Calculated risk.

I felt Olivia tense up and even try to leave her place on my lap. Good thing my arm was wrapped around her waist, so it wasn't that hard to stop her. Which, in turn, made her calm down and relax.

"Good morning," I greeted Helen.

Of course, it was her. Who else could it have been? My darling looked at Olivia and me, obviously not happy with what her eyes were showing her.

Ah, here I had gotten the answer I was looking for earlier on my run. Neither. I wasn't ready to just cut her off right away. Because my mind was busy calculating the best way forward at the moment.

But the most obvious choice, pandering to young lady Smith's ego at the cost of making Olivia feel insecure, was out of the question.

"Morning, darling." I heard a response.

Helen's tone was perfectly polite, with a touch of frostbite mixed in. She also purposefully left the silly girl in my arms out of it.

I gave Olivia a light squeeze, encouraging her to join in the conversation.

"Good morning." My girlfriend read my cue. Good girl.

Now I was waiting for Helen's response to gauge just how difficult she wanted to be with all of these things. The young woman in question shifted her eyes from me to Olivia, as if only now noticing her presence.

"Good morning." The same tone was used once again.

Hm, another round of observation told me a few things.

First, Helen had already taken the medicine, as she didn't look like her head was killing her.

Second. Her makeup also looked slightly different from yesterday's version.

Third, out of every option available, she chose to wear only my shirt. Which I approved of with all my heart since she looked fabulous. The problem with that was a simple fact. With how tall Helen was, my shirt wasn't quite long enough to cover the bottom half at all.

To sum it all up, my darling woke up and took her time to do all of that. Why?

My peripheral vision reported to me that Olivia also noticed that wardrobe malfunction and was currently busy staring at the perfect beauty in front of us.

Oh, that's the answer. Helen used the information I told her about Olivia's bi-curious nature, added my overreaction to Lyta's transgression, and decided to go for a power move.

I shook my head, feeling a smirk form on my face. The nefarious scheme that could work so easily—how treacherous of her!

Hm, and it also got me another unexpected answer. For a question that was raised a week ago. How would I react if one of the women I am interested in showed attraction to another one?

I didn't care at all. I guess Olivia, being accepted as a part of my life already, wasn't even considered a competition. Huh. Interesting.

"Helen," I called out. "If you want to play these types of games, how about we cut it straight to the result screen?"

That 'young lady' mask on her face crumbled right away, as a realization colored her blue eyes.

"Why?" Ah, how much I love this question.

"Because this silly girl is a part of my life, and I already warned you about even trying this shit." I chose one way to interpret her question and answered it.

"Honey?" Olivia finally cut in, trying to understand what was going on.

"You see, this... Young Lady Smith," I said, watching how my darling shuddered from the way I called her, "is trying to see if I would choke you out of jealousy for ogling her."

Helen's face went a shade paler.

"If not that," I continued my words. "Then it's a power play to try and put her foot down, making you feel insecure about your position in this arrangement."

"Oh." My girlfriend's reaction was a bit lackluster. "Wait, you choked someone for that?"

Olivia stared in obvious shock.

"Yep," I said, nodding at her. "But that's beside the point."

Before my silly girl could ask something else, I turned to Helen.

"This didn't work. I would even say it backfired." I spoke in an unhurried manner, looking straight into her eyes. "Helen, I am flattered by the fact that you are so jealous. But this is like the thing I need the least in my life, period."

This was a gamble that had the highest chance of achieving the desired outcome. It was a bit unfair, but since when did I care about fairness?

"If that's how it's going to be..." I continued. "Well, I guess I never actually said it to you before. Let's break up?"

It was a bluff, banking on the premise that her feelings for me would win over her jealousy and possessiveness. And if it failed, what was waiting for me would be one of the most toxic relationships I ever experienced.

Yeah, the last fragments of her mask fell apart as tears started running down her face.

What happened next managed to actually surprise me; I didn't even need to fake it as usual. Olivia left my embrace and went to the crying beauty to console her, all the while giving me a glare full of blame.

What the actual fuck?

***

No, for real, what the actual fuck?

I was slowly drinking my coffee, watching how my current girlfriend was consoling my not-quite-ex-anymore girlfriend, who was still crying. The two of them were sitting on the usual kitchen window sill. Helen's head was on Olivia's lap, and the former was gently stroking the sobbing latter's hair.

A picture that was outside my earlier calculations by a few light years.

"Honey," I heard my silly girl's voice calling me. "You know, Bella tasked me with watching out for you in case you decide to do something stupid and rash."

Did she?

"Did she?" I voiced my thoughts.

"Yeah." Olivia nodded. "And this is, like, the exact situation to do that."

I took a sip of my coffee, weighing her words.

"I don't think so." I shook my head.

"Really?" My girlfriend raised an eyebrow. "Then what do you think it was?"

Her expression and body language, as she did so, momentarily made me see her figure overlap with Bella's. When did she even have the chance to copy my special woman's mannerisms?

I took another sip of my coffee and then slowly exhaled in a defeated manner.

"It was a calculated risk. Something that I was willing to make to reach the outcome I really want." Fuck it, let's go with the truth once again, shall we?