La Mort et ses Merveilles ✔

16. Why is Everything About Clyde

La Mort et ses Merveilles

Chapter 16: Why is Everything About Clyde

Leslie

2 years before the outbreak

Heaving a sigh, I locked the door behind me. It was almost six. Having just finished my shift, I was exhausted. It was Friday after all, I was always tired on Fridays. It was days like these that I just wanted to lie down on my bed and just unwind as I listened to my music. Or maybe play a video game.

Things had been looking great recently. Ever since I got out I managed to land a job as an electrician, and with help from Clara and my mom I got myself a place to call my own. I was really grateful to Clara, but I haven't talked to my mom in years. But eh, if she wants to help me then she can go ahead. She probably felt bad for me. Whatever. I didn't need her pity.

Tossing my work clothes aside, I stripped down to my shirt and boxers. With the heater switched on, I plopped myself down onto the sofa. It was cold outside, but the snow was getting light. I was hungry, but I was too tired to cook. Maybe I'd just call for takeout or pizza.

It was then when my phone rang. I wondered who it could be. Hopefully not some telemarketer, or worse -mom. I blocked her number but sometimes she'd try to get me through the nuns under her charge.

But it wasn't.  It was Clyde. My heart jumped. I totally forgot that he was meeting me tonight. We had planned this for weeks. His schedule was always full, but he told me he was going to be in Omaha, so I gladly told him I'd be able to meet him on Friday.

"Hey Les," came his familiar cheery voice on the other end of the line. "You ready for tonight?"

"Um," I muttered as I jumped up from the sofa. "Y-yeah sure."

"The place I'm thinking of is kinda upscale, I'm pretty sure you can come up with something nice," he said. "I'll drop by in ten."

"Oh, um," I replied, nearly tripping over my coffee table. "Yeah. Of course!"

The moment he hung up, I threw my phone on the sofa, stripping down naked as I ran to the bathroom. Hopping into the shower, I tried to make it as quick as I could. Internally I cursed myself for accepting to stay on for overtime when I clearly had a dinner date with Clyde. How could it have possibly slipped my mind?

My body still wet and dripping, I hastily dried myself as I gargled a capful of mouthwash.

Rushing over to my bedroom, I tried to get dressed as fast as I could. I still had to clean the living room, just in case he decided to come in. Luckily for me, I had a pale blue long-sleeved shirt and a pair of dress pants at the ready. I had barely buckled up my belt, and my shirt hadn't even been fully buttoned yet when I heard the doorbell ring.

"I'm coming," I called out as I quickly picked up the laundry and dumped it in the kitchen.

Rushing up to the door, I finally opened it.

The young man stood in front of me in a pea jacket. There were some snowflakes caught in his deep brown hair as he looked at me with his hazel eyes. Seeing me with my shirt unbuttoned and my belt unbuckled, I noticed him raise an eyebrow.