October 2023 - Side Story (Pt. 1)

Hi guys 👋 Here's the side story for October. It's 4.6K words long and as always, I'll split it up in two parts 😁 Sorry for the slight delay. This story will be written in Yvette's POV and it's about the talk she had with MC who decided to hug her. Hope you guys enjoy it! 💖

Part 2 here!

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You’ve spent hours staking out this place and as soon as you saw the fiery redhead friend of your child zoom out of the underground garage and into the street, you know this is the right chance to get in and talk to Sasha. Well, that was fifteen minutes ago, and now, you’re still sitting in your car, and your nerves are starting to get the better of you.

This is crazy… you think to yourself as you stare up at the looming apartment building from inside your car. It’s not like this is going to be the first time you’re going to do this—You’ve done a similar thing before to slip into Viktor’s funeral ten years ago. But that’s also the problem, is it? There’s a big chance Luka would have put a security measure against your trickery this time.

You can still walk away, you know? And everyone will continue living their lives like they have been doing so far—Sasha will be none the wiser and they will blissfully be unaware of what could have been. It’s easier this way for all parties involved, your cowardly thoughts whisper to you again. You’re familiar with this rhetoric; it’s what you’ve been using as an excuse not to do this for years.

You shake your head resolutely. Not this time. You have to let them know about Viktor’s killer and maybe get them to help you. And more importantly… You want to make amends. It’s better to get this over with, like ripping a bandaid off. Whatever or however Sasha will respond to your visit… At least you’ll know and it won’t haunt you again on those quiet nights that you loathe the most.

Closing your eyes, you picture the cleaning lady that you’ve been spying on for a few days. By pure chance—or a more superstitious person would say it’s fate—you stumbled upon her exiting the building during one day similar to this one. You open your eyes and check yourself in the rearview mirror.

God… You look… old. Seeing so many wrinkles on your face feels like a nightmare.

You grab your handbag and this time, it’s easier to cover the illusion around it and mold it so it looks like a bucket full of cleaning supplies. Taking a deep breath, you steel your nerves before opening the car door and stepping out onto the sidewalk. You decided to park a bit further away from the apartment building itself just in case someone in the building notices you stepping out of your pretty luxurious car.

Mustering the confidence of your superhero persona, you walk towards the big and tall double doors. The doorman opens it for you but even without your empathy, you can feel the weird glances he’s sending your way. That’s when you notice that you’re posing as a cleaning lady who’s walking in through the front doors; the doorman might be too polite to say something—or maybe he’s contemplating it.

But before he can say anything, you decide to make up an excuse in place right away. “Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush,” you send him an apologetic smile. “Don’t want to make Mastress Morozov wait.”

His eyes widen and he quickly ushers you in. “Of course, come in.”

You graciously step in and hurry towards the elevator, passing by the front table. It catches the receptionist’s attention and she looks up from whatever it is she’s typing on her computer. “Mrs. Lee!” she greets in surprise, immediately getting up to her feet. There’s a genuine smile plastered on her face. “I didn’t expect you to come today. Isn’t your shift supposed to be tomorrow?”

Shit… Well, time to do what you do best: lie through your teeth.

“I know,” you give her a guilty smile—intentional, mind you—before continuing, “I have family matters to attend to tomorrow, so I decided to come today instead.”

“Oh!” she gasps, looking around before leaning forward over the counter. “Are your youngest son and the infamous daughter-in-law coming to visit?” she whispers scandalously. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what Mrs. Lee thinks about this daughter-in-law.

“You’re right as always,” you sigh as you nod solemnly. “You know what, I’ll tell you all about it next time.”

She giggles quietly, “Spare no details, okay?” You can basically feel her excitement radiating from her. “Anyway, let me get you to the elevator and I’ll let the twin guards know you’re coming through.”

You follow her as she walks towards the elevators, the sound of her heels clicking on the marble floor echoing all around the spacious lobby. Leaning forward, she calls the elevator. It doesn’t take long for one of the three to arrive.

As soon as the doors slide open, you step inside. The receptionist leans in, taps her keycard, and presses the topmost floor button, before stepping out.

She smiles at you as she pulls out a walkie-talkie and talks into it, “Hey, Boris! I’ve got Mrs. Lee coming up—”

The doors slide shut and the elevator starts ascending. The ride feels like it’s taking forever as you think up as many scenarios of what could possibly happen in the next few minutes and how to respond correctly.

Deep inside, you don’t really expect to be able to get in this easily, and now, your mind is scrambling for words to say when you finally meet your child again.

It’s still not too late to turn back now, Yvette. Your eyes drift up anxiously to see the floor numbers riding rapidly, getting closer to your destination floor quickly. You can still talk your way out again without meeting them.

It’s so tempting to run away again like a coward. But you’ve got this far. Who knows whether you’ll have a chance like this again? It’s better late than never, right?

DING!

The elevator comes to a halt gently as you arrive at your destination floor. The doors slide open, revealing a little seating area by the elevators and the long stretch of an opulent hallway, splitting the whole floor into two halves.

At the mouth of the hallway, stand two tall and burly guards. One of them glares at you, and you can feel his skepticism and distrust dripping from the gaze that for a second you thought your disguise had melted away without you noticing.

But it must’ve not been or else you would have been tackled to the ground by now—and you wouldn’t even be surprised too; the guy’s body is tense, the muscles taut as if ready to spring at any perceived threat in a second.

The other guy though, is more relaxed with a bored expression on his face, which quickly dissolves into a friendly smile as he sees you approaching. Your training combat though, shows that even though he looks at ease, his stance is alert and you know he’s ready to get into action at a moment’s notice. It makes you wonder whether his bored and laidback attitude is some kind of ruse meant to get people’s guard down around him. If so, it is being undermined by his twin brother beside him.

“Morning, Mrs. Lee!” the friendly twin greets you as you get closer.

“Good morning, boys,” you greet them, making sure to use your power to exude an extra warmth and motherly feel—subtly, of course; you’ve had a lot of experience using your empathy power discreetly. “Cheerful as always, I see,” you chuckle.

The friendly twin’s smile turns into a mischievous grin, “Me? Of course!” He then points to his twin brother and pretends to whisper, “He is too, actually, believe it or not.”

Shifting your gaze, you look at the other twin. He’s no longer glowering at you, only frowning now. Maybe a mix of your empath power and his twin’s joke managed to lower his guard. He scoffs in response to what his twin just said before looking away, arms crossed in front of him.

“You boys stay out of trouble, okay?” you tell them as you pass by, knowing that they will indeed get in trouble later on. You almost feel bad for them.

“No promises, Mrs. Lee!” the talkative twin calls out.

You drop the smile as soon as you are out of their line of sight. Your steps are filled with trepidation as you walk closer and closer to the penthouse.

Taking a deep breath, you turn your face into a calm and friendly expression before leaning forward and pushing the doorbell button. You can hear the chime inside faintly and you wait. Almost a minute passes and still nothing, so you press it again and wait. Still nothing yet.

You wonder if they’re even home. One more time, you press the bell again.

Last chance, you think to yourself. Whether it’s the last chance to turn back or to make this right… You’re not sure.

[PART 2]