1.
In the past, I have dated many women.
I have already mentioned in a previous entry that I dated Commissioner Gordon's daughter, Barbara Gordon. She was pretty nice, and we went for a few dates together, but her father disapproved of me on first sight, and so we broke up.
I have also dated a woman named Rachel Dawes, who I met again a few days ago. She works for my father's company, and I met her when I was still working there. We were actually still dating until the day my parents died, after which, in a moment of grief, I broke up with her. I don't see us two ever dating again. She just brings up too many painful memories.
Another woman I dated was Miranda Tate. Unfortunately, it turned out that she was only dating me so that she could get access to Gotham's nuclear bomb codes, which I knew because of my father. I don't know why she wanted the codes, except that it was obviously for a nefarious reason, and that she was partnered with a buff bald man who had a mask on. Obviously I broke up with her and sent her to jail, where she resides to this very day. Nobody knows what happened to the bald man.
Vicki Vale and I dated for a while, but we had awful chemistry, and neither of us felt fulfilled in any way that wasn't sexual. It was a mutual break-up.
Finally, I have dated Andrea Beaumont, who I probably enjoyed dating the most out of the women mentioned, but she had to move to New York to pursue her professional career, and we figured that a long-distance relationship wouldn't work out for us, so we broke up.
Why do I mention all of this? Well, today was the first official day where Alfred started working at Gotham Manor, and he not only brought his cat Fluffles the Third, but also his daughter, Selina Kyle.
"Master Wayne," Alfred said, "I would like to introduce you to my daughter, Selina."
"Pleasure to meet you," I said, smiling.
We shook hands.
"Selina is my assistant as well, which means that you two will be working together with me from now on."
"How well do you know neo-karate?" I asked Selina.
"Better than you," she said.
"I've told you about my days as Cat-Man before, Bruce," said Alfred, "Well, Selina here, when she was old enough, joined me and the team on our burglary missions. She became known as the Cat-Woman, and she was almost as good as the best member among our team. She was even better than me. Luckily, because she was so young when we got caught, we managed to keep her out of jail. She had to live with her mother for some time, but, when I got out of jail, she joined me again in my neo-karate business."
"Cat-Woman, huh? Good name."
"Thanks... Do you prefer cats or dogs, Mr Wayne?"
I'm going to be honest. I was considering telling her that I preferred cats over dogs just to get on her good side, but Alfred knew I preferred dogs, so I couldn't do that.
"I prefer dogs," I said regretfully.
"Huh," said Selina.
That day, we trained a half-Greek, half-Syrian man. He was pretty good. I also had a training session with Selina, since Alfred was busy taking care of his other client. It was fun. We got to know each other a bit better. We had a nice, friendly debate over the dogs versus cats issue. I told her that my favourite perfume was, "Le puits de beaute". 5 o'clock came, and it was time for Selina to go to her own apartment.
"So, how did you like your first day here?" I asked.
"It was alright," she said, "Bit of a fancy place you got here."
"Yeah," I said, "I guess it kind of is."
"What are all those extra rooms for?"
"Honestly, I wouldn't ask me. My great-grandfather built this place."
Selina nodded.
"Well, I'm gonna go now. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah," I said, "I had a nice day today, by the way."
"Yeah, it was pretty good," Selina said, and, like a cat, she slunk away into the afternoon.
Honestly, she seems nice and cool, and I'm definitely attracted. I had a good day today, and I think she did as well.
You know what? I think I'll ask her out tomorrow.
2.
So I asked Selina out today.
"Hey," I said, at the end of another busy neo-karate-training day, "Do you want to... maybe... I don't know... go out for a movie or something sometime?"
"No," she said.
"Oh," I said.
"Yeah, no offence, Mr Wayne," said Selina, "But, unlike my father, I'm not attracted to rich men. I don't fuck with them, I steal from them."
"Well, I don't suppose you might want to steal from me?"
I cringe at the above sentence as I write it.
Selina Kyle, the Cat-Woman, chuckled.
"No, Mr Wayne," she said, "My days of stealing are over."
"Well, what's wrong with rich men? Just because we happen to be at the top of the capitalist food web, doesn't mean we're bad people. We just happen to be the lucky winners in the society that we all live in. It's not my fault that America is capitalist."
"Yes, you are the lucky winners of capitalism," said Selina Kyle, "But I don't have to like that."
And with that, like a prowler of the night, a sneaky predator in the dark, she slid away into the afternoon once more.
3.
It was a bit awkward, seeing Selina again after last night, but we eventually got over it. I never found out for certain whether or not Alfred had discovered that I had asked his daughter out, but I was reasonably sure of it when, on the next day, he smiled at me cheekily and enquired about my opinions on capitalism.
Asshole.
Anyway, months have passed now. My neo-karate training is going along fantastically. Having both Selina and Alfred to help me, I am now becoming quite proficient in that martial art. If Alfred and Selina are lions, I am the cheetah. I have grown to know Alfred and Selina a lot better now, and we are basically family, living together in one home, eating together, watching the news on my 8-K screen together. Selina has convinced me to donate a bit more of my money to charities that help families in the lower socio-economic classes. Alfred has convinced me to pat Fluffles the Third occasionally, although I am still way more of a dog person. As for me, I have gotten both of them into the intricate world that is the world of perfume. They are still merely beginners, barely able to distinguish between Gourier and GouRier, but they are progressing quite nicely.
I haven't seen Borris in a while. He's been quite busy, what with managing Wayne Enterprises and all.
My parents keep appearing throughout random moments of the day, but especially in my dreams and my meditation sessions. I keep seeing their faces, screaming in pain. Sometimes, I see Fox, the murderer of my parents, take off his mask and reveal himself to actually have been my father, my mother, or sometimes even me, this whole time. And then there is that evil laughter that feels like it comes from my soul. But that has appeared less and less in my head nowadays, and when it does, it is fainter.
Nowadays, my sense of purpose in helping out Alfred and Selina with their dojo company has comforted me through the long nights. My time spent with them and the support I receive from them has helped me through the tiring days. I have felt a sense of calm, like the gently-blowing wind, that I did not feel when I was hunting down Fox, one that I did not feel after I murdered Fox, and one that I did not feel when I was rampaging around the pubs of Gotham with Borris. In fact, while I still regularly have dreams of my parents, the better dreams of Mayor Garcia have returned as well.
I do not regret my choice to hand over my company to my cousin. I find that being an assistant dojo trainer is nice and humbling after an entire life of being an elite. I feel like a leaf that has fallen from a tree and is now blowing away in the wind, just flying by through life, and I enjoy it. I enjoy helping out Alfred by setting up the equipment required, I enjoy meeting his customers, I enjoy going over the checks and using the mathematics skills I was famed for during my classes in the Amadeus Pontificus Private School for Esteemed Gentlemen to solve matters of the monetary nature.
I feel at peace.