Iron Lightning; Valuable [ II ] P. PARKER

XXXII. PLUS TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
"plus two"

The next day, Jade went back to the city.

She felt weird while being at home, like she didn't need to be there. She couldn't sleep— and it wasn't because of her nightmares, but finally figured out while walking around the woods that it was time to move on. Like Wanda said before; it was time to get off her ass.

She ran to Queens the next morning since she was still unable to legally drive—plus— she didn't want to tell Pepper or Happy what she was doing incase she backed out on the idea.

Once she got into the city limits, she called a taxi so she could give herself some time to think. She told the taxi man to just drive around until she said stop— that was three hours ago.

"I know you said to stop when you say so, but I'm starting to get tired driving you around the whole state of New York without a destination," the man said, looking back at Jade at a stop light.

She sheepishly smiled at the man, telling him sorry as she gave him the money she owed and got out in the middle of the busy street. She quickly ran to the sidewalks and looked up to see where she was; Delmar's. 

She smiled softly at the name, memories flooding through her head. This was where she first met Peter and where they would always go if they ever needed a snack or lunch. She had a lot good memories here with Michelle and Ned as well, but it was different with Peter.

She nodded to herself, as if she needed permission to go in, and listened as the doors bell rang. Hardly anyone was in right now, since it was only around 10:30 in the morning. She started walking around the store, admiring every detail, more memories flooding in.

Then she suddenly felt something rub against her leg, she looked down to see Murph, Delmar's cat. She smiled at the cat, bending down to pet it then pick it up from the ground.

"Hey, Murph," She cooed, holding him like a baby. "What's been goin' on?"

Murph didn't respond, he only purred loudly as Jade continued to play behind his ears. Jade giggled as she started walking towards the front again, hoping to see Mr. Delmar.

"Welcome to Delmar's, can I help you with anything?" Mr. Delmar called, seeing someone coming towards the table, but he was distracted as he seemed to be looking for something.

"I found this cat on isle three, is he for sale?" Jade joked. She use to joke with Mr. Delmar and always ask if Murph was for sale because she loved him so much.

Mr. Delmar paused for a moment, "Cat?" He asked and turned around. His eyes went wide and he smiled brightly. "Jade! It's been so long! How have you been?"

"Alright, and you?" She said, putting on a her best smile.

"I've been good! Business is great, so what more could I ask for?" He laughed happily. And Jade smiled. She wondered if he had been snapped five years ago, and if he wasn't, how did he react? "You don't look so good, Jade, you alright?"