YELLOWJACKET - CH.23: WALLFLOWER

In another one of my many attempts to feel normal, I’d accepted an invitation from Cliff to go to a dinner party to celebrate the birth of his son (and, of course, give Shenice a night off of cooking dinner while she was recovering). At first, I had the inclination to decline, but I realized it’d give me time to talk to Cliff about the fires, so here I was, waiting for Mercy to finish getting ready out in my truck.

While it struck me as interesting that Luke claimed he couldn’t show up until later, I didn’t care to look a gift horse in the mouth: it was so hard to find any time alone with Mercy that I wanted to take advantage of it whenever I could. Just the sound of her voice was soothing, and it felt as if I hadn’t heard it in forever.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait outside for long. Only a few minutes after I’d honked to let her know I was around, Mercy came right out, and when she opened the door she smiled warmly at me.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said before blinking in surprise. “Oh! Look at you! No basketball shorts?”

 

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