My mother was standing outside the parlour door, but I instead turned to the stairs. She was not happy about that, "Bethany Elwood, come here now."
I clenched my teeth together in anger but managed, "In a minute."
"No, not in a minute! Come here right now." I didn't answer her as I continued climbing the stairs. "Bethany!"
I continued to my room, locking the door in case she tried to barge in. Taking off my dress, I changed into sweat pants and a tank top; I was going to be comfortable during this argument. I went into the bathroom and washed my face, figuring the extra time it took me to take off my make up the more calm I would be. I took my sweet time, making sure all mascara and eyeliner was gone, all foundation removed, all traces of lipstick erased. After washing and moisturizing my face, I brushed out my hair and let it hang around my shoulders. Feeling ready, I made my way down the stairs, already able to hear my mother's angry shrill voice.
"Who does she think she is? Going out in the night with someone we don't know, then ignoring me like that? I'll tell you that is her father right there. That's where that comes from."
I entered the room and found Bruce, Alfred, and my mother. All were standing facing each other, and all turned to look at me.
"You called the cops?" I asked.
"You were gone for hours!" My mother said.
"I was on a date."
"With who? This... this criminal?"
My eyes flashed to Bruce who visually flinched. Going back to my mother I said, "Jonathan has been working with a rehabilitation program. He's trying to be better."
"Oh, and you believe in that crap?"
"Yes. I do."
My mother threw her hands in the air letting them fall with a slap to her side, "I just don't understand why you would go off in the night with a man, a criminal, you just met. I told you, I don't want you going into Gotham unescorted-"
"I was escorted, mother. I was with Jonathan."
"I meant with Bruce!" My mother's voice was raised as she pointed a finger at the man in question. He looked uneasy. "I want you with Bruce, not with some criminal."
I felt the anger swell inside me and I took several deep breaths in an attempt to keep it down. Through clenched teeth I asked, "Bruce, Alfred... would you mind giving my mother and I the room?"
"No," my mother said, "This has brought anxiety down upon them too. They can stay and hear you defend your conjugal visit."
I let my jaw drop in disgust and I said, "Nice, mom. Call your daughter a whore, that's fucking fantastic."
"Don't use that language with me."
"I'm an adult, mom, I can use whatever language I like!"
"Well anyway it's not like it's untrue. You have sex with Bruce last night then you go off and give yourself to a criminal! Did it take him long to make you feel bad he didn't get any in prison? Huh? How long did it take him to get you to give in to him?"
I froze for a moment, "Who told you about that?" I asked, looking from my mother to Bruce, then to Alfred who glanced away.
"Margaret, that's uncalled for," said Bruce.
"Is it, Bruce?" My mother turned to him, "Don't tell me you didn't think the same thing."
"I didn't."
My anger dulled a bit towards Bruce, but it spared nothing towards my mother. I took a deep breath and said, "I agreed to go to dinner with Jonathan, which Bruce knew about. Jonathan took me to dinner, then to his house for dessert. Nothing. Happened. Thanks to your phone call to the police."
"You were gone for hours. How was I supposed to know you weren't lying dead in a gutter somewhere?"
"Gee, mom, I don't know. Did you ever think of calling me? Or asking Bruce where I was? You seemed to have no problems asking him about who I was with!"
"The moment I heard he was a criminal I only wanted you home. My precious baby, out with a dangerous man-"
"He's not dangerous!"
"That's not what Bruce said!"
"He lied under oath to get some thugs out of jail. That's it! He got caught, went to prison, and is now out due to his participation in Gotham's new rehabilitation program. He is not dangerous."
"He knows dangerous men!"
"Yeah, he did."
"And they doesn't bother you?"
"Did, mother! He did! My God, not all men are horrible scum of the earth like dad! Not all men are out to fuck everything that moves."
"So you weren't going to have sex tonight?"
"I don't know mom, we weren't given the chance to get that far." In the corner of my eye I saw Bruce flinch, I chose to ignore it. "But if we had, I'm sure I would have. But do you know why? Because I am an adult. I have the power to say 'no' if I feel the need to, and I have the self defense training to fight back if need be.
"You brought me to this city. Don't cage me in this house because of your fear. If you want me to continue to come back to this city or this house, let me make friends. Let me go into the city and find spots that I like. If this city is really as dangerous as you say I'll see that. I love Gotham. I love this house. But you have you trust that your adult daughter has enough common sense to do things on her own."
My mother shook her head, "You just don't know-"
"Yup, alright then. I'm leaving. I'm going to try and find a hotel in the city to go to, then I'll be heading back to England. Have fun on your vacation by yourself."
"Bethany!"
I left the room and went to the stairs. Bruce came out of the room yelling, "Bethy!" I ignored him and continued to my room. He ran up the stairs and caught the door before I was able to close it.
"Go back down stairs, Bruce, I do not want to talk to you."
"Bethy, let me in."
"No! Go away!"
Bruce forced his way into the room and closed the door behind him. "Were you really going to sleep with Crane?"
I looked at him fuming and did the only thing I knew would make me feel better: I slapped him. His head snapped to the side and he stayed there for a moment. I turned away from him and pulled out my luggage. I set one on my bed and went to my dresser to begin throwing things in it.
Bruce stepped forward and grabbed a hold of me, "Bethany, please stop."
"Let go of me, Bruce." I struggled against him, but he held me tight.
"Please just talk to me."
"I don't want to."
"Why?"
"Because I'm too mad at you."
Bruce's grip lessened, "What?"
Turning to him I tried to shove him to no avail, "You fucking knew who I was with tonight, and instead of telling my mom it was a date you just fucking told her he was a dangerous criminal! You didn't stop her from calling the police! They pulled him out of bed and handcuffed him! Do you know how terrifying that is!"
"What were you doing in bed?"
I gave a frustrated growl and yelled, "Trying to fuck! Is that what you wanted to hear, Bruce? Do you feel better now? Jonathan and I were about to fuck! Happy?"
Bruce was quiet for a moment then said, "You just met him."
"Yeah, it's called a booty call, Bruce." I turned away and went back to the dresser.
"But why him?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. He's interesting."
"He's-"
"If you end with 'dangerous' or 'a criminal' you can just leave."
"But it's true."
I pulled a drawer out and scooped up an armful of shirts, "I just spent more time with him that you probably ever have, and I would like to think that I'm fine." Throwing the clothes into my luggage I added, "He's a person, Bruce. A decent person. He just happened to fuck up a few times."
"So you're going to go to him?"
"No. I'm checking into a hotel, calling my employer to let him know I'll be back on the property sooner than expected, so he won't freak out, then I'll let Jonathan know that I'm not staying, and whatever we decide to do, it won't be any of your business. You've already caused enough trouble tonight."
Bruce looked taken aback as he held up his hands, "Me? What did I do?"
Spinning around to face him I said, "You could have told my mom everything! You could have told her that I was going on a date with a guy I met at the museum and that there was nothing to worry about! But no! You told her that I left with some super villainous mastermind and that she should fear for the life of her only child! Do you know how embarrassing that was? To have the police commissioner rip your partner out of you? I had my skirt pulled up over my waist, my top pulled down! The entire police squad saw more of the two of us that I'm sure they wanted to!"
"Bethany… I told Margaret everything. I told her that you were going out on a date with a man whom you met at the museum. She asked me if I knew who he was, I said yes. She asked me what kind of man he was, I told her that I didn't like him, I told her about his past, and she seemed okay with it. It wasn't until after dinner that she started to get irritated that you had left in the first place. She left the room and called the police to made a kidnapping report. I honestly had no idea that the police were called until she came back thanking Gordon himself. I tried to get her to call him back and tell him it was all fine, but she was adamant."
"Why didn't you call?"
"I did! But by the time I got through to anyone, it was too late to call them off. Plus it had to be your mother who officially call off the report."
I was quiet for a moment, taking in all of the information. I moved to a chair and sat down. My mother did this. She was the one who ruined my night. Tears brimmed my eyes as I took a breath and I looked to Bruce. He came over to me and bent down, his hands on my knees. He looked at me and said, "I'm so sorry, Bethy. I tried."
"This is really bad, Bruce."
"I know."
I sniffed and said, "Did she tell you why she wants me here?"
"Yeah."
"What did you say?"
"That it all depended on you. You are my guest here. Whatever you want to do with your life while you're here… I can comment on it, which you already know I will, but I can't do anything. You've already proven years ago that I can't make you do anything you don't want to do."
I smiled, "You're not the boss of me."
"Never said I was."
I sighed, "I just can't ever give her what she wants. She wants me to follow her lead and marry an overly rich white guy who will cater to my every need until I push out a daughter and he won't want either of us anymore. I can't do that, Bruce. I can't be her. I've spent my whole life trying not to be her."
"And you're not! You are the exact opposite of Margaret."
"It's too late for us, Bruce... you and me. Maybe, there was something there, but we fucked it up. Royally. Fuck, we suck at just trusting each other to be a friend! How the fuck did she think we were going to fall in love in one summer?" I looked down as I swiped my eyes, not wanting him to watch.
Bruce was quiet for a moment, then answered, "Do you honestly have feelings for Crane?" I glared at him, causing him to backtrack, adding, "Just a question."
I watched him for a moment, looking for any sign of betrayal, but finally I shrugged, "I don't know. Like I said, he's interesting. I enjoy spending time with him." I couldn't help the small smile that tugged at my lips then added, "He's a bit sexy." Bruce flinched around the eyes, "I told him I was only here for the summer, so… we were going to play it by ear, see where our… friendship went."
"That's how you're going to make friends?" Bruce gave a small chuckle, "You're going to be very popular."
I gave his shoulder a shove, "Shut up. No, there was just something about him. I can't explain it."
Bruce gave a nod, "Alright then."
"What?"
"I said alright. I don't like him or trust him, but if you think he's a really, truly changed man, I'll go with it. Hell, Gotham needs a good example that people can be reformed."
I smiled, "Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
I cringed, "Oh, and… sorry about slapping you before."
"Oh, I deserved it." Bruce gave me a smile, "Are you really going to go?"
I shrugged, "I don't know. I don't want to be in the same room as her, let alone the same house."
"It's a big house."
I laughed, "Yeah, but with my mother it feels quite small."
Silence, again, fell between us, then Bruce said, "You could stay at my penthouse."
I looked at him in shock, "What?"
"I, ah, bought a penthouse to live in while this place was being rebuilt. You could stay there for the summer. You'd be in the city, you'd be away from your mother, and you could still come and spend all day here if you ever wanted to."
I narrowed my eyes at him, but smiled, "What's the catch?"
Bruce shook his head, "No catch. Just… a friend helping out a friend."
I smiled, "Thank you, Bruce."
"Well, what can I say? I'm just being selfish. I'm just trying to keep someone I care about in close proximity. Trying to rekindle an old friendship."
I smiled, "Thank you, Bruce."
He gave one in return, "Need help packing?"
"Yes."
