Chapter 7

"Ah, so you're experiencing a midlife crisis?"

"Naruto, I am 26 years old." "It's somewhat premature for a midlife crisis." She let out a laugh.

Naruto let out a sigh. "At this point, I have no more ideas." Perhaps you simply want to run in the rain, and you appear downcast when you are fatigued?

Dinah finally laughed. He just understood how much he hated seeing her appear any way other than joyful.

"Since I have monitor duty tomorrow, I might have opted to dodge it by catching pneumonia." Who knows, Batman could have you on duty for two consecutive shifts. Dinah grinned at him, pretending to sniffle.

Naruto sighed dramatically. "Not a job that a clone is unable to do." It's simply tedious to engage in. Given Batman's silence, one might imagine he is perpetually visualizing himself meditating beneath an olive tree. The man is facing problems. Many unresolvable problems.

"Regarding olives," he went on. "What's going on with Jolly Saint Oliver?" He typically makes an effort to spend as much time with you as possible, and I assumed he would want you to attend Barry's anniversary with him.

"Is it Barry's anniversary?" "Is that the reason he provided?" She mumbled quietly, yet Naruto heard her words regardless.

"Apologies?" What do you intend by the term excuse? Based on her tone, it was clear that Oliver was involved in her present condition. It was obvious Oliver was alive, or she would be in a worse state than she already was.

"Naruto, Oliver is not even in the central city." "He's present." Dinah remarked. Her mood darkening once more as she recalled the reason she had come here originally.

"Hold on, why is he present?" "This location and Central City are in contrasting directions from one another." Naruto inquired. He had started to suspect how Oliver contributed to her present condition but held off to listen to her response.

"Actually, he mentioned he was attending a meeting here." Of course, following a patrol that lasted from noon to evening, I planned to surprise him with a visit—" She began, but was cut off by Naruto.

"Hold on, how did you find out where he would be?" Naruto inquired. Had Dinah been following her boyfriend?

"Everybody is aware that Quinn Consolidated occupies the top three floors of the Jefferson Building, Naruto." You would also do the same if you truly visited other locations beyond the watchtower. Dinah frowned at him, clearly irritated by the interruption.

"Apologies, and I also visit different locations." "Similar to bars, nightclubs, Mount Justice, and other towns." He grinned at her. It was obvious he wasn't improving her mood, given that her frown only grew more intense.

Clever one. Regardless, I chose to meet him as he was exiting the building at 8:30 in the evening; precisely when he mentioned he'd finish," Dinah's tone was starting to rise in intensity.

You can picture my astonishment when it became clear there was no meeting. I rang him for answers, and a woman with a voice I hadn't heard before answered the call.

Naruto let out a sigh. Certainly, that was the issue. Blast it, Oliver, focus on one woman.

He tiredly paid attention to her.

It seems that this woman and Oliver had been discovering one another's nuances for several months, and this 'meeting' served as his reason to visit her while evading both watchtower responsibilities and a rendezvous with Dinah.

He had been relying on her having watchtower duty that day, meaning she would be busy for the remainder of the evening.

Unfortunately, he had misjudged the timing and Dinah turned out to be a great partner. The second one seemed improbable after tonight since he didn't envision them reconciling after this.

"I don't get Naruto," Dinah appeared as if she might burst into tears. "What could possibly motivate him to pursue other women?" Is there an issue with my demeanor? "Is it that I'm simply not appealing enough?"

Naruto let out another sigh. He sensed he would be doing it frequently before the night concluded. He was uncertain about how to console her without appearing hypocritical, given that he himself steered clear of commitment as if it were a disease.

"Dinah," Naruto started carefully. "It's truly not focused on you." There are, you see, two types of individuals in this world. No, not that one. "Simply state that certain individuals are present."

The bewildered woman observed him falter in his speech with a hint of amusement in her gaze. Damn, he was embarrassing himself.

"Indeed, individuals appreciate Oliver," Naruto resumed. "There's a particular way of life they live or lived that although they may opt to avoid it, it never truly departs from them." "That's essentially the situation with playboys and a few others."

"They invested years hopping between various women, simply sleeping with anyone deemed attractive without facing any consequences due to being attractive, wealthy, and, above all, single," Damn, this was more challenging than he anticipated.