The Tale of the Obsession
Hey everyone! This is a story about Harley's life starting at her Med School graduation and leading to something big. It's the first part of chapter one and I do plan to write many chapters and make this a sort of long story. Hope you all like it… by the way this is the 1st fic that I write, so if it's not that good I am sorry! I'll work on getting better I promise Please leave me your comments, complaints and concerns and tell me if you guys like it so I keep writing the story. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or references in this story. They belong to Dc comics. Please don't sue me k thanks .
Chapter 1 Part 1: Spontaneous
"Harley! Are you ready yet?!" Veronica yelled from outside the bathroom. Veronica was Harley's best friend at Gotham University.
"You've been hogging the bathroom since 6am!" she complained
"OK, OK! Damm, I'll be right out!" Harley said opening the bathroom door.
"Sorry to be yelling" Veronica sighed, "But I do NOT want to be late for our big day!"
How could Harley forget? Today was their most waited day since they enrolled at Gotham University for Medical Practices. Today was the day she will fulfill her educational goals and finally be certified to practice her passion, psychology.
"Sorry I took so long" Harley apologized, "But I cannot believe today is the day!"
"I know me neither but we won't make it in time if you insist in talking instead of getting dolled up!" Veronica said in a whiny tone. Harley rolled eyes and walked in into her room.
Veronica and Harley had met at orientation and ever since they had been inseparable. They became extremely close, to the point that Veronica convinced Harley to move in with her and leave her parents behind.
It's not like I needed much convincing, Harley thought to herself
She did not have the best relationship with her parents; in fact she wasn't very fond of them. Throughout the 24 years of her life, Harley's parents never really showed her much love. Harley was the oldest child of 4 children her parents brought to this earth. They lived in middle class but her father could not keep a stable job, due to his alcoholism, many times he would be gone for days, even weeks at a time, until he didn't come back one day. In the other hand her mother was very loving to her siblings, but she had a very short temper and this temper got the best of her most of the time. The main income came from the two full time jobs she had. During the day she worked as a hostess in a four star restaurant in the far end of Gotham, and during the night she worked at Gotham General Hospital, cleaning and giving maintenance to the many machines used there. Because of her two very tiring jobs, Harley's mom was almost never aware of what was happening in her children's lives, and never really put an effort to find out. Her mom usually tended to isolate herself from her children, leaving all the responsibility to the oldest child. Ever since Harley could remember she had to take up the role of a mother to her younger siblings. She knew that this wasn't her responsibility, and every time she would complain, her mother was put on edge and would beat Harley horribly, calling her names a young child should not learn from her mother. She took all that abuse all her life, until Veronica realized what was happening and took her out of there. Harley's mom didn't even care that she was leaving, but Harley didn't expect her to…. If she hadn't showed any happiness when Harley had announced that she had gotten a full scholarship to attend Gotham University, why would this big announcement be any different? Harley didn't feel remorse in leaving; at least her siblings were old enough to care for themselves now.
Suddenly there was a loud knock from her door that startled her out of her thoughts, making her jump a little.
"Hey Harley, you better hurry we gotta leave in 15 minutes, otherwise we won't make it!" Veronica said in a hysteric tone
"Alright" Harley replied, "Calm down or else you'll pass out from the nerves" Harley joked and started to put on the sapphire blue dress she had laid out on her desk the night before, slowly and careful not to get any wrinkles on it.
"Oh shut up!" Veronica laughed "I've been ready for a while are you almost done?"
Harley looked around her room, she had painted the walls a sky blue, it reminded her of the feeling of freedom she had when she left home. She walked over to the closet and pulled out a shoe box containing a pair of light brown wedges she was going to wear to match her dress. She opened the door and pulled Veronica in.
"Oh my GOD Veronica!" Harley squealed, taking a step back to take a better look at her best friend "You look absolutely stunning"
Veronica looked down at her knee length black dress her dad had custom made for her. She was daddy's little girl and got everything she wanted since her father, General Vreeland, was worth millions. She was always accustomed to receive nothing but the best, but at the same time, she was also taught to never judge anyone by who they portrayed to be on the outside, just on the person of the heart, and Veronica could see that Harley had a good heart.
"You look just as ravishing!" Veronica smiled
"Oh, haha thanks Ronnie" Harley said while blushing.
Sometimes Harley could not understand why someone like Veronica would want her as a friend. In Harley head, they were complete opposites. Veronica had the money, the nice upbringing, the popularity, the looks and the guys chasing after the looks. Harley thought herself as quite the opposite, Nerdy, bookworm, science type. She was never invited to any parties nor had any guys calling her. But Harley didn't mind, because she saw these things as distractions from her schoolwork. And besides she was not in college to be in parties and waste her time, she had to not only proved to her mother and siblings that she would become a successful psychiatrist, but she also had to prove it to herself.
"OK, let's grab our cap and gowns and lets head out" Harley said
Both hurried to their closets and grabbed their black graduation gowns and caps. Then ran out the door slamming it shut behind them, and they were gone, gone to their graduation and a start of a new chapter in their lives.
…..
It was 10 am on a sunny Saturday morning, and the ceremony had begun. Harley was so excited she could barely stay seated, but she didn't have to sit for longer, as the ceremony begun, many speakers went up to the podium and spoke on the privilege and honor to have attended Gotham University. When the dean started to give out the many awards for educational stand outs, he announced that there was a special speaker that wanted to give out a special award. Harley's stomach dropped when she saw the head of Arkham asylum walk to the podium. Dr. Bartholomew, was a tall and broad man, around his mid-fifties, who walked proudly to the podium
"Hello graduates and families, I'm Dr. Bartholomew, head of Arkham asylum. I have spoken to the head of the Psychiatry program here at Gotham University, and she has asked me to deliver this award to a top class student. This young lady has worked very hard and she truly deserves this award. She is perseverant, hardworking, and intelligent. This young lady has a very bright future ahead of her. Miss Harleen Quinzel! Please come up to receive you well-earned award" He gestured her to come up, with a wide smile on his face.
Harley froze for a second; she could not believe he was talking about her. As everyone clapped around her, she nervously stood up, her legs were nervously shaking
Damm bad day to try and start wearing heels, let's just hope I don't fall while I try to walk up there- Harley thought
She had finally made it over to the podium, her face crimson red. She walked over to Dr. Bartholomew and he proudly handed her a plaque that read "Excellence in psychological Sciences". Dr. Bartholomew shook Harley's hand and then let her walk back to her seat. On her way down the stairs she finally managed to get some courage to look at the crowd, she quickly scanned it and spotted three familiar faces.
What?! They actually came?- Harley though in extreme shock at the sight of her younger siblings, she looked back again before sitting down and quickly scanned again to make sure it was them. She was overcome with joy that she began to tear up a little, but then she realized that her mother was nowhere in sight. She felt a pang on her chest as she realized that even now she wasn't important enough for her mother.
Harley sighed deeply, and sat down, hoping that the rest of the ceremony would go smoothly without any more surprises.
…...
"I can't believe they actually came!" Veronica squealed after they had said their goodbyes to Harley's siblings
"I know right! I was just as shocked when I saw them!" Harley replied looking down at the floor
"Hey, don't be sad, you know she's proud of you, she's just a little hard to get through, but deep inside, your mom is happy for you." Veronica reassured
Harley was about to thank her, but then she spotted Dr. Bartholomew coming their way. Harley tried her best to look calm, hoping he wouldn't see how nervous she was. She always admired his work and she hoped that eventually she could get a job at Arkham and work with the top cases of criminal inanity in the institute.
"Hello Harleen, Hello Veronica" Dr. Bartholomew greeted them both.
"Hello sir" Veronica and Harley answered
"I was hoping to catch you both before you guys left to celebrate" He smiled "I'm glad I did, because after reviewing many options for the award given to Harleen, I saw that both you and Veronica had the best grades in this program" He then gave them a very serious look looked serious "As the head of an institute that treats criminally insane people, I need in my staff only but the best and most qualified are accepted to be employed. I am very impressed with the qualifications of you both, Harley with your Gymnastics scholarship and educational excellence, And Veronica, with the community service, and very impressive grades, I have no choice but to ask and maybe even please you to come to the asylum and join our team of doctors. What do you think?" He asked hopeful.
Harley and Veronica looked at each other in complete shock and lack of words. They could not believe he was interested in them. Usually there was a long process many applications, interviews and internships, before a doctor would even be considered for a position at Arkham.
"This is a huge honor; I will accept your offer, it has always been my dream to work at Arkham. And now thanks to you, my dream is coming true. I will not let you down" Harley smiled, feeling like she was the happiest person in the whole earth.
Well this is extremely spontaneous, I hadn't even thought about life after graduation, Damm Harley already said yes… but, she's right, this IS a huge opportunity, and if I get to work with my best friend, well what could go wrong?- Veronica thought
"I'm in too" veronica smiled and held squeezed Harleys hand in excitement.
"This is magnificent" beamed with joy "If you guys we could get started with an orientation Monday morning at 9"
"Sounds great!" Harley said, while she had the biggest smile veronica had ever seen on her.
"Well then, I'll see you at Arkham Monday morning for orientation and to fill out the paperwork." said as he shook each of their hands before walking away.
After he was out of sight, Harley and Veronica hugged each other and started to scream excitedly
"This is the happiest day of my life!" Harley exclaimed
"Me too! I cannot believe me and you are going to be coworkers!" Veronica said as she hugged Harley one more time
"Congratulations on the new job " Harley said in a mockingly serious tone
"And to you too " Veronica said in between laughs " I am going to go tell Daddy what just happened, and after we are going to go to lunch, do you want to join us?" Veronica asked
"No its ok, Ill head back to the apartment, but don't come home too late I wanna go out and celebrate" Harley smiled
"Yes! Finally you want to party with me! You won't regret it! Tonight we are going to have the time of our lives!" Veronica laughed with excitement
"Alright go before I change my mind" Harley smiled
"OK, bye! See you later! Don't forget to dress nice!" Veronica said turning away from Harley and walking away
Harley felt completely happy, happier than she felt in a long, long time. She was so excited for this new opportunity life had given her. She was determined to succeed at the Asylum. She wasn't going to let anything or anyone stop her from success. She could already feel herself changing into a better person. High in hopes, Harley walked back to her car, with this new desire to also make this change for the better in those who needed her at the asylum, to help them change their ways and get themselves back on their feet and into society. She wanted to make a difference, one patient at a time.