The Set Up

The Introduction

4 Years Earlier

A loud banging noise woke me up from my sleep. Groaning, I turned over in my small bed to look at my alarm clock. Bright red numbers told me it was 5 in the afternoon. The banging continued as I rolled out of the mess of sheets and got up, stretching while shaking the sleep off the best I could. Sighing, I walked through the small apartment and opened the front door. My co-worker, neighbor, and friend Leah stormed in. I closed the door and turned to the dirty blond hair and blue eyed woman who was fuming in my tiny living room.

"Sam, you're supposed to be getting ready!" She snapped.

I shook my shoulder length soft pink hair while yawning. I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to walk with the petite woman to work. I watched as she glared at me before walking to the kitchen to grab a Coke to help me wake up along with a piece of cheese pizza that I threw into the microwave.

Leaning against the counter top, I cracked open my drink before swigging some and speaking, "Leah, we don't have to be at work until 7."

"But you have to get ready," She said while sitting down in one of the arm chairs.

The microwave beeped and I pulled out the pizza before walking into the living room and sitting in the other arm chair next to Leah's. Crossing my feet up in the chair with me, I took a bite of my breakfast while switching my TV onto a music channel so the room wasn't quiet.

"Leah, I don't take as long as you do to get ready. We'll be to work on time."

I knew that she knew I was right. Leah was very feminine, planning her outfits the night beforehand and taking almost 2 hours to style her hair and do contouring makeup. Me? I do things as I go. I took another bite of my pizza as Leah started talking.

"You hear about the Joker breaking out of Arkham?" She asked, crossed her legs allowing her dress to slid up her thigh slightly.

I scoffed with a mouthful of pizza and swallowed, "When is he NOT breaking out of somewhere?"

She bit her lip nervously, "You think he'll ever come into our bar?"

I nodded, "Yeah, we work in the worst part of Gotham, what do you think?"

"You aren't scared?"

"No, as long as you're not doing something stupid, you're fine. Plus," Pause for a bite of pizza, " I don't have to deal with him, I'm just the bar tender. But you, you're the waitress, you might have to."

Laughing at her face falling, I finished up my breakfast and got up to get ready, telling Leah to flip through the channels if she wanted to while tossing the remote at her. Turning on my blue tooth speaker, I started playing my usual playlist of retro music. I stripped down and turned on the hot water in the shower. While waiting for it to steam up in the bathroom, I started going through my closet looking for my clothes for the night. I finally decided to wear my black sleeveless shirt with a rib cage printed on the front along with cut off jean shorts.After throwing the clothes onto the bed I started my routine, showering, drying off, brushing my teeth. Standing in front of my bathroom mirror in just my bra and panties, I wiped the steam from the glass before plugging in my hair dryer. Finally, after 40 minutes, I had my hair dried and done my makeup. Throwing on my clothes, I decided to wear my necklace where the heart was made out of bones and a choker that made it look like my neck was stitched together.

Running my fingers through my hair and flipping it so one side was longer then the other I pulled on my converse sneakers and my leather jacket. Walking into the living room, I watched Leah eye me up and down before asking if I was ready. Nodding, we walked out onto the small duplex porch and locked up. Leah straightened her tight strapless blue dress as I pocketed my keys and we started walking to our job. We made small talk, she wanted to know when I'd turn 22  since my birthday was closing in and then started babbling about throwing me a party. It didn't take long for us to get to work and clock in. Our bar, known as The Underground, was a shady criminal friendly business. It could be considered more of a club, but I worked at the bar so that was as far as I was concerned. Leah got the pleasure of being a waitress, so it wasn't uncommon that we'd talk throughout the night.