Friendship and Romance

He's open-season

"What do you need a car for?" She asked. He would usually just borrow a car from one of them but this time he was asking to own one. Liam never asked for anything.

"This stupid new job, I need to be up by five to make a delivery to Axdale Institute of Commerce and then bring somethings back for the Cearo Construction." It was Liam's turn to sigh.

"Why would you accept the job? What's going on Alex"

"My Mom's meds, prices are skyrocketing." Alex shrugged.

Alex raised a brow but she didn't continue on the subject.

"Let's go then," she said and waved down a coming taxi.

It stopped and she asked as she got in.

"So what you really need is a truck"

"Yeah," Liam replied, joining her.

"I don't have a truck or I'd give you one of mine. Anna doesn't either but there might be one in their garage"

They continued talking as the car zoomed off.

Lorrel just happened to glance at the window as they got in the car. A gasp escaped her lips when she saw them.

"That b***h" she let out a curse.

"What's wrong?" Phil asked, looking up at her from his phone.

"She's taking Liam to the fundraiser. Anna was going to take him on a surprise date" Lorrel sat back down sulking.

Phil nodded and returned his attention to his phone.

"Did Alex know about it?"

"She's a snitch, why would Anna tell- "

She paused, a huff escaped her lips and she rose in annoyance. Grabbing her purse, she stormed off.

"Lor, lorr. Lorel" Phil immediately hurried after her but she got in his car and drove off.

"What's with everyone today?" He mumbled to himself as he watched her go.

A short while later, Annalise and Jennifer approached him in the secluded area.

Anna glanced around nervously but that was soon replaced with a confused expression.

"Where is Liam?" She asked curiously.

"Alex took him" Phil replied half-heartedly.

"What's wrong?" Jennifer immediately asked when she saw the way he was acting.

Phil shook his head, refusing to say anything. Then be stared straight at Anna for a few seconds.

Anna.

She was a simple girl. Her hair neatly combed and straighted, her dresses plain and simple. She was the epitome of discipline. While most daughter's of elites were spoiled or felt confined, she loved her position. She neither flaunted nor complained about it. Her mind was simple and she was a very emotional and sensitive person.

To the group, she funded everything. From their social activities, to extracurricular activities to plain silly activities to throwing money down the toilet. She was there with her debit card for anything at all. And if no one came up with a crazy way to waste money? She would.

But there was a curve to this side of her. Her mind burned brightly for business. She never let an investment opportunity go. She couldn't be called evil but she was definitely a capitalist. Her number one principle; Giving what others want does not have to clash with getting what I wants. She never suffered a loss.

"What is it?" She frowned at Phil's stare.

"Lor told me about you and Liam," Phil spoke up, his expression stern.

"And?" Annalise frowned.

Jennifer just watched the exchange with interest, she wished she had popcorn with her now. For some reason, Anna and Phil frequently clashed.

"You know this changes things for all of us right?" Phil asked.

"So? You're dating Lorrel, if you two break up I'm taking her side. Not that that has anything to do with this conversation, I'm just letting you know" Anna smiled and sat down in front of him. Her posture perfect.

Phil felt his words get stuck in his throat when he heard her bring up Lorrel. He suddenly didn't know what to say anymore.

"Are you okay with this?" He turned to Jennifer. Everyone knew Jennifer always had a crush on Liam. Well. . . everyone except Liam. It was common knowledge that guys were dense but for Liam, it was different. There's dense as a gravel brick, and then there's Liam.

Unexpectedly, Jennifer shrugged. "They're not together yet," She replied.

Annalise's jaw dropped and she turned anxiously to Jennifer. What did she mean by that?

"Why are you looking at me like that? You haven't even asked him out yet, we don't know what he will say. And even if he says yes, it's still open season till it's something serious." Jennifer explained. She would compromise on most things, but she wasn't willing to compromise on this. And Annalise knew Jennifer was a dangerous rival.

Calm settled in her heart and she suddenly smiled.

"You didn't get him all these years, I have nothing to worry about. And Phil, I understand your concerns but nothing will come between me and Liam so you have nothing to worry about"

"And you won't interrupt when we plan games or go for a drink" Phil wanted to make things clear.

"I've since wanted to flush that tradition, do you see us doing a girl's night? We really need to talk about your boys rubbish" Annalise immediately shot back.

Soon all three of them were bickering between themselves. Unknown to them, a figure sitting with others before the large screen has his eyes trained on them instead of the game.

In the upper level of a business class suite. A group of six people sat together, among them a woman and five men. One of the men was advanced in age, evident from his wrinkles and the mix of grey among his neatly combed black hair. There was wisdom in his eyes and he conducted himself in a dignified manner. From the subconscious cues of the people around him, they all seemed to have great respect for this man.

While everyone conducted themselves appropriately, there was one among them whose eye would randomly trail to the only woman in the group, causing her to s**t uncomfortably and adjust her skirt even though it was already covering her just fine.

The others however pretended not to notice this detail and continued arguing among themselves.

"With all due respect Sir Gustav, this campaign is going nothing like you promised and now you're telling me to get some kids involved?" A younger man in his mid thirties asked, his voice deep and disbelieving.

Beside him was the red haired woman and a toned skinned guy. He watched everything silently without saying a word, from time to time he would check his phone and smile faintly.

"Listen to what we have to say first before you reject it. Things went sideways because we did not include the other five families in our considerations. I mean who would have thought that Taylor Xena would pull out of the race for Von?"

"What does that have to do with highschool kids?" The younger man retorted, causing Sir Gustin to sigh and relax in his seat. He picked up the cup of red on the table and took a small sip first only to gulp it all down a moment later.

The lips of the middle-aged man twitched but he said nothing. Instead his eyes remained fixed on Sir Gustav for some answers.

"Senator Bolton, can I speak freely?" The man with the frivolous gaze finally spoke up. He ignored the impatient middle-aged man who was waiting for answers and instead turned to the dark skinned man whose eyes was on the phone.

The dark skinned man, Senator Bolton looked up at him quizzically causing him to adjust his seating position so he would be taken more seriously.

"Now both parties are on this ship and I don't need to remind anyone what happens to all of us if this ship sinks. Almost all of us here have children, the respected Sir, grandchildren even."

He looked around the three across from him, his eyes roaming over the red haired woman's body for a while before returning to the Senator.