Chapter 15 Meeting

"So we're going to your place for our date?" Lindsey asked Damian in their art class.

It's been a week since their first date and they had planned to have another one today after school. And once again, Lindsey let Damian plan it.

"I was thinking we could watch a couple movies, make some buttery popcorn, drink some soda, maybe order a pizza later tonight for dinner," Damian said. "Like any regular movie night."

"Do you even watch movies?" Lindsey asked. "You've never talked about movies before. I thought you just didn't watch them."

"Not until I moved in with Father," Damian shrugged. "I like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise."

"Are we going to watch all of them?" Lindsey asked.

"If you want to," Damian said.

"I think it'll be fun," Lindsey said. "I've only seen the first one, myself."

"Pennyworth is supposed to be picking us up after school and take us to the manor," Damian explained. "We can use the movie room."

"Can you two love bugs work on your paintings?" Miss Blakeman asked stepping between their two easels.

"Sorry, we were just talking about our date for tonight," Lindsey apologized before turning back to her paints.

"Romantic dinner? Study date? What are you two doing?" Miss Blakeman asked.

"Congratulations on the engagement," Damian said.

The two ladies stared at him. Miss Blakeman was engaged? How would Damian know? Was it obvious?

"You took off your ring right before the bell rang," Damian said. "You seem a great deal happier than you were yesterday. And you've been watching us since we walked in and you're asking about our date. I assumed. Unless you're not?"

"No, thank you, Damian," Miss Blakeman said with an unbelievable tone. "I didn't want any of my colleagues or students to find out. You are a great detective, Damian."

"Tt."

"Now, back to work," Miss Blakeman said. "I can't wait to see what the two of you come up with."

She pranced away as Lindsey watched her.

"How could you even notice all of that?" Lindsey asked Damian softly.

He was already working on his painting. He didn't look away from his canvas. "I just notice."

"What are you going to paint?" Lindsey asked.

"You'll see," Damian whispered.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

Damian and Lindsey walked out the front of the school hand and hand. Damian saw Pennyworth standing outside of the car.

"Ah, Miss Lindsey," Alfred said. "It's so nice to see you."

"You, too, Alfred," Lindsey said. "And you can just call me Lindsey. You don't need to say the 'Miss'."

"Of course," Alfred said. He opened the door and let Lindsey in. Damian moved in after Lindsey. Alfred got into the driver's seat and started the car.

"Master Damian?" Alfred called as he started the car. "Your Father called earlier. He wants to meet Miss Vindai. He asked that I bring the two of you to his office. Then I would be happy to take you two to the manor for your date. Now buckle up!"

Lindsey was ready to run out of the car. Damian stared at Alfred like he had grown a second head. Alfred just smiled back at the two and began to drive.

"Are we ready to go then?" Alfred asked. He drove away from the school leaving the two teenagers to freak out internally in the backseat.

Why would Bruce Wayne want to meet Lindsey now? Did it have to do with him wanting to be a part of Damian's relationship? Did he actually care about who Damian was dating? Would he approve of Lindsey?

All these questions raced through the two lovers' minds. Alfred didn't help the situation with his mindless chatter about the weather, people on the streets, and Bruce's workload for the week.

As they got closer to the center of Gotham, Lindsey began to shake in her seat. Damian grew stiffer until every part of his body was tense, and he couldn't move.

Alfred parked the car in front of the building and moved around to let the teenagers out. When he opened the door neither of them moved.

"Now, Lindsey, Master Damian," Alfred said to them. "Master Bruce is not going to be meeting you out here. I must insist that you go inside."

"Pennyworth, not now," Damian growled to the butler still stiff in his seat.

By the time the two of them finally got out of the vehicle, a few members of the paparazzi had gathered around.

"Mister Wayne, is that the Hollings' granddaughter?"

"Are you two dating? Can you confirm it?"

"Is this a business meeting with your father, Damian?"

Damian wrapped his arm around Lindsey's shoulders and lead her inside, away from the prying eyes - and cameras - of the paparazzi.

As the two stepped into the building, everything grew silent. As Lindsey looked around, she saw all the employees were looking at them.

"Why are they looking at us?" Lindsey whispered.

"Not us, Lindsey," Damian whispered back. "Me. I am the boss's son. They're being careful. Do you see how they're not moving as well? Anything they do in front of me, I tell my father. Come on, let's go see my father."

Damian lead Lindsey to the elevator, rapidly pressing the button. As the doors opened, the employees inside automatically quieted down and left the elevator.

The two stepped into the now-empty elevator. The two rode the elevator silently. Lindsey's fingers were tapping against her leg and Damian's jaw was clenched.

When the elevator finally stopped, the two stepped out. There was a woman sitting at a desk in front of a large door, talking on the phone. She had curly auburn hair, dark brown eyes, and way too much makeup on.

"You wouldn't believe it, Emily," she was saying. "This is the best job, I've ever been given. Oh, I'm going to have to call you back." She hung up the phone and stood up. "Mr. Damian. You're father has been waiting for you. Let me go ahead and tell him you're here."

She walked over to the large door next to her desk.

"Mr. Wayne?" the assistant asked hesitantly as she opened the door to his office.

"What it is?" Bruce Wayne's voice asked through the door. Lindsey found herself shaking more than she thought possible.

"Your son and his girlfriend are here, like you asked," she said faking confidence.

"Why did you stop them?" Bruce asked. "I told you to send them in once they got here."

"You are right, Mr. Wayne, I simply forgot," she said. She closed the door and turned to look at the two teenagers. Damian already had his fists in tight fists. "You two may-"

"We heard him perfectly fine," Damian growled. He walked toward the door and stopped before he pushed it in. "And next time, learn how to do your job. And don't have a crush on your boss."

He opened the door and stormed inside. The door closed behind him, leaving Lindsey with the assistant.

"I'm sorry about him," Lindsey said. "We had a date planned and he wasn't expecting his Father to want to see us."

She went to open the door when the assistant gripped her bicep. She pulled Lindsey away from the door. The assistant glared at Lindsey and squeezed her arm.

"You two aren't going to last," she sneered at Lindsey. "Mr. Wayne isn't going to approve of you. In fact, he's going to see right past that fake sweet attitude on your ugly face. He'll see you for the gold-digging whore you are. This relationship, or whatever is really happening, is going to shrivel up and die. You will end up sad, alone, and heartbroken."

Lindsey yanked her arm away from the woman and turned so she was standing in front of her.

"First of all, I love Damian, like real love," Lindsey said with as much confidence as she could muster. "Secondly, how do you know what Bruce will think about me? And third, at least I'm in a relationship."

The woman's mouth dropped. She regained composure of herself and began to speak, but Lindsey already pushed the door to the office opened and closed it behind her.

Lindsey automatically regretted the decision to come into the office once she what was unfolding in front of her eyes. Damian and Bruce were both yelling at each other. At it seemed to be about Lindsey.

"We have been dating for months and it's only now that you want to meet her?" Damian was yelling at his Father.

"This is the first girlfriend you have ever had, Damian," Bruce yelled at his son. "I didn't know how long you were going to keep her around. I didn't want to meet a girl, only to have her not be around ever again!"

"I wouldn't have a girlfriend unless I was serious about her!" Damian yelled. "I'm like Mother in that way!"

"You still act as childish as you did when you were younger. How could any girl in this city want to be your girlfriend?" Bruce asked. "Especially one who is kind and innocent."

"Should I go back outside and fight the assistant again?" Lindsey spoke above the two.

The two men stopped yelling and looked at Lindsey.

"Did she do something wrong?" Bruce asked, his composed himself.

"She called me a whore and a gold-digger," Lindsey shrugged. "She also said that you would never approve of me because I was using Damian."

Bruce nodded and went over to his desk. He picked up a phone and pressed a button. "Lucius? . . . I need you to fire my assistant and hire a new one. . . . Hmm . . . Tell her to not but Wayne Enterprises on her resume. And if she doesn't leave willing, call security. Thank you, Lucius."

He hung up the phone and looked at Lindsey.

"Wow, Father, I didn't know you cared that much about her," Damian said crossing his arms.

"I needed to fire her anyway," Bruce said as he sat in his chair. "She's received a lot of complaints from other employees and she has tried to get me to take her home with me many times this week. I just needed a real reason to fire her. I've been looking at applications for new assistants the last three days. Thank you so much, Miss Vindai."

"You're welcome?" Lindsey asked confused.

"I guess I should introduce myself to you, Miss Vindai," Bruce Wayne said. "I am Bruce Wayne. Damian told me that you live with your grandparents since your parents died last summer. He also told me you are good at art, and dance."

"I'm not sure about the dance part, but I think I'm decent at art," Lindsey said shyly.

"Humility is good, Miss Vindai," Bruce said.

"You can call me Lindsey," she said.

"Then you should call me Bruce," he said with a smile.

"We should get to our date, Father," Damian cut in. "That's what we were going to do before you have Pennyworth kidnap us."

"And what are you two planning on doing?" Bruce asked.

"Watch movies in the movie room, have popcorn and junk food," Damian shrugged.

"Okay," Bruce said nonchalantly, "just know that there are cameras in there and I will be watching."

"Thanks, Father," Damian said as his fists clenched.

"It was nice to meet you, Lindsey," Bruce said, with an outstretched hand.

Lindsey walked up to him and shook his hand. "You as well, Bruce."

"Have a fun time on your date," Bruce said. "While I unfortunately have to get back to work."

"Thank you," Lindsey muttered as Damian took a hold of her hand and tugged her out of the office.

Outside was an older black man wearing a suit instead of the nasty assistant.

"Hello, Damian, this must be Lindsey Vinday," he said.

"Vindai," the two said at the same time.

"The granddaughter to the Hollings of Holling Oil, correct? My name is Lucius Fox," the man said, holding out a hand.

"We were just on our way out, Fox," Damian said stopping the introduction.

"Of course, go ahead," Fox said.

The two walked to the elevator without another word.

"You didn't need to be rude to Mr. Fox," Lindsey said to Damian.

"I just wanted to spend time with you," Damian said turning to face Lindsey.

He cupped her face, tilting her face up to look at him. He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

"You're one of the only people I care about. If anything, you're the most important," Damian whispered. "I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I won't let anyone take our time away from us."

"I'm not going anywhere, Damian. I'll stay here as long as it takes," Lindsey said. She stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his nose. "I'm your Beloved, remember?"

One corner of Damian's mouth turned upwards for a second.

"Let's go to our date," Damian said as the elevator stopped moving. The doors dinged open and the two separated.

"Is the paparazzi still out there?" Lindsey asked.

"The security probably chased them off the property, but they're more than likely across the street waiting for us," Damian said. "Don't acknowledge them, just walk straight to the car and get in."

"You always live like this, don't you?" Lindsey asked.

"Unfortunately," Damian growled.

~{}~{}~{}~{}~{}~

"Finally, we can start our date," Damian said as he walked with Lindsey to the movie room.

"Are you excited for our date to spend more time with me, or is it because we're going to be alone in a dark room together?" Lindsey asked.

Damian reached out for the door, opening it for Lindsey. "It could be both. But it could be I just love these movies."

"Oh, hey Damian!" a voice called out.

"Grayson? What the hell are you doing here?" Damian shouted. In the front row of seats, was someone Lindsey had never met.

"Just closed something big in Bludhaven," he said. "Got some time off, so I decided to visit."

So this was the infamous Dick Grayson. He was even more handsome than Damian. He had dark curly hair, crystal blue eyes, and was as tanned as Lindsey. He was muscular, but not like Damian, with bulging muscles, or Tim with lean muscles, but somewhere in between.

"Well, get out! I'm in the middle of something," Damian yelled.

"Is this Lindsey?" Dick asked, jumping out of the seat and walking towards the girl. "It's so nice to meet you! I'm Richard Grayson, but everyone calls me Dick."

"It's nice to-"

"Is it Meet-Damian's-Girlfriend Day? Who's next? Stephanie?" Damian said, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. "She's not here, is she?"

"Not that I know of," Dick said. "But who knows, she wanders around here enough, I'm surprised they haven't met, already."

"Can you leave now?" Damian asked. "We're going to watch a movie."

"What movie? Can I watch?" Dick asked.

"Sure."

"No."

The couple looked at each other.

"I want to get to know your brothers, Damian. He can watch the movies with us."

"Lindsey-"

"I already like you. How'd he get someone like you?"

"Shut up, Grayson."

"I'll get the movie ready if you get the popcorn," Dick said, running to the get the movie.

"I like him."

"Just don't."

"But not as much as I like you."

"Tt." He moved to get the popcorn ready.

"Damian?" Lindsey pulled his hand so he would stop moving.

"Tt."

"Damian. Turn around and kiss me." Lindsey said.

"Tt."

He turned and peck her lips before getting the popcorn.

"Cute, what movie were we going to watch?" Dick asked after seeing the cute display of his brother and his girlfriend.

"Grayson!"

"What?"

Lindsey laughed at the antics of the brothers.