Of the two primary characters in the book, Maeve is the stronger character in several ways. Here's an excerpt from the chapter where she first makes an appearance, taken shortly after her introduction:
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Parkour. Free-running. Urban free-flow.
It was a combination of art form and sport that involved moving as efficiently and as quickly as possible using the human body to the best of a person's ability. "Part gymnastics, part aerobics and part insanity," she would tell Adrian. "My kind of sport." In truth, it reminded her of the games of tag they used to play -- games that others watched in amazement and sometimes more than a little fear.
She found out about it a few years before when she accidentally stumbled across a video on the Internet. She knew it was just the sort of challenge she'd wanted -- something to keep her on top of her game. Now when she says she's "going for a run," she's not talking about jogging along a roadside. She's talking about running in, over, under and through any obstacle in her path.
She pulled her shoes snug, tied them down double and pulled her hands into special gloves that protected her palms and wrists but left her fingers uncovered. With deep cleansing sigh, she left her second floor apartment by bouncing from the porch to the side fence to the ground and trotted off toward the park.
So, Adrian's found a new game that seems custom made for us. Kewl, she thought as she bounded over the chain link fence. He's always getting the neat new computer games -- guess consulting has its advantages, in spite of the boredom factor. She turned in toward the playground, noting that there weren't any children nearby. Her "runs" were a bit intense; she didn't need any kids hurting themselves trying to duplicate her moves. With the playground open, however, she could finish her training and get back to the computer game within an hour.
Adrian needs to get out more, she thought. He's getting boring in his old age. She laughed at that; he was only six months older than she was, but she constantly ribbed him about being an old fart.
They had their own ways of dealing with life -- neither was very good at forging friendships or "mingling" with crowds, yet they chose different ways to compensate. Adrian used consulting to get out among people, with the occasional business social gatherings to give an impression that he was just like everyone else, while she took up activities that put her out and about among people in the open air, yet kept her apart -- like the way she took up free-running. Nobody approached her as she swung, jumped, tumbled and climbed her way through parks or along sidewalks. She didn't even enter or leave her apartment through the door during such sessions. That habit in particular had the distinct effect of quashing a lot of opportunities to meet neighbors; not many of them hung around the outside of the building, chatting up people who were leaping from balconies or climbing back up along the wall.
Maeve had no idea how much time had passed, but she was finally relaxed as she climbed back into her apartment. She grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped the top. Now for quick shower, then that computer game Adrian was all excited about.
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Maeve's not someone often (ever?) described as "shy" or "demure" -- something which becomes more obvious as events unfold. Sometimes, her straightforward manner and desire for action can make a touchy situation just that much more...interesting.
