Dangerous Games

SOMETHING LOST, NOTHING GAINED

Samuel looked up from his bed when the doorbell rang. The stupid thing was so loud it could be heard all around the house. He listened for a moment, barely interested, before returning his attention to the book he held. After all, there wasn't much to do since his project went up in flames. There was a plan to make it all get back together, but it would take a while to achieve. He spent the better part of his day, when there was no work, reading in his room or in his father's study.

He flipped to the next page, his concentration slowly disintegrating, and the words became more jumbled to his eyes. He could clearly remember when the project first went into construction; the joy he felt in seeing the foundation get laid. It was a big project, which meant he had to juggle his job alongside the project. He could still remember contracting an architect and an engineer and all the money he put down to buy the land. The books he had stacked in the library had different genres for all ages. Samuel recalled his excitement. Then a blaze sent more than half of his dream back to scrap.

Samuel sighed and tossed the book aside, hustling himself out of bed and towards his window. He got to it, barely peeking out when a knock at his door made him look back.

"Yeah?"

Giovanna walked into the room, dressed in her usual home fit made up of shorts and a crop top. "Mom wants to see you. She is in her office?"

"Sure."

She closed the door, and he groaned, shuffling into his slides and walking out of the room towards his mother's office. The room was first for his father, and he worked there often. His father liked to carve and paint. His father wasn't one to brag about his skills, and he would always shake off any elaborate compliments and praise. In Samuel's eyes, his artworks were phenomenal; one of his paintings of Samuel's first car hung in his apartment. After his mother gifted his father a small cabin at the back of the house for him to work in, she reconstructed the study for herself. That gift was probably one of the nicest things he had seen his mother do for his father.

"Mom?" she looked up from her desk as he took his seat. "Giovanna said you wanted to see me."

She stayed seated, pulling files together and closing the folder before she moved to sit on the chair next to his. "This is going to be a bit of an awkward conversation. Patrick and I spoke some days ago. He said he saw you some time ago at a jewellery store. You told him you were purchasing a ring?"

Samuel shrugged, rubbing his palm against his trousers. "Well, Patrick is a snitch, and yes, I went to buy a ring. I was... I am planning to propose to Flora sometime soon."

His mother only smiled, but something felt off about her temperament. Samuel nervously sat in the chair, shuffling to find a spot that suited him. "I have to say that I am glad you want to take a step towards marriage. Most guys your age don't see the point."

"Most guys my age are sometimes scarred that it wouldn't work out."

"True."

"Plus, I am not that young mom. I am almost thirty. I think it's about time I start thinking of other parts of my life outside work. Flora and I have been together a while, and I think we are ready for that."

"I am glad you have put a lot of thought into this. That's mature of you. That said, there is no other easier way to say it. You can't marry Flora."

Samuel couldn't choke down his laughter no matter how hard he tried; it burst out of him. His mom lifted a cursory brow, and he coughed into his hand, trying to stifle the rest of his amusement, to no avail. Between chuckles and snorts, he apologized to his mother and thrust his face between his hands as he tried to get himself under control. Once he calmed down, he reclined against the chair, a hand across his stomach. His mother looked at him impassively, waiting for his monetary outburst to come to a complete stop. Samuel apologized again and sat straighter. His relationship with his mother wasn't the easiest, but he had never heard her say something as ridiculous to him as what he just heard.