Chapter Text
*SLAP*
Harley quickly held a hand up to the side of her face from the contact.
The sting caused her eyes to water, and she shut them, trying to prevent tears from falling.
“I’ve told you I needed them steamed, not ironed! Now look!” Jack shouted, throwing his pants at Harley, whipping the ends at her.
“I’m sorry, Jack, I-I didn’t mean to-,” Harley tried to reply, but it was no use. Jack was on a tirade and her trying to explain herself would only make it worse.
She knew he just needed to calm down, he needed to take his meds and then everything would be fine again.
Everything would be more than fine- it would be great!
“Now I need new pants… I’m going out.” Jack said, storming out of the apartment as he grabbed money out of Harley’s bag he began tossing the rest of its’ contents to the ground.
The items spilled and rolled everywhere before he finished grabbing the money and then threw the bag itself down onto the ground as well.
*SLAM*
The door was shut and the apartment was silent again; save for the occasional sniffle that left her.
She grabbed the pants and looked at the small burn she had accidentally caused from ironing.
She’d wanted to make his pants look nice for a business meeting he said he had that afternoon with some finance executive.
Harley was so proud that he was finally doing things by the book. She’d worked hard to convince him that doing things by the book was in his best interest- their best interest.
To keep building on their relationship- their future together.
She loved him, she wanted to marry him, but… it seemed that he wasn’t quite ready to sign up for the commitment.
And that was fine, she supposed. She didn’t want to rush him- they’d already been together for quite a few years, but she was ready for a ring a while ago.
Their fight four months ago had ended poorly after she’d asked him if he was ever going to marry her. He scoffed and immediately blew up at her, telling her she was pressuring him and that when he was ready, he would be ready and to just wait.
So now, she would wait. However long it took.
Though she hoped that maybe he’d propose within the next year?
In any case, Harley sighed to herself, pulling herself together before she set the pants to the side, beginning to clean up her personal items and stash them back into her bag.
She tossed the pants into the trash, knowing Jack would never touch them again, and finished packing for the rest of her day.
As she spent the morning and afternoon with her patients, she kept thinking about what she’d secretly told Babs after their fight about his refusal to marry her.
“Harley, he clearly doesn’t want to commit. Do you want to spend the rest of your life as just his girlfriend?” Babs had replied, a slight annoyance in her tone.
“I just… I wish I was enough. There’s somethin’ missin’, an’ maybe he really just isn’t ready yet.” Harley had answered.
“It’s not you. He’s the one unable to commit. You are enough, for the right person…” Babs had grumbled back, wiping down the bar seats.
“Maybe… maybe yer right.” Harley had whispered back out as she thought about it.
A brief thought crossed her mind that maybe Jack wasn’t her forever person.
She hated to think that she’d wasted so much of her time, and her twenties, on him if he wasn’t her endgame.
And she did love him.
It was just that it wasn’t the same after they’d moved in together- it wasn’t what she thought living together as partners would be like.
“Are you for real?” Bab’s head had snapped up to where Harley was wiping down the bar, “You’d be willing to leave him?”
Harley had balked a bit, “Well, I mean… I dunno.”
Harley had fiddled with the bar towel in her hands as she had continued to think aloud, “I’m not sure I love him anymore, not like I used to, I mean. But I’m not exactly willin’ to just give up on him fer some rando dude that walks into the bar an' hits on me, ya know?”
“What about a woman?” Babs had asked back, grinning at her.
Harley had never shied away from telling people close enough to her about her bisexual identity, even if Jack didn’t quite understand it, so Babs was fully aware of the fact that she was also attracted to women.
She sometimes tried to play a wingwoman to Harley’s slight annoyance, though very slight because over time, she’d realized Harley had a type and soon enough, anytime a woman fit that description came to the bar, Harley was the one always serving them.
Harley had blushed a bit as she responded, “Ummm, maybe. They’d have a better chance than a man if they tried chattin’ me up here. But still, it would need to be someone real’ special.”
“Whatever it takes to make you happy, Harley. You really do deserve it.” Babs had replied, looking like she was scheming already.
“Thanks Babs… I’m not sure I’d do it, but I guess if someone really were good fer me, I think I might consider it.” Harley had found herself replying.
That was a while ago, but Harley found herself thinking back to that conversation more and more often.
She clocked into her next job at Noonan’s after finishing up with her last patient and quickly got herself ready for a long Friday night.
She was helping her coworker Sharky with hooking up the kegs when Babs had called her, “Hey, Harley!”
Harley looked over and saw a glint in Bab’s eye as she responded, “Yea?”
“Selina is here and she brought a friend! They’re celebrating something and she wanted to see you.” Babs replied, still smiling.
“Oh, okay! Sure! Sharky, ya got this?” Harley turned to Sharky who was finishing up the last keg being replaced.
“Yea, I got it, no worries.” Sharky replied with a smile.
Harley sauntered past Babs and made her way to the front.
She was always happy to see her ex-client (and now technically her manager) Bruce’s on and off again girlfriend Selina- she was always kind to her, and definitely kind on the eyes too, considering she was a super famous model.
Harley even got to give her a nickname, as she was apt to do, often calling her “Kitty” for her feline-based charity connections and general attitude.
As she turned the corner, she found her at the bar, sitting next to another, unbelievably gorgeous woman that nearly had Harley stop in her tracks.
‘Holy shit. She’s fuckin’ beautiful. Must be another model friend of Selina’s.’ Harley thought to herself, finding her smile widening as she approached them.
Selina turned her head to her, greeting her with, “Harley!”
Harley wasn't sure how Selina knew she was there, it was uncanny!
“Kitty! Yer back! An' ya brought a friend too! Hear yer celebratin’ somethin’, what is it?!” Harley turned to the red head, hoping to hear exactly what kind of celebration it was.
‘Please don’t be an engagement. Please don’t be an engagement. Please don’t… wait, why don’t I want it to be an engagement?’ Harley thought to herself.
“Uh-uhhhh…” The read-head responded slightly before Selina answered, “Pam here just got a promotion at work!”
‘NOT AN ENGAGEMENT! YES!’ Harley celebrated in her mind, deciding to shove that particular line of thinking back deeper at the realization.
She could question her internal reaction later.
Plus, she didn’t know if the woman, Pam, was remotely available regardless.
“A promotion!” Harley shouted in response instead, excited for her and wondering how models get promotions in their line of work.
“Yes, a promotion. Want to tell her what you do now?” Selina asked Pam.
Pam seemed a bit taken aback, looking back and forth between them, before landing her emerald green eyes back on Harley before shouting out, “Engineer!”
‘Well, I sure wasn’t expecting that!’ Harley instantly thought.
Pam cleared her throat and said in a slightly calmer tone, “Lead bio-systems engineer at Wayne Enterprises.”
Harley was certainly surprised, and she was sure her face matched it. She certainly didn’t expect Pam to say ‘engineer’ with the way she looked and being Selina’s friend.
Definitely could have been a model!
“That’s really cool! Pam, was it? Pick yer poison, on the house.” Harley said, still smiling at her, offering her a free drink.
Not that either woman would end up paying a dime. Selina was on Bruce’s perma-tab and she was certain that Selina would claim whatever her beautiful friend was drinking.
“Oh um, I-I don’t, uh-,” Pam sort of stuttered out.
“Her go-to is cider. Something about the environment, or whatever, but this is a celebration, so shots are in order!” Selina cut in.
“Shots, alright! What’re we thinkin’?” Harley asked.
Selina smirked and said, “Let’s start her off with a Slippery Nipple.”
Harley snorted in genuine laughter, eyeing Pam’s response a bit, realizing Selina was teasing her and replied, “Got it! I’ll be right back with yer shots!”
Harley continued to laugh as she walked away over to the wall of liquor behind her to make the shots for them.
She grabbed two bottles and two shot glasses, twirling the bottles all around before pouring out the liquid, putting on a bit of a show.
Was it necessary?
No.
Was it because she wanted this pretty woman to think highly of her?
… maybe.
Harley turned around and walked back toward them with their shots, then sliding them over the bar top to say, “Cheers, Red!”
Harley realized she let the nickname slip and got slightly nervous at the non-reaction Pam had given to it.
“How was it?” Harley asked, trying to sound more curious than nervous now that not only did the woman not respond, but she didn’t say anything about the shot either.
Pam coughed a little bit before nodding and saying, “Good.”
“Great! Kitty, the usual then?” Harley turned her head over to Selina, trying to calm herself down a bit because she could feel herself already slipping into her bad habits of wanting this woman’s positive attention.
“You know me so well.” Selina responded and Harley nodded and turned to walk away to the other side of the bar.
She fixed Selina’s glass first, before heading towards the other side of the bar where the ciders were stored.
They only had one kind so she quickly went to the back and wrote down an order note to have different kinds of cider- an environmentally friendly brand according to Selina’s note as well as Pam’s general vibe.
She grabbed the new chilled stones from one of the back fridges and finished off Selina’s drink.
Harley came back over to the two women once she was done, sliding Selina a glass of whiskey with chilled stones and slid Pam a bottle of cider.
“Got the stones in last week! Courtesy of ya-know-who.” Harley said to Selina, letting her in on the surprise gift from Bruce, before turning to Pam, “N' she said ya liked cider, so I hope ya like this kind! It’s the only one we got, at least right now.”
“I always wonder if he’s listening while he broods. Now I know, thank you, Harley.” Selina said, taking a first sip of her drink, then asking, “You say that’s the only cider for now?”
“Well yea, I put in an order to get some more kinds, just in case Red here decides to come back!” Harley said, smiling at her, hoping she’d speak up if she didn’t like the name.
God, she really hoped Pam would come back to the bar and that she wasn’t messing this up.
She might still be dating Jack, but looking and appreciating wasn’t cheating… even if it sort of felt like it.
And maybe she could have an actual, non-work friend!
That idea began forming in her mind and the more and more she started to lean into that particular idea.
“Y-Yes. I mean, s-sure, yea, p-probably…” Pam replied, still looking a bit nervous.
“Awesome! I gotta go serve a few others now, it’s 'boutta be a typical Friday night! Flag me down if ya need anythin’ else!” Harley said, tapping on the bar top and turning to go serve a group of guys down at the other end of the bar.
‘Yea… we could be really good friends, I think!’ Harley thought to herself, now settled on her new goal.
Jack hadn’t really gotten along with most of her friends from college, and because of it, they had drifted apart and now her primary friends were just the ones from work, or those she sort of stayed connected to through her Waynestagram page.
She didn’t mind, per se, but she did really miss hanging out with other women and maybe getting nails done, or drinking wine during a girl’s night…
She just didn’t really have much time for it either, but she’d be willing to try.
The night passed and the crowd started to grow.
Anytime Selina or Pam finished their drinks, Harley would make sure they had another drink ready to go!
Soon she saw Pam open up significantly more, and she was really excited.
At one point, Sharky came over with some tequila shots, which Selina turned down immediately, “Oh darling, not a chance.”
“I-I’ll have some.” Pam had said though.
Harley was so excited, taking pictures as they cheered and drank.
The bar got more crowded, but Selina and her new, well, she hoped she would be, friend Pam continued to drink.
They even pulled out the karaoke machine to try and clear out some patrons, which worked, but not as much as usual.
Her favorite part of the night though, was singing along to “Before he Cheats” with Pam.
This.
This was exactly the type of fun she missed.
She wanted it so badly and she just couldn’t stop smiling.
It was nearing the usual end of the night, as most patrons had left now, nearing one in the morning, when another patron accidentally spilled a beer he was holding onto poor Pam.
“Shit!” Harley said, rushing to grab a rag and beginning to make her way over to her, when Harley had a sudden realization that she should definitely not have served her so many drinks.
Pam was beginning to take her shirt off, but thankfully Selina, who was not nearly as drunk, stepped in, grabbed the shirt before it got too high and pulled it back down.
Harley shoved another thought of wishing Selina hadn’t to the back of her mind, immediately feeling guilty about it.
About all of it- she hadn’t done a good job of making sure her patron- her potential friend, didn’t get too intoxicated.
“Harley? Hi. We’re going to head out.” Selina said, taking the offered towel and quickly helping Pam clean up before continuing, “Need to get Pam home safely. We’ll stop by another time this week!”
Selina handed Harley the towel back and quickly maneuvered herself and Pam out of the bar in record time.
“See ya both later!” Harley responded, waving goodbye as they exited, watching Pam stumble and feeling more guilt.
Not too long after, the bar had cleared out, and she got to closing it down for the night with the others.
On the bus ride back to her place, she turned on her headphones and played "Before he Cheats" as looked out the window, thinking about the night and just how much she really enjoyed singing with Pam, even if maybe she wouldn’t remember it.
A small part of her hoped that Pam would at least remember her though- remember that she promised to visit the bar and see her again, because frankly, and Harley wasn’t exactly sure why, but she had a really good feeling they would get along well and could be good friends.