He knocked on the door and only had to wait a few seconds. Kori opened the door, breathless from running.
" Hi." She said.
" Hey," he gave her a crooked smile. " These are for you." He said handing her the flowers. Mentally he slapped himself. He had heard guys say that line in just about every chick flick.
" Thank you." She smiled and opened the door a little wider. She put took out flowers that were on a the table and placed his in Richard took a glance around and saw that it was very clean and organized. It wasn't cluttered and it had a vintage, stylish feel to it. It seemed the radiate her.
" Alright! I am ready!" She said cheerfully and blushed. He smiled as she turned around and locked the door. " I'm leaving Rachel!"
" Roommate right?" He asked.
" Correct." She said with a smile.
Walking very close, but with out touching, they made their way down the stairs to his car. It was a silent walk, but soothing. He opened the door for her with a smile as she made her way in.
As he started the car, a popular song came on the radio. Kori started to quietly sing the words. She had a nice voice but she wasn't trying to sing.
" So what are we doing tonight?" She asked suddenly.
" Well I thought that we could hit the new restaurant." He said with a smile, but there was a question in his voice as to if she approved.
" The one that you have to make reservations like years in advance?" She asked, eyes wide with shock.
" Considering it has only been open for two months, yep that would be the one." He said laughing.
" What? I heard it was impossible to get in." She said blushing.
" Not when you' re Richard Grayson." He said looking at her from the corner of his eyes smirking. By the time that they had finished joking around, they had pulled up to a brightly lit place.
The sidewalk was crowded and loud. Gotham city was very much alive. Richard put the car in park and rushed out to open her door. She smiled at him and he threw his keys over his shoulder to the waiting valet.
" Careful with the car." He said as they walked through the door.
Inside it reminded Kori of Paris. Everything seemed to be gold, but very classy. All of the servers were wearing tuxedo's and looked like movie stars. She suddenly felt very nervous. " Grayson." He said as they reached the front.
" Right this way." The man said with a bow as he led them back to a secluded table.
As they walked through, she noticed a few movie stars on dates, and the high society of Gotham.
" Here we are." The man said again as he placed their menu's on the table. Richard pulled a chair out and Kori sat down.
" This place is magnificent." She said marveling at the sight around her.
" Yeah it is." He said, looking over the menu. Kori followed his lead and noticed that prices on the food was more than she payed for the entire outfit she was wearing. She tried to look and find something that she liked, but everything seemed so exquisite.
It was silent as the grazed over and a few minutes later a waiter came. He looked about twenty five and had one a huge smile.
" How may I serve you tonight?" He asked, checking out Kori. " Hey, nice girlfriend Grayson."
" Hey Lambert." Richard said shaking his hand. " How have you been?"
" You know, keeping busy. Just doing football at the JC. What about you?"
" Oh, just work." Richard said politely.
" Sounds just like you man! So who is the girl friend?"
" Oh I'm not,"
" She's just," they said as the same time.
" I'm Kori." She said.
" Yeah, she's Kori." Richard said awkwardly.
" Nice you meet you Kori." He winked. It was innocent flirting but still made Richard angry.
" Nice to meet you." She said with a smile, not noticing that he was into her. Richard could tell by the tone in her voice that she was clueless and mentally gave a sigh of relief, but that didn't lessen his anger.
" So how long have you had this job?" Richard asked, trying to steer the conversation.
" Eh, not long." He said, noticing what Richard was doing. " So what may I start you off with." He knew that Richard Grayson was not the person to mess with.
" Water please." Kori said, and Richard made it two. Their waiter left them in peace and quiet to look over their menu. Richard already knew what he wanted, but pretended to be deciding, while he would occasionally look over his menu at her. He gave a small smile as he saw her brows furrowed, and her biting her tongue, trying to decide. After a moment of silence he coughed and asked,
" Anything look good?"
" Um, well this salad looks quite delicious, but so does this steak." She was still looking intensely at the menu. He his a chuckle and watched her. The fact that she said 'steak' in front of him made him like her even more. There was nothing fake about her. She felt so real to him.
Richard's friend came back in a few minutes and took their order. She went with the salad.
"So." She said pleasantly.
" So." He said raising his eyebrows with a smile.
" These past few days have been fun." She said.
" I agree." He smirked. " Will the fun continue?"
" That," she said with a smile, " is up to you."
From then on they night was focused on their childhood. Kori told of how her family was wonderful. Richard enjoyed hearing about how she thought she was a princess as a child and some of her favorite childhood memories.
Richard just talked about growing up with Bruce. He never mentioned his biological family, and Kori didn't push it. She simply listened to him talk about the man who was exceedingly famous. Richard loved Bruce, she could tell, even if he talked harsh of him at some times.
As dinner ended, they felt even closer. They stood up and he slipped this fingers through hers. Her stomach did flips and her heart raced. Sensing her feelings, Richard squeezed her hand, which made her gasp. Richard too was feeling these emotions. It was new and weird to him.
As the valet pulled their car up to the front they both knew the night was coming to end.
" So, how about Friday?" He asked.
" That is four days from now." She said with a somewhat sad voice.
" It is, but absence makes the heart grow fonder right?" He said jokingly.
" Friday works." She said as they pulled up in front of her apartment. Richard once again opened her door and walked her up to her room.
" I had a great time." He said.
" Same here." She whispered. It seemed that they were going to kiss, as the tension on the air seemed to rise. They slowly moved closer, but Richard changed his mind and place his lips softly on her cheek. He let them linger there for a moment.
" Good night." he whispered in her ear. She smiled and slowly backed away opening the door.
" Good night." She said with a huge grin.
As she closed the door both of them gave a huge sigh, filled with emotion.