HERE COMES THE BRIDE.
CHAPTER VI: THE UGLY TRUTH.
Okay, this is it! Here it comes… the hard bite. Please let me know what you think and if yu want me to keep going.
Again, thanks a lot to Mari.
It didn't take long for Diana to reach the robber. When she grabbed his neck and pinned him up against the wall, she saw the terror surfacing in his features and the fear that filled his eyes. He was afraid of her. He should better be. But it helped her calm down… a little. She ripped the bag of his hand.
"Don't do that again."
She put him down and the guy immediately ran away.
Diana went back to the lady and handed her the purse back. She barely heard her saying thank you once and again, since she was looking around trying to find Bruce in the crowd that gathered around. The woman immediately noticed.
"Are you looking for your boyfriend, miss?"
"Have you seen him?"
"He ran straight behind you. I thought he reached you."
Diana sighed. "No."
"You're pretty, and brave. I'm sure he knows he's a lucky guy."
Diana blushed. Not only because officially there wasn't a relationship between her and Bruce, but because she was actually committed to someone else still. But she couldn't say that.
"Thank you."
"And you are very lucky too. He is handsome."
Diana smiled. Oh, yes. He´s a dreamboat.
"He´s amazing."
Diana spoke so dreamily that the woman couldn´t help to tease her. She nudged her side.
"If you ever break up, he can have my number."
She giggled. I am really jealous? Of an old lady?
"Oh, we won´t. I´m sorry."
"How sad."
The lady was already a block away when Diana realized it. Just as he had done at the restaurant with his friend, she didn´t deny Bruce was her boyfriend. And I said I wasn´t going to fall in love… Pop! Goes my heart. Awesome. Sometimes, I question if I have a brain at all. When did I start doubting that men are not good? It was when I met him… Is being in love such a bad thing? Or is it normal to act so stupidly when you´ve got it? Who knows? Who can understand this world…
Diana walked away from the crowd and headed to finally do the right thing. And she would take the consequences as the hero she was. For the first time in days she felt good about it. It was time to stop avoiding the unavoidable.
She wasn't used to announce herself before getting into Steve' office. She usually knocked at the door, yes. This time, however, she didn't. Someone else was on her mind.
Oh, Diana, you are so stupid. You're the stupidest woman in this world. You really are.
His secretary, Stacy, was sat on his lap and they were occupied in a close in frenzy tongue battle. Her shirt was gone. So was his belt. Pretty obvious. So that was it? He was acting so nicely with me out of guilt? Gosh, now I can't believe I was feeling guilty myself about it.
The sound of her handbag hitting the floor brought Diana back to reality. She picked it up and ran away. It was SO embarrassing and she felt terribly ashamed for being so silly. She raced through the revolving doors. A couple of steps later someone grabbed her arm.
She was so angry she couldn't even cry. Good. She didn't want to.
"Diana, wait! I can explain it!"
When the princess turned around she was frowning and her arms were crossed over her chest. Her steel blue eyes were flaming.
"Great. Because I would love to hear how can you explain that."
"It´s not what it seems."
"Oh, really? What is it then?"
"It wasn't my fault. She..."
Diana smirked scornfully. "In a scale from one to ten, how stupid do you think I am?"
He sighed. It wouldn´t be an easy way out.
"You´re not stupid, angel."
She pointed her finger at him and hissed. "Don´t… call me angel."
He sighed again, this time loudly, and ran his hand through his hair. "Okay. How can I call you then?"
"You don´t call me. Period."
His eyes widened. "But you´re my fiancée."
"I was. You know, this is not necessary. We're over. We've been over for a long while and it has been very stupid from me to try and keep this on. It's not going to work. It was wrong all along. It´s been all for the wrong reasons."
"No, you can't do this."
"Why? Because I'm the woman and I'm not supposed to write you off? Wake up. I think, after what I've just seen I can do whatever I fucking want. And don´t dare tell me not to swear, because right now, I can swear all I want too."
"Are you out of your mind? Don´t do this! It was a mistake…"
"Us was a mistake, Steve. That was betrayal."
"Think of the baby. Don´t do this to our baby. It's the reason we agreed to get married in the first place."
Her hand instinctively placed over her belly. Now, this was the hardest part of the argument. The truth.
"My child and I, we will be fine."
"It´s our child, Diana!"
She tried to calm her voice down before she spoke. Her intention wasn´t to hurt, but there wasn´t a soft way to do it.
"Listen. This is not exclusively your fault. I... I slept with someone else too. That's how doomed our relationship really was. We can´t keep this façade on, not even for the baby´s sake."
"Are you saying...?"
"I am saying this baby is not your child. Listen, I am not proud of what I did, I know it´s wrong in all levels. But it happened, and I can´t change it. All I can do is deal with it and move on. I didn´t lie intentionally about the baby, I really thought it was yours..."
He tensed up. His manhood was way more hurt than her amazon pride had been before. She was prepared to be betrayed by men. He wasn't ready for such a blow. He had always been a womanizer, but she was a virginal princess when he met her. How did this happen? When and where did she meet this man? Of course…
When he replied, he was spitting the words, and they burn like venom.
"And you were saying I betrayed you, you hypocritical bitch. It was one of them, right? You needed to fuck one of them to feel a woman, wasn´t it? Because they are like you, and I am not. So I wasn´t enough for you. Who was it, Diana? The almighty Superman? Batman, the shadowy dark knight? Flash, the fastest man alive? The creepy shape-shifter martian? Was it that black skunk from the Green Lantern Corps? Or did you do all of them? Did you do the thanagarian hawk too?
Her indignation was growing by the second and her eyes were swelling as balloons. With that last statement, she had had enough. If it wasn´t for the fact she was so furious she would beat him down, she would have slapped him.
"I can't believe you, Steve! You are disgusting." She shook her head astounded. She barely recognized the man she was ready to marry a few weeks ago.
"You are a whore!"
A black gloved hand stopped the palm raised against her face before she could do it herself. Four eyes turned towards him.
Her eyes immediately met his. She was comforted by the fact he had been actually watching over her and not running away because of the kiss. She had never been glad to have someone guarding her back before. But her relief fainted when she wondered how much of the conversation did he hear. She wasn´t ready to tell him yet. She gulped.
"So it was you... You'll regret the day you set eyes on my woman!"
With a violent move he set his hand free. The dark knight didn´t flinch. This time it was Diana who stopped the fist aimed towards Batman's face. He watched unmoved. Diana looked at Bruce.
"I can... deal with my own disasters. Please…"
"Thank you would have been enough."
He got the message and turned around, but Steve´s words hurt her so much -not only accusing her of sleeping with every colleague she had, specially and in the first place with Kal, who was like her brother, and with the very same Shayera! How horrible was that! He also said she was his property. It was all unforgivable-, and it made her so angry that the chance of revenge was plain too sweet to resist.
She grabbed Bruce´s arm gently and he turned around, watching her with true concern. He didn´t want to leave her, but she had asked him too. He wasn´t expecting what she did next. She grabbed the upper side of his suit with the firmness of sheer determination and pulled him closer. Their lips met and she kissed him with all the want and passion she had to contain when the man who stole the lady's handbag broke them apart. It felt so good.
Diana knew too well Bruce wouldn´t refuse her.
Bruce knew it wasn't proper, but after dreaming of the ice princess for so long, pulling her away was... beyond impossible. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. Intensely. Wonder Woman wasn´t the only one who held a grudge on the Coroner. She didn't hurry to break apart. He tasted delicious and she savored him slowly. Oh, yes, revenge was the sweetest thing ever.
Finally, she parted from him with a soft moan and smiled lovingly. He placed his finger under her chin to say something, but she took his hand in hers and whispered first.
"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."
Then, he finally left. Diana watched him do so before she turned to find Steve literally frozen in surprise. So very much that he wasn't even flinching in anger. She was too sure he was boiling up inside.
"So that's how you plan to face things between us? Hitting me? Are you sure you want to do that? Because it's not a good idea."
He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came. She didn´t slap him physically, but the feeling was there anyway.
"We have to set things straight. I am not, I never was, your property. We're over, and I hope all of that is clear enough."
She took the ring off her finger and placed it onto his hand. She had to close his fingers around it.
"I´m sorry, about everything. I didn´t plan I didn´t want things to end up like this. We both messed up, I guess. And just for the record, I haven't slept with hundreds of men. You have no idea of who I really am."
She walked away, now feeling a million times lighter, and texted Bruce.
"Sorry about the kiss."
"Which one of them?"
Oh, are we feeling cocky? Two can play that game.
"Actually, none of them."
"There's no need to anyway."
She smirked. She could have said a million thousand things, but she didn´t want to be corny.
"Oh, man up. It´s just a kiss. I'll see you tomorrow."
"I'll see you sooner."
And that was the strangest way anyone ever said I'll be dreaming of you.