Chapter 3

It was Wednesday and Harley had a busy schedule. No Joker today; his sessions were scheduled for Mondays and Thursdays, but at 9:00 AM she had a therapy session with one of her other patients; a middle-aged man with OCD as well as dissociative identity disorder. It was a good warm up for the rest of the day. Half an hour later, she took time to transfer her notes to his file while drinking coffee. It was then she heard a soft knock on her door. She called for them to come in and one of the orderlies came into her office. She had seen him before. He seemed to be in his early thirties, just a tad taller than her, clean shaved face and short, dark hair. You really wouldn't believe he was an orderly. He looked way too friendly for that, especially right now, the way he smiled at her.

"Good morning, Dr. Quinzel. Hope I'm not interrupting." She put her cup of coffee down and shook her head.

"Not at all. I believe we haven't been properly introduced, have we?" She got up from behind her desk and walked over to him and they shook hands. "Harleen Quinzel, but you can call me Harley. Everyone does."

"Hi Harley, I'm Patrick Dormer." His green eyes beamed at her and she couldn't help but smile. He was kind of cute.

"Well, what can I do for you, Patrick?" she asked and he seemed to wake up from a daze.

"Yes, um, well…" he fumbled, searching for the right way to put it. "I know that this might seem a little too, well, sudden and all, but…" Oh God, please don't say what I think you're about to say. She waited for him to go on, internally dreading the question she'd heard all too many times already. "Would you like to go out sometime?"

Her fears came true. It had not been an uncommon thing for her to get asked out by guys during high school and college. Some guys were okay, but most of them had been real jerks, only looking for a hot chick to brag about. Sometimes she wished she didn't look the way she did, but sometimes her looks had proven to be useful. For one thing, she was able to surprise people. While she was tired of people looking at her, thinking she was just a silly blonde, she loved it when she saw the look on their faces once they found out she had actually graduated med school and at the top of her class too.

Still, this guy seemed to be as far away from a jerk as you could get. He wouldn't stop smiling at her and well, she just didn't have it in her to turn him down. "Sure," she said, "why not?"

"Really?" She didn't think it was possible, but his smile grew bigger. He acted almost like a child would on Christmas. "Do you have any plans on Friday?" She shook her head.

"No, not that I know of."

"Great, I know the perfect restaurant in Midtown! You'll love it!"

"It's a date. We'll talk about it later, okay?" Frankly, she just wanted him to leave now and so she ushered him towards the door.

"Okay. Thank you, Dr. Quin – I mean, Harley."

"Bye Patrick." She gave him one last smile before closing the door on him. Great job Harley, you can't even say a simple "no" because you don't want to be impolite.

Her whole afternoon had consisted of paperwork. She felt a slight headache creeping in. When everything finally was done, she looked down at her watch. 4:26 PM. Shit. She had planned to have coffee with Cassidy at 4:30. Cassidy had been her friend ever since they went to kindergarten together in Brooklyn. They had both grown up there and when it was time for college, they both went to Gotham University and they never went back to New York. Harley disposed of her doctor's coat, grabbed her purse and left the office.

Why was there always heavy traffic when you were in a hurry? Harley cursed under her breath as she waited for the line she was in to start moving. When she finally made it to the café, she saw Cassidy's car already parked outside. She got out, slammed the door shut and hurried inside. I must look like a mess.

Her eyes instantly found her friend by a small table for two in the back. She walked over and took the empty seat opposite to Cass. "Hey, sorry I'm late. Paperwork." She decided to keep the explanation short. All she wanted to do now was sit down, relax and drink her coffee, which she noticed was already in front of her.

"It's okay. I ordered the usual," Cassidy answered and sipped on her own cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"Thanks," Harley replied with a smile. "Remind me to pay you back later."

"Don't worry. It's on me," Cassidy insisted. Harley wouldn't argue. She knew it was no use. So she only said "thanks" and then began drinking her own coffee. Thankfully, it was still warm.

"So…" Cassidy began, a little hesitant, but Harley could hear the curiousness in her tone. "How are things in the nuthouse?" Perfect. Just what I need. She pursed her lips and put the cup down on the table, still keeping both hands around it.

"They're good," she said. "Everything's fine, really." She hoped it would suffice as an answer, but Cassidy wouldn't have it.

"I'll believe that as much as I want to," she said. "Come on, let me in on some details."

Harley sighed. "Well…" she began. "Things really are good, but then I guess, there are a few colleagues of mine that I'm not particularly fond of."

"Do tell."

"I don't know if you've heard about him. His name is Dr. Hugo Strange."

"Oh yeah, I've read about him in the papers."

"Yeah, well… He called me a porcelain doll." Cassidy almost choked on her coffee. She snorted and let out a chuckle.

"What?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. Cassidy calmed down a bit, trying to compose herself.

"Well, I mean, I can understand why," she said and used her hand to address Harley. Yeah, I am a porcelain doll, aren't I? She wouldn't let on, but the words that just came from her friend really hurt her. "But don't let him get to you," Cassidy added and Harley let her gaze fall with a halfhearted smile. Cassidy realized her mistake and decided to change the subject.

"So, how is your love life?" Harley knew that Cassidy had always been one who loved hearing about dirty little details. However, this time, Harley could not please her friend.

"Sorry to disappoint, but there's not much going on in my love life right now."

"Oh come on, not even one of your patients have been hitting on you?" Cassidy teased. Harley rolled her eyes, but then she came to think of the Joker. Although he hadn't exactly hit on her during their one meeting, there was still something telling her he had certainly been interested or at the very least intrigued by her. Why else would he have decided to talk to her? He hadn't spoken to any of the others. He had even confirmed that himself.

"No," Harley answered, "but one of the orderlies who work there asked me out today." This pleased Cassidy, who raised her eyebrows.

"Ooh, is he cute?" Harley shrugged.

"I guess. At least he was very kind."

"But what did you say? Don't tell me you turned him down! Poor fellow."

"I wish I had, but no, he's taking me out this Friday." Cassidy grinned from ear to ear.

"You have to tell me all about it!"

Harley promised to tell her friend, but she figured there really wouldn't be a lot to tell. With the headache still throbbing in her head, she decided to go to bed and get some well needed rest. Tomorrow she would have her second session with the Joker.

A/N: So yeah, I figured Harley needed a friend, so I created Cassidy. Sorry that there's no Mistah J in this chapter, but he'll show up in the next one! ;)