2. Wendy's Run
Bruce Wayne cleared his throat and glanced over at Lucius, who glanced back at him. I sat there, watching them look at one another, not knowing what to say.
"Batman fights the criminals in this city," Lucius stated slowly.
"Batman? It's a man who fights…robbers and thieves?" I asked, not entirely sure of what to think of a person called 'Batman'.
"Gotham is filled with scum and Batman works with the GPD—they need all the help they can get," Bruce continued.
"So, what does this Batman look like? Does he have another alias other than Batman? Who is this Batman?" I asked, "What made me want to clean up Gotham? What made him go by the name 'Batman'?"
Lucius and Bruce glanced at one another again. Bruce took in a deep breath and sighed.
"There are only three others who know of Batman's true alias," Bruce began, taking a quick look over at Lucius.
"Who are they? Why do they know who he really is?" I asked eagerly.
"They are Batman's closest companions. He can trust these people," Bruce continued.
"Do you know who they are?" I further inquired, "And what does Batman have to do with my employment here in Gotham at Wayne Enterprises?"
Lucius and Bruce exchanged chuckles and glances yet again.
"Giada, you are going to be a very important asset to Wayne Enterprises. It is imperative that—" Lucius began.
"Giada, your expertise in analyzing human behavior is imperative here at Wayne Enterprises—you will be working very closely with Lucius here. I especially need you to analyze our entire employee staff as well as any other prospective employees. People simply cannot be trusted here in Gotham—and rather than fire everyone employed here at Wayne Enterprises, I would rather hire you to make sure they can all be trusted," Bruce explained calmly.
"So I am not literally looking at criminals in the city, I am just analyzing the people who work for you," I said.
"Simply, yes," Bruce responded. "But I am considering added to Wayne Enterprises another branch of the corporation—perhaps a subdivision of the Medical branch—for psychology, neuropsychology. I am thinking this is something I would like you to be in charge of,"
"Well that is something I can do for you, Bruce," I responded with an enthusiastic smile.
"You will start right away then," Bruce said, returning my smile. He glanced over at Lucius who then glanced over at me. Lucius stood to his feet.
"I'll show you to the office," Lucius said to me. I stood to my feet, still holding onto the newspaper.
"Thank you for your time, Bruce," I said.
"My pleasure. Oh! And one more thing" Bruce said. I turned towards him in response, "Your apartment is located as 409 West 49th street," Bruce said
"My apartment?" I asked incredulously.
"You'll find your things there this evening. I hope you enjoy the location," Bruce stated with a smile.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Wayne!" I exclaimed with excitement.
"My pleasure, Giada," Bruce replied. Lucius and I turned to leave the room. Together we walked to the elevator. The fourteenth floor was our next stop.
My office door already had my name on it: Giada DiMarco, MS Cognitive/Behavioral Neuropsychologist. I was elated at the sight of it. The door opened up to an impressive sized office with ceiling to floor windows—a view of Gotham city that took my breath away. On the side wall was a forest green leather couch and on the other side of the room was my desk.
"My office is just across the hall if you need anything. I would imagine Mr. Wayne will be down to give you your first tasks, but until he does, just make yourself at home," Lucius said.
"Thank you very much Lucius," I responded. He left the room and I set my purse and newspaper down on the couch. I walked over to the window and looked out at the city of Gotham. It was beautiful by day—I could only imagine it at night. The buildings were so much taller than the ones in Boston—only the Prudential and John Hancock towers even came close to Wayne Enterprises. Suddenly, I hear sirens and three Gotham City cop cars flying through the city streets below. I sighed and sat down in my desk chair, watching the cars drive around the city block.
"I guess that's what they mean about the crime rate," I said aloud as I spun around in my chair to face my desk. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the newspaper on the couch. I stood from the desk and walked over to the couch again and grabbed the paper. I flipped through a few pages and read about some of the crimes that have been going on. Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary to me. I put the newspaper down again and went to my desk. Suddenly, from down below on the street level, I heard gunshots. Startled, I jumped from my seat and looked out the window.
"Don't be startled by that," I heard a voice behind me. Caught off guard, I jumped around and saw Bruce standing my doorway.
"Sorry—I'm just not so used to hearing gunshots in broad daylight," I responded as I took a seat at my desk again.
"That's what Gotham's turning into. The scum of this city has been turning it into an unsafe place to be," Bruce explained.
"That's why this Batman character is here, then, right?" I asked.
"Well, yes. He tries to inspire good, but I think many are afraid of Batman—they don't understand him," Bruce explained.
"Well, I don't think many people would understand a man who dresses up like a bat and fights criminals at night," I replied with a laugh.
"Do you think Batman is crazy?" Bruce asked as he sat down on the couch.
I laughed, "Well, I don't think it's fair for me to analyze someone I've never met, but speaking from a non-educational background, I would say that if his intentions are for the betterment of the city, then I don't think he's all that crazy," I responded.
Bruce looked at his watch, "Well, I'll agree with you for now, but I must be heading out,"
"What time is it?" I asked him as he stood to his feet.
"Three-thirty," he replied. "You don't have to stay the rest of the day. Feel free to head on to your apartment and get yourself settled. Tomorrow will be a busy day, no doubt," Bruce explained.
"Thank you," I said.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Finding my new apartment wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated it being. I was absolutely elated when I did arrive and found all of my things inside the apartment, along with my keys. I was on the top floor of the building, which made me feel much safer, considering the crime rate in the city. It took me the rest of the day to get things organized and put in place in my apartment. I worked well into the evening, not even stopping for a dinner break. Being in a new city knowing nobody was scary, and I felt like going out grocery shopping would have to wait until tomorrow when it was day and not the dark of night.
After everything was as I wanted it, I decided to climb the fire escape to the roof of my building. The view was absolutely amazing. The entire city was lit up. In the not too far off distance, I could see Wayne Enterprises, shining brightly against the other buildings. Down below, the city traffic was thinning out as the hours grew later. Gazing up at the sky, I noticed something very unfamiliar: an image in the clouds of a bat. A symbol for the Batman, no doubt. I sat there on the roof gazing at it for a while, wondering what the sign in the sky meant. I wondered if it was a calling signal for the Batman—if maybe there was some unsettled crime going on and the GPD needed his help. Suddenly, I heard them: the sirens. Off in the distance, I could faintly see the glow flicker of the blue and red flashing lights of the police cars as they screamed down the city streets. A bit unsettled, I stood to my feet, ready to head back down the fire escape and into my apartment below me. I descended the fire escape quickly and hopped into my apartment and locked the window. My stomach was growling with hunger. I was absolutely starving, but there was no way I wanted to leave my building. The sound of the sirens died down a bit until I could no longer hear them. Maybe there would be a Wendy's open or something down the street. I could just run there and grab a spicy chicken sandwich or hamburger or something. I had to do something—my stomach was going to eat itself if I didn't get something in it fast.
Okay Giada, just do it. You just need to run down the street to the Wendy's and get something to eat fast I thought to myself. I grabbed a few dollars out of my purse and shoved it into the pocket of my jeans, grabbed my keys and locked the door to my apartment behind me. In the elevator, I held my breath as I went past each floor, hoping that no one else would get on the elevator. The last thing I wanted was to be alone in the elevator with an unknown person at 11:30 at night.
One I reach the ground level, I ran from the elevator and out the main door of the apartment building. I could see the Wendy's down the street. I decided that I was going to literally, make a run to Wendy's. The minute I left the building, I ran as fast I could down the street towards the glowing Wendy's sign. Out of breath, I finally reached the restaurant and walked inside. There was only one other person in there, so I bolted to the front and ordered a spicy chicken sandwich to go. As I waited by the counter for my sandwich, I heard a commotion outside. I turned around and outside the windows, I saw a crowd of Italian-looking men. One of the men outside saw me watching them and decided to walk in the restaurant. I held my breath and prayed for my sandwich to be done quickly.
"Buona notte, bella," one of the men said to me.
"Buona notte," I responded, understand exactly what he said to me. I tried to remain calm and nonchalant.
"You from around here? I never seen you around here before," one of the men asked me.
"I'm from Boston," I replied.
"Ah, good ole Boston," the man responded.
"Yup!" I replied with a smile, and glanced back at the counter for my sandwich. At that moment, I realized that none of the workers were behind the counter. I did a double take and realized that they were all hiding behind the counter. I knew I was in deep shit with these guys.
"So, what's your name? Come ti chiami, bella?"
"Giada," I said, and instantly regretted it. Well, I might as well play along, "Come ti chiami?" I asked.
"Salvatore. Salvatore Maroni," the man responded.
Fuck. I knew that name. The Maroni crime family. I should have guessed! I really hated myself sometimes. Well, now how was I going to get myself out of this predicament? I tapped my foot slightly and decided that maybe they would just let me go. I began to walk towards the front door—closer to the mob that was congregated in front of me.
"Where are you going? Didn't you order any food?" Salvatore asked.
"Nah—they're out of what I ordered. No big deal. I'll just head over to the Burger King," I laughed nonchalantly.
"Well, that's no good. Pretty dolls like you shouldn't get goin' hungry this late at night," Salvatore stated, then whipped out an 8 mm and walked up to the counter, pointing it at the innocent employees.
"Oh no! It's okay, Salvatore! They didn't do anything wrong!" I exclaimed.
"Now you all listen to me, you're going to get my girl Giada over here what she ordered—"
"Please, it's not a big deal, I'm really not that hungry," I pleaded.
"Shut up!" One of the mob dealers exclaimed as he shot off his gun. I immediately fell to the floor in horror.
"Grab her," Salvatore ordered one of his men. Suddenly, the Chechen grabbed me from behind and held a gun up to my head.
"You goin' to keep quiet now? Hm?" The Chechen asked me in his thick accent. I simply nodded, holding back my tears. I knew that by crying it would only make things worse. Where the fuck was this Batman when you needed him?!
"So this is the best you can do? Hold up a Wendy's on a Thursday night? What…did your balls drop off?" A voice came from behind the Chechen. Still holding the gun to my head, he spun around to face a man wearing some kind of clown mask, a pin striped shirt, a blue jacket and pants. In his hand was another gun. He pointed it at the Chechen and tilted his head to the side. "I'd let go of the girl,"
"What you goin' to do? Shoot me?" the Chechen asked angrily.
"Ima have my boy pull ya head off if ya don't put down ya gun!" Gambol exclaimed as he took out his gun and pointed it at the man in the mask.
"How about I pull off yours instead?" Another voice growled from behind the counter. At the sound of the growling voice, the man in the mask fled from the Wendy's. At that, I turned and kicked the Chechen in the groin. In pain, he doubled over and dropped the gun. I then picked up the gun and pointed it at him and everyone else.
"Who wants to fuck with me now?!" I exclaimed, enraged—my Sicilian blood boiling. All I wanted was my fucking chicken sandwich! Suddenly, the voice from the counter that had growled pounced from behind the counter to reveal a man dressed all in black and with a bat-like cape. The Batman. Salvatore dropped his gun, as did Gambol. I kept pointing mine. The Batman grabbed the men and kicked them out of the restaurant.
"You can put that gun down," the Batman growled at me. I slowly lowered it, my arms and hands shaking madly. Once everyone was gone and out of the Wendy's, I collapsed to the floor in shock. I had never held a gun in my life, and there I was, pointing it at somebody else!
"All I wanted was my spicy chicken sandwich!" I sobbed finally. The Batman hopped behind the counter and tossed me a wrapped sandwich. I caught it and couldn't help but laugh slightly between my sobs.
"I'll take you home," he grumbled in his low voice. I nodded and stood to my feet. "This way," he said as he led me out the back way he came in. Behind the Wendy's, he shot a rope up high into what appeared to me as buildings, but I didn't question anything. I just held on to my sandwich as the Batman held me tightly around my waist. As we hoisted up into the air, I looked down for a moment and saw the man in the mask glance back up at me—except the mask was no longer on his face.