My words naturally caused both of the girls to react. Olivia stared at me, waiting for me to continue. Helen was a lot less overt with hers, but it was still noticeable. At least with life experiences like mine.

I finished my coffee and let out another tired sigh.

“Do I really need to say it out loud?” It was a question, for the most part, addressed to the sobbing one.

“I can make a guess, of course. I’m not that sure if the result will be accurate, though.” My girlfriend repeated my words from a week ago, changing them slightly.

“But you would never know for sure unless I told you myself.” I finished the phrase.

A smile briefly appeared on my silly girl’s pretty face.

“Look, whatever it is, just avoiding the issue and trying to play it off won’t work.” There was a certain amount of tease, which she didn’t even try to conceal, evident in her eyes and tone.

“Yeah, and my choices no longer affect just me alone.” I brought up the words of my special woman. Fuck, how much I missed my Bella and her advice.

I chuckled and shook my head, chasing away the negative thoughts.

I suppose Helen finally grew tired of playing around, since her sobbing almost stopped. While I was almost certain that the initial outburst was genuine, about halfway through, the heiress to the illustrious Smith family got hold of her emotions and just presented a front that would get her a favorable reaction.

My hand reached out, instinctively looking for a pack of cigarettes. A truly odd thing, since I neither bought any nor was able to break the habit in those two weeks.

“Speaking of quotes. Darling.” I noticed how my hopefully-not-ex girlfriend perked up a little upon hearing the change of address. “‘I don’t care how many women you have. I want to be with you.’ It's not that easy to follow your own words, is it now?”

Helen sat upright, her eyes a bit puffy from the crying, and glared at me, which I met with a condescending smirk. This charade has gone on long enough already.

I saw her lips moving as she said something, but it was too quiet. I just kept looking at her, waiting.

“No, it’s not easy.” Helen repeated herself, this time loud enough for me to hear.

“Good.” I nodded, accepting her answer. “With this out of the way, let me repeat myself. Helen, how about we cut it straight to the result screen?”

My words actually made her freeze again.

“You won.” I sighed in defeat. “I am, frankly speaking, out of options. There is exactly one way forward that won’t result in a complete disaster, from my perspective, of course, and it completely depends on your actions and attitude.”

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Honestly, this was both the truth and another gamble. If I was no longer alone, I couldn’t avoid other people’s choices affecting me.

“Just one?” Helen asked.

“Yep,” I confirmed.

The bets had been placed; no more bets.

Judging by the look on her pretty face, she was busily calculating the various options. A few minutes went by like that. Olivia, the good girl she is, just kept observing the situation in silence, still stroking my darling’s hair all the while.

“I see.” It seemed like my darling had come to some sort of conclusion. “Will it make you happier?”

This was a weird question, all things considered. But my gut told me it was an important one. Especially coupled with the intense look in her clear blue eyes, mixed with something that I wasn’t quite able to read.

“Yes, it will.” I guess it was a good thing that I had an answer ready.

I lowered my eyes, looking into the empty cup. There was nothing I could do in this situation anymore, bar running away. A choice was made, so I could just relax and leave it all to chance.

I fought down a smile. Ah, this situation was so interesting, and I was enjoying myself very much right now. But showing it would break the fragile balance of the current situation, messing with my chances.

“I guess it’s a draw, then.” I guess my earlier gamble was successful.

“What kind?” I had to ask for confirmation.

“Hopefully? Win-win.” My darling responded. “Realistically? Let’s pray that we will be able to avoid a lose-lose one.”

I nodded, acknowledging the truthfulness of her words.

“Helen, I’m sorry.” I took the chance to apologize for everything and nothing in particular.

“Yeah, you really should be.” Her tone was cheerful, and she said those words in a joking manner. But I had a hunch that she meant it one hundred percent.

***

The conversation ended with a temporary truce. Things were mildly awkward for both Helen and me, with Olivia’s presence both helping to mend it and being an aggravating factor at the same time.

I tried to run away to clear my head, or such was my excuse. But my girlfriend quickly vetoed the notion—something or other about the dangers of leaving me without supervision and my propensity to hook up with more girls if left alone.

It was not like I could argue with that, considering my track record so far.

My darling had a good laugh at my expense, watching the scene of how Olivia mouthed me off. Which actually broke a lot of ice between the two girls. Or, at least, that’s what I choose to believe in.

It was hard to miss the obvious signs of insecurity in my silly girl. Or barely hidden jealousy in the eyes and body language of my darling. But that was well within my expectations.

It was already a surprise that neither of them stormed off or tried to stab me in my sleep. It wouldn’t be the first time, either.

A series of new message pings from my messenger caught my attention.

Bella: [Coming back.]

Bella: [Tomorrow.]

Bella: [Meet me.]

Me: [when?]

Bella: [Call you.]

Oh, right. The actual situation was much more complex than balancing two girls at the same time.