Mel felt three pairs of eyes settle on her as Tommy, Vaako, and Lachlan all turned to her... awaiting her response.
She was uncomfortable. But it was a new kind of discomfort. The men seated around her weren't questioning her ability to lead. They weren't gaulking. They weren't telling her to know her place...they were looking at her with expectant... what was it? Hope? Optimism? Concern?
They were actually looking at her to lead?
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait..." Mel said, waving both of her arms in front of her face in a criss-cross motion. "Me? What was it you said, Tommy? DIPLOMACY? I think yer confusin' me with someone else!" she said with a sarcastic edge in her voice.
"Y'all remember who almost cocked up the Detroit job, right?" Mel asked, looking at each man seated around the table in turn.
She finally locked eyes with Lachlan, almost begging him with her gaze to give her a way out of this. But at the same time almost daring to hope that someone was actually crazy enough, loyal enough to trust her. Despite that, she pressed on trying to self-sabatoge her own competency, still confused as to why no one else was doing it for her.
"Or accidentally leaking classified information? What about that, Lachlan? Why in the f*ck would y'all think I'm qualified to--"
Lachlan waved his hand, motioning for Mel to stop talking.
