In the low lit room only few thirty to forty-five people stood chatting away quietly with their acquaintances. Either this party is an exclusive one or just a small private party comprised of well known figures that are supposedly close to Charles J. Baxter. The term close is used very loosely when speaking of the many suits and money suckers standing around with fake laughs and charming smiles.
Fake. Most of them are so fake; especially the women. Just walking plastic.
Surely, Baxter has true friends, but the ratio of those friends when worked would be 23:7 at this party. But the real problem, the real riddle is, who here is Charles Baxter's real friends and who's not? Are they true friends and partners or are they moochers hoping to suck the old man dry of his money?
Or, could it be that the men and women here are only here to see the famed Prince of Puzzles, the Count of Conundrums – The Riddler? Hmm, this could be it . . . but surely they must be here to see the owner of Wacko Toy Industries, right. No.
There were two main groups: one consisted of Charles Baxter, whom held a pyramid shaped puzzle in one hand while twisting it with the other; a few people surrounded him holding Champaign glasses and laughing in amusement. The other group held, trapped in a circle, the infamous green and black clad figure of The Riddler.
Others in this predicament would have, by now, gone insane and broke down in a heap on the floor at the rate the questions were being thrown at them. Riddler though, although once already declared insane, stood calmly, looking out upon the group of people with grins on their faces. His trademark cane in his hand and bowler hat upon his red haired head drew the people to ask more questions; being intrigued by his Rogue persona. He swam in the compliments and praises the crowd gave him; feeding his thirst for attention.
Riddler especially loved when they would ask him to tell them a riddle, to which he obliged with a smile. Of course he gave them easy ones, funny ones, or just cute ones; things that they could figure out. It kept them entertained and kept the attention on him the whole time. Every once in a while a person would break off from Baxter's group and join in on his, wondering what seemed to be happening that was causing the other party goers to be in such high spirits.
The feeling of having all the attention on him made his eyes glow with joy and his ego to boost high. Many of the older women swooned, but still clung to the arms of their beaus to seem unaffected by the man's charms.
Edward Nygma never gave any thoughts about women before; sure they were pretty and sometimes you could find a smart one or two, but what were they really good for. Maybe, these thoughts came from the fact that in school he never had any friends at all, let alone a girlfriend. Puzzles, games, and riddles, were his friends; and they still are. They never scorned you and only made you smarter when you solved them. Maybe those were the reasons he also has an obsessive craving for attention of any kind. The attention these people give him seemed to almost be too much. Almost.
"Blast this thing; how do you solve this contraption, Nygma?"
Edward felt a hand tap his shoulder lightly, which caused him to turn from the group of people that were busy receiving a riddle. He looked down to the hand of Charles Baxter, which held one of his new puzzles. With a grin he clasped the small toy in his purple gloved hands,
"Easy", he declared as he twisted the object in certain ways; this way and that.
The crowd watched closely at the made of many puzzles, hoping to see if there was a trick to his talents. All eyes still on him; his mouth was upturned in amusement at the on-lookers. His hands worked too quickly for them to see his movements and which ways to turn the pyramid puzzle to solve it. A small turn and he then revealed the small toy, being completed,
"You just have to be a genius."
Edward handed the toy back to the older man as the crowd, the two that melded together, laughed and cheered in utter amusement and fascination. Charles pushed his glasses up on his nose with a dumbfounded look. After a few seconds he grinned widely and patted Edward on his back; he laughed heartily as the crowd dispersed to leave the two to their own musings.
"And you are my boy!
The compliment would make any person grin brightly and puff up with pride. Nygma, felt his ego grow large as he listened to his praises his boss/partner gave him. Laughs erupted from the older man's chest in a jolly way, reminding Edward of Santa Claus. He had to smile at that. Edwrad listened intently to Charles with attentive ears, but his eyes scanned the room looking at the guests who were there for him. Only him. . .
Couples stood together, older business men stood in a few separate groups of three, and some women, who were older, also stood together conversing loudly (probably there with their husbands who were a part of the businessmen groups). There were a few people standing alone even, but the one that caught his eyes and stole his attention from Charles is a woman, strutted towards his direction.
Behind his purple domino mask, his eyes widened at the sight of the young, sultry, beauty walking his way with a slender hand on one of her hips. Long brown hair fell across her shoulders as her hawk like brown eyes looked him up and down; she ran her tongue across plump red stained lips. The little blue number she wore hugged the curves of her hips and chest quite nicely. A split in the dress gave him a glimpse of her long slender legs that were emphasized by white stilettos. The swing of her hips almost caused him to groan and lick his lips.
Charles began to notice that the younger man before him had his attention on something else; or rather someone. He turned his gaze to follow Edward's sight and he then noticed what had distracted his partner. A grin crossed his face when the women strutted towards Edward with a gleam in her brown eyes,
"Oh, where did you find him, C. B.?"
The woman's voice came out sultry and soft as she stopped in front of the object of her scrutiny. She did not even glance in Charles' direction when the words left her shapely lips,
"He's so . . . adorable."
Edward's eyes blinked a few times behind his mask as the siren gazed at him beneath long, thick, eyelashes, which she batted in a coy way. Edward looked from right to left trying to find out if the goddess before him could be speaking about someone else. No one to his left, nor his right, there could not be anyone behind him unless she just looked right through him. If there is no one else in his area, she must be talking about him, right?
Wait – did she say adorable?
"W-Who?", Edward pointed to himself, "Me?"
The young woman too two more steps forward, her high heels almost making her level with his masked eyes. His lips parted when her sweet minty breath, doused with a bit of wine, caressed his cheeks. A smirk settled on the woman's plump red lips as she placed a well manicured hand on his chest.
"Of course you, Silly. And you're so smart. I just love a man with brains."
She trailed her fingers across his chest lightly and up across his shoulders. A barely audible gasp left him as she pushed her face closer to his, their noses brushing together. Edward pulled on his collar to try and relieve some of the suffocating heat.
"Ge-Gee, I'm sure you say that to all the geniuses."
A wicked sultry smile spread across her lips slowly as she shook her head "no" slowly.
"Uh ugh, you're the only one, cutie", a wink from her caused him to bite his tongue to keep from groaning.
Charles could only laugh heartily and pat his college's back,
"Don't worry, my boy; Brenda here doesn't bite . . . much."
The woman, now known as Brenda, let the sides of her mouth curl up only slightly; she backed away, but only a tiny step. Brenda placed a slender hand on one of her shapely hips and continued to look the, obviously flustered, man up and down with sharp, hungry eyes. He felt like a piece of meat in her gaze.
Edward gulped. He in turn also studied Brenda; his masked hazel eyes ate up her curves like they were his life force. She, obviously being an active girl, had beautiful shapely calves and small, but toned, arms.
"Edward, this is Brenda Mason. Her father is a very close and dear friend of mine. Little Brenda, here use to spend her summers in my mansion with my own daughter, Callie. Speaking of her, where is my, Sunshine?"
"Over here, Daddy!" A young squeaky voice came from the left, causing all three to turn in its direction. A young blonde haired girl smiled brightly and skipped over to the three. As she bent to kiss her father on the cheek (her heels caused her to be slightly taller than him), Edward noticed that she held one of the round, orange, two-way walkie talkies in each hand.
"Callie, you look beautiful."
"Thank you, Daddy", she looked to her left and saw the green clad man standing next to her friend, Brenda. An odd look rested on his face as he stared at the young blonde. His gaze switched from her to Brenda and back again. Callie turned her body from her father to Edward and gave him a sweet smile as she gazed up at him.
"Daddy, is this him?"
Her father chuckled, "Yes, darling; this is the man I've been telling you about: Edward Nygma."
A dark look passed through the blonde's gray eyes, but her face still held the relatively sweet and innocent smile.
"He's a lot more handsome than I expected."
The girl pouted cutely and tugged on her father's arm, "Daddy! Why didn't you tell me he was cute?"
The comment made Edward blink a few times and clear his throat as he looked away to avoid the gaze of the three people around him. He brought his masked eyes up to meet those of the cute Blondie that had now taken a step forward along with Brenda who had a smirk on her face, feeling a bit competitive in the presence of Callie. Brenda's sharp brown eyes were hard as she stared at the blonde across from her. They may be friends, but this cutie is hers.
Now, Brenda is not one to randomly flaunt her stuff so freely, but she wanted this man before her. Whether it is love or lust she just needed to have him. Unlike Callie, she was not so easily caught by a man; she wasn't a slut, by no means. Honestly, the last time she had gotten anything was eight months ago, right after she graduated college for her degree in theatrical arts.
When it came to Charles Baxter's daughter, whether he knew it or not, the girl is just a straight up slut, and most of the men here, and even some of the women, knew this. Her sweet, innocent, young girl act is fake and always has been. Brenda may love the Blondie to bits, but this time –oh, this time, this catch is hers.
"Oh, Mr. Riddler?", Callie held up the two orange balls in her hands, "What do these do?"
Brenda had to force herself from rolling her eyes. She hadn't used that line in a while. All the other men she had given up to her blonde friend, but not him; she is not backing down this time.
From the angle she stood at, Brenda leaned closer to make it look like she nuzzled Edward's neck, but instead she brushed her lips along his ear. The action caused him to stiffen then relax.
"Don't fall for her tricks, Nygma."
He barely heard the whisper as it just lightly graced his ear. Edward had to turn his eyes to the brunette who gave him the message. Her hard brown eyes held truth that equaled up with her previous breathy statement. The corner of her mouth perked up a bit when he winked at her, and then turned to the bottle blonde. Callie still had that innocent look on her face as she gazed up at him.
Right as he went to open his mouth a host walked up and lightly tapped the man on the back. He spun around, each woman still flanking his left and right.
"Yes?"
The host pursed his lips in an annoyed manner, "You have a phone call, Sir."
At the words the two women frowned and reluctantly eased back. He shrugged slightly and pulled away fully from the girls; albeit reluctant to be away from Brenda.
"I'll be back girls."
When saying this, his vision mainly focused on the brunette with big sharp eyes. Her gaze held his for a moment before he walked away with a grin that showed his perfect white teeth.