The next morning, Arthur woke up and got dressed and told his mother he was going out for a while. He walked out of the apartment and locked the door and went down to the elevator. He went down to the lobby and walked out of the building and walked across the street. He waited fifteen minutes before Sophie and her daughter walked out of the building. He kept his hood pulled up over his head to conceal his identity. And then he followed them.

Arthur followed them from the other side of the street, keeping his distance as he stalked the woman and her child. He saw them turn a corner and crossed the street. They walked down the same stairs that he walked up and down everyday. Arthur watched them from the top until they were about halfway down and continued to pursue them. They never even noticed he was following them.

Watching from a chain-link fence, Arthur observed as Sophie dropped off her daughter at school and gave her a hug. Soon as the little girl walked into the building, Sophie left to go to work. Arthur watched her turn a corner and continued to pursue her in secret. He followed her to the subway platform and hid behind a support beam. They both sat in different subway cars, but Arthur could still see her through the window of the second car. She was reading a book, not even paying him any attention. His heart was racing, a burning desire filled his soul. He only wanted her to notice him.

Arthur followed her all the way to William Street and watched as Sophie walked across the street to Gotham City National Bank, the place where she worked. He waited until she disappeared inside the building and walked across the street, stopping right in the middle of the road. He changed his mind and turned around. He walked back over and stood on the corner for a moment. Just then, a taxi cab pulled up to the side of the road. The back door opened.

Her feet encased in a pair of red heels, Wendy Napier stepped out onto the sidewalk, a long black coat wrapped around her body.

Arthur recognized the auburn-haired beauty and asked her, "Wendy?"

Hearing her name called out, Wendy gasped and turned around to see who it was. "Arthur?"

Arthur removed his hood and smiled at her. Wendy gave him an even bigger smile and ran over to him and threw her arms around his neck, happy to see him. "Oh, my goodness. It's so great to see you again."

"It's nice to see you, too", said Arthur, hugging her in return.

Wendy released Arthur from her tight hold on him and looked at him. "How have you been?" She asked.

"I'm fine. Great, actually", said Arthur.

"Good, that's good", said Wendy. "I've thought about you all week, I just haven't been able to come by and say thank you."

"For what?"

"For what you did. I told Uncle Jack what happened between me and Mark, and he said that if he ever came around me again, he was a dead man."

Arthur chuckled, thinking that it was a joke, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "So, did you find a job yet?" He asked.

"Oh, yeah, did I tell you? I got a job as a waitress at Grimaldi's Diner."

"Do you like it there?"

"Yeah, I've worked there five days already", said Wendy. "In fact, I was on my way over there right now. You want to walk with me?"

Arthur looked to his right and then looked at Wendy. "That's like four blocks away", he said.

"I know", said Wendy. "But I like to walk. Come on, we can talk on the way."

"You know, you shouldn't walk alone in the city, Wendy", said Arthur. "People here are crazy."

"So I've heard", said Wendy. She looked at Arthur and asked him, "So, what have you been up to lately?"

"Nothing much. Just been working a lot."

"What do you do for a living?"

"Well, uh, I'm a party clown."

"That sounds like fun. Do you go to kids parties or charity events or something?"

"Sometimes." Arthur suddenly felt a tension in his left shoulder and placed his hand on it to ease the achiness a bit.

Wendy noticed the slight discomfort and asked him, "Your shoulder hurt?"

"Yeah, I just got jumped by some kids last week", Arthur answered.

Wendy held her arm out to stop him and stood in front of him, stopping him where he stood. "What happened?" Wendy demanded.

"Wendy, you don't want to hear about it", said Arthur, acting like it was no big deal.

"No, I do", Wendy insisted. "Come on, tell me."

Arthur hesitated for a moment. He looked to his left and lowered his arm back down to its side. He looked at Wendy and told her, "Last week, I was outside of Kenny's Music Shop holding up a sign. I was doing promotional work for the store because it was going out of business. And these kids came up to me and thought it was funny to steal the sign and I had to chase after them. I chased them across the street and almost got hit by a taxi cab."

"You mean that was you? You were the clown chasing those kids?" Wendy asked him.

"You saw that?"

"I was there, I was sitting in the back of the taxi cab that almost hit you. I was on my way to work. The driver came to a halt and started cursing you out. Boy, you should have heard some of the things he said."

"If you knew that was me, why didn't you do anything?" Arthur asked her.

"I didn't know you were a clown then", Wendy told him. "I thought that clown was just a random guy. If I had known that was you, I would have done something. Did you get your sign back, at least?"

"No. I chased those kids into an alley and they busted the sign right before they started to beat me up."

"Beat you up? Did you fill out a report or anything?"

"No. Why would I? They were just kids."

"That's no excuse for them to steal your sign and beat you up. You know what I think? I think it's the parents' fault. Some parents just don't know how to raise their children anymore. You know what I'd do if those were my kids? I would pull their pants down, place them over my knee and spank their little bottoms without a second thought just to teach them a lesson. That's what I'd do."

Arthur couldn't help himself from laughing at her remark. It was not like one of his uncomfortable laughing outbursts, but rather a genuine laugh of hearing the way she worded it to him. He actually thought it was funny.

"Maybe I'm too mouthy for my own good, but either way, I can't stand it when people have nothing better to do with their lives than to cause misery to other people", said Wendy.

Arthur chuckled and said to her, "You know, I-" He coughed a bit and cleared his throat and said, "I'm not just a clown. I...I also do stand-up comedy."

"Really?" Wendy asked him, sounding intrigued.

"Yeah, you should come and see a show sometime. We could go there tonight."

"Well, that would be wonderful. I could...Oh, wait, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I have work tonight."

"Well, you know, the club is open almost every night. You could come by and see me some other time. How about Saturday?"

"Perfect."

"Great. I'll see you then."

"I look forward to it."

Later on, once he left Wendy to go on with her day at work, Arthur decided to take a walk by himself in the city. He stood on the corner and lit a cigarette, holding it between two fingers while he inhaled. He blew out smoke and looked around. The garbage strike was still going strong. More plastic bags lined the sidewalks everyday. Once in a while, Arthur would see a rat crawling in the gutter. It was funny, he thought, how rats and people were not very much different from each other. We both lived off of the filth of the world, struggling each day to thrive and exist in the game called life.

Arthur took a long drag and sighed deeply. He felt conflicted about the two women he was feeling attracted to. One of them was nice to him, the other one barely knew he existed. He had seen Wendy only twice and had a civilized conversation with her, but with Sophie, he was just too shy to approach her or say anything. What was it about the mysterious redhead that gave him such power and confidence? She was friendly and not afraid to speak her mind. She had a caring heart, but was also very sensitive. A true feminine woman. He barely knew anything about Sophie, and yet, he still wanted her to love him more than Wendy. He was so confused.

His daydreaming was interrupted when some random guy in a business suit handed him a flyer. Arthur took it and saw that it was for the upcoming campaign for Thomas Wayne running for mayor. Arthur looked up from the flyer and remembered where he was. He was standing right across from Wayne Enterprise. Twenty-five floors of steel and glass. Arthur looked both ways before crossing the street. He stood there on the concrete stairs, watching the many men and women coming in and out of the giant glass doors. He looked up at the tower again, holding the flyer in his hand.

He felt intimidated, entirely out of place in his baggy clothes and unkempt appearance. It was almost hard for him to believe that his mother used to work for the family that owned the building.

Arthur turned around and looked over and spotted Thomas Wayne and his beautiful wife, Martha, just as a long black limousine pulled up next to the sidewalk.

"Mr. Wayne!" Arthur called out to him, running over to talk to him. "Mr. Wayne! Please, wait!" Just then, Arthur tripped over his own feet and fell hard on the concrete ground. Nobody stopped to ask him if he was hurt. Arthur looked up in time to see Thomas and Martha step inside the back of the limo. The car drove off. Arthur got up and brushed off his shoulder, forgetting about asking him about his mother. He went on with his day.

Later that night, Arthur went to the comedy club where he liked to spend time listening to aspiring young men and woman share their love of bringing joy and laughter to the world. Arthur carried his journal with him every time he went there, jotting down notes and laughing like the rest of the crowd. Not everyone was a success, but most were able to get a few good laughs out of him. Arthur sat at a table by himself, writing down something in his journal while the man on stage joked about his sex life.

When he got back home, Arthur took care of his mother and then put her to bed. He sat down at the table and opened a blank page in his journal and picked up a pen and wrote down: "I saw Wendy again. She smiled and hugged me. I was starting to think she wouldn't remember my name or my face if I ever saw her again. She made me feel alive when I heard her say my name. If only everybody were as good and decent as she is."

Arthur set down his pen and paused to take a smoke break. He lit a cigarette and took a drag, blowing out smoke before he placed the cigarette in the ashtray and began to look for a previous page that had not so much writing on it. He picked up his pen and started writing down another sentence.

"The worst part about having a mental illness is..."

Arthur paused again and smoked his cigarette. He took a long drag and put his fist to his forehead, thinking about what else to write. He laughed to himself and placed the cigarette back into the ashtray. He picked up his pen and finished the rest of the sentence.

"...people expect you to behave as if you don't." He then drew a smiley face into the "O" of the word "don't". He set the pen down and laughed again.