"Is that my sister?" Harri said with a big smile as she came up the escalator.
"Yes, and I'm here on time," Adriana said and hugged her sister who was three inches taller the herself. "I'm so happy you're here."
"Me too," Harri said and looked at Adriana. "Oh my gosh, you look great!"
"You too," Adriana said and smiled.
"No, seriously," Harri went on. "You look different..so rested and healthy."
"Thankfully I've been able to sleep a lot more," Adriana beamed. "And my appetite is so much better."
"Wow," Harri said as Adriana took her rolling suitcase and began to walk with it. "I've never seen you like this. Amazing. I have to meet the woman who helped you."
"Sure, maybe we can stop by tonight."
"Oh, Gotham," Harri said as the emerged from the train station to the windy grey day outside. "Gloomy as always."
.
.
.
"This is my sister Harri," Adriana introduced Harri to Sidi that evening.
"Lovely," Sidi said. "You are both very lovely girls."
"Who's here?" Adriana heard Sidi's daughter Aymara call from upstairs.
"Adriana!" Sidi called back and sat them down in her living room. She had moved the enormous crystal Adriana had given her to it's own table by her bookshelves.
"Who?" Aymara called again.
"Adriana," Sidi walked over to the stairs and called up.
"Who's that?"
"Adriana," Sidi said. "Mulatta girl."
"Oh," Aymara called down.
"Did she just call you.." Harri whispered to Adriana.
"Yeah," Adriana whispered back.
"Where are you from?" Harri asked Sidi as she walked back over to them. The deep blue dress she was wearing flowed close to the floor like waves.
"Louisiana," Sidi asked. "You're offended?"
"By.." Harri said as Sidi waited.
"You prefer me not refer to you two as Mulattas," Sidi smiled.
"You're very perceptive," Harri replied.
"That's my job," Sidi said with a smile. "Are you Adriana's older or younger sister? You look the same age."
"Younger," Harri said. "One year younger."
"You two barely look alike," Sidi said with a laugh. "You look Egyptian. Adriana looks..."
"Ambiguous," Harri chuckled.
"Yes," Sidi said. "You remind me of a Greek woman who came to see me years ago, Adriana."
"Came to see you?" Harri asked. "For like..a reading?"
"Yes," Sidi nodded. "That woman had a lot of problems. Nothing like yours though."
"Can you tell us if Adriana is going to break up with her boyfriend?"
"Harri!" Adriana hit Harri on the arm with the back of her hand.
"It is hard for me to see anything about her. Her gift blocks mine," Sidi shrugged. "Even now that it is diminished."
"Well, that's unfortunate," Harri said.
"I can tell that you are gifted too," Sidi said. "Very intuitive. Maybe you can tell her."
"Tell her whether or not she will break up with Damien?" Harri laughed. "I'm no psychic."
"But you are her sister. And I can see you want her to be happy," Sidi offered. "As I can tell you are. You are very blissful."
"I certainly am," Harri said with a smile. "I want you to be happy too, sis. And to be honest, I think you were happier single than with Damien."
"Really?" Adriana asked. "Even now? I'm doing better than ever...I'm sleeping finally."
"I know but," Harri said. "I can tell he is making you miserable. You would be bouncing off the freaking walls if you would have been relieved from this gift when you were single. Now you seem..a bit happier but not quite..I don't know. You still have sadness in your eyes. Like something is missing."
"Wow, Harri," Adriana shrugged. "I mean, you're right, he's not making me happy right now but..Maybe in time..things can change."
"If you say so," Harri shrugged. "I told her she needs to have a sample of someone else to get over him."
"Saucy one," Sidi said and raised her eyebrows at Harri and looked at Adriana for a response.
"I've never cheated on anyone," Adriana sighed. "I will have to break up with him before..I do anything."
"I have a feeling you'll surprise yourself," Harri said with a smile. "She was telling me about some hot guy she is working for."
"Ahh," Sidi nodded as Aymara came down to join them.
"Heyy," Aymara hugged Adriana and sat in a free chair beside her mother.
"This is my sis, Harri," Adriana introduced them.
"Wow, really your sister?" Aymara said. "You look so different!"
"Yes, same parents," Harri laughed.
"You hair is so pretty," Aymara commented on Harri's dark silky hair which she straightened regularly.
"Thanks," Harri smiled.
"What's that I hear about some hot guy?" Aymara asked with a laugh.
"Someone Adriana likes," Harri chuckled.
"What?" Adriana interjected. "I never said I liked him."
"She said he was an 11 out of 10," Harri said to Ayamara and Sidi. "If he was homeless and toothless."
"No one said toothless," Adriana laughed hard. "Toothless, he's an 8."
"See!" Harri said.
"You do like him," Aymara said with a smile.
"Call him," Sidi surprised Adriana and handed her the landline phone beside her.
"What?" Adriana said. "No, no, he's busy."
"Not too busy for a pretty girl like you," Sidi said and turned to Aymara and Harri. "You girls will help me cook."
"Yes, let's give Adri some privacy," Harri said in a sly voice as they left the room.
"Ugh," Adriana shook her head watching them leave, and wondered if she should just pretend she called someone. But then she found herself pulling out her phone and looking up the Wayne Enterprises phone number in the web browser. She felt incredibly silly typing it into Sidi's phone but guessed that since it was after 6 p.m., everyone would likely be gone or leaving for the day.
"Wayne Enterprises, how many I direct your call?" Adriana immediately recognized the voice of Rebecca. The woman who was quite rude when Adriana visited Wayne Tower.
"Hi," Adriana started. "Calling for Mr. Wayne-"
"I'm sorry but Mr. Wayne is unavailable after 4:30. You will have to call again during business hours and you can be transferred to one of his assistants," Rebecca said.
"Right," Adriana said with a bit of relief. "Well, thanks anyway-"
"Oh..May I ask who's calling?" Rebecca said as if she just realized something.
"Adriana Navarro," Adriana said. "Don't worry about it though, I don't need to leave a message. I will try again tomorrow-"
"Oh, Ms. Navarro. I'm so sorry I didn't realize," Rebecca apologized, her voice changing dramatically. "I'll put you right through-"
"Oka-" Adriana started but already heard the phone switched and was waiting to be answered.
"Bruce Wayne's office," Adriana heard a sweet voice say.
"Hi," Adriana said. "I was just calling to speak to Mr. Wayne. My name is Adriana Navarro."
"One second.." the woman said, as it sounded like she was checking something. "Ah, yes. I see your name here on the list. I will let him know you're calling and I will put you through."
"Thanks," Adriana said as the phone transferred again. She waited for what seemed like an eternity until she heard Bruce's voice.
"Bruce Wayne speaking," he said, his voice calm and resonant.
"Hi, it's Adriana," Adriana started to talk and was feeling even sillier since she had called for absolutely no reason. She already imagined this phone call was going to go very awkwardly and immediately felt uncomfortable and considered making something up. What reason would she have to call him?
"Hello, Adriana," Bruce said. "I was wondering if it was actually you. You're calling from a number I don't have down for you."
"Oh, yeah, I'm at a friend's house," Adriana said.
"And on a landline," Bruce sounded like he was smiling. "Old school."
"You know it's a landline?" Adriana wanted to laugh.
"Of course," Bruce said. "Is everything okay?"
"Oh," Adriana answered immediately. "Totally. Everything's great."
"That's good to hear," he said, still sounding like he was carrying a smile. "Did you receive your tickets to the Gala?"
"Yes, just got them," Adriana said. "Thank you."
"No problem," Bruce said. "Looking forward to seeing you there. I was actually discussing something with Lucius earlier.."
"Oh?" Adriana said as his voice trailed off a bit. Even though he was getting quiet for a moment she realized their call felt very comfortable and familiar. There wasn't a hint of discomfort or awkwardness in it at all, even in the brief silence.
"Actually, that may be a discussion for another time," he decided.
In that moment Adriana could tell he wanted to ask her for something. Likely more work, more use of her gift. In the moment, she didn't mind at all even though she thought she was done using her gift as work for others.
"If you're sure," she said politely.
"For the moment," Bruce said.
"Okay," Adriana said. "Well if you do need anything that I can help you with, you can just ask."
"Good to know," Bruce said, his voice relaxing a bit more. "So you're at a friend's house?"
"Yes," Adriana answered, sensing the phone call becoming a bit more personal. "The one I was telling you about, if you remember..that helped me."
"Ahh, that friend," Bruce answered. "Of course I remember. How could I forget the friend that improved your quality of life? Sounds like a wonderful woman."
Adriana let a few seconds go where she was smiling and thinking how sweet he was, when she realized she was somewhat in a daze and not talking.
"Yeah, her," she said finally.
"Maybe you should invite her to the Gala," he suggested. "I would love to meet her."
"Oh that," Adriana said, unable to hide a sigh. "My boyfriend sort of, already invited himself."
"I see," Bruce answered not mentioning the sound of annoyance in her voice. "Well I could send another ticket for her."
"No,no," Adriana said quickly. "He's already kind of suspicious.."
"Of what?"
"Well, the fundraiser..he suggested it's only for wealthy people and.."
"Well you are wealthy now, correct?"
"Yeah..."
"He's the officer we used to present the offer to you, if i'm remembering?"
"Right," Adriana answered. Damien was the one who came to her in the institution to let her know about the job. And the pay.
"Yet..you haven't told him you have been paid?" Bruce deduced.
"No," Adriana sighed. "I haven't."
"Okay," Bruce said, his tone entirely without judgement. "No more suspicious tickets then."
"Thanks for understanding," Adriana sighed.
"No problem," he said back. "I appreciate your discretion, actually."
Adriana knew what he meant. She had not told Damien about the money and she also had not told him that the Batman was involved.
"It's nothing really," Adriana said.
"Discretion and honesty is very difficult to come by," Bruce told her.
"Yup-" Adriana said and heard Aymara and Harri talking loudly in the kitchen, occasionally laughing.
"Well it sounds like you're a bit busy," Bruce observed.
"Yeah, I should probably go," Adriana said, though she didn't want the phone call to end.
"It was wonderful surprise hearing from you," Bruce said. "Enjoy your evening."
"You too," she said and hung up the phone.