YOU PROMISED ME FOREVER -- Sequel to "DIFFERENT"

6 -- LIFE OR DEATH ? YOU CHOOSE ...

"Fucking social media, I hate it !"  Jack roared down the phone into Larry's ear.

"You're the social media influencer, Jack, so do some influencing, please "  Larry begged, trying to keep his balance as Kayden clung to his leg.  He hadn't let go of him since they got home.  

Videos had quickly appeared on youtube of Laurent running at full speed, pushing and shoving people, apparently, yelling at them to get out of his way, as he and Chuck were chasing Seb through the mall.  Again, showing the convoluted part of a one sided story, only a small part of the whole.  Their fans and followers, who had been following them both more attentively, defensively, since what had happened with Christina, were quick to put the naysayers and devil's advocates on notice, just itching to tell the whole, and mostly accurate, story on the guys behalf.  

"There's not much I can do, Larry, it's free speech.  I can't pull the video's, I wouldn't want to anyway.  We got lemons ?  We make lemonade.  Though how we do that, I don't know yet.  I'll figure somethin' out." 

Larry hauled Kayden up off of his leg, carrying him over to the sofa, where Leyla was comforting Michaela.  Larry sat between his two children now, hugging them to him desperately, trying to stay strong for them.  Trying not to let them see him cry.  It had been three hours since they got home, and they were still waiting for Chuck and Laurent to get back.  Laurent had called to say they were both OK, and that they were waiting to give their statements to the police and mall security.  Until Laurent was home safe, he would worry.  And then, worry some more.  Some maniac had decided he disliked Laurent, and maybe him too, enough to find out their whereabouts, and to scare the living shit out of all of them.  As he hugged his scared children tightly, he could feel his chest tighten, and his head throbbed to the beat of his erratically beating heart.  

"Do I need to call the doc ?"  Leyla asked.  Everyone was in such shock, they could barely speak to one another.  The kids had cried non-stop since the window had shattered around them.  Larry and Dave had told them it was just an accident, a freak, one-off happening, but Michaela, especially, was not so unaware as to believe them.  Occupying the small space under the table that she did, she had an unobstructed view of Seb Cole as he stood outside the window, sledgehammer in hand, glaring menacingly at her papa.  She had seen the look on Laurent's face, momentarily gripped in panic and fear as he glared back.  She didn't know exactly what that meant, but she knew this was no accident.  She knew this man meant to harm her father, and it broke her heart. 

"You know what ?  We could do with a friend with wise words right about now"  Larry answered.  Leyla's idea was that, as a medical professional, he could check everyone over, make sure they were all OK physically, especially the children.  But he was their family's friend, a good one, and his counsel would go a long way to soothe the fresh open wound in their collective familial psyche.  

Just then, Larry caught the sight of Laurent walking up the steps to their front door.  He ran to get to him as he entered the hallway.  For some reason, he stopped short of throwing himself into Laurent's arms.  He noticed how tired and disheveled he was, exhaustion written all over his face, emanating from every pore of his body, his frustration coming off him in waves.  

They both stood a few feet apart, absolutely still, looking deeply at one another, almost afraid to speak in the moment, to feel one another's pain, each feeling it would be too much for the other to bear.  

"He got away, Larry.  He just smirked at me, he thinks he's won."  They were talking quietly, so as not to alarm the children, Chuck and Dave talking on their phones in the background.

"Who was it, Lau ?  He knew you, didn't he ?"  Larry's eyes pleaded with Laurent to tell him the truth, now was not the time to lie, thinking he was protecting him from however awful the awful truth was.