She could not thoroughly reconstruct the days and weeks after Victor Zsasz had slept and bled on her couch.
Everything was sort of blurry, the ordinary processes of everyday life had been waiting around the corner and quickly dragged her back into their world.
She remembered hours and days of writing on her novel, of adding chapters effortlessly. The words had been pouring out of her incessantly in the beginning until, well, until they stopped. Now, Sophie was mostly editing- or ignoring her creation.
She remembered her employer calling her, probably the day after her meticulously cleaned workplace had been covered in blood and bodies, that he could not employ her for an indefinite period of time due to a series of terrible events.
She had almost laughed aloud at the déjà vu. The bald man had cost her another job.
She remembered washing her sofa cover several times before giving up on getting rid of the blood stain and the deciding to dye it black.
She remembered the envelope full of money that had appeared in her letter box.
Those were the things that had excited her in a way. The excessive writing that made her feel happy and almost proud of herself as it resembled her romantic idea of an eccentric author hunched over a type writer day and night. The destructive impact Victor Zsasz had once again made on her working life. The adrenaline pumping through her veins when she could not get rid of the bloodstain, of the proof of their encounter. And the cash.
The latter had almost put her into a crisis. She knew it was wrong to take it. But it had also been wrong to invite a murderer into her house. Should she have donated it? Giving money to charity was a luxury she honestly could not see herself entertaining anytime soon. Would she be indebted to him? Should she feel indebted to him?
As she blamed him for losing yet another job, she eventually decided that accepting the money would be fair. It was not like she could have given it back to him anyway.
She also regarded it as an indicator that he was fine. After all, her meagre medical expertise could have well offed him.
While she knew that the quantity of their coincidental encounters was ridiculously high for two people living in a metropolis like Gotham, she couldn't help but wonder why they had stopped now. .
The memory of something exciting happening in her life started to feel more and more distant. It was hard for her to admit, but Sophie actually missed the adrenaline and mortal fear. It seemed to be the only thing able to fuel her creativity and ability to write.
In a weird state of mind that she still could not justify to herself, she had even gone to Oswald's again, this time by herself, to see if Zsasz was there, only to find the place shut down.
By now, Gotham's version of "spring" had started and made itself noticeable by slightly longer days and warmer temperatures. And slightly more disturbing news on the television than usual.
Sophie could not wrap her head around it. Galavan becoming mayor had added to her suspicion that he had collaborated with the penguin-man to get rid of his competitors. At some point, the former mayor had reappeared, and his successor had been arrested for kidnapping him.
During the trial, mayor James told the public that he had been forced by the penguin, his real abductor, to blame the other candidate.
And just when things could not get any more confusing, Theo Galavan had been killed and the penguin got arrested for his murder.
What was the turning point for the work relationship they had entertained?
She just couldn't make sense of it.
Yet, seeing that the penguin-man was out of the picture for now also meant that Victor Zsasz was probably unemployed at the moment. In a very bizarre way that she was not proud of, she found this hilarious and the very thought brought a smug grin to her face. It seemed only fair to her.
And it means that he is lying low and probably staying out of trouble. She couldn't help feeling relieved. He had looked like he needed a holiday and at least a full week of sleep.
I shouldn't care so much, she decided, neither happy with the part of her that missed the excitement this man always seemed to bring along, nor with the one that cared about his well-being.
Author's Note: A belated Happy New Year to you! :)