Do you mind coming over to my house?" Catherine asked Diana.

"Certainly. I will be there as quick as I can." Diana replied. Despite being so tired that she did not feel like socializing yet again, Diana decided to go visit her acquaintance.

"Great! See you then!" Catherine said. She then hung up. Diana hung up on her end and faced Ami, who was looking at her.

"I will be going to my acquaintance Catherine's house. I will be back in a few hours." Diana informed Ami. The winged android smiled.

"All right, Diana. Just be careful out there!" Ami bade her mistress.

"I will be careful." Diana replied. She then pocketed her iLac and put the bottle of water she was going to drink back in the refrigerator. She then made sure that she had her house keys in her left pocket before setting out. Once she knew that she had them she walked towards the front door, opened it, and shut it behind her before locking it. Only when that was done and she checked to make sure her front door was locked did she set out for Catherine's house.

-Outside Catherine's house, one hour and ten minutes later-

After a long walk Diana finally arrived outside Catherine's house. She took a moment to catch her breath before she walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. It took only moments for her to hear the sound of a lock being disengaged and another moment for the front door to open. On the other end stood Catherine, who was wearing her usual combination of blue t-shirt and black gym shorts with no shoes.

"Hey Diana! I'm glad you made it!" Catherine greeted the blonde.

"Hello, Catherine. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Diana asked Catherine. The raven stepped aside and motioned for Diana to enter. The huntress did so and the door was shut behind her the moment she entered.

-Inside Catherine's house, the living room-

Diana found herself standing in Catherine's living room, which was noticeably cleaner than it had been in the past. Catherine walked into her mini-kitchen and walked to the refrigerator while Diana stayed in the living room. Diana heard the refrigerator open and heard rummaging sounds as Catherine searched for something to drink.

"Hey Diana, do you want a Cherry Charge?" Catherine asked Diana, her voice distorted due to her leaning inside the refrigerator.

"Yes, please." Diana answered loud enough for her hostess to hear her. Moments later Catherine emerged from the refrigerator and walked into the living room, handing Diana a can of soda. Catherine opened hers and Diana followed suit.

"Thank you." Diana thanked her hostess for the beverage.

"No problem, Diana." Catherine replied before taking a drink. After taking a drink she lowered the can and spoke to Diana.

"Anyway, I called you here because I need a favor." Catherine told Diana why she was called here. Diana took a drink from her can of soda and then lowered it.

"And what might that favor be?" Diana asked the raven.

"I'm going to an electronics store called Parts N' More to pick up some high-end parts I ordered over a week ago. I've got almost 100,000 Jewels invested in these parts and I'm worried that thieves are gonna try to steal them while I'm walking home. I'd like you to come with me and make sure that I get home with my purchases." Catherine explained the nature of the favor she was requesting.

"I will help you, Catherine." Diana said simply. Even though the blonde would much rather be at home than be out in Capital Crocus yet again, she would help Catherine out. The raven-haired computer expert had helped her a few times in the past, so Diana would return the favor.

"Thanks. Once this is over I'll return the favor somehow." Catherine replied.

"That will not be necessary." Diana assured her. Diana did not agree to this task in exchange for a reward. Calling the request a "favor" implied that Diana was doing the task for a friend with no expectation of reward. Catherine frowned.

"We're talking about almost 100,000 Jewels of computer parts here, man. I'm going to repay this favor and that's final." Catherine firmly asserted. Seeing that the raven-haired young woman was genuine about her insistence, Diana chose not to argue and to accept the fact that one day Catherine would pay her back for this favor.

"Very well then. But first, we need to get your parts and bring them to your house. Then we can talk about repaying favors." Diana finally relented before reminding Catherine to save repaying the favor for when the favor was actually completed.

[Post Word Count: 984]
[Total Word Count: 9,844/11,000]

-Inside Parts N' More, fifty minutes later-

It had taken the duo a while to get to Parts N' More because of all the foot traffic in the city, but Catherine and Diana managed to get there without incident. Now they were standing inside the store, which was clean and neatly organized with perfectly organized display cases of computer parts like graphics cards, internal hard drives, and the like on the left and right sides of the store. Catherine immediately walked to the back, where there was a wooden counter manned by a bespectacled brunette wearing a light blue long-sleeved shirt and knee-length black skirt. She was the only employee in the store that Diana could see.

Diana followed close behind her and stopped a short distance away from the counter while Catherine walked up to it and spoke to the woman.

"Hello there. What brings you to Parts N' More?" The brunette asked Catherine. Catherine pulled a slip of paper out of her left shorts pocket and presented it to the older woman.

"I'm here to pick up an order of computer parts." Catherine stated. The older woman read over the slip of paper and faced Catherine.

"Ah, yes! I've been waiting on you to pick up your order, Miss Corvinus! Allow me a minute or two and I'll have it out for you!" The brunette said. She walked towards a door on the left side of the area behind the counter and opened it, then shut it behind her. Diana remained a short distance away from Catherine while the latter waited to pick up her order.

-Seven minutes later-

After a longer wait than expected the bespectacled brunette emerged with two large gray plastic shopping bags bearing the Parts N' More name in gold letters. Both bags were full of boxes and were so heavy that the woman had to set one of them down on the floor and pick up the other with both hands to lift it to the point it could be set on the counter. Taking that sight as her cue to go help Catherine, Diana walked over to the counter and stopped to the black-haired young woman's right. Catherine grabbed the bag by the bottom and passed it to Diana.

"Here you go, Diana! Be careful with these!" Catherine warned the blonde. Diana received the bag and felt the weight of the boxes press down on her hands. The blonde gripped the boxes tightly and did her best to keep from dropping them. Catherine received the other bag and groaned when she lifted it.

"Thank you for your patronage, Miss Corvinus! Have a nice evening!" The woman behind the counter bade them, then stepped out from behind the counter and walked ahead of them towards the front doors. The two struggling young women followed her to the glass doors, both of which she had opened for them to make their exit easier and to prevent them from damaging or breaking the glass doors. Once both young women had left the shop the doors were closed behind them.

-On the way back to Catherine's house, ten minutes later-

Catherine and Diana were making decent progress despite the heavy load that each of them were carrying, but they still had a long walk ahead of them. It was going to take awhile to reach Catherine's house and the foot traffic was as thick as it was when they were going to Parts N' More. Diana kept up with Catherine and kept an eye out for any would-be thieves looking to slip up on the pair and snatch the bags of computer parts.

So far no one had been interested in them, but there was no guarantee that their luck would last. Hopefully they would be at Catherine's home by the time the worst of the thieves came out to prowl the streets. However, it was going to take them awhile to get to Catherine's home, so Diana would have to stay vigilant until they reached their destination.

-Outside Catherine's house, fifty-five minutes later-

It had been quite the struggle, but the pair had finally reached Catherine's house without incident. The worst problem they had had to deal with was the fatigue in their arms from carrying a heavy load over a long distance with no breaks. As soon as Catherine opened the door they could carry the parts in and Diana would have completed the favor Catherine had requested of her.

Catherine carefully set her bag down on the pavement and fished out her house key. She inserted it in the lock and twisted it right, then put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door. She took the key out of the lock, put it back into her pocket, and picked up her bag again.

"C'mon Diana. Let's get inside!" Catherine told Diana and went through the door first. Once Catherine was through the doorway Diana followed with her bag of computer parts. After Diana had entered the house Catherine shut the door behind her and locked it.

[Post Word Count: 846]
[Total Word Count: 10,690/11,000]

-Inside Catherine's house-

With Diana's help Catherine had moved both bags of computer parts to her room and had opened all of the boxes to make sure that none of the parts had been damaged on the trip from Parts N' More. Thankfully none of them had been damaged, so Catherine's investment of roughly 100,000 Jewels was intact. Now the pair were standing in her living room and were discussing repayment of the debt Catherine owed Diana for helping carry the computer parts home.

"You helped me bring home almost 100,000 Jewels worth of computer parts. The way I see it, I owe you a favor worth almost 100,000 Jewels." Catherine said with her hands on her hips. It looked like she was not going to take no for an answer.

"You do not owe me anything, Catherine. Remember, I did not agree to this for any kind of reward." Diana reminded the black-haired young woman. Catherine did not budge.

"You don't get it, Diana. I owe you so much because the parts cost so much to buy. It's only right that I pay you back." Catherine asserted. Diana frowned. Seeing that she was not getting anywhere, the black-haired young woman sighed.

"Look, Diana. Since we're not getting anywhere and neither one of us is gonna budge on the matter, let's just talk about this another day so we don't spend all night arguing over it." Catherine suggested to Diana.

"I agree, Catherine. We will discuss this matter another day." Diana accepted the offer to put off the conversation until another day. Catherine took her hands off of her hips and smiled.

"I'm gonna repay the favor somehow. That's not up for discussion. But we can discuss the terms of it later." Catherine stated in a tone that indicated she knew her victory was assured. Diana sighed. If Catherine was that determined to repay the favor, Diana was not going to stand in her way.

"All right." Diana conceded. She was not going to argue about it any longer.

"Are you gonna try to go home?" Catherine asked Diana. The blonde nodded.

"Yes, Catherine. I will set out for home as soon as we are finished here." Diana replied.

"Can I talk you out of it?" Catherine asked. Diana shook her head.

"No, Catherine." Diana replied. Catherine laughed a little and walked towards the front door, opening it for Diana. The blonde walked towards it and heard Catherine talk to her.

"See you later, Diana! And thanks for your help today!" Catherine bade Diana farewell. Diana raised a hand in acknowledgement and walked out the door. It was closed behind her and locked. Diana did not miss a step and kept walking, setting out for home. She was sure that Ami was waiting on her to get back home.

Diana had spent a lot more time away from home than she had intended, but it had not been a bad day. She needed to start doing some "real" work soon, though. Her shopping sprees were eating into her savings and she needed to start earning money if she wanted to take a vacation to Crescent Island some day.

[Post Word Count: 528]
[Total Word Count: 11,218/11,000]