"If you were the mother of any of my other ex's," Singa remarked as he sipped his iced tea. "I doubt I'd accept an invite to lunch."

"You'll always be my son, regardless of your status with Reginald," Shandra said as she took a bite of her Fettuccine Alfredo.

"Even though I only dated your son for three weeks, you still care. Why?"

"Perhaps I understood your reasons for ending the relationship." Shandra focused on her lunch for a brief moment, then looked at the cheetah. "Or maybe it's the fact he still brought you over for the occasional visit which helped me understand he loved you like family. You choose."

"I like the last one. I still love Reginald, even if he's only a friend."

"Did you try dating him after he and Damon broke up?" She paused. "I never met him. Was he good to my son?"

"I think so, up until the end. Then it just..."

"Was it Reginald's fault?"

Singa's eyes widened. "What makes you ask that?"

"I'm not totally blind to my son's flaws. He has a bad temper, he's stubborn, and impossibly vain sometimes." Her eyes didn't waver from Singa's. "Now answer me honestly: did my son ruin his relationship with Damon?"

"You won't like the answer."

"I'm asking anyway. At least try to sugarcoat it a bit."

Singa took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling, then back at Shandra. "Yes. I think he sabotaged his relationship with Damon. He wanted to make this breakup happen, so when Damon gave him a reason--"

"Why would he ruin his relationship?"

"Maybe at the time he didn't feel worthy of Damon's love. So he made sure he wasn't. Much like how I was when I was with Venti."

"You don't think my Reginald will sabotage his relationship with Art, do you?"

Singa wanted to tell Shandra the truth. Tell her that he wanted that to happen so he could at least get one last chance with Venti. Instead, he told her a lie.

"I hope not, Shandra. I want your son to be happy with Art, and himself."

The lie came out so easy he almost believed it himself.

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