Chapter 2
Wednesday morning I received a call from the Palmer Center for the Performing Arts, one of the places I had interviewed for. It was a similar position to my previous job, and quite honestly it was the one I wanted the most. I quickly gave them my acceptance and started my job the next week.
After that my life quickly fell into a routine. Monday through Friday I worked the normal nine to five, coming home before dark. After watching the news in Gotham City I started to understand why everyone kept telling me to stay home. Every Friday a group from work went drinking at a bar near the theater, and even they started right after work and were reluctant to stay long after dark. Sunday afternoons I spent with the Gordons. I found I was becoming very close to them and was even starting to think of them as family.
It was a Saturday night about a month after I had started my job when I got a call from work.
"Hi Kiley, this is Nate. We're having a problem with the system. It's nothing too bad, but we kind of need you to come down here and verify a few things."
I sighed. "All right, give me about 20 minutes."
I was already in my pajamas, ready to spend a night watching movies. I quickly walked in my room and started to change. I knew there was an opera that would start in ten minutes, which meant I wouldn't be seen by many ticket holders, if any. All the same I decided to change into a black dress with my good boots, though I decided to keep my glasses on.
I decided to take a taxi to the Center. Whether that was a good idea or not I still couldn't decide. As promised, 20 minutes later I walked into the lobby and straight to the ticket booth to talk to Nate. He was an 18 year old high school kid who worked there for an after school job. We had had a few chances to speak to each other during the time since I had been hired.
"What's the problem?"
"I don't know, the program just kind of blanked at one point and a few things got scrambled. I just need you to verify that I put everything in the right place. Everything I had to put in is highlighted."
He got up so I could sit down in his chair. This would take a while.
"Do you want me to get you anything?"
"Is there hot chocolate?" I asked meekly.
He smiled. "Of course."
I gave him a smile. "Thank you."
I tried to work quickly; my movies and pajamas were calling me. No matter how quickly I went I still had to be thorough. Nate soon came back with my hot chocolate and I sipped on it as I worked. As the time went by staff came and as they worked to meet the order of either their boss or the patrons.
More than once I heard them mention the customer in Balcony B. I knew from my training that this was one of our most expensive booths that was always reserved for our most appreciated customers, i.e. the ones with the most money. From what I gathered, though I was so wrapped up in my work that I wasn't paying much attention, whoever was in the booth was a high demand customer. Several times I saw attendants grumble as they walked by to fetch the newest item wanted. Glad I didn't have to deal with those people.
I finally finished about 45 minutes later. Unfortunately, this was when the intermission started, and people began filing into the lobby. I said my goodbyes to Nate and the other members of the staff and decided to take the third floor out to the parking garage which would lead me to the second entrance in the back of the building. That floor didn't give access to any of the regular seating, only Balcony seats. The chances were I would run into very few people.
The back stair was in the employee only zone and I took that up the two flights. When I entered the third floor lobby there was maybe ten or so people out. Most were near the bathrooms and only one was in my path to the garage.
He was a tall man in an impressively tailored suit with dark brown slicked back hair. He was talking on his cell phone and kept his voice quiet so as not to be overheard. I tried to respect his privacy and passed him at a distance.
I was nearing the door and my wonderful exit when the unthinkable happened. A woman, who I could only assume by her extreme beauty and plastic parts was a model, stopped me in my tracks.
"Excuse me, do you work here?"
"Um, yes I do." Oh please, don't ask me to do anything.
"Is there any way I could get a new bottle of wine sent to Balcony B? The current one is absolutely atrocious." Ah, so this is the high demand customer.
"I'm sure if you asked an attendant they would be able to get something for you." I tried to make my way past her, but she stopped me once again.
"I thought you said you work here."
"I do," I said turning back to her.
"Then you'll be able to get me some wine." She was starting to get snooty, and it was all I could do to keep my voice level.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but I work the business here, I'm not used to the nighttime requirements or where we keep any of those things. If you could ask an attendant, I'm sure they'll be able to help you much better than I can."
Now she was annoyed. "I'm not asking them, I'm asking you," she snapped.
"Is there a problem?" The deep, suave voice came from behind us and I turned my head to see the good looking man who had been talking on his cell phone.
"Yes! This woman claims she works here but she refuses to get me a bottle of wine!"
He stepped closer to us and looked at me. "She may not be the right person to ask. Maybe it's not her job."
"I'm afraid it isn't," I said, continuing to use my business voice. "I work in an office; I'm not quite familiar with how this department works."
He nodded, and he at least seemed placated. "There you are. Why don't you ask that attendant you've been continuously ordering? I'm sure he could find something."
I kept my mouth shut and my face neutral even though it sounded like he had just insulted her. Though what she did next challenged my resolve as I had to fight hard not to laugh.
"But Bruce!" she said as she stopped her foot on the floor. "That's not the point."
"Actually Natasha it is." She scoffed. "I'm afraid I have bad news, though. Something's come up and I need to leave."
"I don't want to leave." She nearly wined like a baby as she spoke. "I want to see how it ends."
"If you would like to stay you're more than welcome, but I won't be able to offer you a ride home."
She shrugged and flipped her hair. "I'm sure I'll be able to find someone to give me a ride."
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm sorry I had to cut our date short."
"Yeah, whatever," she said before she stalked off.
I had tried to keep my presence unnoticeable as they had gone through this little exchange, but that ended when he turned to me and gave me a smile I'm sorry to admit made my heart flutter. Sadly, I believe that was the point of it.
"I apologize that you had to see that."
I gave him a smile in return and continued in my business voice. "It's no problem."
"Natasha can get a bit dramatic."
"Again, no worries."
He looked down to see the coat in my arms. "Are you leaving? Is there somewhere I could walk you to?"
I looked down to see where he was looking then looked back to his face. "Oh, that's alright, I'm just going to get a taxi."
He gave me a strange look. "A taxi? In Gotham at nine at night?"
"Yes, a taxi. The mode of transportation that brought me here and the mode that will get me back." I should still be in business mode, but somehow my snark had creeped through.
He nearly smirked but then stopped himself and smiled instead. "At least let me walk you to the street and wait until you get safely into one."
I immediately shook my head. "Thank you, but that's not necessary. It's just out back and completely lit."
"Nonetheless I would still feel better if I could make sure at least one person arrived home safely."
I knew he was talking about his date. I also knew that he wouldn't let up. I sighed. "All right." I turned and started heading for the tunnel that led to the garage, tense as the patron walked next to me.
It was completely awkward, so I tried to start up conversation. "Did you enjoy the show?"
He gave a small smile. "From what I saw of it, no. I'm not really an opera person."
Dead end.
A small chuckle escaped him that I almost missed. "Are you new to Gotham?" he asked.
I started. "Yes, I've only been here about a month. How could you tell?"
He smirked. "You don't exactly act like you've been here long."
We reached the tunnel and instead of walking through it we took a staircase down to the ground level to exit out of the back entrance.
He walked me to the curb and I realized that though we had been walking in silence, I hadn't minded that much. I looked to him to try and gauge how he felt, but his normal smile was planted there and I couldn't read anything past his mask.
He raised his hand and whistled and immediately a cab pulled over. He opened the door and turned to me.
"Thank you for walking me to my getaway car."
He smiled. "Glad I could be of service. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening."
"I hope everything goes alright with, well, whatever it is that you have to go do. I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"It's Bruce Wayne," he said with his charming smile. "Have a good evening."
"Thanks, you too." I stepped into the cab and he shut the door behind me.
I gave the cabbie my address and he pulled away from the curb. "So, how'd you get Bruce Wayne to get you a taxi?"
Only after he said this did I realize why I found that guy so familiar. Bruce Wayne, the man I had seen on the news almost every night. Bruce Wayne, the one everybody calls the Prince of Gotham, and I had treated him like he was just another person.
