Bruce woke up several hours later, he looked to his side to find an empty space, he frowned, he stood and immediately went to find Alfred, he found the butler and Alexandra both in the cave replaying some news that he had been tracking, Alexandra's face was filled with interest as she read the news.
"Found anything?" He asked startling them both, Alexandra turned to him, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Don't do that Bruce, its mean," she said, he could see that she was holding back a smile.
"I apologize" he said, she smiled her face brightening up.
"Apologies accepted good sir" she said using a heavy British accent, Bruce chuckled.
"So what did you find?" He asked, she turned to the screen.
"Someone is contacting the lines again, although we can't figure out quite who" she said eyes fixed on the screen, "Good news is that we found a guy the bat can interrogate the who's and what's"
"Who?"
"Antonio Vinciguerra, Italian, known for smuggling and his family were neo-Nazi supporters tomorrow he's to be in the docks at eleven twenty four for a transaction, maybe he's our man" she said, Bruce exchanged looks with Alfred.
"So tomorrow" he said, she nodded.
"Gotham's bat can enjoy a free Sunday" she teased.
"Question is, does Gotham's newest inhabitant wants to enjoy it with said bat" he said a smile playing on his lips.
"She could be persuaded to do so," Alexandra answered. Bruce smirked.
"Then please do be ready at eight" he said, Alfred raised an eyebrow but said nothing; Alexandra nodded and walked out of the cave with a grin on her face.
Alexandra examined the two dresses that were on her bed, they were both fitted and black, she ended up picking the one that had pearls sewn on it, she locked the door of her room and started taking off her clothes, she made it to the bathroom in her underwear and proceeded to remove her makeup slowly not wanting to hurt herself in the process, the makeup wipe fell from her hand as she saw her face unblemished, there was no sign of bruising, she touched her face in the place that the bruise should have been, it didn't hurt anymore.
She got into the shower without minding it much, she got dressed at her own pace and decided to go for simple makeup although she eyed her red lipstick before slapping it on. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled, her hair fell in soft waves down her bare back as the dress was backless with the low cut accentuated by small pearls, the front of the dress was modest compared to its back, it covered her completely and the neckline was decorated with the same pearls forming an oversized necklace attached to the dress, the sleeves of the dress reached her forearms and length wise it reached her mid tight. She paired it with her favorite pair of heels, the Louboutin's that had somehow traveled with her.
She decided against grabbing a purse and smiled at her reflection on the mirror one more time before checking the clock 8:05 it showed, her smile turned into a smirk and she walked out of her room. Bruce was waiting for her in the living room, he raised his eyebrows when he saw her; she grinned at him.
"Sorry for my lateness" she said, Bruce chuckled and checked his watch.
"I believe those six minutes were extremely worth it" he said offering his arm to her, she took it and he led them outside to his car.
"Where are you taking me tonight Mister Wayne?" She asked, a teasing tone in her voice, Bruce cleared his throat before answering.
"I believe that information is classified Miss Noir" he opened the door for her; she gave him a look before getting in the car.
"Such a gentleman Mister Wayne, I'm impressed" he smirked at her.
"I do try sometimes Miss Noir" she smiled at him; he closed her door and moved to get in.
They traveled in silence, Bruce drove easily into Gotham, a slow dramatic song was playing on the radio, and Alexandra took that time to observe Bruce, his hair had been styled back giving him a more mature look, she noticed that he had trimmed his beard leaving a light stubble in its place, if anything it made him look deviously handsome, just what she liked in a man. Her train of thought stopped there, she found Bruce a tolerable and interesting man, she loved when they bantered and had taken liking to their occasional flirting, but she was not sure that Bruce really liked her at all, after all Gotham's prince had a reputation of a ladies man and she could not blame those women who had fallen for his charms.
The man was charming when he needed to be, she was sure of that, she had seen Bruce Wayne's spectrum and it was mesmerizing, he was hard headed and passionate, but sweet when he needed to be, she had no doubt that the man beside her could be the coldest winter or the warmest summer, he could be Bruce Wayne Prince of Gotham owner of Wayne Enterprises and he could be just Bruce who watched bad movies with her whenever he was not being the bat. But for all he was she could not see Bruce falling for her, she was too childish too different she also looked too young for him. Bruce Wayne was 41, she looked 27 and it was pushing it, it didn't matter that she had celebrated her 32 birthday a few months ago, Bruce was not likely going to go for her when he could have any other woman, she sighed and that caught Bruce's attention.
"Something's wrong?" He asked, she shook her head and smiled.
"Some thoughts" she answered vaguely.
Bruce frowned, her voice had sounded cold and distant, he eyed carefully, she seemed to be in deep thought about something and it was clearly bothering her, her face was frowning if ever so lightly and her lips were pouted, in that moment Bruce would've given his entire fortune to be able to read her mind. Bruce tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He arrived to the restaurant he had booked them a table in, as usual it was full, the place itself was a haunting one, he remembered going with his parents a long time ago.
He helped Alexandra, who was still strangely silent, out of the car. They both walked up to the maître d', Bruce greeted him and the man smiled at them both, his eyes lingering a bit to long on Alexandra, Bruce placed his hand in the small of her back and they both followed the maître d'. They were seated in a booth in a restricted area of the restaurant, Bruce hadn't told Alexandra but he might have rented the VIP area of the restaurant for the night, he didn't want to be bothered that night. Once they were seated a waiter went to their table with a bottle of wine, he showed the bottle to Bruce, but Bruce directed him to Alexandra informing the waiter that the lady was to be picking their wine for the evening.
Bruce observed Alexandra as she asked for a very particular bottle of Australian wine, the waiter nodded at her and went to retrieve the bottle, she smiled brightly it seemed that she had been looking for that particular wine for a while now.
"Will it be good?" He asked, she looked at him with a confused expression.
"Excuse me?" She said.
"The wine, seems important to you" he explained; she nodded.
"It was a favorite of my mum we enjoyed very much, she tried it for the first time once we went to a party on a yacht, it belonged to my dad's friend, another of his friend, from Norway I think had bought the wine for the adults to try, if I do recall correctly I was fourteen at the time, so my mum loved the thing but forgot to ask the name of the wine, when I was older and started drinking mum always spoke of that fantastic wine and so my search started, we found the goddamned thing when I was around twenty six, and since then it became a favorite of ours to share whenever I visited them" she explained.
By the time she was done the waiter was back waiting for her to examine the bottle, she nodded at him, he opened the bottle, he served her a small quantity on her cup, she twirled like an expert and inhaled the wine's scent, the then took a small sip, she closed her eyes happily and Bruce could feel his blood rushing south, she opened her eyes and nodded at the waiter, the waiter served them both and left, Bruce took a tentative sip, she was right, the wine was a work of art, perhaps a bit too sweet for his actual taste as he preferred dry wines but he had to give it to her, she had a fantastic taste.
"Its extremely good" he said, she grinned at him.
"I told you" she said, Bruce noticed that there was something off about her.
"You know" he started "This place is almost as special as that wine of yours" that picked her interest.
"Really?" She asked; he nodded.
"I used to visit this place with my parents when I was but a boy" he said, her gaze softened.
"It is really special then" she said, he could see that she was trying to really see the place as he saw it maybe. "Bruce" her voice was soft, almost like a whisper.
"Yes?"
"Is this a date?" She asked him so innocently that it was almost painful; he looked into her eyes, big brown eyes staring expectantly at him.
"It can be if you want it to" he answered, she took a sip of her wine and looked down frowning, she looked up at him then.
"Do you want it to be a date too?" Bruce blinked, then blinked again, his brain seemingly short-circuiting, he grabbed one of her hands in his.
"I would love above all in the world that you give me the honor of being your date tonight" he said keeping his gaze locked with hers, she smiled, the brightest he had ever seen her smile.
"I'd love that too" she said looking down again, Bruce noticed that she was blushing and had to fight a frown off his face, just what had she been thinking on her way to the restaurant.
"Tell me about you" he said suddenly "your thoughts, whatever goes in that busy head of yours" she giggled.
"Well, I love wine and ice cream, long walks on the beach and occasionally I'm known to enjoy horse ridding, I grew up with my mum and my dad and had a younger brother who was a prat for much of his life, I loved superheroes my friends and I always went to the premiers of the movies we never discriminated between cinematic companies or comic rivalry, a good movie was a good movie and that was it, no fuzz. I was not girly while growing up I was the only girl in the family, save for my step-cousin who was too old to play with me when I was younger, although she used to bite my cheeks and I hated her for it" she said a nostalgic smile on her face.
"Bite your cheeks?" Bruce asked, she laughed and nodded.
"I tell you, my aunt used to say that I had such chubby cheeks and my cousin bit them, it was weird but I don't remember much of it really, then when we grew up we became really close, I was a bridesmaid at her wedding and godmother of her daughter, she has two kids Mathew and Charlotte; my mum and the mum of my best friend Michael used to pester me a lot about getting married, and giving my horrible dating history, they had plans to convince me to marry Michael if only for us to procreate, he is an engineer so was pretty much busy to settle down and I was on my way to rule the country, so no time for kids either" she said, her tone growing softer with each word.
"Your family sounds crazy enough" he said with a smile, a waiter came back and Bruce ordered a small entrée, when the waiter left Alexandra continued.
"My dad was by far the most normal, but he and I couldn't be left alone in a store as we're both compulsive buyers, mum never liked when the two of us went shopping together, he never pressured me to get married and often joked that it was fine for me to join a convent"
"I somehow cannot picture you as a nun" Bruce said, Alexandra laughed and shook her head.
"To be real neither could he, he joked that I could burn the place down easily" she said.
"What about your brother and cousins?" He asked, she grinned.
"A bunch of exasperating overprotective prats, they scared away a few of my boyfriends, it was annoying really" she said looking exasperated for a moment; Bruce smiled at her.
"They sound like well meaning men, they do have my infinite thanks" he said, Alexandra brightened up.
"My dad would've like you" she said softer.
"Somehow I can't believe that, I mean look at you, young, beautiful, smart and hanging around with me" he said, she looked angry for a moment.
"Nonsense, you're what? Ten years older than me? News flash buddy but my uncle was twenty two years older than my aunt, so I think I'm still within the margin, besides I like my men like I like my wine" she said, Bruce smiled at that.
"And How's that?" He asked; she smirked.
"Better with age of course Mr. Wayne, you ought to know that." The waiter walked in carrying a big plate he placed it the middle of their table, Bruce and Alexandra thanked him and he took their orders for their main course, when the waiter left Bruce turned his attention back to Alexandra.
"I'll remember that" he said, they both ate the entrée in silence, Bruce almost felt like a boy again wanting to tell everyone that the girl he liked liked, liked him back. It was an absurd notion, but as he saw Alexandra sitting in front of him, the joy clear on her whole being he decided that he could deal with absurdity. She took a sip of her wine glass that had been refilled several times now by the waiter, if Bruce was not wrong they were now on their second bottle.
A slow song started playing in the background, Bruce looked at Alexandra slowly swaying with the music, it was probably an unconscious reaction, Bruce stood startling her lightly she looked up at him to find him offering her his hand, she took it gingerly and stood slowly, Bruce led them to the middle of the empty space, Bruce let go of her hand to place both of his hands on the small of her back, she laced her fingers behind his neck and they started swaying slowly to the beat, their gazes locked in each other, when that song ended Alexandra pressed herself to him cupping his face in her hands so she could press a kiss to his lips.
Bruce returned the kiss instantly, in that very moment the restaurant didn't matter anymore, just them, she tasted sweet, just like he expected, perhaps a bit better, she melted into the kiss completely, Bruce had been with several women through his life, countless one night stands, but never a woman had kissed him like Alexandra had. Once breathing became a problem they had to pull away and they did if ever so lightly, their breaths intertwined as they tried to regularize their breathing.
"I think I like you Bruce Wayne" she murmured against his lips, he pressed a lazy kiss to her.
"I think I like you too, Alexandra Noir" he said, she bit his lower lip and smiled into another kiss.
Something more upbeat started playing and Bruce twirled Alexandra causing her to giggle their swaying became faster and soon they were full blown dancing. Alexandra's laugh resounded in the room as he twirled her again, moments like this were so out of character for him but he didn't feel strange at all, if anything he felt free, liberated.
Bruce led her back to her seat, she was pretty sure she looked flushed but she couldn't care less about how she looked, he liked her, nothing mattered, just them. He didn't want to be with another woman, he wanted her and Alexandra couldn't help but to smile pleased at that. The waiter walked in with their plates, they dug in with gusto, Alexandra sneaking glances at Bruce ever so slightly.
Dessert came in the form of a Crème Brule that they both shared. They left the restaurant almost at midnight, Bruce decided that a small stroll would do them well, he handed her his jacket and grabbed her hand, fingers intertwined. He told her about his parents, his mother's quirks, his father's compassionate heart, he told her about the love his parents felt for one another, about how his mother had been pregnant when she died and they had not known at the time. They came to a stop in front of an alley.
"This is where they died" he said softly, Alexandra turned to look at him.
"Oh, Bruce" she murmured squeezing his hand "I bet they are extremely proud of you"
"How do you know?" He asked, she smiled softly at him.
"The ones that love us never truly live us, they stay here" she said pointing at his heart "And they're reflected in everything we do, in everything we see, every sunset, every good deed, that is them"
"Thank you" he said bringing her close so he could press a kiss to her hair.
"You have nothing to thank me for Bruce, if anything it is I who should be grateful for everything you and Alfred have done for me so far" she said hugging him.
"It has been my pleasure" he said.
"Let's go home Bruce"
