Deception: A Narrative Fiction

Penelope set her shaking fingertips against the edge of the table and broke her gaze “Why wasn’t I informed about this? My family could be in danger.” Cleo brushed her off with a semblance of nonchalance “I told you, we already have professionals watching out for them.Your family is completely safe. As I said, the foremen agreed to keep you in the dark just until Ava returned and now that she has you are being brought in on all of this.” Penelope focused on timing her breaths “I should have been informed as soon as my family was approached.” Cleo shuffled, although she didn’t betray herself. She knew the conversation was going south, fast. “How did you even know that I was the one being approached? Couldn’t he have just been trying to find …show more content…
Usually, her and Linda would sit in the back and discuss work, she was supportive and curious about Penelope’s life outside of the shop. Linda might know...Linda. Penelope’s heart sank, she was the only person at Le Patisserie that she communicated with. She couldn’t be the informant, she would have told me. Cleo frowned a little “By the look on your face, I believe you have a suspicion as to who it is that has agreed to train you. I’m afraid your right, they’re on their way up here right now. They wanted a minute to explain their side of the story before we get into the specifics of your new training structure.” Penelope exhaled and slumped into her chair, a feeling of deja vu swept through her and she choked against her own stupidity. Almost every one of her friends had left her, usually after she discovered a betrayal of some sort. If this were true about Linda...she wasn’t sure she could stand …show more content…
A deep seeded feeling of betrayal leaped from her head to her heart, and raged war at every turn. From each person she had come to admire over the past months, she felt a shuddering vulnerability. No safety, no comfort, only crimson bruises wrapped around her like a suffocating blanket. To her own surprise Penelope’s anger vanished, she gained control of herself as her pupils slowly returned to their normal size. “Cori is your informant?” Cleo’s shoulders slumped, she titled her head once “I didn’t explain the situation very well, I see that now. I am sorry, but it was a necessity.” Penelope’s soul slipped from her body, leaving it to cling to the chair like a magnet “How long has he been working with you?” Cleo shuffled a little uncomfortably “Cori Montanari has been working with us from the beginning. The moment he was hired on to associate with you, he approached us. We encouraged his advances, we even gave him advice on chance encounters. Actually, we gave him a folder of your most basic personality attributes: likes, dislikes, favorite color, religion, that sort of thing. To the best of our knowledge, Montanari has played his role perfectly.” Cleo spoke with an ease and precision that made Penelope’s toes curl and she reprimanded herself for being so