Inferno

~150~ Lie to Her

Taylor's POV

I'm on shift and working on the paperwork I'm behind on. I look up when I hear a knock on my door. It's Liam...And Mason. Mason has never been here before. Something is wrong.

"Everyone ok?" I ask, immediately putting my file down.

He nods. "Can I talk to you both for a minute?" He asks me. He's upset.

I nod as I motion for him to come in and Liam shuts the door.

They both sit in the two chairs in front of my desk.

"What's going on?" I ask him.

He shakes his head angrily and sighs. "We have a problem" he says. He's furious. I don't know if I have seen him so mad before.

I just nod, and wait for him to continue.

"Missy is about to tell Ellie about her singing" he says, his hand is shaking.

"WHAT?!?" I ask, starting to see red already.

He nods. "She and I got in a fight at lunch, and Ellie stepped in. Ellie was about to beat the crap outta' her. Then she insulted Ellie, and I went off. Then somehow she got suspicious about us. She was mad that I wouldn't tell her where I lived. She threatened to spill unless I told her. So I told her. She got a gleam in her eye though. She's going to tell her. She already gave her resignation for next year to Mills today. She has nothing to lose now" he says, completely disgusted.

I put my head in my hands. After a minute I look at Liam. "What do we do?!?" I ask him desperately.

Liam shakes his head. "Nothing" he says, absolutely furious.

"What?" I ask.

"We do nothing. If Missy tells her, we will deny that it's true" he says, matter-of-fact.

"I won't lie to my wife" I say darkly.

"You're going to this time, Preston" Liam snaps.

I just look at him.

"Mom can't know. You can't let her know that we hear her sing. Figure out how to be ok with lying to her, and lie" he says darkly.

"I'm going to call Lance" I say as I get out my phone.

"I already talked to him after school. He can't do anything. He can't write her up for something she hasn't done. He can't fire her until she actually does something. He isn't even sure he can technically fire her at all. He was bluffing last year when he told her that, he said" Mason says, stressed.

"This is bad" I say as I put my phone back. "If I talk to Missy will it make it worse?" I ask, looking at Mason.

He just nods.
*************************************************
Ellie's POV

I go to lunch today and the atmosphere is off. Everyone is tense. At first I assume that it's because of the fight with Missy yesterday, but she isn't even here yet.

"You guys ok?" I ask, looking around the table.

Lance nods. "Yeah. It's just been a long day" he says as he takes a bite of his pizza.

I don't say anything as I start eating my salad. Missy sits down and Lance visibly stiffens next to me...So it is about Missy.

"Hey guys" she says in a chipper voice.

Nobody even acknowledges her.

"Hey Missy" I say with a small smile. I shouldn't have went off on her yesterday.

"Ellie, I wanted to talk to you about something" she says with a funny look on her face.

Lance looks like he's about to have an attack or something. His knuckles are turning white with how tightly he's clenching his fist.