Chapter 9

I train my eyes on the wheel as Laure drives to work, afraid to meet her eyes. I had spent so long persuading her to bring me along, just once, to show her friends at work, but now I was afraid she was secretly angry at me but holding it down.

We managed to arrive on time, and as I held open the glass door for her I notice a colleague walking towards her.

"Hey! How are you doing?" the man asked. He looked to be in his late-thirties, around the same age as Laure (who is a lot older than me, but screw that).

"Hey there," she replies, and I see in the way she tenses up that this is no usual encounter. Laure rarely lets her true emotions show to anyone outside of me, especially during work. "Could you grab a coffee for me?"

"Yeah, of course. Same old?"

Laure nods.

"This your sister?" the man then gestures towards me, and I lean back towards Laure, instantly annoyed. I swivel her around to face me until we are almost touching, and I stand on my tiptoes to kiss her firmly on the lips.

Her full lips... I can feel her tongue just behind, but her lips are much tenser than usual (which is to be expected), so I let her go.

"Should be obvious what terms we are on now," I say to the man, "steer clear of her outside of work, you got me?"

The man nods and scurries away, and I look at Laure, feeling impending doom hovering nearby. Her face is ghastly white, and she doesn't look at me.

"Why did you do that? I had nothing going on with him."

"How was I supposed to know that? You were legitimately flirting with that guy. I had to warn him... and this is your punishment. You deserve it."

"You're right, actually," she says in almost a whisper, "I mean, I do deserve it. But you know, our relationship could ruin my whole career. You know how tense things are over here, which is why I've never told anyone at work. I can't explain to them; they would never understand. It's not even like I'm ashamed of you or anything, not at all..."

Laure seems to be in a very bad mood, and she keeps rambling on. When she's finished, she bites her lip innocently. 

"Don't worry," I can't stand the expression on her face. I grab her hand casually and say, "I'll make sure he doesn't make a scene."

I turn on my heels to leave, but to my surprise Laure tells me to stop.

"You know, feel free to come back anytime. I told you not to make a scene, but it was me who was limiting your freedom. In fact, if you want us to be public, it could happen too." She then flashes me the most genuine smile I've ever seen, and whispers, "I trust your decision."

I smile back at her and leave.

My emotions were so mixed in that moment. 

I hated her for changing so fast.

I hated her for being so kind to me, so understanding, so willing to let me be free.

I hated her for being able to read all my emotions.

But what happened also made me genuinely happy, in a twisted sort of way, because I knew what she said had cost her all her damned dignity.