Samuel parked his car as the mechanical doors dragged shut. After all the fun and food they had at her birthday party, the last thing he expected was for Kali to get the urge to cook a gourmet meal at five in the evening. As luck would have it, she was missing an ingredient, and he found himself sorting through the shelves at the mall, trying to find a bottle of oyster sauce. He grabbed the bag from the passenger seat and hopped out of the car. Kali rushed into the house at the same time he did and skidded to a stop in front of him. "Hey."She had changed while he was away. Her baggy shorts and sports bra were gone. Replaced with a knitted button-up dress, but didn't have any shoes on. Her hair was out of its bun and flowing down her back with only a hair band to hold any stray strands away f

When Samuel returned from work, he was shocked to see the flowers gone. His keys went on the plate, and he called out to Kali. The house was silent, but the lights were on, and her car had been in the garage. He knew she was home. "Kali!" "I am coming." She appeared on the stairs, wrapping her hair into a bun as she skipped merrily. "I guess there are no dinners on the patio today." Kali stuck her tongue out at him, understanding that he was teasing her for her appearance. "We are having dinner inside, in the living room today. I ordered." "Hmm. What's on the menu?" "Junk." She threw herself into his arms, and he caught her with a huff. With her feet dangling above his, she held fast to him by his shoulders. "Burgers, pizzas, hot pockets, fries, tasty fried chicken." "Wow. What are you trying to eat away now?" "The disaster of this morning." She kissed him, and he set her down on her feet. "I told you it

"I am on my way to the house now." "You've picked her up already?" "No need to waste time," Samuel replied, turning to the rearview mirror. Giovanna sat in the back, strapped in with her headphones on and her eyes glued to the screen of her phone. They had decided that he would pick her up from school so they could talk at home and sort things out. He promised she could stay as long as she wanted, so long as they spoke to their parents. "Alright. Be safe." "You too." As the call dropped, he checked in on Giovanna again. She had not said a word when he picked her up from school, but from the whispers, he picked from her friend, he had learnt there was more to the story than she told anyone. For some reason, her friends at school were surprised that her "boyfriend" didn't come to pick her up again. For whatever reason, Giovanna decided to kiss Vincent to convince her preppy girlfriends that they were dating. He didn't touch that topic yet. They could discuss it when they got ba

“She finally rolls in.”Kali closed the door, throwing her purse on the couch and kicking off her heels with a moan. She looked exhausted, which was nothing new on days when she came home late. Samuel helped her out of her jacket and neatly set her shoes aside. He knelt down and tucked her hair behind her face.“Bad day?”“Parts of it.” Her hands framed his face, and she kissed him deeply. “It’s getting better.”Samuel smiled. “Want to talk about it?”“Yeah.” She didn’t sound excited by the prospect of it. That made him nervous. “Can I get something to eat first?”“Sure. You are in luck. I decided to cook this evening.”“Did you?”“Yeah.” He grinned and helped her stand. “You can tell me what happened over a hot plate and cool glass of juice.”“Can I also make requests?&rdq

"Shh." Samuel laughed, burying Kali's face into his neck until she could compose herself. Kali wasn't drunk, but she also didn't have much control over herself either. It was almost one, and Giovanna was obviously in bed. The jangling of the keys travelled far, so he wrestled them from her hands and set them down quietly in the bowl. He didn't want to wake his sister because he remembered Giovanna had a hard time falling asleep once she woke. "Come on," He whispered to Kali, gathering her in his arms and pressing his front of her back. "It's time we got to bed. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow." "Indeed we do." She rubbed her palm over his forearm, playfully dragging her nails down his skin til he hissed. She waddled up the staircase with him behind her. He left her at the door of their room to check on Giovanna, returning after he confirmed his sister was fast asleep. "I hope we can wake up tomorrow." He shared, and Kali laughed.