ALICE Ch 148

“OK, sorry,” Alice says with a laugh. “I’m still figuring this comic book thing out. Turns out it’s actually really complicated,” she adds to everyone else. “OK? You’d think it would be people in weird outfits just hitting each other, and it is, but it’s like… hard to keep straight.”

Faye is cringing.

“What? It’s true. And now there’s three Jokers? Come on. I like don’t even care about that stuff and that bugs me.”

“Let’s get you a drink,” Faye murmurs.

“Please do,” Glynda says dangerously.

Alice allows herself to be pulled away, but she spots Erica watching with a knowing expression. Then Glynda catches her eye, and without a single word spoken, reminds her that she’ll still have to give remarks in a few minutes. This doesn’t feel like a celebration. It feels like work.

FF1

There’s always plenty of revelry after a race, and that’s particularly true in Monaco where many people are partying on boats in the open air. Loads of people are being noisy on the water, but to Valeria Flores, all the loud music, voices amplified by speakerphones, and raucous laughter seem to be coming from the FUTA boat.

She’s aboard a yacht belonging to one of Freedom’s many patrons, along with most of the team and a few fans. It was, of course, a dreadful weekend for Freedom Racing—thus much wine has been drunk, and the Freedom boat is quite subdued. Val is grateful that people seem content to more or less leave her alone under the circumstances. She’d like nothing more than to return to her hotel and be fully alone behind a locked door, but it seems a waste to give up the view of Monaco and the sea at night. It’ll be a year before she’s back here, if she gets back here at all.

There is exactly one person with Freedom Racing that Val likes, and it is not Patty Dunham. Patty’s not quite as tall as Alice, but she has a little more of a figure. She makes her boyish haircut work in a way that makes all the gay lady soccer players of the world green with envy. She’s from Louisiana, and the way that she talks oozes so much charisma that it can almost make up for her natural lack of it.

She has some girl cornered, a little brunette with glasses and big boobs. They always have big boobs when it comes to Patty. Rumors of Alice and Faye hooking up were like a starting pistol for her. Patty had read those Tweets and immediately started trying to flirt with Val.

Val takes a sip of her drink. Tedious. And the girl? She doesn’t seem to mind being cornered, but all the same, Val keeps an eye on the situation. Patty’s never done anything overtly bad, but Val doesn’t trust her.