CHAPTER ONE: Incontri Accidentali
Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... That was all Cynthia Elizabeth Bluhme could hear as she sat at her crowded desk, staring at the computer screen in front of her. Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... Thank god she didn't share a desk with anybody. They would have been driven insane by the repetitive tap of Cindy's pencil. The same noise that was slowly bringing her to insanity as well. Or, perhaps... She was already there. Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap... Suddenly an article was shoved in front of her face and Cindy jumped, straightening up and sending a few stray sheets of paper flying to the floor. With a heavy sigh Cindy looked up to see who she already knew would be there.
Garrett Romero, Cindy's best friend looked down at her with a grin on his dark Italian face. He was nearly bouncing up and down with excitement and Cindy had to hold back an eye roll, already assuming the news he wanted to share. "Yes Garrett?" Were the only words she could seem to muster. Pulling up a chair, Garret sat down in front of her, his chest leaning against the back of the chair with his arms folded on top and his chin resting on his wrists. "Aren't you even going to ask for his name?" Cindy smirked softly. "Garret... After being your friend for as long as I have, I've learned to ask for details first, names later, and never ask questions." Garrett laughed, thinking nothing of what Cindy was saying. "Well fine. Point is, drank with him, slept with him, we're having lunch today. Can you cover for me today?" Cindy groaned. "Garrett..." She whined. This would be the third time this week she had covered for him. "It's the last time Cindy! I promise! And I'll make it up to you! We'll go shopping, my treat." Cindy frowned. "Of course it's your treat, you're the only buying anything." With a heavy sigh Cindy shut her eyes. "Fine. I'll cover for you."
With a squeal Garrett leaned forward and hugged Cindy. "Thanks! I'm heading out now!" Cindy frowned. "But you said lunch!" Garrett smirked. "Oh honey. I said you're covering for me. There fore I will be gone before my lunch break begins and back after it has already ended. Bye! Wish me luck!" Cindy sighed, looking back at her screen. "You won't need luck, you're already sleeping with him..." She muttered to herself. Why was it that her gay best friend had better luck with guys than she did? Oh well. There were somethings in this life that were better left not explained.
Glancing away from her computer screen, Cindy noticed the article that Garrett had shoved in her face as a distraction. A picture Cindy very much recognized adorned the front page, with a head line reading 'THE JOKER STRIKES AGAIN'. He really was Cindy's speciality. Not in writing, oh no. Cindy was not a writer. No, Cindy was a photographer. For some reason she was also in the right place at the right time, probably by virtue of the fact that she never went anywhere without her camera. Both a digital camera and a polaroid were kept in her purse, because she never knew which she would need more.
Skimming the article, Cindy didn't think too much of it. He had stolen a school bus, thankfully when no children were using it. Robbed a bank. Killed his workers. It was all pretty standard stuff to expect from the Joker. Cindy shockingly wasn't too afraid. There really was only one thing that truly terrified Cindy, and that was... A gun. You may laugh now, but with what she had gone through, a gun was the most terrifying thing any one person could own. With a shudder Cindy flipped the newspaper over so she couldn't see the photo she had taken. It would give her too much to think about, and it would be better and safer for everyone, if she just didn't look.
Hours later Garrett returned from his extended lunch break in a rather foul mood. Looking up, Cindy frowned. "Not the man you remember from last night?"
"Shut up. I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh but Garrett, I have to know the details."
"I said shut up."
"But you always love sharing the juicy de-"
"I said shut up! God damn it, you just not listen!"
Cindy blinked, shrinking back slightly. She didn't like to be yelled at, and especially not yelled at by her best friend. "F-Fine... If that's what you want." Cindy gathered up her stuff, getting ready to go. She did not want to deal with Garrett when he was acting like that. It really just ended terribly. Garrett could tell he had really upset Cindy and sighed heavily. "Cindy... I'm sorry, okay. He was just a real jerk, and I don't like it when you harass me like that." Cindy rolled her eyes. "When I harass you? What about all the times you harass me? When you beg me and guilt me and just push me around? Garrett, I love you, but right now, just leave me alone." Garrett scowled, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Well fine! I will!" He stormed off to his desk and Cindy closed her eyes for a moment to calm down. Garrett was just... Cindy didn't even have the words for it currently. She had all of her equipment, so she was going to go try and find some photographs for any future or current stories.
Walking out of the building, Cindy was immediately slapped in the face with the crisp, cool Gotham city air. Fall was turning to Winter and the leaves on the trees were a deep maroon and red, littering the once green grass. Then Winter would come, which Cindy never really looked forward to. The Holidays were just rough when your family was gone, and most of them had left during the Holiday season as it was. But Cindy had learned long ago that the more she dwelled on the upsetting topics, the harder it was to recover and calm down.
As she walked down the surprising barren sidewalks of her home city, the only noise apart from the occasional whizz of a car was the clip clop of her heels against the pavement. It was incredibly quiet this afternoon... Far too quiet for an afternoon in Gotham City. It made her wonder what was going on. Slowly pulling her polaroid out of her purse, Cindy wanted to be prepared. In a city like Gotham, the streets only got this quiet right before something serious was about to happen. That was when Cindy watched as a trashcan flew out of the alley in front of her with a loud crash. Covering her own mouth to keep from screaming, she heard the pained yells of someone else inside the alley. She had found her photo shoot.
Slipping out of her heels, Cindy silently approached the edge of the alley, peaking around the corner. Two men, far enough away from her she could make a run for it if necessary were talking in the alley. Well, talking really wasn't the right way to describe the scene in front of her. One man was on his knee, sobbing and begging, staring up at the men who had a hold of his shirt collar. The man on the floor was bloody, beaten, and bruised, while the man above was in a slick business suit. He was glaring down at the poor injured man, a knife in the hand that wasn't holding onto the injured mans shirt. Cindy was really just thankful he was using a knife and not a gun, otherwise she would have needed to run.
"Shut up!" The man above yelled, holding the knife to his cheek. "He doesn't care about your sniffling, he cares about the money you've lost him. About the money you say you can't pay back. That's all he cares about, and that's all I'm here for." Cindy quickly rummaged through her purse, turning on the recording device she kept handy. She would have to remember the snippet on conversation she had missed, but she was already busy clicking away pictures, having switched over to digital camera once she had seen the two men.
"But I'm telling you I can't! I just can't!" The man on the ground yelled, tears running down his dirty, bloody cheeks. The man in the suit looked down at him sadly. "I really am sorry to hear that." He pulled up his knife closer to his own eye level, examining it as if it were an antique to be purchased, but he was trying to find the flaw in it. Before anyone could have reacted, the knife was brought down, slashing the other mans throat. Blood gushed forward from the wound immediately and Cindy took one photo before turning, her back pressed against the wall outside the alley. She hated to see that much blood. And it was a shame she couldn't have saved that mans life. But she would have just died too.
Hearing footsteps coming her way, Cindy quickly took off running in the other direction. She needed to find a new hiding place, because if she was seen on the street in a skirt, holding a pair of heels and a camera, running away from a murder scene, everyone would know she knew something she shouldn't. Upon seeing yet another alley, this one deserted, Cindy turned into it, stopping to catch her breath. This was where she took the time to make sure everything was alright. Her cameras were put away, the recording device was turned off, and her heels were back on her feet. That seemed to be all that Cindy really needed to do. But now there was one thing wrong. She just couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.