Chapter 5 THE GAME OF TUG-OF-WAR

• CHAPTER 5
• THE GAME OF TUG-OF-WAR
• G W E N D O L Y N
• I was as shocked as Laurent when I saw him here. The air among the three of us was thick and it seemed as it I ruined something.
• “Laurent, I’m so sorry. This is my employee in the flower shop and she is going through a lot in life because of her mother.” Mrs. Lambert says.
• “No worries, Cecile.” Laurent replies casually, calling her by her first name.
• “Gwen, take the couch, I will get you food and water. You look so pale. Please make yourself feel at home.” She tells me dearly.
• I nodded, “Thank you Mrs. Lambert.”
• “Please assist her for me Laurent.” She instructs as she walks me to the couch.
• He nods and eyes me before he watches Mrs. Lambert leave the living room. He begins to walk closer to me as I wiped my tears off my face while I glance at him. He sits on the single couch next to me while his eyes were glued on mine.
• “What happened to you this time?” He asks.
• I shake my head, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
• “Okay. It must be something personal so I won’t push it anymore.”
• “What are you doing here?” I questioned. “How do you know Mrs. Lambert?”
• “I used to buy flowers from her before.”
• It all makes sense now. No wonder he looks familiar, I must have seen him in the shop before.
• “You’re close friends?” I asked.
• “I guess you can call it like that.” He answers.
• “What do you mean?”
• “I come around when the cat is away.” He answers nonchalantly.
• The conversation ended when Mrs. Lambert decides to join us bringing me food and water. She asked me what happened and I narrated everything. Embarrassed that Laurent had to hear about it too but we are all trying to survive life so I tried to think that we are all battling our own demons.
• Mrs. Lambert had always been a wonderful person to me. She helped me a lot in life more than my own mom and even though she is only thirty-six, she is so much respectable. Mrs. Lambert had the body of a twenty-year-old woman and a sophisticated face of thirty-year-old. Although she keeps herself busy with the flower shop, she once told me before about her husband being away most of the time for business trips.
• I come around when the cat is away.
• I tried not to put too much thoughts into those words because I respect her a lot.
• She was kind enough to let me sleep in her house and that I needn’t to worry about being here since she is lonely most of the times. I thanked her again and again for her generosity but never told her about the fact that I know Laurent. I think he didn’t want her to know that we kind of have met before.
• In the middle of the night, I couldn’t sleep no matter how hard I try. I decided to walk to the gardens and rethink of the decisions that I needed to do for my life. I needed to decide what I should be doing next, like should I just keep on hiding till Hector finds me or should I tell the police about everything that is going on. At this point, it’s hard to trust someone because even my own mother betrayed me. I just wish that these people helping me now won’t betray me too.
• As soon as I reached the last step of the staircase, I hear a subtle sound of moaning and skin clapping. Out of curiosity, I followed where it was coming from and it came from the kitchen. As soon as I reached the doorway leading to the kitchen, I was astounded when I saw a naked Mrs. Lambert bending over the kitchen counter while Laurent was fucking her mercilessly from behind.
• I was frozen as I watched them having sex and it was the most shocking thing that I could witness because she is married. She shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing even though her husband isn’t around.
• “Fuck Laurent, harder.” She moans.
• I come around when the cat is away.
• So that’s what he meant.
• She moans for more as Laurent goes harder on her. I retreated and walked back to my bedroom. I lay on my bed and tried to force myself to forget about what I saw.
• The next morning, I was having breakfast with Laurent in the garden while Mrs. Lambert was on a phone call with her husband. The table was quiet and I was awkward after what I saw last night but I know that I shouldn’t act all weird in front of him or else he will notice it. I tried to remain silent as he was doing so too while he kept glancing at me. I noticed that Laurent had worn a different shirt from last night, so I guess he comes here a lot and brings his own clothes to wear.  
• “I’m sorry about your mother.” He finally breaks the silence. “It must have been so hard for you all these years.”
• “It has been hard.” I answered softly while my eyes glued on my food. “I guess all I could do now is hide from those guys who are after me.”
• “Why don’t you go to the police and file a report?” He responds something sensible.
• I pulled my head up and stared into his eyes, “I doubt that would help, we are talking about an underground Boss here. He probably has some connections with the police too. It would be easier for him to find me.”
• He sighs, “True. How about your mother? Have you at least talked to her after what she did to you?”  
• “She is the least person I want to worry about now and I have no plans in wanting to talk to her again. She got me involved in her mess. She sold me.”
• Laurent bites on his lower lip as he commented, “That really sucks.”
• Then there was silence. I didn’t know what else to say to him because the more I stare into his eyes, the more I remember how butt naked he was fucking Mrs. Lambert last night. Laurent seemed a good man but I guess we all have our own issues in life. Now that I think about it, it makes wonder if he has been doing this with her for a while now but it isn’t my authority to judge. I am someone who needs to judged too.
• “On sexual terms.” He blurt out.
• “Excuse me?”
• “Cecile and I are on sexual terms.”
• I was stupidly shocked that he had to confess that to me right now. “Oh.” I answered. “It’s kind of shocking hearing that out of the blue.”
• “Well you asked me about her. It’s hard to call it friendship, really.” He responds to my questions so calmly and it’s kind of surprising how he is answering me straight up.
• “Doesn’t she have a husband?” I asked him.
• “He isn’t around all the time.”
• “But that doesn’t mean you have to be here all the time just because he doesn’t.”
• He smiles at me, “We’re all sinners.”
• I remained silent and reflected on what he said because I can’t lie about the facts that we are indeed all sinners.
• “Commiting a sin isn’t voluntary. It’s actually up to you if you wanna sin or not.” I answered as he looks back into my eyes.
• “Well I’m not a saint.” He responded quick.
• “I’m not either.”
• The table went silent as soon as Mrs. Lambert arrived.
• Hours later, I found myself sitting in the diner I am working for as a delivery girl. I didn’t want to put much thought into Laurent and Mrs. Lambert affair because it isn’t the kind of mess I would want to be involved in. Moreover, I have my own hell I need to take care of.
• “Gwen! Here’s for delivery. Four boxes of overload pepperoni and cheese.”
• I accepted, “Alright, got it!”
• "You know the address right?"
• "Yes. It is already encoded in the phone." I smiled.
• "Be careful, the drive is quite far."
• "I will." I responded before heading out. I placed the boxes of pizza inside the motorbike carriage before I fixed my helmet and drove away.  
• I kept track on the map shown on the screen of my phone and it seemed like I was on the right path. About an hour drive, the furthest that I have ever driven in my entire life as a delivery girl, I finally arrived outside an ordinary looking house. The lights were out from the inside and the vibe that the house was giving me was oddly creepy. I checked the phone and it said that I have arrived on the destination. I was on the right house.
• I took a deep breath in and braved up as I began to walk along the narrow pathway towards the front door. I tried to ring the doorbell and listened to it although I didn't hear any ringing noise inside. I decided to go the old fashioned way and knocked on the door. I made sure I knocked five times.
• "Delivery!" I hollered.
• In the back of my head it felt like this was a trap that I was lured in way too easily. I tried to shake off the thought in my mind and told myself that I was just getting paranoid that everyone around me would sell me off to the underground Boss of NYC.
• The door squeaks open and comes a woman with a bright smile. I felt at ease knowing that it wasn't one of those guys who chased me the last time, “Please come in.”
• "Oh it would be fine if I stay here." I answered, keeping my guard up.
• "I still have to get the money upstairs. You can place the boxes of pizza on the table." She widens the door and invites me inside her dim house.
• Hesitantly, I took a step into her house as I see her walk away from me. She disappears into the darkness as my eyes caught the attention of the faint light coming from the end of the hallway. I decided to walk to the nearby table in the living room and placed the boxes of pizza down.
• Out of nowhere, my muscle stiffened as soon as I heard a sound of a lighter clicking. I slowly pulled myself up and travelled my attention where I can see a silhouette of a man sitting there on the single couch right across me. Through the dim lit room, I can see someone's tobacco lighting up on the end followed by a sea of smoke.
• “Hello Gwendolyn.” I froze. He continues, “We’ve been playing quite a game of tug-of-war. Looks like I won.”