Play the Game Boy (BWWM)

chapter 7

Faith

Filing paperwork was a boring job, especially at Brandon's dad's law firm, but it was helping me pay my school's debts and so I never complained. Except when Wenthward dropped by and stayed the entire day, insisting to help me, but creating an even bigger mess than there had been in the beginning.

At least, today he came bearing food.

That I could deal with.

He dangled the Chinese take-out bags above my desk.

"Lunch break is still thirty three minutes away," I notified the grinning boy after checking my watch, hoping he'd take the hint to leave the food on the table and go.

"Cool, then I'll wait," he said, stripping from his denim jacket and plopping down onto my desk. "Mind if I start without you? Dumplings are kinda my weakness."

My eyebrows rose in incredulity. Wenthward couldn't be serious. He just couldn't.

But he was. He opened one of the paper bags, eyeing my reaction acutely. I refrained myself from being rude and instead fought the urge to lash out at him like I normally would. I grabbed a large file and got up, when Brendan purposely held his leg straight so I'd trip, giving himself an excuse to hold me up against him.

I rolled my eyes as the file I held escaped my grasp, its contents spilling on the floor as quickly as a raindrop spreads on concrete.

"Sorry," he uttered, still not letting go of me.

I breathed in his Calvin Klein cologne before shaking him off of me, bending down to collect the scattered documents.

Brendan automatically crouched to help.

I was picking up the papers dispassionately, when I recognized a name that appeared, highlighted or in bold, on all of the papers.

William Evans.

Chad and Michelle Evans' father.

I knew I shouldn't be snooping, but curiosity got the better of me and my fingers trailed one of the headlines.

Pieffers INC : William Evans sued for fraud.

"Chad's dad committed fraud?" I let out involuntarily and almost instantly regretted it.

Brendan shrugged.

"Allegedly. Why'd you think they came to town when we were thirteen?" he said, looking up at me with an impassive face. My mouth opened.

"You knew?" I asked, surprised, before gathering the rest of the papers and getting up after stuffing them in the file-holder.

"You've been working here for a week and you still haven't peeked through any of the files?" Brendan inquired, genuinely surprised. "My dad represents just about any rich business man in town. Let's just say it can get pretty tempting for my curious soul who's dying to know what kind of sins some of my friends and enemies' parents are trying to hush away."

I frowned my eyebrows.

"So it gets worse?"

"Chad's dad is just the tip of the iceberg," Brendan replied. "If you see what Meghan's father and Mason's mother were accused of last autumn, you'd call William a saint."