Sucker for Pain//The Joker

Chapter 3: I Torture You

     Once I arrive home I double check that I've locked my door and put all of my groceries away. I turn the TV on for some background noise and start to make myself some lunch. I grab some ham and cheese from the fridge and smile at the class photo of my students I have stuck to my fridge with a little magnet. I make myself a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and brew myself some coffee. I'm starting to feel pretty tired all of a sudden, I might take a nap.

     As I wait for my coffee to brew, I look at the calendar hanging on a wall near my front door. I take a pen and write in the time and place of my date with J on Saturday. Since its Monday I have around five days to prepare. Gilmore's is a relatively fancy restaurant so I might have to go out and buy a new dress.

     Once I finish my lunch I clean up and decide to watch some TV. I manage to drift off to sleep for a little while watching a rerun of Friends. I wake up a little later in the afternoon and decide to check the news for any more updates on the Joker. They still haven't found him and he could be miles away by now, but we are still being advised to stay indoors with the doors locked for the next few hours. That makes me really glad I stocked up because I hardly had any food to begin with.

     I secretly hope this whole Joker situation clears up soon so I can go on my date with J. I don't know what it is about him that's so enticing. Maybe the way his smirk is the closest he gets to smiling sometimes, or how he acts like he owns the world; arrogant but educated. He has a certain charm to him that I can't help but find irresistible. I do have my doubts though, he is very attractive but as I said before he can be arrogant. But hey, that's what dates are for; a chance to get to know each other better and see if it'll work out.

     At the sight of the late afternoon sky out of my living room window, I decide to call one of my best friends, Kacy, to update her on the news about my love life. She's the one who convinced me to go that party after all, without her I probably never would have met J.

     I dial her number and the phone only rings twice before she picks up

     "Hey there, party pooper. Where'd you go? You missed all the fun! Me and the girls got a tour of Wayne Enterprises from Bruce Wayne himself! He's so manly, Soph, and so hot! I feel like he's a little too old for me though and I know he's a really busy guy, what if he doesn't have time for me? Spending time together is an important part of a relationship you know and I -" I cut her off before she talks my ear off.

     "Slow down there, Kacy! It's not like he proposed or anything, give the man a break. All he did was give you a tour." I say laughing at her incredible ability to jump to conclusions.

     "Yea yea, well we talked a little and he seems like a nice guy. It was nice of him to let Heather bring us along. Did you know they were cousins?" She says this like it's a juicy secret.

     "Oh, no I didn't know they were cousins. Anyway, I called you for a reason Kacy. I want to tell you what happened while you were off being whisked away by Mr. Wayne," I say biting my lip, hardly able to contain my excitement.

     "Ok, ok tell me what happened," she says with a sigh. I tell her everything about how I met J. About how he and I talked and danced the night away at Bruce's party. About how he gave me a ride home and kissed my hand like a gentleman. And best of all, about our upcoming date this Saturday.

     "Oh my goodness!!! Sophie! You found yourself a man! Is he handsome? Is he kind? Does he treat woman right? Is he a feminist? Is he financially stable? How old is he? Where did he grow up? What's his occupation? Did he graduate college? Does he still live with his parents? Is he an alcoholic? Does he have any piercings? Tattoos? Will he-"

     "Calm down, mom! I don't know all of these things yet, that's what the date is for, to get to know each other a little better,"

     "Well you better ask him every single one of those questions. Or just put me on the phone and I'll do it, this is important information! I just want to make sure he's a good guy for you, we're getting to the age where it's time to start settling down. If he's the one, I want him to be good to you." She says sincerely. I smile at my over protective friend.

     "I know, Kacy. Thank you. I'll tell you more about him after the date, I promise."

     "Ok fine. But if he even lays a single finger on you, you let me know and I'll be there to rain down on him like the Fourth of July, ok?" I chuckle at this. This is why she is one of my best friends, she's always here when I need her.

     "Ok, Kacy. Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be fine."




So I've decided to enter this story into the Watty Awards but I found out I only have 12 days to finish it! I really hope that's enough time, I hope I can get it done! What do you guys think? :)

-elkj13