A/N: So, I decided that before her job at Wayne Industries that Alice worked somewhere else as a secretary. And wasn't too impressed with it. So, here's this.
Chapter 4: Too Many Manic Mondays
Sure enough, a relationship blossomed between Alice Pleasance and Billy Logan in the next year. They had had such an instant connection at Bob's Diner that it was only a matter of time. However, not a whole lot of time could be spent on dates, since Billy was so occupied with college homework. And who was she to distract him? Nonetheless, she found that she was happy around him in a way she hadn't been with other guys.
So, now when those romance flicks (Casablanca, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Splash, and so many others) came on, she no longer envied the female leads. She had a boyfriend of her own, a man who made her feel extra special.
Over that year, she quit her waitressing job at Bob's Diner but not because she was fed up with the wages. One day, over coffee at a café six blocks away, Billy suggested that she could be a secretary someplace instead.
"It would pay more than waitressing, that's for sure," he pointed out, gulping his black coffee down. "I mean, you can only get by with your job at Bob's for so long, you know. It's a job you shouldn't have any longer than five years."
Alice thoughtfully considered this. "Hm...I guess you have a point. And I'd like to think those typing classes I took in high school weren't for nothing."
"Ah, see?" Billy winked at her. "You already got some typing experience."
She ended up getting hired at his father's construction company as a matter of fact (as Billy had told her, "It'll be easy to squeeze you in among the staff"). Her boyfriend had certainly the right connections in securing her the position.
Yet, at the same time, Alice couldn't help but feel she was doing a disservice to herself in getting hired this way. In a way, it was like she had cheated other women out of having a secretarial position. Women who might need it more desperately than she did. She still made her own money, of course, but she doubted that this was what her mother had in mind by being her own woman. Especially with Billy's help.
Oh well, she thought, how bad could it be? And it wasn't like she would tell her mom over the phone about how she got her new job. Like usual, Alice focused more on the positives in conversation. Sally was really pleased that her daughter managed to find a good man.
"Hopefully, your father and I will get to meet this young man," she said brightly. "And maybe on down the road, some grandchildren...But, I'm not rushing you, hon. It's your life."
At least Mom liked the sound of Billy from what she told her. Honestly, who wouldn't like him? He was just so respectable, not to mention nice.
It seemed as though Alice finally had it made at last, her ducks in a row, all her priorities in order. Except for one teensy-teensy thing.
She absolutely hated her new job.
Oh sure, the pay was enough to live off of, with even a little bit extra she put away in her savings account. That wasn't the issue at hand. If anything, the pay was the only thing she liked about this job. The very word job had started to carry a rather sour definition with her, like showing up to it put her in misery. As though going off to it each morning was complete and utter slavery, which it was. Oh, sadly, it was.
Just the working environment she landed herself in made her feel claustrophobic, for it was a bit cramped. About six or seven secretaries, each with her own desk, in one room. How awful. Most of her other constituents weren't even her age or age range. Frankly, quite a few of them were cranky old ladies with a bitter outlook on their situation. In fact, Alice wondered why these women were still working.
Retiring wouldn't hurt them that much, would it? Because obviously, working in this dead-end job would kill them. However, she was too afraid to ask regarding this, for she would probably get snapped at in response.
Worse yet, these women didn't even like her, not even close. With how callously they talked, they flat-out detested her. And in her opinion, Alice never did anything to deserve this cold hatred. At all times, she would be kind and courteous to everyone, attempting to strike up conversation with one or two of the old hags.
Her repayment? Merciless gossip intended to be behind her back, but she overheard a co-worker sneer to another one day, "I heard the young, pretty one slept her way into this job."
Slept her way in? For one thing, she wasn't that desperate to work here to begin with. Bob's Diner had been fine. For another, she hadn't remotely used tongue with Billy yet! These catty women sure knew how to alienate others.
After that unfortunate day, Alice kept her silence, ignoring her co-workers completely, like she should have to begin with.
All this just from the working environment. The working hours...That was a terror—no, a sheer nightmare. It wasn't nine to five. Try eight to six, sometimes seven o'clock in the evening. Initially, her stomach growled in protest the first few evenings, unaccustomed to waiting so late for dinner. Eventually, much to her heavy reluctance, she did get used to it.
Who knew secretaries had to remain at their posts for so long? Then again, it was a major construction company.
In fact, Logan Construction was one of the most in-demand companies in Gotham. It was one of the most trusted businesses, requested by virtually everyone and anyone. So, maybe that explained the long working hours. But, could anyone explain the necessity of the secretaries working this late? It wasn't like they were deep in the trenches, doing the actual building construction, were they?
All day, Alice would type what she was instructed to, answer phone calls (and there were quite a few of them per day), and receive decent pay in return. Decent, not spectacular.
Was Billy trying to sabotage her? Make her work life a living hell? She doubted it, since that sounded like paranoia to her. After all, he wasn't a secretary.
She chose not to relate to Billy of her tiresome work experience at his father's company. Simply out of the question. If she confided in him of what she had to go through, it would sound like complaining. What would cause her to feel all the more guilty would be if she came off to her boyfriend as ungrateful. She was glad to have a job that paid better than waitressing.
The problem was that that was the only thing she was happy about. The rest of the time, she could sense the exhaustion starting to creep up on her. Work cut into her dinner cooking time that cut into dish washing/general cleaning up time that cut into relaxation time.
Ha, that was the real kicker. Alice could barely relax any more, for she would fall asleep in front of the TV on that ancient couch. Speaking of which, sleeping on that couch certainly didn't do any wonders on her back either. She needed to buy a brand-new one.
Oh God, what if she rapidly aged and turned into one of those crones before her time? Remembering a particular nightmare in which that happened, she would shudder in revulsion. Oh, she barely slept any more.
Four months of this she put up with until one afternoon...
"Cogan Constriction, how may I help you?" she murmured tiredly into her work phone. "Yes, I'll connect you to him...Oh, what? Ohh...yes, Logan Construction, excuse me. It doesn't matter."
As soon as she connected a client to one of the head supervisors, Alice groaned out of this weighty, overwhelming weariness she had built up over the past week or so. Actually, she didn't know. She lost track of days. Was this the 23rd or...?
She checked the calendar in her office space. What, the 28th? How was that possible? This meant her date night with Billy.
Alice groaned again. This didn't bode well for tonight.
Later that night, she struggled to be alert enough in order to properly prepare for this momentous date. Momentous, because it was fast approaching their one-year anniversary, and Alice wanted everything to be perfect. Right down to what she wore.
Deciding that black always worked for evening outings such as this, she went for the ever classic little black dress. The hem line hovered just above her knees. With the dress, she put on a pair of white pumps and a pearl necklace Sally had given her on her last birthday. She did up her hair in a simple ponytail, and then retreated into the bathroom, worrying about what amount of make-up to apply.
If she put on too much, she would make herself look common, trashy. Too little, and she could easily look like a nun. Either extreme was abominable to her. So, after a long moment of careful deliberating, she decided on pink lipstick, the smallest possible amount of blush, and a little bit of mascara.
She had read somewhere that if make-up looked unnatural on a woman's face, a man would be instantly turned off. Obviously, with Billy being this amazing guy, she definitely didn't want to turn him off. Hopefully, the make-up she applied only enhanced her appearance.
Still, she was so tired...And she immediately drank two coffees as soon as she got home. Alice would not and could not, absolutely by any means, nod off during her date. That could be the number one signal to Billy that she lost interest. In reality, she hadn't, but what was he supposed to think? Actions spoke louder than words. She was a firm believer in that phrase.
Out the door she went, off to a restaurant eight blocks away from her apartment. Billy, so gallant, had offered to pick her up, but she insisted she would be fine. Maybe she would let him drive her back. Besides, if she rode in his car to their destination, she was bound to fall asleep.
However, Alice thought self-pitifully, maybe the exercise could only worsen her fatigue. And it did, so it seemed. Once she got to that eighth and final block, her legs felt like jelly. Sitting at her desk all day would not have provided her with the exercise she needed. Oh yeah, answering calls was a work-out.
The restaurant itself, where they'd agreed to meet for their hopefully extravagant date, happened to be Billy's favorite. It was an Italian place; that had been all she knew so far. With that in mind, Alice had doubted that she would come inside and see this gorgeous yet expensive interior.
The tables didn't have any of those clichéd checkered cloths one would see at the typical Italian restaurant. As far as she could tell, though, this was the farthest thing from typical. Seeing what appeared to be wealthy diners strewn throughout the area, Alice felt immensely underdressed, as though the little black dress trick turned out to be a failure. The likes of Bruce Wayne probably ate here once in a while. Embarrassed, she didn't take one more step.
Ultimately, there was no need to, for Billy had spotted her from where he sat and got up to greet her. She smiled shyly, taking in his dapper appearance. Somehow, it was hard to believe he was the same age as she was. He seemed older and refined.
"You look beautiful, Alice," he told her, beaming as much as she did from the compliment. "It's great to see you again."
"But, we went to the movies last weekend," she murmured.
Billy grinned. "It's always great to see you no matter how long it's been. Come on. I'm seated over there. I wasn't going to order anything before you arrived. I thought it'd be rude."
How thoughtful. He behaved like quite the gentleman, she internally gushed. He always seemed to act as though he paid attention to manners. Yet, he managed to be so much fun, too.
He ordered a chicken Alfredo with a side of fresh vegetables, and she chose spaghetti and meatballs. She wasn't feeling too original tonight, especially since she was worn-out. Now that she was seated, she realized just how exhausted she was. Due to her lack of energy, she allowed Billy to bring up topics for their conversation.
Honestly, she could barely be the active listener she usually was, and she would occasionally go, "Uh-huh" or "That's interesting" or "Yes?" at appropriate parts. Her eyelids felt so heavy at the same time...
Regretfully, this was before a waiter served them their food. The exhaustion got from bad to worse as the dinner progressed. Alice dropped her fork a couple times.
Oh, today had been a terribly grueling day at work, and she had had to work til 6:30. Adding on the tossing and turning on the couch last night (five hours of sleep in other words), she blinked back the sleep with a fight. All she could think about, all she could obsess over, was how tired she was.
It became so repetitive that she almost fell in a trance, hypnotizing herself to take a nap here. More than once, she bit back a yawn. The fact that she barely listened to what Billy was saying bothered her. It appeared to her that he spoke in slow-motion. She saw lips moving but hardly heard any words.
"Alice...Alice, are you all right?"
Dread gripped at her heart, the coldest feeling in the world. He finally noticed that she'd been unable to pay attention this whole time. Her cheeks flushed dark red from pure humiliation. He might want to dump her now.
Out of desperation, she lied, "Yeah, Billy, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong."
Well, of course lying wouldn't work. At that moment, she had forgotten that even at the best of times, she was a terrible liar. She couldn't con people, that's for sure. That was why being tired effected thinking, Alice could safely conclude.
And Billy didn't look too convinced. "You sure? Because you've been looking like you're someplace else for a while now. I was wondering if something was on your mind."
Oh, he got her trapped in a corner without even realizing it, hitting the nail right on the head. Indeed, she had lost herself somewhere else, a place called Dreamland. Caught between sleeping and waking, she had been stuck in this funk. Totally frustrated, Alice resolved to tell the truth.
"All right, I didn't want to tell you this, but I'm exhausted. It's from my job. I work until seven any more, usually. And...And God, I really hate my job, Billy. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be ungrateful or anything. But, all that work's been cutting into my sleep. I honestly want to quit."
Briefly assessing her, Billy nodded...and chuckled.
What was he laughing about? Oh, she didn't care any more. She was at the height of bewilderment, though once again, felt relieved that he hadn't lost his temper. At this rate, Alice pondered over the existence of that temper. Billy was always warm and pleasant like a fireplace in the wintertime.
Once his chuckling subsided, he replied, "Then why are you still working there? I know, I helped you get the job, but I didn't know it was that tough on you. You're not being ungrateful. It's a legit reason you got."
He paused to pat her on the hand, gazing at her almost concernedly. "If you're not getting enough sleep...We're talking putting your health on the line, Alice. It's not good that you're getting on like this."
It was then that she confessed, "And my co-workers were all old, gossipy hags."
Billy laughed some more while she half-smiled. "I had no idea. If your intention was to make me feel sorrier for you, you did a good job. Unpleasant co-workers just make it worse, huh?"
Full-heartedly, Alice nodded, loving this man's optimism that shone through, even when she was pessimistic.
He was so wonderful.
A/N: Don't worry, everyone, Jervis hasn't disappeared. In fact, he's going to make an appearance next chapter. So, this isn't going to totally be an Alice-centric story.
If you guys could review, I'd very much appreciate it.
