Dangerous Games

THE PRICE OF A LIE

Flora threw the rolling pin down and slapped a frustrated hand down on the ceramic counter. Once, then after the pain settled, she hit it again and again. She desperately tried, through the days since she last saw Samuel, not to cry. She made every effort not to give him a second thought. She wanted to wait for him to finally call her and tell her the truth because she didn't believe a word of all he said. How could she believe it? How?

Samuel was not a perfect man, he had many flaws, but cheating wasn't one of them. He had spoken to her about moving in together, starting a family, and getting married. Sure, those were hypotheticals, fantasies they loved to live in once in a while, but she knew he meant it when he said he wanted them to be married.

A tear fell when she got lost in her thoughts, and she grunted, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. She pulled herself together and finished cutting out the biscuits she wanted to bake for the house. The doorbell rang, and she grabbed a rag from the table and wiped her hands as she made her way out of the kitchen. Christen walked in at the same time Flora came out, and her friend turned sombre when their eyes met.

"Hey, you."

"Hi." The rag was tucked into the front pocket of her apron, and she leaned close as Christen came to kiss her. "What's all this?"

"Oh, nothing, just for the store. I needed some supplies, so I went for some before I came over."

"Let me help."

Flora took the bags to the living room and arranged them on the armchair. Christen settled into the sofa that faced the television and quietly watched the muted show that played while she waited on Flora. The bags were set, so she moved to the kitchen to get a jug of juice from the fridge and two tall glasses.

"You look exhausted. Have you been walking all morning?"

Christen accepted the glass with a kiss blown at Flora. "Not really. How are you doing? You know, with all that happened with Samuel."

Flora shook her head, her eyes glued on the television. "I honestly haven't even processed it in its entirety yet. I keep thinking back to it and feeling like something is not right. Samuel isn't like that, you know? How does he fall for another woman like that." She snapped her fingers.

"Look, people surprise you. You have murderers whose parents say, 'my child could never.'"

"That's dark."

"Still true, though."

Flora shrugged. What did she know about anything? She was sure that Samuel loved her, but she couldn't figure out the reason he would lie. Three years they spent together; she learnt a lot about him as he learnt a lot about her as well. She knew that a vein in his head ticked when he was agitated, and he glowered when he was upset. He wasn't into parties unless he knew at least three people who would be present. He hated trousers that had no pockets or pockets that were too shallow.

Sure, they were small things here and there, but they summed up to make a whole. It was from knowing him she sensed something was not right. But her pride wouldn't let her ask him anything more. She tried everything that day. Cajolement, anger, compromise. She asked every way she could.

"I know Samuel too much to believe this with ease. Something happened. A few days before he came over, I noted something was off with his attitude. He didn't call as he usually did, and then when I called him, he sounded a bit distant. Detached. He simply said we needed to talk."

"Sounds like guilt to me."

"No, I..."

"Listen, you love him. You don't want to believe that he is capable of cheating on you. If we turn it around, the situation might make more sense to you."