𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆, 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒂 | 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 (𝙜𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙢)

chapter 12

Eularia was beaming proudly at Bruce as she straightened his tie, brushing off his blazer. He looked much older than he actually was, like a real man.

"So, how do I look?" He asked her nervously. "Good? Okay? Good-ish?"

"Perfect." Eularia grinned as he got back to his work, jotting down notes on the files. Eularia took her usual spot next to him, on a chair she'd pulled up earlier. She followed his gaze carefully, reading along the same lines he was.

"Wasn't there this huge thing about Arkham?" Eularia noted. "You could ask them to address some of the issues that Wayne enterprises was involved in."
"You're a genius, Lara!" Bruce laughed, quickly writing it down. "I mean, it was so obvious! Why didn't I think of it earlier?"

"You were just overworked and tired." She assured him. "You've done much more than anyone your age could even dream of. Everyone else– that can afford it– are probably whining about the impossible amount of homework they get. While here you are, running your own company!"

He blushed. "Not completely by myself. In fact, I barely do any actual–"

"Hush." She pushed her finger to cover his mouth. "Be proud of yourself. Just for a moment. You deserve it, B." Eularia leaned forward, ignoring his gaping and staring. "Alright, so how about asking them what they're doing with all the money gained from charity events and donations? There should be at least hundreds of thousands– amounts like that don't just disappear. It must have been a big group working together over a period of time."

Bruce wrote down every word she said, exactly as she set it. Eularia was much cleverer than she let on.

"Okay, so we should calculate the budget your parents previously gave for the large-scale projects. I think the money that they actually spent was way above that..."

"They called to confirm." Alfred's hands were held neatly in front of him, nothing but concern painted across his face. "You're meeting with the board of Wayne Enterprises tomorrow."

"Excellent." Bruce replied smoothly, returning to the documents he was examining and annotating carefully on. "I was afraid they'd postpone again." Eularia quietly pointed out some mistakes he'd made.

"Well, I'll say it one more time. I think that it's an incredibly bad idea, Master Bruce." Alfred insisted. "I think it's reckless. I think it's premature. Quite frankly, I think it's bloody dangerous."

"We've already been over this a hundred times, Alfred. My mind is made up."

"It's always an option to bring Eularia." Suggested Alfred, making the said girl look up cautiously. She'd never been told of the idea.

"They'll question my decision-making skills with my choice to befriend Lara." Seeing that she felt offended at that, Bruce explained himself. "It's not like I regret it. I would never. It's just that they wouldn't understand my decisions and would brush off my reasoning as the naivety of a child. They would say terrible things about you that you don't deserve. Do you get it?" He was genuinely asking her.

"Yep." Eularia smiled, patting his hand. "I get it, I promise. It's for my own good. I'll be your moral support from here! What I learned from my experience is that it's not necessarily a bad thing for people to underestimate you. That gives you more opportunities to surprise them in ways that they would never expect." She glanced at the clock. "I'll leave you to work." She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Shock them with your amazingness."

"This is really good! What's it called?" Eularia's hands were cupped around the big mug, her new hoodie a little too large for her. Despite her protests, Bruce had told Alfred to get Eularia some new clothes– the ratty street outfit would do her no good.