Yours | ✓

23 | Welcome to the File

Chapter Twenty-Three: Welcome to the File

"for everything you do
for everything that's true
I turn to you,"
- christina aguilera

┉

M O N I C A

A chuckle left me as I watched Meredith, who was currently fashioning a scrunched up nose, tighten her lips and squint her eyes.

"You did so good!" I lied with a smirk, shaking my head with amusement when she attempted to narrow her eyes on me. "You go, Mer. Show off to the professionals."

Sophie threw her head back and laughed before lifting her fist. Understanding what she was implying, I pressed my fist to hers.

"You both are bullies," she muttered, and I watched as Meredith opened her mouth, so we and everyone else in the bar could see her rubbing her tongue on the top of her mouth.

The two of us watched her with amusement. Since she sat on the far right, we had good access to see her do her business.

It was currently Friday, a week or so before Halloween arrived. Yesterday I got back to work after being away for almost two weeks, and Sophie cheered, stating we had to get drinks with Meredith.

After a long time of persuasion, I agreed to come, but sadly, could not drink. My doctor recommended that I not risk it, and Liam made sure I listened to every recommendation he gave.

So, here I was, drinking water on the rocks.

But hey, watching Meredith drink straight shots was amusing, to say the least. She preferred cocktails, but Sophie, the determined person she was, got her to agree to drink shots with her.

"God, that was horrible," Meredith coughed after flipping back her straight, nearly black hair. It was the first time I'd seen it down since the spring.

She also wasn't wearing baggy clothes. When Sophie picked her up, with me in the car, both of us were surprised to see her in curvy jeans and low cut, long sleeve shirt.

"My younger brother drinks better than you," Sophie retorted with a snort, making me turn my seat to glare at her.

"I'm a year older than him. He isn't that young," I told her, but she just shrugged it away.

"Still older than him."

Not bothering to argue back, I leaned my back against the counter, watching as Sophie stared at Meredith with excitement. "So... continue! Tell me more."

Meredith smiled at the memory before vocally recalling her childhood—and what a childhood it was. Her parents had adopted her at two years old from China, after her biological father was caught with child pornography.

Both her current parents moved to China for the year to experience a different culture, but before they left, they heard about Meredith's story. They met her and ended up staying longer, since the adoption process took long, but once they got her, they moved to the states.

They named her Meredith after her grandmother, since her father never gave her a name.

"It's like your life is a movie," Sophie commented with a sigh, leaning her back against the bar table as well. "My family is as basic as it can be."

Then, she laughed. "Well, I vividly remember my mom holding my hand around town as a kid. People thought she stole me," she snorted. "As if interracial marriages don't exist."