Chapter 3: A New Leader
Announcer Rose Beryl stood on the hover-deck, just above the center of the battlefield. Cameras, bright lights, and thousands of voices filled the stadium as it usually does on a Friday night in Castelia city, even though it is the off-season.
Beryl held up her mic. "Thank Vesper Inc. again for sponsoring tonight's Martial, Single-elimination Tournament." The crowd quieted down slightly. A replay of the previous Samurott v. Conkeldurr smack-down rolled on screen, showing Samurott take a slow-motion concrete pillar to the face. "Last match, Vesper Inc. sponsored competitor Reyce Ronin faced a brutal defeat at the hands of Hoenn Leader Brawly's Conkeldurr, bringing Brawly to three victories!" Thousands of Hoenn banners flew and the crowd roared. "But can Brawly pull one more win out of tonight and move on to the final round? What will this exciting matchup between two fighting-type masters bring us? Will he defeat the infamous Case Cattral?" The crowed erupted with a mixture of cheers and boos as Case Cattral's face appeared on screen.
From the arena entrance, Case watched the previous match replay loop, making Samurott comedically bounce between concrete and the dirt, and felt a fire light in her stomach. "No." she whispered.
Rose Beryl pointed her hand to the opposite end. "In the blue corner, we have challenger Brawly!" Brawly entered the arena with both fists raised and the audience stood with their own arms in the air. Rose switched hands, pointing to Case's side. "In the red corner, defending champion of Vesper Inc., Case Cattral!"
Case entered the arena to her own minor fanfare but stared straight ahead at her blue-haired opponent. Brawly was smiling a lot for someone about to get his win streak wiped.
They took opposite ends of the stage. Brawly flashed Case a bright white smile and Case did not reciprocate.
Hours before her match, Mercy pulled her aside to let Case know the team's next month's rent depended on Case's win. No win, no utilities, that was the deal.
"Blue corner, are you ready?" Rose asked.
Brawly drew a single pokeball from his belt. "Always!"
"Red corner, are you ready?" she asked to Case.
Case unclipped Infernape, her ace, from her belt. "Yes."
The hover deck drifted to the center of the field and Rose drew a red handkerchief from her dress and raised it over the open air below. The crowd held their breath. Case squeezed the ball in her hand. She could feel her heart beat in her ears.
In slow motion, Case watched Rose release the handkerchief and saw it just touch the field not a moment later. "Match start!"
"Hariyama, let's do this!" Brawly shouted, tossing the ball with a solid spin and releasing a hulking tan and blue monster on his end of the field.
"INFERNAPE!" Case roared over Brawly, and her partner took the field, fists raised, and a bright fire in his eyes. Case pumped her fist. "Start this with flare blitz!"
Infernape screeched and white-hot flames engulfed his body. He snapped to the ground and took off charging on all fours and gave Hariyama no time to dodge. The bulky Pokémon covered its weak spots with its large hands just in time for Infernape to strike a devastating flurry of blows, the first ripping Hirayama's left palm away and the second clocking him directly in the face. On the last strike, Infernape kicked off the bulky Pokémon and flipped back to give them some space. Hariyama stumbled backwards. The flames surrounding Infernape flickered out and he shuddered from the recoil.
Hariyama regained balance quickly and bellowed in defiance. Case gritted her teeth. Unfortunately, that aggressive assault amounted to nothing, she gathered Hariyama had solid defenses as it came out just fine. She'd never faced one before, but this was a good test. The recoil was all part of the plan.
Brawly took Infernape's pause to set-up his own side. "Belly-drum, now!"
Hariyama pounded its chest in a war-cry and the crowd roared with it. The energy in the stadium was palpable.
"Let's waste this bastard." Case growled. "Charge him!" Infernape's legs tensed for a second before taking off like a rocket, his flames streaking behind him like a red-tailed comet. Hariyama wrung its fists and set-up for an attack. "Close combat!" Case commanded. Close combat risked a lot of damage to Infernape, but Case wanted to push him into blaze range to wipe Hariyama out.
"Arm-thrust!" Brawly shouted.
Just as Case expected, Brawly was taking the opening. Infernape sprung up into melee range and put up his fists. Hariyama launched his first attack and ducked under it, countering with a jab to the core.
Hariyama's eyes narrowed, but he took the blow like a champ. He wound-up for another arm-thrust but Infernape unleashed a set of critical jabs, knocking him off-kilter. Hariyama retaliated with a few feeble attempts at countering, but Infernape's expert close combat training kept him moving fluidly around the thrusts.
Case felt excitement brewing in her stomach. Infernape kept on his toes, switching direction and hands. Hariyama was locked in a beat-down.
"Deep breath Hariyama! Predict!" Brawly yelled.
Hariyama stood still and protected his face. Then came his opening. Just as Infernape threw a left-hook, Hariyama went for Infernape's center.
"A critical hit!" Beryl said. The crowd roared as Infernape landed flat on his back. Case swallowed hard. That blow could've knocked a truck off the road. No matter, a quick look told her Infernape was close to blaze-range.
"Finish this with seismic toss and close combat!" Brawly said. Hariyama scooped Infernape up and threw him back into the ground, then launched his own close combat style. His palms struck Infernape with a series of nasty arm-thrusts, pushing him deep into the turf. The crowd cheered at the brutal spectacle, thirsty for more.
A devious smile split Case's face.
Heat shimmered off the ground. A flash of fire stopped Hariyama in his tracks. An burning aura engulfed Infernape and the crowd held its breath as he caught Hariyama's fist and rose from the crater. Infernape grabbed Hariyama and dragged his face into the fire burning atop Infernape's head. The bulky Pokémon screamed as Infernape cooked its face medium-well.
The crowd went wild at Infernape's dirty move. Case was famous for tricks like that. Infernape's fire surged with power, boosting his flare blitz to a lethal level. Hariyama stood no chance.
"Flare blitz into close combat!" Case roared.
Infernape unleashed a furious assault on Hariyama, giving it no openings and no mercy. Punches turned to a full grapple as he latched on to Hariyama's back. Hariyama bellowed, desperately protecting its head from Infernape's assault.
"Endure Hariyama, endure!" Brawly said.
It was pointless. Infernape's strike left ripples in Hariyama's thick fat, and he was left defenseless. Infernape's eyes were red, and his flame burned blue at its core. He was not holding back.
Boom, boom, boom! Infernape landed three successive punches in Hariyama's face and Case's opponent fell. He landed with a heavy thud, making the gritty turf bounce upon landing. Infernape stood, heaving with a heavy scowl over his enemy, watching carefully for signs of life.
After a still moment, Rose raised her hand. "Hariyama is unable to battle, Case Cattral wins!"
A quarter of the stadium erupted into cheers. The other chunk threw their banners into the field, chanting "Dirty fight! Knuckle-dragger!" over and over.
Case wanted to deck every one of them, she'd fought fair and square. She hadn't been able to escape that nickname since some asshole posted it online and now it looks like its spread to other regions. She pulled Infernape back and looked at his ball. "Damn good fighting, man." She said to him. Case turned around and left the stadium, dodging banners and water-cups filled with rocks on the way out.
Case stomped back to the locker rooms and turned in Infernape along the way. It was her last match of the night and she was ready to be done.
"Water, Cattral?" A man asked.
"I'm good." She waved them off.
"Hot towel?" Another one offered.
She slapped it away. "Stop offering me shit, you're acting like that took effort for me. It's not my ass out there, its Infernape's. All I had to do was yell."
The people shrunk back and out of her way as she disappeared into the locker room. Case always thought it was silly how they treated trainers like athletes. She was an MMA fighter in the off-season, she knew what it meant to actually battle, not just stand off to the side shouting while your Pokémon fought for you.
That said, she loved battles, but she loved being on the ground herself more these days. 'Knuckle-dragger' didn't follow her into the MMA world.
She made it to her locker without any more interruptions and started stripping her jersey and shorts away. They were charcoal grey and white, the colors of the company, with a few touches of red for her fighting and fire masteries. She was the youngest person in the world to achieve two, but no one cared to remember. She looked in the mirror for a second. Staring back was a deep scowl. Her wide hunched shoulders made her arms seem even longer; if she bent over a bit further, she would be a knuckle-dragger. She was pretty much all upper body, and her legs were so short that her shorts dropped below her knees. She yanked the jersey off; it always felt way too tight around her arms and chest, so she was happy to be free of it. She replaced her uniform with a plain white t-shirt, a button-up, and pants all from the men's department since she couldn't fit her ass in clothes made for women. Everything in life liked to remind her of that fact.
"Casey!" Came a familiar voice.
Case's coworker, Reyce was jogging towards her. She was tall, blonde, athletic, with a cute, but handsome face and large blue eyes that matched the water-types she trained. She was already out of uniform and dressed in her normal black sports jacket, baseball cap, and jeans. Case envied how well she could pull off the most basic clothes.
Her golden ponytail bounced as she jogged. Reyce clapped Case on the shoulder, and she felt a little tingle run through her body.
"Mercy says she's treating us to dinner at the Fitz! A little celebration for your win-streak this week." Reyce said.
Case became aware of the empty space in her stomach. She tossed her uniform in the locker and slammed it. "Sounds good." She muttered.
Reyce's smile fell. "Is something up?" She asked. Case looked her in the eyes, which reminded her a lot of a puppy's.
Everything was 'up'. She won a match, no fights, and still had shit thrown at her by the audience. At this point, why not just punch Brawly in the throat? What were they going to do, start throwing Molotov's at her? Case just sighed. "It's just been a long day."
"You say that every time." Reyce noted.
"I have a lot of long days." Case pulled her bag out and threw it over her shoulder, but before she could leave, the door opened to the last face she wanted to see that day.
The girl stifled a little sneer. "Were waiting on you, Cattral."
That girl was Reyna, another coworker fighting for Vesper. She was shorter and thinner than both Case and Reyce with the signature deep-tan, dark hair, and almond-shaped eyes of an Alolan native, though she perpetually bastardized her good looks as she always looked like she had something nasty under her nose. She had on a purple dress already and reworked her braid into something fancier. She always managed to fit purple into her wardrobe, just to obnoxiously match with her ace Pokémon, Mienshao.
"Sorry my opponents took a little longer to faint, being in a higher division does that you know." Case said.
"You could've lost all your matches like Reyce. That would've gone fast." Reyna pointed behind Case.
Case felt her scowl grow a little deeper. "I could've fought easier opponents like you."
Case felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, I'm hungry. Case has all her stuff, so I think we're good to go!" Reyce said.
That bit of touch quelled the hot fire burning in Case's stomach. Reyna and Case had a silent exchange before Case just pushed past her without a word.
"Are you really going in that?" Reyna gestured to both Reyce and Case. Reyce looked down at her jeans with a frown.
"Sorry I don't carry a dress with me everywhere I go." Case snapped.
"You wouldn't fit one." Reyna said.
Reyce shrugged. "I think you look great in that, Casey."
"Let's just get this over with." Case muttered, shoving past everyone.
Reyce fell back to Reyna to give Case some space. She turned to Reyna and whispered. "Hey, could you at least be a little nicer tonight? Case has had a long day, let's just enjoy a meal."
Reyna raised an eyebrow. "She's always 'had a long day', at some point she has to adjust and stop acting like a prick all the time. You watch the same matches I do; she's started more fistfights than any other athlete, it drags our whole team down! That carries into the locker room too, so I'll be terrible right back."
"She can be kinda difficult, yeah, but I don't think antagonizing her helps things." Reyce explained.
"Difficult does not describe it. You just don't know how much of a nightmare she is because she's smitten with you. It doesn't help that Mercy basically encourages bad behavior for a little extra money. Where's the dinners for me or Jade? You know, trainers that have self-control." Reyna said. She shut her mouth tight, indicating that she was done.
Reyce looked away. "Well, I don't think-"
"That's right, you don't! You have your head in the sand." Reyna sped up and put herself between Reyce and Case.
Reyce sighed. Case was right, it's a long day.
Luckily, Mercy had the coach bus outside waiting for them instead of walking several miles for food. Normally they wouldn't use the bus since they lived in tiny apartments under their home stadium provided by the company, but Mercy was feeling generous tonight. Case was thankful when Reyce slid into the open seat next to her at the back of the bus. Reyna and the other division 2 trainer, Jade, took the front and whispered to each other like schoolgirls. He was a quiet dude with a deep passion for rock types and surprisingly stealthy for such a big guy. His shoulders could block out the sun. Jade also had dark skin, a short cut of cornrows, and a pretty handsome face. Case was never close with him, but nor did she ever have any issues. Reyna was close as Jade often trained his rock type's defenses against Reyna's fighting types. It was the same way Case and Reyce spent the bulk of their time as Case was a fire-specialist and Reyce favored water-types with a heavy focus on a swords dance form from her hometown, Undella. Though, she doubted Reyna and Jade ever went past just being coworkers, Reyna never seemed to 'want' anyone.
Not like Case wanted Reyce.
Her heart sped up the minute she was shoulder-to-shoulder with the golden girl of the team. "So," Reyce started, "Mercy originally suggested going to the Tauros Chophouse, but I put in a word for the Fitz since you asked about it last week. I know we never got around to it, so I thought this would be a good chance!" Reyce nudged Case's shoulder playfully. She had a sweet smile across her lips and Case felt her cheeks get warm.
She couldn't help but a smile a bit herself too. Case did prefer the Chophouse; she could never turn down a good steak, but she had asked Reyce to dinner to the Fitz last week. Reyce grew up near the sea, she loved seafood and Case was hoping to give her a taste of home, though Reyce being Reyce, didn't realize Case wanted a date, not the food.
But hey, if they could get a few seats on the end of the table, maybe she could have a sort-of date.
"Thank you." Case said. "You'll have to help me pick something out, I have no clue what half the stuff on the menu is there."
Reyce smiled. "No problem, I can grab a seat near ya. Conch fritters are my favorite, though red snapper is amazing when its fresh. All that whitefish is so flaky and perfect with just a little lemon."
Case had no idea what 'red snapper' was, but she was about ready to eat anything. Case had zero standards for food and her coworkers gave her hell for it every time she was caught rolling up a $5 large pizza for dinner.
Case and Reyce talked for the short bus ride and Case felt the weight of the day slowly drain away in the presence of her favorite person. Unfortunately, they only had ten minutes. The bus lurched forward as they hit the brakes. Case looked out the window at the Fitz.
That restaurant was as fancy as they got in Castelia. It was built towards the top of a skyscraper near the shore for an excellent view and the architects did their damndest to model the whole restaurant like a sunken ship, complete with a whole ship sculpture sticking out of the tower like it crashed into it. They even had a life-size gyrados wrapped around the exterior to be as accurate to the ship sinking as possible.
Reyce had told that story a hundred times. In Undella Bay, during a violent storm, a magikarp was forcefully evolved into a gyarados went on a rampage. The Fitz, a cargo ship, was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and the gyarados split the Fitz in half with a well-placed aqua tail, sinking the ship and its crew to the bottom of Undella bay. Reyce always went on about diving around the ruins and all the ecology that had sprung up around the ship's skeleton, but Case was more interested in the gyarados itself. A giant sea monster that could crack a ship sounded like the coolest Pokémon ever.
Their team entered the elevator, which was enclosed by a large fish tank the whole way up. It was stocked with goldeen and seaking, finneon and lumineon, and Case caught the tail of a gorebyss at one point. All imports: Castelia didn't have crap for Pokémon near it due to all the pollution.
Case watched Reyce's face light up at all the fish Pokémon milling around the tank. It brought a smile out in Case too.
The elevator stopped and spat them out at the top floor of the restaurant. A rush of warm air and good scents poured in. Case could smell fried fish, sushi, and a mingling of lemon and good grill char that made her stomach get up on its hind legs and beg. Reyce nudge her forward while she was engrossed by the octillery wrapping eight separate rolls at the sushi bar.
"Good evening, is this the party for Vesper?" A well-dressed man asked. Next to him was an equally dapper simipour holding a set of menus.
Reyna pushed her way to the front. "Yes, Mercy mentioned balcony seating?"
The man smiled. "Yes, my partner will lead the way." He waved them off and Simipour took off with all four of them following like a row of ducklett.
Every inch of the Fitz was paneled with distressed wood like it was ripped straight from the wreck itself. The fish tank filled in the whole ceiling and several parts of the walls and Case watched a very curious corphish follow them from above for a few tables. Fake coral and sailing artifacts covered what wasn't filled by a tank, though it didn't feel crowded at all.
"Dude, we're coming back here." Reyce whispered. She reached out to touch the glass where a shellos was napping.
"It's on me if you take me." Case said back.
"You sure you've got that cash?" Reyce asked. Case wasn't, but it's not like she had anyone else to spend money on.
Simipour led them out to the balcony and Case's heart nearly gave out with her first step.
The whole thing was glass. It looked like she was about to step off into the Castelia skyline.
"Whoa…" Reyce said, reminding Case that they were supposed to be walking to their table. She looked up and realized the balcony entrance was flanked by two touch-tanks filled with anemones, corsola, chinchou, and bio-luminescent finneon. Reyce almost had a hand in the water before Reyna interrupted them to wave them over to the table.
She pointed to two chairs at the end and mouthed "Pay attention!"
Case couldn't be mad this time. She had what she wanted. Reyna and Jade took the other side, leaving Mercy in the middle of all of them.
Mercy Whitlock was both the owner of Vesper Inc. and their sports team, so they ate, shit, and slept by her word. She appeared gentle, but Case knew her as a tough woman; she had to be to get the position she had. Case also had Mercy to thank for her entire life since she was a teenager. Case's mother pretty explicitly hated her and the day Mercy took her away was, well, merciful. She actually saw her potential in battles and gave her free-reign for years to learn whatever she wanted, where she wanted, and when she wanted. Case never thought she'd end-up in the Galar region training with fire-master Kabu, but she sure as hell did.
Though these days felt a lot more restricting. Mercy had drastically cut down funds while increasing the workload, but Case understood it was for a greater purpose and she was happy to give back to the one person who ever treated her like her own.
Mercy stirred a shallow glass of tequila while she waited for them to be seated. When she finally spoke, there was no major announcement, just a quiet "Dinner is on me, order whatever you want."
Reyce had the menu open before Mercy even finished. Case took one and felt her brain short circuit looking at all the options. What the hell was a salmon?
Or a halibut.
Or a conch fritter.
She looked over at Reyce in desperation. Reyce just laughed. "Here," she said, leaning over to look at Case's menu upside-down. "We can split the combo appetizer; it's got a ton of stuff to try and I'll totally eat what you don't want. And you love red meat, right? You might like salmon; it has a lot more flavor than most fish and you can try some of what I get. If you like mine, we can totally go halfsies."
"You had this planned, didn't you?" Case said with a lopsided smile.
Reyce chuckled. "You looked so lost when you opened it."
"Sorry."
"No, its fine! Its cute…" Reyce trailed off and went red. "Well, I didn't mean to say that, just that…well I liked your face when you saw it?"
Case felt her own cheeks heating up. "It's ok, I like your face too."
She loved Reyce's face, especially right now out on the balcony under the moonlight. Reyce had the most vibrant blue eyes Case had ever seen and the deep blue of the Castelia skyline behind her complimented them perfectly. The moonlight graced her hair with a silvery appearance. Case wondered what she looked like on Undella's remote beaches at night with the sea right next to them and preferably in a bikini.
The waiter finally came by after Case's stomach started to digest itself and Reyce placed the order for her. Case looked over at the other three, who were immersed in their own conversation, away from them.
Just how she liked it.
It was nice to have something in her day go right. Then, Case remembered that she had to be up for training at 6:00 am and it was already 9:30 pm. Happiness is fleeting.
They talked and ate for a while. The food was amazing, Reyce knew exactly what she was doing. Case struggled to get past the texture of the calamari and conch fritters (those reminded her of snot), but the taste was incredible, and she cleared her salmon before she remembered Reyce offered her red snapper. Reyce cut off a decent size portion, just for her.
Case took a bite, then asked, "So what the hell is a red snapper? I get that it's a fish, but is it anything else?"
Reyce pulled apart her piece and displayed the vertical sections. "Nope, its just a species of fish, no powers, no energy. They raised them on farm away from Pokémon since they're way too powerful for animals to contend with. Same deal with beef and poultry. Makes for good food, I can't imagine eating miltank instead of a plain cow, you know? Too many emotions."
Case cleared her plate. "I guess I never thought of that." She was always way too focused on eating to think about where it came from.
They had an awkward pause. Case felt a butterfree hatch in her stomach.
This is it; this is my chance to ask her on a real date, she thought.
Reyce was a kind person. Case had no idea if she liked women or not at all, but she really didn't strike Case as someone who would hate her forever over it. Reyce was a tomboy, so Case had hope that her senses were correct. Then again, what if she wasn't, hated gay people, ratted her out to officials and got Case kicked from the league? Mercy knew about Case being gay, but drilled into her for years that she could never be public; if people caught wind of it, they'd have her out of the league and Mercy was powerless against them.
But Reyce wouldn't do that. No way. But if Reyce didn't like women, but kept Case's secret, she might risk alienating her completely. Reyce might never want to talk to her again.
Why couldn't she just like men like other girls? Why does everything have to be so complicated?
"You ok?" Reyce broke her out of her spiral.
Case blinked. "Um, yeah, my acid reflux is just acting up again." She lied.
Case mentally slapped her forehead. Now she made it sound like the food Reyce picked out fucked her up. "Its not the food! Just stress and stuff." She recovered.
Reyce stayed silent, trying to discern what was going on while Case dug herself into bedrock. There was a swarm of butterfree in her stomach at this point.
She should just ask and get it over with. Case opened her mouth, but a hand on her shoulder ruined everything.
Over her shoulder was Mercy, staring down at her with a heavy gaze and Case felt a chill down her spine. "Can I steal you for a moment?" she asked.
Worst timing ever. "Yeah, no problem." Case mumbled in a defeated tone. She gave Reyce a quick smile before Mercy whisked her away to the bar.
"Do you like tequila, Casey?" She asked while ordering two glasses.
"I don't normally drink it; it hits way too hard everytime." Case explained. She could blame at least half of her black outs on it, she called it 'to kill ya' for a reason.
Murano passed her a glass. "You'll like this one, its much higher quality than whatever you've been drinking. And there's more where that came from for as long as you like."
Case tested the drink. It almost didn't burn at all, which caught her off guard, though she vastly preferred the taste of whiskey still. "What do you mean there's more as long as I like? I've got gym time at 6:00 am, you know that."
Mercy gave her a cold smile. "I'm letting you buy all your drinks under my tab from now on; it's a little gift since I'm implementing some major changes in your work pretty soon. I feel your ready to take on more responsibility and my project is coming to a head."
Case almost choked on her next sip. She did not feel anymore responsible, unless you count ten matches without a fight sustained character growth and that was only because the league threatened to toss her unless she took anger management courses. "I don't get it." She finally said. "What changes?"
Murano leaned on the counter and stirred her glass again. "I'm cutting down both your Pokémon matches and your MMA to the barebones because what I need most is boots on the ground."
"What?" She snapped. Case felt a knot grow in her chest. "What do you mean I'm not fighting anymore? Is this because of the fights? Because I've gotten better about it, I'm not going to throw my career over it, you can trust me!"
"Let me finish." Mercy chided. "What's coming is much greater than sports, this project will make or break Unova's future! Unfortunately, I have opponents of my own, but they don't fight under league regulations. No, I need a team strong enough to handle real combat and I couldn't think of anyone better to lead it."
"Lead it." Case echoed softly. "You're talking like I'm about to be a security guard."
Murano finished her glass and set it down with a quiet clink. "I suppose that's one term for it, though this position has a little more glory than that. And you will be leading all three of them." She waved to Jade, Reyna, and Reyce who were busying laughing together with a few drinks. Case felt her heart twist.
Case wanted to say 'no fucking way' but she doubted that would be taken well. Jade and Reyce were ok, but Reyna hated her guts. "I don't think I'm the right guy for this, sorry. Besides, I'm happy with MMA and battling." That was half true, though getting called 'knuckle-dragger' sounded better than life-threatening combat.
Murano took Case's chin and gently lowered Case's gaze to hers. "The league is too small for you, Casey. I chose you because I saw your potential, do you not want to fight real battles? Is this not what you want?"
Case turned away and looked back at Reyce. Was she really just settling by sticking with the league and MMA? She had skill and power, maybe it would be better to actually put that towards something other than entertainment. Then again, Case felt a strong but selfish desire to just slow down and enjoy what she did have.
But Mercy worked like hell to give her that and now she's asking Case to return that kindness. She was needed.
"Ok. I'll do it." Case said softly.
Mercy smiled. "I knew you would understand. And I'm truly sorry about taking away sports from you, but I figured an infinite bar tab would be a nice housewarming gift for this big change." Mercy shifted to her back and Case followed. The skyline was incredible off the balcony. "Your mother would've never taught you to be so understanding."
Case finished the sour tequila. "Yeah, she wasn't exactly the understanding type."
Mercy placed a hand on Case's shoulder. "I want you to know, this means a lot to me."
Case smiled, but she still felt a heavy weight in her stomach. She was in for a long night of indigestion again.
Mercy walked back to the balcony and Case set her empty glass down on the bar top. Mercy turned around. "One more thing, Casey. These are your coworkers. No distractions." She gestured to the three athletes just outside with a heavy emphasis on Reyce, then disappeared.
Case looked at the empty glass, ordered a good whiskey on the rocks, pounded it, and ordered another.