A Dinner With Bruce Wayne

I wrote this story on the spot for a class presentation, within about 30 minutes, as was the given time frame. Picture taken from DeviantArt and belongs to the respective owners.

“Master Bruce, I would like to inform you that Miss Rachel Dawes’ birthday is approaching.” Alfred said.

Bruce Wayne looked up from the newspaper that he was reading and stared at Alfred.

“Rachel?” Bruce murmured, slightly shocked.

“Yes, Master Bruce.”

Bruce put down his coffee mug, folded away the newspaper and sat up. Birthday? How could he forget? Rachel Dawes, his first and only friend �" his first and only love. She had been rather angry at him lately because of his self-absorbed and promiscuous ways. She understands that it is all a front but, she is still angry. Why couldn’t he care? Why can’t he settle down and get married to a nice girl? Why can’t he be useful?

“Alfred, what should I get for her?” he asked.

Alfred raised his brows, taken aback slightly.

He recovered swiftly and replied, “How about a nice diamond necklace?”

“Too impersonal, she doesn’t like those things.”

“An expensive dinner at the family restaurant?”

“Too public, she doesn’t like to be seen with me. She said something about not wanting to be one of my call-girls. I want to really show her that I care Alfred; she’s always been good to me. I want to be good to her too. Or at least, show that I care…” Bruce sighed.

Alfred tapped his chin and looked at him thoughtfully.

“How about you make dinner for her, Master Bruce?” Alfred suggested.

“Dinner? Me? Make dinner?” Bruce stared at him, dumbfounded and surprised.

“You want to show that you care, don’t you?” Alfred smiled, with a hint of mischief.

 

 “Do we have any cooking books, Alfred?” Bruce shouted from the library.

He stared at the multitude of shelves in the family library and began to sort through the books, taking them from the shelves and then tossing them onto the Persian rug when they weren’t to his liking.

“There’s always the internet, Master Bruce.” Alfred called back.

 

“Rachel, hey! This is Bruce, Bruce Wayne.” Bruce said on the phone.

“Oh Bruce, hi! How have you been?” Rachel answered.

“Good, I’ve been doing pretty good... I was wondering if you were free this weekend.”

“Are you trying to ask me out, Bruce?” Rachel smiled.

“Maybe. Possibly. Most likely, yes. I’ll make dinner.”

“You? Make dinner?” Rachel sounded surprised.

“Come ‘round over at 6pm.” Bruce said.

“Could you at least make that a question, Bruce?” Rachel sighed.

“Would you like to come over at 6pm to have dinner with me?” he asked, pleadingly.

Rachel chuckled, “Yes, I will.”

 

The kitchen was fully stocked and well-prepared to cater to the high-class chefs that Bruce hired to make his meals for him. It was a chef’s dream, but to Bruce, it seemed like a minefield. Battling Jonathan Crane was easier than navigating through a kitchen to make a simple meal. He had decided on steak and a side of Caesar salad because apparently, through avid research done on the internet, it was the easiest to prepare. They lied, he thought.

He began by chopping up the vegetables. Thanks to his previous training with knives with Ra’s Al Ghul in the League of Assassins, it wasn’t that hard. Chopping up the onions was a bit of a challenge though, the fumes were overpowering and it was the first time he’d cried since he was a little boy. The steaks, however, had nearly caused him to blow up the kitchen and set off the fire alarm.

At 6 o’clock, the doorbell rang. Bruce stiffened in the middle of adding garnishes to the dishes. His reflexes then kicked in. He hastily took off the apron and straightened his collared shirt. He nearly sprinted to the door in his anxiety but he managed to restrain himself, barely.

 

When he opened the door, there stood Rachel Dawes, in a beautiful black dress, beautiful and elegant. He stared in amazement.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?” she asked a little breathlessly.

He blinked twice before reacting and shutting the door firmly behind him. He led her to the kitchen where the food that he had just prepared was waiting.

“Wow, you made this all by yourself? Or did you have Alfred help?” she asked, teasing.

“I did it. Cooking steak was a lot harder than it seems.” He said gruffly.

“Well, thank you very much for this Bruce. However the meal turns out, I’m very touched by this.” She smiled.

She took a bite of the steak and chewed thoughtfully.

“Hmm… Needs a bit of work, but it’s edible.” She chuckled.

He heaved a sigh of relief. Thank god it wasn’t a disaster. At least, the meal turned out fine. Alfred might go insane over the state of the kitchen though. 

Author's Note

Based on Batman from The Dark Knight. Do excuse all those pesky grammar and vocabulary problems, it was written in only 30 minutes. I wish I could have done better.

Reviews

[jadda12]

It was entertaining. I liked the references to the battles he had andvit shows what his life might be like if he ever retired. Funny and entertaining, good job!