HIS WEAKNESS

Author's POV: It is a beautiful morning in New York City, the sun shone very bright into Laura's bedroom through the window as it sets on her face, making her murmur in her sleeping voice. She rolled on the bed and blocked the rays of sunlight with her right hand as she slowly opened her eyes to behold the scene. Laura checked her phone for the time and was shocked it was already 8 in the morning. She cursed and tugged her long,black hair. Actually, she planned to wake up as early as possible, dress up and go out for job hunting in the city. She just came from Australia yesterday and was jet lagged still, too lazy to even have dinner. Well, Australia was a rough country for her so she decided to leave and come to another city, another country and start a new, hoping it will turn out great. Laura isn't living with her parents nor her brother, Eden, who she's 10 years younger. She managed to get a small apartment with the help of her best friend, Kendall who pulled some strings while she was still in Australia. Laura and Kendall have been best friends since grade school, they only got separated when Kendall had to move out with her parents to New York. Presently, Laura only has Kendall and Raven in the city as her family. Her family by choice. Raven is also her best friend, more like sisters because they do things together. Laura encountered a lot back in Australia even in her young age, her mother, Mary Dominique despises her. They went through various crises as a family: her father, Edward, or Ed as Mary would call, got fired from his place of work which was the only source of their family income. Laura had to drop out of college and her brother, Eden was also chased away from school when he couldn't meet with his school's demand. That was when Laura thought someone had to stand up and fight when everyone had already given up, so she took the responsibility of working hard to bring her family to their feet again . Her sole aim was to see her family smile again, Eden graduate and they should have food on their table. "Laura, can you just stop whatever you're doing right now? This isn't gonna work, I've told you. You're just wasting your time on nothing!" Her brother, Eden said as he watched Laura gather God knows what papers in her tote bag. "And what do you mean, uh?" Laura queried, a glint of anger in her eyes which made Eden cower a little, but he didn't retreat. "That I should quit uh? I should stop making efforts for our family? MY FAMILY? Look, Eden I'm 20 already and our parents are old. They've provided for us since we were in nappies, so why can't I do something too when I have the chance? " . Eden sighed and continued, "I know , but..." he paused and looked at her deeply, his eyes softer than before, " ...because of this you had to drop out of college so I'd continue my education and now things aren't working out,everything Laura. What's the use of..." Eden's words were interrupted by Laura who lashed out at him, her nostrils flared as Eden subconsciously took a step back seeing her. "Are you nuts or something? You think I'm going around, wasting my time and our family's on something that's not yielding uh? Look at me Eden, graduation, our wellbeing and our food is what is important to me, okay? I had to drop out of college because of this, no way I'm gonna watch you stay at home with me and not study. I'm gonna do everything that I can to make our family stable and put a smile on our faces okay? So don't you dare tell me to quit, 'cause HELL NAH I'm not gonna do that. Clear?" Laura exploded, speaking with rapid fire as tears and sweat crawled down her face. With that said, there was silence, just frequent sniffs coming from Laura and murmurs of regret. Guiltily, Eden knelt in front of her and wrapped her hands in his, Laura slowly looked up sadly. "Listen sissy, I just don't want you to worry too much because of this. You should also take care of yourself, I cannot live without you Laura. I'm also fed up of all these, I also don't want this just like you don't. I support you sissy, will always do. And I love you so much" Eden said and hugged her tight as she wrapped her arms too around his small frame and closed her eyes. "I love you too baby brother" she replied with a cracked voice and smiled. Laura thought of what she could do to get money quickly, after all her attempts to get a decent job went futile. The restaurant she was employed in was working well for her until 3 months after, it had to be demolished. She got another connection which led to meeting a man who had an ally with elites. He advised her to work at a club where rich men gather after hours of work, as a stripper of course because she had what it takes for it. Laura was given three days to decide, according to the man they paid handsomely to the most requested stripper. Laura came home afterwards but didn't tell a soul what she got, even when her mother asked her. She didn't even tell Eden because it was embarrassing to say such thing to her family, she couldn't even imagine herself seducing rich men on a pole, dancing half naked as they throw money on her like she's an item up for auction. After so much ifs and buts, Laura finally made up her mind to try the job the man offered. She worked for three days and in those three days, she almost turned to a millionaire. Luck was on her side though, just as the man predicted. She was good,great in the job and won a lot of hearts in the club, although her fellow strippers weren't pleased. Laura used the money for the family like she planned, they were better again and her parents kept wondering where she got all that from. " I got a job as a nanny for a rich business man who has a little daughter and cannot take care of her alone, he's a divorcee. He's very nice and when I told him the issue on ground, he was willing to give me my pay quickly" Laura told her family with the best convincing smile she had and they bought it, especially her father who had become greedy as a result of the crisis. Things were going well for her, until one night she was kidnapped by unknown men and taken hostage. She would've been r***d if the people who came to her rescue were a minute late, this made her mentally traumatized for weeks.Then she had to tell Mary everything, the truth. How she got the stripping job, how it got her money, how she was taken hostage suddenly and almost r***d. Mary lashed out at her daughter and disowned her, forgetting how Laura suffered to get what she had to get on the family's table. With a broken heart, Laura left the house and cut all ties with her mother for a year not knowing they too. already left Australia to New York without her knowledge. Laura now decided to work again to get money so she could leave the country too. All Laura's struggles and determination for months ago were destroyed in just twenty seconds by her very own mother. She buried herself in her thoughts every day, did she really deserved this?