A/N: Pretty self-explanatory chapter title. I'll leave you to it.

Chapter 10: A Big Fight

Leaves from the small, willowy trees that were planted within the city drifted down toward the bustling streets and sidewalks. The temperature gradually dropped, and frost could be found settled on the ground one particular morning. Gotham's citizens traded light windbreakers for heavier jackets and T-shirts for sweaters. November was here with a vengeance.

Despite the bleak conditions outside, however, Alice's and Billy's lives improved more. They'd since moved out of Alice's apartment to a more luxurious one in a beautiful complex in the middle of the city.

This way, Billy's commute to Logan Construction was even shorter, as was hers to Wayne Industries. Her job couldn't be better and, as good as her word, she'd taken Jervis out on a couple more lunches. Judging by the kindly stares given by other Willoughby's patrons, the two of them must have been mistaken for a couple.

Of course, deep down, Jervis had no problems with this, but Alice did. She was inevitably too sweet and courteous to even bring the reason why up. Her boss, of all people, didn't need to know about her dating life. That was private, and she preferred to keep it that way.

Meanwhile, speaking of her personal life, Billy had become quite the successful CEO to the extent that he'd attracted an impressive clientele. One particular client wished to meet him in person to discuss plans to structurally add on to his business. So, Billy had suggested that he treat the man and his wife to dinner at one of the most upscale eateries in Gotham. Naturally, Alice was asked to come along, as a sort of double date with the two couples. She agreed to it, somewhat excited over the occasion and yet...

She was very slightly reluctant, for through her naivety, she wasn't so stupid that she couldn't see through this. It would clearly be a business meeting (a stuffy one at that) in the guise of a "fun" date. Then again, it surely couldn't be all business. No need for her to worry too much about it.

In a considerably sunnier attitude, Alice dressed up in a sparkling midnight blue evening gown that night for the date/meeting. She put her hair up in what she thought to be a rather sophisticated bun on top of her head.

Once Billy took a good look at her, he liked what he saw. "Dazzling, baby, you look great."

"I'm kinda nervous," she admitted, straining not to bite her lip.

"Ah, no need to be, baby. Mr. Larson is a nice guy. So, I'm sure his wife is nice, too. Not intimidating people."

Billy had taken to calling her "baby" a while back, and she was uncertain if she was comfortable with it. Frankly, it sounded impersonal, just a tad shallow. Insincere. Oh, who was she kidding? Billy the man hadn't become that way, had he? Of course not!

However, during the dinner, Alice felt more and more uncomfortable dining in this restaurant. This one called La Crème was more expensive than both Carrelli's and the other Italian place combined. And it didn't have a fraction of the charm the other two eateries possessed. Even Willoughby's, quite cheap, had far more charm.

The problem with La Crème was that even the waiters and waitresses took orders with a sort of self-important air. As though they, as guests, were doing them the service instead of the other way around. If the servers were so pretentious, the diners were worse still.

This sadly included Billy's client and his wife. George Larson was a forty-five-year-old heavy-set man with a booming voice that could be heard from a mile away. He was a hotel owner and was more or less interested in an extension being added to the main building. This five-star hotel of his had become so immensely popular that the employees troubled themselves over booking guests.

So, to provide the maximum amount of room, Mr. Larson believed that an extension was in order. He told Billy all of this with all the pompous attitude of a used car salesman and just as greedy. Alice swore that she could see the dollar signs in his eyes.

The wife, Helen Larson, was not much better in terms of conceit. She was, truth be told, a gold digger who provided her husband with a trophy in the form of herself. In turn, he lavished her with expensive gifts. On this particular night, she complacently wore her newest mink wrap. Disgustedly, Alice heard that this Mrs. Larson was twenty-seven and currently wife number three.

While the men talked, Alice decided to strike up conversation with the woman nonetheless, no matter how much her disdain. "So...uh...Mrs. Larson, what do you do?"

Mrs. Larson raised an eyebrow before bursting into a giggle fit. "You mean work? Allie, I am not a working woman. You ought to know that. I love to shop. I can go to the best places."

Allie? That was ten times more insincere than "baby." Suppressing a snort of disgust, she resolved not to so much as attempt to speak to Mrs. Larson the rest of the time. So, she changed tactics. She would wait for an ideal opening in order to start conversing with Billy. It was supposed to be a double date, too. Right?

But, whenever she tried to get Billy's attention, her boyfriend would say to her, "Not now, Alice, I need to discuss flooring plans with George," or something similar to that. She and Helen had to be reduced to dolls, seen and not heard. And that gradually angered Alice more than anything.

The dinner couldn't have ended soon enough as far as she was concerned. She'd forgotten what she ordered, as desperate as she was to get out of this overly extravagant place.

She spoke not a word to him all the way home, from the walk over to his Mercedes in the parking lot to the ten-minute drive home. Her lips remained pursed, as though sewn shut by an invisible needle and thread. With arms firmly across her chest, she wouldn't even look her boyfriend in the eye. Oh yes, she was infuriated all right. He slowly got arrogant, and she didn't approve.

When they did finally get home, Alice slammed her car door closed and promptly strode up to the stoop. Oh, as soon as he'd unlock the door with his house keys, he would pay...dearly. Or not. It depended on her mood, whether she wanted to yell at him or not. It really did.

Once Billy did open that door, she was off stomping up the stairs, her tiny fists at her sides.

It dawned on him, seemingly, that she was raging. "Hey, Alice, what's wrong?"

At this point, they both walked into their apartment while a vein throbbed in her temple. She abruptly switched on the lights, letting out a long breath she'd been holding. Finally, she could yell. Scream. Throw the fine china. Whatever, she could release that negativity.

"What do you think, Billy?" she asked tersely, barely restraining against raising her voice.

"Come on, baby, I didn't do anything offensive, did I?" he asked beseechingly, almost as though he played the victim in this scenario. Ha, she'd like to laugh at that one.

"I can understand why you needed to take your client out—actually, wait, no, I don't." Alice took to pacing back and forth. "You could have talked to him on the phone. And why take me out to dinner? It wasn't even a real date!"

"Well," Billy responded calmly, as if he was talking to a bratty child in the midst of a temper tantrum, "Mr. Larson was originally going to take his wife to this dinner. So, I figured I could—"

"Mr. Larson only wanted to bring his wife along to show her off as his trophy, Billy!" she seethed. "And what you did to me tonight was no better than what he'd do!"

"Now listen here, Alice!" He resorted to shouting out of exasperation. "I was conducting business. You and Helen were—"

"Pardon my language, but Helen was a bitch," she cut in. "All she did was simper in that mink wrap of hers, talking about how she loved shopping. She's shallow. You and Mr. Larson treated us like ignorant kindergartners. We're all adults here. There had to be a balance between date and business. Since you couldn't do that, there was no point in me going, was there?"

Billy huffily sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "This is childish. Whatever issues you're having with me, you can just sleep on them tonight. Next morning, you'll be over this."

"It's not childish if you think I'm so stupid and ignorant to just sit there and look pretty while the big boys talk. You should be ashamed of what you did. All you think about is work anymore."

Wearily unpinning her hair, Alice strode over to the rarely used smaller bedroom and quietly closed the door. She'd left it at those final words, hanging in the air like a thick fog. Really, how much trouble was she worth to be included in a conversation? A definite change had taken place in her boyfriend now, she could definitely notice it. Caught up in his wealth, he could easily leave her by the wayside and be totally oblivious to it.

She slid her feet out of those blistering Louis Vuitton heels before falling backwards onto the bed. After this awful ordeal, all she needed was rest. What she could hope for at the moment was that Billy would think on her words.

She wasn't being childish when she was right.

After all, it got to the point that work filled up every moment of Billy's free time. He didn't do the hobbies he liked any more like doing the Saturday crossword puzzle or bowling. Boring, humdrum things, but at least they'd made him seem normal.

Recently, he was so vital in his company that he hardly knew what to do with himself. With hobbies or her or anything else. If their relationship kept on like this, Alice would have to say goodbye to him. She knew this. She couldn't have something this unhealthy on her hands.

So, later that night, she slept. Dreamed of a date with Billy that far surpassed this one.

The next morning, she discovered him gone but found a vase full of chrysanthemums with a note on the kitchen table. She narrowed her eyes before taking the note, which said:

Sorry about last night, Alice. It was all my fault. Hope you like mums.

She didn't. Quite the contrary, she hated them.

A/N: OK, so in that episode, these two have an implied fight. I decided, well, that wouldn't have been the first fight. And there you go. At this stage, it was hard not to turn Billy into something that would turn off some people. So, that's my defense. XD