Re: One month later...
She was prettier with less makeup on. She looked fresh faced. Younger maybe, but more authentic. Even with the messy hair, she looked more put together than when she'd seemed to be trying to hard to look older than her years. Nor was she flirting, or being coy with him as she struggled with the garbage and argued with him. It was a genuineness he found he liked even more than he had the girl he'd met previously.
Bruce had to admit, he was impressed that she both recognized him, and managed to finish her sentence. People twice her age sometimes ran into him and suddenly lost the ability to speak. Then again, he didn't believe Dinah was the type to be shaken by much.
Smiling, a bit lopsided, as his mouth was having trouble responding to the desire to do so, Bruce nodded, offering his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. - Lance?" He lifted an eyebrow and gestured to the shop whose dumpster they were standing beside. "I'm happy I could help." He nodded to the dumpster, but refused her apron, removing a handkerchief and wiping his hands on that, instead, mostly for show.
"I had a debt to settle with your mother," he explained.