Page 127 of Mayhem and Minnie

She should consider herself lucky—which, of course, I aim to tell her.

I stand there, still as stone while she holds me tight and rubs my back.

I grit my teeth.

She coos some words into my ear as if I were a baby—another thing that my mother does every time she sees me. Again, I allow her this since she’s a rather sensitive soul. Any other and I might put a bullet through their heads.

After what feels like an eternity, she finally draws back.

Her green eyes are glistening with tears, and she dabs her fingers on her cheeks to remove the moisture.

“You look so good, dear. What has changed?” she asks sheepishly as her gaze finally moves from me to Minnie.

“And this is your little friend? Oh, Lord, aren’t you a darling. What’s your name, pretty girl?”

Minnie blushes profusely and brings her chin down.

“Hello, Mrs. Spencer-Astor,” she murmurs shyly. “My name is Minnie.”

“Nonsense, call me Simone,” my mother says. “I’m so happy to meet you, Minnie. You have no idea just how much. I almost gave up on the hope that this rascal will ever get himself a girl.”

She takes a step forward and gives Minnie the same treatment. She wraps her arms around her slight frame and gives her a bear hug.

If possible, Minnie turns even redder. She bites her lip and glances at me from the corner of her eyes, not knowing how to respond to it.

I smile, pleased.

Before, I would have quickly chimed in to say she’s not my girl. But I have since reformed. And to my surprise, the term my girl sounds entirely too good. Perhaps I should use it more often in the future.

I’m in danger of losing myself to my musings when I realize that my mother is still hugging Minnie, who’s now starting to look a little uncomfortable.

“Mother, I think this is enough,” I intervene, slowly pulling her off Minnie.

My mother scoffs at me and rolls her eyes, but as she looks again at Minnie, she smiles brightly,

“Come, child. I can’t wait to know more about you.”

Minnie reluctantly returns the smile.

We step inside the room and take a seat at the table in the middle.

Minnie sits by my side while my mother is across from us.

Just as we make ourselves comfortable, though, a knock resounds at the door and a man dressed in a server uniform comes in with our menus.

I grab Minnie’s hand and squeeze it.

“Could we have a female server this evening?” I ask aloud.

The server blinks in surprise but acquiesces.

“Of course. I’ll have one of our female staff come to attend to you.”

I grunt a thank you.

All the while, my mother is watching me with a wicked glint in her eyes.

“Do you have any food allergies, darling?” Mother addresses Minnie.

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