Harley Quinn Romance 3

Chapter 1: Happy News

Harley stared hard, as if daring the result to change, but it remained. Her fears melted away like ice before the spring thaw, and a smile blossomed on her face.

Throwing the door open, Harley raced downstairs. When she saw Alfred dusting the pictures in the entryway, she stopped so suddenly, she nearly skidded past him on the polished floor.

"Alfred!" she almost shouted. "Have you seen Bruce?"

"Despite my age, I'm not deaf yet," Alfred replied, tugging down the vest of his suit as if to remove wrinkles from the immaculate material. "Master Bruce left for an emergency meeting at Wayne Enterprises a short time ago."

"What emergency?" Harley asked.

"Something to do with a competing company; Master Bruce wasn't too specific," Alfred explained. "He didn't seem overly concerned, so I wouldn't worry if I were you."

Alfred returned to his dusting, but asked over his shoulder, "Should I prepare you some lunch, Mistress?"

"No thanks, Alfred," Harley declined. "I'll get something on the way."

"May I suggest you dress first," Alfred remarked.

Harley glanced down at the black silk of her bathrobe covering the red satin pajamas she'd been wearing all morning.

"You know, I do believe you're right," Harley admitted with a giggle. "I was so excited, I wasn't thinking about it."

"Excited, Ma'am?" Alfred prompted.

"Just got some good news is all," Harley answered before heading back upstairs to change.

Opening her closet, she considered putting on her red and black leathers and driving her motorcycle into town. Glancing over her shoulder she asked, "What do you two think?"

Her hyenas, curled up at the foot of the bed lifted their heads and whined slightly before laying back down.

"Right," Harley agreed. "This is a business meeting. Need to be less Harley and more Mrs. Wayne. I should look like a professional."

She pulled out a thigh high boot of bright red with a clear, two inch thick sole and spike heel.

"Not that kind of a professional," Harley dismissed, tossing the boot back where she'd found it.

In the end, she selected a loose, silk blouse of dazzling crimson, leaving the collar unbuttoned. A smile curled up the corner of her mouth as she opened the next two buttons as well, anticipating Bruce's reaction. Her nylons were an electric red that seemed to glow in comparison to her black miniskirt and jacket. Red soled, black stilettos completed the ensemble. Harley put her hair up in a French twist, leaving a single lock of blonde hair hanging down to the outside of her right eye.

She posed for her hyenas, and they wagged their tails approvingly. "Bruce won't know what hit him."

A thought roused itself and waved for her attention, demanding to know why she put in so much effort just for the purpose of impressing Bruce. Another thought used a baseball bat to smash the question into little bitty pieces with the explanation that Bruce would love her for it. Joker never appreciated her efforts when they'd been together, but Bruce did, and she loved him for it.

She came over and sat beside her hyenas, scratching them between the ears.

"I don't want you to tell anyone, but there's going to be a new addition to the family," Harley whispered to them. Her pets wagged their tails more as if they understood. "Shhh. It's a secret. Come on, babies. Mama's got to go to town."

As she headed for the door, the hyenas jumped up and followed after her.

Harley's car was a black mirror, all polished, reflective surfaces and flawless smooth lines. She opened the door for her hyenas and climbed in after them. The interior was a void of darkness until she keyed the ignition. Pinstripe lines of fiber optics and LED lights framed every seat, door, console panel, and display gauge, and a trio of four sided diamonds were centered on the ceiling. The moment the engine roared to life, the car's interior lit up like the magma chamber of an active volcano.

The radio, already on, was blaring heavy metal, but she switched it over to the classical station. Her hyenas looked at her, cocking their heads to one side.

"You're right," Harley agreed, switching back to the electric guitars and the fast paced drumbeat. "Let Bruce teach the fancy stuff. I'll stick with mine."

She gave her stomach a gentle pat. "Enjoy the concert."

Dropping the car into gear, she slammed down on the accelerator, and the car became a bullet leaving the garage.

                                                                                              ***

"Mrs. Wayne," the guard at the entrance to the Wayne Enterprises parking garage offered in greeting when Harley pulled up to his booth. She smiled and gave a nod of thanks as he pressed the button to lower the steel pylons blocking the way into the structure.

Parking in her reserved spot next to a private elevator, Harley instructed her hyenas to be good. She rolled the windows down for them and exited her car. She didn't bother locking the door as the vehicle was well protected by her guard dogs. A swipe of her keycard gained her entry to the elevator.

Used only by either Harley or Bruce, the elevator made no stops, rocketing its way to the uppermost floor in seconds. In one of the many branching pathways of her mind, Harley toyed with the idea of what it would be like to take the same elevator ride but from outside the car, either standing on top or hanging underneath. A smile followed the thought of having Bruce try it with her.

A soft ping sounded as the doors parted on the executive level. To her right, a pair of double doors guarded the way into the main hallway where the elevator for visitors was located. Straight ahead, a single door lead into Bruce's office. Rather than barging in and disrupting his work, Harley turned left and went into her own office. It wasn't very large, but Harley had never had a mind for business, even when she had a mind that was all there, so she rarely used the office.

The decor was simple to the point of minimalism, and the colors were muted shades of earth tones, giving the space the relaxed feeling of a library. The numerous books on the walls, covering subjects from psychology to motorcycle maintenance amplified the ambiance. No one but Bruce and Harley entered the room, but she'd kept the design reserved just in case. The last thing she wanted to do was interfere in his business. At least, not again. Unless it was called for.