New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Alex frowned as the intercom kept ringing.

"You should take it. I'm technically not here yet. No one should know I'm back home."

Kary nodded as she stepped in front of the device. Pressing the button, the screen lit up and showed the inside of the elevator, with someone's face taking up a part of the screen, who she hadn't expected to see today.

"Mom?! What are you doing here? I thought you had work this week."

Kary's mom smiled at the camera, seeing her daughter's face.

"I took the rest of the week off. I figured it was too much for you to stay alone, and I came to keep you company. Don't you want my company? Are you going to send your poor mom away? After she travelled hours to see you?" her mother replied.

She pulled a sad face, trying to look pitiful, and Kary sighed.

"No, mom. I won't send you away… But I'm not alone."

Her mom squinted.

"You didn't want to see me, but you got someone else to keep you company? Who is it? Don't tell me you are frolicking around while your boyfriend is in a coma! This is his home, too!"

"Mom!" Kary shouted, getting furious.

Alex stepped in, trying to hide his laughter as he waved at the screen from behind Kary.

"Hello Madam Deveille. I'll send the elevator up; we can meet adequately once face to face. See you in a bit," Alex said, smiling.

He pressed the command to send the elevator up before the woman could reply, and the screen shut off. This left Kary's mom flustered in the elevator.

"Who can this young man be, to be so rude and intrusive?" she accused.

Kary looked at Alex with her jaw hanging.

"You know she'll be mad about this, right? She'll think you are some fuckboy who came here just to get a piece of me while my boyfriend is out."

Alex laughed out loud.

"Well, how disappointed your mom will be when she hears you're the fuckboy, here to get a piece of this sweet meat!" he exclaimed, waving at himself with a cocky smile.

Kary jabbed him in the stomach, her face scrunching up.

"Shut up, I'm serious, Alex!" she growled.

Alex grabbed her in his arms, hugging her tightly as he laughed.

"Oh, will you stop worrying? It'll be fine. When I introduce myself, we can say I woke up yesterday and got released this morning. We can say you haven't called her yet because you were with me at the hospital all night. That's believable, right?"

Kary kept groaning with her head on his chest as the elevator dinged, and they heard the doors open.

"Where is that rude young man?!" Alex heard from behind the pillar.

"Mom!" Kary shouted again, looking at her disapprovingly.

Alex smiled and walked straight towards Kary's mother. He had to tilt backward when he stopped before her, dodging a slap.

Seeing her strike miss, Kary's mother readied to launch a second. But the man before her tilted forward, bowed slightly, and started talking.

"Welcome to my humble abode, Ms Deveille. My name is Alexander Leduc. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Kary's mother froze up, her slap halfway to Alex's face, and her eyes opened wide.

She looked at Kary, her jaw going slack a bit, before looking at Alex again.

"You… Weren't you in a coma?" she asked, stunned.

"Ahh, yes. I was until last night. They released me this morning; I'm fine now. Thank you for worrying about me," Alex said, smiling brightly.

The woman took a second to compute the information she had been given and realized she had just assaulted the rich man her daughter took a liking to.

"I'm sorry I tried slapping you!" were the first words out of her mouth, her face morphing into panic.

Alex laughed, waving his hand dismissively.

"Please, that was hardly an inconvenience," Alex said, chuckling lightly.

It really wasn't, as that slap had been telegraphed a mile away for him. But he was trying to act unbothered.

"I understand your reaction, Ma'am. It is no problem. But please, let's sit down and talk more. The hallway is hardly a place to talk, is it?" Alex said, pointing toward the half-trashed living room.

Kary's mother looked at the pile of destroyed furniture and looked at her daughter with a mischievous look.

"Been busy this morning, have you?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Mom!" Kary shouted, her eyes widening.

Alex tried very hard to contain his laughter.

He finally understood how Kary got her outgoing personality. Apparently, her mother had as much filter when talking as she did, and this was a delight.

Once they were seated, with Kary's mother opposite him and Kary, he smiled at her.

"I'm sorry you had to drive all this way just to meet me. I wish we could have met earlier and under better circumstances, Ms. Deveille," Alex said.

"Oh, please. The road was no bother. And please call me Guylaine. Ms. Deveille makes you sound so stuck up. This is your home. Let's be casual," she replied, politely waving her hand at him with a bit of a blush.

Alex nodded with an enormous smile.

"Mom. What are you doing here? Taking a week off just to see me? You could get in trouble at work…"

"Nonsense, my girl. I've been working at that factory for over a decade. I had PTO left, and it's in my right to take it anytime I want. Why wouldn't I take it to see my daughter, who is in a slump?" she asked, looking at her daughter lovingly.

"Plus. I get to meet this gorgeous young man for the first time. Is this why you were hiding him from me? Were you scared I would take a fancy to him?" she added, giving a flirtatious smile.

"Mom!" Kary shouted, her face going red.

"Ma'am, you flatter me," Alex added, giving her a warm smile.

"Stop it! Don't encourage her!" Kary barked, slapping him on the thigh.

Alex burst into a hearty laughter.

It was the first time he saw Kary acting sheepishly, and it was refreshing. He didn't even know she could pull these faces she was making, even less act this way.

'The saying "two sides to a person" is true, after all,' he mused as he laughed.