Bound by Lies

Somehow I had Mother all worried about me with Liselle absent from her shop most of the time and Gervais around enough to annoy me so what was I do to? As you know I had this plan which at first was ruined by Chantal and her raving on about Tony, then it was fixed by Gervais creeping about making Mother upset that I was not speaking at home, so I waited until the next night when Mother was having her nightly gin and tonic. She likes to sit in the drawing room reading her mail and enjoying a little “drinkie” before dinner, I don’t know why she bothers doing it as it is obvious she does not like to drink for she puts a teaspoon of gin in a huge tumbler and fills it with so much tonic I am surprised if she could taste a thing.

I wait until she is settled comfortably down and then I come into the drawing room looking a bit frazzled. Mother wanting to know what is wrong with me of course asks me right away, I act a bit reluctant, then ask her “What exactly is sexual harassment?” Mother leapt up doing some sort of superhero thing and asked me was anyone bothering me or touching me. Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t lie to her, not one bit, I simply told her how I really felt about my job. I told her about how creepy Gervais is, I didn’t even have to exaggerate how close he stands or the questions he asks and he still makes me feel terrible. Just as Mother was about to reply, the phone rang. Guess who—of course, Chantal who else? Giving up, I left the room and went back upstairs to plan my next move.

I really had to get Mother away from this job idea, it’s not like she had ever worked a day in her life why did she feel compelled that I should hold some sort of gainful employment. What Liselle pays me manages to get me maybe a pair of shoes, it is not like this money is very useful. An hour later there is a quiet knock on my door and Mother is standing there beaming as if she has solved the problems of the entire universe. I am a little scared because when parents start to look pleased with themselves it is usually because they have done something good for themselves and annoying for their kids. Mother tells me she had a long talk to Chantal about me feeling sexually harassed by Gervais, which at first Chantal didn’t believe as she is convinced everyone woman is out to seduce men, in my defense Mother tells her how I have been withdrawn and not even eating dinner . This was not exactly the truth, I simply ate in my room where it is quiet and Chantal-less) and a contrite Chantal tells Mother I should leave there right away. But Mother having this brush with integrity gets a fit of the guilts about how I was showed such initiative getting the job, that she encouraged me to work and I had been sticking it out. Yes well I have, cause I would like to see anyone else go three days with Gervais and not run shrieking into the forest and it was at this moment Chantal decides to reveal the true depths of her friendship to Mother and rescue her from all her feelings of guilt.

Of course neither of them thought to ask me if I had wanted to go from bad to worse, from frying pan to fire, from misery to insanity? No, they just decided to plan my life as if I were some sort of cardboard cutout they can shift and move to their pleasure and you might ask, is there a worse than creepy Gervais? That depends as Gervais was not an ongoing annoyance, he just showed up for a bit here and there but I was about to get full on, full time totally horribly worse annoyance. Chantal tells Mother, never mind-- I can come work for her and do the lunch shift with….yes you guessed it….freak boy Jojo. Ok maybe she didn’t call him freak boy but we know what he is and I cannot believe I am going to be stuck in that place all day long with him pulling faces at me. Oh the tangled web we weave….

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