Fire cracker

A Family Conspiracy

It was a beautiful Sunday, and Roy was spending the day with the Hughes family. After a delicious dinner, they opted to work off the calories by having a walk in the park. Elicia took his hand and told him she wanted to walk with him. Who was he to say no to the littlest Hughes? He might not be good with children, but Elicia seemed to like him for some reason. His friends were only delighted to let him occupy their five-year-old daughter. It was the least he could do after Gracia’s delicious food. Besides, Elicia was entertaining. Seeing her view on life, her curiosity, was a balm to the dark side of the world where he worked. He and Hughes worked in the DA’s office and often dealt with the worst of the worst. 

Elicia looked up at him. “Uncle Roy, I want to play,” she begged, tugging on his hand. “Hide and seek, please.”

Roy looked at her parents, who nodded. 

“Just in the playground, dearest,” Gracia warned. “Roy, we’re going to get some drinks from the cafe around the corner if you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” He held his hand out to Elicia. 

Instead of taking it, she looked at it and stuck out her tongue. “Race you!” She took off running. 

“You cheeky little thing,” Roy called after her. He turned to make a teasing remark to Hughes about how she’s taking after him, but he and Gracia were already on their way to the cafe. He smiled as he ran after the giggling child. It was good that they found one another. He wasn’t sure how Hughes found the time to have a private life, let alone date, get married and raise a kid. He certainly didn’t have the time.

Elicia was grinning when he joined her. “I beat you,” she sang.

He tried to keep a straight face. “You cheated.” He wagged a finger.

“N-uh.” She shook her head. “You’re just slow.” She spun around, singing, “Slow, slow, slow. I beat you.”

“Yes, you did.” He let out an exaggerated sigh. “I must be getting old, Elicia.”

She tilted her head and frowned. “Are you older than Mommy and Daddy?”

“Hmm.” Smiling, he leaned down and whispered conspiratorily, “Well, I’m younger than your dad, which means he’s really old.”

Her eyes widened. “Daddy is so old.”

“He is. Maybe you should ask him about the olden days.”

“I will.” She nodded seriously. She looked around the playground. “Now, you have got to count, and I’ll hide, okay?”

“I’ll count to ten.” 

“No cheating, close your eyes.”

“As if I would cheat,” he said, peeking through his fingers and began counting down. He wasn’t about to lose his best friend’s child even if they were playing hide and seek. He quickly realised he didn’t need to, as his quarry kept on giggling, which easily gave away her hiding place in one of the little wooden huts by the monkey bars.

“One! Here I come.” Smirking, he walked past her pretending not to notice where she was. Her giggles increased when he started to walk away. 

“I wonder where that rascal is hiding,” he said loudly. “She has to be here somewhere.”

He did another two circles of the playground before returning to where she was hiding. As soon as he reached the hut, Elicia suddenly sprang out and tore past him squealling. Roy yelped and spun around frantically searching for the fleeing girl. He forgot to breathe for a moment until he set his eyes on her. 

“Elicia! Come back,” he called running after her. She was talking with a woman he didn’t recognise. Once he reached her, he realised the woman had a dog. Hughes has told him that she had recently been asking for a dog and he guessed that this why she bolted. Sighing in relief, he joined them. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said to the woman, who just smiled. He blinked as he registered how beautiful she was. 

“It’s fine,” she said.

He tore his eyes away from the woman to his charge. “Elicia, you know you’re not meant to run off like that.”

The girl pouted. “I know, but I was excited. I saw the dog.”

“Do you know this lady?”

Elicia looked down at her hands. “No, but the lady had a dog.” She looked up at him mournfully. “I know I’m not meant to talk to strangers… but she had a dog.”

“You know you’re not allowed to run off like that. What would your mom say? And you could have gotten hurt. Not all dogs are friendly, or sometimes, they might be scared when someone runs at them.”

Elicia sniffed. “I think he’s a friendly dog, but I didn’t mean to scare him.”

Roy had almost forgotten about the beautiful woman until she interjected.

“It’s alright,”she said gently, “but your dad’s right.”

Roy blushed, not wanting to interrupt her to correct her misunderstanding. 

The woman bent to get down to Elicia’s level. “Not all dogs are the same. Sometimes they get scared or angry, just like you do sometimes.” Elicia nodded. The woman smiled. “Black Hayate -that’s his name- is very friendly. You can pet him if you like. Just hold out your hand first and let him smell it.”

The girl got down and held out her hand for the dog to sniff. Within a few moments, both girl and dog were enjoying themselves. 

“Thank you for being kind.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I should tell you, though-”

He was interrupted by his name being called. Turning around, he noticed Gracia walking towards them. 

“I was wondering where you two were,” she said as she joined them.

“Sorry, Elicia got -”

Gracia blinked.“Oh, who’s your friend?”

Roy realised that he hadn’t even got the woman’s name. His face burned and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh.”

“My name is Riza.” The woman quickly held out her hand to Gracia. 

Gracia handed Roy a coffee cup and then shook the woman’s hand. “Gracia, and this little imp is my Elicia.”

“You have a wonderful family.” She turned to Roy. “Your husband here-”

Gracia laughed. “No, Roy isn’t my husband. He and my husband  are college buddies, and they work together now.”

“Oh?” There was a dust of pink on her cheeks, and Roy thought it was rather becoming. “Apologies, I guess I made an assumption.”

Roy smiled. “No need to worry. I can understand the confusion.” When she returned the smile, his heart leapt in his chest. He didn’t miss Gracia’s calculated look. 

“Mommy, look… this is Black Hayate.”

“Is that so?”

Roy was relieved his friend turned her attention to her daughter and the dog.

He coughed. “I am the one who should apologise. I seem to have forgotten my manners.” He held out his hand. “Just to start over, I’m Roy. It’s nice to meet you, Riza.”

She took his hand and shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Roy.”

He could feel eyes on him, and he realised Gracia was watching them. 

“Why don’t you come join us, Riza?” Gracia suggested. “Ah, there’s my husband now. Maes has plenty of pastries to go around. If you’re not in any hurry, I mean. From what Elicia just told me, it’s the least we can do.” 

Roy’s heart sank as she waved Hughes over. His best friend would either embarrass him by trying to matchmake or tell stories he would rather remain secret. Either way, he would scare her off. Elicia had been distracted by the mention of pastries, and she was now tugging on her mother’s arm.

“It’s perfectly fine if you’re busy,” Roy said to Riza. “If they’re the pastries I am thinking, you might regret missing them.”

She nodded. “Well, that’s very kind of you.”

“Oh, hullo,” Hughes said. He took one look at Riza and then at Roy, his smile widening. “And who’s this? Introduce me to your friend, Roy.”

Roy coughed, shifting uncomfortably. “Hughes, this is Riza. We met just now when your daughter decided to befriend her dog.”

“Oh, Riza.” He continued to smile. Roy hoped that Riza didn’t find it as unsettling as he did. “What a lovely name. You can call me Maes. He insists on calling me Hughes despite us knowing one another for most of our lives.”

Roy sighed. “That’s an exaggeration.”

Gracia shook her head. “Sometimes, I feel like they are the married couple, not Maes and me.”

Roy rolled his eyes at the familiar joke. 

“Anyway,” Hughes continued. “Riza, thank you for being kind to my daughter.” He stared at Roy. “Were you using my daughter as a means to meet women?”

Roy glared at his friend. “She ran off when she saw Riza’s dog, and I followed her.”

“Take no notice of those two, Riza,” Gracia cut in. “They are always bickering.”

Riza laughed. 

“Do you like coffee, Riza?” Hughes asked. “Roy will get you a coffee.” He swiped Roy’s coffee from his hands. 

Roy ignored his friend’s rudeness and instead smiled at Riza. “Sure, I’d be happy to.”

“I just had some coffee.” She reached into her handbag. “But I could do with some water, and I can pour some for Hayate.”

He held up a hand. “No, my treat.”

“That's our Roy, such a gentleman.” Hughes grinned. “Riza, come join us.”

Sometimes Roy didn’t know if his friend was trying to help or hinder his love life, but it was never appreciated.

Gracia patted her husband’s arm. ”Yes, we have plenty of pastries, and Elicia has taken a shine to your dog.”

Hughes caught his eye. “Well, weren’t you getting the water?”

Roy coughed. “I thought Riza might like to come with me.”

“Ah.” His friend smirked. Sometimes he really wanted to suckerpunch him. Once Riza smiled, that thought went right out of his head.

“I will actually.” 

“Can the doggy stay?” Elicia pleaded.

“Alright.” Riza bent down to her dog and handed the leash to Gracia, “Hayate, stay here. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I am so sorry about them.” Roy rubbed the back of his neck as they walked.

“Don’t apologise. They seem like a lovely couple.”

“They’re great friends, but I think sometimes they can be overbearing.”

“I know all about overbearing friends. My best friend, Rebecca, is the same.”

He smiled. “I guess we have that in common then.”

He held the door of the cafe open for her, and she walked in ahead of him.

“Can I have two bottles of water, please?” he asked the cashier.

Roy handed over the money, giving Riza the two bottles. “One for you and one for Hayate.”

“Thank you.”

He grinned. He might have to buy Elicia a present if he managed to secure a date out of this.  

“So, what do you do, Riza?”

“I’m a social worker.” She opened the bottle and took a sip. “What about you?”

“Oh, I’m working in the DA’s office as a prosecutor.”

She frowned. “You’re quite young.”

“Some of the old brass feel the same. They think I’m an upstart.”

Her lips twitched. “Somehow, I think you might enjoy that.”

“You’ve got me.” He laughed. “I guess we'd better head back. Sorry in advance.”

“I think your friends are nice.”

“Ok, well, I hope they don’t scare you off.”

She smirked. “I don’t scare easily.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He hoped she was flirting. He swore to kill Hughes if he ruined this for him.

When Roy and Riza returned to the Hughes family, Elicia was sitting on the ground with Hayate licking her face. Hughes and Gracia were sitting at a picnic bench. Roy and Riza slipped into the other side of the bench. 

Hughes had a shit-eating grin on his face. “Oh, I wondered if you two decided to sneak off.”

“I wouldn’t have left Black Hayate here.”

“Black Hayate.” Hughes laughed. “Really?” He leaned across the table and whispered in Roy’s ear. “If you two ever have kids together, you'd better name the poor kid.”

Roy’s face warmed up. He hoped Riza didn’t hear him, although the faint blush on her face told him she heard every word. 

“I think it’s a charming name,” Gracia said. “So, are you local, Riza?”

“Not originally, but I’ve been living here for about a year now. I moved for work.”

“Oh?” Hughes asked. “What sort of work?”

“Social work. I mainly work with kids in deprived areas.”

There was something in her face that told him there might be a story there. 

Hughes put an arm around Gracia. “My Gracia is a nurse, and I work with Roy in the DA office.”

“I go to school,” Elicia announced. “I got stars for my homework last week.”

“Yes, darling,” Hughes cooed, “you’re the best and wisest girl in the whole, wide world.”

Roy caught Riza’s eye in a silent apology.

“So, Riza,” Hughes turned to Riza again, “are you seeing anyone?”

 Roy wanted the ground to swallow him whole. “Hughes, leave the poor woman alone.” 

Hughes ignored him and continued, “If you are, my friend is single, very single. In need of a good woman. He works too hard.” He clapped Roy’s shoulder. “Don’t you, Roy?”

Riza shifted beside him, her arm brushing against his.

Roy glared at his so-called friend. “Shut up, you’re embarrassing yourself.”

“Yes, shut up, Daddy,” Elicia cut in.

Hughes’ mouth dropped open. “Now, look what you’ve done. My poor little girl. Uncle Roy is a rude man.”

Elicia giggled. 

“Serves you right,” Roy mumbled. 

“Never mind them,” Gracia said. “So, Riza, what do you make of Central?”

While the two women talked, Roy and Hughes engaged in a silent conversation of glares and narrowed eyes on Roy’s part, and cheeky smirks on Hughes’ part. He didn’t need Hughes trying to get a date for him, especially since he was more likely to scare the woman away rather than succeed. He was perfectly capable of getting his own date. 

Once Elicia yawned, Gracia sighed. “We should probably get Elicia home.”

Riza looked at her watch and stood up. “I should go too. I’m meeting a friend soon.”

Roy couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “Well, Riza, um… here’s my card if you want to have coffee when my friends aren’t interrogating you.”

She smiled. “I will.”

He really hoped she meant that.

“Well, it was lovely to meet you all.” She took Hayate’s leash.

“I hope we’ll see you around, Riza,” Gracia said.

Hughes smirked. “I am sure we will.”

“Bye, please come see us again,” Elicia said. “And bring Hayate.”

Riza laughed. “Well, he does enjoy his walks in this park.” She glanced at Roy. 

He smiled. Somehow, his friends hadn’t scared her away. She waved over her shoulder as she walked away. 

“Buddy,” Hughes exclaimed. 

Roy frowned and turned around.

“Oh, Roy, please tell me you didn’t give her your card? Everyone exchanges handles these days.”

Roy crossed his arms. “I don't think she’s the type to use social media.”

“Well.” Hughes handed him his phone. “You’re wrong because I already found her on Instagram while you were at the cafe.”