Calla moved her moss green eyes away from Drew and turned her head to look at her husband Roman and the five children close to him. Drew took a moment to take in her hair. A few grey strands had been added in her auburn brown hair but she was still as beautiful as ever to him. She sighed and turned her head back to look at him again.

"You're not happy," he said.
"The moment he brought those kids home, everything started falling apart. As long as it was just us, I was really good at putting up a front of being a happy couple to the world. It gets harder and harder everyday now," she said.

Roman had left them all and traveled to other parts of the world to try and spread the word. Something that was looked high upon within the ranks of Jehovah's Witnesses. He returned a decade later and pretended everything was normal.

Drew wasn't around when Roman returned but from he had been able to piece together, someone brought Roman and Calla together, and they ended up getting married. He was sure someone had pushed her into saying yes. Roman and the elders and probably her own family as well.

About half a year ago, the truth about Roman's five children came to life. They were shipped to them when his ex girlfriend didn't want to be alone in raising them anymore. Roman had cried his heart out to the elders and he had been forgiven, just like they had told Calla to forgive her husband. Drew would never be able to forgive such a betrayal but he wasn't about to go around informing people of that. After all, he kept his own secrets that none of them knew about.

"I used to like him as a person but I was never in love with him. These days I don't even like him anymore. He's turned cold and mean if I don't do exactly as he tells me to," she said.
"Get a divorce," he said.
"I'll be shunned," she said.
"Only if you leave the religion," he said.

She turned her head briefly to look at Roman again, and then turned back to look at Drew. He moved his hand closer to hers under the table and ran his index finger over her knuckles. No one saw the small movement and that was all he dared do in that moment. If he pulled her in for a hug, she might start crying and people would look and come to wrong conclusions. He wouldn't put her in that position.

"Even if the elders would allow me a divorce, I would be labeled as a coldhearted bitch," she sighed. "No one cares about how I feel."
"How do you feel?" He asked.

There was a small switch in her eyes. She chose to simply let it out in that moment where he was the only one close enough to hear the secret she was keeping.

"I'm in love with someone else," she said.
"Who?" He asked.
"It doesn't matter. I can never tell him and be with him. My place is here," she said.
"Roman's coming over," he said.

She turned her head and saw her husband walk towards them. Roman stopped in front of the table and smiled at both of them.

"We're running low on sodas and snacks," Roman looked at Drew. "Would you mind driving out and get come more?"
"Yeah, sure," Drew said.
"Thank you," Roman turned his gaze to Calla. "The salad bowls are empty."

Calla nodded, stood up, and walked over to the table with food. She grabbed the two empty salad bowls and walked back inside to refill them. Once inside the kitchen, Drew came to join her seconds later. He held up his car keys and grinned at her.

"Wanna go for a ride?" He asked.
"Did you ask Roman if it's okay I go with you?" She asked.
"Of course not. I'm asking you," he shook his hand with the keys. "What do you say, Calla?"

She thought about it for a few seconds and then broke out in a smile.

"Let's go," she said. "We gotta hurry before anyone notices us leaving together."
"If anyone wants to run their mouth, I'll tell them I more or less forced you to go with me for a snack run," he said.
"This is a bad idea," she said.
"Nope!" He chuckled. "This is the best fucking idea I've had in ages."