"Taxi!" a young woman yelled over the thundering noise of the city, only to have the speeding yellow car drive past her. Jerk. 24-year-old Elena Rose thought, brushing a errant strand of her straight brown hair out of her face. Her sapphire-blue eyes glanced nervously at her watch, and she sighed. Beautiful, I'm going to be late on my first day.
Though if you wanted to be technical, it was her second. Elena had not even known she had a job until yesterday afternoon. She was visiting her long-time friend and college roommate Rachel Dawes, where she was told she had received a job as secretary for Mr. Wayne. Rachel promised it was all on good terms, where she had pulled "strings" to get her the job.
"Don't worry," Rachel had said. "Bruce trusts me. He'll be glad to have you as his secretary, I promise!"
But Elena wasn't so sure. Flattening out her gray pencil skirt and suit jacket for the fourth time this morning, she scowled at the turn her thoughts had taken. Of course she'd be a perfect secretary, though it was not her ideal job, someone had to do it. She was sure Mr. Wayne would rather have a smart young woman working at his company rather than some cheap tramp…right?
"Taxi!" Elena shouted again, raising her arm as anther cab sped through the rainy streets of Gotham City in a flash. The young woman let out a frustrated sigh, and glanced at her watch again. 7:45. If she didn't get to Wayne Enterprises by 8:00, she knew Rachel's friendship was not going to protect her from Bruce's wrath.
Though I hardly know the billionaire… She argued with herself, and caught her memories drifting. She had met him only once, long ago, when they were children. The memory assaulted her mind with no warning.
"Rachel, why do I have to meet him?" A 7 year old Elena complained. They were walking towards Wayne Manor, two girls, one practically dragging the other.
"He just lost his parents last year, El. He needs some company," Rachel explained, grabbing El's hand and walking faster to the house.
"But why can't you?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
Rachel let out an exasperated sigh, "Just because, El."
Rachel knocked softly on the huge wooden door, waiting patiently. Soon enough, the door opened, and an elderly man smiled down at them.
"Good
afternoon, Miss Rachel."
"Hi, Alfred. This is my best friend Elena." Rachel explained, motioning towards the brown-haired child next to her. " We just wanted to drop by and see if Bruce wanted to play."
Alfred's face turned sad, and he shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry girls; Master Bruce does not want visitors today."
Rachel's face dropped, stopping Elena from shouting 'Told you so!' Seeing her friend sad was not something she would care to see again.
Alfred's expression lightened as he motioned for them to come in. "However, I just made some hot chocolate. Would anyone care for some?"
"Yes please!" Both girls exclaimed, running into the mansion. Alfred chuckled softly, and shut the door. Elena followed Rachel into the kitchen, smiling and laughing.
"I want two scoops of marshmallows!"
"No way, Rach! I want three!"
The girls laughed gleefully, running to the next room. However, a movement to her left caused Elena to stop short. A boy stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at her with sad brown eyes. Elena turned towards him slowly, all expression of happiness gone from her face. A moment passed, before the boy turned to vanish in his bedroom.
"Wait!" she yelled.
The boy reappeared seconds later, seeming surprised. Putting on her best smile, she motioned towards him. "Want some hot chocolate?"
The memory faded, leaving her sad and empty. It had been six years since she left Gotham. Six years since she'd left this dirt encrusted city where haunting memories seemed to have lurked behind every street. She left for college, attending Harvard University and graduating the top in her class. Though all of her achievements had gone unnoticed, for her mum and dad were…
Elena shook her head at the painful memory, and brushed the upcoming tears from under her eyes. No sense getting emotional about it now. Taking a deep breath, Elena raised her head, having given up on taxi's, and found herself looking into deep chocolate brown eyes.
For a moment, all stood still. The noise of traffic slowed and became non-existent; the old man yelling on his cell phone next to her seemed to just disappear. All that was important, was the man who stood across from her. He had a slightly confused look on his face; no doubt wondering why she was staring at him like an imbecile. His brown hair was slicked back, in perfect order, accenting his gray Armani suit that was pressed and clean. Yet why did he look so familiar? The man said something, tilting his head to the side while staring at her with those bone-melting eyes of his. She looked at him, confused. He said it again, and took a step closer to her. Elena took in a huge breath, and the world was normal again.
"I said, are you alright?" he asked, his voice mildly formal yet laced with concern.
Elena shook her head slightly, as if to ward off the sudden pulsing of her heart, and answered, "Y-yes. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."
The man didn't seem convinced, but nodded his head. "Alright, just take it easy for a second. Big, deep breaths."
Elena inhaled deeply, then blew out, her head clearing. What had just happened? Confused, she turned towards the stranger. "Thank you, I'm fine now." Wow…she must have seemed like a lunatic. Hiding her sudden blush, she concentrated on getting a taxi to finally listen to her.
"Taxi!" She shouted for the third time. No yellow car stopped. She almost let out a growl of annoyance, but stopped short, as she noticed the man was watching her. His eyes were filled with amusement as he stepped towards her and held his arm out in the street.
"Taxi!" He yelled, and just like that, two taxi's stopped right in front of them, pulling up to the curb. Elena's mouth dropped, and she turned to look at the man. He smiled, a quick lift of his cheek revealing a row of pearly white teeth, and opened the door for her.
"Wow, thank you. I've been trying to get one of these assholes to stop for me for almost half an hour." She explained, sliding into the leather seats. The man nodded and smiled, ducking his head so she could see him.
"I didn't quite catch your name." He asked with his refined voice.
She smiled. "Elena."
"Elena." He repeated, rolling the name around his tongue. "Nice to meet you."
"You too." She replied, and he shut the door. Looking behind her, she could make out his dark figure, as the car sped forward.
"Where to?" The driver said, turning to reveal an eye patch covering his left eye and a piercing on his nose. Elena almost wrinkled her face in disgust, but instead answered,
"Wayne Enterprises, please."
A quiet 'ding' sounded and the steel door of the elevator opened. Elena walked forward, briefcase in hand, and examined the space. A large desk with a marble countertop occupied the left corner of the room, while a long hallway extended around the space, giving it an oval shape. The entire space was probably five times the size of her apartment, she calculated with dry amusement. Gathering her courage, she walked towards the front desk, her high heels clicking on the linoleum tile.
"Excuse me," she said towards the middle-aged man behind the counter. He lifted his glasses from atop his thin nose, and looked down again.
"Name," he asked in a monotone.
"Um, Elena Rose." He started scanning the pages, and she shifted nervously. "I'm Mr. Wayne's secretary; today's my first day." Liar, she thought. He continued looking through the papers, then glanced up drearily.
"You will be required to attend all work days. If you are sick, contact your head advisor, in this case, Mr. Fox," he handed her a thick stack of papers and an ID card. "Company policy is as such if you skip work days because you 'feel like it' you will be immediately fired. Is that understood?" He finished, raising his droopy eyes to meet hers. She smiled out of politeness, then rushed down the hall, eager to escape his monotone voice. Rearranging the heavy papers in her arms, she made her way into the lighten lounge.
"Elena!"
Turning at the sound of her name, Elena's confused expression turned to joy in an instant. "Rachel!"
Rachel Dawes laughed, embracing her best friend. "It's been forever since I've seen you!" she chided, holding Elena at arms length to see her better. "You've gotten taller." The brunette admitted with a sigh, and Elena laughed.
"You couldn't stay four inches taller than me forever, Rach."
Rachel chuckled and replied helplessly, "A girl can dream." Taking the stack of papers from Elena's hands, she began walking down the hall, Elena following. "So how's life been treating you?"
"A lot better now that I got this job. Rach, again, I just wanted to thank you—"
Rachel brushed Elena's hand away. "It's nothing, honestly. Bruce is the one who you should be thanking; he's the one that hired you."
Elena nodded slightly. "I'll remember that." They continued walking down the hall, pausing as they reached their destination. This room was similar to the others, but instead of an empty space, the right side of the room was filled with a glass-encased office. On the door, it spelled in silver letters Wayne.
Swallowing hard, she set her briefcase on the black desk, and turned to Rachel. "Wow, I have no idea why I'm nervous."
Smiling, Rachel placed the stack of papers on the desk also. "Just that you're going to meet one of the most powerful, wealthiest man in the world," with a wink she added, "no big deal."
"Very funny Rach."
Rachel laughed softly at Elena's frightened expression. "Really, you'll be fine. Oh, and don't forget, lunch at Deli's. I have so much to tell you!" Elena nodded and her friend embraced her fleetingly.
"See you around, El!" Rachel yelled, as she walked down the hallway, her figure becoming more diminutive by the second. Well here goes nothing. Taking a deep breath, Elena pushed the glass door open.
The office was widely spacious, with a large steel table in the center of the room, covered with stacks of business paper. Windows surrounded every inch of the walls, giving Elena a perfect view of Gotham City. Although the scenery was spectacular, Elena could not force her eyes from the two men sitting at the table. They were deep in discussion, but stopped and turned towards her when she opened the door.
One was a black man, in an expensive gray suit, who stood from the table chair upon her arrival. With a kind smile he approached her, and asked, "You must be Elena Rose." Elena could only nod her head dumbly as he turned and motioned with his hand towards the other man. And upon seeing him, she gasped.
"It's you!" she exclaimed, a little to loudly, for the man who had offered her the taxi, chuckled. He walked towards her and extended his hand.
"My name is Bruce Wayne. Nice to see you again."
Elena blushed and extended her hand to meet his. He grasped her hand firmly, nearly dwarfing her petite fingers. His hands were warm, yet rough, not the hands you would find on a businessman. Their handshake lingered, until Elena pulled her hand from his hold, blushing more profoundly.
Bruce turned towards the black man, who stood smiling at his side. "This is Lucius Fox, CEO and head of this company." Elena shook hands with Lucius, taking in his generous and kind appearance. She liked this man already.
"Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rose," he stated politely.
"And the same for you, Mr. Fox," she agreed then turned to face Bruce. His brown eyes met hers, and Elena felt lost in the depths of them. This is my boss, this is my boss. She chanted to herself, her knees going weak as Bruce smiled at her expression. Taking her hand again, he patted it gently.
"Welcome to Wayne Enterprises, Ms. Rose."