The Joker woke with a start and a short gasp, laying flat on his back on the bed, which not only happened to be the left side but also the wrong side at that. It only took a few seconds of laying there, staring up at the ceiling above him, breathing deeply and sweating slightly, to remember everything that had happened over the past forty-eight hours, but also to recall in vivid detail the dream he had been having. Normally, he was not one to dream often but after finding it difficult to fall asleep, the constant thoughts racing through his brain had carried over into his unconscious state, leaving him to wake abruptly in near panic for the second morning since Jayde's departure.

It was not the first time he had revisited the night of Tre's death in his sleep, but it was, however, the first time he did not have the luxury of rolling over to find a peaceful, stunning girl in his bed to bring him back up to Earth from the depths of his internal hell. No, he did not miss her. But he did miss the feeling of having someone else there, in the same house, wallowing and miserable with him. He supposed the old saying was true; misery really does love company.

This thought led him to sit up with a frustrated growl, despite the fact that the sun had only just risen a mere three hours after he had finally fallen asleep and he threw the purple bed sheet away from him. It had not been laying on him or even touching him but something about it's presence was making him angry and as he rose from the bed, it took a great deal of self control not to go over and begin ripping it into a thousand shreds.

Down the hall, once he had stepped into the bathroom and shut the door out of pure habit, Joker stepped out of his boxers, irritably flinging them across the small room with his foot before he climbed over the tub and into the shower, turning on the water as he went. Of course, being that the weather had grown so chill even over the past two days, the water came out as cold as ice at first, causing Joker to curl up and double over instinctively, shivering as he shouted "SHIT!" While he knew there was no logical reason why this should make him mad, having something to blame it on, even if only for a few seconds, felt relieving.

Honestly, Joker could not see the point in even taking a shower in the first place. Now that he was quite alone, he could realistically let himself go for another week, could let himself stink as foully as he wanted to without worrying about offending anyone. But seeing how he hated the feeling of being dirty and smelly and felt disgusting when his hair got stringy and greasy, he figured he would have to keep up with his hygiene…unless he wanted to slip further into a deeper state of depression…or whatever it was he was feeling…

As he lathered his hair generously, Joker's eyes fell to the far corner of the shower, to the half-empty bottle of coconut and vanilla scented shampoo rested there upon the ledge of the tub against the tiled walls. Part of him wanted to lean down and pick it up, bring it to his face and take a deep, long sniff of the warm, familiar scent, but the other half of him felt like snatching it up and throwing it and everything else belonging to Jayde in the garbage once he got out. Then again, Joker's mind had yet to wrap itself around the notion that she really was gone and that same, foolishly hopeful part of him felt like he should keep it…just in case she came through that door at some point that day…

…Or the next day…

…Or the next day…

A full four days after Jayde had walked out, Joker trudged out of the bedroom and into the living room, feeling more exhausted than he could ever remember feeling in his life. Sleep had yet again escaped his grasp like trying to catch smoke in his hand and after tossing and turning for several hours, managing only a few minutes of sleep at a time, he gave up and was now standing in the kitchen, staring at the closed door to the fridge with his hands on his waist. He supposed he was hungry, but making something to eat would undoubtedly require a certain amount of energy that he did not feel he possessed at the moment. Pouring a glass of orange juice, however, did not seem as daunting so he reached out to open the door, but paused when his eyes fell onto the half-finished carton of soy milk Jayde had bought for him over a week ago, sitting there on the middle shelf, taunting him.

For some reason or another, the sight of this filled him with an invigorating thrill of anger and he reached into the fridge to pull it out and walk over to the sink, uncapping it as he went. The expensive, thoughtful milk spilled out as he poured it down the drain, watching it go bitterly until the carton was empty. He then turned on the faucet and ran the water until absolutely no traces of the soy milk remained in the sink. Stupidly, he had thought this might make him feel better; it did not. Abandoning that orange juice, Joker went back to the bedroom but only to pull open his dresser drawers and yank out a pair of jeans before grabbing a thermal long-sleeved shirt, applying both before he left the room, taking the keys to the Escalade as he went.

For a Saturday morning, Chicago was surprisingly busy, which only served to irritate Joker as he pulled onto a busy street in the heart of the city, only to find himself stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. With a loud groan, he leaned back in the seat, tilting his head back to close his eyes, to take a few moments to just breathe, try and calm himself before he rammed the front end of the Escalade into the back end of the small Camry in front of him…

Seemingly days later, the sound of a loud car horn woke Joker with a start and he blinked furiously as he looked around, somewhat confused to find himself sitting in the driver's seat of the Escalade, the Camry from earlier now nearly a quarter mile down the street in front of him. The irate driver behind him laid on their horn again and with another angry groan, he pushed down on the gas pedal, the tires screeching slightly as he took off, shaking his head to himself.

Ok, fuck this…he thought, turning the Escalade down a side street to take the correct roads back to the house. It just figured he would fall asleep mere minutes after getting out…

And just as he had mentally predicted upon pulling into the driveway, the second he lay down in the bed to close his eyes, they flew right back open to focus unblinkingly on the empty, white pillow across from him. From his very first night alone, Joker had noticed one single, long, curly black hair laying delicately across the pillow and the fact that it was still there baffled him. He would have thought his constant tossing and turning would have blown it away or even moved it to lay on the bed or on the floor, but it stayed, almost in the exact same position as the first time he noticed it. At first, he had wondered suspiciously if Jayde had plucked it from her head to lay it there, just to taunt him and force him to think of her every time he rolled over to an empty bed. Although upon second thought, this seemed a little paranoid and Jayde did not seem capable of thinking much further than getting herself out the door, into her car and away from the house as quickly as possible.

Joker could have said he didn't blame her, but he did. He had felt things were less than satisfactory between them but did not feel as strongly about it as she did. Sure, he had left the house rather abruptly after their more intimate moments, but only because…well, he wasn't really sure why…Something about laying there, hugging and kissing her until they fell asleep just felt…wrong. He supposed it was because he associated those times with something he could label as 'happiness' and as of late, happiness or even the feeling of being content has not been present in his life whatsoever. Perhaps he felt as though laying there, holding her, kissing her and pretending to be enjoying it would have been the most extravagant form of lying possible and as he had said many times, he hated liars. But then again, maybe lying would have been the perfect thing to do, seeing how he fucking hated himself lately.

For nearly an hour, Joker lay there with his back to Jayde's pillow, forcing himself to keep his eyes closed and his thoughts as far away from her as possible. This strategy would work for several minutes at a time, before some random memory, some arbitrary thought would lead him back to her and he would find his eyes wide open again, to avoid seeing her in his mind's eye. One of these instances led him to wonder wildly where she had actually gone when she left. He knew she did not have any money and only one tank of gas, which limited her options so severely, he would have been shocked if she had even considered leaving the city. Montana was out of the question, due to the one tank of gas dilemma, there was nothing left in Gotham for her, seeing how she was wanted there, which left only one option for her; New York. He could not see how she could have made it across three state lines without running her car into the ground but if there was one person who more than likely knew where she was, it was Dotcom. Joker thought of his phone lying on the kitchen table then remembered how Jayde had taken her own phone with her…Technically, he could…

"No." he actually went so far as to say this out loud to himself, as though the firmness in his voice had the ability to talk him down out of such a stupid idea as calling Jayde. She had been very direct in the words she had spoken to him that one morning and had even gone so far as to not only call him an asshole but to slap him in the face. Granted, he had called her a cunt and…he had hit her back.

Joker groaned, crossing his arms across his stomach to curl in upon himself slightly when he thought back to the sensation that had shot through his body upon watching Jayde stagger backwards to clutch that chair at the table. If he thought about it hard enough, he could still hear the soft, broken sob that had left her when she brought her hand up to clutch the side of her face. But allowing himself to reminisce on that one instance where he had hit her only proved to make him more angry so he forced his mind away from it once again. Yet still, the question remained, nagging at him like a tiny dog biting his ankles…where did she go?

Rising from the bed in a fluid motion, Joker walked right through the doorway, out into the living room and over to the kitchen table deftly, resolution in his steps. However as he reached out for the phone, his fingers curled inward toward the palm of his hand as though his body was protesting the action instinctually. He took a step back from the table, bringing his arm down to his side to straighten out his shoulders and take a deep breath, staring down at the device. He could turn around, just then, and walk away, force himself to get busy and forget about it. He could pretend he didn't care where she went and hope that she had died in a fiery car accident on the way there…As soon as that thought flew through his mind, Joker reached out, taking the phone from the table to walk over and step outside through the front door, taking a seat in Tre's old chair, now his new favorite place to sit.

It made him feel a little bit better that he did not know Jayde's number by heart and it helped give him a few more moments to consider whether or not he really wanted to go through with this while he searched for it through the call log. It was the first 712 number he spotted but as the small blue bar highlighted the number and asked him 'call Jayde?', Joker paused, staring down at the screen of the phone, asking himself the same question.

Fuck it…

After pushing the green button and pressing the phone to his ear, Joker felt his stomach clenching up and hated himself for mildly hoping she would answer, but then hated himself even more for feeling slightly disappointed when a familiar, robotic female voice answered immediately.

'You have reached the voice mailbox of…seven, one, two…'

Pushing his thumb down on the red button, Joker let out a somewhat relieved sigh, unsure of whether he wanted to feel thankful that her phone had been turned off, or angry that she had made it that way. Of course, there was still one more call he needed to make…Fortunately, this one was much easier.

Dotcom's number was easily recognizable, as he had saved it under 'Faggot' and after locating it, he quickly pressed the speaker of the phone against his ear a second time. Again, he felt a slight pang of relief when it began to ring.

After three repetitions, where Joker was positive Dotcom was staring at the caller ID, wondering whether or not he ought to answer it, the ringing ceased and a familiar, human voice answered.

"Hello?"

Joker wasn't sure how, but this question had caught him off-guard and he stammered awkwardly when he realized he wasn't sure what to say.

"Uhhhhhhey…" he eventually growled, squeezing his eyes shut to press his thumb and pointer fingers against his eyelids. There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

"…Hey," Dotcom answered, his voice rather quiet. He paused again, but when Joker did not speak, he continued. "I heard about…the other day."

At this, Joker rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure…" he grumbled, feeling about two seconds from hanging up. But he pushed on, knowing if he did not find out where she had gone, it would drive him crazy. "Have you uh-…have you heard from her or seen her?" he forced himself to ask, hating his own guts for hoping his answer would be yes. Surprisingly, Dotcom's response was fairly light.

"Yes, actually. I'm sitting across the room from her," he explained, his voice clearly trying to rub it in. Joker wanted to kill himself when he realized it was working and that he felt the slightest bit jealous of Dotcom at the moment.

"Oh…" Here, he cringed as he went on. "Can I…talk to her?"

Dotcom hmm-ed and Joker could just picture him tilting his head to the side to glance over at Jayde in the gayest way possible. "I dunno, let me ask her." Then, it seemed as though he lowered the phone as his voice sounded distant. "He wants to talk to you." He said to her, and Joker strained his ears but did not have to try hard to hear her response.

"NO. Tell him to call back at 'never o'clock', or 'never hundred hours' if he would rather use milit-"

Dotcom returned to the phone and sighed into the microphone, only irritating Joker further as he ground his teeth so hard inside his mouth, he could swear they were all breaking.

"She um-…doesn't wanna-," he began to explain somewhat solemnly but Joker cut him off.

"YEAH. I heard." He snapped, but then ended the call abruptly, only to bring the phone down, rise from the chair and go back inside, slamming the door behind him loudly as he went. If she was really serious about never talking to him again, then he would move on in a big way. And since there was really only one way to do that, Joker went right back into the bedroom, changed his clothes and grabbed the keys to the Escalade.

On the other side of town, where Joker and Tre formerly conducted a high volume of upper-class business, sat a swanky, old-school but very expensive and classy piano lounge and bar, called Ivory. Back in the day, the two brothers had lovingly referred to this place as the 'hunting grounds' as it was always, reliably filled to overflowing with rich, classy yet fairly slutty younger women, who only went out to be hit on and bought drinks by rich, classy men. Of course, Joker and Tre had always gotten a great kick out of this and almost always ended up leaving with one, sometimes two, maybe even three girls at a time. Whether they all made it back to the house varied by circumstance, but as Joker parked the Escalade out front and tucked the keys into the pocket of his black, pin stripe pants, he smirked to himself. If luck was on his side this evening, it would not be long before he could not even remember what Jayde's name was.

Being that it was a Saturday night, Ivory was nearly full to capacity and Joker had to squeeze past several people as he stepped inside, the classic sound of jazzy piano meeting his ears instantly, just over the din of voices and clinking of glasses. He recognized the song as 'Stardust' and instantly made his way toward the bar, figuring that even if he did not end up meeting anyone that caught his attention, he would simply sit, have a drink and listen to the piano anyways. Jazz had always had a calming affect on him, as strange as it may sound and he never hesitated to turn on that particular radio station back in Gotham when he felt he needed to unwind.

The area around the circular bar was crowded but at this point, Joker did not mind and simply nudged his way through, muttering forced, polite 'excuse me's' as he made his way to the counter, leaning on it with both of his black coated forearms once he reached it. As he had expected, the bartender was plenty busy with other drink orders and for several minutes, Joker stood there, watching the people across from him, laughing and talking comfortably with each other as they sipped their wine or brandy, seemingly without cares or worries. Honestly, Joker envied them, but only for their apparent sense of carelessness and contentment.

Finally, after several minutes, the bartender glanced over in his direction so he held up a finger, beckoning the man toward him, waiting until he got close enough to hear him before he leaned forward slightly, giving him his drink order of a simple glass of scotch. The man seemed a bit relieved that this had been all and hurried off to fetch their top bottle of the amber, warming liquid to pour a rather generous amount in a short glass before he brought it back and set it down on a cocktail napkin before him.

Joker did not thank him, but instead turned away, bringing the glass to his lips to take a small sip before he looked over the room, searching with his eyes for a quiet, unpopular corner where he could sit and survey. As of yet, he had not spotted anyone that had caught his eye or even anyone that appeared to be alone, as most of the women in this place were firmly at the side of a man. He supposed getting himself into a fight at a jazz piano lounge seemed perfectly in character but he was not in the mood; he was there for a different, greater purpose.

Finally, over to the left of the gorgeous, black grand piano, situated in the middle of a raised platform, Joker spotted a small, two person leather booth, where if he sat in the middle, he might not appear so pathetic and alone. Of course, if he had it his way, he would not be alone for very long and was soon taking a seat at the booth, leaning against the high back and to the side to sit slightly angled and twirl the short glass with his fingers slowly. The pianist was actually quite good and for several minutes, Joker found himself slightly mesmerized by watching the man's fingers dancing along the keys, weightlessly, effortlessly, creating perfect, relaxing music as they went. The new song, he recognized as an improvised version of 'Night and Day', a classic by Frank Sinatra. Of course, he knew every word but forced himself not to think of them, knowing exactly who they would remind him of.

"Night and Day…

you are the one…

Only you beneath the moon,

And under the sun…

Whether near to me or far…

I think of you…

Night and Day…"

Gradually, as Joker sat there, slowly taking random sips of his scotch, he began to feel the somewhat familiar sensation of being watched start to creep up on him and he pulled his eyes forcefully away from the piano to glance about the room. At first, he had partially expected to find several police officers staring him down, probably wondering what the fuck the Joker was doing there, but instead, his eyes took his attention directly across the room to a booth very similar to his, where a young, light-skinned black woman sat, watching him. The tips of her fingers rested lightly against the stem of her wine glass but of course, the moment he locked eyes with hers, she looked away, blinking several times as she turned her attention to the piano, clearly embarrassed for having been caught staring. Joker's lips tightened to fight off a smirk as he too looked away, wondering idly how long he should keep his attention away before looking back.

The song had ended and the pianist was now beginning another, which Joker did not recognize this time, so once the man had gotten several bars into the new song, he looked back over, unsurprised when the young woman quickly looked away again. However, this time, he did not look away and instead kept his eyes on her, smirking until she again looked to him. He needed only wait a few long moments before she again turned her face to look at him, only to grin girlishly and look down at the glass of white wine on the table before her. A piece of her loose, wavy weave fell into her face but she pushed it back when she looked up again. Joker's smirk expanded as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table to bring up one of his hands and beckon with his pointer finger, hoping she would not be too shy to come and join him.

To his surprise, the girl did not need much coaxing and promptly stood up from her table, bringing her glass of wine and black clutch hand bag with her. As she stood, she paused to adjust the bottom of her dress, leaving Joker to notice how tight the material was around her thighs and yet how loose and easily removable the top of the dress appeared. The short sleeves fell to her mid upper arm and sat off her shoulders, showing off a set of lovely collarbones and long, slender neck, atop which sat a very exotic, beautiful face that Joker found himself enjoying more the closer she grew. It was not long before she was standing in front of his table, looking slightly nervous and shy. She smiled down at him, her lips parting across her dazzling white teeth as she shifted from one impossibly high heel to the other.

"Hi," she greeted him, her voice soft but loud enough for him to hear her over the piano and other voices in the lounge. Joker smirked up at her charmingly. True, he had not done this in a few years, but he felt it was a little like riding a bike.

"Hi," he replied, but then arched an eyebrow playfully. "Although, I'm sure you didn't walk all the way over here to just say that, now did you…" he went on to say somewhat slyly, but when the girl's shyness seemed to deepen at his statement of the obvious, he motioned to the space next to him as he slid further along the seat. "Please sit with me, wont you?" he then asked politely, which seemed to diffuse the slight tension.

As the girl sat, she set her glass of wine down, which Joker noticed was nearly empty. He motioned to it and looked over at her to raise his eyebrows, trying to ignore the fruity, somewhat obnoxious perfume she was wearing.

"Can I get you another glass?" he asked, but the girl shook her head, giggling quietly.

"Oh, no, thank you," she politely declined, shaking her head before nervously tucking a bit of her soft-looking weave behind her ear. "So what brings you here?" she went on to ask, clearly feeling more bold now that she was sitting there next to him…Joker wondered if she had spotted his scars yet or if the lighting was just dim enough to prevent that. His eyes locked onto hers but then shifted back to the piano.

"I suppose you could say I'm a fan of jazz," he answered. "I haven't been here in years and…just thought I'd pay it a visit." Surprisingly, none of this was a lie. The girl nodded her understanding, but then looked over to the piano as well, watching the man's fingers for a few seconds while Joker studied the detail of her profile. Her eyebrows were perfectly arched, above deep brown eyes and a beautiful complexion, complete with two full, but not huge lips. "And what brings you here?" he went on to ask her in return, leaning toward her slightly to keep his voice low and yet still be heard. "And more importantly, how is someone like you here without someone like…him." At this, he pointed at a seemingly snobby, but well-dressed white man, in a clean cut suit and crisp haircut standing only a few feet from where they sat. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Guys like him are usually why girls like me avoid places like this," she explained smartly, grinning when Joker's eyebrows raised, somewhat impressed with her unforeseen level of intelligence. "I don't know. For some reason, tonight felt right for a little piano and wine."

Joker nodded an understanding but then looked back over to the girl, glancing her upper half up and down once or twice. "Ya know, I don't think you told me your name, miss." He then told her, his voice low and deep, once again pulling out the dusty stoppers on his charm bottles. The stranger beside him looked over, but only to return the gesture and glance him up and down a few times before she grinned somewhat sassily. She seemed to be hesitating, so Joker went on, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned toward her again slightly. "You could just make one up if you don't want to tell me…"

Surprisingly, the pink tip of the girl's tongue just barely touched the inside of her full upper, glossy lip before she grinned playfully from around it. "Jasmine," she finally told him honestly, but then continued, her voice softer and more airy now that she realized where he was going with this. "Now you have to tell me yours."

Joker arched an eyebrow, sitting up a bit more straight to glance past Jasmine toward the door before he looked back into her eyes, lowering his head slightly. "Promise you wont laugh?" he asked in a flirtatiously joking manner, smirking when Jasmine giggled, nodding her head. "I'm Kieron." At this, Jasmine's eyebrows arched more severely when she frowned.

"Why would I laugh at that?" she asked, searching his face when he shrugged.

"Well, it's not nearly as pretty as yours. I just figured you might think it's kind of…lacking." He explained, the tone of his voice and the softness and yet intensity of his eyes still working to seduce the living daylights out of this strange yet sinfully attractive black girl. She seemed oblivious to his attempts. As she giggled again, shaking her head, Joker grinned, watching as she drained the last sips of wine from her glass.

"Actually, your name is pretty sexy, if you ask me." she admitted truthfully. Whether that was just her nature or the wine talking, Joker was not sure. Nevertheless, he grunted a laugh, picking up his half empty glass of scotch to take another sip.

"You're too kind," he replied once he had set it back down. Jasmine giggled, resting her hand on his forearm.

"I'm serious!" she stated further, as though 'Kieron' had not believed her. "It's a unique name, I've never heard it before. It's sexy and…really suits you."

At this, Joker had to try hard not to stifle a loud laugh at her blatant attempts to hit on him and instead, he shook his head, reaching down to the space next to him to pat his coat.

"Well, I could really use a smoke," he began, picking up his coat to place it across his lap, meanwhile noticing a vague look of slight disappointment mingled with a bit of disgust cross Jasmine's features.

"You smoke?" she asked, clearly hoping he had been joking or was otherwise going to say no, despite the fact that he had just admitted he could use a cigarette. So he obliged, grinning as he shook his head.

"No, you caught me," he admitted falsely. "I was just making an excuse to get outside where we can talk and not have to yell." He then lied, but figured it worked to his advantage when Jasmine let out another increasingly annoying giggle before she slid out of the booth on the other side of him, tucking her clutch handbag under her arm against her side. As he rounded the table toward her, he was somewhat surprised at how tall she was. Barely a few inches shorter than him, at a full six foot four, she easily stood six foot one, but then again, she was in heels…Joker was positive she would be much shorter once she took them off…

After offering her the crook of his arm, and once Jasmine had slipped her hand between his side and elbow, the two meandered their way through the crowded lounge, over toward the door where they both paused to apply their coats before stepping out into the cold, Chicago night air. With the time nearing ten-thirty, the sun had long since gone down, however, it was somewhat astonishing how much brighter it was out on the sidewalk in front of the club, versus inside, where the only lighting included a large spotlight on the piano and mere tea light candles on each of the tables. Joker exhaled heavily as he slid his hands into his pants pockets, watching as his breath disappeared on a vague cloud of condensation before he glanced over to Jasmine a foot or so from him, to find her staring openly at the side of his face. This normally irritated him to the point of snapping but Jasmine was pretty and if he played his cards right, he might end up finding out just how short she really was without those heels on…He smirked as she looked away quickly when he caught her staring.

"You don't have to pretend you don't see them, dahling," he told her charmingly, with a bit of that unavoidable Chicago accent falling through, in reference to his scars as he turned to face her. "I'm used to people staring." THAT'S the truth…How does she not recognize me?

Jasmine seemed a little flustered and embarrassed, unsure of what she could say to change the subject so Joker stepped toward her, reaching down to take her hand and rest it lightly against his cheek, hoping she would not pull it away once she felt the jagged, slightly raised skin around the scar beneath her fingers. Luckily, she seemed intrigued and Joker watched her exotic features as her eyes followed the movement of her fingers, tracing their way from the top of the scar toward the corner of his mouth. A small shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature caused her to wiggle slightly before she pulled her hand away, frowning up at him.

"Do-…" she began, but paused, clearly wondering whether or not it would be rude to continue her question. But when Joker kept his expression soft, his eyebrows raised expectantly, she continued, clearing her throat quietly. "Do they hurt?" she finally asked, her eyes darting all over his face, from his eyes down to his lips, to the scars and back up again.

Joker could remember very vividly being asked this question by only one another girl and before he could stop himself, in his mind, he was back in time, standing beside the lake on the Maroni property, Jayde's small hands on either side of his face. A short, small pang shot through him but he ignored it, forcing himself to smirk down at Jasmine as she waited for an answer.

"No," he replied, then paused, his gaze bouncing back and forth between Jasmine's eyes. There was an unmistakable hint of desire in them so he grinned, taking another step toward her. "Here, let me show you." And with that, he leaned down kissing her lightly on the cheek, before he pulled back only slightly to stare deep into her eyes.

"See? That didn't hurt at all, did it…"

Joker hated himself for quickly remembering the silly, girly smile that had spread over Jayde's face when she got the gist of this joke. Apparently, Jasmine also understood this but did not grin or even giggle the way the last girl to hear this line had. Instead, she let her tongue slip out to lick her lips rather hopefully, eyeing his in that certain way that normally sent Joker reeling.

A second later, their lips met and locked somewhat heatedly, Jasmine's hands immediately reaching for the edges of his coat while Joker's fingers curled around her curvy hips to the small of her back, pulling her closer to him gently. But as Jasmine kissed him roughly, practically forcing her tongue into his mouth, it took a great deal of effort to keep himself from pulling away with a somewhat disgusted cringe. He was not used to those sort of kisses and was finding himself disliking it more and more by the second…Fortunately, Jasmine pulled back and looked away awkwardly, tucking a bit of her yaki weave behind her ear as she bit down playfully on her bottom lip. Joker forced a grin onto his face.

"I should um-…probably be going…" she muttered, glancing behind her to the remainder of the sidewalk and the dark streets it led to. Here, Joker noticed his opportune moment and jumped at it; he had come out, seduced a perfect stranger and he would be damned if he went home with nothing to show for it.

"You didn't walk here, did you?" he asked incredulously, arching an eyebrow when Jasmine turned back to face him, nodding her head sheepishly. "Well, I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't offer you a ride home. After what happened to that girl a few weeks ago, you can never be too careful…" How ironic…

Jasmine smiled and nodded her head, following him over toward the Escalade to climb inside without even the slightest shred of hesitation, which Joker found to be a little moronic. He could have been anybody…Why, he could have been some cold-hearted, mass-murdering, multi-state-wanted, killer!…Oh, wait. That's right…I am.

Jasmine seemed very relieved to be sitting in an Escalade and appeared rather proud of herself for her pick of the night, clearly thankful that 'Kieron' had not led her over to some beater of a car. Like Tre loved to say…It ain't trickin' if ya got it. Joker thought of this and smirked to himself, forcefully ignoring the pang of heartache that shot through him when his mind replayed a clip of his best friend's voice, as if to purposely hurt him when he was feeling slightly better.

Fortunately, Jasmine's apartment building was fairly close, which explained how she was able to walk to the lounge in those heels, and once Joker had parked the Escalade on the street in front of the building, he leaned forward slightly, glancing up at the building through the passenger window. Jasmine seemed be struggling with something in the seat beside him.

"Do you…" she paused, as if giving herself time to reconsider. "Do you want to come upstairs?"

Joker smirked. Yep…she wants it. His eyebrows arched as he leaned toward her slightly, resting his elbow on the center console between them, letting his gaze bounce up and down from her eyes to her lips several times.

"Do you want me to come upstairs?" he asked, his voice deep yet playful. Jasmine grinned, her full lips parting to reveal those white teeth again.

"I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't want you to…"

Despite the deepening color in Jasmine's cheeks, her reply was very smooth, which tipped Joker off to the fact that she was obviously very experienced in this particular situation. Without hesitation, he got out and followed her to the front doors of the building, hoping she realized without making him explain that this was most definitely a one-time occurrence. If he had it his way, and more often than not, he did, she would never see him again and he would disappear almost immediately once everything had been said and done.

The elevator ride to the third floor was nearly silent and mildly awkward, being that it was so short and barely left them time to even look at each other before the doors were sliding open again, revealing a long, brightly lit hallway. Being that he had no idea where he was going, Joker politely allowed Jasmine out of the elevator before him and followed her down most of the hall until they reached a door with the number 8 posted below a peephole. While Jasmine fished around in her handbag for her keys, Joker waited patiently, trying to distract himself from the growing sense of strange foreboding and the even more alien sense of guilt floating around inside him, gaining intensity with every second that passed. He was not sure why the hell he would be feeling guilty, seeing how he was not committed to anything or anyone for that matter and that the one person who might hate what he was doing was over seven hundred miles away. Despite all that, he still could not help but feel like he should not be there as he followed Jasmine into her small, one bedroom apartment.

To his surprise, it was not decorated like he had been expecting and was instead somewhat bare, as though she had just moved in and had not had the chance to make it presentable. This did not bother him in the slightest however, but rather wished there had been something he could have mentioned or asked about to distract her and more importantly himself. As he slid out of his coat and sat down on a couch near the windows against the far wall, Joker watched as Jasmine stepped out of her heels, keeping her eyes fixed on him the entire time, almost like a lioness eyeing her prey. Joker could not kid himself into pretending he didn't like the way this turned him on.

"So are you gonna come sit with me or what?"

Jasmine took him up on his somewhat sarcastic invitation immediately and sauntered over to him, swinging her hips a bit more than was necessary until she reached him, folding her knee to sit facing him on the couch. But Joker shook his head, tisk-ing quietly as he reached over to grip her thigh, using his thumb to move her dress up covertly.

"Oh, my apologies..." He growled, leaning over press his lips lightly against her neck, before he continued. "By 'sit with me', I meant 'sit on me." With that, he tightened his grip, using his other hand to guide her hips toward him until she straddled his lap, her knees on either side of him. He hummed contentedly, sliding his hands up from her hips along her deep hourglass figure but had to force himself not to frown when he noticed how different this woman felt against his hands.…almost like wearing a shoe on the wrong foot or driving a new car. Jasmine did not seem to notice his shift in mood as she leaned down, closing the distance between them to practically attack him with her lips. Joker nearly cringed again…These lips were a bit fuller than he was accustomed to and the strength with which she kissed him was already doing wonders to dampen that rush of arousal he had felt watching her take her heels off.

Despite the way his body was screaming at him that this was wrong, that this did not feel right, that something important was missing, he continued, patiently opening his mouth to allow Jasmine's aggressive tongue to explore. His heart gave another pang of longing ache when he imagined the way Jayde used to kiss him, how soft and tentative she was, almost shy with her movements as though kissing him too roughly would make him mad. He could remember so clearly each and every instance where she had walked up to him, rose up onto her very tip toes to place her hands on either side of his face and kiss him, once, lightly, right on his lips before she would walk away, leaving him aching to taste her. Jasmine was proving to be the polar opposite of all this and the longer he allowed himself to endure it, the more he found himself hating it. But again, he reminded himself of the main purpose of even going out in the first place…to get some foreign pussy and forget about Jayde.

Jasmine pulled back from Joker's lips, giving him only a second or two to breathe before she was back, sliding her tongue into his mouth again although her hands moved from his shoulders to the front of his white dress shirt where her fingers expertly moved to begin unbuttoning from the second button, down, parting the material as she went to rake her nails deeply against his chest as if that was supposed to turn him on. If Joker was being perfectly honest, it actually hurt just a little and he hissed, pulling away from her lips to open his eyes and glare at her. Jasmine giggled playfully, apparently mistaking his expression for that of pure lust and she continued, this time leaning forward to tilt her head to the side and press her lips against Joker's neck, just below his jaw.

Oh, fuck…

At this, Joker let out a completely natural groan, sliding his eyes shut to tilt his head to the side and reward her with more room for finding his weak spot. His body began to tingle slightly, his hands moving from either side of her ribs, back down her curvy figure until they rested on the outside of her thighs. He was so tempted to pull her hips down and grind himself against her, but again, for reasons that were beyond him, he refrained.

"Have you ever slept with a black girl?"

These words hit the back of Joker's mind like a semi-truck, the clarity of Jayde's voice so haunting and real, he could have sworn she was sitting in the window behind him. Jasmine's hands were now hurriedly untucking the front of his shirt from his black, pin-striped pants, breathing down his neck and making the task of thinking clearly that much more difficult. Joker wanted this, he really did, but with Jayde's voice now ringing in his mind's ears, that tingling sensation was gone and every movement of Jasmine on his lap, every second her hands were on him felt wrong and practically disgusted him to the highest degree.

"Jasmine…" he said, his voice flat and perfectly level, hoping to get her attention. Either she had not heard him, which seemed unlikely, or was ignoring him as she leaned forward, reaching down behind herself to grab his dick right through the material of his pants. "Jasmine!" Joker's hips gave a defensive buck in response but instead of allowing his body to respond, he grabbed her upper arms and pushed her off of him, fighting hard to be gentle and not actually throw her away from him like he wanted to. He stood up from the couch abruptly, breathing somewhat heavily and staring down at her wide-eyed as though his actions had even surprised himself. Jasmine was frowning up at him confusedly.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked, her voice already carrying a note of hurt to it as she watched him bring a flustered hand up to run through the front of his hair. He shook his head, clearing his throat awkwardly, absolutely mortified with himself for making this decision.

"I um-…" he began, not even bothering to button his shirt back up as he walked over to the table where he had dropped his coat. "I have to go. I uh-…yeah, I gotta go. I can't…I…"

"What?" Jasmine asked again, rising from the couch now to walk toward him as he opened the door to her apartment. "Why not?"

Now halfway through the door, Joker paused, turning back to face her. "Uhhhhhmmmm…I'm married. Gotta go!" And with that, he shut the door behind him quickly, walking briskly down the hall toward the elevator to escape from this building just as quickly as he could.

Back in the Escalade, once he had started it, Joker pushed his foot down on the pedal to drive away as quickly as possible and did not stop until he reached the house and pulled into the driveway. He half expected to turn in his seat and find that Jasmine had followed him there, but as he actually did this, he sighed when not only the back seat of the car was empty but the street beyond it was as desolate as ever. With a loud groan, he leaned forward, gripping the top of the steering wheel with both hands to let his forehead meet the leather between his thumbs heavily.

This would not be as easy as he had originally estimated.

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A/N: Once again, I ask a favor of you. If you do not know the lyrics to 'Night and Day' by Frank Sinatra, I recommend you go look them up. They describe Joker's situation so perfectly and I could not resist putting some of them in this chapter and even titling the chapter with the name of the song. So go have a listen, read the lyrics. I know you wont be disappointed. But I will be if you don't go listen. = ] LEAVE ME A REVIEW IF YOU WANT THE NEXT ONE OUT JUST AS QUICKLY! -QoM