Love in the Dark

In the morning, I woke up and felt terrible. Making my way into the bathroom, I looked on in horror at the sight of me still in my red dress, my pantie hose, my makeup, and my hair still somewhat up in my bun. My mascara was painted on my face in dried black streams from the crying I had done last night. I looked like I almost died... oh wait.....

Taking of my dress, I threw it in a heap to the side, followed with the rest of my clothing. Taking my hair down, I turned on the shower, and stepped in, loving the feeling of the hot water pounding on my skin. As I washed my hair, my mind wondered to Bruce. For someone who has been rejected he seems to still care. It was an admirably quality, I think. The way he looked at me... it was obvious that he was head over heels in love. My mind then played images of our time in the sauna, and other images of us holding hands while walking through the garden, kissing in the streets of Gotham, having a date that wasn't ruined by some jackass in a clown costume.

Then my mind went to Jonathan. He was an amazing person, really. Yet, no one seemed to like him. It saddened me that his position at a "scary asylum" was enough to make everyone believe that he was the evil one. As I shampooed my hair I thought about the way his incredibly blue eyes looked at me, studied my every move, my every emotion. As I rinsed, I remembered the expression on his face before he was... pushed off of a bridge. He was looking at me, and he was relaxed... ready to take whatever it was coming at him, as long as I was relatively okay.

Repeating my shampoo cycle a second time, I went to the conditioner before using the body wash. I washed myself twice - once to get the grime off, then to smell pretty - then I washed out the conditioner in my hair. Feeling clean once again, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped the softest towel I could find around me. Getting dressed, I brushed through my hair, got dressed, then went downstairs for breakfast. My mother and Bruce were already in their usual spots at the table, so I sat in mine. My mother sat in front of a plate of... something, probably an omelet, while I sat in front of a plate of pancakes, blueberries, and a bowl of all of the other berries. As I looked at it, I noticed there were extra strawberries in there, and I smiled. Alfred still remembered my favorite fruit.

"Did you sleep well," my mother asked.

"Um... generally," I replied, "I don't think I had a dream, so...."

"Bethany, I don't want you going out in that city alone."

"I wasn't alone when the Joker grabbed me."

My mother snapped her gaze at me and glared - yes... glared. "I don't care if you were with everyone in Chicago, I don't want you going into that city anymore!"

"Alright! I won't."

"Thank you."

"Um... actually, I have a date tonight."

"Bethany-"

"With Jonathan, the... man you met last night?"

"Oh! The pimp?"

"What?"

"Don't think that I don't know what he really is because he's wearing a suit. I know the kind of people you like to date. They're all hustlers, and... and... creeps."

"Jonathan is a psychiatrist, mother."

"Oh?"

"Yes. And he's the head psychiatrist at Arkham."

"Arkham! Arkham!" My mother stood up, "Now you listen to me. You are never to step foot anywhere on those grounds, do you understand me?"

"He hasn't even once mentioned taking me there. Hell, he hasn't even invited me to his house. Besides, I have to business just going to Arkham anyway. It's not a tourist stop."

"You bet your bottom dollar, it isn't."

"But he's taking me out on a date, and I'm going. Jonathan is a good guy, mom.... You should be happy that I'm actually dating someone like him."

My mother sat down, "I guess you're right.... But one more near death experience, and you are staying here for the rest of our trip."

"Actually... that was something I wanted to talk to you about," This caught not only my mother's attention, but Bruce's as well, "I was thinking about getting an apartment here... in Gotham."

My mother looked at me as if I had just grown four more heads, then stood up, "Please excuse me. I'm not feeling well." Walking away, I hung my head over my untouched pancakes.

Bruce took this moment to move himself, and his food closer to me. Taking my hand in his he said, "How are you?"

"Not so good now."

"Before?"

Looking up at him I said, "I don't know how I feel."

He looked sad, "Why do you want to stay here?"

"Because... I love this city..... It would keep me closer to you, even though sometimes I want to shoot you... and because it's closer to Jonathan."

"You could stay here. With me."

"I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"I can't stay here... not when I'm dating someone."

"Are you two dating?"

I looked down, "I think we are."

"Are you looking at apartments?"

"I found a few that I like, yes."

"You wanna go make an offer today?"

Looking up at him I smiled, "Sure."

~

"And this is our studio loft," said the Realtor, Sherman, "As you can see, it's an ordinary loft, only this comes with thicker walls. There is a foot of cement in between each apartment, or loft in this building... eliminates noise, smells, and so on."

Bruce and I walked around the open area and it felt right. Looking out of the window I found a lovely view of a park and smiled. Bruce came over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "Do you like it?"

"Yes."

"I think it fits you."

"I do too."

"Lets make an offer."

"Okay."

Turning to Sherman Bruce said, "We like this one."

"Fantastic. I have the paper work right here for you," pulling out a form he handed it to Bruce, "Although, honestly Mr. Wayne... when I got your call I thought you would be looking at penthouses again."

Bruce smiled, "This isn't for me... it's for her."

"Oh." Sherman smiled at me, "Well, this is a great space."

"It is indeed," I smiled and looked at the form with Bruce. I filled out all that I needed, and everything was done. Sherman said that he would call me after he finished looking at all of the applicants. As we walked away Bruce said, "He'll call you."

"You're so sure?"

"There is a reason why I chose this agency."

"Why?"

"I own it."

"Bruce-"

"Hey. I told them to make their decision honestly... I'm not going to pressure them into giving you the loft."

I rolled my eyes and got into his car. On the way back to his house, Jonathan text me:

Sorry I can't call you right now, I'm in a meeting. I thought of what I want to do for dinner. May I pick you up at eight? Dress would be extremely casual. Jeans and a t-shirt.

Smiling, I answered:

Eight is fine. Pay attention to your meeting!

Bruce and I got out of the car and we walked together to the library. He fixed himself a drink while I wondered over to the piano. Sitting down, I started to play, not really sure what I was going to play at first, but worked my way into the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, my personal favorite. Bruce stood next to the piano and listened. When I finished playing he smiled at me.

"You are fantastic."

"Thanks."

I continued to play until Alfred interrupted us with lunch. Leaving the piano, we ate out in the garden, recalling all of the fun times we had together.