Mary: "Are you letting me win?"
Markus: "Obviously."

He wasn't, but she didn't need to know that. He'd only managed to win one round so far.

Out of at least fifty.

The phone rang. Mary was closest and leapt up to grab the receiver.

Mary: "Markus and Serge's, how may I direct your call?"

There was a brief pause, then she handed the phone to Markus.

Markus: "Hello?"

A second went by, and Markus looked over at Mary.

Markus: "Yeah...
I have no idea."

Another moment went by, then Markus' brow began to knit together in a worried frown

Markus: "Is he going to be okay?...
I see. Yes, I'll be right over....
Sure, okay."

He hung up the phone, then shut off the game.

Mary: "Sore loser."
Markus: "That was James. We have to go over to Tristan's. Something's wrong."
Mary: "We?"
Markus: "Emily's there."

Mary jumped up.

Mary: "What happened?"
Markus: "No, Emily's fine. Something's wrong with Tristan. But James said Emily has your car."
Mary: "Right. Probably time for me to get home then."
Markus: "You know you're more than welcome to stay."
Mary: "Nah. Where goes Emily, so go I. Besides, we just had a new alarm system put in at the house, and I haven't given her the codes yet."
Markus: "Let's go then."