You Ought to Smile More

“You need to look hot!” Tom said while I was looking through all the dresses we had in the giant dressing room in the building.

“I know that. I can't let Rosalina look better than me even if I don’t want to go to this stupid party,” I mumbled. Tom rolled his eyes and handed me a simple yellow dress.

“This is one of Catherine Malandrino’s newest designs. It’s cute and fits your personality,” Tom shoved me into the dressing room and I quickly put it on. He was right. The dress did look really good on me.

I did a full spin and looked at myself in the mirror. The dress went down to my knees and was like a halter dress. I slid on my white heels and examined myself. I did look hot.

“Hurry up and let me see!” Tom whined. I laughed and pulled back the curtain. Tom’s jaw dropped.

“I don’t see why you won’t model. You can definitely outshine all those other girls,” he said looking me up and down.

“Because I prefer to stay out of the spot light. It’s already enough that Bruce keeps bugging me. I don’t need the media following me around too,” I told him.

“Yeah yeah yeah. Let’s fix your hair and makeup and then I’ll take you to the fundraiser,” I sat down at the nearest vanity and did my makeup while Tom curled my long brown hair. I used to think he was gay, but he’s just really knowledgeable when it comes to fashion.

“Okay, you look amazing,” Tom pulled my hand and we got into his car.

“I’ll be back later to pick you up. I don’t want you to be alone tonight because The Joker is stirring things up again,” he explained.

“Aw, you do care about me,” I said and pinched his cheek. He rolled his eyes and swatted my hand away.

“Don’t get too used to it,” he joked. We pulled up to Bruce’s penthouse and I got out.

“It ends at midnight so don’t be late,” I said before closing the door and walking in. When I walked into the main room, I immediately felt claustrophobic and uncomfortable, but I couldn’t let that show.

“Caprice!” I turned and saw Rosalina walking over to me with open arms. I forced a smile and hugged her.

“Nice cover issue,” I whispered in her ear. She pulled back and flashed me a smirk.

“Thought you would like that. I see you managed to pull off a woman’s overcoat,” she said. I guess she already saw Vintage’s cover. I smiled and excused myself. Why did she even decide to come to my fundraiser? Well I didn’t plan it, Bruce did, but it is for me.

I took a deep breath and found where all the champagne was. I grabbed a glass and sipped it in the corner of the room.

“Stupid Bruce,” I grumbled.

“Not too fond of the playboy eh?” I turned to my side and saw a blonde guy standing next to me. He took a sip of his drink and smiled at me. But it didn’t look very friendly. His brown eyes were cold and distant. The man swept of a few of his blonde curls out of his eyes.

“You could say that,” I replied.

“Is that why you're all alone in this corner?” he asked. Why did this guy want to know so much?

“No, I don’t like big crowds, but Bruce forced me to come,” The man smiled again and his eyes seemed to tingle with mischief.

“Are you dating him or something?” I raised an eyebrow and wanted to laugh.

“Me? Dating Bruce? That’s funny! I would never date that man even if my life depended on it. I’m Caprice by the way. Caprice Mateo.” I held out my hand. The man took it.

“Jack Napier, nice to meet you,” he let go and was going to say something else, but the giant doors opened and Bruce came waltzing in with a huge smile.

“Welcome to my fundraiser for Vintage magazine,” he exclaimed. I sighed and set my drink down on the nearest table.

“I guess that’s my cue,” I grumbled. Jack gave me a questioning look, but was interrupted by Bruce again.

“Where is Caprice?” I felt myself being pulled away from Jack and was soon in front of Bruce.

“There you are,” he wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“Caprice here is a friend of mine. Her magazine, Vintage, is becoming more and more popular every day. Take a look around at all the picture lining the walls. All of these are different collections that have been in Vintage. With this fundraiser, I can only hope to build Vintage and Caprice up even more.” He ended his speech and kissed my cheek.

Everyone clapped and in the far back corner, where I was just moment ago standing with Jack, I saw that he had disappeared. Where did he go?

~*~

The Joker walked down the hall with a small gym bag in his hand. He found the nearest bathroom and went inside, locking the door behind him. As quickly as he could, he stripped out of his suit and put on his familiar get up.

He hated going to parties, but he needed to do a little spying before going through with the plan.

He grabbed a can of green hair spray and fixed his hair, before painting his face like usual. After smearing the red all over his lips and scars, he set the gym bag and all the evidence on fire, tossing them into the bathtub.

“Bring in the guys,” he said into his walkie talkie. The Joker stepped back into the empty hallway and back into the ballroom.

“Good evening everybody!” he yelled and laughed. They froze when they realized that he didn’t come through the front doors and that he had been inside the penthouse for a while.

“Don’t get so nervous like that. I just want to have a little fun tonight,” he said and then the front door got knocked down when he men came running in.

“Why so serious?”