Sword of Damocles

Today was a day varying from tearful reproach to deadly threats and all I wanted was some peace from the soap opera my life had turned into lately. Coco called me up at work to ask tearfully if I could have a coffee with her after work at Djini’s as she was feeling abandoned by Tiah since her breakup with Royce and reproached that I had disappeared completely. She didn’t know I had left Caspar’s and was surprised when I told her I would see what time I could leave the showroom. I realised that Coco was going to need a lot more time than I was able to give her and I had the idea of inviting Jazz who was in the same boat as Coco and could probably relate to what she was going through more than me. I didn’t think that I was going to be able to hide my happiness for long and when they found out about Simon it was going to be hard to hide it at all.

When Simon called me to say he couldn’t come by for lunch as he was dealing with clients I told him how I was going to be late after work as I was having coffee with the girls at Djini’s. He laughed and said not to talk about him all the time which made me giggle at him to hush. He added that he had put my clothes in the flat and I could sort it out later. When he had picked me up that morning he was pleased to see I had a suitcase of clothes. I know he wants me over at his place every single night but I am worried about rushing into this too fast for I have not been the luckiest person in my relationships so far and I was determined to do everything right with Simon.

I drove to Djini’s after work, parked out the back then started to walk toward the front of the café, a shadow detached itself from the wall and before I could take a breath Gervais Dubois had hold of me while pushing me against the brick wall. His face was contorted with anger, his cold façade was nowhere to be seen and I had never seen his anger before, he was either cold or smarmy but he had never revealed a raw emotion in the past. He hissed that whoring did not become me and I knew he meant me staying with Simon. The only way he could have known about me and Simon was if he had followed us and Simon must have seen him so this explained why he kept driving me everywhere and wanting me to spend the night all the time. Gervais gripped my arms until I cried out in pain and hissed “How dare you let him near you.” I wanted to tell him that not only did I let him but I liked it and planned to do it a lot more but some people came walking towards the car park and he let me go and stood back. I edged up the wall past him and ran off into the café as fast as I could.

Once inside I found Coco sitting in the back, still shaking from my encounter with Gervais I slipped in beside her and she asked what was wrong but I told her nothing as I did not want anyone to know about my close encounters with Gervais, their memories were shame enough. She gave me an odd look but said nothing more about it as Coco was not one to delve deeply into the problems of others as she was too wrapped up in her own miseries to care. A few minutes later a very unhappy Jazz joined us saying she was glad to be out of the restaurant as Chantal was sprackling the place down to the ground. I asked what had happened and she fussed reluctantly unable to meet my eye so Coco repeated the question as we looked expectantly at Jazz until she gave in and told us that Jojo’s girlfriend had announced she was pregnant.

Even though I was now with Simon the news was like a slap in the face and if I had thought Jojo was of no concern to me anymore I was wrong for this affected me strongly. It was this moment I had to put Jojo Sedero totally aside, not that I had consciously considered us having a relationship but this was the final closing of the door. Even though I was in a relationship with Simon I felt grief and knew it was time to move on in every way. I told Jazz that I wished the best for Jojo in whatever he did and left it at that but Coco however was unable to cope and was convinced that Royce’s girlfriend was also pregnant. She started obsessing again and we spent the next hour reassuring her and in the end I never did get to mention Simon.

When it came time to leave I walked with them to the car park keeping an eye out for Gervais and when I drove back to Simon’s I kept a close eye out for his black Jag but saw nothing at all. Simon greeted me at the door but cranky at his deception I ducked his kiss and went inside leaving him confused. I asked him how long he had known we had been followed and he pretended not to understand me which added to my anger at him for not warning me so I repeated the question while scowling at him. Simon rubbed his forehead with his hand and said he was pretty sure Gervais had someone following us from the start as he had been vaguely aware of seeing the same face around but assured me it was not Gervais himself. I was very angry and asked Simon why he didn’t think of telling me so I could protect myself which made him look exasperated and he replied that was just the point, I didn’t protect myself, I would have gone and confronted him and got into more trouble. He was protecting me by ensuring I was always safe.

I asked if this is why his father gave me a job and he said his father genuinely needed someone as the state of his files proved this. I paced the floor in anger and Simon grabbed to hug me but my arms hurt and I flinched. He stood back mortified thinking he had hurt me and apologised but when I told him it was not from him his face hardened and he asked if I had met Gervais today, is that why I knew about being followed, is that why my arms hurt. My anger dissolved into fear and I stood unable to answer him for if I told him Gervais had hurt me he might do something stupid, if I lied he would think I was holding something back from him and again I was put in the impossible position because of Gervais. I hated him so very much as he was taking all my energy to just survive him. I sat down on the sofa and in a forlorn voice told Simon I didn’t know what to do. He sat beside me and put his arms around me saying we would work it out together and I was so grateful he was with me that I told him I loved him for the first time. His face melted into tenderness as he kissed me until we made love, tenderly as if was our first time and afterwards as he slept peacefully beside me I knew I had to get rid of Gervais Dubois before he got rid of me.

Previous Next