Making Headlines ~ Bruce Wayne [PAUSED]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

"And you're sure they agreed to do it in the meeting?" You ask the man in front of you.

Both of you stare down at the cluster of papers on top of your unorganized desk. As expected, when you came back to work this morning, it was just as work-filled as no other day in the past weeks. Meetings have happened an hour prior to you getting to work at your usual time, and things have just gotten complicated with some partner companies present.

If work wasn't already a headache.

"Yes, absolutely." The man tells you, "They were the ones that even mentioned the shipments and how much it would have to be precisely on the date..." He pauses for a bit, "And mentioned the Hale's."

"Of course they did." You whisper to yourself, making the man beside you smirk in amusement.

You grab a paper from your desk and take your seat back on your chair. You reread the words about the next shipments and the new arrangements with the new partners of the company, ones that merely signed a contract last week.

You lean back and reread it all over again. The frustration makes some sort of anger bubble underneath your skin. If only business was easier.

Your eyes fall to your laptop screen, just by the corner of the table, and you let out a sigh. It's almost lunchtime. Great. You might finally have the perfect 15 minutes of peace and quiet.

You put down the paper and look up at the man reading just as much as you.

You open your mouth to dismiss him for lunch, but the door of your office swings open, letting someone barge right in. All while your assistant runs after them to remind them of how they "can't do this".

Let it be known that none of those words entered your mother's ears.

"Leave." She spits the word at the man before you.

The man in question lifts his gaze to you to make sure he may listen to her order and you offer him a nod. He puts down the paper on your desk and makes his way out of the room. Your assistant stays by the door, obviously flustered with the whole disrespect your mother seems to carry as soon as she walks into a room you're in.

"Mother." You say with a smile, hoping that your humorous greeting would be enough to lift her spirits.

She makes her way towards your desk and, right on top of the papers, she slams something down.

A magazine lies right in front of you and you blink at it. The door of your office closes at the exact time, your assistant has decided she has seen enough.

It's an average magazine. Its cover is about some lady from Hollywood and the small news surrounding her are about other national and international celebrities.

You look up at your mother in confusion and she continues to wear her furious frown while looking at you.

"Page 37." She tells you.

You grab the magazine and go over to the page she desires you to see. You open the magazine entirely and lay it back on the table. It's a page full of smaller news, not even an entire paragraph for each one, yet each has a multicolored title of the matter. Your eyes scan through it and finally understand what you're looking for, rumors that have been started by the public and sold to the media. You've seen these before.

Your eyes continue to look through the pages and you lift your gaze to your mother when seeing your name. You're in disbelief, she actually drove and walked furiously through the company to be mad about... rumors?

"Read it!" She tells you, still furiously.

You take a deep breath and do as told. The title of the small news article read "Secret Dating" and that on its own makes you almost want to laugh. Yet your smile falls at the first words, "Onlookers believe they've seen the royalty of our city last night, shielding themselves from the rain at a cozy diner. Bruce Wayne and..." You stop yourself from reading anything else.