Mercy On My Soul

Clyde T. Gastin had lived for approximately twenty-one long, alcohol drenched years Earth. And during those twenty-one years, he had the pleasure of meeting a slew of impossibly beautiful women, many of whom he managed to become intimate with at least once. He once considered himself a 'ladies-man' because of how lucky he got with the girls. But times had changed and Clyde got older, wiser too. He saw that he wasn't as slick as he thought he was. Maybe he was just lucky, maybe it had to do with the girls he happened to meet.

But there was one fact that Clyde knew was true about his love life and it was that he was never the one who did the chasing. In just about every odd relationship or fling he was in, The Girl made the first move and Clyde was usually caught in their web of lust... Or Love.

Clyde had never been man enough to go after the girl on his own. For all of the smoke and mirrors he used to produce a false exterior appearance that was overly-macho than his true self. Clyde had never really gone after a girl he liked and tried to make something happen on his own. Pickup lines for one night stands were one thing but when faced with the chance to make something happen. When given the chance to pursue someone and see if love had a chance to bloom. Clyde never took the first step. His thoughts trailed back towards Duffy Macbain and the regrets he had towards not having the courage to at least talk to her after they first met. Clyde liked her a lot. Claimed to love her before he even knew the meaning of the word. Much of him regretted not ask her out for a real date. He figured she was just too much of a free spirit to settle for someone like him. He figured he just wasn't good enough for her.

Clyde met, Heather Sunderland instead, his first real love in the oddest ways, she took him by force, hated him, stole him, loved him, corrupted him in a sense. Clyde did take charge a few times to get himself and Heather into happier places within their relationship a couple of times, but Clyde knew the truth. When he met someone who wanted him, he instantly caved because it was easy. He was rarely ever wanted by people and to be wanted by someone, whether it be based on lust or love, it was always enough for Clyde to just give in to them and not ask why. It felt too good for a misfit to be wanted, to be loved. Always easy to say yes and give in.

But in the wake of losing that wonderful life Clyde had built. He met Mercy Wrenn. And this time it seemed like a lot of the attraction was one-sided. She clearly wasn't forcing him on the ground for hot, aggressive sex. She wasn't kidnapping him and forcing him into a shotgun wedding. She was just a girl who saw a guy. A weird one.

For once, Clyde was given a choice. Remain a broken down, drunken child who wallowed in the past. Or become a Man, clean up his act and Fight to win the heart of this girl whom he was smitten with. The latter was a hard road with a chance for failure. He knew it would really suck to get shot down by Mercy. He didn't want to fail. Part of him was afraid of failure. But he was angry too and tired. Angry at how low he let himself sink. Tired constant of failure. Angry at being nothing special. Tired of being unhappy. Angry at his loneliness. Tired of his sorrow. Angry at the past.

He was tired of Clyde T. Gastin, the child not man enough to chase after the heart of Mercy Wrenn because it might not be easy and because he might fail. He refused to be that child any longer and even refused the aggressive sexual advances and threats from Cheerleader Lilly, who wanted Clyde as her own sex slave. The old Clyde Gastin would have surrendered instantly. But times had changed oddly enough.

At a mall in Kyoto, Clyde got a haircut, purchased cologne, some Christmas Presents for Mercy (Even for Rei too!) and a new formal attire for himself that Taylor Parker helped him pick out. Clyde hoped she didn't sabotage his ass.

Following his nasty brawl with Lilly, Clyde was still sore, his head had taken quite a bit of punishment, but nothing was thicker (and more hollow) than his skull. Whiskey took the pain away. But it was the same reason why Clyde was going to see Mercy now on Christmas Eve. He was hungover yesterday and he did NOT want to show Mercy that he'd been drinking hard, but it was only because that headache he got from Lilly was driving him nuts... Granted a hungover hurt him the next morning but he didn't like messing with pills to cure his problems. Booze and sleep was all he needed but now the time for action had come.

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Clyde wore a light brown (but almost gold looking) button-up shirt with snug fitting suit jacket being a darker shade of brown that matched his slim pair of brown slacks and dark brown loafers that almost appeared black. His Tie was red but appeared black as well. Spent a good long while to get it tied correctly. He didn't want to wear the trench-coat, he wanted Mercy to see how professional he looked, but it was cold outside and rain had a big chance at falling tonight, So he took his tan trenchcoat too. In short, Clyde wore a lot of brown. He didn't care for it at all but the coat was all he had for cold weather and it matched. He could have worn his Brown leather Cowboy hat, but Clyde thought maybe he just shouldn't tonight. He wanted Mercy to see his face clearly, show off his neatly cut hair and trimmed stubble that gave off a shadow on his face but wasn't enough to be a messy, unkempt beard like he had before.

Taking advantage of sales, Clyde bought an Ipod Shuffle and even the normally expensive and overpriced "beats by Dr. Dre" for a very low price. The cost amounting to just barely over $100 USD, with the Ipod being about only $35 USD. Both were a lot less than the suit for sure. He put his gifts in a bigger box to hold them both together, big enough to hold a super Nintendo and a half. More than enough. He took a VERY long time to wrap the damn things. Clyde spent a couple hours trying to wrap them properly, screwed up, tried again or just keep retrying until he felt it was perfect. It HAD to be perfect.

Clyde left his pad around 4 and arrived in Tokyo around 7ish. With his gift neatly wrapped in bright green wrapping paper with snowflake designs and a bright red bow that was taped to the top and a black umbrella in case of the weather, Clyde walked from the station to AFW HQ deciding it was best to save money in case Mercy needed a cab back home. That being said, Clyde whistled Elvis' 'Blue Christmas' for the whole walk. He liked that song but felt the words were quite appropriate. It would be a Blue Christmas if he screwed this up.

Walking up to the massive building, Clyde took a gander at the structure and admired it. He always admired tall fancy buildings and sky scrapers. Far Cry from the small buildings back home. Tokyo was cooler than Houston or Dallas too.

[size=85:1qwut7sd]"...God help me..." Muttered the nervous Catholic raised kid who claimed to be atheist these days. He didn't think about what he whispered, he just did it. He couldn't explain it but even if he dismissed a god, he felt a little divine intervention, if it existed, would be much obliged. So with a sigh, Clyde strolled in the front door and marched inside, giving a light jog towards the front desk meet the receptionist.

"'Scuse me. I'm lookin' for a Ms. Mercy Wrenn?" The blonde would ask as he tried to sound as proper as possible and be less... 'Twangy'.

Most people would have been pissed to by stuck behind a desk on Christmas Eve, forced to endure a mountain of paper work. Let alone to do so in a strange country, working in a field they weren't used to working in for bosses that some might call ... unhinged.

Mercedes Wrenn, however, was perfectly fine with it all. Aside from the strange country and job she wasn't used to part. Lately, though, she had gotten quite good at figuring out the inner workings of a wrestling organization. It was a new skill, a new field, that she could add to her resume. Something she had become less and less concerned with as time went on working for Aurelia Fortuna.

As an executive, one might think she wasn't cut out for the position. She seemed aloof, at best, about what she should be doing as Chief Manager of Talent Relations. Despite the fact that she was a highly intelligent, tactical mind and a veteran of some of the worst war zones anyone could think of. Mercy shuddered to think about it and sometimes wished that she wasn't someone who knew about Aurelia's past. But as a boss, she was great if you didn't mind a lot of paper work and having to explain the same legalese terminologies over and over again, something Mercy lived for. Outside of that, Rally, as she liked to be called, didn't bug her int he least. In fact, Mercy was pretty certain that Rally was slowly beginning to think of Mercy as someone that she couldn't live without. That was exactly what the intrepid paralegal wanted.

It was the same reason why, on Christmas Eve, that she was diligently doing paperwork while her boss was probably out having a great time. (Rally had already started a little early with the Egg Nog when she popped in just to make sure that she kept up with things. The larger girl insisted that Mercy indulge as well, and pushed a glass of the thoroughly alcohol soaked beverage upon her. Mercy wondered if Rally hadn't been drinking MOST of the day and had just HAPPENED to end up here on whatever tour of duty she had planned for the holidays.

Either way, Mercy had ended up downing a glass of the Egg Nog over the course of the evening. And while she wasn't buzzed, it had warmed her up nicely. Now, as the evening dwindled, she was starting to get hungry. She had no family or friends here in Tokyo that she could call up without feeling like a bother. Even back home she didn't have anyone special to see. She didn't mind it though. Christmas was nice, the first week after Thanksgiving and by the time it got to the actual Holiday, she was totally sick of everything. At least, in Tokyo, she didn't have to deal with it like she did in New York.

She looked over the paperwork. There was still a lot to do but she closed the folder she had opened and stood up to stretch, letting out a cute squeak. Rally had let her use her desk and computer so she was definitely going at the daily grind in more luxury than usual. Plus, with her music, the time really flew by.

Mercy had [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ_1RIn6YiE:3p4d2y0h]opted for something[/url:3p4d2y0h] that she thought might be a bit more fitting with the season, though she really wasn't sure. It just seemed right. As she stretched out, she looked around the office and contemplated the liquor cabinet. It sure would be nice to have another drink. One more would make her feel good. Was she feeling bad? She looked back to her mound of papers and let out a soft sigh as she slid over to one of the other chairs and turned the volume up on her mp3 player and let the music sweep over her. Maybe closing her eyes for a bit wouldn't be so bad. Just a little rest before getting back to the mound of paper work. Who cared what day it was anyway? Who even knew, really? Not here in Japan.

**********

The receptionist greeted Clyde with as friendly a smile as she could on Christmas Eve. She was eager to get home but some of the staff had no clue about what a Holiday was and as long as they didn't, she didn't either. She was determined, however, to make sure that she was out by eleven. There was no way she was going to be stuck here one second during Christmas.

When Clyde asked about Mercy, the woman clacked away on the keyboard and then looked back at him and nodded. "Yes, it appears she hasn't left for the evening yet. Do you want me to buzz her and let her know she has a visitor?"

Clyde shared an equally friendly smile with the receptionist. It was only right to match her pleasant greeting after all and Clyde did so, letting his teeth being shown that he had brushed multiple times to be completely rid of as much yellowness as possible, but most of all rid himself of the whiskey on his breath. He was proud of that.

Clyde's smile widened when he heard Mercy had not left the office. He beamed with excitement he could not contain. What luck!

"Ummm... Do you mind If I get some directions so I can go see her myself? I'd like ta' surprise her." Clyde admitted with slight embarrassment before lifted up his gift with the one arm that carried it to show the receptionist.

The Secretary flashed Clyde a suspicious look and lowered her gaze down to her desk. "Unless you're here for a meeting, without getting hold of her, you'll need some credentials. It's not regular business hours, you see." She said looking up at Clyde.

Clyde caught a glimpse of that look the Secretary gave him. Was he THAT suspicious looking!? Last he tried to see Megumi Mutoh Clyde got tazed by security and was locked in a cell of sorts... Not wanting to get tazed again, Clyde tried to keep it cool.

"Credentials? Oh!" Clyde's eyes lit up. He had that! Credentials! Clyde set down his umbrella to quickly get his wallet and flashed his AFW ID that show cased a younger Clyde with messier hair, red eyes and a shitfaced grin, contrasting the cleaner look he had right now.

"How's this?"

The secretary looked it over and nodded. "Yes. You're free to to go now." She said and looked up "She works for Ms. Fortuna. Her office is located on the top executive floor." The secretary looked over to one of the security guards and motioned for him to come oover. "I'll have him esciort you so you." She said with a friendly smile. The guard nodded and walked to the elevator while the secretary phoned for a new guard to take his place.

"Thank God no Tazing." Clyde thought to himself, happy he was accepted and able to pass through without a hitch. "Top Executive Floor. Gotcha." Clyde said with a nod towards the secretary. He wouldn't forget that. Still he couldn't help but get a tad nervous though when The Secretary brought up a security guard to escort him, but she was back to smiling all friendly like so Clyde felt no harm or worry. He still didn't like those guys though.

"Much obliged ma'am! Thank ya." Clyde said before got his umbrella and walked off with the Secretary guard. "Suup." He greeted him in a fresh manner as he joined the guard. Umbrella and gift tucked firmly in his arms.

The guard, while not overly stiff, didn't respond to Clyde's words with anymore than a polite nod. When they were in the elevator, he pushed a button and stood near the back of the elevator to keep an eye on Clyde as it whirred tot he top. A few seconds later the elevator doors opened to reveal rather plush hallway with nice doors down one side. Third door on the right." The guard said stepping through the elevator after Clyde did and then standing in front of it.

Getting in that elevator with the Guard who seemed alright, Clyde began to bounce on the balls of his feet, raising the heels of his loafers off the floor as he got somewhere between excited and nervous to see Mercy again. He hoped she'd like the suit and the gifts.

When the doors opened Clyde was quick to step out into the nice looking hallway with equally nice doors. Clyde whistled in an impressed manner at the sight just before The Guard told him to head for the third door on the right.

"Thanks pal. Wish me luck!" Clyde said in a rather cheery mood before he made his way down the nice little hallway, going past the first door, his heart began to beat, then past the 2nd door, it good a tiny bit faster until at last he reached that third door, Ms. Fortuna's office where Mercy was supposed to be. Clyde set his umbrella down on the wall next to the door and shuffled his feet in place before taking a deep breath. "Lord help me." Clyde mused to himself with a small smile, nervous as hell but keeping himself together.

"What's better to say, Hi or Good Evening? Prolly good evening." He adjusted his Tie with his free hand while placing his gift behind his back with the other before lifting up his free hand and giving three firm knocks on the door as he waited for Mercy to answer.

Mercy was nearly about to fall asleep suddenly she woke up. The sensation of falling made her snap to attention and she let out a soft gasp as she looked around. Her cheeks became rosy and she pulled her hand up to check her lips to make sure she hadn't accidentally drooled while she was briefly asleep. She then let out a soft sigh, completely oblivious to Clyde's knocking as she opened up a compact and decided to touch up her make up. Maybe she could find a bar in Tokyo and have a decent night out to celebrate whatever was going on. Either way, she started puffing her cheek with powder and redoing her lipstick with efficient expertise. Even in an office setting, with no one around, she had to look her best, right?