Suffocating

Unravel; XI

The triangle burritos looked and smelled and most likely tasted delicious.

Roxanne smiled even when she wasn't feeling like smiling, even when she was feeling like curling up on a bed and sleeping and not waking up until all of her problems went away, and yeah, that sounded cliche as fuck, but it was how she felt.

She had to smile, though, because she was in Grover's house, and damn it, she wasn't going to break down again, she'd already done that enough times today, especially not in front of her boss' wife.

Of all the things Roxanne had expected to happen today, being dragged into her boss' home wasn't one of those things. 

Grover had a nice home, in the more 'suburb-y' part of Crystal city, away from the tall buildings and the honking vehicles and the neon lights and the business of the people. Instead, his home was surrounded by green trees and greener grasses and quiet neighbours and little to no cars - much less loud honking ones - and, it all just reminded her of those cool neighbourhood you see on 90s movies.

Grover was one lucky dude.

The interior of the house was vastly different from the exterior of the house. While the exterior looked no different from all of the other houses - white painting with calm orange lines, brown-painted windows, one floor - Grover and Katrina had apparently made it their mission to make the inside of their home as homey as possible.

Small statues of elephants and monkeys were lined up in the desks, along with pictures of both Katrina's childhood and Grover's childhood, along with pictures of what she presumed to be their honeymoon, and loads of other pictures, including one of their family - and, whoa, both Grover and Katrina had a really big family, there must be, like, fifty of 'em! - There were a bunch of newspapers hastily clipped together, those of which Roxanne recognised as some of Grover's finest works, and there were also bookshelves filled with, well, books, which must be for Katrina.

But the best part about their home was the food. There were so many sweet treats here! Roxanne didn't know the names, but they were all great! And even if the treats weren't sweet, they were still yummy!

Their home was... nice.

They were nice.

Roxanne wanted to cry because of how nice they were, how nice this all was... and also maybe how shitty her day had been. 

"Well?"

She looked up, finding a pair of brown eyes with the light shade, reminding her of ambers.

Roxanne shifted in the couch, taking in a straight, proper posture, a posture she would never wear, no matter the circumstances.

"Well... what?" she asked, hoping her smile didn't look too fake.

Perfect-looking thick eyebrows furrowed down. Roxanne couldn't tell if Katrina was worried or angry. "Dig in, Anne!"

"I'm not hungry." Roxanne hadn't eaten all day, yet her words were somehow the truth. She wasn't hungry. She wasn't much of anything, right now.

Katrina, never the dull woman that she was, gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "But you love my triangle burritos."

"They're called samosas!" Grover called out from the other room, the kitchen, where he was drinking his milk tea - what was it called, again? Cha cha tea? Cha chi tea? - prompting Katrina to giggle and Roxanne's smile to be less fake.

"They're called whatever I want to call them!" Katrina shouted in return, her smile as honest and toothy as ever.

Roxanne shifted again, feeling uncomfortable despite the welcoming aura of Grover's home, filled with loads of decorations, cool-looking plates and cups that they displayed, and pictures of Grover's family, which, she had to admit, was a huge family.