Todd smirks. "Yeah, I'll bet you are."

*****

Three days later,
Coffeehouse
3:00 AM

Ahhhh

The sweetness of an astronomical amount of sugar laced with the bitterness of the coffee. The only sweet thing he allowed himself anymore. He was on his third cup now, having downed two in the last two hours since he'd stumbled into the coffeehouse for what was becoming his nightly cup, or cups, of coffee.

After his normal 'banter' with Téa, he had gone to his usual seat by the window in the back and settled in with a bunch of newspapers. Local ones, national ones. Basically anything to pass the time. He had the perfect seat. Separated from the rest of the place, but could still watch everyone who walked in. Peter had taught him never to have his back turned, never be caught off guard. So, each night he sits there, leafing through papers, watching the drunk college students trying to sober up. Better than going back to his empty dark apartment. Funny, he pictured himself the loner, but he tried like hell to avoid being alone. Probably why he gravitated towards the coffeehouse. Open all night, people heading in and out, some conversation with Téa. He could be 'alone' in the sense that he was sitting by himself, but he was at least out in the land of the living.

He glances up at her, seeing her, as usual, buried in one of her law books, frantically scribbling notes and absently tucking a loose lock of hair behind her ear. Had to admire her, she seemed like the fucking Energizer bunny, although working in a place that was a caffeine haven more than likely helped. He couldn't quite understand why he had begun to look forward to their little chats each night. Maybe because he had no human contact all day for the most part. Maybe because he knew she knew about him and was still willing to talk to him. Maybe because she was another creature of the night, like him.

He hears the bell jingle, signalling the opening of the door. He smirks. Typical frat boy entering the building. Tall, blond, pretty. Polo button down, khaki pants. Looking like he expected the whole world to fucking bow down to him. He stops in the middle of the coffeehouse, striking a typically arrogant pose.

"Téa?" Todd hears him say.

She looks up, and Todd immediately struck by the smile that lights up her face.

"Jake, hey! I wasn't expecting to see you tonight!" she says, coming out from behind the counter and walking towards Jake. She stands on her tip toes and kisses him quickly on the lips.

"Yeah, well I needed to talk to you," he says. Todd notices him take a step back from her.

"Okay. Oh, by the way, wait til you see the fabulous little black dress I got for your father's party at his country club tomorrow night! You are going to have the hottest date there buddy," she continues, grinning.

"Yeah, listen Téa, about that..."

"What?"

"See, my folks arranged for me to take Melissa Washington, her dad is this corporate giant, and they just think it would be more...appropriate if I went with her. Especially since she belongs to the club as well, and she'll know people there," he finishes. Not even a hint of apology in his voice, which is not lost on Todd as he observes the scene from the back. His eyes quickly move to Téa. The stunned look on her face quickly changes to defiance, as he watches her lift her head and stare the little prick right in the eyes.

"Appropriate, huh?" she sneers, glaring at Jake. "I mean, God forbid you waltz into your sacred country club with a Latina on your arm, the world might fucking end."

Jake shakes his head. "Nice talk."

"Oh I'm sorry, did I offend you?" she quips. She steps closer to him. "I'm guessing you knew about this last night, right?"

The cocky grin that crosses his face irritates the hell out of Todd as he watches. "Yeah, so?"

"So, I guess you just 'forgot' to tell me before you fucked me huh?" she says icily, getting right in his face, "or was it just one last service provided by the Latina whore before she gets tossed aside for the more 'appropriate' model?"

"Oh, come on Téa. You wouldn't fit in there. I know it, everyone knows it, and I think even you know it," he sneers, glaring down at her. Todd watches as a flash of pain crosses her face, before she quickly recovers, her face regaining it's angry countenance.

"You're a slimy, sleazy bastard, you know that? I don't need you or your goddamned country club. Now get the hell out of here!"

Jake backs towards the door, his arrogant smirk irritating the hell out of Téa. "With pleasure," he says, chuckling.

She watches as he fluidly strides out of the door, having a good laugh at her expense. As soon as he is out of sight, her face crumbles in pain. She balls her fists at her sides, trying desperately to blink back the tears that threaten. Taking a deep breath, she looks up, and notices Todd watching her from the back. Pissed at herself for letting her guard down, she immediately pushes down all the pain and throws her shoulders back.

"Show's over," she mutters, returning behind the counter.

His eyes follow her, watching her taking out some of her frustrations as she wipes down the counter, her mouth a thin line of anger, hurt, and frustration. He didn't quite know why, but he stood up and walked over to the counter.

"That guy was a jerk," he states, setting his cup down.

She gives him a strange look. "Gee, ya think?"

"Not worth getting upset over."

"Who says I'm upset?"

"Oh can't fool me Delgado. The angry silence, hiding all that pain inside, taking your anger out on some inanimate object," he says, motioning to the counter.

"Whatever, look I could care less about Jake Barrington."

"Could've fooled me," he shoots back.

"Well obviously I did. I don't care about Jake, at all," she replies, looking down. She sits down on the stool. "I just don't appreciate being told I'm not good enough, or not 'appropriate' enough to trot out to some swanky country club."

"What do you care what that loser thinks?"

She shakes her head, staring at him. "You don't get it. I'm so sick of being looked down on. The poor Latina, not good enough for anyone, or anything. They've always looked down on me, but you know what? Not anymore. Screw 'em. I'll show 'em all. I'll be the most high powered, powerful attorney in this city, and when Jake Barrington gets brought up on embezzlement charges in Daddy's Fortune 500 company, he will get down on his knees and beg me to represent his sorry ass," she finishes, her upper lip curling slightly at the thought of that low life preppy jerk begging her for representation.

"Payback, huh?"

"You bet."

"So, you think money and position is gonna get you respect, huh? Hate to burst your bubble Delgado, but it doesn't work like that."

"See, you can't possibly understand. You're white. You have no idea what it's like to have people think you're scum, you're unworthy, because of your race."

"Actually, I do know what it's like. Yeah, maybe it's not racial, but I sure as hell know what it's like to be ostracized, looked down on. Try living the life of a well known convicted criminal for a day."

Téa takes that in for a moment, then nods slowly. "Okay, so maybe you do understand."

"Yeah I do. And you know, when I came into my millions, I thought everyone was gonna respect me. Here I was a millionaire publisher, but you know what? They still looked down on me. They just couldn't rip on me for being poor anymore, and being a deadbeat. Now I was just a rich publisher convict instead of a convict."

"So, how did you handle it?"

"I stopped giving them the power. I stopped caring about what those hypocrites thought of me and lived my life. You might wanna think about doing the same thing. If you don't let what they think get to you, you've taken away their power."

"Easier said than done," she says quietly.

"Not really. Look, the guy's a racist jerk, and it sounds like his family is too. Why on earth should their opinion of you matter?"

She sighs. "Because for once, I'd like to not have to deal with this. For once, I'd like to be accepted and not have to fight this goddamned battle. For once, I'd like to walk into a room with a guy and have people think "look at that beautiful girl" instead of "I wonder how that Latina got in here"."

Todd looks at her closely, seeing the pain on her face. He knew what she was talking about. He had had similar idealogies once upon a time. That he would walk into a room and people would see the millionaire publisher and not the rapist. The monster. But he knew it was a pipe dream. People saw what they wanted to see, they saw anything that would make their insecurities disappear and make them feel superior to everyone else. He stands up, grabbing his coffee.

"Yeah I hear ya. Listen, for what it's worth, you're better off without that bastard. You're too good for him, not the other way around," he says, looking directly into her eyes. He gives her a slight grin and turns to head for the door.

"Hey Todd?"

"Yeah?" he replies, turning back towards her.

"Thanks."

He shrugs. "Whatever."

She watches him leave, his long hair flowing behind him. She reaches down next to her, picking up the shopping bag holding the dress she had purchased that afternoon. Taking it out of bag slowly, she feels the soft fabric slip through her fingers. Just like another chance at acceptance had just slipped through her fingers. Glancing quickly around the empty coffeehouse, she puts her face in her hands and lets the tears fall.