White Rabbit

Chapter 59: Sugar and Strawberries

JACE

"Misa," I breathe out as I stand outside our hideout, leaning against the wall with my phone pressed to my ear after dialing her number, "I need a favor..."

"Jace?!" Misa exclaims, "where are you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I nod, "yeah...I'm fine. I just, can you do something for me?"

"What is it?" Misa asks, confusion sounding in her voice.

"Don't go in to work today," I say, "don't ask me why. Just, don't go in to work today, okay?"

"But--"

"Misa," I cut her off firmly, "trust me. Please."

"I do trust you," Misa starts, "I just don't understand."

"I can't tell you..." I trail off.

"Why not, Jace?" Misa sighs in frustration, "you know that you can tell me anything."

"I know," I sigh, "I know...can you meet me somewhere if I text you an address?"

"Yeah," Misa says after a few seconds and after the sound of papers rustling around, "I can be there in about ten minutes, why?"

"It's about another favor that I have," I laugh dryly, "I seem to have a lot of those."

"Just," Misa sighs, "don't worry about it. I'll be there. Text me the address. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright," I nod as Misa hangs up and I text her the address, which is a coffee shop about a block from here.

I sigh and rest my head against the wall, staring up at the sky as I'm wondering how well this will go over.

"Well?" Cassidy says, opening the front door and leaning outside, "did you ask her yet?"

"Yeah," I say, glancing in his direction, "I did. She said she'd meet me."

"Good," Cassidy says, "take Larissa with you. It's hard to resist caring for her once you see her cute factor. And if you ever tell anyone that I said that, you're a dead man."

"Got it," I roll my eyes.

"And," Cassidy's green eyes flicker around, "thank you for agreeing to ask Misa to watch her for me. I couldn't just leave her alone whenever we all leave, and I certainly wasn't going to take her with us."

"No problem," I shrug, "looking after people is kind of my thing."

"Right," Cassidy trails off, "well, anyway, see you around. I'm gonna go get Larissa."

And with that, Cassidy goes back inside to inform his sister of what's going on as I wait outside for him to bring her. I sigh as I continue looking back up at the sky and wondering how things got this way. Not that I'm complaining, but still.

Well, either way, this should be interesting...

***

About fifteen minutes later, I stand outside the coffee shop with little Larissa holding on to my hand as we stand on the sidewalk. I see Misa sitting inside at a back table, a waitress coming up to her and bringing her a coffee and a bagel as the two of us walk towards the entrance. Misa's eyes flicker up to the window after the waitress goes away and she spots me almost instantly, her blue eyes widening upon seeing me with Larissa. I grab on to the curved handle of the coffee shop's front door and swing it open, a small bell ringing above my head in the process as I step inside, the smell of coffee and baked pastries in the air.

"Please tell me you didn't get somebody pregnant," Misa's eyes flicker between me and Larissa wearily.

"No," I laugh anxiously, "besides, she wouldn't grow that fast anyway."