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In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne is abroad to study the criminal mind and to join the League of Shadows for several years. When he returns to Gotham City, Rachel - his "oldest and best friend" - hears of his return from the DA and later meets Bruce by coincidence. Bruce is a little speechless since he just played his billionaire playboy act (buying the restaurant so that his girls could swim in the decorative pools) but would like to show Rachel that he is more than that.

So why did he wait until Rachel bumped into him instead of contacting her when he returned to Gotham? Surely calling his childhood friend would not be out of character or raise any suspicion.

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  • If anything, it was IN character for Bruce Wayne to forget calling her. Originally, the Bruce Wayne persona was intended to be very forgetful & somewhat air-headed... or at the very least, extremely apathetic. Bruce Wayne didn't become a serious, competent businessman again until the Post-Crisis days.
    – Omegacron
    Commented Mar 19, 2015 at 19:04

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I imagine it's for at least 2 reasons:
1) it's too painful and awkward. He left suddenly under dire circumstances (he revealed he was going to kill the mobster) and she must have assumed he was dead or kidnapped. And now to suddenly appear after 1+ years, what is he going to say? Hi, I'm back, let's do lunch? She would slap him again... and again.
She would be outraged and demanding answers: Rachel: Where have you been?
Bruce: I can't answer that

He did eventually reveal himself but only when the time was right.

2)Bruce is totally focused on fighting crime which leaves little time for a social life. She might become too much of a distraction. I compare this to "Mask of the Phantasm" (I think it was) where he fell in love so deeply that he considered giving up being batman.

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  • Slap him again.. and again...:D
    – Sangram Anand
    Commented Feb 21, 2014 at 6:48
  • @SangramAnand and again...
    – MAF
    Commented Jun 10, 2015 at 14:00
  • I like the "she would ask him 'where have you been'", and he, uh, I can't tell you. That hadn't occurred to me but that's a very good reason for him not to call, that and he was really busy if you think about it, staying out all night, sleeping till 3:00 PM, doing thousands of pushups, building his bat-cave (it's not like he could hire a work-crew).
    – userLTK
    Commented May 30, 2016 at 9:26
  • How can she slap!
    – Jared
    Commented Jun 20, 2016 at 2:37

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