22 Meeting #22

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...

"Stay," Selina instructed, giving Harley a pointed look, to which the latter pouted but said nothing. She moved toward her phone and hesitated after seeing the unknown number but picked up the call nonetheless after a second's pause.

"Hello? Yes, this is her speaking..." She said, heading towards the couch and sitting under Harley's intent gaze. She listened quietly for a second, her expression shifting slightly.

"Yes, I'm free right now..." She remarked, and Harley could detect some concern in her tone, arousing the blonde's curiosity as she gave her cat-loving friend a coy look.

"Don't worry. I'll tell the bouncer to let you in. Can't have you starting another angry mob at my doorstep..." Selina added, nodding her head and sifting in her seat, and Harley immediately perked up as she connected the dots.

"No, I understand... I'll see you soon then..." Selina concluded, ending the call, and Harley was upon her before she could even blink, hugging her side with an imploring gaze.

"Can I tag along? Please, pretty please?" Harley implored, performing her best impression of puppy eyes as she regarded her brunette friend. Selina gave her a pointed look, preparing to say no, but Harley didn't let her as she turned it up a notch.

"Ya can't make me stay here! It's so boring I'll go crazy!" Harley exclaimed, putting on a sullen expression. Selina didn't buy it and just gave her a blank look.

"I'll go crazier than usual, Kitty!" Harley corrected after realizing her mistake, sending Selina a beaming smile, to which the latter could only sigh and shake her head in exasperation.

"No means no, Harley," Selina said, pushing Harley's face away from her stomach in annoyance. "It's a personal matter. We won't be able to discuss anything with you there," She added, shaking her as she removed Harley's hands clinging to her sides.

"Why do you want to tag along, anyway?" Selina asked after finally ridding herself of Harley's clutches by taking off the towel. "You're acting weird, even by your standards," she added, yanking the towel off Harley's hand and covering herself.

"I'm super bored, and whatever you got going sounds interestin'," Harley replied in a matter-of-fact tone as if that was reason enough for anyone to do anything, making Selena roll her eyes.

"Find your fun somewhere else; this is serious business, Harley," Selina said, rolling her eyes in annoyance at the blonde as she walked toward her room. "I'm gonna go change, and everything better be in place when I come out," Selina sternly concluded as she walked into her room, closing the door behind her with a loud bang.

"Fine, then I'm heading out!" Harley said with a huff as she pouted and got off the couch, turning to the door to leave and head outside to make her own fun elsewhere.

"Whatever you do out there, don't bring it back to my nightclub, Harley. I'm warning you..." Selina said from inside her room, making Harley stop and stick her tongue out at the closed door before exiting the penthouse.

...

"There you go, thanks," I said as I gave the cart owner his money and took my bag of sandwiches, turning around and walking away. I still had an hour or so before meeting Selina at her club, so I might as well take a walk since I had nothing better to do.

I had realized that Gotham was not the wretched butthole of Satan I thought it was, not all of it at least. Some parts of the city might even look nice if you squinted hard (like really hard) and you were farsighted and nearsighted at the same time.

Whenever I had spare time between studying all kinds of different subjects to put my brain to good use, training with Richard, or pick-pocketing people, I'd take a walk around the streets with no purpose in mind to clear my head.

I discovered some nice enough spots to spend time in and forget about stuff like the Joker suddenly showing up, dancing around in a thong while beating people to death with kittens in the streets or any other assorted crazy sights unique to this city.

One such place was a warehouse at the edge of the East End. The building wasn't unusual, but the people living there were the ones to make an impression on me instead.

I passed the warehouse on my way to the clinic one night after a day of rough training, where I got a bit reckless and reopened my shoulder wound. The homeless people there saw my sorry state and shabby clothes and mistook me for one of their own.

They didn't even hesitate before offering me food and asking if I needed any help. The homeless people's reaction really stunned me silly, and I just stared at the man who was offering me a sandwich like he was some bizarre creature.

It was weird and confusing. You have the regular people of the city, who wouldn't even spit on a person on fire to save a life, and then there were these homeless guys, who were willing to share what little they had just because they thought I was one of their own.

I eventually snapped out of it and explained to them that I wasn't really homeless and that they should keep the food, even though they kept insisting.

I left after convincing them that I really didn't need the food. And I somehow developed a habit of taking this route whenever I was going back from training, so I started occasionally buying some food and dropping it at the warehouse's doorstep whenever I had money to spare.

I didn't interact with the people in the warehouse and didn't feel the need to since I'd always leave the food where they would quickly find it and keep walking. It was just something I did to feel better about myself and my situation, so I didn't expect thanks or gratitude anyway.

'I should leave it here...'

I mused as I dropped the sandwich bag near the fence gate in front of the warehouse and kept walking, taking out my

'Time to make my way to Selina's place..'

Giving the warehouse one last look, I turned right at the end of the street and headed towards The Tin roof Club.

...

'Here goes nothing...'

Lowering the baseball cap to cover my face, I passed by the queue of waiting people and headed towards the bouncer, ignoring the numerous dirty looks people sent me for cutting the line.

"And where do you think you're going?" the buff bouncer said as he saw me approach. He raised his shades and gave me a warning look that suggested I hurry up and get back in line, or bad things might happen otherwise.

"Name's Grayson. Selina should be expecting me," I replied as I turned to the bouncer, and he grunted in response, picking up the ledger to check my name.

"You can find the lady boss at the bar," the bouncer said, gesturing for me to go in. I obliged, unmindful of the looks that were basically digging a hole in my back courtesy of the people waiting in line to enter the nightclub.

Once inside, I located the bar and made my way to sit on a bench, waiting for Selina to show up. I would have approached her myself, but I still had no idea about what she looked like under the mask, and asking for her would give that away and dissipate whatever air of mystery I had.

I needed her to keep guessing for things to go smoothly, or she might call me on my bluff about exposing her identity if she assumed I couldn't put my money where my mouth was.

It didn't take long for a tall brunette woman with long flowing hair and a shapely figure to approach me from behind the bar. She looked 5.7 and had an exquisite mature face with bright green eyes that narrowed as she regarded me.

"I didn't think you'd show up so quickly, Grayson Whitlock," Selina said in a blank tone as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, emphasizing her cleavage.

'She's already confrontational... I should defuse it...'

Selina probably used my full name as a reminder that I wasn't the only one holding the cards and that I shouldn't get carried away. I should make it clear that I'm here in peace.

"Gray would be fine, Miss. Kyle," I replied, smiling politely to convey my good intentions; asking her to call me by my first name is an olive branch, and calling her Miss is just a show of respect to clarify I was here to reason with her, not cause trouble.

"Then you can call me Selina, Gray," she replied, relaxing and even giving me a slight smile, meaning she took the olive branch and was willing to negotiate or hear me out at the very least.

'We're off to a smooth start, good.'

"Very well. Do you have somewhere private where we can talk without interruptions?" I asked, gesturing around the nightclub. I wasn't comfortable talking here, regardless of the loud music that made it impossible to eavesdrop.

"We can talk in the VIP booth..."

...

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