The Backstory

Strangers

"Everyone in Gotham has a story." The blonde smiled as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Her martini glass had grown warm from her swishing it around in her hand. Only occasionally taking a sip from it. Her focus was completely on the man sitting across from her. Everything about him had her in a trance.

She didn't know who he was, but she knew that he was charming as hell and someone she  could talk to for hours, which she had. The man leaned back in the booth and spread his arms out across the back.

He stared at the woman in front of him. He licked his lips and studied every feature of her body. He brought a glass of whiskey up to his mouth and slowly took a sip. He tilted his head slightly and smiled at the girl. "You're absolutely right." He leaned forward and placed his hand on top of hers. "I'd much rather hear yours though." The blonde chuckled and shook her head.

She took a sip of her drink and scrunched her nose. "I promise you don't. My life is nothing to get excited about. You on the other hand..." She set her drink down and slowly leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table, and her chin in her hands. "You look like you have plenty of stories." The man let out a deep chuckle, "I like you doll. What's your name?"
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Tiffany woke up flinching at the sunlight. She grabbed a fist full of the blanket that covered her body. She stopped for a moment and rubbed her hands down the blanket. It wasn't the same comforter she was used to. As her body started to wake up more, she realized that she also wasn't laying in her own twin sized mattress. With further examination, Tiffany noticed she wasn't in a bed at all. She was on a slick black couch.

In all honesty, it was actually much more comfortable than her bed. The blanket that covered her was soft, like a rabbit's ear. Between the couch and blanket, she felt like she was laying on a cloud. Despite being very comfy and wanting to lay there forever, Tiffany reluctantly sat up while rubbing her eyes. She flung her arms down into her lap and gave her eyes a moment to adjust. Once the room became in focus, her jaw dropped open.

"Holy shit." Her eyes gazed around the room as she took in the décor. It was a beautiful living area with what seemed like very expensive items scattered throughout the room.

Tiffany pulled herself off the couch and started walking around. Seemed like most of the décor was masks. All different kinds of masks from around the world. Some were beautiful, some not so much. There was one that caught her eye from the corner of the room. It was shiny and red, it's face was almost monster like but had so much beauty in it.

Just as she started stretching out her arm to touch it a voice roared through the room. "You break it, you buy it." Tiffany jumped back and turned to face the direction of the voice.

She immediately smiled when she saw who it was. "Roman right? Sorry I'm normally good with names, but not when there's alcohol involved." Roman stepped forward. He was wearing a white pinstriped suit.

He seemed to have a thing for fashion from what Tiffany could tell. "Yes, Roman Sionis. Nice to officially meet you doll." Roman took her hand and brought it up to his lips where he gently placed a kiss on it.

Tiffany blushed and let out a small giggle. "Thank you for taking care of me last night, and also putting me on the couch instead of your bed." Roman nodded and shrugged his shoulders, "I had to basically carry you in my arms up here. That wouldn't be any fun in bed. You wouldn't want to forget a night with me." Roman smirked as he turned on his heels and started walking away. "Feel free to stay as long as you need. There's money on the counter for a cab."

The whole cab ride home Tiffany couldn't get this man off her mind. Who was he? He's obviously someone very wealthy. Why did he help her out last night instead of letting her be someone else's problem? She knew she'd never forget him.

Roman Sionis.

What a name. What a man really. Tiffany fumbled with her lock before it finally popped unlocked and she practically fell into her apartment. As soon as she stepped one foot in she was greeted with a loud voice.

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"Where the FUCK have you been?! I've been calling you all night. I almost called GCPD because I thought you were kidnapped!!" Tiffany couldn't help but laugh as she made her way down the hallway and into her room. "Kat I'm fine. Actually, I'm great! I'm really thankful that you're worried but I promise I'm a big girl." Kat followed close behind her and leaned against the door frame as she spoke, "You could've at least texted me 'getting dicked down ttyl!'"

Tiffany stripped out of her worn clothes and started grabbing new ones from the dresser. "It wasn't like that. Plus my phone died." Kat scrunched her eyebrows together and crossed her arms, "What do you mean?" Tiffany shrugged as she gathered her clothes, "I met this guy, he took me back to his place, and I crashed on his couch. That was it!" Kat shook her head as she threw out her arms. She walked over to the bed and plopped down onto it.

"So, a man. That had alcohol in his system. Took you to his place? And didn't try anything?!" Tiffany laughed and grabbed the towel that was hanging on her closet door, "That's exactly what happened. And Kat, his couch was probably as expensive as our apartment."

Kat raised her eyebrows as she crossed her legs on the bed, "So he's got money? Are you gonna see him again?" Tiffany shrugged as she exited the bedroom, "All I know about him is his name." Kat leaned forward on the bed and yelled out, "Well who the fuck is he?!"

Tiffany bit the inside of her lip and smiled to herself. She called out down the hallway back to Kat, "Roman."

Silence.

She stopped in her tracks and turned to face her bedroom. The pause was too long. Kat always had something to say, "You good K?" She watched as Kat slowly exited the bedroom and met her gaze. "Roman what?" Tiffany tilted her head slightly and raised an eyebrow as she spoke, "I don't really remember. Roman... S-" Kat cut her off with a serious look on her face. "Sionis. Roman Sionis."

Tiffany smiled and nodded her head quickly, "Yes! That's it! Do you know him?" Kat shook her head and slowly walked towards Tiffany, "No. I've heard of him though. Roman Sionis is feared in Gotham." Tiffany scoffed and rolled her eyes, "You're seriously the most dramatic person ever Kat. Everyone is "feared" in Gotham. I've never heard of him before. Why is he feared? What did he do?" Kat wrinkled her eyebrows together and shook her head, "I'm serious Tiff. He's not a good person. Just ask around, I'm sure you could fine plenty of stories."

Tiffany stared at her friend in silence. She couldn't figure out if this was some sort of joke or not. She turned back around ready to walk back into the bathroom. She quietly said under her breath, "Fuck off." As she closed the door behind her.