Unmasked

From the diary of Penelope Halwind:

Oct 31
Sometimes there is only a thin line between ones true self and a social mask.

Lady Panther:
It all started, I suppose, over the summer. One night, shortly after the 4th of July, I went to Pigeon's cafe to sell something I ...picked up. I also wanted to share the interesting run-in I had with my crush to get it. She wasn't in her office. The next night I asked her where she had been. 'At home' she said. This made me curious, of course. 'At home? Since when?' Then it hit me. 'You were with Stanley, weren't you?' She got all flustered and I said 'I knew it! You say he's not your boyfriend... Did he...spend the night?' She looked up at me and scowled. I said 'Oh my God, he did!' and started laughing. I had been worried about her being too 'inside her shell', you know? She tried to stay mad, but then sighed and said 'What are you, in high school?' so I told her I had planned to take her to the spa with me, go guy-watching and such. She said 'no thanks, I'm not into that. The spa part anyway' and we both cracked up. We've been friends ever since.

The Question:
Do I love Penelope? I don't know...what I do know is that she is 1. Intelligent. I can't stand vapid women. 2. She's not all feminine flowery.... into pink and unicorns and all that sentimental ****. 3. She's shorter than I am. I always feel like people who look down on me physically do it mentally too. Don't get me wrong, I don't have some kind of 'big girl fetish.' For example I think about trying for Lady Panther sometimes. The woman is SO hot.... but she's Penelope's best friend...you just don't do that dude.

Bruce Wayne:
Yes I used to socialize with Penelope Halwind; we were part of the same social circles. However I have no comment on the tabloid stories of stolen goods being bought and sold at her cafe. If you'll excuse me...

Lady Panther:
Yeah, I think we're best friends. We try to have a girl's night out once a month and talk about almost anything. No, I agree she's not 'sentimental,' but she does let loose once in a while. You should have seen the time she had one 'sip of wine' too many and tried to dance....

The Question:
We have a lot of interests in common.... music, food, art... We respect our differences too. For example, if I want to go to the club (where she feels self-conscious) I call and ask if she wants to go.... if not she doesn't tell me not to. In fact, if she REALLY wants to spend some time with me she usually offers to cook dinner.... and she's pretty good at it!

Sometimes I just sit by my fireplace, sipping wine, and think about my life. Sure, it didn't start out in what most people would call 'the best' circumstances, but I'm not doing all that badly. Nightshade doesn't bother me as much as I thought he would (I think he knows I know who he is). Then there's Lady Panther. I have never had a real friend before, someone who wasn't out to screw me over. I also have Stanley...to think a guy like him, who could have any Lady Panther wannabe he wanted, would choose to spend time with me. On top of that they all keep Joker at bay. It's not like he has a personal grudge against me; he's just crazy.... Here's to you all.