Nightwing: Heartless

Part 33: Gala

Abby finished Willa's hair, stepping back to admire her work in the mirror. Willa delicately touched the braided crown and the soft curls Abby had put in her hair. It was beautiful. Abby had also done her makeup: an understated, elegant eye and light pink lips. Willa had never liked the full makeup look, it just wasn't her. Abby could pull it off, but Abby could pull anything off.

"You're a vision." Abby squeezed her shoulders, "Dick is gonna melt when he sees you."

Willa shook her head and stood up, flattening the creases in the simple black dress he wore. It was one of her prom dresses, a plain one shoulder black gown with a nice silhouette.

"Melt or get an instant hard-on," Abby slapped Willa's butt, laughing.

"Abby!"

"What? The two options aren't mutually exclusive. You look really good though. Seriously."

"Thank you." Willa had been a little worried about her wardrobe. She was wearing an old prom dress because she didn't have an abundance of gowns. Let alone the budget for a new designer one. The one shoulder also let her off the hook with jewels. Instead of the big diamonds she was sure were supposed to be worn to a gala she had two rings, both given as gifts from her parents, and a simple bracelet, an heirloom from her grandmother. Dick had never asked her to go to an event this fancy before, let alone meet his dad.

"Chill out, babe," Abby said and handed her a bottle of water, "why are you so nervous? It's a fundraiser for the new opera house, right? No big deal."

"It's not the event, it's the people at the event I'm nervous about." Willa checked herself in the mirror again. "What if they can tell it's a prom dress? Rich people can spot those things."

"Well your prom dress looks better than 90% of their designer runway dresses."

Willa shot her a grateful look. "What if his dad can tell?"

Abby joined her in front of the mirror and rested her chin in the crook of Willa's neck. "You're going to blow Mr. Corporate away. I'm sure Dick was nervous to meet your parents too."

"Yeah, but all Dick had to do was prove he's not an entitled fuckboy. I have to fit into a world I've never been a part of. Measuring up to billions isn't easy."

"Money isn't real anyway."

A knock at the door signalled the end of the conversation. Abby squeezed Willa's shoulders one last time then opened the door. Willa grabbed her purse from her closet.

"Hey, gorgeous," she heard Abby say, "have her home by 1 and don't even think about getting handsy. The hair took too long to mess up."

"Yes, ma'am," she heard Dick say with a laugh. She traded places with Abby and watched Dick give her a once over. He wore a full tuxedo, cufflinks and all. He really was gorgeous. "You're beautiful," Dick leaned forward and gave her a quick peck then offered her his arm. They both waved goodbye to Abby as the door shut.

Dick closed the car door behind Willa then climbed into the driver's seat. Willa looked around the interior. This was the first time in his car. They usually took his motorcycle, walked, or the train. As she took in the plush leather, state of the art controls and obvious expensive style, she wondered why she had taken the train so often if this was sitting in Dick's apartment garage. Seemed like a waste.

"Why don't you drive this more often?" Willa asked once they were a few minutes down the road.

"Seems a little pretentious, no?"

Willa laughed, "isn't it pretentious not to drive a million dollar car because it might look pretentious?"

Dick laughed and reached across to grab her hand. "Thank you for coming with me tonight."