Cheshire/Batman Pt. 03: Third Date

Cheshire/Batman Pt. 03: Third Date

SECOND DATE

Jada and Bruce didn't go out on their second date until several days after their first, in an effort to go slowly. Jada recalled how she and Ayano tumbled into spending all of their time together in the beginning of their affair, which made it hard to take a step back and really think about where things were going. In fact, they had spent most of their time together for the next two years and four months. When Jada first heard the phrase "being boiled alive in a slowly warming tub," it really struck a chord. Little by little, she had become a part of something and someone she didn't recognize. With caution, she thought, she could avoid the same mistake.

When she spoke to Bruce that Sunday, Jada suggested they try a trendy Spanish-Basque restaurant called Huertas that she had been trying to get a table at for a long time without any success. Bruce, of course, was able to get a table for Thursday night. Her friend Grace came over that evening to offer her opinion on several different dresses Jada was considering. They had been roommates at art school, where Grace was known as an avante-garde clothing designer and not known for her Midwestern upbringing. Grace gave the kind of feedback that most people didn't have the guts to give Jada and she admired her for it.

"Honey, you're trying too hard. That dress says 'I can't wait til the third date to fuck you,'" Grace told her. She was standing in the open kitchen, opening a bottle of white wine when Jada walked out of the bedroom.

"Oh, it does not!" Jada scowled. "This is Ver-sayce," she joked, referencing the line from their favorite bad movie, Showgirls, when a character mispronounces Versace. Jada liked her indigo-colored dress, even if it was very low cut.

"I can practically see your belly button," Grace insisted, opening the bottle with a light pop of the cork. She poured two glasses and returned to the bedroom.

"I like looking sexy. And I've been brainwashed into the beautiful latina thing since birth," she said, rummaging through her closet. "But I won't go overboard."

"Bruce Wayne. I can't believe it," Grace smiled. "I remember when you went out with guys who did normal stuff like take the subway and... I dunno, not get hospital wings named after them."

"It just happened, okay? I'm not a gold digger or anything. I got my own money. How bout this? Does this dress say 'I got my own money'?" Jada asked, holding up a black satin dress.

"It's too formal. Save it for the gala! " Grace teased.

"Galas are not that bad. Do you like this green one?" Jada asked.

"I dunno, put it on. So, if Bruce has boyfriend potential, who was your rebound guy after Ayano? You always have a rebound guy," Grace pointed out. Jada thought for a second.

"Oh no, I didn't want to think of him like that!" she lamented. "Zip me."

"Who was it?!" Grace demanded, zipping up the back of Jada's dress.

"Do you remember that night we went to see Angelinos?" Jada asked, talking about the space-rock band and running into Nikos. She spun around, looking in the full-length mirror.

"That blonde guy?? Nikos?? How did I miss that?" Grace asked.

"You were after that lipstick lesbian and you were real drunk. Val told me she knew right away I was after him. I thought I was being all down-low about it," Jada smirked and faced Grace to get her opinion.

"That looks good. It brings out your eyes," Grace commented. "Why him? He worked for Ayano, didn't he?"

"Yeah. It was all hot and forbidden at the time. But if Ayano had found out, Nikos really would have gotten the shit kicked out of him. It wasn't fair of me," Jada said. She had been out of touch with Grace (and most of her friends) towards the end of her relationship with Ayano because there was too much to hide. And in the moment, she couldn't tell Grace that Ayano would have almost certainly killed Nikos for sleeping with her if had found out.

"Try those Guccis, the snakeskin ones. My new line is gonna have a lot of snakeskin," Grace said, sipping her wine. Jada took a drink of hers.

"When's the show again?" Jada asked, happy to change the subject.

"It's two weeks from Saturday. Should I invite Raquel or is she not into fashion shows?" Grace considered. She didn't know Raquel as well as Jada did.

"She'd go, she likes theater and it is theatrical," Jada told her.

After she broke up with Ayano, she was afraid to tell anyone. She was so afraid her friends would say "I told you so, he was too old for you," but Raquel understood the curse of hindsight. She was the only friend that Jada told how bad things had really gotten.

"Should I wear a necklace with this?" Jada asked. The dark green dress had only one shoulder, a big trend at the time, and an asymmetrical tulip hemline. The fabric was slightly stiff and iridescent.

"No, that would be too much. Is Bruce a lot older than you?" Grace wondered, trying to sound non-judgmental.

"Um, just nine years," Jada said sheepishly from behind the rim of her wine glass. She had googled him pretty extensively.

"Well, not as bad as last time," Grace conceded. The two hung out at Jada's apartment until it was time to meet Bruce for the dinner reservation.

HUERTAS

Bruce made the reservation at Huertas for 8:30, but had told Jada 8:00, knowing she would be about half an hour late. He was stepping out of his limo as Jada got out of her cab further down the curb. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you as late as me?" she asked skeptically. She wondered if he had remembered her lateness system for dates.

"The reservation's for 8:30," he told her with a grin as he kissed her cheek and gave her a hug. She smiled furtively and they walked inside to be seated. A host took their coats and the hostess led them to their table. Bruce felt compelled to mention Jada's outfit on the way.

"You look beautiful, by the way. Your dress really brings out your eyes," he told her. He pulled out the chair for Jada at their table.

"Thank you. You look very handsome, too. You always look so distinguished," Jada said, glowing from his compliment and being all-around happy to see him.

"That's what happens when you're raised by a British guy. Everything is formal," Bruce said, taking his seat. The hostess gave them menus.

"That explains a lot. Who's the British guy?" she asked.

"Alfred. He was our butler and he became my guardian. He taught me everything I know," he said, opening his menu.

"Including fashion?"

"I don't think I learned anything about fashion. Honestly, he picks out most of the suits. Still. I just show up at the tailor's. I don't remember to think about these kinds of things." he smiled. "I'd rather think about... solar power. And global positioning systems. Things like that."

"How is the power plant project going?" she asked. Bruce caught her up on some aspects of the project. The waiter came and told them about the specials.

"What will you be having to drink this evening?" he asked them.

"I don't know. What do you want?" Bruce asked her.

"We'll have a bottle of the vino verde," she told the waiter. "It's a white wine, it's dry and crisp, a little fizzy." she told Bruce.

"Great." Bruce said, and the waiter walked off. He noticed it was one of the less expensive wines on their list and appreciated her display of fiscal sensibility and decisiveness. She always seemed to know what she wanted. Little did he know she had no idea what she wanted from him. "From Portugal?"

"Yeah, the Romans even wrote about vino verde," she told him. "And, since it's European Portuguese, they say vayrd. In Brazil, you say vayr-djee."

"Vayr-djee... " he echoed. "Oh, I meant to ask you, how did you get the last name Versailles? I assume it isn't a common name in Brazil. Or Japan."

"No, it's not. My name used to be Jada Luciana Martines Kaneko." she told him, which Bruce had already discovered about her.

"That's beautiful. Why'd you change it?"

"Well, my mom was getting married and I was thirteen, almost fourteen. She wanted to change my last name to his, so we would all be da Silvas. It was like she was erasing my dad's name. I was worried he would be hurt. I didn't want to choose between my mom's wishes and my dad's feelings, so when she filled out the paperwork, I stole it. And altered it to my liking. And then off it went to the government. She was pretty pissed when she found out I changed the forms," Jada laughed. "She let me keep the name, though!"

"So, why Versailles? After the palace and gardens in France?"

"Uh, not really. I usually tell people I chose it for the palace, but it's a long story. It's silly anyway, you'd laugh," she said, waving her hand at him dismissively.

"I won't laugh. Tell me," Bruce pressed.

"Okay, well, me and my mom, we didn't have a lot of money all the time. My dad was always happy to help out, but my mother is so stubborn," Jada sighed, rolling her eyes. She continued her story animatedly. "She never, ever wanted to ask him for money. He broke her heart. So, when I was nine, we lived in this little touristy beach town. Sometimes, people would give me a few bucks to clean up rental houses after the guests left. They usually left behind foreign things that were hard to get in Brazil, and sometimes fashion magazines..."

Jada noticed the waiter was coming with their wine so she paused to do the obligatory restaurant wine-serving ritual. After they ordered their food, she continued.

"Most of the money I made went towards electricity and cooking gas but I saved some to buy the 'right' brands of clothes and shoes that I read about. I loved those fashion magazines. I used to read this old Vogue over and over. This article had pictures of The Battle at Versailles, like some Ten Years Ago type article. It was this fashion show in France in 1973 where the American designers just blew the Parisians away. They had black models, they had this Asian model with a Portuguese last name and all these fabulous dresses!" Jada's face lit up, as it did when she was a kid. "When you're a kid and you're poor, you need your escapes. So I spent what I could on fashionable things. I was just obsessed with The Battle of Versailles Fashion Show. It was at the Palace of Versailles. Those designers proved all those European snobs wrong. It meant Americans were these scrappy little underdogs and everyone had a chance to be great there. Here."

"And you kept the name, all these years," Bruce smiled. "You must have been a scrappy little kid." He had already been looking up more about her under her real name for a while now. Still, it was a good sign she was being so open with him.

"I told you it was silly," she said, grinning behind her glass of wine as she drank from it.

"It's not silly. I'm going to have to look up The Battle at Versailles, find some pictures of it," he told her.

"You don't like thinking about fashion," she reminded him.

"I don't. But I like thinking about you," Bruce replied, inadvertently sounding more charming than he even intended. Jada tried to keep her feet on the ground, even though her delight was written all over her face. He got some major points for that, she thought. The waiter came back with their food before she could reply.

"I used to have lots of escapes when I was a kid, too. Only child," Bruce started up again as he ate. Jada was having an internal conversation with herself about not falling for guys too soon. She snapped out of it.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Gadgets. How things work. Lots of books. And spelunking," Bruce said between bites.

"Okay, I consider myself completely fluent in English, but what the hell is spelunking?! English is the craziest language!" Jada exclaimed, laughing at the sound of the word.

"Exploring caves. It is a ridiculous word. That's why I would always tell Alfred I was going to be a speleologist. That's a less ridiculous word. Cave explorer," Bruce said, remembering himself as the adventurous child he was.

"Only slightly less ridiculous," Jada asserted. "Do you still spelunk?" she inquired, smiling mischievously.

"Not lately," Bruce answered, unable to stop smiling.

The second half of the date went just as well as the first. Jada caught herself getting what she considered too excited again. Grace had pointed out there was a significant age difference between them that could present a problem. Jada reminded herself about all those articles she read about him being a playboy. Maybe dates like this were commonplace for him. Maybe he charmed all women like this. For all she knew, he could just be trying to get laid. He hadn't lost any points during the date, but she was afraid to award him any. Don't lose your head, she chided herself.

Meanwhile, Bruce was trying to put the brakes on his enthusiasm as well. He had so much fun with her, he thought. He really hoped he wouldn't find out anything bad about her. He still hadn't gotten the story about Regetti's men at the heist she interrupted as Cheshire. In his head, his inner criminologist was lecturing him, but he would tune it out like a distant car alarm and just gaze at her contently.

They had tea after their meal, both wanting to stay and talk some more. But the night was over. It was too cold to ask him to walk her home a mile away, so when he offered her a ride home, she accepted. They arrived at her apartment much too soon. She looked out the limo's window and then back at Bruce. He saw that same amorous glint in her eye that he had seen when they were lying in front of the fire on the island. Without hesitation, she moved closer to him and started to kiss him.

He felt her fingers on the back of his head, gently rustling his short hair. Her tongue beckoned his and he could sense her breathing get heavier. He slipped a hand between her coat and the fabric of her dress on her waist. She was so warm and inviting. Her lips kissed down his neck as she emitted a barely-audible "mmm." He ran his fingers through her hair, then caressed her down her neck and back. Her perfume was so sweet and feminine: a lemongrass-gardenia scent that was completely intoxicating. It felt too good to be true. There had to be something wrong with her, he thought. Well, besides all the art heists.

Jada's heart was ready to leap forward. Her lips loved touching his. But her mind was trying to slow her down. Their hands were all over each other, but couldn't reach anywhere too naughty because of their heavy winter coats. Jada slowed her movements, gripping his lapel and staring him down. She was wondering what he looked like under the coat and under the suit, and considering whether or not she should keep going. She liked being straightforward about what she wanted. Wouldn't it be stupid for the two of them to be sitting there, wanting the same thing, and not doing it?

Bruce watched her checking him out and sensed her internal debate. What was it about this woman that made him want to let her ravish him?

"Mmm..." Jada breathed, still looking at him with candid desire. She laid her palm on his chest. "I could kiss you goodnight for hours. But maybe we should make another date."

"Many more dates..." Bruce murmured, giving her another kiss. His hand still rested on her waist, moving down to her hip, the caress admiring her shape.

"What are you doing this weekend?" she asked.

"Whatever you're doing."

"Let's have dinner again on Saturday night."

"Hmm. It's gonna be a long two days," he told her. Jada was inclined to flirt and kiss him some more, but her caution interrupted again.

"Bruce, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure. What is it?" he asked.

"You have to tell me the truth," she clarified.

"Okay. I promise."

"Do you... do all of your dates go like this? Does going out with a woman and totally hitting it off happen all the time for you?" she asked, her green eyes peering at him with exaggerated suspicion.

"Statistically, it's rare. It does not happen all the time," he informed her. He was thrilled to hear she thought it was going well.

"When was the last time you were in a relationship?" she asked, taking advantage of her position.

"Almost a year ago," he answered quickly. He was lying. He hadn't been in any relationship of note in three years.

"And since then?"

"A couple dates here and there," he responded, preparing for evasiveness. He knew what she was getting at, but he hadn't completely decided what his intentions were yet and didn't know what to say.

"Okay, well then I'll just tell you that I don't meet many men like you. And I wasn't going to date at all for a while, but..." she trailed off. She kissed him playfully, pressing up against him in a way that made it difficult to make herself leave. His hand cradled her lower back beneath her coat. His mind felt saturated with everything about her. He would have to remind each cell to breathe and see and think about things that weren't Jada.

"Let's go somewhere around here for dinner. Saturday's okay?" she confirmed, extracting herself.

"Okay. Good night," he said, not able to come up with anything else as she left. He resolved to find out more about Cheshire as soon as possible. It could no longer wait.

BACKGROUND CHECK FOR THIRD DATE

Batman had questioned a few guys on the street about the incident with Regetti's men and Cheshire. The men had, in fact, survived by going to the nearest hospital. He hacked into their hospital records, which listed all the various coagulants and toxins in their bloodstream. This way, he was able to investigate any other crimes or murders with this type of poison. He found a few similar poisonings in contexts that suggested Cheshire, but so far no deaths in the US records he had accessed. Not that a murder would have been a deal-breaker, but it would be good to know how often it occurred and if she had lied to him.

He had seen the situation with Sinaga firsthand and knew that she had to kill him. His own life had depended on it, too. But so far, he had no concrete reason to stop seeing her. There was nothing vicious or psychotic in her past. She had stolen a lot of things and tangled with many a superhero, but nothing had popped up for months before or after Sinaga. Had she retired already?

Meanwhile, Jada was on the way to meet with an important, high maintenance artist whose pieces sold for a lot of money. She was hoping he would agree to work with her gallery exclusively. The lunch meeting went so badly that she found herself daydreaming about breaking into the arrogant bastard's studio and taking everything. She hadn't thought about Cheshire in a long time, she realized.

When she had first arrived back in Gotham from Indonesia, Jada had been worried that Batman was going to come and find her. And, he had, sort of. One day, she had come home from work and there was a note stuck to the window of her spare room, the window she used to use as Cheshire to enter and exit unseen by anyone. All it had said was "Consider us even" and then the bat signal. It wasn't a threat, really. It just told her that Batman knew who she was, where she lived, and probably more. She hadn't gone out as Cheshire. But still, had a really great opportunity to steal a cool painting had surfaced, she probably would have taken it. There just wasn't anything exciting in the market these days.

But now, she thought, maybe there wasn't much more for Cheshire to do. Jada really didn't need to steal anything for financial reasons: her gallery had a great reputation and was turning a large profit again. As far as the thrill-ride aspect of being Cheshire, perhaps she had outgrown it. These days, Jada liked developing an art project in Brazil with Joao. She liked actually being available for her friends instead of only running to them when she had problems. And she had time to pursue whatever and whomever she pleased in Gotham City.