Nicole hesitated. "No, thank you, ma'am. I won't be staying long. I didn't know he wasn't in." She was sure how she felt with this sudden attention from the wrong candidate. It would be so weird telling his mother.
"He's gone to the university for his clearance and all that. You just missed him." She tilted her head. "But if you came all the way here, surely what you want to say is important. Sit, dear. Don't be shy." Surprisingly, Raymond's mother was welcoming as she plastered that friendly smile on her face.
Nicole fidgeted. "I'd rather go back home and come some other time when he's home, Ma'am."
"Come now," Mrs. Schnitzel smiled. "I was just dying of boredom. Give me something interesting. What's going on?"
Nicole shifted on her feet, clutching the envelope like it was a shield.
Mrs. Schnitzel patted the seat across from her. "I'm not going to bite."
