Surrounded by friends at a loud restaurant table, Louis floated a question to one of his newest friends, Courtney. “If there was a situation where you needed to rely on me, would you trust me?”
Courtney thought for a second. The fast-talking, charming and already a little infuriating Louis smiled across the table. “I don’t know you well enough to trust you or not. So hopefully, I would not be in that situation.”
Louis made a mock shocked face, which the other people at the table laughed at, and then he moved on to someone he had known for a while longer. “Marco, what do you think? Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” Marco said. “Whenever I have needed you, you have come through for me.”
Louis made a motion with his hand, as if he were bowing to Marco. Louis then moved on to a person he had known for a long time. “Alright, Rachel, what do you think?”
Rachel spoke quietly, as if the question weighed on her, “I have seen you at your best and I’ve seen you at your worst. I know that you can be incredibly kind, but I also know that you usually have an agenda. If there was any doubt in my mind about a situation, I don’t know if I can trust you.”
Her statement led to a silence at the table, but Louis gave a slight shrug and pointed to his longest friend, Xander.
“Like Rachel, I have seen all of the many sides of our friend Louis. I have seen his schemes succeed and fail. I have seen him cross the street to help a stranger and set a friend up for a prank. Countless times, I have observed Louis’s actions when he is not watching. Do I know what he would do in every situation? No. Do I understand why Rachel might have some hesitation? Yes. So my answer is, if Louis gave me his word… I would trust him.”