Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and they are property of their respected creators.
OOC: Mr. Joker and Wendy may seem slightly out of character, but enjoy anyway. )
The dark sky made little, if any impression in the mind of the handsomely dressed man. He was, after all, in an incomprehensively expensive car and had focused just about every ounce of his concentration on getting to his destination safely. The elegant woman next to him chattered on, not needing any response the rambles that came from her mouth. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed, and the skies poured down the rainwater onto the earth. Mr. Joker reached out at switched the headlights of his car to their brightest setting, illuminating the darkness of the stormy night. He turned the sleek vehicle into the driveway of a large building, which was evidently a very high-class restaurant. He smiled and reached out for the umbrella at his feet and made haste to get out of the car and open the thing. Wendy thought it was very considerate of him to hold the umbrella over her as she emerged from the vehicle and smiled back at her boss, noting how incredibly dashing he looked in a tuxedo.
Mr. Joker could not seem to tear his gaze away from his secretary, for today she was the epitome of elegance and grace. Wendy was clad in a somewhat slinky black dress, one that left her shoulders bare. On her feet were black high heels that added to the grace that radiated from her and about her neck was a strand of pearls. She was most certainly not the same person since the disaster at the library. Miss Earhart was no longer the clumsy, klutz that he once knew. She was now a woman of grace and she had lost much of her whimsy, sadly, to the hardness of life. She was still kind and compassionate, but now she was much more devoted and serious than she once was. Somehow all of this seemed to attract Mr. Joker to her, though he made sure that she would not suspect.
The blonde gentleman took Wendy's arm in his and walked her to the intricate glass door that was the entrance to the restaurant, tossing his keys to the uniformed man at the door. The man waltzed to Mr. Joker's car and quickly drove it into a parking place and then made haste to return to his post.
Soft, classical music filled their ears as the two, boss and secretary, entered the restaurant and made way to the front desk. Wendy accidentally let the gasp she was hiding in escape from her lips as she saw the gorgeous view that she beheld. Candles on each table lighted the dining area and a breathtaking chandelier made of crystal hung from the whitewashed ceiling. The entire place seemed to glow warmly and was comforting.
"Mr. Joker…are you sure about this? It's awfully nice…" Wendy spoke slowly, still gazing out at the restaurant still.
"Come now, Wendy," he smiled, "You deserve it with all the work you've done these past months. No expense spared." Wendy could've sworn that she saw his teeth sparkle.
"Two for Carpenter, please." Mr. Joker noticed that Wendy's cheeks turned a slightly darker color than before as he talked with the greeter.
"But of course, Monsieur Carpenter," the seemingly pompous French man bowed somewhat, "Madame." He motioned for them to follow the waiter standing by. He smiled at them and took them to a table near the back of the swanky restaurant, which beheld a more private atmosphere.
"So, where is Junior at the moment?" Mr. Joker raised an eyebrow at Wendy while looking over the menu.
"He said he was going to look in on that author's place, Miss Sumiregawa's, and then go back to my apartment. I think he'll be fine." Wendy took a sip of the glass of water at her place.
"He's quite capable of defending himself if he needs to…Our Junior is growing up so fast…" Mr. Joker's eyes seemed to sparkle at his last statement. A waitress approached their table gracefully and she kindly asked them if they were ready to order. Wendy looked to her boss and he nodded, letting her order first.
"I think that I'll try your special, please." Wendy smiled back at the young woman and then back at Mr. Joker.
"Make that two, please." He grinned back at Wendy then tried to hide it. Wendy laughed quietly at his expression and beamed, happy that he was enjoying himself.
Even though he had taken her to this fine place, Wendy was still a pleaser and wanted her boss to enjoy himself as much as, if not more, than she did. She loved the way he laughed, though it was rare when he did. She also loved the way he asked her to stay with him when she brought him his morning, afternoon, and occasionally, evening tea. He would smile ever so slightly and say to her, "Wendy, would you care to join me?" She treasured those days and always accepted. She would pour their tea, his always first. They would chat, usually small talk, but occasionally a topic requiring more knowledge than the present weather forecast. Usually Wendy would listen to his frustrations, but there were times when she would interject into the conversation or calmly speak her mind. He would nod in agreement, laugh at her, or not even react. It was his way of doing things, and Wendy loved it.
"Wendy?"
"Yes, Mr. Joker?" Wendy tore her gaze from her plate that was empty.
"It's getting late…Almost nine–thirty." He looked at his watch and then back at her. "I should probably be getting you home."
"Oh! Yes, Junior might be back now even…" Mr. Joker helped Wendy to her feet and she walked with him back to the front of the restaurant and paid for their meal. The man outside was waiting by their car, which he had pulled around to the front several minutes before. He smiled and quietly said to the blonde gentleman, "You may want to stay off the main road. There's been some lightning strikes there and I heard that there were some trees that went down with some power lines."
"Thank you, sir." Mr. Joker whipped out his umbrella again and led Wendy to the passenger side of the car and made sure she did not get a drop of water on her as she climbed into the automobile. She smiled and he quickly got around to the other side of the vehicle. The storm still raged on and the rain poured down on the car as they drove along the slick roads. Wendy was quiet and Mr. Joker did not notice that she had drifted off into a placid sleep, a light smile on her lips as she slumbered. He chuckled to himself as he glanced over at her sleeping figure.
Roughly twenty minutes later, he turned into the drive of her apartment building and she began to stir. The rain had stopped there momentarily and Mr. Joker went around to let Wendy out and walk her to the door. She took his hand and he led her to the door as she fumbled for the keys in her small black purse. When she had retrieved them from the recesses of her purse, Mr. Joker smiled and waited for her to go inside.
"Thank you, Mister Joker. I had a wonderful time with you tonight." Wendy smiled dreamily and gazed at him for a moment. He was so handsome, standing there with a slight grin on his face. Wendy turned to go inside, but Mr. Joker reached out and grabbed her arm. She turned to face him, and as she did he leaned over and brushed his lips against hers is a sweet, innocent kiss. Wendy's eyes lit up and she seemed to relax a great deal as he slowly pulled away.
"Call me Joe, Wendy. I'll see you Monday." He waved behind him as he walked back to his car on the concrete path. Wendy waved back and stepped into her apartment, turning a lamp in the living room on after shutting the door. As she suspected, Junior was back and was presently asleep on the couch with a book in his lap. Wendy laughed to herself and scooped the child into her arms and took him to his own room. She laid him down gently on the bed and put his book on the desk near the door. Wendy smiled at the sleeping boy and closed the door as she left him to sleep. She immediately adjourned to the bathroom and removed the elegant dress from her body, taking care to hang it up. She stripped off her other garments and stepped into a nice, hot shower.
As Wendy bent over to reach the bottle of shampoo on the side of the bathtub and finally the realization of what had occurred donned itself upon her.
"Mr. Joker kissed me…" Wendy whispered to herself, letting the warm water caress her body. She poured some shampoo from the bottle and the fresh scent of fruit and flowers filled the air. "What does it mean?" Wendy proceeded to lather, rinse, and repeat as she pondered this question, repeating it over and over in her mind. She took a white loofah sponge that was on the floor of the tub and poured some brightly colored body wash onto it and continued with her cleaning ritual. The blonde woman turned the water off and stepped out onto the cold tile floor and wrapped a fresh, white fluffy towel around her body. She then walked down the carpeted hall to her bedroom and dressed in some grey sleep pants and an old rugby t-shirt, faded from frequent washings. Wendy took the towel that she had laid on her bed and dried her hair with it so that her blonde locks seemed to frizz out in a tangled mess. The clock on her bedside table indicated that it was almost eleven o' clock as she crawled under the cool sheets and turned out the lamp.
Lightning flashed outside, and Wendy shifted nervously in her bed as the thunder cracked deafeningly. She managed to bury herself in the covers and turn away from the window, but not before she heard a rather loud thump towards the front of her apartment. It was now twelve-thirty. A very frightened feeling came over her and her thoughts immediately wander to Junior and if he was all right. Wendy lay there for several minutes and her nerves calmed slightly until she sensed that she was not alone. For a moment she thought it might just be Junior, but she knew he would not have come to her, even if the weather was violent. She was now quite certain that someone had broken in and Wendy's heart raced even faster as she felt someone sit down on the edge of her bed and the indentation caused her to roll to the side slightly. Her heart seemed to stop and she lay there, frozen in fear for what seemed like hours. Finally, the young secretary mustered enough courage to open her eyes and see what was there. When she did, there was no one in sight and she relaxed a bit. She slowly eased out of bed and grabbed a pair of jeans from her dresser and a black hoodie from a chair and dressed hastily. As she was just about to step foot out of her bedroom, lightning flashed and she saw that there indeed was someone in her apartment, other than herself and Junior. He was a handsome man, but a strange fire burned in his eyes as he stared wickedly back at her. Adrenaline began to pump into her blood as she ran down the hall to Junior's room, the man pursing her at a pace faster than her own. She could not scream, for her throat had seemed to dry and she could not utter a sound. As Wendy dashed past the kitchen, she managed to grab a silver candleholder. She lobbed the hunk of metal at him and made a direct hit. A direct hit that only seemed to aggravate him. Now Wendy screamed as the shady figure reached out and grabbed her wrist roughly, pulling her to him.
Junior's eyes flashed open as he heard Wendy's chilling scream from the hall. He quickly got up and silently reached for the pistol that he always kept at hand. He was able to sneak out unnoticed, not that it was difficult for someone with such "talents" as he. The first thing he saw was Wendy being held a bit too close to a strange man and the second was that this intruder had a knife from the kitchen in his hand, and had pressed it against Wendy's throat. A tear trickled down her face, but she could not bring herself to speak. Junior waited a moment, despite the urge he had to jump this strange man with extreme prejudice. He whispered something to Wendy and more tears streamed down her face, but they were no longer tears of fear. These tears of hate dropped to the ground and as she was held there, Wendy noticed Junior. A flash of lightning had once again illuminated the darkness of the night and Junior slipped back into his room then began to phase through the walls and into the living room. Junior was now behind this man and he said quietly, and in a very monotonous tone,
"What are you doing to Miss Wendy?"
The black clad man turned to face the young boy and was promptly kicked in the shins by Wendy, who scrambled to her own feet. He cursed under his breath and wielded his knife fiercely. Wendy growled, her anger showing as Junior pointed his own gun at the man. This "gentleman" smiled at him viciously and lunged. Unexpectedly, he lunged at Wendy, but she managed to grab his wrist and relieve him of his weapon, though the knife sliced her aim in the process.
Junior wanted to avoid this situation becoming worse, but he had no choice. The single shot that he fired was enough and the trespasser dropped to the floor, his body growing colder by the second. The blood from his wound mixed with blood on the kitchen floor that was gushing out of a horrific gash in Wendy's arm. Her sleeve was torn and her flesh was sliced, and Junior thought for a moment that he could see a bit of bone. She saw Junior reach for the phone, but the image became distorted and blurry, and she blacked out on the smooth, cold tile.
The light was bright when Wendy finally opened her eyes and she quickly shut them tightly.
"Wake up, sleepy head."
She immediately opened them again at the familiar voice of her boss. Mr. Joker did not smile, but instead placed his hand over hers. She gave him an exhausted grin and looked over to the window. Junior was standing there, gazing out to the street below, and then he looked over at the woman that had raised him.
"Are…Are you alright, Miss Wendy?" His voice quavered as his attention turned to her bandaged arm.
"I will be, Junior." She smiled at him and nodded. Mr. Joker stood, supporting himself with his cane. He walked over to the window and stood quietly next to Junior, and he leaned over to him.
"You'd best be getting to school now, Junior." He whispered to the boy.
"Yes, Mister Carpenter." Junior slipped out the door, looking back with a concerned gaze at Miss Wendy. After Junior closed the door and was gone, Mr. Joker took a seat in the brightly colored floral chair in the corner of the hospital room. He appeared deep in thought, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. The long silence between the two made Wendy slightly uncomfortable. She did not know what to say, but fortunately, Joker asked her a question.
"Wendy…tell me what happened exactly. I want another side of the story." He remained in the chair, a nondescript expression on his face.
"Junior wasn't much help then?" Wendy sighed, not particularly wanting to think about, much less replay the incident in her mind.
"I just want to hear it from your point of view." Wendy's boss face changed slightly, an anxious glint in his eyes. Wendy documented the disturbing affair as best as she could remember and Mr. Joker recorded the account. He nodded occasionally and asked some questions, then told Wendy that she could go home later that afternoon.
"This could've been much worse, you know." Mr. Joker gave an exasperated smile. "They will not be through investigating and cleaning your apartment until Wednesday, so you and Junior will be staying with me. I've got a guest room that hasn't seen any visitors in quite a while." Wendy smiled tenderly and thanked him.
"Thank you, Mister Joke—" She stopped when he shook his head. "Joe?" The secretary tried again. For the first time that morning, Mr. Joe Carpenter smiled with as much delight as he could muster.
"I'll be back to pick you up at two." Joker glanced at his watch," Now, you are under strict orders to get some rest." He rose to his feet and walked to the bedside. Joe leaned over and planted a light kiss on the side of Wendy's face and made his way to the door. Wendy wanted to say what her heart had told her all along, but she was unable to find the proper words, so he left quietly without her speaking a word.
Wendy brought her legs closed to her body, partially curling into a ball. She took deep, slow breaths that seemed to relax her. The pain in her arm had dulled and Wendy was glad that she did not have to stay the night in the hospital. According to the clock, it was around nine-thirty. A white-clad nurse entered the room, knocking before she came to check on the unusually calm lady. The nurse was a brunette and her eyes were a bright green that shone with compassion.
"Miss Earhart, how are you this morning?" She inquired of Wendy while checking her patient's blood pressure and other various statistics.
"I think it's safe to say that I'm much better than yesterday." Wendy could not help but smile at the cheerful young woman.
"That's wonderful! Nasty cut, that was!" She exclaimed, pointing at Wendy's bandaged arm. "My name's Hope and I'll be your nurse for the day."
"It's very nice to meet you, Hope." Wendy continued carrying a bright smile as Hope went about her business in the room.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Hope opened the door and retrieved a piece of folded paper from the bin attached to the wall to the left of the door. "That boy that was here earlier…the one who called us about you…"
"Junior?" Wendy raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Yes! That's him!" Hope smiled, "He wanted me to give you this." She handed Wendy the paper, which turned out to be a card. There were pictures of different flowers drawn on the front and the words 'Get Well Soon' were written next to them. Wendy opened the card and found a very nice letter from Junior about how much she meant to him and that he hoped she'd be okay. "He worked all night on it while you were asleep. Poor thing only got about two hours of sleep last night. Then that Mister Carpenter fellow came in and stayed here almost all day Sunday."
"How long was I asleep?" Wendy frowned, slightly confused. Hope thought for a moment and then spoke.
"A little more than a day. You were tired, barely able to talk." Wendy nodded. She had slept straight through Sunday and she was slightly dazed. Hope put a remote control on the bed, in Wendy's reach.
"Just let me know if you need anything, Miss Earhart."
I hoped that you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it! Please review! Also, check out my art account to see some pictures that go along with the story.