Razorblade (An Aaron Ramsey Story)

Chapter Six

 “How am I supposed to eat this?” Rachel whispered half desperate to Aaron, staring at her lobster like it was an alien.

 Well… It kinda looked like one.

 “Hm, you have to…” Aaron made some weird – but discrete – hand signals to her “First you cut, you know, ahm… Here…”

 Rachel bit her lip, holding a laugh. He was so awkward trying to cut his lobster without throwing it away across the table.

 What if he did throw it across the table? Maybe on Bouchra’s lap, to see if it’d take that look of permanent disgust on her face…

 “Enjoying the food, Rachel?” Robin van Persie gave her a kind smile as Bouchra simply stared.

 Rachel looked at her untouched plate, still trying to figure out the logic of cutting a lobster “Delicious.”

 “Good” Robin nodded lightly “That means you’ll come back more, then!”

 Bouchra snorted. Her phone started to buzz – one of Tiesto’s old tunes – and she got up, a pleasant smile on her lips, the first one Rachel ever saw her give. “We’ll see.” She got up, taking her phone with her.

 Brittany cut her lobster perfectly, removing all the meat from the shell like it was as simple as biting jelly “So, your name is Rachel, right?”

 “Yes” Rachel tried to give a charming smile.

 “How’s work, Rach?” Gabe tried to make small talk, taking a sip of her drink.

 “Where does she works?”

 “On the streets” She heard someone whisper, maybe Ananda to Theo or Brittany to Nasri.

 She swallowed dryly, and before she could answer, Bouchra entered the dining room again, swelling with joy “Oh, Brittany here” She signaled to Brittany “Was just promoted to senior adviser of her company at the young age of twenty six.” Nasri took his girls hand, kissing it lightly.

 “Congrats” Rachel muttered, her fork playing with the vegetables.

 “And Ananda was just hired by Mayer&Jordan, do you know, the law firm.” Bouchra raised her drink to Ananda that smiled humbly.

 “They’re number four at Forbes magazine on the most powerful law firms in England” Theo Walcott said proudly, a smug smile on his lips.

 “And Gabe… Well, she’s our hero” Bouchra said kindly “Taking care of baby Chris as his mother, working part time at Brazil’s embassy and being my assistant at the Charity…” Van Persie’s wife smiled “I don’t know how you do it, but you’re amazing.”

 Gabe blushed, looking down as Jack held her hand.

 “Now… What were you saying you did?”

 “I…” She looked at Aaron, that gave her a reassuring look “I work at a club.”

 “I knew it, she’s a dancer!” Someone whispered impolitely.

 “So… You manage the club?” Ananda asked.

 “No, she probably owns the club, right?” Nasri scratched his chin.

 “I think she’s their associate.” Brittany rose an eyebrow “If you want, I got plenty of business tips for you.”

 “I don’t think so” Theo stared at Rachel “She looks like she probably does their accounting, with that fancy dress and stuff” He winked.