New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

The elevator ride down seemed to take an eternity, as stress tore Alex’s inside. He never had been in the presence of rich people much, and going to meet a little girl’s parents to prove he wasn’t a molester wasn’t his idea of a nice meet and greet.

Once he got to the lobby, he walked to the front desk, where a tall man in a black suit was waiting for him. He had on his head one of those chauffeur hats you see in the movies.

When he arrived at the desk, the man recognized him, which was weird. He probably had been shown an image of what Alexander looked like, but it still creeped him out.

A family capable of gathering information on a nobody like him so quickly was nothing to scoff at. This was most likely a family with old money.

Alex was already mentally preparing for what he thought would be a stuck-up meeting, with a lot of play on words. The luxury car he was practically shoved in drove away from his home.

It headed towards the southwest, staying inside the city but leaving downtown, until it reached what Alex assumed was the Westmount district. He knew a lot of rich people lived in this district.

They passed many big houses that were not much short of being called mansions, if not for their smaller terrains. They eventually drove into the driveway of an old brickwork house.

The house was enormous and seemed like it had been built more than a century ago. And yet, it was in pristine condition, a testament to the deep pockets of the owners.

The car stopped at a massive iron-barred gate. The driver lowered his window, swiping a card into the reader next to the gate, and it started opening inwards.

After driving the car up a semi-circle road that led to the entrance, the chauffeur stopped it and got out to open Alex’s door. Alex waited for the door to be opened for him, lest he break some sort of etiquette he wasn’t aware of.

The chauffeur gave a slight bow as he exited the car, still not saying a word. The only words he had said were in the lobby, and they consisted of ‘Please follow me, mister Leduc.’

As he walked up the stairs to the house, the door opened, revealing an elderly-looking maid. She gave Alex a curt bow.

“Welcome to the Bellemare residence, Mr. Leduc. The lady of the house is expecting you. Please follow me inside.”

Alex nodded, trying to keep his words to a minimum. He also didn’t want to sound nervous, and that would be no small feat, given his throat was already dry like a desert.

The maid led him inside, where she sat him in a lounge that looked more like a library than a living room. The sheer opulence in the house was astounding to him.

The velvet colours with golden and white accents screamed richness. The wall-mounted bookshelves were made of genuine wood, and by the looks of it, not cheap cedar or maple wood, either.

After he took his seat, the maid left and came back shortly with a crystal pitcher, filled with water, and two gold-lined glasses. She poured him a glass and poured another one, setting it on a table in front of him.

He didn’t know if Mrs. Bellemare was trying to intimidate him or not with the pressure of all this wealth, but it was sure working. Alex was almost sweating bullets at this point.

He rapidly downed his glass of water, trying to hydrate his parched throat, eliciting a small smile from the maid. Behind her smile, he could gleam a tinge of victory.

‘Fuck. I messed up. Now they know I’m nervous as hell.’ he thought, gulping silently.

“Would you want another glass, Mr. Leduc?” the maid asked.

“Ahem. Yes, please,” Alex replied, trying to sound in control of himself.

His voice cracked as he said it, making his attempt fail miserably. The maid kept on smiling as she walked over to pour him another glass.

That was the moment the lady of the house made her entry. She walked in slowly, with measured steps, in a fashion that belied her practiced movements.

This was clearly not the first time she pulled this power move. And that, in turn, told him how she most likely came from a prominent family herself, before marrying Mr. Bellemare.

Alex snapped to his feet, giving a bow to the woman.

“Mrs. Bellemare, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“We shall see if the pleasure is mutual,” the woman replied, her tone cold, as she sat across the table from Alexander.

Alexander sat back down, closing his mouth. He could feel the coldness in the air around the woman as she gauged him with her eyes.

“What is the relationship you have with my daughter?”

“We are strictly friends and gaming buddies, Ma’am.”

“And how did you come to meet her?”

“Ahh. Well, she spawned in the same village I did after creating her character. And since there were only the two of us as players, I helped her out.”

“Have you ever heard of the Bellemare family before?”

“I’ve heard of Bellemare industries, yes. But I didn’t know Violette was from your renowned family, Ma’am. I didn’t even know her surname.”

“Are you trying to tie into our family, young man?”

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“No, Ma’am. Far from me that idea. Violette is only a friend. At best, I would consider her like a little sister.”

Mrs. Bellemare’s eyes flashed in anger for half a second before she went back to being cold. But that didn’t escape Alex’s eyes, since he was maintaining eye contact as much as possible.

‘Shit. Did I say something I shouldn’t have? Fuck! That’s right! Her son! Dammit.’

“Do you have family, mister Leduc? Or rather, do you have any remaining family?”

Alexander bitterly smiled at her sentence.

“Unfortunately, no. My parents were all I had, and they are no longer among us.”

Alex felt a pang in his heart as he said that. He didn’t enjoy talking about this subject, even if it was something that happened years ago.

Mrs. Bellemare seemed to soften up at his pain. She seldom understood how it felt to lose family.

“What do you think hurts more, mister Leduc? Losing a parent, or losing a child.”

This wasn’t a question that had any right answer, and Alex knew that. But he still had to answer.

“I don’t think they are comparable pains, Mrs. Bellemare. Losing my two parents at once was something that deeply broke me and took many years to mend.”

“But I would never try to compare my pain to that of a parent losing a child. I believe no parent should ever witness their children’s funerals.”

“As such, I believe even though the pain of either situation is not the same, they shouldn’t be compared.”

The woman took a moment to reflect on his answer.

The silence sent Alexander back into his stress spiral until the woman spoke again.

“Alright. Come with me, young man. We shall go to a more… friendly room.”