Groom Wars

53. What's in a Glance?

Two young men, Cadmus and Leandro, sat in front of Cara, resembling a pair of teenage delinquents who had been summoned before their school's principal. The office was small. A stuffed dinosaur in the corner of the room attracted Leandro's interest, though Cadmus found it unappealing. Cadmus' swollen eye throbbed, and he mentally prepared himself to be expelled from the show after breaking the rules.

Black drapes covered the window behind Cara's chair, hiding their view of the night. Bookshelves lined the left wall; balanced atop the slate grey wooden slabs were history books and a few comics—at the sight of the graphic novels, Cadmus decided Cara probably wasn't a terrible person. She had good taste.

Cara wore a somewhat transparent silk robe. Around twenty-seven, she wasn't old or young, with a few faint lines showing through the makeup that covered her forehead. She wore rectangular-framed glasses. Cara sat, watching them with her elbows on the table and chin balanced on clenched fists.

She was supposed to be a temporary replacement for Uncle Charlie, a pervert who had tried to sexually assault Adriel, Adriel's friend, Diego, and a guy no one could remember. But seven months later, she was still in power, and even the male participants, though reluctant, showed her the respect she deserved. She reclined in her leather chair, resting her hands on her thighs. Her robe slipped, accidentally revealing the black material of her bra. It seemed they had caught her fresh out of the shower; her blonde hair was still damp though placed in a short ponytail.

Cadmus glanced at his hands on his lap as a blush warmed his face.

Cara spoke with a bored tone, "I should kick you off the show, but you both have a strong fanbase, and the princess has shown interest in you, so congratulations, you have her protection for now."

The young men glanced at her warily at the mention of the princess.

Cara asked, "What I want to know is how did this fight start?"

"We were play fighting," Leandro explained, "but I guessed we misjudged our strength." He smiled pleasantly.

"So it turned into a real fight?" Cara surmised.

"No, it was never more than a play fight; you know how boys are, sometimes we get a bit rough. Isn't that right, Cadmus?" Leandro asked, a tense grin on his lips as he glanced at Cadmus.

Cadmus nodded.

Cara said, "I may be young, but I'm no fool. This was a real fight. I don't know what caused it, but neither of you can show up at tomorrow's challenge looking like this."

Leandro offered, "I can wear an eyepatch over my black eye."

"That won't look good on camera. Since the two of you fought, we'll have to remove you from the challenge and elimination round. But I like you, and the princess likes you, so, to hide the fact that you fought, we'll say you're ill, and Adriel and Steven will form a temporary pair to finish this season. It also means your payment will be deducted since you can't appear on camera those two days and will have to be placed in a different room."

Leandro said, "CGI works wonders these days."

Cara smiled. "Unfortunately, we will not be using CGI to replace you. That would take far too much time and money. Now, you will tell me what caused two grown men to act like boys at a lunchroom brawl. Was it, Adriel, perhaps?"

Silence.

Cara sighed and said, "This is the first time I've seen two young men fight over another. Are you children?"

Neither responded to her inquiry, and she continued, "Fine. Ignore that question. Since I have you here, let's renegotiate your contract for the next part of the competition. You'll be meeting and dating the princess, so you'll have to pretend that you're not in love with Adriel. Cadmus, you're alright; I didn't notice anything till recently. You have not infringed upon any laws, but as for Leandro, we have footage of you that falls into many grey areas, and if we were to turn them over to the police, Adriel and you will be arrested.