Chapter 20

I sneak back into my apartment through the fire escape. The sun is low in the sky, and I need to get ready for work. One leg in after the other, I clear the wall space separating the window and the floor of the apartment. After cleaning up my clothes from last night, I cross into the living room. In the past two weeks I'd furnished the apartment to my liking. I have a white rectangular dining table with matching chairs. I cleaned up the counter and stove that came with the apartment, and they're both now in semi-working order. I've hung up an old picture of me and Ed from our high school graduation. Even then, he was so much taller than me, and I'd noticed during our breakfast that's he's grown even more, and lost weight. I probably look like his pudgy little sister in comparison. I treated myself and bought a small, brand new white studio piano, along with an old radio. Finally, I found a nice, if somewhat used, black leather couch, and yes I went over it with a black light before buying it. But upon that couch, his right arm splayed over the top of the couch, is Oswald, clutching a slightly withered bouquet of flowers,

"You're home early;" he gets up and paces toward me, holding the flowers behind his back as if I hadn't already seen them. He gets close enough and whips them out, "for you."

"Yeah, no," I back away from him, "if you think I can be won over with a handful of dead plants-"

"Oh, no no no!" he stops me pleadingly, "I'm...I'm not asking for your forgiveness. This is merely a...a gesture, of, of...friendship! And good faith!"

I look him over. He's clearly used some of his paycheck to buy himself a nicer suit, although his sense of style is strange to say the least. A dark suit with the lapels flared out, the tie crossed in front and pressed with a blood red bead. And now, seeing him in something that actually fits him, I realize...wow he's thin.

"If you really want to show a gesture of good faith you'll tell me how you got in here." I respond, crossing my arms.

"I told you, I can jimi the doors," he leans in, smiling knowingly, "and as you've just demonstrated, those windows by the fire escape open easily."

"I should install an alarm." I realize, striding over to the door, but as soon as I grab the handle Oswald throws out his arm.

"Wait, wait! I...I want to patch things up, between you and I."

My hand still firmly gripping the knob, I turn my head to him, "What is there to patch up? You were blackmailing me into being your girlfriend."

"Not my girlfriend, only as a confident, thatwas your choice," he points out, but his accusing finger soon lowers itself, "I apologize, truly, what I did was wrong, and I should be punished-"

I twist the knob and open the door, but Oswald rushes me, grabbing my wrist with one hand and slamming the door shut with the other.

"But...please, don't make my punishment...banishment from your life," his voice becomes low and throaty with each phrase, as he sways his head from side to side. His hand moves from my wrist, up my arm, and rests on my shoulder, "I could be a valuable asset to you. I already gave you your first candidate," he starts pacing circles around me, still keeping a single hand on my shoulder, "we know that Fish is looking to take out Falcone, and she's using that cronie Nikolai as a vehicle to take his place."

He picks a red carnation from the bouquet, setting the rest of the flowers down on the table, he snaps the stem off of the flower and places the flower in my hair, "That looks wonderful on you."

I can't help but smile. Not because no one has ever given me flowers before, well, technically Ed did, but only to pick them apart and identify what they symbolize. What a way to ask me to Prom. While I'm sure a girl like that girl Kristen he mentioned would've found that romantic, I just...didn't. That's why I don't think I could ever date a guy like Ed, too technical.

I try to remember the meanings of the flowers Ed told me. Unlike him, I don't have a photographic memory. I walk over to the bouquet and try to pick out a singular flower I can remember. Red roses? No, that would definitely send the wrong message. Lilies, chrysanthemums, lilacs, no, these all have happy meanings. Toward the bottom, I find what appears to be a white rose. White rose...that represents innocence, right? Well, it's all I have to work with.

Why am I so focused on sending him the right message anyway? If the plan is still going according to how he told it to me, then I should soon have an opportunity to bump him off, get him out of the picture. But hey, if I'm going to be killing this guy soon, might as well make his last days honest.

I bring the flower up to Oswald, presenting it to him. I smile triumphantly,

"For you."

He grabs the flower, clutching my hand as well. He leans in, his elongated nose peering over the petals of the flower, "Hmm...gardenia, interesting choice."

Gardenia? Guess it's not a white rose after all, but unfortunately I also have no idea what gardenia represents. A crooked grin grows on his face, as he takes the flower and holds it sideways in his mouth, quietly chuckling to himself. Either he doesn't understand the meaning of flowers either, or I really picked the wrong one.

"Lets put these in some water, shall we?" he proposes, taking the flower out of his mouth and placing it with the others.

Oswald Cobblepot chuckles uncontrollably as he exits Trixie's apartment. Gardenia, huh? He was right to add a single gardenia among the flowers, after all, gardenia represents secret love, hidden affection. He even saved one of the petals from the flower, which he now rubs in his hand. The petal is soft...like her skin, almost. He'd been good today, patient, conservative, just like Fish had taught him, perhaps he should've started following her example sooner. While he'd barely touched her, and she responded well to that, well...it just wasn't enough. Oswald still felt unsatisfied, hungry for more. He hated this waiting game he was being forced to play, what's the point of being patient while in the meantime he yearns for the feeling of her fiery flesh?

He mind snaps to last night, how he'd held her, how close to victory he'd been. It had been both a moment of strength and weakness for him, to have a taste of that thing which he desired only to have it swept away. And what he desires is not simple sex, although that is part of it, what matters is what it will represent.

Oswald unlocks the door is his apartment, but when he opens the door it gets stuck on the uneven floor of the apartment. With a few more pushes, he's able to let himself in, only to find his mother, sobbing on the couch. He rolls his eyes, "What now, Mom?"

"You...choose to return to that...whore?" she sobs into her lacey floral dress, her fingernails harboring the same dirt and grime as his.

Oswald approaches her, getting down on one knee, "You know why I have to stay with her," he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the remainder of his paycheck, "look Mom, we can pay our bills. I'll track down our belongings and buy them back, once I get enough. So you see? Why I must keep her?"

She places her hands on his cheeks, squeezing them affectionately, "I just can't bare to see my son subjected to that...horrid woman."

He smiles, stuffing the money back in his pockets, "Don't worry Mom, it'll be alright. Just trust me."

Mrs. Cobblepot's eyes grow with concern, "Why...why do you no longer call me 'Mother', Ozzy?"

Oswald broadens his smile, "'Mother' seems so formal, don't you think? 'Mom' is much more endearing."

"That woman has changed you, hasn't she?!" she realizes, getting up from her seat, "She's twisted your mind, she's making you turn against your own mother!" she runs to him, hugging him close before whispering in his ear, "You must never let her in. Never let her trifle with your affections."

"Mom, I know, I'll be careful." he raises his voice in impatience.

"No, you do understand. You are being careless," she grasps his shoulders and looks him in the eyes, "this woman will be the death of you. My little boy, you have not seen the world...as I have. You do not yet know its cruelties-"

"You think I don't know?! I am no little boy anymore!" Oswald declares, ripping himself from his mother, "You think you can shield me from the world forever? No, no, that's not it...you're afraid, aren't you Mother? Scared that I'll become independent of you, no longer need you. And then...what will you have?"

Tears begin building up in her eyes. She backs off, away from him, "Oswald...how could you...to your own mother?"

Oswald's expression remains stern as he marches to the front door, "Frailty, thy name is woman!" he declares, before yanking open the door and slamming it shut behind him.

Oswald paces around the darkening streets just outside the apartment building, waiting for Trixie. Perhaps she'd let him stay in her apartment for a while. That would be nice, and perhaps they could sleep in the same bed once more...but no, she wouldn't let him, not this early. He needs to warm himself up to her again, prove himself to her. But, why does he need to prove himself to her, exactly? Why couldn't she welcome him back with open arms, like in the plays or the pictures? Maybe it's because something's wrong with him, does he not please her? Oswald ponders this, and realizes that, yes, that is exactly why. Why would she want him at all? A lowly grunt at the beck and call to her own superior, what's to desire? She, like all people, desires power, and the only way to appease her will be to have that power.

Oswald walks by a newspaper stand, when the man at the stand flashes him a copy of the evening edition, "Extra, extra! Read all about it, Wayne couple killed in double homicide!"

Oswald raises his eyebrows, and after buying a copy, opens up the paper to the headline story. There's several spelling errors within the paper, as if the editor rushed this story out at the last minute, but the information is all there, the Waynes are dead. Delight leads to a sinister smile as Oswald tears up the paper and dumps it in a nearby garbage can. So it's done, now is the time to strike.

Author's Note: Yeah...so just before I posted this chapter, I read The Cowgirl Bookworm's "A Continued Association" and they did the flowers thing too...and now I feel like I've committed plagiarism. I'm sorry.

Also, I missed this week's episode of Gotham, but I've been hearing the buzz about it at school. Hopefully I'll be able to watch it soon

Fuchsia Grasshopper: Yeah, I don't wanna make Mrs. Cobblepot completely unlikeable, just sort of complex, like Oswald. Speaking of Oswald, I feel he's the hardest to write out of all the characters. There's a tendency, at least for me, to either go too dramatic or too giddy, happy, and quirky. And yes, I love Ed, and you should totally do a one-shot with him and Kristen, because I would totally read it

HellsButterfly13: Thanks, although, I am considering taking a break since I have my own exams next month, also the winter show season is starting, and auditions for the spring musical are coming up as well. Also, Christmas...maybe, if I have time. And no, I never meant to suggest you personally had an interest in sexual assault, I was just acknowledging that this is the internet and there are people here who find that alluring. The ruling that all depictions of sexual assault would get an NC-17 rating is fairly new, introduced (in America at least) in 2010. And yeah, I should be using those chapter breaks, I'll try to in the future. I put them in when I'm writing the chapter in Google Docs, but once I copy/paste it to FF's text editor, they disappear

Lola93091: Lol, not quite so much catching her as lying in wait, but hopefully the encounter still played out to your satisfaction. Yeah, I knew I couldn't have more than one chapter without Oswald since this last chapter wasn't received very well across the board

Thanks! :)