Chapter 3 – Poker Face Devil

• Celine
• Why? Because of him, Allen Stride. Before him, I was just your average city girl. We live in a peaceful community, with the perfect boyfriend who doubled as my neighbor. A simple girl living a simple life.
• As the saying goes, nothing lasts forever. Three months ago, my perfect boyfriend of five year broke up with me out of the blue. The past five years had been peaceful, no argument, no cheating, nothing. Well, not on my part anyway. I was heartbroken but took it pretty well and tried to move on with my life.
• However, a broken heart was the least of my worries. I later found out from social media that he is with another man. And then everything makes sense. The hateful glared, the distance kiss, belittling comment. George is gay.
• For five years he had kept it from me. For five years he had been cheating with his friend, Allen Stride. I have been fooled into believing that he loved me, that he cherished and respected me, when he refused to touch is because I utterly disgust him. After the truth is revealed, it didn’t take long for me to move on.
• I put myself back together and focus on my career. Life without George is better than ever, I have nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t blame George either. Holding a grudge will only tie me back to him. But George seems to have other ideas.
• A few weeks after he broke up with me, he began showing up at my house. He wouldn’t talk to me but make sure I am aware of his existence. George is the type to never let go. I knew that because he was my friend before my boyfriend.
• He used to date a girl back in high school. They were together for two years before he broke it off with her, but he never makes a clean break. It took another year and a restraining order before he could completely let her go. I should’ve known, and now I’m his new target.
• Allen is not too fond of the idea. The stalking makes Allen uncomfortable and insecure. I have done nothing. I tried to reassured the I’m not in love with George anymore, but it was never enough. Allen is afraid and projected all of his insecurities onto me. It begins with silent threats. Which I naively brushed off, thinking it will go away in time. Again, I was dumb back then. However, things only escalated from there.
• Allen begins trolling me on social media, stalking me and sending me hate threats. Then he started physically stalking, breaking, and entering, and then physical threats. Some days, it’s a rock through the window, others a bloody doll at my front doors. We have reported him to cops but nothing came of it. There is never enough evidence. It was only a matter of time before the worst happened and it did.
• On that fateful day, I was working late. Allen had been peaceful for weeks, so I figured something had changed and he wouldn’t bother me anymore. Naïve, I had no idea he is lying and waiting for an opportunity, and I gave it to him. That night, he ambushed me in the parking lot of my workplace. They forced me to the ground and attacked me. The attack was quick but brutal.
• The last thing I remember before passing out was the taunting word of Allen Stride, “Last warning, leave and never comes back.”
• I came to at the hospital, and quickly learned I was in a coma for a week. The whole time, my mother stayed by my side. For the first time since my father passed away, I saw my mother cried. It breaks my heart that she had to go through that.
• As for Allen, we tried everything in our power to bring him to justice. Like always, there is never enough evidence. The camera was shut off, the other camera didn’t get his face right. The shoes didn’t matter. They couldn’t get enough evident from the crime scene. The list of excuses continued because Allen is part of the Stride family. They are all powerful, even the police didn’t want to mess with them. All in all, we are powerless to do anything.
• Their solution - the only solution - is for me to leave the city. So, I did but my mother refused to leave her life behind. My mother mentioned a faraway friend that we could ask for help, but I want to remain low profile. So, we told no one and I left the night I got discharged from the hospital.
• “How about you move here with me?” I asked her in return.
• “Honey, I’m sorry.” She looked away and that was it.
• I know she doesn’t want to leave. San Francisco is her home, her life, and her memory. I won’t force her, but I’m still worried for her safety.
• “Had Allen or George bother you at all?” I asked.
• “No,” she replied. That’s a relief for me. “By the way, tell me more about poker face devil at work. Is he handsome? Is he married? Does he have children?”
• “Mom, off topic.” I deadpanned.
• “Objection, in topic. This is your work. I’m sure there are a lot of good thing about him. You just have to find it. Be open minded, he might surprise you.” My mother, the natural therapist always has something good to say about the worst criminal.
• “Mom, I’m really tired. Goodnight.” I said and ended the call.
• After that though, the devil in disguised came into my dream and gave me a nightmare.
• *****
• Time flies and in a matter of months I became accustomed to my new life. Monday through Thursday is dedicated to office work. Friday is half day at the office and the other half was spent at Mr. Anderson’s penthouse cleaning and restocking his supplies. On average, I spent about 12 hours running around for the man I called boss.
• In no time at all, I have memorized his life like the back of my hand. This man is a solitude man. No children, wife, or girlfriend. He seldom goes out or has any visitors.
• If I didn’t know any better, one would mistake him to be an orphan. One-of-a-kind man-made billionaire, but that is not the case. He had a family. I’ve seen pictures of them scattered around the penthouse. Though I’ve never met any of them, they seem to have a good relationship.
• As usual, I stopped by the grocery store before heading to the penthouse for cleaning and restocking. Mainly coffee and bread. The only two ingredient he survived off of. It didn’t take me long to finish early. With the new project coming up, he and Andrew often stay past office hours working. Which means I have some time to make dinner for him.
• Lately, I’ve been feeling homesick, so I decided to make me and him some of my mom’s special fried rice. My mother is of Cantonese descent, so she learns the best fried rice recipe for her mother and then passed it down to me. It’s like a family heirloom from her side of the family. Making it really takes me back to how we used to be.
• “What is that smell?” The devil walked in, confused. The moment he saw me in the kitchen he frowned.
• “What are you still doing here?” His expression darkens.
• I remember Andrew saying something about his previous personal assistance trying to seduce him with food and I flinched a little.
• “Nothing, I was feeling homesick and decided to make my mother fried rice. I’m sorry if I have overstepped. It won’t happened again.” I began to clean up, but he stopped me.
• “Finish it. I’m hungry.” He said and walked into the bedroom.
• I don’t expect that, but I quickly finished, cleaned up and booked it out of there. One: I don’t want to him to think I’m trying to seduce him. Two, I don’t think I will be able to swallow if I had to share a table with him. Just the thought gives me goose bumps.
• I hop on the bus and push the devil to the back of my head. I’ve been busy with the devil all week, so my weekend is for me to relax. Maybe I will go to the mall and buy mom a gift.
• *Ding* Poker Face Devil
• “What does he want this time?” I whispered, opening up the message.
• Poker face devil: I like the fried rice. Make it for me every Friday.
• “Of course you do. It’s the best fried rice in the world.” I smiled and replied with thumbs up emoji.
• I finally got home after 3 detours on the bus and striped down to nothing. My house my rule, and I don’t care. It’s finally the weekend which means I’m free to do whatever I want. As I was contemplating on what do, George and Allen face come on tv. They made headlines on CNN News being the best partner in business.
• While we were dating, George had always talked about winning it big in his career. As it turned out, I was a hindrance in his path to success. Looking back, I couldn’t help but laugh at how foolish I was. I had imagined him and I, and our little family. Now I realize it will never happen. It’s amazing how life works sometimes.