Fifty Shades of Larry (On Hold)

TWENTY-NINE

➖TWENTY-NINE➖

Laurent dumped the third pack of noodle into large of boiling pot of water. He poked the strings with a spatula, breaking them from their intertwined state.

"Felix, onions." He stretched his hand and Felix placed a plate on his palm. "Mon dieu, this is horrible!" Laurent gasped seeing the large ringlets of onions Felix had just sliced.

"You don't like it?"

"Of course not. You supposed for chop it, not slice like it's bread. It's very big."

"I'm horrible in the kitchen, Sir," Felix confessed.

Laurent shook his head. "That's sad. You should learn how for cook." He went ahead to pour the onions into the pot. "What if I non here?"

Unfortunately, that morning the cook had travelled to Texas to visit her sick sibling.

"I would have ordered lunch for Mr Bourgeois and myself," Felix said matter-of-factly.

Laurent laughed. "I see. Well, I here and we are going for eat proper home cooked meal."

Felix wiped his hands on his apron and moved to the other stove where eggs were frying in oil. "I think the oil might be too much."

Laurent stretched over to look into the pan. He shook his head and sniffed. "Non. It's okay. It's perfect."

While Felix went ahead to continue stirring the pan, Laurent sneaked out to call Larry. He hadn't heard from him since he left that morning and it was past 4 in the afternoon.

With his left hand in his pocket, body leaning against the wall of the hallway he placed a call across to Larry, hoping he would pick so he could hear his voice.

After calling twice, Larry didn't pick. Disappointment washed through his thin body.

Laurent shoved his phone in his pocket and walked back to the Kitchen. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked around. The meal was cooking, there was nothing else to do but wait.

"Tell me, Felix," Laurent leaned against the counter, turning his head sideways to look at the butler. "What kind of person is Larry?"

Felix seemed take aback by Laurent's question at first, but soon he was smiling.

"Well, he's definitely a good man." Laurent nodded for continuation. "He's also kind, considerate, strong, smart. He has adopted over 400 children around the world. He gave them life, love. He gave them hope."

Laurent smiled.

"Mr Bourgeois is also passionate and always goes after what he loves. Take Larwares for example. He built a gaming company from scratch and in 5 years has become one if the biggest in the world. It's admirable. He's a huge role model to kids and young adults."

Warmness flowed through Laurent's body. Hearing such good words about Larry made him feel assured that he hadn't made a mistake falling for the man. In Felix's words, he was a kind, passionate person, someone people looked up to.

"That's nice."

Felix nodded in concurrence. "You should be proud of him, Mr Bourgeois."

"I know. I am." Laurent smiled proudly.

Silence hovered above them for a minute, until Felix spoke up. "Mr Bourgeois, sorry to pry but can I ask you a question?

"Oui. Of course."

"Have you and Mr Bourgeois always been so close?"

"Oui. We were inseparable as kids," Laurent answered  "People call us twins because we look alike and ways walk together. We used for have a secret hangout space with us friends, at a very old abandoned building. People use for think the place was haunted." He shook his head. "We had so much fun. All of us use will dance there for hours, rap, drink alcohol that we non usually allowed for drink at home. Us group was the tightest. We were the best of friends. One day, government tear up us spot just like that. They say the place has been sitting there for too long, so they sell the place for some people for build school. That was us space for 11years. And just like that, we all torn apart."