I Fell For My Nemesis

Jocelyn raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you're going to spill all of your secrets to me if I stare into your eyes long enough?"

Keith laughed and leaned forward against a counter, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'll tell you one right now. I'm switching jobs again next week. I'll be at that Thai place three blocks from here—the Lucky Lotus."

Again? Though she supposed he was overdue for a switch. He had been at Super Subs much longer than any of the others. It was for the best.. She was getting kind of sick of sandwiches every day.

"You lasted longer than I thought you would this time. I think it's a new record," Jocelyn informed him.

Keith laughed again and shrugged innocently. "What can I say? I'm a restless wandering soul. But don't read too much into that, Miss Psychologist."

"I wasn't planning on it. Besides, I could go for some Thai food for a while."

"Is there anything you don't like to eat? Because you're surprisingly adaptable when it comes to food sticking to a single restaurant for as long as I work there. Even I get sick of work leftovers after a while."

Now it was Jocelyn's turn to shrug. She had gotten so used to eating whatever while she was out doing hero work that she couldn't afford to be picky. There were certain foods she liked better than others but it didn't really factor into what she actually ate. She was too busy for that.

"Not really."

"Do you at least have a favorite food? I already know your powers of not getting sick of repetitive meals are strong but I'm curious what you would eat if you could pick anything," Keith said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Jocelyn had to think about it. Did she have a favorite food? She didn't have many preferences since she hadn't been able to develop them with the life she had lived.

"Let me get back to you on that."

Keith raised an eyebrow but ultimately let it go. "My favorite is a good hamburger meal. Not the fast food kind—the kind you get at a nice sit-down restaurant with seasoned steak fries and a milkshake that comes with a side tin of extra. Man, that sounds good right now! Way to make myself hungry while I'm working."

Jocelyn cracked a smile. He could be so dramatic. She fished the bag of chips and cookie that came with her combo meal out of the bag he had just given her and handed them over.

"Here. So you don't get so distracted by hunger you run into a pole or fall down a manhole somewhere."

Surprise flashed through his eyes before he looked genuinely moved. "Are you sure? You got this for yourself. Aren't you hungry?"

"I still have a whole sandwich in here. I'll get through the rest of the day. Besides, I have a secret stash of kid-friendly snacks in my office for my youngest patients. Worst case scenario, I have to have a Fruit by the Foot later."

"That doesn't sound like a very bad worst case scenario to me! I love Fruit by the Foot."

"There you go," Jocelyn told him. "I'll be fine so eat something before you cause an accident."

"Nice to know you have so much faith in me. But I do really appreciate it. You're an angel sent from heaven above to give a humble, starving deliveryman some food. The patron saint of the hungry. The pinnacle of charity. The—"

She laughed and poked him in the arm. "Don't you need to get going? I don't want you to get in trouble."

He looked at his watch and yelped. "Crap, I'm late! What can I say? Time flies when you're having fun. Don't forget to order from Lucky Lotus on Monday!"

"I won't."

"Awesome. See you then, Joss!"

"See you," Jocelyn said with another small smile on her face as she headed back into her office.

Keith was so ridiculous. That was what made him fun to talk to though. She still hadn't quite figured him out. He was so carefree all of the time and she had never met anyone like that who wasn't repressing a whole lot of trauma with toxic positivity.

He wasn't just positive though. He was downright silly at times. He was the only person Jocelyn knew who was capable of regularly making her laugh.

She needed that. Her life was a sea of helping people and without that she would drown.

Honestly, it was sad that her only friend was a business relationship. She wasn't much better off than poor Leah. She wasn't in love with Keith though. Their only contact was less than ten minutes on weekdays and that was enough.

Jocelyn liked figuring people out but she had never been close to any of them. She supposed that was her own trauma coming through.

It seemed like most people in the mental health field had some sort of history with mental illness themselves. But there was no use dwelling on that now. Her life was what it was. She neither loved nor hated it. She simply existed and tried to make whatever difference she could both professionally and otherwise.

The first time she ever saved someone using her powers she felt such a rush. It was the first thing she truly FELT in her cold, colorless existence where she had to keep quiet and out of the way so she wouldn't set her parents off.

She had only been ten. After that she started sneaking out to help people from the shadows. She didn't make an official appearance as Frostine until she was old enough that people wouldn't realize she was a child. Child heroes got a lot more scrutiny than adult ones.

Plus there was how much she was sneaking out to contend with. She didn't want to get caught so she didn't become a hero until she graduated from high school.

Jocelyn left her parents' house in New Jersey with a full-ride scholarship (when she wasn't sneaking out she was studying) and never looked back. Disappearing was easy in a place like New York City and the crime rates were high so it was the perfect place for a hero to go. She did her undergrad at NYU and never left.

There was no shortage of people to help here. There was always something or other going on. She hardly had time to breathe and that was the way she liked it.

Jocelyn finished eating her sandwich and got some paperwork done before her next appointment. She was booked solid until 5 PM and barely had time to grab that Fruit by the Foot between appointments later in the day.

When she clocked out she was on her way to find something to eat when she heard sirens. Duty called.

She found a place to change and stuffed her clothes and purse into a vent with the intention of coming back for them later before heading in the direction of the sirens using her ice to propel her.

It was a bank robbery. Simple enough to deal with. All she had to do was freeze the perpetrator before any shots could be fired. The robber wouldn't even know what hit them.

That was exactly what she did. The police were grateful as always and she went on her merry way trying to find something to eat once she was done. A lot of people stared at her since she did this in costume but most were too afraid to approach because of her reputation for being cold.

What was she supposed to do? Being overly friendly with people she didn't know wasn't her strong suit and never had been.

Jocelyn didn't care what people thought of her. She got her job done and made a difference. That was what mattered. Not being personable or popular like Mercury was before he retired.

He was the kind of hero everyone liked. She was more the kind that everyone tolerated because of her usefulness. She didn't let it get to her though. She hadn't become a hero hoping for adoration from anyone. She became a hero because she wanted to save people.

Popularity was useless. She had gotten through school with hardly anyone knowing who she was. It was better that way.

She saw worries about fitting in plague her younger clients so often. It seemed like such a hassle to her. Why care what anyone thought of you? It was way too much pressure for anyone to handle.

It was all a sham anyway. Being popular didn't make you feel any less lonely. Real connections with people were far more important than having everyone like you on a shallow level.

Jocelyn didn't even have any of those. She had plenty of acquaintances but her only friend was someone she barely saw. And it was only because of how friendly he was. Most delivery people didn't bother to stick around and chat.