Why So Serious

“Good morning Gotham City! It is now 6 am! Hope everyone has got their coffee at Starbucks and is on their way to work. Have a great day. Oh, and if you see Batman tell him Reese Johnson from 92.6 Rox says Hi”

I rolled over with a loud groan. How could anyone be that motivated in the morning? My hand hit the snooze button for the third time. I knew if I didn’t get up now I would sleep the day away. I pulled myself out of the bed and towards my bathroom. I took a shower and got ready for the day. I decided to wear my white dress with black flower designs. I quickly put gel in my hair and grabbed my purse. I shut the door to my apartment and locked it. It took me a while to flag down a taxi but one finally stopped in front of me.

“Where too miss?” the driver asked.

“Bruce Wayne Industries” I replied while getting into the yellow cab and shutting the door.

The taxi driver took off down the busy road. This was Gotham City at seven in the morning, busy. It took about 15 minutes before I got to work. I paid the driver and ran into the building. My office was located on the second floor right across from Bruce Wayne’s office. As usual, he wasn’t there. His excuse was that he was a busy man and of course I was this busy man’s assistant. All thanks to my dad Lt. James Gordon. He wanted me to have a good paying job right out of college and I got stuck here. But don’t get me wrong. I love my job. I get paid $15 an hour just to answer phones and take messages for Bruce. I sank down in my cushioned chair and turned on my computer. I logged into my account and began to send out Bruce’s e-mails, which he never sent out.

Bruce finally stumbled into his office at ten. I got my list of number’s for him to call.

“Hey Nichole” he said.

I smiled at him. “Hey Mr. Wayne. How are you doing?”

”Fine, just had a long night”

“You always have a long night Bruce”

He looked up at me with a smile on his face. “Well I have another side to me at night”

”What you turn into a werewolf and kill helpless people?”

”No, not exactly”

“Then what Bruce? You never tell me why you are always tired and why you have busy nights. If you told a long time ago then maybe we would still be together”

Bruce stood up and shut the door. He quickly turned to face me. Yes, Bruce and I dated about a year ago. He would always take off at random times and they would always be at night. I asked him why he had to go and he said work. I shook my head. I knew work wasn’t the cause for this he wouldn’t even send out his e-mails or answer his damn phone. So how could work be the reason? He was never there!

“Nichole, listen to me. I will tell you one day but today is not that day. Alright?”

“You always say that Bruce”

“I know, but here’s the thing. If anyone ever found out that you and I are closer than just boss and assistant something bad will happen”

“Bruce, you are the boss to your own company. No one will fire us for this”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not the thing Nikki”

Bruce would always call me Nikki when we were behind closed doors.

“Then what?” I asked.

“If they find out about us they will use you against me”

”They?”

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

“Come in”

The door opened to reveal Alfred Pennyworth. He smiled at me and Bruce.

“Sorry for interrupting” he said.

“It’s alright Alfred”

Bruce looked over at me.

“Excuse me” I said then went back into my office.

Bruce shut the door so I couldn’t hear their conversation. I let out a sigh. What did he mean by they would find out about us and use it against him? I shook my head slightly. Bruce Wayne was a mystery and would always be one to me.

“Is everything alright Alfred?” asked Bruce.

He sat down behind his desk.

“Have you seen the papers?”

“Not recently, what is it?”

“There’s a new villain in town”

I stood up. “Who is it?”
Alfred handed me the Gotham City newspaper. It was issued for today. I looked down at it and saw a picture of a bank explosion and the outline of a man who had something to do with it.

“Who is he?”

“The Joker is what he goes by. Lt. Gordon hasn’t been able to track him down yet, but he has killed women, children, and men”

“Yes, I know. I’ve met the joker before”

Bruce had a flashback of that terrible day. It was midnight about four years ago; he was on his usual night duty as batman. He noticed a strange looking guy walking down the alley. From what Bruce could see he was wearing a purple trench coat with matching slacks and gloves, and a green shirt that had a pattern on it. Bruce watched as he headed towards one of Gotham Cities famous banks. Bruce jumped down off of one of the tall buildings he landed behind the man. He turned around. Bruce’s mouth dropped. His face was painted white, he had black paint circling his eyes and ruby red lips. Deep cuts from his mouth up to his cheek made a sinister smile on this guys face.
“Well hello” he said in a deep yet high pitched voice. “Let’s put a smile on your face”
“Let’s put a frown on yours”

Bruce tried to fight this guy but he was too quick for him. He cackled out a sinister laugh that Bruce would never forget.

“Bruce, Bruce?”

Bruce looked up at Alfred. “Is everything alright?”

”Yeah, sorry. So when did this happen?”
”Early this morning around three”

Bruce nodded his head. He was asleep at that time.

“Is there anything else he has done?”

Alfred nodded. “Yes, he killed a family and is plotting to take over the city”

“Over my dead body”

Alfred soon left to let Bruce get back to work.

I noticed the door to Bruce’s office open. What was going on? I went into Bruce’s office.

“Not know Nichole”

“Just tell me what is going on?”
He looked up at me. “Fine, there is a villain in Gotham City and I have to take care of him before he ends up killing the whole city”

“You have too? No, Bruce my dad can take care of him”

“Your dad is no match against the Joker”

My mouth dropped. “The Joker?”
Bruce nodded. “Yes, he is a sociopath who would kill anyone that got in his way”

“So why do you have to take care of him”

Bruce exhaled sharply. “Because, I am batman”

I looked at him sharply. I knew who batman was; he saved me from being mugged one night while walking home. But the guy I saw was not Bruce. Batman couldn’t be Bruce, could he?