I stared at the door of my apartment. The metal number six was barely hanging on. The nail was going to give way any day now. The paint on the door – a dark green – was peeling. I was always scared that my doorknob would just stop turning one day because of how old it was.

I sighed as I heard a gunshot across the street. It had become routine. Everyday after I came home from my work at Gotham Times, a gun would be shot and about 2 hours later the cops would show.

Yeah, that's right. I live in Gotham City. It is the worst city in America, in my opinion. Dirty, polluted air, muggings and or shootings happening at the other end of the street, the constant fear of being killed – oh, yes, I absolutely loathed this city. Oh, did I forget to mention that the man who runs this shithole of a town, Bruce Wayne, was the most fucking annoying person who I ever had the dissatisfaction of interviewing. He basically owns the city and doesn't do a single fucking thing to help it.

There's also a caped crusader, Batman – who in my opinion looks like he would kill you if you just looked at him wrong – who supposed to save the day. And guess what, for the time I've been here, he's done shit. Fuck! He does nothing to save anyone! He's a fucking psycho, is what he is.

I was just about to enter my apartment when from across the hall I hear, "Hey, Rory!" I turned around to see my neighbor, Ian Hartmann start to walk over to me.

I groaned quietly and pasted a fake smile onto my face. "Hello, Ian," I said as politely as I could.

Ian was about 2 years older than me. He worked for Wayne Enterprises. He was tall, about 6'1" and had green eyes and curly dark brown hair. When he smiled, his dimples showed. Yeah, I'll admit, he was a pretty boy, kind of my type, but the thing about him was his personality. Sometimes, he was so immature; the only times he really wasn't, was when he was talking about his job. He would buy me gifts at such random times, to show that he cared for me. And yeah, I cared for him, but in a different way, like a brother. He wanted to be more than that.

He smiled, dimples showing. I blushed…kind of. "Rory, hey, look, man. I-I-I bought something for you," he stammered. In his hand, I spied a red-foiled covered, heart-shaped box full of chocolates.

I sighed. "Ian, really, I don't need those."

His smile disappeared. Before, he could say anything, the phone inside my apartment rang. [i]Thank God![/i] "Hey, what do you know? My phone's ringing. I'm gonna have to get that. Talk to you later." I quickly unlocked my door and slammed it in his face. I felt bad, but not so much that I would go back out there.

I quickly laid my bag on my chair and sprinted over to the table where the phone was. "I'm coming!" I yelled to the phone. "Don't stop ringing!" Why do people do that? Yell at phone, as if the phone can make the decision of whether or not the person on the other end can keep trying to reach you or give up.

In mid-ring, I reached the phone. "Success," I panted.

"Hello?" I asked the person on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Rory." My friend, Ashleigh's voice rang in my ear. "So how's life in Gotham? Do you like it yet?"

I laughed sarcastically. "Ashleigh, I've lived in this city for about eight months. You should know by now that I detest it."

"Come on. It's not [b]that[/b] bad."

"Yeah, actually it is," I told her.

Ashleigh is probably my best and only friend here. She's also the reason I moved here from Boston. When I lost my job there, she suggested I move to Gotham so I could be closer to her. Yeah, smart decision, right? At the time, I thought it would be great seeing my best friend every week or so, but now I realize that I was happier on my worst day in Boston, than I was on my best day in Gotham.

"Well, you need to come over some time," she suggested. I heard the door close in her apartment. If I had to guess, it was probably her roomate, Leah. Leah was the epitome of immorality and evil.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Leah demanded.

"None of your fucking business," Ashleigh shot back.

"Well, get off."

"Why the hell should I?"

"Because I'm expecting a fucking call!" Leah yelled.

"The hell you are," Ashleigh growled.

"Fuck you!" Leah screamed. I heard a door slam. Well, wasn't she a ray of fucking sunshine?

"I'm so sorry about that," Ashleigh apologized, turning her attention back to me.

"Eh, it's fine," I told her. Had this been a few months ago, I would have been speechless or laughing my ass off. Now it's just become normal to me. That's what happens when you live in Gotham. "How about you come over here?" I suggested.

"Yeah, that'd probably be better," she laughed. "So when should I come over?"

"How about next Friday?"

"'Kay, great."

"Get off the damn phone!" Leah shrieked from inside her room.

"Shut the fuck up!" Ashleigh shouted back. "I better get off. See you Friday."

"Bye." I hung the phone up. I was about to go to my room and maybe relax, but I stopped in my tracks when I heard a knock on my door.

A/N: I'm seriously sorry about the whole punctuation marks being fucked up. I fixed it, though, see! Good as new. ;}