"You," Kali swallowed nervously, unfurling her fingers from Samuel's arm and wrist. "You can let go of me."

He stood behind her, his head resting on the top of her head and his arms tight across her chest and stomach. She felt him move, but he didn't loosen his grip. His breath fanned over her neck as he bent to look at her. She turned her head, allowing him to see her face and offering a thin smile.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, patting his hand. "I am."

Carefully, he withdrew his hand, stroking the back of her head as he turned her to face him. Dutifully he looked her over, worry etched on his face. "You scared me for a moment there."

"I am sorry." She muttered, slightly embarrassed. Before she could say anything else, Samuel drew her back into his arms, her face pressed into the neck of his iron-pressed shirt.

She could smell a hint of the starch spray they used along with his usual perfume.

Still shaken and understanding that he was giving her support, she relaxed into him. Hesitant, her hands crept up his back. Cautiously she pressed them into his back, her fingers digging into the material of his shirt.

"There is nothing to be sorry about. My mother has a way of pushing everyone's buttons. I don't understand why she won't just leave us in peace."

He held her for some time, then urged her to walk with him to the living room. He pushed the coffee table away and made space for them to sit on the rug.

"Can you bring some food?" She politely asked, and he agreed.

"Which do you want?"

"Anything."

He picked up some of the burgers and leftover noodles. Then returned for the champagne after he set them all on the coffee table. As he sank to the carpet she held up her glass to him. He smiled, pouring some of the champagne into it.

"Thanks."

"Don't know how you keep so much down." He examined the liquid, gazing into the bottle.

"It has to do with metabolism."

"Is that right?"

She bit into a burger, moaning at the taste as she wiped the sauce that dripped down the side of her mouth. "I can eat an entire buffet and have space for more when I am stressed."

"Still?"

Her lashes battered against her cheeks as she lowered her eyes. "I am improving."

"That's good. That's good."

She was well into her second burger when he drew nearer. She stopped, watching him move his hand over her head to rest it on the couch.

"We don't have to talk about it." She spoke before he could.

"I am not going to talk about that. I can tell you don't want to."

She searched his face, then asked, "What then?"

"Listen. I can't judge your character or your life. I don't know what your parents would have thought about it."

"They would have been bloody disappointed." She muttered, picking at the lettuce in her burger."

"Maybe. I don't know your mother, but from what you have told me about your family and how your parents were, I don't think they'd be as harsh as you think. Would they be disappointed? Maybe. Would they be heartbroken? Possibly. But what parent wouldn't feel these things when the child they raised doesn't grow up to follow the values they raised them with. Being disappointed doesn't mean she would wish a life of misery for you, or your dad would turn his back."

He wiped the tear from her face before cupping her cheeks in his palm. "She would advise you. I think if you were ready to listen, she would give you her hand and help pull you back, not let you go on your own when it was obvious you wanted to change. Even if you didn't want to change, I don't think she'd have been so angry. She wouldn't offer you a shoulder to cry on when you needed it."

Kali softened, smiling warmly; tears welling in her eyes as his words echoed through her conscience. Deep down she believed him. In a solemn corner of her heart, she believed her parents would have done all he said. But the anger, the pain, and the weight of her failures made it difficult to accept.

"You don't know what I'd give to hear them say those things to me. To have their support and their help. To have them."

"I can only imagine, but you don't need them here physically to be reassured. Look at your sister, your aunt and even yourself. Somewhere in you are all the values they thought you, all the goodwill and all the love they showered on you. When you notice you are teetering back to the wrong side of the line, remember those things and keep moving." He leaned closer, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze. "You are a good person Kali Hastings."

She laughed, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Pig-headed. Stubborn. Rash. Wild and unpredictable, but every bit a good human being." He indicated for her to look around the room. "You have to see my face every day and occasionally put up with my moods without cutting my head off."

She choked, laughing harder as she leaned forward, resting her head on his shoulder. "It does take patience."

"I bet it does. You are almost as pig-headed as me."

"Almost, but never on your level." He teased, his fingers ruffling the back of her head.

She sniffled, straightening up as she pressed the back of her hands to her cheeks. "I need to get myself together. I can't fall apart each time I run into your mother."

"Cut yourself some slack. It's your first time. Knowing my mother, she'd get under your skin a few more times before this is done. So, thicker skin and whatnot."

"Do you have thicker skin?"

"Impenetrable."

"Must have taken years."

"My entire childhood. The only time she chipped it was when she tied my hands into this marriage. She did it knowing how much it hurt me and didn't even bat an eye." Samuel spoke indifferently, with a calmness that signified how desensitised he was to it all. "It only served to remind me that she doesn't count my feelings in her decisions."

"I can't imagine how that hurt."

"It used to. A lot. Then I learnt to give my love and heart to people who deserved it. Like my father and my siblings. I don't waste my time anymore trying to find the love of someone who, for her own personal reasons, has decided to not love me."

"Listen." She spoke after some time sitting in silence. "Even after all this. If you ever need someone to listen to or talk to, you can talk to me."

He smirked, "Saint of lost causes, huh?"

She shook her head, looking into his wounded brown eyes. "No. Because it would be nice to walk away from all of this knowing I have someone like you as a friend."

"If by the end we haven't eaten each other's heads off, then of course."

The phone rang, and she dried her face before picking the phone up. Samuel turned to the muted television, munching on his fries and burger while she spoke to whoever was on the other end. As she spoke her voice grew more vibrant. By the time the call ended, she was on pins and needles.

"Who was that?"

"It's a call from K. Tech." She gushed. Disbelief morphed into excitement as she rushed to Samuel, falling to her knees beside him. The phone fell between them. She grabbed his hands and squealed with unbridled joy. "I sent an application a month ago and never heard back. I thought they weren't interested."

"K. Tech?"

"Yes. They are not big now, but they are fast-growing, and it would be a great opportunity to be hired there."

"Yeah, I know about K. Tech. It's owned by the son of my mother's oldest friends."

Kali's smile fell then, and she slumped. "Well, that's not good."

"What do you mean? You've been hungry for a job all this time. You have not gotten the first two jobs, and now this falls into your lap, and you want to turn it down because you heard my mother's name?"

"I know her well enough. What if she uses her influence to get me fired after the first two weeks? If she can convince the loan sharks to call in my loan as a favour to her, why can't she do that too? I want a life far from your mother's clutches."

"My family is wealthy. My mother is wealthy and well-connected. There is no life outside her claws. Even if you found a place to work where there is no single hint of her, she'd find a way to ruin it if she wanted to. Take the opportunity." He touched her arm. "Be excited."

She bit her lip, unable to hide her joy and simply fell into his arms, laughing with anticipation.