A/N: Thanks Were-girl19 for my first review! Super excited about this story, please enjoy!
Chapter Two
Bruce Wayne didn't try and stand Adriana Stark up again. In fact, he had sent her a big bouquet of white Lilies as an apology and they were sitting on her desk when she arrived at work the next day, her second favourite kind of flowers. She wondered if he had an old boyfriend of hers on the pay roll, feeding him these good tips. Heavens knows, most of them wouldn't have the conscience to think it immoral.
They met for coffee twice in the afternoon, once for a formal dinner (at which a photographer snapped a picture of them arriving together) and played tennis once. Now they were sitting in a dark club on their fifth, not including the first meeting, date. The music was slow and rhythmic and Adriana found it almost hypnotic.
They were sitting in a circular booth in a corner of the club, a reddish light hung over them and the dark purple leather that covered the seat was so old it was softer than silk. They sat in the alcove rather close together. She was facing Bruce, his arm was on the back of the seat and went around her body.
She couldn't help but notice her cream, off-the-shoulder sweater dress went beautifully with his light grey suit. They looked good. Word had eventually gotten out that they were appearing in public together.... just the two of them, and it wasn't long before the press was all over them like white on rice. To get into the club they had needed the assistance of the two bouncers. They were appearing more and more regularly on the society pages which seemed to only amuse Bruce...as for Adriana she was used to it, her life in Malibu had never exactly been low key.
As for Bruce's mystery injuries, they kept appearing but didn't get worse which comforted Adriana who found herself enjoying his company more and more. She treated a couple of knife wounds on his arms which made her eyebrows raise but she kept her mouth shut, there was a dislocated shoulder, that was easy to fix and Adriana was impressed that when she popped it back in and Bruce barely flinched. The fact was, he only arrived before their dates hurt, she had a sneaking suspicion that there were more bumps and bruises but he wasn't telling her about them. She could only hope that if something serious happened he or Alfred would inform her and ask for her help.
They sat, his was sending the ice in his scotch flying around the sides of his glass with constant flicks of his wrist, and she was very gently nursing her dirty martini, quite impressed with how in control she felt. It was only a drink, and it tasted good, but not amazing, she wondered if it had something to do with the very steadying presence of the man next to her.
The beat of the music in the club made her chest feel like it was caving in. She looked around them. It was a high society club, you could only get in if your family tree could be dated back to the founding of Gotham and she considered why Bruce had brought her here. Sometimes he was the complete society trust fun kid, especially when they were in public. He was educated and smarter then most of the men who grew up in this sort of class but he was defiantly one of them. Then suddenly when they were alone, in the car or at his penthouse or when she was fixing him up she would find herself completely caught up in someone totally different.
Bruce could get wrapped up in his own speeches about social improvement and social responsibility. He could talk about Gotham with a passion that always took Adriana by surprise. She would find herself caught up in his rhythmic speaking and time would flow by easily. Suddenly Bruce would snap out of it, smile at her and say they had missed their play or their show that they were going to see and that they should get a bite to eat before he took her home.
Adriana couldn't help but feel she was missing out on the real Bruce.
"Bruce! Adriana!" They both looked up and saw Stuart Lexington walking towards them. He had a twenty or so blonde model on his arm and a flashy new watch that was obnoxious to say the least. He was positively garish in Adriana's opinion. "How good to see you two! When you aren't at the club I can't help but think your hiding her away from us Bruce." Stuart went to the same tennis club as they did.
Bruce smiling good heartedly at the man and Adriana noticed the smile was far from reaching Bruce's eyes but was unsettlingly convincing. "Well, have to get her out every so often." The two men laughed jovially. Adriana had to use all her will power not to raise her eyebrow. Bruce making an innuendo that they never left the house was ironic due to the fact that he barely ever gave her more then a peck on the cheek.
No one said hello to the model, though Bruce glanced at her which Adriana couldn't help but notice. She wondered what he was thinking, whether he thought she was good looking or just foolish for agreeing to go out with Stuart. Usually the arm candy wasn't worth noticing, they were just their for well appearance. It was odd but Bruce seemed to see the humanity in everyone. She could tell because his look wasn't one of ogling but of genuine observation.
Adriana paused, she wondered how detached she was from reality to thinking seeing the humanity in people was odd. She had grown up in a bubble her entire life. A rich entitled bubble. A bubble where posers were shunned and arm candy was just that candy... light, fluffy, not real. And here was Bruce the top of the top and he didn't see that, he saw people. She wondered why that was. Maybe growing up with a dad who was a doctor and humanitarian made you different. Growing up with a dad who was an arms creator and dealer didn't make her see people. She saw what they were not who they were. Being with Bruce made her feel wonderful and at the same very shallow and empty.
She had never believed that coming to Gotham, the city with the biggest class system on the Eastern Seaboard, would make her feel shallow and superficial.
"Were you guys here earlier?" Adriana and Bruce both looked at Stuart. Bruce shook his head.
"No we got here about a half an hour ago." Adriana said smiling.
"Ah, that new DA was here, what's his name? Davis? Davie's?"
"Dent," Adriana looked at Bruce he came up with the name very quickly, she didn't think Bruce paid attention to city politics but then he did seem very concerned with Gotham's well being. Maybe she just hadn't been paying attention.
"Ya Dent," Adriana sipped her martini watching Stuart carefully. He was on the wrong side of quite a few drink. He was drinking beer, how tasteless. "He was in here earlier, with that girl.... that friend of yours Bruce, Uh...."
"Rachel," Adriana noticed Bruce stiffen as he said this woman's name. She looked at him. She had never heard of this Rachel and she certainly wasn't part of the normal click.
"Yes, Rachel, they seemed happy together, how long have they been canoodling?" Ardiana raised her eyebrows.
"Are we in the fourth grade Stuart? 'Canoodling'?" Adriana said but at the same time Bruce snapped, "Three months," Adriana got distracted and looked by Bruce, he was staring at his drink with an unreadable expression.
She felt a little side swiped. She had never heard of this Rachel and yet Bruce seemed to take a big interest in her. Adriana noticed that Stuart was watching them like a good tennis match and was making Adriana very uncomfortable. She was suddenly aware of even though she thought they were getting closer, maybe they really weren't maybe she didn't know Bruce at all.
Things were flying through Adriana's head at a mile a minute. She had to think of something, anything to change the subject.
There was a sudden vibrating between her and Bruce's thighs. They shifted apart so he could get his cell phone out of his pocket and squinted at the shockingly bright screen in the middle of the darkly lit club.
He sighed, "I have to go to Wayne Tower," He looked up at Adriana and had an apologetic look on his face. "Something's come up, Fox needs to see me." Adriana smiled a tight lipped smile and nodded.
"Of course, go save the day." He smiled at her and leaned forward kissing her on the cheek. Adriana could feel her obvious tension melt away and a genuine smile take it's place. She needed to relax. They had only been on five dates. She barely knew him. Just because most of her relationships lasted no longer then a month didn't mean she had to throw this one away from being neurotic.
"Will you be okay to take the car or would you like me to get a service to pick you up?" He asked showing concern.
"No I'll be fine, I can handle my own car Bruce." She smiled tauntingly at him. He dropped the keys into her hand and shimmed out of the booth.
"I'll call you later all right?" She nodded, "Text me when you get home safe." She smiled Bruce always behaved like when she went out on her own she was taking her life in her hands.
"I will Bruce, don't worry, I always do." She smiled at him and he nodded at Stuart before walking away.
Stuart sighed as his date tapped away on her cell phone like she was trying to put out a fire. "He is truly a work-a-holic, that Bruce." Stuart shook his head like it was a bad thing. Adriana looked at Stuart and tried to ignore the somewhat empty feeling she had in her chest at Bruce's departure and the discovery of this Rachel.
"You know," Stuart sipped his drink and watched Adriana, making her slightly uneasy about what he was about to say. "We were all a bit worried about Bruce for a while." Adriana looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "He was quite taken with this Miss Rachel Dawes. It was quite concerning."
Adriana wondered vaguely why he believe she wanted to discuss Bruce's previous flames. "Oh and why is that?"
"Well, Adriana, to be frank she wasn't exactly...... mmmm, one of us." He stared at her pointedly.
"Oh Stuart really, don't be such a complete elitist." Adriana chuckled.
"No, no, now hear me out." Stuart shifted and glanced at his date who hadn't looked up from her phone. "Sweetie, why don't you grab me another drink?" He sucked down the last of his beer and handed her the ridiculously chic glass.
"Yes, Stuart," She rolled her eyes and took the glass. Adriana suddenly had a flash of her brother and all his fluffy dates in her head. She focused her attention back on Stuart who edged closer to her in the booth. He was a little greasy, but nothing too bad. He was plain, nothing much to look at but not offensive to the eyes. He posed as a stock trader at his father's firm, she wondered vaguely if Stuart even knew how to buy stocks.
"Now, don't get me wrong, she was a nice girl, I remember Bruce used to bring her to all of our events when we were much younger, in our teenage years, then they sort of drifted apart. When Bruce came back to Gotham-"
"Came back? Where did he go?" Adriana was intrigued.
Stuart waved away her thought, "Oh you know some soul searching expedition after his parents murder was released, you know he was very confused, poor fellow."
"His parents were murdered?!" Adriana's eyebrows shot up as shock rippled through her. Evidently there was a good deal about Mr. Wayne she was not aware of.
"Mmmm, yes murdered." Stuart said it like it was last weeks society gossip. "Anyway, when he came back it seemed he had it in his head to try and get together with Rachel. We were just a wee bit concerned that she may have been interested in a little more then Bruce's personality, if you know what I mean."
"You are insinuating that this friend that Bruce has had for a presumably long time was trying to get his money?" Adriana laughed out loud, "The Wayne fortune isn't exactly like Johnny's little inheritance, you cant just gold dig it away."
"No, no of course not, and don't get me wrong, Rachel's a great girl. Very nice, it is just nice to see Bruce with one of our own."
Adriana found it a bit rich that Stuart would refer to her as 'one of their own' when the society she grew up in was very different world. Over on the West coast being filthy rich was thought of in a very different way, it was laid back pretending you were normal. In her Private, very elite all-girls high school no one wore designer, everyone got picked up by the nannies in SUV's instead of town cars and limo's, granted they were usually Cadillac Escalades, and Porsche Cayennes but still, they felt like they were slumming it. Out here they behaved like royalty.
"All right Stuart." Adriana took another sip of her drink and then put it down. "I'm going home. Thanks for the chat Stuart."
"Of course, Adriana, anytime."
She scooted out of the booth and walked across the club floor to the valets.