Inside Your Eyes

That night I slept without any dreams. When the alarm awoke me, I quickly dressed and readied for the day. Today was a normal weekday, and I was needed at work. The ride was calm, nothing new. Even when I hit the morning traffic jam, I seemed to keep a steady 20 MPH pace instead of stopping altogether.

The real problem was work. At first, all seemed normal. I quietly parked in my assigned spot and stepped into the morning sun as it peeked through a few buildings. "There she is!" a woman shouted and I was ambushed by people. I was blinded by flashes and bombarded by random questions.

"Are you alright?"

"Was your brush with The Joker scary?"

"Who shot you down?"

"Is Batman good with his hands?"

"Do Ruse and Joker have a romance?"

The final question was the last straw for me, "Would all of you be QUIET!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, "Last night I was sedated twice and am at my wit's end! I would appreciate it if all of you disappeared!" I snarled at them and briskly walked away.

"Wait!" one of the journalists demanded.

I didn't even turn around, I just thrust a fist in the air and raised my middle finger, "All of you can suck it!" No doubt this will be in the news. Gah, I don't care. Just want to get lost in paperwork and not have to deal with my mind.

I burst through the doors and sat down in my normal chair, "Normal day...be boring. Please be boring." I booted up the computer and the 'GothamNews.com' homepage popped up. The first headline was "Ruse on the Run and Joker Silent: Batman Rescues Maya Conway". I began banging my head on the desk, "For Pete's-sake, make it-stop!"

"Um, hello?"

I looked up slightly embarrassed, "Sorry you had to see that. May I help you?"

"Oh, I forget Ms. Conway works here. I was wondering why so many paparazzi were outside," she looked out the window, "I came here to leave a message for Mr. Wayne."

I grabbed a pen and a sticky note, "What would you like me to leave?"

"He didn't call me last night!" the woman became very distressed, "I have been waiting two weeks for an invite to one of his parties and haven't gotten so much as a hint of an invitation!"

Seems this one's not getting hints of anything. "I will tell him of this problem."

"You'd better! He is the father of my baby after all."

I was so startled that the words I wrote turned into jagged squiggles, "He's what?" Normal day...why have you betrayed me?

Either Bruce's ears were burning, or he was watching the whole scene from my office camera's feed, because he walked through the doors, "Morning ladies."

"Good morning future father," I half blurted.

"What?"

The woman dramatically ran up to him, "Oh it's true! I am carrying your baby!"

He brushed the woman off, "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I feel you are mistaken."

"How? You're the one," she pleaded.

"Judging by the fact I haven't been with you, and you have a camera in that broach, I'd say you're lying."

She walked back a few steps, "Men like you never keep up with who they're with!"

"Oh. but I do," he coughed, "Now get out of here before I call security."

"Please, I just need to talk to you both. This is my job on the line!"

"Might I suggest just asking for an appointment?" I said, wishing reporters were smarter than this, "I could schedule one. Granted you may have to wait," I flipped through his itinerary and it was booked solid for a couple months.

"Look, I just want some dirt on you guys. Are you in a relationship or not?"

My head fell on the desk again and I pressed the security button.

"Seems you've distressed my assistant. I'd suggest not talking to her for a long time." Two men burst through the doors and took the young journalist away.

"Can I just have a single day that is normal and boring and I don't have to hear about any of this? Where I don't have to think about everything that is going on?"

"I'll make sure that no one like that comes back in here. Faking a pregnancy to capture enough attention to get past security is the most rash thing they've done yet."

"Thanks," my head was still on the desk.

"Everything's fine now," I felt an arm around my shoulders, "You don't have to hear stuff like this," he then paused and said something I didn't expect, "How are you handling everything?"

I suddenly found myself sniffling, "I don't know what to think anymore." His arm around my shoulder turned into an embrace. Without warning I cried into his shoulder. It felt good to be able to cry. The list of reasons why grew larger and larger in my mind I could never show emotion like this with Joker...never.