The Normal Life Of The Other Demon

Break-In Surprise

Bruce's P.O.V.:

This whole month has been nothing but hectic. I haven't been able to think straight. At first, out of nowhere, two non-sociable preteens are thrown into my face, claiming that they are mine. Then, barely a week goes by and I find one of them dead in the depths of the ocean, in an underground facility, connected to an old oil rig. Not even a few seconds after that, the kid that had just died is then revived. And then all of sudden, a few hours later, she is kidnapped and tortured by the biggest threat of Gotham. And to top it all off, she falls into a coma, unknown as to when she will awake. 

It's been three weeks since she was awake. I knew that this whole family is falling apart, but I didn't know you could break something that is already broken. That's what her condition did to us. Our straining relationship with each other just became even more strained.

"Bruce? Bruce!"

The voice snaps me out of my thought. I calmly look at the source of the voice to find one of my co-workers glaring at me. Ms. Lynn, the leader of the research and development division in Argentina, stands at the front of the room with her arms crossed. 

I find myself still in this boring meeting. I sit at the head of the table, as Ms. Lynn stands at the front of the room, in front of a projector with graphs, giving a presentation of some sort. I look back at her, unamused. She may be in charge of that specific division, but the whole research and development department as a whole is something that I'm in charge of. Her presence has nothing over me. Besides, she's not even threatening. I've met women more threatening than her.

"Bruce, are you even listening? We need to do something about that huge drop in revenue!"

"And your proposal?" I ask, leaning in my seat, giving her a hard stare.

She visibly gulps, at my sudden switch in attitude. "Well. I propose that we fire half of the workers within this d—"

"That's preposterous! That will just reduce production and research. And research takes long enough!" a man interrupts. He sits at the front of the room, near Ms. Lynn. I would try to stop him, but I have no idea what his name is nor do I care at the moment. It'll come eventually.

"That is true Mr. Chase—" Oh. Anderson Chase. I remember now. The guy who I have regrettably hired to run the division in Brazil. The man never shuts the hell up.— "But with fewer people, we are able to regain the money that we had lost. We can make the workers work double the time, allowing us to make more products and save more money in the process."

"And what exactly do those workers gain from this?" I ask, seeing the flaws in her proposal.

"Pardon?"

I mentally roll my eyes at her confusion. I sit up in my seat, and lean my elbows on the table, with my chin resting on my hands. "What makes you think that my employees will work overtime if they are paid the same amount? Besides, taking away half of the workers isn't sufficient enough. For all we know, you could be taking out the innocent employees who are working to feed their family while keeping the culprits."

"Then what do you recommend we do, Mr. Wayne?"

"Well for one, it was my mistake for assuming that you have gotten to the bottom of this. Your first initiative should've been to look into this matter, but seeing as we are all gathered here now, you're expecting us to resolve your problems in which I had given you the responsibility of leading."

She stays silent, not saying anything. Obviously flustered by my statement.

"This was brought to our attention about a month ago. You have had all of that time to come up with an efficient solution or better yet, have it already resolved," I say, glaring at her. "I gave you that position because you have shown extraordinary talents, but the way you have dealt with your division's current situation is telling me otherwise."