Both Liam and Allison looked at the door as they heard it opening. It was Jake.
He stared at the two of them. It didn't take long for his brain to analyze that there is a tense situation happening here. His smile turned to a grimace realizing how he has wrought destruction on himself.
He slowly closed the door, apologizing, hoping that he'd be let go.
"Get in, Jake," Liam called Jake in. He didn't want to deal with Allison now. Working would be better.
Jake pretended he didn't hear Liam and proceeded to close the door. He didn't want to be there when Allison is mad.
"Jake!" Liam shouted. "Get in!"
Jake got in having no other choice.
"Allison," Liam turned his attention to her. "What did you say to Rory? It didn't look like she started it."
Allison glared at Liam. Liam didn't mind that and turned at Jake. Jake let out a sigh.
In the end, he is embroiled in this conflict. So he decided to go all out.
"Beggar, B*tch, carrot-top, fake tits, but what pushed Ms. Aurora was "fire-crotch" if I guess… They were all offensive words if-"
"Damn!" Liam interjected Jake and looked at Allison with his eyes wide. His blue eyes were filled with mirth and he covered his mouth with his hand. "Fire-crotch? You dared to… Ah!" he opened his mouth wide and slammed the table as if he couldn't believe it.
"She left you with just a punch?" his surprised eyes ended up at the confused Allison once more. "God! She has turned soft!" his voice was filled with disappointment, but his lips curved up.
Allison stood there stunned as she didn't know what to say. What else would that b*tch do?
"So, Ms. Aurora went easy?" Jake got intrigued. He would welcome any competition that would demote Allison from her self-proclaimed position of "Queen" in this office.
"Yeah," Liam's face brightened up. "Back in our town, in our freshman year of high school, there was this popular junior girl who always teased her and called her 'fire-head'. Rory hated it!
That name spread and everyone started calling her by that name. That junior girl didn't stop there and made it tough for Rory. You know, her notebooks disappearing, tripping in the hallways, and the whole…high school-style bullying shtick… Do you know what happened next?" He raised his eyebrows, and his blue eyes twinkled with excitement.
Jake was intrigued.
Is this where the hero—the white knight—steps in and makes all the girls swoon for him? Is this how they fell in love?
Liam's lips curved and he rubbed his palms together. Allison touched her cheek which was hurting like hell. She grumbled in her heart that no one bothers to ask her how she is feeling, neither out of concern nor out of courtesy.
She wanted to stomp out of the place where no one bothers her presence, but she wanted to know what happened. She knew Rory was from the countryside and that's why she is mannerless. She was curious.
"I should be fair. Rory did give her fair warnings for weeks, but that girl didn't listen. One fine autumn evening the golden sun was painting the entire football field red. The entire school was there. Rory's hair looked majestic and fiery like a forest fire, as usual. That dumb cheerleader, as usual, started to mock Rory. Her friends joined her too…"
Liam gave a dramatic pause before continuing. "Rory…Rory fought back! 'I dare you to repeat what you just said,' she said. Only I saw Rory taking out a hairspray and a lighter. The dumb junior girl..."
"Oh, wow!" Jake's jaws touched his chest. "No way! Did Ms. Aurora actually..?"
"Oh, yeah!" Liam's face brightened up with pride. "And guess what, from that day onward, Rory wasn't the firehead of the school no more."
"Well, bullying is wrong. Bullies need to be taught lessons," Jake said and Jake's eyes unconsciously ended up on Allison's crotch. But he averted his eyes immediately realizing that he cannot stare at a woman like that.
Fire-crotch, she had said…
Thinking of the various possibilities, he felt a chill pass through his spine.
"Not only that," Liam added.
"There is more?" Jake was stunned.
Shouldn't people learn their lessons after the fire-head issue? And wait… Why is Liam speaking of it proudly? What's with the flowery words he is using? And why didn't I think of it as wrong? Setting someone's hair on fire is illegal, right? It should be…
"During our sophomore year, this point guard…you know, he…" Liam cleared his throat. For a moment he looked like he regretted remembering that.
"Well, he used to call Rory 'Brave' and 'Merida', you know… after that Disney film with the red-haired…Princess…"
"So he liked her and called her Princess?" Allison interjected. She couldn't understand what boys liked about that b*tch.
Jake, who didn't get that nuance before Allison explained it, turned to Liam to ask if Allison was right. Seeing how Liam's face went red with rage, he could guess that Allison has, in fact, guessed right.
Interesting… his reaction…
"Don't tell me she shot him with a bow and arrow?" Jake asked to distract Liam, fearing that he might kill Allison.
Removing blood stains from the marble flooring will be tough, it's going to be a PR nightmare for the company, and Jake didn't want to be a witness getting dragged to court to testify against his boss.
Those are needless troubles that could and should be avoided.
"Almost," Liam had lost his interest by now. He pulled out the Swiss Army Knife he had in his pocket and started fiddling with it.
Jake gulped and took a step back. Although this is a very common sight to behold(Liam takes out the SAK when he is thinking, or when he is nervous, or when he is bored), and he should be used to it, he couldn't help but be wary of the knife this time.
"So, she didn't get into trouble for any of that?" Jake asked. He wanted to know how the parents of the girl who got her hair burnt let it go.
"Yeah…" Liam's voice went soft for a moment. "…we did."
That was made an issue. Rory's grandmother was so not impressed with her. She called Rory "little sociopath" and wanted her to be made criminally liable so that she does not repeat those "sociopathic behaviors". She hates Rory from what he's seen.
He told her grandmother that he was the one who gave Rory the idea of using hairspray and a lighter. And somehow that calmed down the old lady.
Yeah, that old lady loves him for some reason. She'd sneak him money and cook snacks for him. She bought him his first new car. But she hates Rory.
That old woman… is scary.
She was said to have held a higher position in the military-industrial complex and that she has powerful connections. Rumors were that she could call the highest office of the land without hesitation. To think of it, they don't know what she did for a living, actually, but… she is scary.
And… she is sick.
He felt like someone was boring a stare at him and it was Jake. He realized he's stopped the story in the middle and continued.
"Ours is a small town and everyone knows each other. Her grandfather was a retired Navy Admiral and had clout. He was mad that his granddaughter got bullied. Rory was not the only one who got bullied by that girl and so..." Liam shrugged.
Jake was impressed. 'We' he says. But it was Ms. Aurora who did all that. How was Liam involved?
They must have been very close... thick as thieves.