Sorry, Leon (Brawl Stars)

Part 2

Jessie tried for weeks to get Leon to change his mind. Each time, he continued to reject her proposals and began to avoid her. Eventually, each time he saw Jessie, he would disappear in a puff of smoke. Nani realized what Jessie was trying to do and tried to stop her, threatening to tell Pam. Ironically, though, it was thanks to Nani that Jessie one day received a glorious opportunity that helped everything fall into place.

She walked downstairs one morning and found Pam pouring Colt Crunch cereal into a bowl. Jessie took her seat at the table. Pam filled the bowl with milk and pushed it toward her daughter. Jessie dug her spoon in and shoved a generous spoonful into her mouth.

"Where's Nani?" she asked after swallowing the large bite.

Pam sighed. "Nani was suddenly malfunctioning this morning. I can't fix her right now, since I've got my hands full today. You'll have to come with me to run an errand."

Jessie wanted to protest but kept her mouth shut instead. Each time she insisted that she was old enough to stay home alone, Pam refused to let her. After breakfast, the two of them walked to the marketplace. Jessie was surprised when Pam led her to Byron's stand.

"Hello, Byron," she said. "I need a few of your healing potions."

Byron bent down and picked up a box of green bottles. "Your healing turret broke again?"

Pam shook her head. "Nah. I stupidly lent it to Mr. P yesterday. I totally forgot I needed it today."

Byron tsked disapprovingly. "You're not getting it back any time soon, knowing Mr. P."

Pam grunted in agreement. "I'd better go to the Snowtel myself and demand it back."

Pam cradled the box of potions in one arm and fished into her pocket with her other hand to pull out cash. Jessie examined the potions Byron had on display with great interest. There was a little pink bottle with a heart-shaped stopper. How peculiar it looked.

"Taken an interest in my love potions?" Byron asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Jessie looked up in surprise. "Is that what this is?"

"All, right, here you go," Pam said, handing Byron a few crumbled bills. "Thank you kindly for this. We can go home now, Jessie. I've got a lot of customers coming in today."

Jessie wanted to ask more about Byron's love potions but knew that Pam would become suspicious. On their way home, all Jessie could think about was that little bottle and how it could help her situation with Leon.

The next morning, Jessie was once again greeted by her mother in the kitchen.

"I haven't gotten the chance to fix Nani yet," she said regretfully. "The malfunction is worse than I thought, so I'll need another day. I'll be in and out today running errands. I don't want you to have to tag along all day, so I found a babysitter. She's... not ideal, but she was all I could find on such short notice."

Pam spoke about the babysitter with such resignation that Jessie wondered how bad she had to be. There were times when Pam would get Penny to look after Jessie, but she must have been unavailable. Jessie's thoughts were answered when the doorbell rang. It was a woman with dark blue hair wearing overalls.

"Jacky," Pam greeted the miner, sounding irritated. "You were supposed to be here half an hour ago."

"Sorry," Jacky responded with a shrug. "It took me longer than I expected to get here."

Pam sighed, exasperated. "I'm really behind now, so I gotta leave. Jessie, listen to Jacky and be good. Jacky, watch Jessie carefully and please don't curse." Pam grabbed her toolbox and hurried out.

"I'm going to my room," Jessie said. She had some projects to work on and tinkered with them until lunchtime. When it was noon, she went downstairs. Jacky was leaning in one of the chairs with her feet crossed on the table, talking loudly on her phone. She was yelling at whomever was on the other end and using a strange assortment of words Jessie had never heard before. She hung up when she saw Jessie and got up.

"Hey, kid," she said. "What do you want for lunch? I gotta feed you so your mom pays me."

Jessie thought about the potion she had seen at Byron's stand. This was the perfect opportunity to go back without Pam or Nani finding out.

"Can you take me to Barley's?" she asked, putting on the most innocent smile she could muster.

"Hmm, Barley's? Yeah, sure. Pam said she'd reimburse me for meals, so I'm fine with that."

Jacky continued talking on her phone while walking to the marketplace. Jessie followed and thought about how she would execute her plan in the least suspicious manner possible. They arrived at the restaurant.

"Huh," said Jacky, examining the line. "I didn't know Barley's was so popular for lunch."

They got in line. Jessie suddenly blurted out, "I– I'll be right back! Can you get us a table?"

She dashed out of the restaurant. Where was Byron's stand again? She thought hard about the direction she and Pam had gone the other day and finally found it.

"Mr. Byron! Hi!" she waved at the salesman. "Oh... were you about to leave?"

"I was just about to depart for my lunch break, but I can spare a few minutes."

Jessie examined the display and found the little pink bottle again. She picked it up and looked more closely. "How does this work? Does it make someone fall in love with me?"

"Well, it's not exactly love. It's more of a deep infatuation or obsession. Real love is completely different."

How different could it be? Love made people happy. This was pretty much the same as love– therefore, the potion would make Leon happy.

Byron continued, "It's pretty simple. Just make sure the person of interest drinks the whole bottle, and it'll last about two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Jessie asked dubiously. There couldn't have been much in that little bottle.

"Yes," Byron responded. "It's quite strong, but the effects begin to wear off in the last few days. I also sell an antidote, if you need that."

"No thank you. I'll just take two of the love potions for now."

Byron stated the price, and Jessie paid him. It cost her most of the tips she had earned in the past week, but it would be worth it.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Byron said, extending his hand.

Jessie shook it. It was cold but soft.

"Where's your mother, by the way?" Byron asked. "I hope you didn't walk here all by yourself."
"No– Jacky brought me. She's waiting for me at Barley's right now."

"Barley's? I was about to head there myself, actually. I'll walk you. A child shouldn't be wandering in the marketplace by herself– how irresponsible of Jacky."

They walked to Barley's and found Jacky. She had gotten a table and didn't even seem to notice that Jessie had disappeared for an entire fifteen minutes. She continued talking on her phone, but Jessie tuned her out, excitedly thinking about what she was about to do. There wasn't anything wrong with what she was doing, right? Leon just didn't realize how great it would be to be her boyfriend. This would help him realize, right?