After eating a wonderful, fabulously filling meal by Dotcom, and after taking their dishes into the kitchen to uphold her end of their bargain, Jayde had groaned, rolling her eyes when she found that apparently Joker and Tre had eaten before they left and had seen to it that they left their dishes in the sink for her to put away. Finally, after putting them all away and after having a cigarette on the back porch with Dotcom and after talking their way through several detailed conversations, Jayde was finally saying goodnight to him at the top of the stairs.
"Well, he'll probably be back here early in the morning." He was saying almost as if to comfort Jayde. Honestly, she didn't even miss him at the moment; she was more excited to sleep in his bed alone. "Probably no later than eight, I'm betting…" he was saying as he meandered down the hall toward his room, yawning as he went.
"'Night, Dotcom." She called after him, grinning when he tried to reply through his yawn. She watched him go for a few seconds, waiting until he had closed his bedroom door behind him before she trotted down to her room, eager to get in and out of the shower and into some fresh, clean pajamas.
It was not long before she had done all of this and had just finished brushing her teeth at the sink in her bathroom when she stepped out of her room and into the dark hallway. She hesitated at first, the realization that Joker was not at the house that night beginning to dawn on her quickly. A second later, she walked hastily down the hallway to his room, turning the handle and slipping inside to close the door behind her, all in one seemingly fluid motion. A heavy breath left her as she turned to lock the door, immediately figuring that the Joker was perfectly capable of picking the lock on his own bedroom.
After digging through the fluffy purple comforter on the bed for the tv remote, Jayde flipped it on, feeling another layer of comfort fill the room. And another moment later, she let out a soft groan as she climbed up into his bed, immediately laying in the middle on her stomach to stretch her arms and legs out. This bed was almost too comfortable for words and something in the way the mattress hugged her nearly always made her feel instantly sleepy. Jayde was just in the process of praising herself for not feeling completely lonely and sad that Joker wasn't there and had just pulled his pillow toward her when she took a deep, sleepy breath in. The vague, residual scent of his cologne filled her lungs, raising goosebumps along her forearms. Her eyes popped open…Now she missed him.
Thirty miles away, Tre stepped out of the Escalade in the far corner of a dimly lit parking lot, walking over toward Kieron as he glanced down at his phone at the far side of the car, before stowing it away in his pocket again. Surprisingly, even for April, it was still fairly cold out that night and as Joker exhaled, his breath escaped him in a puff of condensation. Tre was shaking his head.
"Man, you're just waiting for that call from-..." he began but Joker cut across him, stopping mid-step to turn and glare at Tre.
"I was checking the time, Tre." He blatantly lied, immediately regretting it when his best friend rolled his eyes, shaking his head again as he walked on ahead of Joker, crossing the parking lot slowly.
"Even though you have…two watches…" he laughed from ahead of Joker, tossing his head slightly. "Nah, man, I'll tell you what you were doin'- you were checking your phone for the tenth time since we left the house an hour ago, because it's on silent and you're hoping she'll call you before she goes to sleep." Finally, Tre stopped walking and turned fearlessly to face Kieron as he caught up, pausing once he reached him. "I'm right." Joker's glare bounced between Tre's eyes from underneath a ridge of furrowed eyebrows, glancing over his face as if inspecting him.
"We gotta get you laid, mate, you're killin' me." Joker finally grumbled, turning to continue walking through the top of the parking lot toward the back doors of Puria Distribution Co. From behind him, Tre laughed, jogging forward to catch up. As they reached the doors, both of them drew their guns from the pockets of their coats. "The sooner we get you some ass, the sooner you'll get off mine…and Jayde's for that matter." He then added and with that, they both flung the doors open and strode inside, Joker raising his gun in the air to fire once. "Good evening!"
Normally, as Jayde woke, she could usually rely on the sunlight coming in through her window to give her some indication as to what time it was. However, this morning, it took only a second to wake up in darkness before she remembered where she was and why she was alone…and why she immediately felt cranky. The bed was as empty as it had been when she fell asleep and after noticing that the bedroom door had not been broken into, Jayde was safely assuming that the Joker was still not home…She had a feeling it was most definitely past eight in the morning as well.
Sighing irritably a few times, Jayde rolled out of Joker's comfortable bed, trudging over to the door to step out into the hallway and squint hard at the bright sunlight. With her eyes closed, she stepped out onto the landing, slowly forcing them open when she heard presumably Dotcom moving around in the kitchen below. She was just about to ask when he called out over his shoulder.
"He's not here yet." he said, turning to glance up at her as she started to walk down the stairs. "But, I did make you breakfast…" he then sang, waving the wooden spoon he had been cooking with like a magic wand. Despite her rather bitchy and somewhat disappointed mood, she grinned as Dotcom turned his back to her again, waving the spoon again. "And I don't ever make breakfast for the boys, honey, so you better count your lucky little stars."
After retrieving a cup of fresh coffee with one spoonful of sugar, Jayde sank into a chair at the table, running one hand into the front of her hair to move it from her face. Whatever he had made smelled absolutely wonderful and before long, he was walking over toward the table with two plates.
"Have you heard from either of them?" she asked him, glancing down at the beautiful, delicious looking omelet he had just set in front of her. Her stomach dropped when Dotcom shook his head, picking up his fork to take a bite of his own eggs.
"No, but that's nothing out of the ordinary." He answered, shrugging as he rolled his eyes. "Before you came along, Joker would leave all the time, sometimes for days. Never said where he went, and I never asked."
Jayde nodded, pausing, poking at a bit of her eggs with her fork, suddenly not so hungry anymore when her mind forced her to remember her dream…nightmare from the previous night. It had been so realistic and the dreadful, hurt emotion she had been feeling had felt so incredibly real to her, even though she supposed the thought of Joker 'cheating' on her was rather laughable when she thought about it. The girl in her nightmare that she had caught Joker with was so incredibly pretty, so seemingly perfectly formed that it seemed ridiculous but something in the way he had laughed at her in the dream, the way he had asked why she had ever fooled herself into thinking they were actually a couple, made her want to break down and cry right where she sat.
She was about to mention this to Dotcom to somewhat explain why she was in such a shitty mood when the sound of the garage door sliding up caught her attention and they glanced at each other quickly. Jayde felt her stomach clench up, not necessarily because she was excited to see him, but rather because, surprisingly, she didn't really want to see him just then. She knew it was not his fault that she had dreamt that and that it was a little unfair to be mad at him for something he most certainly did not do, but she couldn't help it. Her mind could not stop replaying the way she had felt when she 'walked in' to find him with another girl. A few moments later, the garage door swung open before Tre stepped inside, followed shortly by the tall Joker, who inhaled deeply before exhaling contentedly with a grin. When he noticed Dotcom and Jayde seemingly glaring at him, his grin fell, followed by his shoulders. A second later, he shrugged, turning into the kitchen for a glass of water.
"Successful night?" Dotcom finally asked casually, carrying he and Jayde's plates into the kitchen, along with her half-eaten omelet. Tre shrugged while Joker drained his glass.
"Somewhat." He finally answered, setting the cup of ice down on the counter to walk over toward the table where Jayde sat, staring mindlessly at a spot in the wood before her. Moving to stand behind her chair, he ignored the fact that Tre and Dotcom were still in the room as he leaned down, placing his hands on either side of her on the table. "Honey, I'm home…" he growled sarcastically against her cheek, leaving a kiss as Jayde tried not to huff an irritated laugh. Instead, she rolled her eyes, leaning to the side to distance her cheek from his lips.
"Mm-hm." She answered, resorting to now lightly rolling the edge of her napkin beneath her finger. The moment she had done that, regret flooded through her when she realized how Joker would not like her attitude, especially after he had been out and awake all night long. It was likely that she was not the only one feeling rather cranky and perhaps, she had just pushed her luck with that 'nice' streak of his.
A second later, Joker stood up from leaned down on the table, reaching down to grab her wrist in his hand and pull her up from her chair, forcing her to follow him to the stairs. Jayde followed without hesitation, swallowing hard on the lump that had formed in her throat when she noticed that Joker was not smiling. At first, at the top of the stairs, when she expected him to lead her over to his office or even his bedroom, she felt just a tiny bit of relief when he instead led her down the hallway toward her own room, opening the door once they had reached it. Immediately, she turned to face him.
"Look, I'm sorry-…" she began but Joker shook his head, pointing at the bed.
"Lay down." He instructed firmly. He must have noticed the vague wave of panic that flashed over Jayde's features as he sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise. Just lay down."
After staring at him for several seconds, Jayde finally moved to obey him, her body tense as she lay down on the bed slowly, watching him the entire time. Since he had already taken off his coat at the door downstairs, the only thing left for him to do was unbutton and roll up the sleeves of his shirt and remove his black leather gloves from his hands before he stepped over to the bed. Jayde let out a soft gasp when he reached out, placing his hands on her hips only to tighten his grip and pull her across the bed to the very edge.
His eyebrows were furrowed as he hesitated for only a second before reaching out to hook the tips of his fingers into the lining of her pajama pants and underwear, watching their path as he pulled them down, over her ass and along her thighs until he could toss them onto the bed next to where she lay. Jayde could feel her heart racing, banging relentlessly against her ribcage and as hard as she tried to convince herself that Joker was really not going to hurt her, she could not help but flashback to nearly four weeks prior and imagine that this was about to be her punishment for her attitude.
However, a moment later, Joker had knelt down to his knees at the edge of the bed, reaching one finger out to run lightly, gently along the length of her. Jayde's eyes widened slightly as the muscles in her back tensed automatically at his touch. From below her, Jayde vaguely heard Joker 'hmm' interestedly to himself as he reached out again to repeat his action, this time with a bit more pressure. Jayde let out a sigh, squirming slightly as he teased her. The heels of her feet had come to rest on the separation between the mattress and box spring and as Joker let his lips come to rest on the inside of her knee, her toes curled.
It had not taken long, but by the time Joker pushed his middle finger inside her, Jayde was practically dripping wet and breathing somewhat heavily. A soft groan escaped her as his middle finger was joined shortly by his pointer finger, sliding in before back out again, in and back out gently. A frustrated whimper escaped her as her hips ground against the movement of his hand. He was being completely silent, even though the half-scowl, half-smirk on his face plainly explained that he was concentrating but still clearly enjoying this. His lips kissed the inside of her thigh, further up as he added one more finger to his middle and pointer, gliding his right hands' ring finger into her as well, taking that previous moan of hers up a few notches when his thumb pressed against her clit.
Her toes curled again as she arched her back, panting slightly when the pace of his hand quickened a bit and she could feel the beginning of her finish coming on already, causing her to quiver slightly as she felt herself getting closer and closer every time his fingers pushed into her. True, it did not feel as good as when it was different part of his body in there, but still, the pressure he was applying to her sensitive clit made it somewhat hard to tell the difference in one form of pleasure versus another.
"Joker…" she panted, closing her eyes to tilt her head back, although just as she felt herself on the threshold of finishing, he removed his fingers completely, leaning forward to clamp his teeth down on the inside of her thigh, up close, merely inches from where she was practically dripping, soaking the edge of the bed. Jayde let out a frustrated growl, squirming on the bed slightly as that wonderful pleasure drained from her body slowly, incomplete. Below her, she could vaguely hear Joker laugh quietly to himself before his tongue just barely slipped out to lightly flicker against Jayde's soaked, hyper-sensitive clit. She gasped, reaching out to the side for a handful of comforter to hold onto, moaning when he pressed both lips against the top of her, sucking gently before catching her between his teeth, biting as lightly as possible. Her entire body felt like it was vibrating with spasms although she sighed, relaxing her muscles again as Joker took his lips and teeth back.
A second later, Jayde yelped loudly when Joker's flattened tongue licked her from entrance to clit, where he began to trace, sliding his three pre-moistened fingers inside her once again, immediately moving them in a deep, strong rhythm. Jayde's toes pointed, her back arched and finally, after a few more strong pushes of Joker's hand, she whimpered his name, tilting her head back as she came hard, clenching around his fingers rhythmically.
A long, heavy, satisfied sigh left her as Joker wiped the scarred corners of his mouth on the inside of her thigh before he stood up, licking his bottom lip. A moment later, he had reached out for her discarded pajama pants, wiping his wet, sticky fingers on them before leaning over Jayde where she lay on the bed, breathing hard and barely sweating. His eyebrows raised when her eyes slowly opened to gaze up at him.
"Now stop acting like a bitch. Get a shower, get dressed, then come downstairs. We have some planning to do." He explained, but before Jayde could even force her brain to start coming up with responses or even a thank you for relieving the anxiety from her body, Joker had left the room, closing the door behind him as he went. Jayde exhaled heavily, smiling dazedly up at the canopy over her bed.
Twenty minutes later, Jayde was walking down the stairs, scrunching her damp hair with her fingers when she noticed Dotcom stepping inside from the garage with a large box in his hand that was barely even noticeable in front of the absolutely ridiculous grin on his face. She had just arched her eyebrow at him when he let out a silly, girlish giggle.
"Wait till you see all this stuff, girl…" he murmured as he walked past her to the stairs, and only once Jayde turned to look back did she notice the sample picture of a large computer screen on the box around his elbow. Her eyes rolled as she grinned.
Out in the garage, just past the Escalade, Jayde noticed Joker and Tre standing at the edge of it, apparently listening to someone talk as Tre was nodding and Joker was scowling, his hands tucked in his pockets. For just a moment or two, Jayde stopped to stare at his side-profile, noting the way his jaw line seemed more prominent with the white line of makeup and the way it curved.
A second later, as if he had felt her watching him, Joker turned his head, arching one eyebrow when she grinned, jumping slightly before immediately walking over. As she approached, Joker glanced her up and down before over at the man he and Tre had been listening to.
"Feeling better?" he asked her, cocking his head to the side to raise his eyebrows, smirking when Jayde blushed slightly, tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear.
"Yeah," she answered in an exhale, only to lean to the side to look past Joker and Tre to the white van at the end of the driveway. "What's going on?" she then asked, frowning up at Joker, who nodded toward their guest.
"Mister Stevens agreed to loan me some equipment for a 'command central'." He explained, but paused before rolling his eyes. "Basically, its Christmas come early for Dotcom."
Jayde was about to reply with a laugh when the garage door swung open again and Dotcom stepped out, appearing a little winded but rather breathless with excitement. He tried to mask this the moment he noticed Tre, Joker and Jayde staring at him and cleared his throat as he walked over.
"Uh, you guys wanna help carry some of this stuff upstairs?" he asked hopefully, in reference to the van, full to overflowing with wires, cords and heavy-looking boxes. Joker let out a short bark of a laugh.
"Nope." He immediately answered, glancing to both sides at Tre and Jayde as he crossed his arms over his chest. When they both raised their eyebrows at him, he shrugged. "Hey, I set this whole thing up, I don't gotta carry shit."
It seemed, at the time, that this argument made sense to the rest of them, however, a half-hour later, when Jayde and Dotcom had finally carried everything inside and up into Joker's office, they were both grumbling darkly to themselves about how Joker and Tre were more than likely doing absolutely nothing downstairs. Jayde offered to stay behind and help Dotcom set things up, but he merely insisted that she would only get in his way so since she tended to agree, she left him to it and ventured back downstairs to find out what was going on. Once she had found them on the patio, she stepped outside, grinning as both Joker and Tre looked up simultaneously.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" she asked, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was definitely something happening that night and that the date most certainly happened to be the fifteenth of April. The best friends exchanged a look before Joker nodded toward the door, indicating that he would like to have a few words with her alone. Tre immediately stood up and walked to the door, smirking down at her as she glanced at him on his way.
With Tre gone and the patio left empty with the exception of the two of them, Joker brought his foot up only to kick out a porch chair from under the table so she could sit down across from him. She obeyed, sitting before folding her hands in her lap with an expectant look on her face.
"I'll tell you the plans if you tell me what you were so pissed about earlier." He bargained, raising his eyebrows when Jayde rolled her eyes, groaning.
"No, c'mon, just tell me." she tried, but sighed heavily when Joker shook his head with a shrug of his shoulders. Her eyes fell to her lap as she weighed her options. On one hand, she could be honest and have him laugh at her wholeheartedly for being mad about a highly fictional dream, or on the other hand, she could make something up just so he would tell her…but then again, Joker was incredibly gifted with picking up a lie. Her shoulders slumped as she exhaled. "It's really stupid…" she finally began, lifting her eyes only for a second to glance at him as he leaned back in the chair, reaching out rest one hand on the table beside him.
"Try me." he prodded, watching her battle herself with furrowed eyebrows. She took a deep breath, letting her eyes fall to her lap again where her fingers twisted together.
"I had this dream…" she started, trying to think ahead a few seconds to how this would feel coming out of her mouth. Honesty was indeed the best policy, but it often made one feel incredibly stupid. "I had this dream that I came here one day and you…and…this…girl…were…ya know…" she stumbled and tripped her entire way through her words until she paused, glancing up to see if Joker had caught on yet. He was an incredibly smart man but had this annoying habit of playing dumb to get more of straight answer; he was using this tactic on Jayde at that very moment. His eyebrows arched.
"-Having intercourse?" he asked, obviously trying hard not to grin and instead held it back to remain interested and stoic. Jayde nodded quickly.
"Yeah and…you laughed at me when I started crying, telling me I was…stupid for thinking that-…" Her voice trailed off and at this, she stopped altogether, knowing that she had gone and said too much…again. She swallowed hard on the lump that had formed in her throat while Joker stayed silent.
"Sooo…Let me get this straight…" he began, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, licking his lips as his forehead wrinkled lines into his makeup. "You were…mad at me…for something I didn't do?" The way it sounded when he said it made Jayde feel more like an idiot than she had ever felt in her life. Eventually, she nodded, rolling her eyes although a second later, she gasped when Joker suddenly grabbed the arms of her chair, pulling her closer forcefully until their knees locked. His eyes were widened slightly as he stared directly into hers, only a foot or so between their faces. "That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard." He paused, raising his eyebrows as he nodded once. "And I suppose I told you it was stupid for you to think we were an actual couple, am I right?" When Jayde nodded, Joker sighed, hanging his head slightly in frustration.
"Jayde, I'm just as confused about us as you are, I wont lie to ya." He said, shaking his head. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to sit around on my ass and try to figure it out." he paused again, glancing over his shoulder at the inside of the house through the glass. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly 'Mister handsome', see? So the chances of finding a girl that finds me attractive enough to come with me willingly is about one in a million." He finally seemed to have stopped talking and was now apparently waiting for her to reply as his gaze bounced between her eyes a few times. Finally, the corners of her lips turned up just a little in a tiny grin.
"I think you're Mister handsome…" she said bashfully, glancing down at her lap when Joker's scars stretched in a smirk.
"Like I said…One in a million."
Of course, once Joker had gotten his side of deal covered, he flat-out refused to tell Jayde the plan for that night and was now laughing as she stood up, huffing irritably as she prepared to stomp back inside. She was grumbling something under her breath about 'fuck you' but Joker ignored this and reached out, wrapping one arm around the top of her legs to pull her back until her ass met the arm of his chair and she fell backwards into his lap with a squeal. He hmm-ed contentedly, giggling through his nose as his arms formed an incredibly tight straight-jacket around her, holding her firmly in place as she squirmed to get away from him.
Finally, after nearly a full minute of fighting, cursing at him and pinching his arms, she gave up, exhaling heavily as she let herself relax against him. Somewhere in the previous seconds, his chin had come to rest on her shoulder, his eyes watching the backyard contentedly, blinking slowly. Jayde's head tilted slightly, resting against the side of his, taking in another deep breath to sigh when she thought back to the way she had felt about the Joker the first time she had ever met him. The thought of such a vile person had absolutely made her skin crawl and above all, scared her senseless…and now, here she sat, on his lap, rested comfortably against his chest and shoulder, simply admiring the silence with him….Where had things gone wrong?…Then again, where had things gone right, for that matter?
A few minutes after they had settled against each other, the glass door behind them slid open suddenly, surprising Jayde when she felt Joker's head jerk slightly against the side of hers as if he had been half-asleep. Dotcom was stepping out, followed shortly by Tre so Jayde moved to stand up from Joker's lap, coughing quietly in an effort to smooth out the awkwardness of being caught sitting on the boss' lap. Behind her, Joker cleared his throat with a somewhat sleepy groan as she stood up, leaning forward to rest an elbow on the table.
"So you guys are set on the plan for tonight?" he asked, bringing up two fingers to rub his eyes deeply, smearing his black makeup heavily into the white. "Dotcom, you're driving Jayde and I to the plant. Tre, you and Linman will go to-…" Tre cut him off.
"Yeah, we're going to Puria and overseeing the other three groups." He finished for him, frowning. "Go get some sleep, bruh. You look like shit." Joker frowned with his eyes closed, turning his head to open only one of them to look at Jayde. His eyebrow raised.
"Do I?" he asked as if he hadn't believed Tre but when Jayde giggled, nodding with a sympathetic expression on her face, he rolled his eyes, pushing himself up from the table with his hands.
"Someone wake me up at eight." He said over his shoulder, but paused halfway through the opening in the glass door. "And by someone, I mean her…Don't want either of you in my room while I'm sleeping and-," he paused to yawn. "-unawares…"
Jayde grinned as she watched him go, part of her wishing she could go with him, but another part of her knowing he wanted to be alone and she respected that. Part of being a person of interest to the Joker, she had learned by then, was understanding that while having one on one time with him was nice, leaving him time to be alone and apart from her was even more important. Jayde knew he wasn't her boyfriend, and she hadn't even had many in the past to begin with, it was common sense to her that being around someone all the time usually meant tension, irritability and death of the relationship…And causing the Joker to feel tense and irritable almost always ended in more than one kind of death.
The rest of the afternoon passed rather uneventfully although sitting on the couch watching HGTV with Dotcom while Joker and Tre slept was anything but boring. Apparently, he was just as much of a nut about interior design as he was about computers and cooking and for the better half of four hours, the two of them sat there, chit chatting about the shows and discussing how they would re-do Joker's house if given the chance. They had been laughing so loudly that at one point, Dotcom's phone rang, indicating that the Joker was calling from upstairs in his bedroom. He had answered with a roll of his eyes, putting it on speaker phone.
"Yeah, boss."
"If you two don't shut the fuck up…" he growled, but Dotcom cut him off.
"Sorry, we'll keep it down." And with that, the phone call ended.
Finally, the time was nearing seven o'clock when Dotcom stretched his arms out, groaning as he took his glasses off.
"Well, you should probably go start getting ready." He said, standing up from the couch to trudge over toward the stairs. "He said he wants you to wear the purple dress…" Jayde grinned, standing up to follow him upstairs when he paused, frowning. "I think its interesting how he likes you to dress up when you go out with him…almost like he's showing you off…like a trophy or something…" he was now musing aloud to himself, walking up beside Jayde. "…Honestly, I think he just likes the way your ass looks when you wear heels." They both burst out laughing but quieted a second later, casting anxious glances down toward Joker's bedroom door.
After a quick shower to re-set her curls, Jayde had reached all the way into the back of her closet for the purple dress and heels that Joker had 'acquired' for her all those months ago and had just slipped into it when she glanced at the time and noticed it was now nearing a quarter to eight. So after hastily yet carefully applying some mascara and eye-liner in the bathroom, she set out into the hallway, only to stop mid-step when her eyes fell onto the Joker standing in her doorway, fully dressed with his makeup freshly applied and perfect. His right scar twitched slightly in his smirk as she cocked her head to the side playfully.
"I bet you're about to tell me how gorgeous I look." She joked, turning her back to him to lift up her damp curls and expose the fact that the zipper on her dress was still down. At first, she wasn't sure if he even understood what she was asking him to do but a moment later, she sighed in partial relief when his hands reached out, holding the bottom of the zipper down with one, while the other slid up her back, closing the dress.
"Actually," he began, sliding his hands down quickly to grab a tight hold of both of her ass cheeks, forcing her onto her tip toes as he squeezed. "I was admiring to myself how you look good enough to eat…Oh, wait…Did I already do that today?" Jayde gasped, turning to face him with her eyes wide as he sneered down at her. "Let's go, c'mon…"
Downstairs, Dotcom was ready and waiting in the kitchen, looking completely at ease wearing dark green camouflage, military-style pants, tall black boots and a black long-sleeved shirt and of course…his studded belt. At the table, Joker had paused to pick something up so Jayde walked over, silently giving Dotcom a surprised look with a bounce of her eyebrows.
"You look hot, Dotcom." She whispered as she leaned down to step into the tall, purple heels, bracing herself against the counter. Above her, he rolled his eyes, giving in only slightly to the tiniest of grins.
"Oh, listen, honey. I know."
"Oh, Tre." Joker called loudly in a high-pitched sing-song sort of voice, only to receive a muffled shout from the other side of the wooden double doors under the stairs.
"We leavin'?" he shouted, but appeared a second later before Joker had even replied. He too was wearing camo pants, boots and a black shirt but definitely pulled off the look with more masculinity than Dotcom did. Jayde laughed when he turned his back on Tre to face her with wide eyes and mouth the words 'oh my god'. She laughed, standing up straight once she had finally gotten the heels on only to find that Joker and Tre were now walking over.
"Alright so Linman should be outside already in the truck. Tre, you know what to do." Joker began instructing, pointing toward the door to let Tre know he had been excused. "Dotcom, you're driving the limo again. Kelly is going to call my phone at five-after nine. That gives me time to meet with Celini and…take care of uh-…business." He turned to walk out into the garage, talking over his shoulder to Jayde and Dotcom as if they were still listening to him run over his plan to himself. "I wanna get all of it out by midnight."
The usual half an hour ride to Gotham was probably the best one she had experienced since taking the route regularly. Joker had finally stopped running over the plan aloud and resorted to sitting in the back seat, bouncing his knee anxiously. Jayde wasn't sure if it was the dress she was wearing or the dim limousine lighting setting something of a mood, but for some reason or another, all she wanted to do was sit there leaned up against him comfortably. At first, she had hesitated, knowing that his nerves were on edge with excitement but she decided to at least try it and was now leaned against his side with his arm draped around her shoulders. Surprisingly, the bouncing of his knee was not bothering her like it normally did and her hand rested on it lightly as they both watched the bustling nighttime Gotham city as it passed by the window.
It was obvious that Joker was simply itching to roll down the window and take in a deep breath of contaminated city air but refrained from doing so until the limo had made it out of the busyness to the dark and dingy areas that followed, leading them closer and closer to the water. Being that it was so dark out and the windows so heavily tinted, Jayde found it difficult to recognize anything that she had seen the last time Joker brought her there, but once he rolled down the window, she instantly recognized the scent of the salt water and the random cry of a seagull. Jayde was just taking a deep breath in when beside her, Joker leaned forward to bring his arm from around her and reach into one of the variously-sized pockets inside his purple coat. She watched him until a moment later when his hand emerged, holding a tiny black handgun and one knife. Her hand reached out slowly when he held them out to her.
"These are gonna be yours from now on." he explained, turning his head to glance out of the open window, just before the limousine stopped, off along the back wall of the huge metal warehouse, tucked into the shadows. "Hide them." He then added, reaching over to slide his pointer finger down into Jayde's cleavage. "And here. we. go!"
As soon as Dotcom had gotten out and walked to the back to open Jayde's door like any good 'chauffeur' was supposed to, she slid out but waited for Joker to get out before even stepping a foot away from him. During the day, these docks were rather pretty in a third-world kind of way, however at night, the black rippling water and the general absence of noise, save for the light splashing of waves, made things much more eerie. A second later, Joker had gotten out and was now slipping his hand onto the small of her back to lead her along with him, over toward the back entrance to the water plant where they had met with the fat Italian man before.
"Not a word, understand? This man in under the impression that women are to be seen and not heard." He explained in a quiet, clowny, somewhat jumpy voice, indicative of the anxious, feral energy building up in his body by the second. Jayde felt her heart begin to pound anxiously, making it almost hard to hear what he was going on to say. Instinctually it seemed, her hand moved behind her back to grab a hold of his, hoping he wouldn't pull it away and that he understood that she could really use some encouragement at the moment. Joker must have noticed the way she was gripping him as he stopped mid-step, holding tight to her hand so she would stop and face him. His eyebrows furrowed.
"Hey…" he started, his eyes darting back and forth between hers a few times. "Relax, ok?" Jayde stared back up at him, nodding hastily as she swallowed hard on the lump that had formed somewhere between her stomach and mouth. "I'll be riiight next to you. I wont let anything happen, trust me." Trotting along beside him, Jayde rolled her eyes; leave it to the Joker to say something almost comforting then add something sarcastic sounding to the end.
At the rusty metal door, Joker raised his fist, banging on it several times before taking a step back, tilting his head back to look up and to the sides of the tall building; Jayde figured he was checking for windows. There were none, Jayde had just noticed when the door in front of them swung open with a horribly grinding sound of metal on metal. A tall, muscle bound, bald man now stood in the way, staring down at them.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I might have the wrong number…" he snarled, taking a step back to look up again as if he expected to find a house number somewhere on the façade of the metal building.
"You the Joker?" the man asked, his voice deep and baritone. Jayde noticed his eyes bounce from her 'date' back down to her before back up again. Joker waved a hand with a frown.
"Nooo…Santa Claus, actually. The Joker should be here any minute…" he answered, cocking his head to the side to squint at the tall man as if assessing whether or not he had caught the sarcasm. The thug rolled his eyes a second later, turning from the door to lead them inside, into a dark, damp hallway. Jayde stepped inside behind Joker, feeling incredibly as though she had just been tossed head-first into a horror movie. A few sparse, flickering light bulbs hung from the seemingly high ceilings and from behind several shadowed doorways. She glanced up at Joker but found the hallway much too dark to see an expression there…she could safely assume he was perfectly at ease in these dingy, rather scary surroundings.
At the end of the hallway, Joker and Jayde and their guide met a doorway, that opened a moment later, revealing an unsurprisingly dimly-lit, albeit rather nice office. A few dark couches lined the walls behind a large conference table in the middle of the room. Being that Mancino Celini was so vast, it took Joker only a seconds glance to find him, sitting on the far side of the room, puffing happily on a cigar as if he had just won some sort of lottery.
"Ah, Mister Joker!" he cried, rolling to the side slightly to move around his enormous stomach and push himself off the couch. Joker seemed to notice how much of an effort this cost him but made no effort to stop him. "I see you've come to…pay me, yes?" he asked, wheezing slightly as he waddled over, raising his great bushy, black eyebrows. Jayde watched his eyes flicker over her figure momentarily, just as they had the last time she had met him and she felt her stomach clench up uncomfortably just as it had before. Joker took a step forward toward the table, holding his hand out toward a chair.
"Yes, actually, I have." He answered somewhat politely, taking a seat across from Celini once he had lowered his great mass down into the chair. "Although, I don't normally negotiate, I think we can agree to…say…ten-thousand? For all twelve trucks?" Joker held up a hand in an offering sort of gesture but frowned when Celini shook his head.
"No, no, no…I work hard for three months saving blood for your games, clown, I require at least fifteen." He said in a loud, thick accent, taking another deep couple of puffs from his lit cigar, leaning back in the chair to tuck his thumb into the line of his expanded waistline. Jayde had to fight not to roll her eyes. There was no way Joker was going to let this silly man get away with talking to him like that, much less bargain with him. A moment later, her jaw nearly fell open when Joker nodded.
"By 'work hard', you mean 'sat around smoking cigars and drinking Prosecco'? It's alright…English is a tricky language, I know…" he said, his voice rather smooth yet condescending, cocking his head to the side slightly. When the man simply blinked at him with a half-grin, Joker leaned forward slightly, tapping one finger on the table. "I'll do twelve and five-hundred…for your…troubles."
From her place in the shadows of the door, Jayde watched the Italian man's eyes squint slightly at the Joker, assessing his offer, wondering if it were really wise to keep up the bartering when it was obvious he was not going to be receiving the full amount he had requested. It seemed even such a dull individual was perfectly aware of the danger of refusing the Joker when he was already being so 'generous'. A few moments later, his fat, stubby hand patted the table.
"Fine, twelve and the five-hundred and we call it even, although this is very generous of me, you understand!" he exclaimed, watching Joker's hand with beady, attentive eyes as he reached into the inside of his coat. When it reemerged holding several stacks of money, he seemed to deflate slightly in relief. "Ah, you are very interesting!" he suddenly said once he had reached out to count the money Joker had just set on the table. "I expect jokes from you, since you are Joker," He commented, glancing over at Jayde as she stood silently, watching. "But you seem like an honest business man, even if your tactics are somewhat strange."
Honestly, Jayde agreed with the Italian on this, fairly surprised on her own that Joker was being so civil and hadn't made any attempt to claim this man's life…yet. Joker let out a laugh, holding out his hands with a shrug. "What can I say?…I'm a man of my word…" he then growled with a sinister grin that Jayde could practically hear from where she was standing. That increasingly familiar sense of evil began to fill the room once again, bringing in that electric buzzing noise. Celini seemed ignorant.
"A drink! We celebrate good business and to your…success!" he exclaimed, grunting as he leaned forward to try and push himself up from the chair heavily. Joker held out a hand, rising from the table.
"No, sit, my friend. Let me get them." He offered 'kindly', turning from the table to walk over toward a small alcove where a tray with assorted liquors, glasses and a container of ice sat. Jayde watched him go, swearing for a split second that she had noticed his eyes flicker to hers…could have been the lighting. "Pick your poison, Mancino. Brandy? I see you have scotch here…champagne? I like your style on that yard…" he was commenting casually, his back to the room as Celini laughed, patting his belly as he leaned back in his chair.
"Anything, my man! I like a good surprise!"
Over at the liquor, Joker laughed quietly, shaking his head once. "A man after my own heart…"
A few moments later, Jayde watched as Joker carried two glasses back over to the table, passing by her as if she was a clock on the wall. The amber liquid in the glasses sloshed slightly as he set one down in front of Celini on the table, before sitting across from him, clanking the rim of his glass against the rim of the other.
"To good-…" Joker began to make a mock toast but the fat man leaned forward, frowning at his glass before over at Joker.
"I like your business skills, clown, but I do not trust you. How about I take your glass…" he reached out a short arm, pushing his glass away from him. "…And you take mine." Joker was scowling, but shrugged a second later, sliding his glass across the table.
"Suit yourself." He answered, taking a sip of what was formerly Celini's untainted glass of Scotch. Jayde felt her stomach drop when she realized that she felt slightly disappointed…was Joker not going to kill this guy?
"To good business and being men of our word!" Celini exclaimed in what he obviously believed to be a triumphant sort of toast, before bringing the glass to his lips, tilting his head back to drain the contents and swallow with a content, sloppy grin on his face. Joker raised his own glass, taking a slow sip as he watched symptoms manifest rapidly in his newest and most unsuspecting victim.
Within seconds, Mancino's face had turned blue, his fingers and hands grabbing roughly at his neck, trying to loosen his tie from around his fat neck as if thinking it was the object causing him to suffocate. Suddenly, Jayde's heart was pounding out of control, her ears throbbing as she watched the Italian start to seize violently. Just under the sound of the blood rushing in her ears, she heard Joker counting.
"Three…two…"
A second later, Mancino Celini was face down on the floor, motionless, slowly growing cold, dead. With a sigh, Joker rolled his eyes, rising from his chair to lean down to fit his hands underneath the body, groaning as he rolled him onto his back with great effort.
"Why do the fat guys always gotta die face-down?" he was grumbling irritably to himself, digging around in the dead man's pockets until he had reclaimed his money. If Jayde hadn't been in something of a shock, she would have laughed, but instead jumped when he addressed her.
"You got somethin' to say over there, tits?" he asked, arching an eyebrow as he stood up, tucking his money back into his coat. Blinking hard, Jayde shook her head as she walked toward him, glancing down at the dead body.
"That was-…That was just…" she was stammering blindly for some sort of adjective she could use to describe what had just happened, but only seemed able to come up with one thing. "That was awesome!"
A/N: To be continued, guys, very shortly. Once again, the chapter got too long and the next few parts have gotta flow together. TRUST me, you wont be disappointed…LEAVE ME YOUR MUH'FUCKIN LOVE/HATE IF YOU REALLY WANT THE NEXT CHAPTER! –Queen of Mean