Would You Destroy Something Perfect, in Order to Make It Beautiful?

When I got up to the penthouse, Bruce was in the living room, watching TV.

“Hey,” I announced. Bruce shot up and came up to me with a smile.

“How was your first day, honey?” he asked, pulling me into a hug.

“Good. Lots of paper work though. I met Joker,” I said.

“How did that go?” he asked, fully alert at the mention of the Joker.

“I got him to talk. Dr. Preese said only a few people have managed to do that,” I told him.

“That’s interesting,” he said slowly. “How about you go shower, and I’ll get dinner rolling?”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Why not? I’ve cooked before,” he said with his radiant smile.

“Okay,” I said slowly. Bruce kissed me and I went up to our room. I stripped and took a how shower.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about what Jack said; Not when it comes to you.” I know Jack treated me different, but I thought it was because I was his only, and oldest friend. Bust he didn’t want me to break him out because he didn’t want me to ruin my life.

It made me wonder if I was making the wrong choice. If maybe Bruce and I were wrong. His words made me wonder if I should abandon good, and gravitate towards evil.

I got out of the shower and changed quickly. I walked downstairs and saw Bruce setting the dinning room table.

“You look gorgeous as usual,” he said after noticing me.

“You’re looking not too shabby either,” I said, my cheeks growing hot as they turned a light shade of pink.

“Sit down, I’ll have dinner out in a minute,” Bruce instructed me. I did what I was told, and moments later, Bruce brought lasagna out and put it on the table. He put one of the precut pieces on my plate, then his.

“This is so nice, Bruce,” I said with a smile.

“Thank you. Figured I could give you a break.”

“This is from a box, huh?” I asked with a small laugh.

“No!” I gave him a look. “Yes,” he turned a light pink, which made me giggle even more.

When we were done eating, Bruce cleaned up and brought out ice cream. On top of my ice cream, was a ring. I big ring. At least 5 or 6 karats(emerald cut), and four, 1 karat diamonds around the bigger stone and a gold band. I could only imagine how many ounces of gold was in that. I was speechless as I just gazed at it. I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“Bruce?” I asked in a small whisper. He got down on one knee in front of me and grabbed my hands.

“I don’t have some romantic speech memorized, I don’t want to talk about memories because I know you have them too. But I am going to ask this question: Lillee, will you marry me?” he asked.

“Bruce, I…I don’t know what to say…Yes, I do want to marry you!” I said. Bruce smiled and kissed me hard. There was no way I could marry Bruce. I wasn’t the marrying type, but I didn’t want to crush his spirits because he looked so happy.

At that moment, I knew what I needed to do. After dessert, we cuddled on the couch and watched movies. The ring burned my finger. The ring almost seemed to know it didn’t belong on me.

In the morning, I got dressed in professional clothes and got myself coffee. Bruce was gone, so I was all alone. I admired my ring from an arms length away. I will not deny that it is beautiful, but it just wasn’t right on my hand.

Bruce is great. It has been a great 5 years, but he was too materialistic. Yes the house is nice, the cars are nice, the clothes are nice. But I don’t want it. I want more simple things. I guess this is what I get though, for dating the richest man in Gotham, and not listening to Jack. I should have left Bruce before we got this serious.

When I finished my coffee, I went down to the lobby and waited for my driver to drive me to work.

When I got there, Dr. Preese had me working with other prisoners all day. This happened for the next few days. I wanted so badly to talk to Jack and see him, work was almost torture because I knew where he was, but I just couldn’t get to him.

I had the weekend off, but when I went in on Monday, there was a note on my desk and paperwork marked ‘Joker’. The note told me to go see Joker at noon. It was 10:30 now, so I had a while to prepare.

At 11:45, Dr. Preese came to my cubicle. “How are you doing?” he asked.

“Just fine sir. Yourself?” I asked.

“I’m great. Are you ready for the Joker?” he asked.

“I think so, I’m just ready to get him to talk.”

“That’s great. I have some questions I want you to ask him,” he said and handed me a typed piece of paper and I skimmed over it.

1. Full name; 3. Age; 6. What made you crack?; 13. What is your mental stability?; I honestly could fill out all 20 questions without talking to Jack.

“I’ll try to get a few of these out of him,” I reassured him, even though I already knew the answers.

“Great, I’m really excited to see if you can get anything out of him. We sent three other people in there, and he didn’t make a sound. He’ll be ready at noon,” he said, with a giant smile on his face.

“Actually, I’m ready now if we can do it,” I offered.

“Sure. Go ahead and head up, I’ll make the call,” he told me and left my cubicle. I put the questions in a folder and grabbed a pen. I started to walk up to the High Security floor, with a feeling of unease at the pit of my stomach.

The guard was standing in front of the interrogation room. He moved out of the way as I approached and unlocked the door. I gave him a soft smile and entered, seeing Jack. He was glaring at the table, with his hands folded over his crotch.

“Hey,” I said.

“I’m surprised they sent you back.”

“Me too… But its because you talked to me last week. Dr. Preese actually wants you to answer these questions,” I said, taking the 20 questions out. He looked over them quickly.

“Not the first person to show me that. I never answer them,” he said.

“I don’t blame you,” I admitted, taking the paper back and setting it on top of my folder.

“So, you’re engaged now?” Jack asked in a dark voice.

“Yes and no. Bruce thinks so, but I don’t want marriage. I’m not the marrying kind. I cant live in his lifestyle anymore. I just didn’t want to break his heart, so I said yes,” I mumbled.

“You should marry him.”

“Why?” I asked, shocked at what he was saying.

“Why not love the material things he can buy you?”

“No. I’m breaking you out and we’re going to go into hiding,” I said. Jack’s eyes lit up.

“Don’t do it,” he whispered, eyes losing their sparkle.

“What? Why?” I asked, feeling almost betrayed.

“It’s not worth it!” he yelled. “You belong with Bruce!”

“Shut up!” I yelled back. “I’m getting you out of here tonight! Whether you like it or not.”

“How?” he asked after a few minutes.

“Think I’m going to blow this place up.”

“Do you even know how to make a bomb?” he asked sounding doubtful.

“Yes. Do you still have the warehouse?”

“I should. Darrel should be there. I cant believe you’re going through with this,” he mumbled. I gave him a hard stare.

“I cant keep living a life I don’t belong in,” I claimed.

“So you’re going to throw away your life for little ol’ me?”

“Oh please! Don’t pretend you don’t want me to. I’m not stupid Jack,” I said in a high voice.

“When you get me out of here, I’ll believe it.” It reminded me of what he said when I told him Batman was coming for him.

“Why don’t you have faith in me?”

“I think you’ll chicken out,” he said simply.

“I will not.”

“Will to.”

“If you keep arguing with me, I’ll mark you down as a troubled person who deserves the chair,” I threatened, us both knowing I couldn’t actually do that.

“You wouldn’t. Wanna know why? Because you’re too attached to me. You cant stand Bruce, and you know it,” he told me. I just glared at him.

“So, should I write down ‘Jack Napier’?” I asked, picking up my pen.

“Don’t you dare,” he growled.

“When is lights out?” I asked, putting the form in my folder.

“10pm.”

“See you then,” I got up from my seat. As I walked to the door, I heard him say in a soft voice,

“I love you Lillee,” I spun around and saw him looking at me. His face held sadness, but his eyes showed joy. He looked like he expected an answer in return. I gave him a confused look and speechless, I turned and shut the door.

I left Arkham Asylum. I didn’t care about working there anymore. I hailed a cab that took me to the warehouse. The place was a mess. It looked like someone found this place and turned it into a party house. There were bottles everywhere and torn clothes scatted on the floor and dirt and grime was everywhere. I wasn’t too excited to clean this place, but I ignored the mess and got to work.