The D'Veran Café
Ozzie and I would have lunch together every other day; sometimes in my apartment, sometimes in his new mansion, and sometimes in restaurants around the city. Our lunches would be filled with reminiscence, sharing of hopes and dreams, and more. This time, I met him at the D'Veran Café located six blocks away from the club. This was our first meal together after my resigning from the shelter, so I was not as cheerful as I've been before. After telling him about my decision, I asked Ozzie if we could host a charity concert benefiting the shelter. He was reluctant, but I pleaded my case and he surrendered. "You really are a saint, aren't you?" he asked me with humor in his tone. "Far from it…" I replied, "I just want to help where I can. Besides, if we are wise in our advertisement, we can attract a new customer base to the club. That would be a win-win I would say!" Ozzie laughed and looked at me with pride, "Well, Ms. James, it looks like I've made a businesswoman out of you!"
A week later
Oswald's club
A week later, the concert was to take place at the club. With the extra time on my hands, I was able to create flyers, mail outs, and news articles to distribute all over Gotham. Fortunately, I was able to get Oswald to help me in his spare time as well. A couple of the other performers at the club were classical musicians, a pianist and a violinist; but I knew that wouldn't be enough. So, I contacted the Gotham Symphony Orchestra and the Gotham Choral Society to get a few more performers. The director of the shelter would be officiating the concert and event, speaking between some of the selections. Overall, I was excited and nervous at the same time. But it was to help others, and that motivated me to keep going.
The night had arrived, I again wore the dress that I deemed 'the Starlight dress', thinking that it would bring me luck. Tonight's selections would be completely classical, which I figured would appease the wealthier in the audience; and it happened to be my preferred style of music. Unfortunately, Ozzie had some important business to attend to but promised that he would come after it was completed. As disappointed as I was that he wouldn't be able to join us, it was a little difficult to keep my spirits up; but the other musicians seemed excited. They hoped that this evening would help them land more gigs in the future, so they were quite motivated to perform well. Anthony had made sure that there were enough drinks ordered to last the night and cleared the tables to set up chairs at the front of the space. Now it was time to open the doors.
Thirty Minutes Later
The space was quite packed with people. As I walked out on the stage, I saw so many tuxedos and evening gowns that I felt like it was a strange dream. I was used to performing for Oswald's normal patrons, but this had a vastly different atmosphere and caused my nerves to ignite. Taking a deep breath, I spoke into the microphone to thank everyone for attending and to introduce the performers of the evening. Once that was done, it was time to begin. The selection I chose was Vivaldi's Sovente Il Sole Aria. By now my eyes had adjusted to the spotlight, I was able to watch the audience as they were watching me. I saw a few of the members that seemed to be enjoying the piece, while others seemed quite bored. One audience member that I was surprised to see was a young man with dark hair, he was undoubtedly the youngest person in the room. His pale face was serious, and his gaze seemed to be going beyond what was in front of him; like he had something on his mind. I kept surveying the audience throughout the song and after I hit the final, low note; I was able to enjoy my accompanying violinist and pianist as they finished the piece. As the applause rang through the club, I felt the familiar sweet relief that often comes after a performance.
An hour later
We had scheduled a couple of intermissions through the night so that we could converse with the patrons and thank them for coming. I was able to shake several hands and provide my gratitude not only for their attendance but also their complements. After a few people, I was suddenly face-to-face with the young man that I noticed earlier. There was a gentleman with short grey hair with him that seemed an athletically fit 50-year-old; his blue eyes seemed to hide an interesting past. The young man introduced himself as Bruce Wayne and his butler, Alfred Pennyworth. They both thanked me for my performance. I remembered Bruce's name from a news story regarding his inheriting the prominent Wayne Enterprises when his parents were killed over a year before. Not wanting to remind him of the tragedy, I didn't mention it. After a few well-spoken pleasantries, Mr. Wayne excused himself and his companion followed.
Upon turning around, I was then in front of a tall, thin man with dark hair and eyes that carried arrogance like an accessory. I couldn't help but noticed his ears and nose were large compared to the rest of his face, causing me to mentally chastise myself for this observation. He took my gloved hand and introduced himself as Theo Galavan. Another gentleman came next to him; his bald head and low beard that lined his chin were distinctive enough, but he also wore rose colored circular glasses low on his nose. He also introduced himself to me as Dr. Hugo Strange. Despite Mr. Galavan introducing himself first, it seemed that Dr. Strange couldn't help but enthusiastically complement my singing. It caused me to be quite self-conscious and embarrassed; I was only saved when Mr. Galavan politely interrupted the conversation by asking about whether this club was owned by myself. I corrected him by saying that Mr. Oswald Cobblepot was the owner of the place, but unfortunately couldn't be there that night. He seemed more interested in Oswald than in the night's events and he asked many questions about him that stood out to me as unusual for a normal conversation. I did my best to keep my responses vague and guarded, but it was difficult to do so with this stranger's intimidating presence.
Later that night
It was such a relief to change out of the dress and change to my pajamas. I spent the past hour helping the other club employees put everything back in order once all the guests left. We reached our fundraising goal of $25,000 which made it all worthwhile. So now I was back in my apartment and getting ready to relax with a glass of Earl Grey tea before bed. As I was waiting for the water to boil, I heard a knock at the door. "Who would be here at this time of night?" I asked myself as my nerves were ignited with fear. Part of me wanted to act like I wasn't home, but I knew that they would hear the whistle of the kettle as it just started to ring. I quickly took the kettle off the eye of the stove and yelled, "Who is it?!" "Delivery!" I heard from behind the door. "Just a minute!" I had to get my housecoat to save myself from embarrassment and went to the peephole to confirm that it was a delivery person. He was holding a bouquet of red roses in his hand. I felt a smile grow on my face as I opened the door. After thanking the delivery man, I brought the flowers covered in plastic inside. It had been a while since I received flowers from Ozzie, so the vase was ready for them already. There was a card, but I didn't read it until I put the flowers in water. I expected to see a message from Ozzie and started to read: "I look forward to hearing your lovely voice again. Congratulations on your wonderful performance. Sincerely, Hugo Strange."
I couldn't believe what I was reading, why would this stranger go through the trouble of sending me flowers? For some reason, I felt a chill through my body when I read the message again. The doctor seemed rather level-headed, if not enthusiastic about the music. I wasn't given the impression that he would do something like this. The logical part of my mind was admonishing me for over-reacting while my emotions were in a slight tizzy. Should I write him? Tell him that I am already in a relationship? Or am I making a mountain out of a molehill? After mulling over it while finishing my tea, I decided to just appreciate the gesture and move on. I doubted that I would ever see him again anyway. So, after finishing my cup of tea, I put my cup in the sink and went to bed.
