The club was swirling with bright colors, music and the energy radiating from the people gathered there but contrary to the energetic atmosphere, a corner table was booked by a woman with flaming red hair and striking green eyes who seemed to prefer staying away from all the clamor.
Barbara Gordon had taken a night off after a long time. Her friend Helena had managed to convince her to take a break from continuously working on her cases, hence she was at the club with her, both sitting by themselves in the corner.
"Oh come on, Barb, what's the point of being in a club when you're just going to sit here and do nothing?" Helena must have asked for the hundredth time.
"You go have fun, I'm okay by myself."
She shook her head, bold red lips pursing into a frown, "I want you to have fun too. Just for once."
"Well... This is just not my type of fun," Barbara replied, choosing her words carefully since she didn't want her friend to feel bad, "look, I really appreciate you made me come here to bust some steam off and I am enjoying. But I would rather be by myself than go out there."
"Your type of fun is reading a novel by the window seat."
She sighed wistfully, "I guess."
"You're so boring, I pity the man who would fall for you."
"That's why no one ever will," she remarked, green eyes sweeping over the surroundings briefly.
But then she seemed to have caught sight of someone and quickly reverted her gaze, "oh God, not him..."
"What?" Helena looked in the direction she had been gazing earlier and a bright smile lit up her face as she waved at that person. "It's just Richard, what got you in such a twist?"
"For the love of God, don't call him over... Oh shit, he's already coming here," she hid her face behind her hands, not wanting him to recognize her.
"Why do you even get bothered by him so much? He's not that bad once you get to know him," Helena added.
Barbara was searching for a way out but before she could make her escape, Richard had come to their table.
"Good evening, ladies," he remarked, leaning against their table casually.
Barbara had chosen to ignore his presence while Helena was delightfully talking to him. She mentally took note of asking her friend how she knew Richard because by the way they were talking, it felt as if the two had known each other since years.
"And how's the little pipsqueak doing? Jason, was it?"
He chuckled, "yeah, Jason... He's alright. Found his dream job of working at the Gotham Theater."
"Good for him. What does he do there though?"
"Takes care of the props and sometimes gets his chance to do the minor roles," he elaborated, a fond smile spreading on his face as he talked about the boy, "he believes he will one day become a great actor."
And though he was talking to Helena, his cold blue eyes would flicker towards Barbara every now and then.
Barbara, who was painstakingly ignoring his presence still.
At last, he spoke up, "Helena, am I hallucinating or is Miss Gordon actually here?"
The woman laughed, "no you're not hallucinating, she's here."
Barbara seemed adamant on not acknowledging him as she kept her eyes focused on the dance floor ahead.
"Fancy seeing you tonight Miss Gordon," Richard came to stand right on front of her, making her startle, "and here I thought you had some permanent ban from clubbing."
"I'm not clubbing per se," she replied, her voice sharp as usual, "I just came for Helena."
"In other words, I dragged her along," Helena added with a light laugh.
"Trust Lena to force people out of their comfort zones," Richard remarked, though his icy blue eyes softened slightly as he looked briefly in her green irises, "you look lovely tonight, by the way."
The compliment sent a wave of heat hitting her cheeks but she kept herself composed, not knowing what to say in reply to that. She could still feel his subtle gaze on her while she was trying the hardest not to look back at him.
He had told her she looked lovely but if that was the case, then he looked absolutely ravishing and it was hard to even try keeping eyes away from him.
"Anyway, I was heading to the bar. Would you lovely ladies care for a drink?" He spoke up, breaking the tension diffusing in the air around them.
"Of course, a Cabernet for me," Helena was quick to reply.
"And you, Miss Gordon?"
"None."
He touched his head in a light salute towards Helena as if to say he would be right back, then disappeared among the crowd.
"You never told me you knew Grayson," with him gone, Barbara took the chance to interrogate her friend instead.
"Well, it must have slipped my mind, I guess? I've known Richard for a long time now. And I stand by my verdict that he's not that bad as you think of him right now."
Barbara shrugged, "I don't think of him. At all."
Helena's grey eyes sparked with a playful hint, "oh sure you don't. By the way you got all uncomfortable in his presence, one could assume you two have had history."
She stared at her friend, mouth agape, "what the hell, Len?"
"Your reaction says otherwise, honey. Or if not history since that seems too outrageous to you, but you can't deny it that you two have very thick sexual tension. If I were in your place, I would have..."
Barbara thought it best to stop her before her descriptions got graphic, "too much info."
She raised an eyebrow playfully, "hey, you didn't say that my assumption was wrong though."
"Helena, no..." Barbara took in a deep breath then added, "he's insufferable..."
"Insufferably hot? That I agree with." Helena had an amused glint in her eyes which showed she was having fun teasing her.
"Stop doing that."
"I see how he looks at you and vice versa," Helena mused, eyes searching for Richard among the crowd, "and the way he flirts with you is downright adorable."
She felt her cheeks heat up again and knew her face would be just as red as the shade of her hair by then. "He's accustomed to flirt with everybody, that's no big deal."
Helena looked at her for a whole minute then burst into laughter, "honey, he doesn't flirt with everybody. I thought you knew a lot about him since you've interrogated him multiple times but guess you missed out the most distinct detail."
Barbara looked back at her as if confused, "what do you mean?"
"You don't know what's the main reason to his popularity around here, do you?" She had leaned closer as if telling her a secret, "he never ever flirts with anyone. Many have tried their charms on him but to no avail. In his own flights of fancy, he once mentioned it was being like the moon to his spectators. Out there for everyone to see but not in everyone's reach."
Curiosity got the better of the redhead, "but why does he not let himself be in reach? I mean... Isn't it a bit contradictory?"
She shrugged nonchalantly, "they say he has a type and he hardly pursues anyone who doesn't fit it."
"Oh right. I don't want to hear any further," she cringed, hoping her friend would change the topic.
"Ah but I'll tell you anyway since I've known him for long enough to ascertain that," her eyes sparked playfully, "red hair, green eyes, a bit older than him and beautiful. You're totally his type, Barb."
Barbara was about to send a sharp remark back but was interrupted as Richard had returned.
"A Cabernet for you," he placed down the drinks on the table, picking his own half empty glass of whiskey after offering Helena the chute of cabernet.
Barbara was blushing already and hoped he hadn't heard their previous conversation. He gave no sign if he had heard them so it put her a bit at ease.
But then he excused himself again, "wish me luck, Lena, I'm on in a few minutes."
"All the best though you don't need it, trust me," she smiled, leaning in for a quick hug.
And with that, he disappeared once again though what he said echoed on Barbara's mind.
"What does he mean that he's on in a few minutes? Don't tell me... You brought me to the club he performs in?"
"Well..."
"Holy shit, Helena, I have to leave. Right now!"
Helena couldn't help but laugh at the antics her friend was stuck in. "Oh come on, Barb..."
"And all this time he must have been thinking goodness knows what... Shit..."
The lights had started to dim as Barbara tried to make her way out but the cheering crowd was proving rather difficult to penetrate through.
And shortly after, his magnetizing voice sounded, putting the crowd under a spell such that even Barbara failed to stop herself from catching a glimpse.
Icy blue locked with forest green and his smile widened, "tonight's show, ladies and gentlemen, is especially for the only woman who I've ever flirted with and probably the only one who has kept on rejecting me."
She stiffened because it felt as if he had overheard them and his word were directly referring to their conversation. By then the crowd was brimming with excited whispers.
"But since she hates stripping and would kill me if I spoiled the night, I had to make a few changes."
Barbara tore her eyes away, still looking for an escape.
"I've thought of trying something new tonight so we can all take some time as a break and just enjoy," he resumed, holding up a piece of black silk, "but here's the catch. The audience must be blindfolded and spend at least half an hour relishing in the bliss of ignorance. Dance with whoever's closest to you, actually enjoy but without the restrictions of sight."
She gave up by then, standing with her arms folded as she watched the blindfolds being distributed throughout the dance floor.
"We have no idea how much our eyes deceive us," those icy blue eyes still held her gaze, a smile playing upon his lips, "so for just half an hour, let's black out that deception, shall we?"
Barbara unwillingly took the piece of black silk the waitress at the club handed to her as well but made no attempt to tie it over her eyes like the others were doing so.
"Now I'll ask the music to be put on and then I will myself join you all. Enjoy these thirty minutes of sightless adventure. And remember, there's a thrill in being ignorant too."
He left the stage and light music had started playing, very contrary to usual nights at the club. Instead of the clamor that had been raging earlier, everyone had lapsed into light laughter and apologies as people stumbled over each other's feet in the self inflicted darkness.
Barbara could see that most of them were actually enjoying their time and that meant without the crowd pushing towards one place, she could very easily leave.
"Leaving already, Miss Gordon?" She turned to see Richard, standing with a smile on his face as he took the blindfold from her, "I knew you would rather not do as I suggested. But it's fun, trust me, it won't hurt to try."
She would have looked away but couldn't, "I don't trust you."
"I know, I'm working on that," he flashed her another bright smile, holding his hand out towards her, "may I at least have one dance before you go?"
She looked around as if searching for an excuse to make her escape but couldn't find any. The lights were already dim and the rest of the audience was blindfolded. No one would possibly see her dancing with him if she agreed to his offer.
"Just one dance then," she agreed, placing her hand in his tentatively.
The smile that lit up his face as he brought her to the dance floor was one she had never seen before. It wasn't fake nor empty, instead that smile seemed to soften those cold blue irises such that even in the dim light she could feel the intensity of his gaze melt.
Perhaps Helena was right.
He might not be as bad as she thought of him with her eyes deceiving her the entire time.
***