A Disruptive Date
Brendan Chase, in a fit of impulsivity, had decided to sign up for a dating application. His security team was not a fan of this brilliant plan. Brendan was not about to admit they had a point.
"BOOOOOOSSSSS! I can't believe you're going through with this! You don't need a dating app! You're already-"
Whatever his secretary was going to say was cut off by him closing his car door. His employees were so much fun to piss off. What was the point of being a crime boss if you couldn't fuck with your employees? The grouchy eyes of his security team all fell on him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get driving. Or do you want me to drive myself? I bet I could break my previous record from the hundred club in college."
That got the car moving. His employees would call it coercion. Brendan called it 'extra motivation to do your fucking job.' It wasn't like he wouldn't go through with trying to break his college street racing records, too. Brendan cheerfully sprayed on cologne as his security team continued their glares.
"Boss, this is a huge security risk."
Brendan smiled at the man. This was his favorite part of the job. "I have faith that you'll be up for the job."
The man looked at him skeptically. Brendan kept smiling and gave him a slow blink.
"Faith?"
Brendan leaned back in the cloud of cologne he'd created. This was almost worth whatever blind date the 'matchmaker' - he suspected an algorithm - had found for him. He didn't exactly have high hopes for blind dates. They tended to vary from awesome to 'pressing the panic button my combat team gave me for emergencies'. "Faith! You've always rescued me in time before!"
The man rolled his eyes at Brendan. Brendan grinned at him.
"For the hundredth time, Boss. The panic button is for when you're under attack."
Brendan folded his arms and glared at the man. Details, details. "I was under attack! I was about to be molested!"
The man shook his head. Brendan was offended.
"One of these days, Boss, someone isn't going to take you seriously and it will be your fault."
Brendan flopped back into the car seats. The man continued giving him unimpressed looks. "Yes, but not today!"
The security man rolled his eyes and looked towards the ceiling of the car as though he were about to pray for patience. This was why Brendan loved his job. Everyone here was such a drama queen. Himself included in that statement. They finally arrived at the restaurant he was meant to be meeting the woman at. Brendan slid out of the car and shut the door behind him. He decided to turn on the charm as he walked up to the hostess. It didn't hurt to be nice to people. "Reservation for two under Brendan."
The woman's face brightened at him. She typed a few letters into the computer and grabbed a menu.
"Your server will be out shortly and your date is already here."
Brendan smiled at her. She flushed slightly. "Excellent." He waited until he was led to the table to look up. Seated at the table was a very smug-looking Julia Rothman. "Julia?!"
The woman gave him her mischievous smile. She gestured for him to sit down. Brendan sat down. Well, there went his harmless evening of fun. "How many other women do you imagine run the mob-based unions?"
Brendan pouted slightly. Julia may have a point there but he was not going to let that go without a fight. He gave her his best smirk. "I wouldn't know. I'm based in Australia after all."
Julia gave him a slight glare before ordering some very expensive wine. Brendan beamed at the waiter. Two could play that game. And he had plenty of money to burn on being petty towards his colleagues. "Make it a bottle."
The waitress eyed them both before walking off to get their wine glasses and water. Julia seemed far too entertained by that. "So, aside from ruining my date night, what do you have against Verona?"
Julia beamed at him. Huh, maybe he'd get laid after all. Then again, it was Julia Rothman. Did he want to get laid? She was very pretty. But also very stabby. "Is the date night ruined?"
Brendan gave her the world's most offended look. He wasn't completely stupid, unlike Grendel. Julia continued to look thoroughly amused. "If you must know, it's where my first husband was from. Awful city. And they undercooked my pasta once."
Brendan laughed. That did sound like Julia. She was petty like that. "How dare they?!"
Julia rolled her eyes at him. That reminded him of what he had originally intended to ask. "So, what did you do? About the city, I mean."
There was a pause as their wine arrived. Julia ordered pasta and Brendan followed suit. They were in Italy, after all. Julia cheerfully sipped her very tasty and very expensive wine. It was nice wine. "I convinced every single critical function in the city to go on strike. They're all unionized, you know. And I own most of the union leaders."
Brendan nodded. That was the kind of sexy, sexy, plan that he liked to hear. Once upon a time, he'd liked most of his colleagues on the board. She stirred her water before taking a sip. "And you?"
Brendan grinned as their food arrived. Julia began swirling the pasta around her fork. "That'll go well with my fires and explosions of critical infrastructure."
Julia took the first bite. It was just as well that neither of them wanted to poison the other at the moment. "Why did you crash this, anyway?"
Julia smirked at him. Brendan gave her an unamused look. "Oh, but is crashing your date not a good enough reason?"
Brendan rolled his eyes. It served him right for signing up for a dating app. This was…not the worst thing ever. At least Julia behaved herself. "You're mean. And terrible. And stabby."
Julia smiled at him. Brendan gave her a look of exasperation. Her expression turned sparkly. "Thank you. Besides, the fifty-fifty split on the city's destruction was just far too good a deal to resist. I'm hoping for casualties in the thousands, personally."
Brendan sat back in his booth. Julia was still looking far too cheerful for it to sit right with him. He let out a sigh as the news blared on the TV near them. "You know, the first round of incidents should start around dessert."
Julia reminded him of the two cats he'd once owned. She looked far too happy while ordering her flan. To be honest, it was a nice dessert but not that nice. Brendan continued giving her suspicious looks. Julia continued to enjoy the food and wine. "I'm sending you a hideously expensive, horribly inconvenient, and bitchy to upkeep gift the first chance I get."
Julia finished off her dinner with a smirk. Brendan raised an eyebrow at her. She was just so unflappable and it was annoying. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with."
Brendan let out a huff. Julia was the worst. The worst. The check came just as he was considering a bottle of wine number two. He didn't even look at the bill as he signed it and paid. "I am going to pettily ruin every party you host."
Julia laughed. Her eyes sparkled with genuine amusement. Brendan knew she wouldn't go for choking or he'd offer to take her home. "You can try. Are you going to ask me to your place?"
Julia's innocent expression belied her deadliness. Brendan was not fooled. He pulled her in as though to kiss her and stopped just short of her face. "You'll have to find a different board member to sucker, darling."
Julia's pout was priceless. Brendan exited the room before he did something stupid like agree. The head of his security team looked far too amused. Piece of shit. "How was dinner?"
Brendan gave him a half-hearted glare. The man was smirking. "Fuck you." The man snorted as he slammed the door to the car. Oh well, he could always try again next time.
Fin
Based on a prompt by Zyzyax (see story summary). This is the 127th work in the Winds of Change 2022 Alex Rider Prompt event, where a new prompt (plus a short 1-3K work) is posted every day. For more details, see the AO3 collection :) Want to discuss? Leave a comment beneath, or join the discord (Link on AO3 Fics or just PM me, lol). Want to take part in our Alex Rider anniversary celebrations in September? Join the WoC discord to take part in a fanfic event! Want to showcase your work to your fellow fans and authors? The WoC server has a new feature! Any author who joins can ask to join our authors' feed, which shows all the fics from the authors who opt in, including non-AR fics!
