"At least let me call a driver," Bruce said to Adriana as she put in her earrings. "Or I can come with you."
"Bruce...I will be fine," she said and kissed his cheek. "I can't stay inside the house forever...and if you come then your anniversary gift won't be a surprise."
"It won't be a surprise anyway," he said. "The paparazzi will be posting photos of whatever you buy within the hour."
"Right..." Adriana said.
"You don't need to get me a gift," Bruce said.
"Did you get me something?" she asked.
"Of course," he told her.
"See..." she said.
"I'll have security follow you, you won't even know they are there," Bruce offered. "Just let me make a call-"
"No," Adriana said. "I will be just fine, I promise."
After applying light makeup, Adriana left Wayne Manor. It was a cloudy and cool day and the air was refreshing. As she drove into the city, Adriana knew that she was being followed by security. She loved Bruce's protectiveness but needed a moment to herself. It wouldn't last long once she was recognized in the city but a few minutes was all she needed.
Once she arrived downtown, she pulled into a parking garage structure that was right next to the subway. While she walked through the garage to the machine to pay for parking she saw a dark car drive by behind her with dark tinted windows. Security. She put on her sunglasses. Before the car could drive much further, she got into the elevator, went down to the ground level and made the dash down the stairs outside to the subway trains.
She laughed to herself about her mad dash as she got into the subway car. She stood leaning against the door as the train took off. As she looked around, she noticed the four people in the train car looking at her. They knew who she was, which she didn't mind, as long as they weren't media.
Adriana took a seat and looked out the window as the train made it's way through the dark underground tunnels. She was incredibly familiar with the city and the public transport system. After a few stops she got off of the train and walked down a few small streets until she arrived at a small toy shop she had been to before. Being able to go out and shop was a simple task but it made her feel normal again.
Fortunately, she was the only customer in the store.
"Mrs. Wayne," the store owner, an older man with an Irish accent said and came up to her. "What a nice surprise."
"Mr. Mckinley," she said with a smile. "How are you?"
"Oh wonderful," he said.
Adriana could tell he was thinking of everything he had seen on the news about her abduction and wasn't sure what to say.
"I've been doing okay," Adriana said. "I haven't been out of the house in a while but I'm happy to be out today."
"That's lovely to hear," he said.
"Arsenio loved the xylophone set," Adriana said. "He plays with it every day."
"I'm so pleased," he said. "What brings you in today?"
"Oh...just browsing," Adriana said.
"Well let me know if you need anything," he said to Adriana and touched her shoulder before walking away.
Adriana gave him a smile and began to browse the store. She was supposed to be out shopping for Bruce but spent nearly an hour looking at everything in the toy store. She ended up buying a wooden compartmental learning toy. It had several games and activities on all sides, was colorful, and she knew that Arsenio would love it.
