RELAPSE - Arthur Fleck | Joker FANFIC/LOVE STORY

Chapter 10: Aberration

Anon's POV:

I knocked on the door and stood there, waiting for him to answer.

Earlier that day, after I left the probation office, I went to take my drug test - which I passed- and then went back to Sophie's apartment.  I ended up taking a nap because I was emotionally exhausted from the conversation that I had with Martha Wayne.  However, after I woke up, I was bubbling with positive energy. It felt almost like I was on some sort of high, but it didn't take any drugs for me to get there. I cleaned Sophie's apartment and washed my clothes for work.  I still couldn't believe that 'work' meant Wayne Tower and not some shitty diner.  When I finished cleaning pretty much every square inch of the apartment, I spent some time daydreaming about what job position I would be assigned with and what it would be like.  Before I knew it, it was the early evening and I decided to go see Arthur. I was sure that he had to be home and I just couldn't wait any longer to tell him about what happened.

I tapped my feet, trying to be patient, but it had been a couple minutes since I knocked and he still didn't answer. Sure, I still technically had a copy of their apartment key, but I didn't want to be rude and just waltz on in.   I knocked again.  Finally, I heard a small voice coming from behind the door that I just barely heard, " Who is it?"  I could tell it was Penny. Maybe Arthur isn't home? I decided to go ahead and use the key to avoid Penny trying to struggle her way to the door.

I cracked the door open just enough to stick my head in, "Penny?  Penny, it's me, Anon.  Is Arthur home?"

I could hear her a little better now, "No dear, he is working a little late tonight, but he should be home soon.  Come in, make yourself comfortable."

Now that she officially invited me in, I opened the door further so I could walk into the room, closed the door behind me, locked it, and made my way to the couch.  Penny was sitting in her favorite chair, watching some movie and she was completely absorbed. So, we sat there in silence.  After a few minutes I reached over and patted the arm of her chair to get her attention, "Have you eaten dinner yet?"  She answered 'no', which is what I expected, "Okay, well, let me go ahead and make you something while I wait for Arthur."

"Aren't you a sweet thing," she said, still staring at the TV.  I made my way to the kitchen and prepared one of her favorite frozen dinners.  As I placed the dinner on a tray table and positioned it in front of her, she looked up at me, "Arthur needs to snatch you up before you find someone else.  You would be the perfect wife for him."

I sat back down on the couch and gave her a playful grin, "You are so right, Penny."  Her mouth pulled into a smile and then she moved her attention back to the TV.

It wasn't uncommon for Penny to say random, off-the-wall things like this and it usually embarrassed Arthur. So, I just picked up the habit of always agreeing with her, no matter what crazy thing she was saying, just to embarrass him further. 

With this being the first time I have seen Penny in a few weeks, her declining health was suddenly very obvious to me.  She seemed even more fragile than the first time I met her, and she looked pretty fragile then.  I thought about how hard it must be for Arthur - worrying about her and, at the same time, being the only provider. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad if he could actually get more help for her, but that would cost money.  Money that Arthur didn't have.

The movie eventually ended and Penny turned the TV to a different station.  We probably sat there watching TV for about an hour before I heard keys jingling at the locked apartment door.  There seemed to be a struggle with the lock for a few seconds, I had the same issue with Sophie's lock sometimes, so I quickly ran over to the door to unlock and open it.