Chapter Text
4th July, 1988
It's been 2 months since Mercedes and Tommy broke up. It's a national holiday in the United States for Independence Day. Mercedes gets up from her bed in the morning, leaves her bedroom (which is upstairs of the mansion) and greets her dad Juan García Cortez, who was having breakfast in the dining room.
J.G Cortez: Ohhh good morning hija! How did you sleep?
Mercedes: Good morning dad *yawns* I slept well. I’m gonna prepare my breakfast *goes to the kitchen*
J.G Cortez: The uncle and aunt are coming here today from Argentina and they're going to stay here for one week.
Mercedes: Oh, I didn't know. And where are they sleeping?
J.G Cortez: In the guests room, with their own bathroom. And we are going to have lunch in the backyard and we are getting in the pool.
The Cortez family is from Argentina. The colonel J.G Cortez is argentinian and had his only child Mercedes in Buenos Aires in 1963 with his wife, who then passed away when Mercedes was 10 years old. After losing an important member of the family and living under a military dictatorship in the country, Juan and Mercedes moved to Vice City to have better opportunities in their lives.
Mercedes started dating Tommy when she was 23 and he was 25 in 1986. They met at a party on Juan´s yacht. J.G introduced his daughter to Tommy and the two fell in love at first sight. Two years later they broke up because they both argued all the time and decided to end the relationship. Vercetti started going out with strippers in the Malibu Club after the breakup and Cortez stayed single.
At the beginning, Mercedes was very sad for breaking up with his ex-boyfriend but she could get over him by spending more time with her dad and friends and doing productive activities. She almost quit her job as a model for fashion magazines due the anguish she had but she continued with her job anyway.
Juan Garcia used to work with Tommy so that the young man would do him favors. But when Mercedes and Tommy broke up, the colonel stopped working with him.
The uncle and aunt arrive at the mansion, they greet Juan and Mercedes and sit down at the backyard table to launch. There was American food and music for the 4th of July.
During the lunch the telephone of the house rings and Mercedes leaves the table to pick up the call. It was Candy Suxxx. She wanted to ask Mercedes if she wanted to go to a club on the weekend. Mercedes agrees to hang out with Candy and goes back to the table.
J.G Cortez: Who called Mechi?
People close to Mercedes call her Mechi as a nickname.
Mercedes: Candy, my best friend. We’re going to a club this weekend.
J.G Cortez: Be careful. There’s every crazy person at night in this city.
Mercedes: Yes pa, i know. *rolls her eyes*
8th July, 1988
Saturday night. Mercedes gets ready for going out wearing a magenta dress, shiny black platform shoes, black earrings and a purple lipstick. Candy picks her up with her car to her house.
Candy wears a red ceda dress, red lipstick, gold earrings and red shoes. When Mercedes gets in her car, she stares at Candy for a few seconds. She found her very beautiful as long as she was attracted to her.
Mercedes: Hi *looks smiling at Candy* You look beautiful. *laughs nervously*
Candy: Hi, haha. Thanks, you look precious too.
Mercedes: Thanks *smiles without showing teeth*
They arrive at Malibu Club, go to the bar and order a few drinks. Out of nowhere Tommy appears drunk and flirting with two girls saying anything. Mercedes sees him and laughs at how silly her ex is. Candy watches Mercedes looking at her ex and laughs too “haha how stupid he is”. “I hope he doesn't see me” says worried Mercedes “Nah, i don’t think he’ll see you i think he’s far away from us”.
During the night Mercy, (yeah, some people call her like that too but the majority of time they call her Mechi) spends a lot looking at Candy. She likes her but… will Candy like her too? One month after breaking up with her boyfriend, Mercedes started to feel attracted to her. She would like to tell her about how much she likes her but she’s afraid Candy will react badly and stay away from her. She’s also worried that if her dad finds out that his daughter likes a woman, he will reject her. She doesn’t know what to do. She’s scared of facing bad situations.