I obviously continue my investigation, looking for a little card that could enlighten me on the sender of this adorable attention. It was then that I discovered a small crumpled envelope, abandoned on the ground, as well as an equally crumpled card. This surprises me from Theo. It's not like him to be indiscreet enough to read my mail. Anyway, I pick up the missive and the few words on it make me smile.

My pretty journalist,

I wish you a wonderful birthday day.

I envy these flowers for being so close to you and I long to see you again.

Tenderly.

Gabriel

Wow! He knows my date of birth, that means he investigated me. But, to what extent?

I am very touched and the sweet scent that these roses give off makes me forget for a few moments the altercation that just happened in my room. Once down from my soft cloud, I realize the unthinkable: Theo gave me a fit of jealousy.

I am determined to clear things up and that as of this evening.

I thought that once he calmed down, Theo would come back to my apartment to accompany me to the dinner organized by my father. However, 7:30 p.m. appears on my clock and no one in sight.

I feel lost. Everything is tangled in my head, this loss of control with him and the unmistakable physical attraction I feel for Gabriel Lewis. Anyway, I'm torturing myself for nothing, since Theo just brought me in his own way, a little comfort, nothing more.

Still, I can't help but gently caress the parts of my body covered with her lips shortly before. Never have I felt such intense emotions.

So this is the secret of pleasure?

Sleep with your confidant to reach seventh heaven?

No, I'm digressing here!

One thing is certain, this intimate rapprochement must not happen again. His friendship is far too precious to me to risk losing it.

As I feared, Dad's house is crawling with family members. Uncles, aunts, cousins ​​and… the essential is missing.

Theo can't let me down, not on a night like this. He knows how much I suffer from the absence of my mother and only he is able to fill this gap.

Here, my sister had the delicacy not to show up with the love of her life.

May these two die in hell!

Where are you my double? You have never missed one of my birthdays. Yet you have enchanted the beginning of this day so well, do not abandon me now.

My stomach tightens and I know the cause of this pain. The abandonment... this fucking abandonment that has marked my miserable life. I may hide my face by putting on a happy face every day that God wants, but the truth is that I am so insignificant that no one cares about me. The proof, my own mother does not care about my fate.

"How are you, darling?" You look pensive. But by the way, your twin isn't coming with you tonight? It's strange.

Oh yes, I'm perfectly fine! If I was sure of not causing a delay to a train, I would throw myself under it.

- I'm very well my Papuan. Don't worry. How not to be happy with such a party? Thank you so much.

There you go… smiles, hugs, compliments and tutti quanti.

What my daily life! A perpetual staging of happiness.

"And Theo then?"

Go ahead dad, rub the knife in the wound, I'm not bleeding enough.

“He apologizes…an important business with a client kept him in the office.

And who is the Golden Pinocchio for? Me and that for many years.

Despite everything, the evening took place in a good mood and I played my role to perfection as a fulfilled girl who was interested in everyone's life.

Only, at 11:00 p.m., unable to bear it any longer, I stick kisses on the cheeks reddened by alcohol and leave the home of my childhood.

Twenty minutes later, I'm pacing under Theo's still-lit bedroom window. I gather my courage to start a discussion with him and thus remind him that his reaction to a simple bouquet of flowers was disproportionate and inappropriate.

What is true! We are not a couple as far as I know. We just broke down a few barriers between us, not enough to make a big deal out of it.

So I trudge the three floors that separate me from him and enter his lair. Small noises escape from the bedroom, so, more sure of myself, I head for this one.

The door is ajar. I gently slide my fingers over it and pushing it, I whisper my friend's name. But, a vision of horror takes my breath away, my legs and also the hope of a warm exchange between us. My body no longer responds to my desire to take to my heels in order to escape this situation. My face remains frozen keeping my eyes and mouth wide open. My blood freezes with fear and sends electric shocks that make me shiver from side to side. Endless seconds pass before Theo senses my presence, but when he does, he roughly grabs my arms.

- Ah, there you are, my darling! All that was missing was you. Please lie down with us. I only start the preliminaries and when there is one, there are two. Theo shares. He's used to it, isn't he Paola?

He shakes me like a plum tree while yelling at me. He staggers and struggles to keep his balance, as soon as he agitates my body a little too much. I've never seen him in such a state, except maybe on his special eighteenth birthday party.

Moreover, after this party where he discovered that alcohol abuse made him aggressive, he never drinks more than two glasses. Apparently, tonight, he broke the rule he had set for himself. I am not at ease at all, he is unrecognizable and terribly scares me. I start to panic and heavy sobs prevent me from breathing normally.

The pretty Barbie doll is not at all disturbed by the scene, because she grabbed a car magazine that was lying on Theo's bedside table and leafs through it patiently, lying face down. She represents quite the bitch who is waiting for her part of her legs in the air by performing scissors with her legs.

- Stopped ! Get off me right away! You hurt me and you're dead drunk.

I try so hard to get out of his grip, but he's way too strong. My pleas do not have the desired effect, namely pity, on the contrary, it seems rather to excite him. He smiles at me handsomely and rushes at me in a bestial way. He presses my back against the wall and crushes me with his body. I can not move anymore. I am completely at his mercy. Anguish then spreads through my veins like viper venom and rather than hitting, I moan, cry, beg...

He, imperturbable, kneads my breasts, licks my neck, rubs his pelvis against mine, mimicking a brutal penetration. At this precise moment, I want to disappear forever. Theo... my Theo... the man who has protected me since my youngest age, is destroying the semblance of a patched up heart that I have left.

"Not drunk enough not to manage to take care of two women!"

As he utters this sentence, he bursts into a devilish laugh, which wakes up my nerves.

In a surge of survival, I stuck to him with all my might, my knee in his private parts. The pain makes him groan animal, but before collapsing on the ground, he tries to cling to my sweater. His hand then hits my lip, which splits like an overripe fruit. A hot liquid runs down my neck, but I don't take the time to assess the damage and storm out.

Once outside and especially free, I sit on the edge of the sidewalk, to try to calm the tremors that invade my body. It's impossible for me to drive in this state, and I don't want to stay around too long lest the monster spawned by alcohol return to finish what it started.

With hesitant hands, I take my cell phone out of my jacket and scroll through the list of my contacts to seek help from one of them. A name catches my eye and without thinking any longer, I press “call”.

It is almost midnight, I am cold, afraid and unlikely that he will answer me at this late hour.

- Hello ?

The sound of his voice reassures me and I release some of the tension that crushes my chest. So much so that I burst into tears without succeeding in placing a coherent sentence, apart from, "Gabriel", "Gabriel"

- Paola ? Paola ! What happened to you ? Where are you ?

I no longer control anything. I stammer the beginnings of explanations, then sniffle, shout, cry hot tears.

"Where the hell are you?"

"I... I...

Emotion overwhelms me and I am unable to give him Theo's address.

- Paola ! Tell me right now where you are!

His familiarity and the concern that his voice conveys hit me like an arrow. Strangely, this allows me to find the reason.

— Verdun Boulevard. Sitting on the sidewalk.

“So listen to me. You will stay on the phone with me until Marcus drops you off at my hotel.

I hear him call his sidekick, probably with a second line and then he continues to converse with me as agreed. I never imagined I would ever be so happy to see Brutus walking towards me. Surprisingly, Marcus picks me up with great care and supports me by the waist to his armored car. Ten minutes separate me from my savior, but his voice which flows deliciously in me, allows me to wait.

My heart aches and suddenly, I feel ashamed, stupid even to have had the stupidity to call this man in the middle of the night. I'm not quite sure I want to enter this room and have to face Mr. Lewis anymore.