Summary:Asked to meet with him by Mary Jane Watson, Bruce Wayne is asked to consider extending a scholarship offer to a young student. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Surprised at the phone call, Bruce had worked to set up a meeting. The Cafe was fairly close to the campus, and Bruce was willing to make the trip away from Staten Island, just to get out and look around. After a few years of relative silence, it seems that the oldest Wayne is making his way out into the world again.
Dressed in a tailored black suit with polished leather shoes, everything about Bruce is well put together as he sips from a coffee mug. He had claimed a corner table, away from the others - since this was technically a business meeting for him as he has a file pulled up on a tablet with Mary Jane's academic and social records on it.
It was going to be a go. Things were falling into place for Mary Jane; two more preliminary auditions for a movie that's yet to be introduced for a role that would make her career, meeting up with an old friend and securing rent free apartments. Flights booked to Germany to attend a photo shoot and well, she's got plans to finally visit her sister and her two kids. She was walking on sunshine.
Much is the way she enters into the cafe! Walking on sunshine! A clear bounce in her step, high ponytail swaying. Her dress was casual, not too overt, but thankfully here no one would take pictures, right? Anyone would know the famous Wayne, so she waits, lifting up repeatedly on the balls of her feet, waving her hand in his direction with a smile. She even carries a lady-case, leather bound which was held in front of her.
(As a note, her academic career was okay. A few absences, mostly due to work. Social? Eh! Like any other teenager, though she's an influencer and has a brand and often posts social videos every week about a product review or clothing. Modeling pictures galore.
Setting the pad to the side as the vibrant redhead arrives, Bruce is astute in his observation of the woman. She is in good spirits, warm, bright. He's assessing her with every step, and when she arrives near the table, he rises to his feet. "Miss Watson?" he asks, just to confirm what he already knows, and offers his hand. "I am Bruce Wayne. A pleasure to meet one of Peter's friends." he greets to the woman. And once the hand is taken, or not, he'll offered to pull the chair and seat Mary Jane as he retakes his own seat.
One of the baristas, noticing that Bruce's guest has finally arrive, makes her way over. "Welcome to Cafe Wha!" she greets cheerfully. "May I refill your coffee, Mister Wayne? Can I get you something to drink?" she asks the young woman, taking her order before she heads off.
Bruce waits for the waitress to leave, before his attention returns to the redhead. "I was just looking over the Academic records that Midtown had sent over while I was setting up the Foundation to prepare for the scholarships. I had not expected a call on it though. How may I help you, Miss Watson?"
As he notices her and rises, the smile upon MJ's face grows ever so wider as she bounds over with her hand stretched out. Her grip was strong and confident, one shake here and a quick release to not linger or be creepy. "Mary Jane Watson. And it's great to meet you too!" As he pulls out the chair, she keeps the conversation going. "Anyone with half a brain would know who you are, but meeting you? I figured I might as well give it a shot. Luck has been on my side lately and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to discuss. I do have concerns."
As the barista approaches, Mary Jane wrinkles her brow in thought. "Yes!" She finally comes up with it. "A large coffee, hot. Two splashes of vanilla, half and half, and a shot and a half of espresso." For the burnt taste. "Now, you're offering scholarships, I wonder if that means it had to be limited and geared towards a certain degree? Like.. STEM or Business, Medical. That sort of thing." Her case was finally let go, resting against her leg beside her chair.
There's a glance towards the case, a curiosity in Bruce's eyes, before he returns his attention to Mary Jane again. There's a chuckle at her gushing. "I'd use the adage of putting on my pants one leg at a time, but I fear that it rarely is listened to." he admits with a smile as the barista returns. She sets down the drink for Mary Jane, and for Bruce? Black coffee. Plain.
Lifting the mug to sip it, a faint frown tugs at his lips. "While Wayne Pharmaceutical and WayneTech are some of the leaders in their respective divisions.." Wayne Pharma, in paticular has done quite well. "The funds that I am offering for the scholarships are my own. I feel responsible for the attack on the Midtown End of Year dance - I had not brought security with me, assuming that there would not be an attack, much less.. such a messy robbery." He sighs at that. "I fear it would have been worse had it not been for the timely intervention of those that helped."
"But, I was looking at your scores and grades. You are a brilliant young woman. But, can you tell me a little about your home life. If you do not mind?" Apparently he'd seen something - perhaps the multiple changes of addresses.
Fresh coffee is always left sitting until it cools down, Mary Jane likes it hot, but not scalding. But she remains upright, hands resting upon the table which were interlaced between each other, the mention of the school dance attack causes her right leg to bounce repeatedly. A bit of nerves that is shown. Though, that little hint of PTSD doesn't cause for her hearing to go out, but her gaze does advert to her coffee to study the liquid until he's finished.
It was the mention of her home life that got her attention, she flashes an uneasy smile, her hand unlacing from the other with a press of her back hand beneath her chin to rub for comfort. "Oh. Home life. Ah. Well, we moved around a lot when I was a baby. Me, my sister and my mom. Mostly stayed with relatives, that sort of thing." She shakes her head, which almost looks like a twitch. "Last place we stayed was with my Aunt. We took care of her and her bills, it was the least we could do. Sister went off and married her high school sweetheart and I stayed modeling and acting and such until now. I mean, I still am but.." Talking about her family made her uneasy, such as a little laugh comes out and now it was time to sip her drink.
"Family is important." Bruce opines thoughtfully. Of course, who doesn't know about the orphaned Wayne, on his own since eight years old, raised by his butler and tutors, and then having a child out of wedlock with another social staple of Staten Island. He lifts the mug to sip from it again, craddling it in his hands in thought. "The Martha Wayne Foundation is seperate from the fund I'm offering." he starts finally. "It was established in my mother's memory to help disadvantaged youth find their step up into the highest rungs of their chosen schooling, be it private or public." he explains.
"I was looking over your file, and I think you would be an excellent candidate." he explains. "While the scholarship offered from the dance is for one year, and is for the school and courses of your choice, the Martha Wayne scholarship is one based on the merits of the individual and could pay for your entire college training, if one was to make their grades." he explains. "I was looking at your transcripts and ACT and SAT scores - I saw that among the schools you had put down as having ambitions for is Julliard?"
She was truly happy he didn't ask about her father. There was so much she only knew about the man, and most of it was horrible from what she could remember. The smile, which now had turned a little false, falls into something a bit more serious. She doesn't reach for her bag, not as if she were intending to blackmail the man, but she did have scores and scores of marks of her reputation, letters of commendation from those she's worked with, and even something from her mom. (Aww!)
"Yes. Julliard." She states, now she was wringing her hands. Nervousness was getting to her, because this was the part where she'd really have to sell herself. "I do modeling, a few small TV roles here and there. A few auditions and such. I feel that if I had the tutelage and reputation of Julliard as my backing I could be more successful."
"That's a tall order, Miss Watson. And it's going to take a drive and passion to succeed at." Bruce says, glancing at the woman over her cup of coffee. "But, it is only my place to decide if you're worth the investment. And before we do that, perhaps we should see if you can get your foot in the door. Do you already have a letter of acceptance from the school?"
This is asked as if Bruce hasn't /already/ checked to see if she'd been accepted yet - or even offered the chance to audition for them, or if she was waiting for one of the few cattle call casting days they do to look for diamonds in the rough.
"Not yet." Mary Jane confesses. This is actually where her briefcase, or lady case comes in handy. She takes a sip of her coffee first, because, wow, delicious, then snags the case from the floor to rest upon her lap. "Depending on what happens in a couple of weeks, I planned on taking smaller classes at ESU or any other small college that'll transfer over to Julliard.." She pulls out a set of papers, setting the letters of recommendation aside, yet pulling out the application letters for different colleges in view. Each was spread across the table for Bruce to look at, but Julliard was more prominent.
"I know it seems like I'm putting a lot on myself. But I have got to keep moving." Any hint of standstill? It would probably be the death of her.
Like a shark. Baby shark. Bruce starts to take the forms, looking them over. And using his camera on the phone he takes a few pictures, before holding it up for Mary Jane. He assumes she knows what he's doing before he takes the picture of her, and then after reading a few more things, he scrolls through his phone a few times, and presses a button a dial a number.
After a few moments, there's an answer, and Bruce speaks up. "Jessica? Hey. It's Bruce Wayne." he greets her.
There's a chuckle. "Helena's doing fine! She hasn't made a decision yet, but I'm letting her take her time with it - she's still trying to discover herself, and I think she's more into science. Anyway, I need a favor."
A few moments of pause as he listens to the voice, and then, "Well, yes. I have a possible Martha Wayne Scholar here. But she wants to go to school there and hasn't been able to schedule or put in for the application or audition. She's working a couple of jobs and juggling her school work and family."
"Yes, of course." Bruce nods, even if Jessica can't see him, and after a few moments, he says, "Alright, I'm sending you some of her files and a picture now. Her name's Mary Jane Watson." With that, he does a few swipes, and sends files, before covering the reciever. He gives Mary Jane a wink, before asking. "Friday at noon too soon for an audition?" he asks her.
Wait, what?
To anyone else watching, it would look like somewhat of a mess. Papers were strewn about, handed off, laid to rest, coffee cups taken and replaced in a different space upon the table as to not spill anything or damage documents. The picture was snapped; thankfully she didn't create an odd face, but she got the gist. She was actually used to it. And then the conversation.
Mary Jane sat idle, looking around the shop as to not appear -too- interested in the conversation, even though she was listening. It took her a moment to actually realize that he was speaking to her, and another to realize that.. "What?!" She was.. flabbergasted. And happy! So much so that her hands smack against her cheeks, partly to wake up and the other to keep her reactions to a minimum. "Oh.. oh my god. Yes! I.. I can make it! I.. oh my god!" Now.. she was ready to cry about it, and puts in a huge effort not to!
"She'll be there, Jessica." Bruce grins and gives Mary Jane a wink. "And yes, I'll talk to Helena. But you might have better luck with her mother." That's said in a teasing tone. "Yes, yes, I'll make sure. Okay. See you soon." With that, he hangs up the phone. Setting it down, he gives Mary Jane the news. "That was Jessica Blank. She's a drama coach at Juilliard. She's going to give you your audition." Mary Jane /might/ recognize the name. She's known for her acting and writing of The Exonerated, Aftermath and How to be a Rock Critic.
"Impress her, and you're in." he says towards Mary Jane. "And if you're in? And you maintain your grades? Your schooling will be paid for. I will make sure the stipend is enough that your family won't have to lean on you for extra work or pay. You need to focus on your school. Are you willing to do this?"
Mary Jane was practically shaking in her seat, her hands remain clutched against her cheeks which were now turning red and hot with embarrasment. She pulls herself together just a touch, hands batting away at her face to wipe away the tears, wanting to ask about Helena and her mother and everything just so that.. who knows! The information itself wouldn't be so overwhelming! Bruce Wayne is superhuman! Eee!
"-THE- Jessi.. oh my god." She was back to flushing again, her head shaking. This all was unbelievable. Whatever she agreed to, she was in full tilt. Life really couldn't get any better than this. "I promise I will. It'll be my -number- one focus. I.. yes. Yes I am so willing. Thank you so much! I.. I really just wanted to inquire and.. oh.. oh wow.."
Stacking the papers neatly back together on the desk, Bruce chuckles. "Most of this was done by you. I won't lie and say your friends didn't impress me, but this was your decision to reach out. And that alone was impressive for me." he admits with a smile as he reaches across and gives the young woman's hands a squeeze before he moves to rise from his seat. "May I keep the paperwork? I do have to have a trail to follow - if I went around giving full scholarships to all the beautiful girls I know, there would be questions."
Guffawwww! Mary Jane was full on blushes and.. just aww.. Her head nods silently, not knowing what to say in the moment, even offering up her bag for him to carry if he needs. "I.. yes?" Shit. He even complimented her. If she could melt and hide underneath the table until the cafe was closed, she would absolutely do just that. "I.. just thank you so much Mr. Wayne, you have no idea how much this means to me. Even if.. even if nothing good comes from it.. just.. thank you for believing in me." She was ready to cry again, but she holds it together, much like an adult. Or a person pretending to be an adult. Something!
"It was my pleasure. And please, call me Bruce. I feel old enough that I have a daughter your age." he says with a chuckle as he puts the papers away, and then smoothly gathers his things, while setting down the money to pay the bill, along with an extra hundred. "Take your friends out to dinner tonight, tell them the good news. And call me as soon as you know. After you tell your mother, of course." There's a smile at her, before Bruce turns to head off towards the door and back onto his other duties. A chaffuered csar pulls up and an older gentleman opens the door for Bruce, where he slips in and then they drive off, leaving Mary Jane to ponder her next step.