UPTOWN GIRL, bruce wayne

halloween

***

IVORY HICKMAN'S father goes missing October twenty-ninth-and Ivory distracts herself from this fact by getting insanely drunk on Halloween.

It's probably stupid, she is well aware of this. But what else can she do? The entire police force is out searching for their fellow officer, and she has her cell phone's volume turned all the way up incase there are any updates.

She's doubtful she'll be able to hear it go off, though. The music in the club she's currently in is extremely loud, and she can't even hear herself think. Luckily, she's lost all concept of caring due to the alcohol in her system, and worrying about anything other than dancing is not on her mind.

Honestly, this wasn't even her idea. Ivory isn't too big on clubbing, she hates the crowds, and she really isn't too keen on loud noises, but somehow she allowed her neighbor to convince her to go out, and she's been set with throbbing feet since nine o'clock.

"I'm gonna order another round!" Naomi yells, and Ivory nods enthusiastically. She's not entirely sure what she said, but she knows that it probably involves more alcohol, considering who it is.

Naomi has been her neighbor for two years, and Ivory couldn't stand her when she first moved in, (she still really can't, but desperate times called for desperate measures) she threw obnoxious parties every Saturday and kept her awake the whole night. It lacked class, but Naomi was almost as rich as the Wayne's, and that meant she could do as she pleased, no matter how many times Ivory complained. One time, a drunk man had stumbled upon her apartment, and insisted on knocking on the door for so long that Ivory ended up calling Bruce to scare him off.

The thought of Bruce was enough to send bile rising to her throat, the last time she had really seen him was at a meeting three weeks prior. She saw him briefly in the halls of their family's shared office, but he barely acknowledged her.

The ache in her chest was so strong now that she had to push herself through the crowd before she stumbled onto the floor and got trampled. It wasn't technically Halloween yet, just a couple more hours until midnight, but nearly everyone had gotten dressed up.

Ivory's version of dressing up was wearing one of Naomi's short dresses and letting her do makeup from an old tacky horror movie. Her costume didn't match, but that wasn't a concern in Naomi's eyes, who believed the sluttier you dressed, the less attention people would pay to your actual clothing.

Maybe that was true. Ivory didn't care enough either way. When she got outside, she felt goosebumps form on her skin at the cold air, but it felt so good to be out of that club with all of those random sweaty bodies pressed against her. She doesn't think she will ever understand how some people enjoy this every weekend.

She hears the door swing open behind her, and when Ivory looks up, she's met with a vaguely familiar set of eyes. "Hey, it's Ivory right?"

"Yeah," she says, recognizing him the longer she stares. "Oh, you're Officer Wiggins."

He smiles. "Just Chris is fine."

"Sorry, I'm not going to lie, I completely forgot your first name."

Wiggins chuckles. "That's okay, you hardly see me as it is anyway. You alright? I saw you rush out of there."

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine."

"Want some water?" He asks, offering her a bottle. Ivory takes it with a mumble of thanks, and makes sure she hears the click of the cap before taking a swig out of it. "Still no update on your dad, incase you were wondering. His team is still out searching. I figured I'd update you now since I'm here."