"Jeez, I didn't think I kept this many receipts in my pocket. I need to clean them out before I become a hoarder," Kori muttered to herself, noting a feeling present in her back pocket she hadn't been aware of before. Assuming they were the records of her rare shopping trip (she preferred not to go out during busy hours, but it was a national emergency: I'm all out of coffee already?), she pulled the loose item out and prepared to crumple it up. Her eyes caught it before she could. Her chest tightened. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach.
"Hey! What is this?" she called, but she hadn't spotted Jericho, and so she didn't know to whom her newfound predicament originally belonged. "This isn't mine! I've never seen this before!"
Her voice trailed off when she realized she was shouting into the street. Would it be worse to attract attention? If she did, she was screwed. But if she just stood there...?
Really, I don't know where this came from, she thought. I didn't do anything. She glanced at the photograph; a mistake. She felt sick. Dread seeped through her body. Maybe if I turn it in to the authorities, they might let me go. That is, if they believe me. I'll call Garu first, so he can let my brother know I might need him to bail me out again...
Some idea this was! Kori reluctantly stood out in the summer heat, handing out flyers for the cafe's renovated reopening. Of course business had been shaky lately. With fewer people visiting the cafe, she knew something would have to be done to bring in a larger market.
Handing out brochures wasn't the plan she expected the cafe's co-owner Phecda to suggest, but she didn't exactly have a better plan.
Still, she was having less luck than her charming coworker, and she couldn't bear to keep her shaky smile any longer as long as strangers and passersby kept declining the pamphlets. Fine, she thought. In that case, I'll hand out the pamphlets my own way.
She spotted you on the sidewalk outside her storefront, and as you passed, Kori slipped a cafe advertisement brochure into your bag. Surely this had to be easier than being declined again, right...?
vvv I loved reading this!! Thank you!!