Charlie spotted Mercy walk out of the gas-station and his heart began to pound out of his chest. If Mercy found out, Charlieās ass would be grass. As she entered the car Charlie held his breath. He noticed the look in her eye⦠she knew something was off. Oh, shit.Ā
But the car situation quickly slipped his mind when Mercy pulled the cat keychain from his pocket.Ā āHoly shit!ā he perked up, his face beamed.Ā āThis is the coolest thing ever.ā Charlie sat there and admired it. It was now his best friend. A pocket sized pal.Ā
āThank you!āĀ Charlie attached the cat-chain on his jean loop,ānow heāll be with us for the whole trip.ā He sat back in the seat and sipped his water.
When Mercy stands firm on her decision, Dennis looks genuinely surprised that heās unable to successfully convince her to ship his friend back to Philly via semi. Was she really picking Charlie over him?Ā That wasnāt the case at all, of course, but Dennis had the tendency to perceive situations to be a little more dramatic than they actually were. His surprised expression quickly shifts into a neutral one but itās not hard to decipher, especially to someone who knew him well, that heās brooding about not getting his way already.Ā
Her attempts to remedy the situation donāt go unnoticed, though. He finds it absurd that sheās willing to pay for a practical stranger but if she was willing to make it to where Charlie wasnāt going to be following them around 24/7 then Dennis didnāt care as much. He knew she wasnāt hurting on money and that she wouldnāt be spending it if she knew she couldnāt but he still canāt help but mention what a waste it would be.Ā
āFine.ā He finally lets up, his stare not as intense as it was before. āIām just saying, you could be spending that money on literally anything else.ā He shakes his head, knowing Charlie joining them is a mistake. In fact, if things began to go south quickly, he might just make another attempt to get rid of Charlie himself. But if Mercy wanted to learn the hard way why letting Charlie come along was a bad idea, heād let her. Just so that she could see that he was right and he could give her a more than satisfying I told you so. There also might be a small part of him that hopes that heās wrong despite his pessimistic view of these turn of events. This was a trip he had gotten his hopes up for, afterall. He had to appreciate the fact that she hadnāt been the one to decide the trip was over because of Charlie. Things would be going much differently in that case
Feeling a little bit better about their situation now that Mercy had quelled a few of his anxieties about the leech that had tagged along with them, he cracks a smirk at her joke upon getting a glimpse of the cashierā a nerd for certain. Something tells him that he and Mercy are thinking the same thing and as she makes her way over to the counter with that confident swing to her hips, Dennis takes care to get a good look at her backside before turning his attention towards discreetly stuffing his pockets with as much as he could get away with.Ā
In the midst of them discussing what to do with Charlie, he had totally forgot about the fact that he had to pee so he quickly locates the restroom which as just asĀ disgusting as one would expect to do his business. After washing his hands, because heās a classy man, he takes to fixing his hair while he still has the chance to see his reflection in a mirror that isnāt the size of his fist. After a good five minutes of fiddling with the same strand of hair that just wouldnāt stay down, he decides that heās wasted enough time and once heās outside of the building with Mercyās car in sight, he pulls out the bag of combos, Charlieās snack, opens the bag and pops one into his mouth.Ā
Once to the car, he gets in the passenger seat, turning to look Charlie directly in the eyes as he eats two more of his combos. A power move. The look in his eyes alone were enough to tell that he was out to get under the other manās skin just as he had done to him and the best way to do that without causing too much trouble, and his personal favorite way, was by being passive aggressive.
āOh, did you want some?ā The question is casual despite the firm look on his face; heās pretending not to know that the combos were supposed to be Charlieās.Ā
mercy puffs out a sigh, just happy that at least some of the tension had eased. they were taking this vacation for a reason, goddammit. they were going to relax. they were going to have a good time. they were going to enjoy themselves. they werenāt going to fight and there wasnāt going to be a single fucking thing that would keep them from having the time of their fucking lives. after hearing a familiarĀ āthunk!ā as the tank was completely full, mercy moved to put the nozzle back in its place. it was then that she realized, as she looked down, there was⦠something on her otherwise immaculate shoes. and given the pristine red, black, and white of her jordans already stood out, the streak of whatever the fuck it was was even more evident.
āwhat the fuuuuuck,ā she groaned as tipped her head back and ran a hand down the length of her face in frustration. she didnāt have the time to see if she could fix it, but it wasnāt like she didnāt have the cash to replace them. but it was the principle of the thing. and how the hell had it happened? when did it happen? she was always so particular, so careful. goddammit. whatever. everything was fine.
with a sigh she moved to make her way back over to the driverās side door, opened it, and slid in.
and apparently, sheād managed to witness dennis being a bully to his friend in the backseat. it shouldnāt have surprised her, though. she knew the man well enough to know this was probably a regular thing for him.Ā
she just hoped she wasnāt going to have to play referee for these two for the rest of the fucking trip. again, she sighed, heavier this time, as she reached for her keys, then dug in her pockets looking for something in her most recent spoils that sheād taken from the gas station moments ago. another keychain. though she seemed a little disappointed once she had gotten a better look at it.
āoh. it saysĀ āi love tennis.ā not⦠not, uh.ā
she cleared her throat and stuffed it back in her pocket.
āwhatever. anyway. letās go. and give the man his combos, dennis. please?ā
mercy started the car, and once it was on, there was a very distinct āclick-click-clickā sound that clearly had not been a problem before. the woman turned to look at charlie in the backseat, eyes narrowed.
ādid you touch anything while i was gone? anything at all? and donāt lie to me, because iāll know if you are.ā her tone was icy cold, her voice very quiet. she might have normally been loud, but it was when she went quiet that you really needed to worry.
after sheād specifically asked him not to, he touched something. she just knew it. this car literally meant everything to her, and she wouldnāt stand to have someone fuck with it. but if it were an easy fix⦠she could probably forgive him. he was dennisā friend, and if he was important to dennis, then he was important to her, too. and it wasnāt like charlie knew the story behind the nova. how was he supposed to know how special it was?
but after a moment, the car ceased its noise, and it all seemed fine. the air conditioning seemed a bit weaker than usual, but at least it wasnāt as bad as sheād thought. and as much as she really wanted to pop the hood and make sure everything was okay she also didnāt want to leave the two of them alone in her car. there were drinks and snacks in here now, and the way they were acting didnāt bode well. if they spilled anything in the middle of her trying to fix whatever it was that was wrong she knew sheād lose her goddamn mind.
āitās⦠itās fine. everything is fine. just promise me you wonāt touch anything else.ā
mercy didnāt wait for an answer, she merely put her heart-shaped sunglasses back on and put the car in first so she could pull out of the parking lot and get back on the road, back out to the highway. she was silent, and it was evident she was trying to keep an even temper. she seemed to be easing back into a better mood when somethingāor rather, somebodyāsmacked into her car on the passengerās side and cracked the windshield. immediately the woman stomped on the brakes with a scream, eyes wide with terror as the person rolled off the hood of her car and onto the road.
how? how had she not seen that? she was always such a good driver. she was trembling, panicking, and trying to find a way to breathe as she turned to look at dennis, then back at charlie to make sure they were okay. she put the car in park and got out to check the damage.
oh god what had she done now?