Beautiful Anti-Hero

Harleen Quinzel

Felicia got up bright and early the next day to get started in her new job. She took a shower, put on some smart clothes and had her breakfast. It was early so she decided to take her time to walk to work. The streets seemed so quiet this time of night. Gotham thrived on darkness and the night. It was where all the ghouls came out to play or so she had heard. She cut across some alleys and rolled her eyes playfully as a black cat glanced at her. Petting the cat, she gave a wave and walked on. A taxi drove past her and she nodded 'no' to herself remembering the awkward one she had yesterday.

Once at the theme park, she made her way to Mr Riley's office. He was inside looking as stressed as ever. She knew that he did not notice her and watched him. The poor man had beads of sweat streaming down his face and his hand was positioned on his forehead as if to signify his hopeless demeanour. Felicia knew it was time to speak instead of just standing there waiting to be caught. She smiled as she approached him.

"Hello." She said making him jump.

"Miss Hardy. You are so quiet. I did not even hear you. Good morning. First day right. You excited?" He said all this very fast. She noticed that he was looking at a picture of his two children and felt sympathy for the man who clearly was going through some problems. Tapping her fingers on the desk (she was a little nervous herself due to it being her first day) she straightened up and looked ready to work.

"I am. Although a little nervous. I have never worked in this area of expertise before."

"All you can do is try your best." The good man reassured her. "Let me show you what ride you will be operating on today. The park does get busier than this I assure you." He gave a faint smile gesturing to the ghostly park. The rides were indeed creepy when they were shut down.

Felicia followed her boss outside and smiled when she saw his two children jumping on one of the immobile rollercoasters.

"Adam! Harriet! How many times?" Mr Riley scolded his children but not in a nasty way. He seemed almost playful. "Come and meet Miss Hardy. She will be working the rides." He then turned to Felicia. "Adam is six years and Harriet is eight years. You will see more of Harriet as Adam is going off to live with his mother."

Felicia noticed the man's face when he said the word "mother." He went pale and his eyes showed a million tales of sadness coming back. She did not question but he noticed her curiosity.

"It's okay. Marilyn and me split up three years ago. I should get help as I never got over her cheating on me. I am sorry." He breathed in deeply and plastered a smile on his face that looked forced. "Children?" He beckoned them over. They bounced over to Felicia and said a cheerful "Hello." She laughed and greeted then back.

After meeting the children, she listened to Mr Riley's instructions on how to operate a ride. He showed her the levers and their function. This was good as Felicia knew that she could not take it all in with how fast he was at explaining it.

"Ok. If you need any help Felicia then let me know. I will be in the office. Adam has a bit of a cold so him and Harriet will probably occupy themselves with the toys I have bought. You can ring this button here for assistance." He said showing her. "Joe will also be around. He is coming in later though."

Felicia watched as Mr Riley led his children back to his office. As there was nobody on the ride, she decided to give it a practice. She pressed a button to start the rollercoaster and it moved. There was an emergency lever to stop the ride at any time and other buttons that Joe would probably explain. One button was labelled "confetti." The other was to take a photograph of the people on the ride so that they could get their photo done. She pressed the "confetti" button and a flurry of confetti rose up when the rollercoaster went down a steep track. She was about to experiment with more when she caught a young blonde woman passing by. The woman stopped and smiled at her giving her a wave. Who was she? Felicia watched as the woman proceeded onto Mr Riley's office. Shrugging, Felicia went back to her work. She thought about Peter and wanted to give him a ring when she finished.

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"Harriet off the rug. No Adam don't draw on your face." Mr Riley put his hands to his face. He could not cope with this. If only things were different.

"Kids." A bright voice came from the doorway. "You must be Mr Riley? I saw your advertisement for a new job."

"I am sorry Miss..."

"Quinzel. Harleen."

"Miss Quinzel. The role has been filled." Mr Riley tried to remain calm even though he felt like screaming right now. The young woman's blues eyes flashed behind her glasses. Her hair was neatly tied up in a bun and she wore professional clothing.

"Oh no. I did not come for that. I have a proposition for you. I am a doctor you see. I have a masters in Psychology. I heard from a friend of mine who used to know you that says you have been feeling down lately. Well if you are interested give me a call. They don't come as cheap as me Mister."

"What friend? Look I don't really know...OH MY." Mr Riley gasped as he saw the price. Ten bucks an hour. He could do with some help. He could even see Felicia's pity in her eyes earlier and felt shamed.

"I could come here if you like for your therapy session. I live not too far from here." Harleen pressed him further. She could see the tension in his eyes start to cease and she clicked her fingers. "Tomorrow - first session?"

"Sure." Mr Riley smiled nervously. "Thank you. I mean you seem friendly and helpful."

"Oh believe me I am." Harleen grinned. "Hello there." She waved at Harriet who glared at her.

"Harriet stop pulling that silly face." Mr Riley barked. "See you tomorrow Harleen. Is ten in the morning okay?"

"Yes. Sure is." Harleen waved goodbye and walked out of his office. She got in her red car and glanced at Mr Riley hugging his daughter through the office window. "Little brat." She geared up her engine and drove away laughing.