Share
Chapter 10.1
Drawing Boundaries
The afternoon sun was hot on their faces.
Sweat trickled down their exposed foreheads, shins, and arms. Kitty couldn't catch a break. She started off running but wasn't used to it; she ended up jogging after him. The worst part was that he maintained his speed; the gap between them grew wider since she slowed down. John was halfway through the community gates to the suburbs.
Once in the suburbs, Kitty looked around; they ran past the complex where her apartment was. Using the building as a gauge, she scouted out Leah's house. She recalled what it looked like from the view from her balcony, and then she found it!
She mapped out the location in her head and started walking in the direction she drew in her mind. She was ignoring John, who ran straight without a clue where he was going. To Kitty, John was running to lose her; he had no idea where he was going or if he would reach Leah.
Kitty took matters i
Related chapters
The Games We Play Chapter 10.2
Rash Decisions "Now that bonehead is thoroughly stroked, on to phase two." They sat silently for a few minutes, normalizing their breathing. Mrs. Cameron was the first to move. She cupped her breasts and bent down to look for her scattered clothes. Leah could see John finish drinking the few sips in his water bottle on her peripherals and leave it on a door-mounted cupholder in the backseat. She smiled to herself and continued to change. John followed after her. When they were fully dressed, John began detaching the suctioned window shades while Leah sprayed pine-scented Lysol on the seats. After that, the two returned to the chairs in front. It was as if nothing had happened. Leah made a u-turn around the convenience store to the filling station in front of it. Both parties were silent; Leah discreetly watched John in her peripherals while she shut off the air conditioning and rolled down her window to light a menthol cig. He was in search of something. His gaze was elsewhere out
The Games We Play Chapter 11.1
Gently Slipping It's 6:50 pm, an hour early. She rolled her neck, stuffing her uniform in a backpack in a designated locker labeled C in the dressing room. Her black heels followed after the bag. Out of uniform, she rolled off her underwear and went to the adjacent room for a long soak. The steam was heavy in the lit communal shower room. Inside was nearly empty since everyone's shift was two hours away. She was there with four, maybe five other ladies. There wasn't anyone she recognized, so she kept to herself. Two were talking; one just got in a stall while the other was about to leave utterly naked with just a towel. She took the stall further from the door. She dropped her bath basket, hooked the towel beside the showerhead, and made the water run. Frigid, hard tap water met her face and chest, gradually running all over her slim body, leaving gooseflesh everywhere. It brought her alive. Feeling completely soaked, she turned one of the shower knobs inward. Steaming hot
The Games We Play Chapter 11.2
Hesitant Dive Kitty opened her eyes. It was morning again. The day started like the ones that came before; Kenneth left for work, and she did hours later. Absentmindedly she made her way through the day being somewhere else. Kitty was aware of what her body was doing but not her mind. In this state, she fixed the house and cleaned herself before heading for the grocery store. The day went faster than she would admit. At the store, Kitty was aisle stocking canned pineapples and mixed fruit with a teenage part-timer. The pair were in two different worlds; the boy seemed preoccupied whistling the songs playing on his AirPods, and she once again found herself thinking about Leah at work. Since the random episodes with her befriended blackmailer, Leah, the time after their parting seemed dull. She felt a growing empathy for the older lady, knowing her unhappiness made her resort to infidelity. "Maybe Leah felt the same dullness before her rendezvous," Kitty thought. Given the changes
The Games We Play Chapter 11.3
Petting Doe It was 3:30 at noon. Kitty had just clocked out of work. The shift was light; it was in the morning. There, customers were abundant and became fewer at noon. She was on her way to the address Leah had sent her. Luck for Kitty, the said shop was a few corners away from the supermarket where she worked. It took a brisk walk, twenty minutes or so, between pedestrian lanes. At noon the side walkways were seldom empty; Kitty found solace moving with several other strangers going their separate directions and paces. She found comfort from the sound of flat, pointed soles and heels tapping on cement-panted roads. Kitty and all the random people walking could hear the low hum of engines and smell the faint scent of rubber and gas blending with the wind. After following the address, Kitty found herself in front of a cake shop. It looked like an establishment from a vintage movie, but she couldn't pinpoint from where. It was a rectangular standalone shop that seemed to mimic a
The Games We Play Chapter 12
Party Favors Kitty was alone that evening. As soon as she got back from Leah's, Ken texted her. Kitty already anticipated it to be about working overtime. At six, his message came in a little earlier than his usual "I'm headed home" on her notification bar. Usually, she would order takeout Chinese food and watch a raunchy romance movie in front of the couch, but she didn't feel like it today. Her head and body were working separately tonight. Instead, Katherine's hands used the extra pasta sauce in the chill tray and made herself some mac and cheese. "It would help if you were charming." Her head was thinking about the afternoon. Kitty's ideologies and her friendship with Leah were opposing. Even if she told herself that she was self-aware of what happened earlier, Kitty couldn't bring herself to open up. She couldn't tell a soul about the afternoon with a man that wasn't her husband, not even to that man's sister. "Those green eyes," she muttered to herself. Kitty nearly jumped
The Games We Play Chapter 13
Under His Nose "No." "Oh no." "Oh fudge, no!" “You’ve got to be kidding me!” "Think, Kitty, think." Mrs. Lewis stood stiff as a rock. Standing there for a moment, stuck in her internal turmoil, Kitty knew what she needed to do but still figured out the timing. She was also glad John stopped ringing the doorbell. Kitty didn't want to seem rude to Paul; she had just met him and didn't want to make a wrong first impression. If today were only yesterday, Kitty would have barged out the front gate and given John-crazed-stalker-Evans a piece of her mind, but they have people over from Paul's work. Now Kitty was left to think of an excuse to leave abruptly. Kitty was also hoping that Leah would notice too and excuse her, but she was a few feet away in the kitchen. "Kitty, was it?" Kitty jumped after hearing Paul's unexpectedly deep voice. He stood behind her. On instinct, she locked her elbows, turned to face him, and politely smiled. "Yes?" "You enjoying yourself? You look tense.
The Games We Play Chapter 14
The Reasons Ding~ The automated bell chimed in the metallic elevator box, and the steel doors opened right after. Keanu dropped the call. He knew well enough to behave while still on the clock. Hopefully, Mrs. Lewis’s number is filed in a throw-away sim if things don’t go according to plan. The phone still on hand, CEO West walked to Sec. Lee’s desk. A warm empty mug sat beside a cleared desk. The blond woman had word docs open on her screen, typing away her boss’s schedule for the next day. The day would have been longer if she had been alone. Luckily tasks were divided, leaving her to take care of half the paperwork. Ms. Lee had her day sorted out. All that remained was the CEO’s schedule. The said schedule has almost ready for printing. When Dina glanced up, she found CEO West walking toward her station. He stopped right in front of her. Dina saved the docs before turning to face him. Based on the time on her screen, the meeting didn’t go so well. If it did, Mr. West wouldn’t b
The Games We Play Chapter 15.1
Deceitful Indulgence Patrick Sylas loosely jotted something down. He wasn’t sure if it was gibberish or if he was writing what he saw. Whatever he scribbled, it was beyond the purpose of their meeting. Editor Sylas glanced down, his dark brows furrowed. He managed to write something coherent. Annoyed, he ripped the page clean off and folded it twice. Pat stuffed it in between random areas to forget about it. He was lucky. The staff seated in front and on his side were too busy to watch his movements. The mood changed after their meal. Sylas sat cross-legged at the end of the bench. Every staff member was busy brainstorming to the right and in front of the connected bars near him. Each head seemed caught in an individual bubble, all except him. He wasn’t sure if Cameron told them to continue without him, but everyone was engaged. It seemed convenient. No one cocked their heads up to see the three persons inside. Patrick was alone, observing discreetly. A scene played out between Mr
Latest chapter
