Dangerous Games

LIGHTS DOWN LOW

Samuel flicked the lights on as they entered the house. Kali walked behind him, pulling the band off her hair and massaging her scalp with a groan. Dinner had gone swimmingly. Exactly how they expected it to go. What was clear tonight was how enthused his mother was with whatever went on at the table. Throughout the dinner, he saw through her façade of disgruntled matriarch to the woman who relished the tarnishing of Kali's character.

"All that time spent on the road reminding me to be calm tonight, and you end up losing your cool." Kali grinned as they dragged themselves into the living room.

"Giovanna is so immature sometimes. I couldn't sit there for one second more, watching how her offhand comments entertained my mother."

"You saw that too, huh."

"I think everyone saw it, but we see it differently. To my family, my mother has always supported and allowed Giovanna's loud behaviour, but I know differently in this case. Giovanna is her mouthpiece, saying all the trash she wants to without turning heads. She gets to look like the worried mother while Giovanna takes charge, attacking you."

"It doesn't matter now. With the news and the magazines supporting Giovanna's ideas, I bet she'd be more vocal now."

On the way, they stopped by a newsstand, and lo and behold, the news was as his father said it was. The picture they used was one from their wedding, and the headlines were bold and in pink, "More to the June wedding than meets the eye." They weren't even trying to be creative.

"Looking at it won't make the words fade away."

"I am wondering why we even came back with this." He sighed, tugging off his shoes before crashing on the nearest couch.

"It's a good thing I don't have work tomorrow. I won't be in the mood to face another load of problems, much less the whispers of my colleagues."

"I am sorry about that."

"I can handle it. Truly. I did have to call June and warn her about everything. I don't want this to catch her off guard."

"What did she say?"

"She said she understood and asked if I was okay." She grunted, yanking her sneakers off and throwing her purse to the couch. "While most of Giovanna's argument made my blood boil, I can't get the part about her friends out of my head."

"Giovanna's friends are shallow. Why should you care what they think."

"Please, I don't. I am thinking about June. I don't want this to give her a hard time. June can become passionately defensive when it comes to our family and friends. She won't take anyone badmouthing the people she cares about. Especially me."

"You are worried she might get into fights at school?"

"Yes. Think about it. Anyone with doubts about our "rushed" marriage now has all they need to come out of the woodwork. More opinions will rise because people love to input on the personal lives of others. Especially people with a status and a name for themselves. Who is to say someone like that doesn't go to her college? They might try to use it to bully her or humiliate her. She'd stand up for herself, and if it leads to a fight, it might affect her at school."

"Hopefully it won't come to that." Samuel deflated on his seat, closing his eyes. "Are you hungry?"

Kali chuckled. "No. The mess at your house didn't put me in that much of a state. Are you?"

"Not at all. Right now, all I want is to get to bed and relax until I feel like sleeping."

"I hear that."

Kali went ahead while he stayed in the living room with his thoughts. What would happen if Flora saw the magazine? Would she also think he was fooled into marriage and ruined their relationship for a woman who only wanted his money? He had a