Secrets and Lies (a Les Twins fanfic)

Chapter 32: Going in Circles

“We dance round in a ring and suppose, while the secret sits in the middle and knows.”
—Robert Frost

Larry was spending the night at Laurent’s apartment for the second night in a row.

“Man, I love you. But when you going home?”

They were both chilling in shorts and t-shirts in the living room playing golf on Laurent’s Wii and practicing their English on each other.

Larry hit a birdie on the sixth hole.

“Maybe I like spend time with my brother. Is that crime?”

Laurent knew that probably wasn’t the real reason his twin was hiding out in his apartment.

He squared his body up over an imaginary tee and swung his arms back over his shoulders for a long drive.

“You never wanna stay here before. Now you don’t leave. And you bring Aswan, too?”

The puppy rolled around on the floor excitedly panting and barking like he was playing the game with them.

Larry ignored Laurent’s questions and changed the subject.

“So tell me what happen.”

“What happen with what?”

Laurent knew exactly what Larry was asking, but he didn’t want to talk about it.

“You know. Your computer? Did she look at it?

When Laurent didn’t say anything Larry knew the answer was yes.

“See! I knew it.”

“That don't mean anything.”

Laurent tried to bump Larry on the sly and make him miss his shot.

Larry hopped out of the way. “Yes, it does. She shady.”

“You don’t know women. This what they do. They pick your phone, they check your pockets…that mean they love you.”

Larry looked puzzled, but there was no point talking in circles. They would never agree on women.

Laurent checked the time. It was almost seven o’clock and he was meeting Gabby at eight.

“We finish this later.”

He went upstairs to his room. When he came back down he was wearing a white button-down shirt, jeans, and a blue-and-white New York snapback.

“Lau, where you going?”Larry looked up from the couch.

Laurent glanced in Larry’s general direction, rolled up his sleeves, and kept walking. Aswan scampered behind him nipping at his heels.

“What? You my papa now?”

Larry shook his head and frowned as his brother went out the door.

*   *   *   *

Gabby stood outside her hotel waiting for Laurent.

She noticed him coming down the street and her heart started beating a little faster like it always did when she saw him.

“Where are you taking me?”

“It’s surprise.”

“To the Eiffel Tower?” She couldn’t believe she’d been in Paris for two months and managed not to visit its most famous monument.

“Noooo. That place is still boring. Somewhere better.”

They got off the train at the Place de la Concorde and Laurent made her close her eyes. He spun her in a circle.

“Okii. Now you can open them.”

Across the street a gigantic Ferris wheel glittered against the night sky.

“Le Grande Roue. You like it?”

“It’s beautiful.”

He guided her across the traffic to the other side of the street and they stood in line for the ride. The closer they got to the front, the slower Gabby walked.

Then Laurent turned around and she wasn’t beside him anymore. She had stepped out of the line.

“Why you stand way over there?”

“Don’t laugh at me, okay? But I’m afraid of heights.”

He smiled and pointed to some little kids at the exit. “The bébés getting off this ride braver than you.”

“Stop picking on me! I can’t help it.”

He pulled her back in line next to him.

“You don’t have to be scared when you with me.”

That honestly didn’t make her feel any better, but she pretended it did as they boarded.

As soon as the Ferris wheel moved and their car started swaying Gabby clamped her hands onto the safety bar.

She was petrified. “Lau, I wanna get off.”

“It’s too late. We already moving.”

“But I really, really wanna get off.”

“Yeah. But it’s too late though.”

Laurent laughed as she let go of the bar, put her arms in a death grip around him, and hid her face in his shirt.

“Don’t think about the height. Look over there.”

He kept holding her and talking, pointing out the Eiffel Tower and other landmarks in the distance until she almost forgot her fear.

Their car stopped at the top of the wheel two hundred feet above the world.

From there the entire city and all the people were tiny specs beneath their feet.

It was breathtaking.

“We at the top. You have to kiss me.”

“That sounds like a rule you just made up. I didn’t see it on the sign for this ride.”

“Because you don’t read French. It was there.”

“Oh really?”

“Mmhmm.”

They kissed and Laurent’s hand found its way under her skirt.

Gabby felt like she was flying so high. She never wanted to come down.