Outburst

Chapter 9 - Mr. Know-It-All

I looked up to the man in a dark suit bewilderedly. His right hand was in his pocket. It's the man from last night, I told myself. The man whom Uncle Luke didn't seem to like.

Roman raised the edge of his lips, forming an obnoxious smirk on his face. It reminded me of the time when he first approached me and my uncle in the car, telling us about the bad news. It was obvious that my uncle didn't like that smile, but he just kept spreading it to the people he talked to.

Overconfident much?

I looked away when our eyes made a contact. He was just the same type as Uncle Luke, the kind who would irritate you to death if you didn't know him very well. Also, since he was an agent, I bet he could figure out what I was thinking just by looking to my eyes.

"Please, Callie? Just for a second?" He lowered his voice while putting his badge back.

Okay, first: how did he know my name? He met my uncle last night, yes, but there was no way they spent a second to discuss about me. Besides, from what I had seen, they had some intense conversation.

And second: I wanted to say something, but what should I say? 'Okay'? 'No, thanks'? Or, 'what the hell did you do to my uncle that made him didn't want to talk to me'?

In the end I just remained silent.

We were both startled when the door was opened again. This time Uncle Luke himself came out. He saw us and his mild look turned 180 degrees.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in unfriendly tone. It suddenly kicked me—he didn't expect me to be here at all.

"Grant needed to take something, so..." I stopped talking when I saw my uncle approached Roman. Oh, well, he wasn't talking to me. Of course, Cal, he still gave you the unreasonable silent treatment. But, unlike Grant, there was no way I could make him talk to me if it wasn't what he wanted.

"Nobody invited you here," he said it right at Roman's face. His expression tightened, eyes were flaming, but seeing him clenching his teeth, I could tell that he tried so hard to calm himself down.

"Easy, buddy. I just wanted to talk to you—and since you didn't show up at your girlfriend's funeral, I thought you might be here," said Roman. "But then I met your niece and—"

"I'm not your buddy," said Uncle Luke coldly.

And it intensified just like that. Roman's jaw hardened a little, but that smirk was still there. "I'm with the FBI, Mercer. As an agent who handles this case, I have to acquire all the information from all people related to Miss Dean, don't I?"

"This is my building, my company. You have to get a warrant for it," stated Uncle Luke. "And my niece has nothing to do with Margot. Leave her out of this."

Then Grant came back in such a perfect moment. He was holding a big envelope and suddenly his grip stiffened. He looked both surprised and bothered by Roman's presence, just like Uncle Luke was.

"Excuse me, you can't be here," said Grant while getting between Uncle Luke and Roman.

"Don't worry, Mr. Olivier. I'm leaving anyway," Roman stared at Uncle Luke, "to get a warrant."

Uncle Luke threw his gaze back to Roman. It was creepier and deadlier than I usually saw. "You do whatever you want, but you don't talk to her. Do I make myself clear?"

Roman just smirked. "Anything you wish, Mr. Mercer," he replied, emphasizing the last word like he was mocking it, and stepped back. But the cold situation didn't just melt away, even after Roman got into the elevator and went down.