Secretary Harley Q

This is a segment of a fan fiction I wrote on Archive of our Own.

Prologue:
“Harleen?” A tall man called out. “Harleen, I need these filed..”
“Comin' sir“ a perky blond trotted over, occasionally stumbling. She quickly took the stack from the man’s hands and looked up at him.
“We need those filed before our client gets here,” the man groaned. “He’s not the most pleasant when displeased. Harley gave the man a quick nod then turned and headed toward here desk.

“Hey.. Harleen?”
The blonde paused and looked up from her stack of papers, giving the room a quick glance. Funding no success in placing that voice to a face, she looked back down and continued to write.
“Harleen” the voice sounded sharper, startling Harleen.
“What!?” Harleen snapped. Having now broken the silence of a very mellow room, Harleen slowly slumped into her chair.
“Harleen.” The voice called out again, only this time noticeably louder.
Harleen, half frustrated, sharply turns and yelps. Harleen, now inches away from plucky red head, scoots her chair back.
“Jesus, ya scared the hell out of me.” Harleen huffed. “Why are you over here?”
“I got… bored over there.. All alone… without my buddy�"“
“Hey, it isn’t my fault he promoted me instead of you, Pamela.” Harleen interrupted. The red head let out a scoff, “I ain’t the one kissing the boss' a*s either. “ she leaned back.
Harleen suddenly stopped. “What?”
“Nothing.” Pamela replied sharply, “So, may I ask, what are you working here for?
Harleen let out a small sigh, “I need to continue my education,” she said as she pushed up her glasses. “My goal is to be one of the most successful psychiatrists in Gotham.”

 

“Okay, okay.. Is everything in order?” the boss paced and mumbled to himself, “Have to make sure..” He then walked into his office and closed the door behind him. The office grew eerily quiet as everyone continued their work. Harleen, growing anxious due to the lack of sound, fidgeted in her chair.
Silence was subtly filled with heavy footsteps.
“Wow. I can hear the sound of him sweating” Pamela snickered a bit.
“Huh?” Harleen, obviously distracted, perks head up and looks at her.
“The boss” Pamela said, “Apparently this client�"“
“Where is the man in charge of this joint?” a chilling voice interrupted: An odd and lanky man was now standing at the side of Harleen's cubicle. He was wearing a rather plain suit with an oddly green tie. He had an dull, almost grey complexion; his hair was that of emerald and his eyes were sullen as if he never slept.
Pamela looked at the man then pointed toward her bosses office. “Right in there..” her voice lowered almost to a whisper.
The lanky man gave her a nod, turns and walked off.
“Where have I seen him before..?” Harleen muttered, Pamela looked over and let put a small noise in confusion.
“That man..” Harleen continued, “I’ve seen him somewhere..” Puffing out her cheeks, she tapped her chin and continued to mutter to herself. “Ugh” she exclaimed.
“Harleen,” Pamela’s voice was low, “The office seems awfully quiet.
Moments seemed like hours in the quiet office. Silence was gradually filled by muffled speaking, followed by a sudden and large thud. The office jumped, their attention was quickly shifted toward the office as the door swung open.
“I trust that you’ll have what I need soon.” The eccentric man stepped out, quickly giving his jacket a quick brush. He glanced around the room, giving the cubicles a quick scan.
“Sir-“ The boss jogged out, looking disheveled and stumbling, “I swear, I had it done.. My secretary�"“
“I am not one to waste my time, “ the eccentric man sharply interrupted as he turned to face the now shaking man. “Either you have what I need or you don’t.” He sighed, “Have a good day.” The taller man flashed a smile that sent chills down the man's throat. It was the sort of smile that made your throat lump and stomach churn; all in the office turned away or looked away for they couldn't stomach his appearance. All but Harleen, whom was seemingly mesmerized by the eccentric and nightmarish feel of him. The menacing man’s attention gradually shifted to Harleen, who was now clenching her chest. Helmet out a small chuckles and walked over. After a few moment of watching her, he extended and arm and introduced himself as simply, “J.” Harleen gave him a small nod and glanced down; seeing her seemingly flustered pleased him a bit.
“Well” he exclaimed suddenly, “Goodbye” he turned to the startled man. “And” his tone quickly changed as he turned to and looks at Harleen, “Until next time.”
With another chilling smile, he turned and left the offices.
“Wow..” Harleen mumbled to herself.
“What?” Pamela replied.
“Nothing.. “ Harleen went silent a moment then stood and turned to her boss, “Sir, I am suddenly feeling very… nauseated” she made a face in disgust, “Would it be alright if I went home?”
The man, clearly distracted from what had just happened, gave her a few nods in response. After watching him a moment, Harleen nodded, gathered her things and headed outside.
After quickly turning the corner outside the building, Harleen stopped and took a breath. ‘Where did he…’ she though to herself. As she looked around something purple, rounding the vertical corner caught her eye. Harleen gave a quick glance down the hallway toward the doors, set her case down and cautiously jogged toward where the purple item appeared to have gone.
“If I want it done..” a man’s voice grumbled, “I have to do it myself.”
Harleen, careful as to not be seen, slowly moves closer to try get a peak at the man behind the voice. Her body tensed as heavy footsteps moved toward the corner adjacent from her, the man sharply sighed as two large men in dark suits walked over.
“Any particular reason you two are late,” the voice's tone was eerily calm. “When you did not do what I asked?”
The two men looked at each other and stammered. Unable to anything, they grumbled. The man behind the voice began to pace.
“I am waiting.” The one behind the voice grew noticeably irritated. The longer their silence lasted, the more disgusted he became. “You know what.. Get out of my face.”
When the room went quiet, and just as Harleen tip toed to get a look at the man behind the voice, one man caught a glimpse at her and alerted the other. Without drawing attention to themselves, they walked and disappears from Harleen sight.
After a moment of staring, Harleen’s eyes slowly widened. ‘is that the man from earlier?’ she thought to herself. It was, it was ‘J.’ Her mind was suddenly diverted to the now large pair of hands gripping her arms. She tensed and looked, it was one of the two men who had walked in earlier. But, where was the other one?
“Sir!” the sudden voice caused Harley to jump.
“Why the hell are you still he-“
“There’s a woman here” the second henchman announced.
The tall man, who’d Harleen had seen earlier sharply looked, “Did you interrupt me just to tell me that some girl�"“ he paused when their eyes met. “You.. Are the girl from earlier..” he tilted his head to the left and studied her. There was something about her that seemed alluring to him. This feeling was foreign, he had never been drawn to someone.
“What do we do with her, sir?” one henchman asked.
The man called J glanced at them,
“Leave her here,” he said with a smile, “I want to show her something.”

Author's Note

This is a segment of a fan fiction I wrote on Archive of our Own.
If you want to read the next chapter, my username:
Username: Mistaken_Mister_J

Reviews

[Konspiracy]

I do enjoy your style and the pacing, breaking actions up between dialogue. I do the same thing, helps the reader envision the story like a movie. I only have one bit of critique. Lines like this;

The tall man, who’d Harleen had seen earlier sharply looked, “Did you interrupt me just to tell me that some girl"“ he paused when their eyes met. “You.. Are the girl from earlier..” he tilted his head to the left and studied her.

The words, when you insert dialogue between sentence segments, are supposed to have commas. And the contraction isn't really needed here. Plus the sentence is a question, so you ought to put a question mark at the end of it. When a sentence ends, the dialogue is capitalized. When it's broken up, it is lower case.

Like this;

The tall man, who Harleen had seen earlier, sharply looked. “Did you interrupt me just to tell me that some girl," he paused when their eyes met. “You.. Are the girl from earlier...?” He tilted his head to the left and studied her.

Sorry to sound so know-it-all-ish. I just figure grammatical advice helps writers a lot, no matter who they are or what they're writing about. Story wise, you don't have to change a thing. It's great.

[Lovecraft]

Enjoyable. I love Batman: The Animated Series. Mark Hamill was brilliant as the voice of The Joker. The Joker is the greatest comic book villain.