Legend's Apprentice

Celebration

I slept in the next day, had a late breakfast, and just sort of piddled around until it was time to get ready. Mindy helped me curl my hair (which was growing out from the layers nicely) and put it up in a pretty updo. J had given me some pretty dangly silver earrings for Christmas, and they went nicely with my dress, which had bright silver sequins at the top and faded to black at the hem. Mindy also lent me a little beaded black wool bolero, which would keep me a little warmer than the stole I'd bought for the ballet. Of course, this wasn't actually much in the way of weather protection; it was darn cold outside, but I didn't want to wear my usual jacket. Hence the bolero and the shimmery hose over my legs. What? Rill said the party was at an upscale venue; this could mean actually pretty much anything but a dive to her, but she'd gotten a flashy dress too. Mindy and Sam dropped me off at the restaurant we were meeting at for dinner beforehand; they had their own party and celebration planned.

The other girls looked all glam too and we gathered our share of looks when we were seated in the restaurant. Mindful of our silhouettes, we ate lightly, ordering a bunch of appetizers to share. Before we left the restaurant, she handed around the invitations and said we couldn't get in without them. My eyes widened as I saw the venue on the invitation.

"The Yale Club?" Aslyn said, fanning herself with the thick paper. "We're coming up in the world."

Rill laughed. "The boy I'm dating had the invitation. It's a big deal, it's for adults as well, there's an open bar but we won't be served there. They have a separate one set up for the underagers. And live music. And Darrell, the guy I'm dating, rounded up three friends for you guys as well."

"You have to promise that Alex gets a good guy," Karen said, laughing. "Aslyn stuck her with Damian Wayne the last time."

"He's not that bad," I said.

"What, he grew on you like fungus?" Karen quipped, and we all laughed, although I felt a little bad about it. We paid the bill and took a cab even though it was just a few blocks away. We all had horribly impractical but pretty shoes on and nobody wanted to waste our precious limited mileage slogging to the party. And none of us had on practical outerwear. We surrendered our wraps at the coat check, and handed our invitations to the guys guarding the inner door. They held the doors for us, and we went in. Like a lot of New York, this building had lovely Beaux Arts detailing and elegant, slightly stuffy appointments.

"Very posh," Aslyn said. She poked me. "MIT has an alumni club here in the city too, but it's not this opulent, I've heard."

"Want to rethink your decision to attend MIT?" a deep voice said behind me, and I turned to see Mr Wayne speaking to me. He had a glass of...some liquor, neat, and a crowd of people around him.

"I'm afraid it will take more than a beautiful clubhouse," I said. "I'm prepared to beaver away for the next four years." He caught the reference to the MIT mascot and smiled.

"Have a nice evening," he said.

"Happy New Year," I replied, and he moved on. The girls were staring at me. "What?"

"Damian's one thing, I didn't know you knew the big kahuna," Rill said.

"I met him my first day at his company," I said. "I wouldn't say I know him."

She looked like she was going to say more, but she was interrupted by a blandly cute blond guy in a suit, who gave her a kiss. She forgot Mr Wayne and introduced us. Darrell shook my hand.

"How do you know Bruce Wayne?" he asked, and I repeated that I worked for his company. "Great!" he enthused, and gestured behind me. "I've got the perfect date for you." I turned and with a certain sense of inevitability, saw Damian and two other boys behind me. The girls broke up laughing and I grinned. Damian grinned too and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Darrell didn't get the joke, but he was well mannered and introduced Karen and Aslyn to their dates. It turned out that they all went to the same prep school. Remembering Aslyn's last encounter with a guy from that school, I looked to see how she was taking it, but her date seemed nicer.