Emily sat in Lilly’s office.
Her aunt’s desk stood on one side while a small sitting area stood at the opposite end. Unable to disturb Lilly, Emily chose the sitting area. She hunched over the coffee table, arms folded over it. She sighed.
Her fingers picked up a metal ball and pulled it. Taking a deep breath, she released it. The ball hit another one which hit the one next to it. It passed through 2 more until the last one swung up. When it came back down, the same thing happened until the opposite end also swung.
The cycle repeated.
Tick-tick-tick-tick…
Lilly peeked from behind her computer, “If you’re bored, why even stay here? Try not to break my Newton’s cradle please.”
Emily kept her chin on her hand, turning her gaze towards her aunt, “I’m in a slump. No matter what I do I am still bored.”
“A slump?” Lilly continued to type on her keyboard. An influx of emails suddenly came. The subject lines emphasized their urgency. Her fingers moved faster and skimmed through them all.
“Yes, I finished a comic series. I have nothing else to live for!” Emily fake sobbed. She tried to read another but her mind still lingered on the previous one. Nothing held her interest. She already scoured the internet for every fan art she could possibly find. She craved for more but there was nothing left.
“I would have thought you’d look for Alex and not me” her aunt chuckled.
“But she has a project to do” Emily grumbled. She grabbed a metal ball and stopped the cycle, “She told me not to disturb her.”
“So you came to bother your aunt instead?”
“I had this idea that we’d be looking through the folder incident case. How was I supposed to know that it would end up like this?”
Lilly finished replying to the urgent emails. She glanced at her niece. With her platinum blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, Lilly could see her clearly. Emily looked like a lost puppy, pouting at Newton’s Cradle. The lawyer sighed helplessly.
She got up from her chair and grabbed her blazer from its backrest. She placed it on, walking around her desk, “I’m famished. Are you? Let’s get something to eat.”
“Really?” Emily instantly rose to her feet. Her hair bounced behind her. She skipped towards her aunt, an enthusiastic smile on her.
“Don’t worry. I’ll pay.”
“Never doubted it for a second.”
“Why you—” Lilly pinched her niece’s cheek, “Can’t even pretend to be humble.”
Emily cupped her sore cheek, “Why would I need to pretend when I’m always humble?”
Her aunt merely shook her head, one hand on the doorknob, “Such a cheeky brat.”
The moment she opened the door, Lilly realized they couldn’t leave—at least, not anytime soon. She froze on the spot, making Emily peek outside. Her blue eyes widened at their guest. Forgetting how it would seem rude, she continued to stare. The uncanny resemblance almost made her barf.
“Do you have a minute?” Steve Parker asked, a poker expression on his face. He only looked at Lilly who also seemed shocked, “I apologize for the sudden visit. I have decided not to trust any lines of communication for this matter. I hope you can pardon my intrusion.”
The workers outside of Lilly’s office stopped to watch the scene unfold. The man had this authoritative voice that they couldn’t refuse. When he demanded to see their boss, rather than announce his arrival, they let him do it. None of them wanted to get in trouble for disturbing her. She could snap at any moment if she had a serious case.
Lilly blinked, remembering herself, “Yes, please. Step inside, Mr. Parker.”
She stepped to the side, allowing Steve to walk inside. Emily also moved out of the way. Their guest finally noticed her presence. He raised his eyebrows, “Am I interrupting something?”
Lilly closed the door, heading for her desk, “It’s quite alright. This is my niece, Emily. She is well aware of Alex’s situation. If anything, she’d like to be here.”
“I see…” Principal Parker whispered.
Emily gave him a shy smile. Bowing her head, she greeted him, “Nice to meet you. Sorry about my behavior. It just surprised me how much you look like Jae.”
“You’ve met my son?” Steve stood astonished by her words. It wasn’t something he never heard before. Yet, it felt a bit odd to hear it from someone he’d never seen or heard of. She seemed well-behaved unlike his eldest. He wondered how they knew each other.
“Both of them.”
At this, Principal Parker became more confused.
“She was with us at the weekend party, Mr. Parker” Lilly explained. She gestured a hand towards an empty seat, “Mind if we get on with business?”
“Oh, of course” Steve shook his head and took the offer. Of course, the girl was Lilly’s niece. It only made sense that she met his sons during the party. He scolded himself for not realizing it sooner.
Emily sat on the opposite chair from the twin’s father. She knew he was the school principal Possibly meeting him never crossed her mind. Based on Logan’s and Jae’s behavior, she now questioned what kind of father they had. She leaned back, relaxing her arms on the armrest of the chair.
“Is this about the folder?” She couldn’t help but ask, “Have you found something?”
“As a matter of fact,” Principal Parker replied, pulling on his coat. His other hand reached for his inner break pocket, “I have the footage from the date Ms—Atty. Greenwood told me. I came to deliver and hopefully discuss it.”
He produced a flash drive, holding it up for them to see. Lilly reached out a hand and Steve placed it on her palm. The lawyer studied it closely. It looked unused, close to brand new. It still shined and had no cracks or scratches.
“Do you mind if I run a security check on it first?” She inquired, inserting it in her USB port, “We can’t be sure what we’re dealing with. They might have corrupted the footage and programmed it to leak a virus.”
“Of course” Steve nodded with conviction, “I understand.”
While Lilly worked on to prepare the file for viewing, Principal Parker played with his thumbs. The lawyer had a deep scowl on her forehead. He assumed that she wouldn’t want to be interrupted. Missing one tiny sign could be the end of not only the footage but her whole computer drive.
The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
Emily noticed Steve’s discomfort. She pressed her lips together, tilting her head to the side. Just how could she distract him while they waited?
“Mr. Parker” She began to say, “I’ve been meaning to ask.”
He snapped his head in her direction, “You have?”
“Yes” Emily’s eyes crinkled, “It actually surprised me that between your two sons, you had Jae know about Alex’s secret. I have been wondering why him?”
“Oh.”
“Uncle Ethan mentioned some reasons” she rubbed her chin, recalling what Alex had told her, “But it seems like both of your sons are influential among the student body. Either one could have been a good choice so what made you pick Jae?”
Emily had Steve in a stump. It happened a few years ago and he hardly thought about it again. He searched his head for the answer. The points she presented had been valid, he also faced them back then.
“The two of them are quite the opposite when they were kids” He thought out loud, “A lot has changed but there’s still some things I noticed to be the same. Logan still has his temper. He is also very curious. I feared that he’d reveal himself to Alex sooner or later.”
Emily bit her inner cheek, “So the reason you chose Jae was because Logan was worse?”
“Well, Jae has his good points. The opposite of Logan’s temper. He thinks before taking action.”
“I see…” she frowned. Emily couldn’t comprehend the Jae Mr. Parker spoke about. She already came close to slicing his face. If he was supposed to be someone who thought before he acted, then wouldn’t he have not done that?
“Alright” Lilly suddenly said, “It’s safe and I pulled up to the time after classes had ended. It’s still a lot of minutes though.”
“Let me see” Emily stood up and immediately went to her aunt’s side. The computer screen only showed the footage. Unlike what she expected, the video turned out to be colored. The quality seemed high too, very different from the ones she saw in films.
“Please look through with us, Mr. Parker” Lilly turned the monitor so both sides of the table could see it. The footage had been paused around near 6PM. The office was empty except for the staff.
Then, it began to play.
Sometime later, the door creaked open. Two people came in. One of them stayed low, keeping a crouched position. The other person stood up normally. They both headed for the front desk.
The receptionist accommodated the standing person. They talked for a long time while the other one went around and snuck behind the desk.
Three heads raised their eyebrows in alarm.
“Is that…” Emily gaped.
Lilly clicked her tongue, “This must be after they saw the folder. Alex must have tried to find anything suspicious.”
Emily peeked at Principal Parker from the corner of her eye, “Is she going to be in trouble?”
Steve intended to come and seek answers—not face another dilemma. Considering Ethan couldn’t find out about this, he wouldn’t be able to implement a punishment. He massaged both of his temples with one hand.
While he mulled over his thoughts, Lilly rewinded the clip. She used the fastest speed. Since she already saw what Lauren looked like, she would be able to spot her easily. It didn’t take long for her to find the cheerleader again.
She set the speed to normal, commenting, “This must be when Lauren borrowed them.”
She watched the receptionist let Lauren in to take the portfolios. From there, her eyes followed Lauren. The cabinet and drawer was visible from the camera’s perspective. The cheerleader opened the drawer and took them out, closing it immediately. Lilly paused the footage again after Lauren left.
“We need to backtrack more…” she mumbled, already rewinding the clip further.
A ringtone blared out through the silence.
Lilly’s gaze remained on the screen. She pointed to a spot on her desk, saying, “Emily, could you get that please?”
Her niece broke out of reverie, “Ah, sure.”
Emily had her eyes opened wide. She didn’t want to miss a single detail. Even when there were only two people, she glanced at the edges of the screen, waiting if someone would pop out.
She grabbed the cellular phone. Take aback at the name that flashed, she blinked, “It’s Alex.”
“Can you answer it?”
Steve squinted his eyes as the footage kept playing. A few students had come and left but the drawer remained untouched. A crease appeared between his brows. He already thought that no one really borrowed those. They only used it when briefing new students.
Emily clicked the answer button and pressed the phone on her ear, “Hello?”
“Emily?” Lauren’s confused voice spoke through the receiver.
“Lauren? Why are you calling my aunt?” Emily cocked an eyebrow, “Did you find something?”
She shifted her head back to the screen. If the culprit magically appeared, she didn’t want to miss the moment.
“I remember something!” Lauren gasped, “Checking the portfolios wasn’t originally my idea. Someone else had suggested it to me.”
“So you think this person purposely told you?”
“Exactly!”
“Found her!” Lilly exclaimed. Before her eyes, a student handed back several documents. Then, the receptionist opened the same drawer the portfolios were placed in. It was empty until she placed those documents inside.
Emily exhaled sharply.
Lauren continued to speak despite the silence from the other line.
“It was Carla who told me to check them out.”
