A Flickering Light

A soft click resonated in the room as Brady Bolton hung up the phone on its receiver, a pleased grin rising upon his features as the call that had just ended put him into a good mood. He wasted no time in sharing the good news, picking up the phone and dialing his secretary, “Gina, could you please send Caleb and Aria to my office?”

“Yes, sir.”

In his office, there was only a satisfying silence as it all sunk in for him. The portrait of him and his father standing beside the very first office building they owned seemed to shine brighter than ever, and he swore he could feel a hand place a congratulatory pat on the back as he looked into his father's eyes.

Only minutes passed by before his children entered, the two chatting animatedly together with their own smiles on their faces, his heart warming at the sight of their sibling affection. He was proud of his oldest – Caleb, the young man who was soon to take his place as CEO whenever he retired, and of course his youngest – Aria, who would fulfill the position as Vice President when her brother took the reigns.

“Hey dad,” Aria greeted with her usual charming smile, “you called?”

“Was there something you wanted to speak with us about?” Caleb asked, switching into a more business appropriate tone than his sister.

“Yes,” he began, rising from his chair and walking around his large desk, “I have some great news for the company.”

“Great, let's hear it,” his daughter beamed.

“I've been in talks that you both didn't know about lately with the board of directors. Discussions about expanding the company has been a hot topic as of late, and recently it was decided that we would go ahead with the plan to do so.”

“That's great,” Caleb chimed in, “where are we expanding to?”

“Gotham.”

“Gotham?” Aria's brows furrowed together. “That's not too far from Metropolis.”

“Yeah, I would have thought you'd think about expanding someplace farther like maybe Star City or even Keystone – not Gotham.”

“Yes, I understand. However, as we're still growing into a bigger company with each new day, I figure that we should work our way up. Starting within Gotham is only the beginning, and there's also another reason why I found Gotham to be a good choice to expand to.”

“Why's that?” Caleb was interested in hearing why.

“Wayne Enterprises is a company that started off small just like we did, but accomplished and became many great things – they even helped build Gotham along the way. I have enough faith in Bolton Corporation that it will grow into something just as magnificent. I'm very interested in becoming business partners with Bruce Wayne, the owner of the company, and learning more from his CEO Lucius Fox.”

“I see where you're going with this now,” Caleb nodded. “I like it.”

“I'm glad to hear it because that's not the only news I have for you both.”

“What else is there?” Aria inquired.

“The office building we've bought is already being dealt with and it'll be opened shortly. In addition, we're already hiring new bodies and selecting officials from here in the Metropolis branch to see if they're willing to move to Gotham for a new position. The only thing is that we'll need help to set it up, get things moving, and—”

“You want us to oversee the process.” Caleb finished.

“That's my boy,” Brady grinned. “I think you two should really start digging your feet into this. You've both helped the company grow already by working here and I think that you're both ready to be entrusted with something like this. Not to mention the board is accepting of this as well.”

“Awesome!” Aria clapped her hands eagerly, another signature smile gracing her features. “When can we leave?”



“Master Wayne,” Alfred chimed, bringing the dark haired man a towel to wipe off the sweat that had accumulated upon his brow.

“Yes, Alfred?” He grunted, jumping off the high bars with a magnificent flip and cleaning himself up a bit as he took the small cloth.

“I thought you would be interested in knowing that Bolton Corporation – a multi-billion dollar company originating from Metropolis, is expanding into Gotham. I've taken the liberty of sending them invitations to your newest party. It may be a wise decision to mingle with their CEO as they're a business that's made many successful deals in the past.”

Bruce nodded and took a quick swig from his large water bottle, drying his face and neck once more as he replied, “I'll keep that in mind. Let Lucius know, too.”

“I've already done so, Master Bruce.”

Smiling an expecting grin, Bruce Wayne headed back for the bars, jumping up and tackling them again as he restarted his upper body regime. “Thanks, Alfred.”

A smile slipped out from Alfred's usual disciplined demeanor. “Of course, Master Wayne.”