Poker Face | Bruce Wayne

twenty five

"Well," Tim walked over and stole a piece of garlic bread from the counter, earning a smack from Alfred with a towel. Tim seemed in too great of a mood to care. "I showed up and met her secretary Janette, who was a little off, but Meredith later told me she didn't like her either. And then she walked me around her floor— have you seen her office?" Tim's sentences started to become muffled by his mouthful of bread. "Because it's awesome. I met most of her board, or at least the ones who were in today, and then she showed me the rest of the building, including her tech department downstairs, and oh— get this— I saw Victor working with some of the scientists! Weird, right?"

"Victor who?" Dick asked. "Victor Stone?"

"Yeah! He's heading the latest tech project, which is the coolest thing ever. Except he had to explain it to me in 'child terms,' because, obviously no one can know that we know each other. But it was still cool nonetheless— I can't wait to actually get some real details from him privately. And then after, she took me through the other important floors—" Tim paused to swallow. "Oh my God, Meredith is so awesome. You should hear some of the stories she told me— they're incredible. Did you know she's actually a certified lawyer? Like, how the hell did she even have time for a whole law degree? She does literally a million things, it's crazy. I'm shocked she even had time to see me today."

"That sounds great!" Dick chirped, careful not to show too much enthusiasm, considering he could practically feel Bruce radiating angry waves from behind him.

"That's not even the craziest part!" Tim continued, taking another bite of the bread. "So she takes me back up to her office, right? She's telling me about the job and the position and what's required of me and whatnot— and then she mentions that her office is on the seventy-fifth floor, but the rest of her board has offices on the seventy-fourth. She says that there's no more office space on their floor, so she's giving me a whole office to myself on hers. Isn't that crazy?! I didn't even think I was going to get my own— name on the door and everything— much less on the same floor as Meredith Elias' office. Can you believe that?!"

Dick smiled at Tim's enthusiasm. "That's crazy."

"I know!" Tim brushed his hands together to get rid of any residual crumbs. "And do you know her roof has a hot tub? And a helicopter pad? And the floor below that is a cafe. With unlimited coffee for employees. Unlimited! It was the greatest tour of my entire life."

"Wow," Dick laughed. "So, are you actually gonna take the job?"

"Dude." Tim gave him a look. "I know we're the sons of a billionaire and all, but look at my paycheck. And this is just year one!" Tim pulled up a screen on his phone and handed it to Dick.

Dick widened his eyes as he stared at the rather large number. "That's... a lot of zeroes."

"I. Know." Tim collapsed back against the counter with a smile. "She wants me to start in two days so I can get familiar with the building, set up my office, get my scan-in codes for security, and all that. Her next board of directors meeting is in a week so she wants me to have time to prepare. She also says I can have my own specialty coffee at the cafe! Isn't Meredith awesome?"

"Yeah." Dick glanced at Bruce, who looked very invested in just about anything else. "Sounds like it. Opportunity of a lifetime, Timbo."

"I'm so pumped, you have no idea."

They fell into an awkward silence and Dick inwardly sighed. It was going to be up to him to break the ice, as always. He stretched his arms out, turning around. "So... what are everyone else's thoughts?"