A/N hey everyone! This is one story I just had to write! Hope you like it!
Sweet Scent
Chapter: 1
Memories
By: xStarfirex
Richard Grayson stood by his bedroom window, looking out on the horizon and admiring the natural beauty of Jump City as the sun begins to rise.
"Master Richard, you have a meeting with Master Bruce at Wayne Enterprises," said Alfred as he entered Richard's room.
"Ok, thanks Alfred."
"And may I remind you that you have a date with Miss Summer."
"Yes, Alfred, I know."
Richard went to his bathroom and got ready for the meeting.
"Master Richard, are you ready yet? Your meeting begins in twenty minutes" said Alfred as he waited by the door.
"Ok, ok, I'm ready, let's go," said Richard as he ran down the stairs. They were in downtown Jump City in approximately ten minutes. Richard looked out his tinted window and saw the entrance of Wayne Enterprises just as the car came to a halt.
"We have arrived at Wayne Enterprises, Master Richard," announced Alfred.
"Thanks, Alfred. Oh and don't pick me up after the meeting, I think I'll just walk to the restaurant where me and Summer will have lunch."
"Alright, Master Richard."
Richard got out of the car and turned to see Wayne Enterprises. 'I'm only twenty-one, I don't care about Wayne Enterprises, I just wanna get through school and find the girl of my dreams, and get away from Jump City, is that so hard to do?' Richard thought as he sheepishly walked to the door.
Richard sat through the two-hour meeting and he wasn't even paying attention. The meeting finally ended and Richard was the first to walk out the door. But as he was walking through the door, Bruce stopped him.
"Did you get all that, Richard?" he asked him.
"Yeah, I got it, Bruce."
"Really? Then what were we discussing then?"
"The meeting was about…….um…….stuff…."
"Pay attention, Richard."
"Pay attention, Richard" he quietly mimicked.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Better be the last nothing."
"Yeah, whatever."
Bruce was about to leave when he slapped a paper on Richard's muscular chest. Richard took it and looked at it.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Your next assignment, enjoy," and with that Bruce left.
"Your next assignment is to find Kam Anders and bring her in. Kam Anders is suspected to be an armed guns dealer who is selling Wayne Enterprises out. She has a criminal record of stealing zinothium. She has served five years in the federal state penitentiary and is a suspect for the murder of her brother, Ryan Anders. She intends to buy Wayne Enterprises and will not give up until she has it. Your job is to find out why she wants Wayne Enterprises and to stop her dirty act," Richard read. A picture of Kam Anders was paper clipped to the paper. She had black hair and violet eyes (A/N I'm really not sure what color Blackfire's eyes are, but let's just leave it at violet). Richard looked at his watch.
"Oh crap, I'm gonna be late for my date." He stuffed the paper and picture in his pocket and ran out the door.
He put his hands in his pockets and walked casually down the street. The restaurant was a few blocks from Wayne Enterprises. He could easily walk there. He was about to turn to the next corner when someone bumped into him. They both fell to the floor. Richard regained composure and helped the person that bumped into him up. They were both standing and Richard realized he had bumped into a girl no older than twenty. She had auburn red hair and beautiful green eyes that could make any guy melt. What Richard liked the most about her was her sweet scent. She smelled like plumerias that were freshly picked (A/N the plumeria is the national flower of Hawaii). She was wearing a floral skirt that reached her knees and a blue v-neck tank top that showed some cleavage. Richard turned a tint of pink when he looked down at her tank top, but the girl didn't seem to notice. She had a scared look on her face.
"I am so sorry, I didn't watch where I was going," she apologized.
"Oh no, it's ok, I didn't watch where I was going. Are you ok?" Richard asked.
"I am ok, mostly."
"What's wrong?"
Then as if on que, a guy came running towards them.
"No one breaks up with Johnny Rancid (A/N sorry, like I had any other choice), I'm the richest man alive!" said the man who was running towards them and the girl immediately hid behind Richard.
"What happened?" Richard asked her.
"My ex-boyfriend. He won't take the breakup seriously and he threatened to hurt me if I didn't get back with him," she explained and Richard nodded solemnly.
"Yo dude, quit hogging my girlfriend and give her back to me!" Johnny Rancid yelled at Richard.
"Sorry, I believe your "girlfriend" doesn't like you anymore," Richard told him.
"You're Richard Grayson, aren't you? You think you're such a know-it-all showoff who can have any girl he pleases. Well you can't have mine!"
"She's not yours. She's not some kind of toy you can just play with and forget about. She has feeling too."
"Well, I don't care about her feelings! I care about mine! And right now, I'm getting pretty pissed!"
"That suits the greediest man alive. You may not care about her feelings, but I do. Oh and by the way, my adoptive father is the richest man alive." And with that, Richard grabbed the girl's hand and led her away from the maniac.
"Thank you so much for doing that, I don't know how I could ever repay you," she thanked him.
"No problem," Richard said.
"I know, I'll take you out to lunch, it's on me. By the way, my name is Kory Anders."
"Nice to meet you, Kory, I'm Richard Grayson, and there's really no need to take me out for lunch."
"Oh but I must insist, I've been blessed by my guardian angel who had you come along to save me. Please?" Richard could see Kory was pouting and couldn't take it. He had to give in.
"Ok," he answered and Kory's face lit up.
"I know the perfect place." She grabbed his hand and signaled for a taxi. In seconds, a taxi came and took them to the other side of town.
"Island Beach Restaurant," Kory announced when they got out of the taxi. She led him inside and got a table for two.
The restaurant was overlooking the horizon. It was a beautiful view. Kory and Richard stared at it with awe for a few minutes. They ordered their food and, with nothing else to do, tried to make conversation. Richard couldn't help but wonder where he had seen her before. She looked awfully familiar. And there's something about her name that should ring a bell. But he couldn't put his finger on it so he decided to let it slip for now.
"So, Kory, tell me about yourself," Richard asked, breaking the silence.
"Well, I was born in New York and grew up here in Jump City. I'm twenty years old and I'm just trying to make some money to pay for college. Me and my family moved here to Jump City when I was four in hopes of making a better life for us. But my dad was always away on trips and would always leave me, my sister, and my brother to do whatever we wanted. He didn't really care about us, I finally figured that out after all these years. When my arm broke when I was eight, he didn't care. He just paid the hospital bill and left. At times, he would always lock us in our rooms and never give us dinner. My mother, however, left us when I was three. She left us for a drunken bastard who she thought she loved because he got her pregnant…again. I never saw her since. My sister, she's crazy. She's practically never at home. She's always away with her friends doing God knows what. She always had failing grades and would have a different boyfriend every month. She would also always criticize me that I couldn't be as "perfect" as she was. I haven't seen her in over a year now. And my brother, Ryan, he was so sweet. He was three years younger than me and in any bad situation, he would assure me that everything would turn out alright. He looked up to me. I was his hero. We were the only decent members of the family. We were so close. During Christmas, he and I would always buy each other gifts. No one else gave me Christmas gifts but him. I loved him so much. Then, last month, he died because someone murdered him. I miss him so much! Now I live in a small apartment that I have a hard time keeping up with the rent. But, I still look on the bright side of everything, I never give up because I know one day, it will all be worth it." After finishing her life story, Kory broke down into tears.
"It's ok," Richard said and hugged her. His arms were around her, trying their best to comfort her and stop her from crying. Richard never wanted to see her cry again. Something about her tears gets to him. 'I don't get it. Why do I get this tingly feeling when I touch her? It's like I never want to let her go. It's like I can stay like this forever. But I can't. I have a girlfriend. I have Summer' Richard thought. But as he said his girlfriend's name in his mind, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Could his feelings for Summer change? No……they couldn't……..they wouldn't…….they shouldn't………but will they?
Richard and Kory stayed in each other's arms for a few minutes. Richard comforting Kory, and Kory crying on Richard's shoulder.
After lunch, Kory had managed to stop crying and ask Richard his life story.
"Well, I was born in Gotham City and raised here in Jump City. I'm twenty-one years old. Both of my parents died when I was still young. My brother and I were left in the care of my aunt and uncle. They always had us doing their dirty work. We weren't even allowed to go back outside after 6pm. They didn't even buy us decent clothes. Then, one day, my aunt made me go to the supermarket and buy a few things. She gave me little money at the time. When I was on my way back home, I heard fire trucks and smelled smoke. I panicked and ran to the house. What I saw there was what I never imagined would happen. My home was on fire. The firemen told me that my aunt and uncle didn't survive the fire, but my brother……..they told me that he wasn't in the house. I searched the ruins for my brother, but I never saw him. He and I always wore the necklace mom and dad gave us," said Richard, as he held up a necklace that was around his neck, it was the symbol of yin and yang. He had the white part on, "We never took it off. After the incident, I ran into the woods and cried. I don't remember how long I cried, but I knew it was long. I lived under the Gotham City bridge with the other homeless people. It was a winter I would never forget. It was cold and I was trying to make a fire in a trash can. I was starving so badly that it drove me insane. And one night, I couldn't take it anymore. I went to someone's mansion and did the unthinkable. I tried to steal food from them. Then, as I was trying to break the window, someone saw me. And they asked me what my name was and if my parents knew what I was doing. I told him I had no parents and that I was homeless. He must've had pity for me, because that man was Bruce Wayne, the guy who took me into his home and called me his adoptive son. I was happy, but I still needed my brother. Bruce told me he had left Gotham and had gone somewhere in California. So me and Bruce moved to Jump City in hopes of finding my brother. It's been fourteen years since I last saw him. Still no luck. Now here I am, just living a regular life. Well almost. Girls always ask for my autograph and teen people magazine even dubbed me as 'hottest bachelor to ever live'. I even got an award. But, I'm not really interested in being famous. I never expected any of this to happen. Actually, I can live without this. I just wanna get through school, find the love of my life, find my long-lost brother, and get hell out of here. That's all I want and that's all I need."
Kory had tears forming in her eyes. It was such a touching life story.
"Oh no, don't cry," said Richard.
"I can't help it," she said. And yet again, she cried. And yet again, Richard was there to comfort her.
It was now 4pm when Richard realized he had missed his date with Summer.
"I have to be going now, thanks for lunch," said Richard as he got up.
"Oh no, thank you for saving me. It was nice meeting you, Richard," said Kory.
"Nice meeting you too," Richard took one last sniff of her sweet scent and left the restaurant.
Just as he exited the door, his cell phone rang.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Baby! Where were you? You didn't show up for our date! I waited and waited but you never came! I was sitting there, like a fool, who was waiting for her boyfriend to buy her lunch! You stood me up!" screamed a girl on the other line.
"Sorry, Summer, I was busy."
"Busy with what?"
"Busy making money so you can spend it all at the mall," he lied while rolling his eyes.
"Oh that I so sweet! I forgive you. Keep up the good work, baby. And as a treat, I'll take you out to dinner. Be at my place at 7. Talk to ya later, hon. Bye!" and Summer hung up.
Richard sighed and took one last look at Kory inside the restaurant before he got into the taxi. 'I will always remember your sweet scent. I hope fate brings us together once more. Till we meet again, Kory Anders'.
To Be Continued…
A/N wow…that took me a while to write. I am so sorry I haven't updated my other stories, I've been really busy. I have another story I'm planning to publish. But I have to finish my other stories. I'm really sorry. Anyway, how did you like this story? Will Richard ever see Kory again? Will he ever find his long lost brother? And what will happen to Summer? Plz review! And don't forget to check out my other stories! Till next time…
xStarfirex
