Castle Of Glass | B. Wayne

[26]

Talia waited for the others to leave for patrol and then she approached Calmia, knocking on her bedroom door lightly.

"Yes?" Calmia opened the door a fraction, surprised to see her outside, "Talia, do you need anything?"

"Can you give me some of your time?" She asked in a soft voice although the glimmer in her eyes was slightly unnerving, "I have to talk to you."

"Oh alright..." She opened the door wider, "come in."

Talia stepped into the room but then paused, seeing that it looked different from what she last remembered. Calmia had made changes to the decor and instead of a dull black color theme, she had added neutral shades of cream and beige.

it felt lighter than earlier as if her presence had made all the difference.

"So you're an interior designer?" She asked, fingers trailing over the thick curtains, "nice changes."

Calmia felt awkward, not knowing how to reply to that, "well, it felt too dark for my preference so I just..."

"Right," she nodded, sitting down on the comfortable couch across from the bed, "you have good taste."

"Thanks, I guess?"

Talia could see that the woman was uncomfortable in her presence but she did nothing to make that impression lessen. She found it somewhat amusing that Calmia was intimidated by her. After all, she was the heir to the Demon Head while Calmia was nothing special; just an ordinary woman who worked as an interior designer.

"Anyways, I'm not here to talk about trivial matters," Talia spoke up, coming to the topic at last, "I want to know about you. Everything about you, to be precise."

Calmia felt uncomfortable at that unwavering gaze and her words as she asked, "but what for?"

"As Damian's mother, I have a right to know about the people who are living with him and can influence him."

"Well, in that case, what do you want to know?"

Talia thought for a while then put forward her questions, "how long have you known Be- Bruce before you got married to him?"  

"For about two years," she replied.

"How did you meet?"

"I had been redesigning Wayne Plaza's interior when I first met him," Calmia felt awkward being interrogated as such but thought it would be better for Talia to clear all her questions directly.

"And you're from Egypt...?"

"My maternal relatives are," she told her, "my brother and mother live in Cairo and I have lived here with my father until he passed away."

Talia paused, pondering over what else to ask her. There was nothing special about the woman, she shook her head as she dismissed the rest of the questions. She was definitely not someone Talia could expect Batman to fall in love with but the impossible had happened somehow and now she was part of his family and the queen of his heart.

Jealous or not, Talia couldn't claim that place. 

So she changed her strategy right then and there as she spoke up, "I can see Bruce is happy with you but what matters to me is whether my son is willing to have you around or not. I'm sure he wouldn't have been very supportive of the notion of his father getting married and bringing a stepmother into his life."

Talia's words were cruel but Calmia digested them without snapping back. She felt that she was only testing her patience, trying to make sure she was worthy of living with the Waynes and in close proximity to her son.

"Talia, Damian and I have talked about this. I don't think he has any problem with me now."

She raised an eyebrow, "now? So there were problems before?"

Calmia felt as if she had been tricked into saying that, "well... Not really. It's not like that."

Talia didn't look too convinced, "frankly, I don't blame you. My son isn't what your idea would be of a normal fifteen year old boy. No matter how hard you try, you might never be able to understand him. It's surprising he has a soft corner for you but I don't think you should expect anything more than that. You can't take my place." 

"I am not going to replace you in his heart. You don't have to feel like I'll do anything of the sort," she tried to clear things up.

"You can't, he's my son. Mine," her voice was firm, those emerald eyes reminding Calmia of how Damian acted when he was suppressing his anger or discomfort.

"I know that."

She stared down at her hands, feeling terrible and not knowing how to make Talia understand her perspective. It was clear the woman held some bitter feelings still despite being in a cheerful mood when the others were around.

Perhaps it was just in front of Damian and Bruce that Talia was acting nonchalantly about the entire situation. And now that they were gone, she had no hesitation to confront her directly.

"As for Bruce, I am still shocked he considered something above this city he gives up his life for," Talia's words were laced with contempt, "do you know why we didn't work out well together? I loved him and I still do but he couldn't give up his city to choose me. He left us and then Damian chose to stay with him. I don't know how things are different this time, I don't know how you're any special compared to me but in the end, he will always choose Gotham, his mission, his city. Keep that in mind. Don't expect too much from him that it becomes disappointing for you later on."

She stood up to leave, having conveyed all she wanted to. Calmia looked troubled but she didn't say anything to justify herself or oppose her words.

She knew that Talia was only letting out the smoke inside her and it was useless to say anything to her right then. She was probably hurt by Bruce's decision of marrying Calmia and was trying to make herself feel better by slighting Calmia.

So she only closed the door as the woman stepped out. It would take some time for the sting of her words to die down but Calmia knew that it was futile to feel terrible about words alone.

She loved Bruce and had married him, his family had also accepted her with open arms and that was all that mattered. Talia's words and perhaps her presence would sting for some time but she had no power to snatch away the love and happiness Calmia had in her life right then.

***