NOTE: I apologise if you are enjoying this story but my laptop is refusing to charge even after buying a new charger so this will be my last chapter until it is fixed.
Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you are all enjoying what I have written so far. I am trying my best to take the time to do a good job despite pressures to get on with my university work. Please let me know anything that you like or you think is lacking. Reviews and comments would be much appreciated. Kind regards, R.
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I intend to infringe the Batman franchise or its characters. I merely wish to expand upon the brilliance that has been created in order to fulfil my longing for more.
Our first day had been rather fun as most of it had been spent getting to know Katie and Damien. They were both very oppositely extroverted, Damien being humble and quite whilst Katie was unbelievably social and dramatic. The two of them together were the perfect balance for a work place. Despite how keen Abi was to have a quiet dinner with just us English folk Katie insisted we must celebrate our very first day by exploring the wild night life of Gotham city. Damien nodded in agreement as she bragged of the various high end bars and restaurants she could get us in to, name dropping where she could.
"My mother was the real socialite though," she explained "I have a picture of her and Bruce Wayne together but he won't be a face you will see."
"A recluse isn't he?" said Joe.
"Oh yes! And a God damned shame that is too because he is totally gorgeous in the flesh or so my mother told me."
As soon as we all realised Katie would take not take no for an answer it was into our cars and on our way home to get dressed up appropriately for this glamorously embellished evening to come. Abi whined about not wanting to go home because she would definitely just sit down and decide not to come out so instead she followed me back to my apartment so we could get dressed together.
"What about this?" I said, holding up a black skater dress with long sleeves.
"Um, well it's nice but…" she said grimacing.
"You want to stand out more?" I smirked at her. She wanted to look good for Harry that much was clear.
"Maybe this? That is, if you weren't' planning on wearing it" she pleaded.
To be perfectly honest, the red off shoulder skater was a little too short for me and very loud indeed for dinner and drinks. However, I thought it best to dress up a little more since Katie said she would be taking us to some very posh places indeed. I let her wear the dress and I picked out an emerald coloured one made of velvet that swung just above the knee and paired it with some strappy black heels. We called a cab and walked swiftly out of my apartment leaving ribbon trails of sweet perfume behind us.
The streets of Gotham were lively as we drove past the busy markets, still full at seven o' clock in the evening. Despite the dark shadiness of it all, the people of Gotham did not look tired and poor but hard working and alive. This was not a place of destruction that was living in the shadow of the notorious Joker era that had long since passed; it was dangerous, yes but exciting and unpredictable. We pulled up to what I thought could not be the right place. The restaurant had an aubergine paint job on the outside wall and a large bouncer guarded the red rope across the door. There was a thin plant next to him with a bright white trunk and elegant dark green leaves that rustled as each car sped by.
"I'll give Katie a call" I said. "This place looks terribly posh."
"I know! It looks like where Dad used to take Mum on their anniversaries."
"Hello? Hi Katie, it's Carlotta... Yes we're outside now… the purple one..? Yes, ok we will see you in there. Bye." I hung up the phone. "This is the place Abs. Katie said to just go and tell the bouncer who we are with.
We paid the taxi driver and trotted across the road standing as tall as we could. He smiled at us as courteously as any bouncer would at two sober, dressed up twenty five year olds.
"Good evening ladies. Do you have a reservation?"
"Hello, yes we do. The rest of our party is inside under the name of Hamilton, Katie Hamilton." Abi spoke with such ease as she rehearsed her father's own words that she had grown up with.
"Of course miss." He unclasped the rope and we were met by a concierge.
"Reservation for Hamilton?" I asked copying Abi who grinned next to me.
"This way ladies; the rest of your party is already seated."
The small corridor opened out into a large sleek room painted the same aubergine colour. All of the glass wear and crockery on the tables were a shiny black, each table cloth a rich royal purple. Abi certainly stood out in this softly lit room. The concierge handed us over to a waiter who took us to the large round table where everyone sat. Abi almost went as red as her dress when she say Harry who was gorgeous in grey, hair tousled, his slit fit suit showing off that modelesque waist he had and his white shirt no tie gave us a little glimpse of his chest. Joe and Deter both wore navy suits, Dexter pulling of a polka dot bow tie and Joe opting for none like Harry. Katie had straightened her hair as much as was possible the shimmering blonde locks falling over her thin shoulders and skin tight black dress. Damien sat quietly with that sweet grin on his face in a grey herringbone blazer and navy trousers, his hair slicked back into a perfectly neat ponytail.
"Ah, don't we all look gorgeous?" Katie squealed. "I am very impressed with this British fashion." She lightly slapped Harry's shoulder which turned more into a caress to which he returned an appreciative look.
I sat between Damien and Katie, Harry next to her, then Joe, Dexter Abi. I could not help thinking that Katie had purposely separated Harry away from the two of us girls so she might flirt with him for the dinner which is what she did. I could tell that Abi was constantly looking in their direction and being perfectly rude to Damien who was desperately trying to cheer her up. Katie told us that this dinner was courtesy of the company so we could choose whatever we liked.
"I'm going to drink this bar dry" Dexter said elbowing Joe. "We have to absolutely rinse this mate."
"Of course!" said Joe excitedly.
We started with a large platter of oysters to share. They were sweet and ice cold, tangy with relish and hot with tabasco sauce. I couldn't resist ordering the game terrine for a starter served with a mouth-watering seeded roll and soft butter. It was steak and lobsters all round when the mains came out, Katie delicately breaking each shell and Dexter wolfing down the think bloody rump steak. There was plenty of meat going on each beautiful red lobster but Katie insisted on feeding pieces to Harry who took them too willingly for Abi to bear.
"Excuse me." Abi left the able and headed briskly toward the toilets.
"Better tone it down a little don't you think Harry?" said Joe.
"You're together? Oh, I had no idea" Katie gasped.
"You did have a bit of idea." said Damien piping up, Katie scowled at him in return.
"No we're not together. We never have been we're just friends." said Harry defensively.
"I'll go and see if she is alright." I said getting off of my chair.
I looked back and there were a lot of sullen faces at our table as they continued to talk about the situation. Abi was in the loo leaning against the marbled work tops sighing to herself, her face crumpled.
"You ok Abs?"
"Yes, yes, please don't make a fuss I just wanted some time away from Katie. She's so loud."
"She didn't know about you and Harry…" I started.
"What about Harry and I?" she snapped. "We're just friends and she is just getting on my nerves okay?"
"Okay but you can talk to me about this. It is obvious you don't like her being with him."
"I'll be out in a minute. He can do what he wants."
She crossed her arms letting me know she had no more to say about the matter so I left her. Everyone asked me if she was alright when I came back but she returned quickly so that any more conversation about her could be stifled.
"Let's get pissed shall we, lads?" she raised her glass to Dexter and Joe and necked her glass of white wine.
"I'll agree with that" said Dexter necking his wine too and so I followed as did Joe and Damien who struggled a little.
It was only Katie and Harry that were still frowning at the table and casually sipped their wine while the awkwardness still hung over them. Gradually though, we all got very drunk indeed. I remembered the first bar we went to was full of LED lights like race tracks covering the walls and the ceilings. The shots there were just as colourful, illuminated by the lighted bar and blue flame atop them. There was glamour as far as the eye could see, men in tailored suits, girls with gargantuan boob jobs and bottles of Moet being drunk by the gallon. It was a night I would never forget; it was the first night I tasted the glamour of Gotham. It was a shimmering glaze so bright that we could not see the engulfing darkness that slowly crept up from below.