Unintended Consequences (Act One) Completed

Chapter 15: A Real Lie

The agreement was simple enough to make. NObody asks questions except the journalist. I'm not even sure you can call Simon Debache a journalist. What I know is that he runs one of the most popular gaming and tech blogs in the country. If you like gaming you read his blog. Period. So it only made sense that our first official interview as husband and wife should be on this site.

Simon, it turns out, is everything that you imagine when you imagine a gamer. He is long on bravado and short on style. But, he knows his shit, and he knows how to make people care about the real lives behind all of the tech. That's why he's here. That, and the fact that I promised to let him review the next big thing my company releases.

I sit with Simon across the room while Unique sifts through rack after rack of headscarves. She looks amazing with her hair pulled away from her face and the vivid colors of her clothes remind me of royalty.

"So, this is the mystery woman?" The young journalist's eyes wander over her body.

"Yes," I clear my throat to bring his attention back to me.

"There have been rumors for years about your involvement with several ladies but you've never confirmed anything. Now, when we finally get a look at your mystery lady the courtship is already over."

"I wouldn't say that. Beleive it or not, I learn something new about her every day."

"So how did you meet?" He leans forward with a pen at the ready to take down his impressions of me as I answer this question. I try my best to recall the night in question.

"We just ran into each other, She was something special and I knew when I saw her that I had to have her," I say. the best lies are the ones that are mostly true.

"Love at first sight?"

"Not exactly. It's more like, when you see something that you know you need and you tell yourself that you're willing to do whatever is necessary to have. It can honestly say I didn't love her right away, but I knew I needed her. "

"You're usually a man of few words. You don't exactly have a history of being friendly to the press. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"We all have things we want to protect. In the past, I wanted to protect my privacy. Now I have something more important that I need to protect. That means I have to handle things with a little more maturity, and that includes my relationship with the press and the public."

"More maturity, hmm," I can tell he is getting ready to ask me the kinds of questions I've been avoiding. I catch a glimpse of Unique chatting happily with London and remind myself that she hasn't been this happy and carefree in months. If I want to keep her safe and guarantee that she had many more days like this, even if it's not with me, I have to grow up and face my mistakes.

"Up until this point you've failed to comment on the incident that went viral a few weeks back."

"With the cops?"

"yeah."

"Well, it was pretty simple. I was intoxicated, but I wasn't driving. I left the house on foot to go to the store. Of course, I had no idea that it had been robbed a few minutes before I showed up. And if I was sober I would have been more aware and noticed that something was really off about the whole situation, but I wasn't. I went inside, made my purchase and left. As soon as I exited the police showed up and tried to arrest me."

"They thought you were the suspect."

"Yeah. And if I handled the situation better that would have been the end of it," I admit.

"But you didn't."

"Oh, no! I was understandably upset and it turned into an altercation. That's what you saw on the video."

"You were arrested and charged with a drunk and disorderly," he presses.

"Yes, I was. But, the charges were later dropped. I think in this case mistakes were made of both sides."

"Are you saying that you were profiled?"

"No. I'm saying that it was a case of mistaken identity and if I had been sober it would have ended there."

"But this is n't the first time you've been in trouble. There have been numerous instances over the years where you ended up in hot water due to bad behavior."

"And alcohol."

"Is that an excuse."

"No, in fact, I am bringing it up as a reminder to myself that I never want to repeat those mistakes. I have too much to lose. I can't afford to make those kinds of mistakes again."

In the distance, Unique twirls around in her dress like a little girl. The material floats up around her body and dances on the air as she pirouettes around London. She looks amazing and I am struck, once again, but the fact that she is mine. Maybe not forever, but at least for a little while. For this year, she is my wife.

"That would be your wife?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said the thing you can't afford to lose, it's your wife right?"

"Yes."

"What about your pending merger with-"

"I'm sorry, I think that we are about to start again," I interrupt him. "We can continue this by phone or in my office on Monday, can't we?"

"Sure, but can you give us any clues?"

"I want to make money, sure. But, I also want to make sure that I am doing whats best for my employees and my customers. That means that, while RayTek welcomes the opportunity to work with anybody, I'm not going to jump into a bad deal."

Simon's eyes glaze over as I speak and I am can tell he is one of the many who has been watching the growth of RayTek for the last few years and dreading that the things that make it unique would be lost in the merger. He smiles a little, reminding me of a kid getting an autograph from his favorite football player. A month ago I would have missed it. A month ago that feeling he's trying so hard to cover up wouldn't have meant anything to me. Today its proof that despite what others may say I'm doing more than "playing games" with my life.