Are You Mine?

ii.

Fortune smiled on me as I weaved through traffic on my way to Damien's place. It was school holidays and that meant fewer cars on the roads. In fact, I still had moments to spare when I pulled up to the white house with the yellow roof that I spotted Damien's wife herd the kids into their massive family-sized SUV.

How Damien managed to balance all of his commitments was a mystery to me. And it was definitely something I needed to ask him about the next time I had some free time.

I exited my car just as the SUV rumbled away to the T-junction and turned left towards the main road.

"You're early," greeted Damien.

"What can I say? Lady Luck is with me today," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"So, how'd the interview go? You certainly look the part. Have to admit, I like Leah the Professional more than Leah that's perpetually in plaid."

"Of course, you would," I snorted as I joined him at the door. "As for the interview, I like to think I aced it."

"But...?"

"There are so many things I feel like I could have said better. You know how it is," I said, tugging at the left sleeve of my blazer. "Thankfully, no-one in this decade expects me to be in a pencil skirt anymore. It's these small mercies that I'm grateful for."

Damien rubbed his chin. "Don't know about that. There's just something about a tight pencil skirt and a push-up bra that just screams CEO, y'know?"

I looked at him, unimpressed. Some might have described it as a baleful glare. We had been gaming buddies for years and I knew he meant most of what he said in jest. A misogynistic asshole, Damien was not. But I still felt compelled to take a stand. "I can't believe you kiss your wife and kids with that mouth."

"Hey, she's the one with the ideas for roleplay. Not me."

It took me a moment to compute what he said. And then an image flashed before my eyes. Before he could say another word, I had slammed my hands over my ears. "Oh God! Why would you go there? That was too much information. Way too much freakin' information right there. Eww. God."

Next to me, Damien chuckled as he pushed open the unlocked door to his house. "If you need it, I have bleach."

"Yes, thank you. I'll just pour it down your throat first and then mine. When the rest of the gang arrive, they can try to solve the mystery of both our deaths."

"In my defence, I didn't ask you to imagine it," said Damien, his hands help up in the universal gesture that said he was a friendly and unarmed.

I flipped him the bird. "How could I not when you go and say things like that!" And then a thought entered my head. "This is all some ploy to get into my head, isn't it? Dang Damien, I knew you're eager to hold onto that throne of yours but I never realised how threatened you felt."

He said not a word, instead smiling enigmatically at me as he retrieved the boardgames from the cupboard under the stairs. I couldn't tell if my words rattled him or if he simply found my declaration amusing.

God, why was he so hard to read? Was that the real reason why I lost to him again and again? The fact that I was an open book and Damien was a man that kept his cards close to his vest?

Damien plopped the stack of boardgames on the dining room table and then set about grabbing the crockery. All with a smug look on his face that I desperately wanted to wipe off.

After taking a deep breath, I gathered what remained what left of my confidence. Once again, I'd let Damien get the better of me. It was no wonder he had reigned so long as the King Gamer. But today, he would soon topple from his throne and our circle would finally know a queen that was beautiful and terrible as the dawn.