You Ought to Smile More

Bruce and I walked into a small diner and sat down in a corner booth near the back. I ran my hands through my hair and sighed.

“You okay?” he asked. I nodded and looked at him.

“Just didn’t get too much sleep last night,”

“Why? I thought you were living with Todd for now.”

“I am, but I spent the night at a friend’s house last night and I didn’t sleep much.” I told him and looked at the small menu.

“What friend?” he just full of questions today…

“No one you know,” I mumbled thinking about The Joker. Bruce has probably never had a real encounter with a man like him. Before he could ask anything else, a waitress came over and asked for our order. I ordered chicken strips and a Dr. Pepper.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asked once she left.

“I don’t think I have anything planned. Why?” I asked sipping on my drink that was brought over.

“I want to take you out tonight,” I choked and little and set my drink down. I thought I had made it clear to him that I wasn’t interested.

“Bruce, you know I—“

“Yes, you’ve already expressed how much you don’t want to go out with me, but I'm determined to get the things that I want.” That irked me a little.

“I’m not a ‘thing’, Bruce.” I said quoting him,

“Figure of speech. I don’t think of you as an object. You’re the first girl who willingly refuses my every move.” He mumbled thinking about it. I have turned him down many times. I’m just not into rich players like him.

“Well, maybe you should take the hint then and stop asking,” Bruce chuckled even though I didn’t mean for it to be funny.

“You know I hate giving up,” he said. He was going to say something else, but my phone vibrated in my purse. I pulled it out and saw the name, Jack(: with a smiley face next to it on the caller ID. I figured it was the Joker.

“Hello?” I asked softly.

“Hmm, you left the office I see,” he said thoughtfully into the phone. His voice sounded different over the phone, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was The Joker.

“I’m out for my lunch break,” I said playing it off like I was talking to a friend.

“With whom?” his voice was a little higher when he said whom.

“Bruce,” The Joker giggled a little bit.

“With that rich guy. You have superb choice in men Doll Face,” but he didn’t sound happy about me being with him.

“I’ll be back at 1. Will you still be in my office by then?”

“Hm, I guess I can wait. I’ll just go through your things to occupy myself.”

“Please don’t make a mess,” I said. The Joker laughed and hung up. I tossed my phone back into my purse and turned to Bruce. He was eyeing me up and down.

“My friend is waiting for me in my office.” I filled him in. Our food was set in front of us and we started eating.

“So about tonight—“

“Bruce, I don’t think that’s a good idea. The press already thinks you knocked me up. I don’t need any more from them. And I think my friend is going to force me to go out with him tonight.” I cut him off.

“Caprice, will you ever give me a chance?” he asked softly. I looked at him gently and smiled a little.

“If you had asked me that a month ago I would have said no, but now I’m not so sure…” Bruce grinned and paid for our food.

“Let’s get you back to work.” I smiled feeling a little guilty. I didn’t want to hurt Bruce, but I don’t think I’ll ever go out with him. He seems more like a friend than a significant other. I didn’t lie about the whole month ago thing. I didn’t really like Bruce a month ago, but now we go to lunch together and I’m fine around him.

Bruce dropped me off at my building and I went into my office. I shut and locked the door behind me.

I looked up and saw The Joker sitting in my chair with his feet up on my desk, on my design books and layouts. I groaned and moved his feet off my desk. He scowled, but said nothing when I fixed everything he messed up on my desk.

“Enjoy yourself?” he grumbled to me. I shook my head.

“I’m not interested in Bruce,” I informed him.

“Hm? He’s got a lot of money and he seems to like you. You could go in and get his money,” he said smiling. I frowned and looked at him.

“I don’t care if someone is rich or not. Why are you here?” I asked cutting to the chase. The Joker shrugged his shoulders and got up. He walked around my office and looked at my pictures. One was of my deceased parents.

“Just wanted to make sure you were following the plan,” he said and ran his gloved finger over the glass.

“I am, you don’t have to worry. How did you even get in here without being seen?” I asked.

“You don’t give me enough credit, Doll Face,” he gestured his head to one of my large windows in my office. I walked over to it and saw that he had climbed up with a rope and there was a van waiting for him at the bottom.

“You're insane…” I muttered.

“Hm maybe,” he clicked his tongue in thought.

“Tonight, you’re coming back to my place. We are going to go over more plans. I think I might have an idea for who Batman is,” he cackled. I clenched my fists.

“Why are you pulling me into this? I was doing fine before you came in and screwed everything up!” I hissed feeling my anger rising. The Joker frowned and stood a few inches from my face.

“You are fascinating. No sign of fear, but then again, you could be well at hiding it,” he whispered and pulled a knife out of his pocket. My eyes flashed to it and then back to his face. He giggled.

“There’s the fear I want to see,” he laughed at my expense. Without thinking, I threw my fist and socked him in the cheek. The laughing stopped and he cracked his neck before looking at me again.

“Bad choice,” he shoved me up against the wall. My hand was throbbing from how hard I had hit him.

“Do you like trying to push me to my limit?” he growled and yanked my head back by my hair. He pressed his body against mine to hold it in place against the wall. It was harder to breathe with his rib cage stopping mine from moving.

“You’re going to be my puppet, so get used to it,” he hissed and released my hair. Then as if nothing happened he stepped back and fixed his clothing calmly.

“I’ll see you tonight. Don’t be late,” he warned and kissed my forehead before going to the window and scaling down with the rope.