Psycho's game (As the Gods will)

"Still tough on her I see."

'Get up, it's already late.' She turns around, facing her mother who is standing next to her bed. 'What time is it?' 'It's 9 am. Now get up, your grandmother will be here in an hour.' 'I don't need an hour to get ready.' 'Well, today you do. When was the last time you washed your hair?' Reika turns back to the wall. 'Yesterday. And I will be ready before she's here.' 'I have no doubt about that, because if I remember correctly, she became a lot tougher to your father when he was about your age.' Her mother walks away, turning her head around one more time. 'And she will hear nothing about our neighbours or your punishment, just pretent like  you want to stay at home all day.' She closes the door behind her, not giving her daughter a chance to answer.
After trying to get back to sleep for twenty minutes, Reika gives up and gets out of bed. She picks a pair of black skinny jeans and a light purple top without sleeves. 'So, make-up. I guess mascara, concealer and some clear lipgloss will do.' But the mascara is nowhere to be found, when did I last use it? That's when it hit her, and she makes her way to the purse hanging on the wall. Besides the object she was looking for, something else stands out. It's the receipt from the restaurant, with a phone number written on the back. Would you look at that, the cute waiter really was flirting with me. I'll hold onto this, maybe I could have someone to text that isn't too rich to think for themselves or off limits. The piece of paper disappeares into her pocket and after finishing her make-up she goes downstairs.

Every morning the curtains open, and the girl hidden behind them appears for just a second before disappearing again. But it's not worth it anymore to wait for the entire morning, half of the time Amaya falls asleep again and when his eyes see the room, it's completely empty, just like the driveway. 'You're down early, has she already left?' 'No idea, I've decided not to waste my time today. You know I only get to see her for maybe two seconds if I'm lucky.' 'Aren't those two seconds worth it though? Atleast you get to see her.' 'The're not. Getting to see her for that short amount of time up close as far as it's possible, only for her to avoid looking at me and leaving right away. Not really the Romeo and Juliet story I thought it would be. Those two actually wanted to be together, that wasn't one-sided.' 'Well, Shakespeare was probably high all the time, so no shit his stories don't add up with real life.' 'Really helpful, bro.'

'Grandmother!' The woman puts her suitcases on the ground, and spreads her arms to accept her granddaughter's hug. 'Goodmorning Reika, it's been too long since my last visit. Look at you, all grown-up.' 'She still has a lot to learn, it takes a lot of growing up in order to become an adult.' The woman's gaze shifts to her daughter standing next to the front door, ten feet away from them. 'Inari, still tough on her I see.' 'I was taught by the best.' The two women start to smile. 'Don't just stand there, give your old mother a hug, and maybe help with some of my bags while you're here.' Spreading her arms for the embrace, she walks to the other side of the driveway. 'Ofcourse, Reika can take them upstairs. Right, sweety?' Her voice sounds nice, and the command seems more like a question, but the look on her mother's face tells her it wasn't a question. She picks up two suitcases, one big and one small.

'Allright, go get dressed.' Amaya looks confused at his brother. 'What? Why?' 'Because we're going out. It's my day off, and I'm not going to spend it watching you feel sorry for yourself.' 'Ugh, fine.'
When the two men walk outside, they see Inari and the older woman. Out of politeness, Ryota bows, but Amaya gets in the car without making eye-contact. He doesn't want to check for his ex-girlfriend, who is in the house anyway, putting away her grandmother's suitcases.

'Don't mind him, he's not having his day.' 'I get it, I've got one of those too, as you are aware of.' 'Ofcourse, hard to forget when he won't stop talking about her.' The woman looks at her mother, she can't find out about what happened. She's still smiling, that's a good sign. 'I would love to hear all about it, if you have time?' 'Well, today I'm unavailable, and saturday is my only day off every week...' 'But you still need to eat dinner every evening, right?' 'Yes, I'm usually home around eight O'clock.' She claps her hands cheerfully. 'That's settled, then. You and your brother are eating with us tomorrow evening, and put on something nice since we're going to a restaurant.'

Reika comes out of the house, and is surprised to see Amaya sitting in the car and his brother talking to her grandmother. Her mother is standing motionless, not knowing how to say that they can't eat with them, but she can't go against whatever the woman says, so stays quiet instead.

'We'll see you tommorow, then. Have a nice day.' 'Yeah, you too. Goodbye.' He gets into the car, and waits until they are far away enough to speak. 'Guess we're having dinner tomorrow night with your ex.' The boy jumps up. 'What did you just say? I'm not going to eat with her near me.' 'Yes you are. Because with her grandmother there, you two get to spend time again. Use this as a chance to get her back.' 'I could try, but the odds of us getting back together are very slim.'