Chapter 6
Vi has never been accused of thinking through most of her actions by anyone that really knows her but she was starting to think that might need to change.
’What the fuck, Violet.’ She thought to herself as she leaned back in the worn old armchair in the Last Drop’s storage room.
After getting thoroughly shit-faced in her apartment she had spent an hour on the phone with Silco of all people ranting about Caitlyn and, in a great display of distorted judgement, demanded not only that he tell Powder to avoid Caitlyn at any cost but also that he had a ‘talk’ with Caitlyn about doing the same with Powder.
She didn’t want Caitlyn near her sister but asking a (former?) crime lord to threaten her was so far from the realm of sanity that it wasn’t even funny. She groaned after looking at her watch, her break was almost over and she’d spent the entire break freaking out over what she had done.
The conversation she’d had this morning with Silco was still fresh on her mind. Part of her was relieved Silco hadn’t gone through with it while another smaller part of her mind couldn’t help but be disappointed, she had in some way hoped that a threat from Silco would put an end to the whole thing.
Ever since their breakup Vi was aware her protectiveness of Powder had gone up several notches and even more aware of how much her sister hated it. She had hoped her own stupid need to hover over her little sister would calm down after a year without Caitlyn in their lives but of course then Caitlyn had shown back up in the worst way possible.
Taking Powder to a different fucking city while she was drunk was such a blatant goddamn move it was almost unbelievable that it was Caitlyn that had done it.
How had it all gone so wrong? It made her chest tight and Vi massaged it with a rough hand over her shirt.
Because as much as she didn’t want to she did still love Cait in some way, it was hard not to after so long together, and that made everything that’s happened so much worse.
She couldn’t help but wonder if Caitlyn developing eyes for Powder was part of the reason they started growing apart near the end. The thought tasted bitter on her tongue.
The dates she’d gone on since then had been fun in their own way, very fun even after years of fighting with Cait, but never lasted long. Whether because the girls weren’t a good fit or a lack of things in common or just plain losing interest after a few dates. What mattered was that she was moving on and letting Caitlyn become just an unpleasant memory.
She was going out and meeting people and had even started to ease up on her overbearing behavior towards Powder when last week had happened.
When Caitlyn had come to get the last of her shit and then decided to kidnap Vi’s little sister on her way out of the city.
Oh, she’d heard the excuses Cait had given her but they rang hollow and false. She could believe Powder had been too drunk to tell her her address but Caitlyn had decided to not bring Powder to any of her family and instead took her home with her. Only the reassurance Powder had given her that Caitlyn hadn’t done anything kept her fists from flying when she had driven up to warn her away from her sister again.
She also still needed to talk with Powder about staying away from Caitlyn since Silco had made it clear he didn’t think she was going to heed the words he had relayed for Vi. Powder didn’t take well to being told not to do something but Vi would happily bear her displeasure if it kept her safe. She just needed to somehow stress the importance of this without telling the truth. Easy-peasy.
’You’ll deal with this, like always.’ The voice in her head reassured her as she took a shaky breath and banished all thoughts of Caitlyn Kiramman from her mind.
But not right now, her break was almost over and she had wasted the majority of it brooding in the storage room.
Stubbornly she wiped away the wetness that wanted to fall from her eyes and took a deep breath. Vi stood up and rolled her sleeves back up before going out into the bar again.
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It was late. Jinx should probably, like, sleep or something. She wasn’t gonna but she wanted it noted that she at least knew she should even if she wasn’t going to.
Her finger hovered over the new number she had saved, like she had hovered over whether or not to call it all day. Finding Caitlyn’s number wasn’t hard but she still had no idea what to say to get to agree to her plan. Giving up wasn’t an option, Jinx was gonna teach Vi not to meddle and this was bound to do the trick.
But how to get someone who hated her to help her fuck with someone that that someone had been sickeningly in love with for years?
Sure, she was starting to realize their breakup hadn’t been as amicable as Vi had said but that was of no use if Caitlyn’s hate of Jinx was still bigger than any issues she may or may not have with Vi.
“Ugh.” Her head fell back on the couch cushion and she let the phone slip from her hand to land on her stomach.
She needed to do this. Okay, maybe she didn’t need to, but it was the best plan she could come up with to pay Vi back for her helicopter sistering.
’Well, you didn’t really try to come up with anything else, maybe you just need to spend some actual time trying to come up with one that doesn't involve Cupcake.’
A plan without Caitlyn?
Hmmmm…
Nah.
Having Cait help was half the reason it would be so fun! Besides she was doing this in response to Vi freaking out about her hanging around Caitlyn, proving to Vi she could do what she wanted was the point and this was obviously the best way of doing it.
Obviously.
But she still needed a way to convince her to help Jinx and so far she had nada-nothing-zero-zilch. Blackmail wouldn’t work because she had nothing on her. Paying wasn’t gonna work either, the woman had money coming out the wazoo.
Okay, she wasn’t calling her tonight, she needed a guaranteed way of getting her to agree and calling without a plan would just get her blocked and then she would have to call from a different number and it would be a whole thing.
Jinx groaned and pressed her hands over her eyes.
She was about to get up and drag her sorry behind to bed and try to sleep on a solution when someone knocked on her door.
Knocked. At the door. At this time.
’Polite murderer, the dumbest burglar ever or Vi? Place your bets now!’