"Must be nice to get into this place when it's closed," Adriana commented as she and Bruce went to a table at the downtown Brazilian steakhouse he owned. It was closed on Sundays to the public but apparently open for him or private parties.

"Well, steak is my favorite food," Bruce commented and pulled out a chair for her.

"Really?" Adriana asked as she sat.

"Sure," he replied. "Nothing beats a ribeye for me. What's yours?"

"Favorite food?" she asked as he sat.

"Yes," he smiled at her as she looked at the menu.

"Well," she thought. "I like cheesecake..and Tiramisu."

"A very sweet tooth," he observed.

"Yeah," she answered. "Steak is nice too."

"Wine?" the waitress offered.

"Sure," Adriana answered. She had a bit of champagne the previous night with no problem so maybe this would be okay. As she sipped the drink her phone rang. "Sorry, it's my mother I have to get this."

"No problem," Bruce said and took a long drink from his glass of water with lemon.

"Haye," she said as she picked up the phone. "Hooyo sidee tahay." How are you mom?

"Hi Adriana," her mother replied in her native tongue. "I'm doing wonderful, we just arrived in Ireland. Hope you and your sister are having a good time together. Your father and I miss you both."

"We miss you too," Adriana replied in the same language. "Maybe on your next trip to Madagascar we can come?"

"Yes, we plan to go in the summer," her mother answered. "And maybe to Mogadishu to see your grandmother."

"I can't wait."

"How is Damien?"

"He's fine. Working a lot."

"Mhm," her mother said in a disapproving tone. She had only met Damien once and had decided that she did not like him.

"Sorry, mom, I have to go I'm out at lunch with a friend," Adriana said.

"Oh, which friend?" her mother asked curiously since she had never known Adriana to have friends or to go out much.

"You haven't met him" Adriana answered. "Just a colleague."

"Just you and him to lunch?"

"Yea,just us," Adriana sighed hearing a bit of excitement in her mother's voice. She was also happy that they were speaking in a language that Bruce did not understand. She paused before speaking to examine his thoughts to see if he had any clue what she was saying and he didn't. He was able to understand a few words because he spoke a similar language but could not catch on the what she was saying enough to decipher what she was talking about.

"Well have fun!" her mother said with a great deal of enthusiasm. "I will leave you two alone."

"Mom..it's not like that."

"Yes, yes," her mother said sounding like she was smiling. "Of course it's not. Bye bye."

"Nabad galyo," Adriana said and hung up the phone. "Sorry."

"No apologies needed," he said. "Your family seems very important to you."

"They are," Adriana said unwilling resist prying into his mind again. He was thinking of when she said her sister was visiting earlier and observing how she was now speaking with her mother. She had closeness with her family and he admired it, having no family connections of his own.

"If you don't mind me asking," he said. "What language were you speaking? Sounded a bit like Arabic."

"Oh," Adriana smiled. "Somali language. I speak standard Arabic too."

"Wow, that's impressive," Bruce said.

"Well, I know you can speak many languages as well," she said. "Including Arabic. How many languages do you speak?"

"Around 28." Bruce said. "Almost 29, if I knew a bit more German. You?"

"Just 4," she said. "English, Somali, Arabic and Spanish."

"Si," Bruce replied in Spanish. "Tu apellido es Navarro." Your last name is Navarro.

"Perfect Spanish," she complemented him and took another drink of wine. "Yes, my father's name is Navarro. He's from Spain."

"And your mother, Somalia?"

"She lived most of her life in Egypt, since her father was Egyptian," Adriana answered. "But then moved back to Somalia when she was a teen before moving to Spain and then the USA. Now she just travels everywhere with my father."

"Your family sounds intriguing," Bruce said.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked Adriana.

"I'll have whatever you're having," she said to Bruce and picked up the menu and the waitress nodded and took it.

"I guess they already know what you want?" she said and picked up the wine glass again.

"They do," Bruce said. "The most marbled cuts of ribeye they have."

They enjoyed the steaks and conversation in the quiet empty restaurant as soft Brazilian samba music played in the background. It began to rain outside when they were done eating so they decided to sit and chat a bit longer until it let up. The sound of rain on the windows was calming and Adriana found it hard to see Gotham as depressing in a place like this. The restaurant was bright and jovial with invigorating red lighting and decorations that made the place feel warm and summery.

"They found something," Bruce said happily as he looked down at what looked like it could have been a phone but it was as thin as a few sheets of paper.

"What kind of phone is that?" Adriana asked and sipped wine after the waitress came to top off her glass again.

"Not something that's on the market," Bruce said. "Impressive though."

"What did who find?" Adriana asked, wondering why she was so slow to remember what he had said initially.

"A team of mine found the money that was hidden close to the Allen street stop in the Chinatown subway," Bruce said. "No one knows who's cash it is but us, but I do have several teams of people working for me. They do as instructed without asking questions. Most of them don't even know they are working for me."

"Wow," Adriana said and swallowed a burp.

"Couldn't have been possible without you," Bruce commented and raised his glass to tap it against hers.

"I'm glad I was right," she said and clinked her glass against his.

"I suppose I should get you home to your sister," Bruce said. "Did you park by Wayne Enterprises? I could give you an access card for the private garage and show you how to access it, as well as the main garage if you ever need it."

"Oh," Adriana said. "I took the bus but that would be great, in case I ever drive again."

"You don't drive?"

"It wasn't good with my.." Adriana said. "Condition."

"Gift," Bruce nodded.

"Right," she answered. "A lot of distraction. I took the bus over."

"Alright, I will drive you home," Bruce offered and Adriana almost pulled out her wallet until she remembered that he owned the restaurant and no one brought a bill to the table.

"Actually," Adriana said as he stood. "I should go by bus. The last time you dropped me off my boyfriend-"

Adriana paused and realized she was laughing as she was trying to stand.

"Shit, how much wine did I have?" she asked herself out loud and then clasped her hand over her mouth in embarrassment and sat back down.

"Ah," Bruce answered. "Just a few glasses."

"A few?"

"Five and then," he gestured to the glass on the table. "A half. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said and tried to stand again more slowly and fumbled for her jacket.

"Let me," Bruce came behind her and helped her into it.

"This is embarrassing," she said while looking down and pulling up her zipper.

"You don't have to be embarrassed about anything around me," Bruce said. "I sleep through at least one meeting a week. Apparently with my mouth open..so I'm told."

"Yeah, that's bad," Adriana finally looked up and laughed.

"Now, you must let me drive you," Bruce said. "But what were you saying about your boyfriend?"

"Ugh," Adriana rolled her eyes as they walked across the restaurant and toward the door. "He saw you dropping me off and got all suspicious. I mean, he didn't know it was you but he saw your car and stuff. And then we kinda got into a bit of a fight and-"

"I'm so sorry," Bruce apologized and stopped walked.

"Fowha-" Adriana said feeling her speech slurring. "For what?"

"I don't want to make trouble for you," he answered.

"No, no, no," Adriana waved her hand and kept walking and he followed. "He's just an idiot is all. Actually-" She paused as they reached a set of three steps down close by the door.

"Need some help?" Bruce offered and took her arm.

"Yeah," she said as they went down the steps slowly. "If I fell that would be..fortifying. Fortified?"

"I think you're trying to say mortifying," Bruce said as he pushed open the door, seeing that the rain had stopped.

"Yeah, that," she replied and tripped a bit while crossing the door's threshold but he caught her with both arms and a caring smile. "Please don't laugh at me."

"Never," he said seriously while holding her and giving her a soothing look. "Unless you fell, then no promises."

"Ugh," she laughed and stepped carefully out onto the sidewalk.

"Could you drop me off around the corner?" Adriana asked as soon as they were both in the car. "Oops," she said dropping her keys on the floor between her feet after she fastened her seat belt.

"Sure," Bruce said and noticed that before he could even start the car she was asleep again.

.

.

"Hey," Bruce said after parking at the very end of the corner of Adriana's street. "We're here."

She was still sound asleep. Bruce watched her for a few moments as rain began to lightly tap against the windows of his car. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, he thought. Somehow, he felt incredibly lucky to have her there, though she was just laying there sleeping, doing absolutely nothing. He went to touch her arm to wake her but felt a bit guilty. He wasn't sure if he had ever seen anyone sleeping so peacefully. Finally, he took a deep breath and gently touched her shoulder.

"Adriana," he said with just enough volume in his voice so he knew she would hear it. But, on she slept.

He started the car again and parked in front of her house. A modest single story home with a small yard and driveway, and a garage attached on the left side. He pulled into the empty driveway in front of the garage and wondered if he should knock on the door. The time was 3 p.m., maybe her sister was still sleeping? And how would he explain himself to her? Bruce sighed and finally decided that since the lights looked off in the home, maybe her sister was still sleeping. He picked up her keys from the floor, trying not to bump against her knees, and even though he felt it was a giant risk he went over to the front door and unlocked it slowly. The living room was dark and there was a note on the small table by the front door.

Adri, tried texting u. Im going to the movies, promise to see u at dinner and I took your umbrella but i left that ugly ass poncho and a shower cap if you have to go out again, sorry - Harri

Bruce sighed a bit of relief after reading the note and went back out to the car after leaving the door slightly ajar. He walked over to his car and opened the passenger side door slowly and moved Adriana's small purse to the center of her lap after he unfastened her seat belt. He lifted her easily, noticing she smelled like a mixture of vanilla and rose, and carried her back to the house and through the door. Carefully, he lowered her down onto the couch and moved the small bag over to the coffee table. He wondered if he should remove the leather jacket she was wearing but decided against it when she turned over on her side facing the back of the couch and pulled her knees up.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered before leaving.