Batman's Secretary

Family Visits

Bruce was being so nice the past week, ever since that horrid ball. 

Alexis was trying to tell him that it was fine, that nothing was wrong now that the merger was set up and running fine. Well, all was fine except for the paperwork. 

She had piles of paperwork at the front desk, all waiting for Bruce Wayne's glorified signature, and she had too or them all before the afternoon rush of phone calls. 

In their secluded part of the building, at the top most floor, she had all the calls forwarded to her, and then she would forward them to Bruce if need be. 

So when, during the short lunch break where she sat at the desk nursing a textbook and a salad sandwich, the phone rang, she was hurriedly gulping down her mouthful of sandwich and grabbing for it quickly.

" Mr Wayne's office, how may I help you?" She answered politely, using the same mantra she always did.

" Hey Alexis, it's Cindy from downstairs reception. There's a woman named Valerie who's currently coming up to your floor. She needs to see you urgently about something?" Cindy informed, confusion clear in her tone.

Alexis almost dropped the phone, quickly ending the call and scrambling to open the door as a woman she recognized gestured hurriedly to be let in. Opening the door quickly, she ushered the woman inside.

" Valerie! What are you doing here?! How did you even get to America?!" Alexis hissed quickly, hugging the woman.

" Hey little sister, I had to warn you. I'm not alone, mum's downstairs and she is coming to find you!" Valerie quickly stated, amusement clear in her tone, and a barely concealed laugh in her voice.

Alexis's eyes widened to the size of quarters, her mouth dropping open in surprise and terror all at once.

" How did she find me?!" Alexis whined, putting her head in her hands.

" Not sure, but she's packed up the entire family to come looking for you here, we're staying for the week. Now go hide!" Valerie ordered quickly.

Alexis sprinted to the only place she knew she could hide on this floor. She sprinted to Bruce's office, opening the door and shutting it behind her. She rushed to Bruce's desk, dropping down behind it despite's a very strange look she was getting from her boss. 

" Hide me!" She hissed desperately. 

" From who?" Bruce whispered in amusement.

" My mother!" Was the only reply he got before she was huddled under his desk again, clutching her navy cardigan close so it wouldn't be seen.

Bruce had a moment to contemplate that question before a woman who looked exactly like Alexis, but older and much shorter, burst in to the room, a huge smile on her face. She gripped his hand and started to shake it enthusiastically.

" Mr Wayne! You are the man who hired my baby girl! Many, many thanks," She thanked, her voice loud and rich with a strong, strong accent.

Bruce had no idea why his secretary was huddled under his desk, but apparently she didn't want to see her mother for some reason.

" It is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Mercury," Bruce greeted, wincing at the woman's strong grip.

" Oh my, Mr Wayne, you are a charmer, I can see why my daughter is infatuated by you. May I inquire as to where she may be?" Mrs Mercury asked, winking at him conspiratorially. 

Bruce could barely contain his laughter at this point as he heard Alexis squeak slightly from under the desk, reacting to her mother's comment.

" I believe that she may have stepped outside for her lunch break, I do suggest looking at the cafe down the street, she sometimes goes there for lattes," Bruce suggested politely, itching to let his laughter out. 

Mrs Mercury thanked him quickly and rushed off out the door to find her daughter.

" She's gone," Bruce chuckled.

A very ruffled looking Alexis scrambled out from under the desk, smoothing her hair back and trying to look professional yet failing to do so.

" Why are you hiding from your mother?" Bruce asked in amusement.

She groaned, putting her hands to her face and slumping in a defeated posture.

" She's trying to find me a husband," Alexis whined pitifully.

Bruce couldn't contain his laughter anymore, and he chuckled deeply, the strangeness of the situation finally getting to him.

" It isn't funny! It's my nightmares coming true, she shipped the ENTIRE family here to find me a husband!" Alexis hissed in annoyance, making Bruce laugh all the more.

It was at that moment that Richard trotted in, his uniform rumpled after his day at school.

" What's so funny?" He asked sweetly, seeing Bruce having a good time.

Alexis snorted in annoyance and sauntered towards the door. Her office shift was over, entertaining Richard shift was about to begin.

" Nothing Richard, now come along, I think we've earned ourselves some football in the park," Alexis compromised, pulling the child along behind her.

Why did embarrassing things always have to happen to her?

When she came home on her motorcycle, puttering to a stop outside the apartment building where she lived on the third floor, she didn't expect to see ten beat up Toyotas parked outside, dirt and rust all over them. 

Oh how her life was cursed.

Putting on a brave face, she opened the door of her apartment, and was assaulted by the smell of about a hundred different plates of food steaming on the table, awaiting her arrival. It looked like and Indian wedding feast! Curries, papadums, paratha bread, chutneys. 

Her mother was broadening her cooking horizons again. She'd be eating different cultural dishes for months at this rate! 

The second thing she was exposed to upon opening her door, her black coat wrapped around her, was a group hug from all ten of her older brothers at once.

She couldn't breathe, and started squirming in their holds as they crushed her in a tight hug, dragging her inside and kicking the door closed.

" Put me down you idiots!" She gasped out.

They instantly let her go, only for her oldest brother, and biggest protector, Jake, to lift her off her feet in a bridal hold, spinning her around much to her protest. Elijah then proceeded to ruffle her hair badly, leaving it sticking up all over the place.

" Alexis!" They all clambered, giving her their unique welcomes one at a time.

It was both sweet and infuriating. 

How the heck did they even know where she lived?

And then her mother, father, and only sister came in to view from the kitchen, her mother grinning like crazy.

" Alexis! You're finally home, what took you so long?" Her mother cried happily.

She couldn't say it was because she had been avoiding them, or that she'd been contemplating a secret escape to Metropolis.

" I was.....fueling up my motorcycle mum, took me longer than expected," She lied quickly.

" Oh well you're just in time for dinner, and I invited some people over!" Her mother gushed, dragging her off to go get changed out of her motorcycle gear in her room.

Before she rounded the apartment corner she caught sight of five me all standing in the kitchen. Five guys from the apartment complex, all single.

Oh no, just no, it really was her nightmare.