Toni Monetti

Bzzt.

I looked away from the book I was reading (well, re-reading) and in the direction of my nightstand where my cellphone was charging...and was fresh with a new text. I scooted over on my bed to get it, slightly bouncing in the process. I flipped it open.

1 New Message: Isaiah Crockett

I smiled and opened it.

Hey, he had written.

I was quick to reply:

Hey

What's up? he asked.

Reading Jane Austin, I texted back.

Again? Haha, he replied. I could almost chuckling as he had sent this to me. He knew me so well.

Maaaaybe...

Lol. Hey, what are you up to tonight? he asked. I was about to say that I wasn't busy, but then I heard,

"Toni! Could you come down here for a minute?" Dad called from, presumably, the living room.

G2G. Dad's calling, I texted. Shutting my phone, I slipped the thin, sliver device into my pocket and hurried downstairs, Pride and Prejudice still in hand. As I thumped down the stairs, I could see my parents...waiting at the bottom. Weird.

"Toni, you know I have been working very hard with my friend and business colleague, Bruce Wayne," he said, all business-like. I rasied an eyebrow.

"Yeah...what about 'im?"

"Well, he has an adopted son-slash-ward, around your age, and we've arranged for you to-"

"What?!" I shrieked, "I 'ave a boyfriend! And you know that!"

"It's just one dinner," my father said sternly, "and I told Bruse you'd be delighted to spend this evening with Dick." I snickered at his name, just because I could be immature like that. My father, however, was not amused.

"Toni..." his voice was low and sounded rather threatening. I glanced pleadingly at my mother who gave my an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry dear," she said. I groaned.

"You 'ave GOT to be kidding me!" And with that, I stormed back up to my room, clutching my book even harder now.

Dick Grayson

"Do you have any...fours?" I asked. Kory looked at her cards and grinned.

"Go fish!" she giggled, "do you have any twos?" I looked down at my hand and bitterly handed over the three twos I had. Kory giggled again. We were on my bed play cards. First Rummy, which she seriously kicked my ass in, and now Go Fish, where I was loosing...badly...to my own girlfriend...and not on purpose to make her feel good either. Damn.

"Do you have any-"

"Dick, Master Bruse would like to speak with you," Alfred buzzed over the intercom system. I pushed the reply button.

"Sure thing." I released the button and looked at Kory. She put her cards down.

"I will wait for you to come back," she said, smiling. I couldn't help but grin back at her. I slid of my bed and quickly bent to kiss her forehead. I could her Kory pull out her cell phone and the tik-tak of the phone keys and she began to text Rachel as I left for Bruce's study.

When I got there, Bruce waited a few moments before starting to talk.

"I have set you up with a date for tonight at seven," he said. I blinked once. Twice.

"What?" I asked, my tone flat.

"With Miss Toni Monetti."

"What?"

"Daughter of my good friend and colleague, Georgio Monetti."

"What?"

"Dick. Be serious."

"Why?" I demanded, "I have a girlfriend, and this is just some business deal."

"Well I'm sure a girl of Miss Monetti's type would have a boyfriend, but I have been assured that she is willing to go on this outing." I scoffed.

"Pfft. Poor girl. I'll bet she was forced into this too." Bruce gave me a stern look. I averted my glare to the floor.

"Dick, you will go on this date. I already told Georgio you would," Bruce said. I didn't answer. "Dick, you WILL spend ONE evening with Miss Monetti. So help me Dick, even if I'm resorted to bribing you!" I looked up at this.

"How much?" It was now Bruce's turn to glare.

"I'll give you three-hundred dollars."

"That and Kory gets to spend the night." Bruce continued to glare daggers at me.

"...fine. But one night." I nodded.

"Can I go now?" Bruce nodded curtly and I made my escape.

Toni

Hey, I texted Isaiah.

Hey. What'd your dad want? And are you free tonight? He asked. I sighed.

No.

Oh. Why not? was his reply.

I have a date with Dick Grayson, I replied, hoping Isaiah wouldn't-

WHAT THE HELL?! ...over-react.

It's just a business thing, I typed quickly as my thumbs would allow, I barely know him.

I hope so.

Don't worry, I assured him as well as I could through a text message, it's nothing.

Fine, he texted. I bit my lip.

I've got to go. Talk later? I hit 'send' and place my phone on my nightstand. I walked over to my closet and opened the double French doors. Walking inside, I went to select a dress and hoped this wouldn't end badly.

Dick

"...and then I beat him in Rummy!" I could hear Kory's voice coming from inside my room. She was silent for a few moments before saying, "Well, we were playing Go Fish, but then Mr. Wayne wanted to talk to him..." I opened the door and she looked up and grinned.

"Komi, I have to go now..." she was quiet while her sister spoke, "I love you...Goodbye." She slid her phone shut and sat up.

"Hey, um..." I didn't know how to word this, "um...you've gotta go." Kory cocked her head.

"Alright..." she said slowly, "may I ask why?"

"I have to get ready for a date." Kory let out a small gasp. I inwardly groaned, and said, "I don't want to though! Bruce and one of his friends set up me and his daughter!" Kory looked a little relieved after that.

"Okay."

"Bruce said if I went through with it, you could spend the night," I told her. Kory smiled.

"That would be nice." I nodded.

"I promise that nothing will happen with this girl and me, okay?" I kissed her cheek.

"Okay," she replied.

"You can hang out in my room, alright? It won't last long. Maybe...two...two and a half hours at the most." Kory nodded.

Toni

I waited outside my front door for Dick to pick me up. Well, more of the Wayne chauffeur. I tugged on my black dress, rather uncomfortable with this whole thing. I reminded myself that Dick probably had a girlfriend and was probably as unhappy as I was.

But what if he wasn't? What if Dick was single and a flirt? What if he made a move on me and-?

'No,' I thought, 'I've heard pretty nice things about Dick at school. He's actually a rather nice guy and this should be easy.'

Very easy. I kept telling ymself that as Dick's car pulled up into my driveway. It drove right up to the front steps and the back door opened to reveal none other than Dick Grayson himself. He walked to the stairs and offered his arm.

"Miss Monetti," he said polietly.

"Mr. Grayson," I replied in an equal fashion, and I linked my arm with his.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm actually kind of uncomfortable with this...arrangement," he whispered in my ear as we approached the car. That one sentance made my night and I instantly relaxed.

"Me too," I replied quietly as he opened the car door for me. He flashed a smile as I slid into the seat and he closed to door before walking around to the other wise and sliding into the seat next to me.

Dick

Miss Monetti, well...Toni, wasn't bad looking. She looked like she had tried to put some effort into her appearance and was enjoyng this situation just as much as I was. Still...

I had left Kory in my room watching T.V., a promise to play checkers and enough money to call for a pizza if she wanted to. She has assured me that she was okay with this and that she'd be fine watching T.V. shows about the perfect way to make French food. I'd kissed her firmly and made sure she knew I wouldn't leave her for Toni.

Speaking of...Toni was squirming in her seat, creating the sound of the leather seats rubbing against her, presumably, satin dress. Neither of us made any effort to make small talk during the car ride.

When he got to the resturaunt, I got out first, walked around the front of the car and opened the door for Toni. She silently took my hand and got out of the car. Our driver, Dimitri, drove away, saying he'd be back at 9. I checked my watch. It was 7. Sigh. I glanced over at Toni. She was playing with the clasp of her clutch.

"So...do you have a boyfriend?" She spun quickly to look at me. I frowned, "I mean...I had to tell my girlfriend that I had a date with another girl tonight. That's all." She seemed to relaz at my explanation.

"Oh. Um..." she bit her lip, "yes. Yes I do. And I had to tell him I had a date with another guy."

"And?"

"He wasn't too happy about it," she said slowly, "he can get kind of jealous somtimes..." I nodded and we began to walk into the resturaunt.

"What's he like?" I asked.

"He's sweet. And kind...and considerate...except he can be a bit rash at times," she told me. I nodded again and spoke with the maitre'd who led us to our table. Once we were both seated, she spoke up again.

"What's your girlfriend like?" I was actually kind of happy to answer this.

"She's smart, funny, beautiful, sweet, gentle..." I trailed off. Toni smiled.

"She sound like she's a good person."

"She is!" I dug through my pocket and fished out my wallet, "in fact, here's a picture of her!" I produced a picture of Kory. It was just her school picture for the year book, she she looked amazing anyway. She was wearing a simple white blouse and her red hair was pulled back into a half-bun while the rest tumbled down her back. She was smiling and-

"Is that...Koraline Anderson?" I snapped up to look at her.

"You...know Kory?" I asked, in slight awe. Toni waved it off like it was no big deal.

"Sure. We're chem partners," Toni told me, "she's a sweet girl...too bad she's named after such a horrifying book." My eyes widened. Who WAS this girl?

"Yeah...I've always called her 'Kory' because 'Koraline' scares her..."

"Me too," she smiled. I smiled back and I got the feeling that this wasn't going to be very painful.

Toni

Okay, so the "date" didn't turn out to be a living hell like I thought it would. It was actually rather pleasent and we ended up exchanging phone numbers so we could possibly hang out sometime, and even double with Kory and Isaiah the following weekend.

The first thing I did when I stepped inside, was text Isaiah.

Hey. What's up?

I didn't have to wait long for his reply.

Did you have a nice date? he had asked.

Yes, I replied, Dick and I swapped numbers and I said that we'd meet him and Kory on Saturday for pizza and maybe even a movie

Oh, was his reply, Kory is Dick's GF?

Yeah

That's cool

Very

Hey I'm sorry if I over-reacted earlier, he texted. I smiled.

Don't worry. Dick told me that Kory wasn't very happy either. He doesn't blame you.

That's cool of him. I smiled again.

Yes, it is. I think you and Dick would get along pretty well.

Yeah. Me too. I kept smiling, and it was actually starting to bug me.

Hey, it's only 9:15

And?

Want to come over and watch a movie or something?

Yeah, that'd be great

Kay. See you then, I closed my phone and was about to set it down when it vibrated in my hand. I looked at the screen.

1 New Message: Dick Grayson

I flipped open my phone and read the message.

Had fun tonight. Kory wanted me to tell you hi and that she'd be happy to hang out with you outside of the science lab. I smiled again, this time, the annoyance level went down because there being happy was never a bad thing.

Me too, I replied, tell Kory hi back and that I'd be glad to hang out

Sure thing. Goodnight Toni

'Night

I closed my phone again. I walked over to my closet and changed into some yoga pants and a tank top. Settling onto my bed, I picked up Pride and Prejudice. I pulled my bobby pins out, letting my black hair tumble down to its usual cut. Isaiah would be over any minute now. I opened my book and lost myself in the world of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy...at least until Isaiah arrived.

A/n: And that's the end.

I've always liked the idea of Argent and Robin being forced on a date by their respective parents. Don't ask. I named Argent's dad Georgio because one, in the comics, she's Italian, and two, I like the name.

A quick reminder that I'm still alice and active. Just lacking in motavation in some parts is all. My other stories will be updated, so don't worry.

Love always,
-L. M. Juliet.