"Hey babe... Papa's home." Richard Grayson came out from the elevator, his dark blue eyes haunted by a weariness that went bone deep. It was a national holiday; no one should've been working that day, but he was sure that someone would be in. She was always there, even more than he was. Rei worked harder than he did and he was the one who was in charge.

He smirked, trying to imagine how she would react to him. It was so clear in his head that he didn't need to close his eyes to envision those strange toned eyes glaring at him, her hands fisted upon her hips and her lips twisted into an angry mew Rei's so predictab...

"Mama's been waiting for Papa..." Rei's whiskey smooth voice responded. Richard froze in place, unsure how to respond. This wasn't part of the plan . Where was the predictability that he could always rely on?

Dick felt his cheeks heat up and for just a moment, he found he couldn't breathe. Turning to the right, he could see himself in the mirror, his face was a completely different color than it should've been. His heart was racing, and he looked down and realized that it wasn't just his heart that had gotten excited.

Grabbing a notebook, he walked out into the hallway. He held the notepad in front of him and attempted to bring himself back under control. For some reason he couldn't stop picturing Rei standing in the kitchen in nothing but a red negligee and heels.

He shook his head, going back and forth about how not to get sued for mental sexual harassment and wondering if it was worth asking her if she would mind posing how he imagined. T he quiet ones tend to be the freaky ones.

His soft laugh slowly became a loud, obnoxious cackle. He started sweating, shaking from laughing so hard. Part of him wondered if she would decide he was being especially irritation and that she'd say something that would piss him off. He was to be disappointed when Rei merely stood up and began fixing the collar on his shirt.

"Mr. Grayson, are you feeling well?" She placed the back of her hand to his forehead, checking to see if he was running a fever. "You don't have a fever," she articulated in a soft, breathy voice. Taking a handkerchief out of her back pocket, she wiped his face, her eyes benign and uncertain.

"I'm cool..." He knew it was probably stupid, but he hated when she was like this. He felt like an idiot, standing there with his mouth agape. To be honest, he wanted to hate her; he wanted a reason to feel as if she were some kind of wicked witch, but when she stood before him like this, he felt comfortable and wanted to do nothing more than stay beside her.

"Mr. Grayson," Rei whispered, her voice thick with her worry. Stepping back from him, she picked up one of the folders that had been lying on the desk. "I was able to get some things done while I was here today."

Dick nodded, not really listening. He remembered hearing from Bruce that Rei's father was obsessed with his career, and because of it, she hated him. He couldn't help but wonder if she realized that she was just like him.

He scowled at her . She must have somehow seen the vision he had of her because she was dressed in the opposite way from what he'd imagined. This Rei had a long French braid flowing down her back, oversized reading glasses and was wearing an unflattering suit in an ugly shade of orange. Looks like you escaped from some prison and hid out here. Dick wanted to honestly chew her out for not trying to impress him with everyone being gone.

If she would act like all the other women who tossed themselves at him, he'd be able to lose all respect for her and not feel bad when he enjoyed her company.

"Was that from Connor?"

She lifted an eyebrow while putting the phone back into her purse. "Does it matter?"

"Yeah, sorta."

Her smile vanished in the blink of an eye.

"I just think its kinda rude that when I'm conversing with you that you'd check your messages right in front of me."

"You're being ridiculous."

Dick turned away from her so that she wouldn't be able to see the spark of resentment which swirled into his eyes. Ridiculous is the idea of you two being together. He closed his eyes and could hear her footsteps moving away from him. "I'm not done talking to you," he mumbled more to himself than her.

She stopped in her tracks. Turning to him, she threw her arms over her chest. "Mr. Grayson, what do you want to say, then?" she hissed. Dick could see a vein bulging in her forehead.

"Why do you act like this?"

"Act like what?" Her frustration was evident in her voice despite her trying to sound less annoyed than before.

"Like you can't just talk to me."

"Richard Grayson, just because your adoptive father is my godfather doesn't mean we need to act like we're family suddenly."

Richard bit his lip. He tried to calm himself down. Why did every conversation with her end like this? "Bruce has nothing to do with this."

Rei looked away. "Just stay out of my business, then."

"Why can't you just tell Connor that you're busy, and you'll talk or hang out later... while we're together." Dick watched Rei's eyes flare up at his words almost as if she were ready to brawl in her prison-styled suit.

"Tell Barbara the same thing!"

Dick glared at her. "What the hell does she have to do with anything?"

Rei set her purse down and fluttered it out of annoyance. Dick knew she wasn't looking for anything. He'd seen her do it before, plenty-a-times while trying to appear calm in front of the other associates. "What do you think?"

"What kind of answer is that?" Dick pointedly threw out. "I think you're jealous of her and you..."

"Just throw it out there to piss you off while really pleasing myself?' Rei finished his sentence nonchalantly, her cell in her hand, clearly texting. She wasn't even trying to finish the argument now.

"And you go after Connor because you think..."

She looked up from the text message and blew a kiss in his direction. With a smile on her lips, Rei watched his anger flare and reveled in it.

Without even thinking, he grabbed both wrist and pulled her so close that there was barely an inch between them. He wanted her to listen - even if he regretted his actions later. He continued, "Because you think it'll garner my attention..."

"Barbara chose someone besides you..."

Dick said nothing.

"She chose someone over you... and furthermore, I don't like her, not because of some strange jealousy, but because she loves knowing that you will always wait for her." Rei's eyes were dark and furious. Pulling her wrist away from him, she scowled. "And every time that you agree to play her game with you, she makes you look like a fool."

"Well, how do you think I feel about Connor?"

"Mr. Kent has done no wrong, and my friendship with him should be none of your concern."

"You fling him around like he's your boyfriend!"

Rei's phone vibrated on the desk. She looked at it but didn't bother going for it. "Mr. Grayson, stop acting childish. If he is my boyfriend, what will be your issue then?' She whispered into the air.

"Papa won't like giving you up."

Rei's face turned slightly red. "Papa hasn't given up on Miss Gordon."

"I can't do that..." he admitted, his crystalline blue eyes gazed over at her, a sad smile on his lips. "She's important to me, and I know that one day, she'll realize the mistake she's making."

Rei shook a bit and moved away from him. "Am I supposed to wait for you to be happy to live my life?"

"You're supposed to-"

"Wait for you?" She finished his thought again.

"No, you're supp-"

Rei looked down. When she looked up at him again, she was looking around, almost as if she were afraid that someone would hear her. "Grayson, we've met a long time ago..." she finally said. "I don't know when you met her since it was always Bruce who came to Japan to see me, and I never asked you about that kind of stuff..."

Dick opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"The last time I saw you, I was seventeen, and for the five years before that, you came once a year with Bruce... the year before that, you came once under my father's payment to your family to come to Japan for my birthday." She finally stopped digging through her purse and looked him straight in his eyes, "I believed that it must've meant something. When you lost your parents and I saw you again with Bruce, I remembered that and I felt bad for you."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"When I saw you again, after Bruce hired me, you didn't recognize me..."

"I was just joking and besides, it had been seven years since I saw you last before then."

"You thought I was Chinese."

"I asked you out." He countered.

Rei's eyes narrowed. "And I did something I thought I never would.." she grabbed her purse and threw it over her shoulder. They both looked at her phone that was lying on the counter, vibrating again. Dick could clear see Connor's name and a selfie of the both of them together on the cover.

"What? And go out with a white guy?"

She hadn't even fully put the purse over her shoulder before taking it and slamming it against his neck then throwing it at him to which he dodged the second attack. "This is why I hate men!"

"You hate men because we don't grovel to your every command!"

"I gave my heart to you but you chose someone else."

Dick backed up, aghast. "I didn't choose anyone over you."

"Every time I turned around, you were with her, going to the physician trips with her."

"She's my friend!" He cried out.

"Your friend fell in love with the doctor, and you were left in the dust." Rei moaned. Her phone rang again. This time, she went for it, but Dick grabbed it first.

He picked it up and hung up. "Why the hell's he calling you so much?"

"Give me my phone."

The light from the computer dimmed out from the inactivity. "I don't see how being around him could make anything better.."

"It doesn't," Rei hissed, grabbing the phone. "He's just nothing like you." With that, she walked out.