Riddles on Napkins // E.Nygma

Chapter 7

We carried out this same routine each day for over a month, each time we would get to know something else about one another, then we would say goodbye and I was always left with a riddle to solve. Today was no different, we sat down at the table I had now reserved for the two of us and ate our muffins. He was the first to begin the conversation this time, his usual bright and bubbly smile was replaced with a mixture of emotions that I couldn't quite place.

"Not many things confuse me, Alice." He began and I was immediately intrigued by what he had to say. "But I cannot understand why on earth you are wasting your life working in a cafe." I was taken aback by his statement, my eyes widening and I felt a pang of hurt ripple through my chest.

"I um, well you see." I couldn't think of how to explain it without sounding like a complete failure. "I decided that forensic science was not what I wanted to do." I lied through my teeth, my eyes drifted to the table.

"That's a lie." He accused and my eyes flicked back to him. "What really happened?" It was still a touchy subject to me.

"It's a long story." I replied, hoping he would drop it.

"We have an entire lunch break." He fired back.

"I wasn't smart enough ok?" I exploded, immediately regretting it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I dropped out of university last year because my grades weren't high enough." I looked down, afraid that he would find my incompentence disappointing.

"Oh I knew that much." My eyes met his and I couldn't help feeling like someone had slashed through my heart with a knife.

"I suppose it was obvious then." Tears brimmed at my eyes. I don't understand why I felt so upset but the thought of him thinking I was stupid made me feel totally worthless.

"All you need is someone trained in the field to teach you properly, I doubt the professors at Gotham University know what they are doing, when I was taking the course it seemed as if I knew more than they did." He gloated and I shrugged at him, the statement only making me feel worse.

"Well I'm glad you feel like that." I didn't know what else to say to such a comment, where was he trying to get with that?

"I didn't give you that information for bragging purposes." He laughed slightly. "I was meaning it as a gesture." He adjusted his glasses and looked at me expectantly which I only returned with confusion. "I would gladly tutor you."

I couldn't help the embarrassment that I contracted with the offer, it wasn't that I didn't want to spend time with him because quite frankly he was one of the most interesting people I had met in this dreary city. I found myself weighing the offer up in my head, my pride was nagging for me to decline the seemingly innocent offer debating that it was far too embarrassing to ask someone to tutor me but I found myself nodding anyway.

"I would love that, if you wouldn't mind that is." I accepted gracefully, hoping that if I said yes straight away I wouldn't have time to overthink and talk myself out of it.

The offer was lovely, a kind gesture that I'm sure meant more to me that it should have. I couldn't stop the blush that crept on my face and didn't seem to want to leave anytime soon.

"It would be no problem at all." He seemed relatively eager on the arrangement although I wasn't too sure on where this tutoring would lead me.

"What would this do for me?" I asked him. "I mean, I have already dropped out of university and retaking the course would mean to start all over and it could take years."

"Never mind that, the GCPD doesn't look at anything, I could have been an ignoramus and still got the job." The comment stung. He thought I was an ignoramus?