Sell you a Bridge chapter 30

Wayne Manor, July 9th 2010 7:00 PM EDT

Wayne  Manor was really big. Like, I'd thought the Drake Estate was big but  the Wayne's took it the extra mile, the place was the size of a damn  castle. I turned to my girlfriend, who was just getting out of the limo  she'd arranged for tonight. Annabel was wearing a tiny maroon dress that  set off her hair amazingly. Her face was expertly made up and her hair  was falling in shimmering golden curls down around her shoulders. She  looked amazing.

As I turned to  her she reached up to adjust my tie "Ok, so remember. Stay on the move,  try not to get dragged into talking to one person for too long. We want  you to make some connections tonight, get you out there. People will  expect you to be representing me here, and me to be representing Powers  Tech. List of do's and don'ts. Do: Laugh at people's jokes, make  flattering comments and refer any questions about the company to me.  Don't: Give any concrete answers to questions about business, accept any  gifts, or outright insult anyone unless I give you the all clear." Her  voice was high and fast, clearly nervous as hell about tonight.

I  put my hands on her shoulders with a laugh "Honey, breathe. You're  about to pass out. I remember the stuff you said I should and shouldn't  say. I won't embarrass your family's company or you. Trust me." James  had dumped more than a few etiquette books on me during my never ending  reading homework. Apparently casing rich people parties was pretty  standard for professional thieves, and knowing how to handle yourself  was key to not being discovered. "Now, do you want to take a minute  before we go in? Because there's no rush. If anyone asks why we're late  we can just say we got lost on the way up the driveway." I shot a  meaningful glance at the long curving gravel drive.

She  giggled a b it, seeming to relax "No, no, I'm good. Sorry babe. This is  just kind of a big deal. Mom and Dad were all over me after they found  out about the party and if I don't do a good job they're going to be so  mad at me." She chewed her bottom lip in worry before shaking her head  to clear it, sending her cascade of gold girls bouncing. "Sorry, no. I  can be a good daughter and a good girlfriend. Besides I want you to have  an amazing night tonight. It's our last night out before...our big  night in." She hesitated slightly on that last statement, like she was  unsure about going through with it, but her smile afterward was bright  and warm. I hoped she wasn't having second thoughts but if she was it  look like she got over them pretty quick.

I  smiled back, but my response was cut off by a voice saying "Gag. Can  you not talk about your first time banging my best friend please. I plan  to eat at this thing." Artemis climbed out of the limo in a long dark  green dress with a slit up one side, showing off a long expanse of very  toned leg. Her hair was plaited over one shoulder. A redheaded figure  climbed out after her. Her boyfriend, Wally, who she met at one of their  track meets. The guy was in shape I'll give him that, and she admired  him in his tux as she fixed his bow tie. I wondered if all girls did  that or just the ones I knew.

Bette's  voice came out of the car "Oh leave them alone. Personally I hope she  fucks him this weekend. The love sick cuddling and soulfully staring  into each others eyes gets nauseating. Maybe after they release some  tension they'll be disaffected and aloof to their significant other like  a normal person. All this affection can't be healthy." The blonde  snickered as she climbed out of the limo in her cerulean blue dress  Reggie scrambling out to help her from the car so she didn't fall. She  shot him a wink when she finished talking and pecked him on the cheek to  show she was kidding.

Wally  piped up from his spot next to Arty "I think it's sweet. Plus it makes  me feel better because I don't have to be jealous my girlfriend is  spending all her time with her incredibly jacked best friend." He turned  to Artemis "Not that I don't trust you of course, Babe, but look at the  guy." He waved over at me "He is yoked. You could grate cheese on his  abs. I'm honestly kind of jealous." We all laughed at the comment  because Wally was almost as ripped as I was. But it successfully helped  my girlfriend calm down and I was grateful.

Annabel  smiled at all of us "Thanks guys. I needed to get out of my own head. I  think I'm good if anyone wants to go in." She took a deep breath and  exhaled it, putting her war face on. She took my arm in hers and lead me  up to the front door from the large gravel area at the end of the  driveway that served as a parking lot. Imagine being rich enough to need  a parking lot for your house. We arrived in front of a huge pair of  double doors made of dark wood, which seemed to be a staple of these old  manor houses, and Annabel reached up to the brass lions head knocker to  rap on the door three times.

Before  the last tap landed the door swung open, revealing a tall well dressed  older man with a pencil thin mustache and a kind smile "Good evening  sirs and ladies, welcome. I take it you're all here for the party?" We  nodded confirmation and he smiled, stepping back to usher us in.  "Splendid. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, I am the butler at Wayne manor.  I do so hope you all enjoy your stay." I immediately liked the friendly  old butler, not just because he was personable but also because his  upper crust British accent reminded me so much of my mentor.

His  eyes rolled over us all, stopping for a bit longer on Wally, but since  my friend's boyfriend was in the middle of trying to prove he could pat  his head and rub his belly at the same time that wasn't really anything  strange. Without further ado he led us down the long and well furnished  hall to a massive set of double doors that stood open to expose a huge  white and gold ballroom. Honestly the place reminded me of the ballroom  in Beauty and the Beast, except it was full of incredibly well dressed  teenagers.

We  intercepted a passing waiter to pick up a few plates of the hors  d'oeuvres . Egg rolls, crab rangoon, fried raviolis, and mini crab  cakes, just to name a few things. I stocked up on as many as I could,  holding two plates filled with food, and blanched when I looked up to  see my girlfriend glaring at me. I flinched and scrambled for an excuse  to get her attention off me, settling on the newcomers in our group "So,  Bette, Wally, what did you guys do for your fourth of July? Reggie,  Arty, and I had our extracurricular stuff later on in the night, but I  know I had a nice picnic with Annabel."

Wally,  who was shoveling food into his mouth actually choked, and Artemis had  to whack him on the back a few times to clear his airway. He chuckled a  bit sheepishly "Wow, sorry, caught me off guard there. My fourth was  pretty boring. Our parents had this big shindig and a few of my buddies  and I snuck off to go to another party we heard about. One of the guys  at the party we went to took some drugs or something and lost it and  kind of ruined our night. On the upside we made a new friend and it was  kind of exciting. Guy is a bit of a stick in the mud but he seems cool, I  think we're going to hang out as a group more often."

I  smiled at the obvious fondness he felt for hanging with his friends.  They sounded close, a lot like how Reggie, Arty, and I had gotten, minus  the super powers and infiltration obviously. I turned to Bette, raising  an eyebrow in question and using my girlfriends distraction to pop a  crab rangoon in my mouth. She wouldn't stop me from eating of course,  but she would make me be all civilized about it and I was hungry. Bette  just shrugged "Family barbecue. It was here actually. The Wayne's are  relatives of ours and they tend to host family functions. This year was a  bit of an event, my cousin Kate came out and her dad is in the military  and apparently was hoping she 'wouldn't tell.' Other than that just  watched some fire works with my folks."

I  winced "Sorry to hear that, your uncle sounds like kind of a dick, no  offense. Hope your cousin is doing alright. Anyway, we should get out  there and mingle, if I don't start talking to people I suspect Annabel  might scalp me. She's starting to look a little murdery, though that  might just be because I got grease on my jacket. I was hoping she hadn't  noticed but it seemed like that is not the case. Sorry honey." Sure  enough, my girlfriend was glaring daggers at me. She stepped up and  started using a napkin to try to get the grease stain from the egg roll  out of my lapel. She got most of it then took the plates away from me  with an even harsher glare and shoved them both into Wally's hands.

The  redhead looked thrilled to have them but had to scramble a bit to catch  everything. I was impressed by his reflexes, even i would have had  trouble keeping all that in the air. After that I was dragged away to  meet with boring teenagers and some boring adults I hadn't noticed. I  had a perfect memory and even I lost track of how many hands I shook or  kissed. Finally we pulled off to the side of the Ballroom and I slumped  against the wall. Annabel came up behind me to rub my shoulders "You're  doing fine babe. I really appreciate how much effort you're putting in."  She paused for a second "And don't lean against the wall you'll wrinkle  your tux."

I  had to hold back a chuckle at how chagrined she sounded when she added  that. Like she knew how uptight and neurotic it made her seem but she  couldn't help it. I turned to her with a smile and pulled her against  me, leaning down to kiss her. Before I could make contact though, all  the lights went out. I turned, pulling her behind me and flipping to  aura sight, which gave me the light of everyone's aura to see by. Not  that I needed it for long because within a few seconds the lights turned  back on. Everything was pretty much the same, with the exception of the  man standing on the table in the center of the room.

Well,  I say man, but what I really meant was a familiar bright white suit  with a dapper top hat sitting above it. My eyes widened in shock as I  realized what was going on. When I told Jim about the invitation tonight  he told me to go and said he would take care of it. I hadn't realized  he meant he was going to rob the party to distract everyone but it was a  fantastic plan. Or it would have been, but I'd been around Jim enough  to know that tilt of his hat. He was facing the opposite side of the  Ballroom where a woman in skin tight leather was crouched on a window  sill. His voice sounded more annoyed than angry when he spoke, but it  boomed through the whole room "Catwoman! Hand over the music box, now!"