papercuts

feng residence, uptown, 12:22am

victor plops himself onto the bed and peers at lily’s screen

victor: who are you trying to take down now? did nancy piss you off again?

lily: she did but this has nothing to do with her. (she closes her laptop.)

lily quickly puts away her laptop and pulls out her phone. she fiddles with the gallery to pull up THAT one picture of carson and tabs.

lily: ugh, take a look at this

victor: why are you showing me another one of his girlfriends?

lily: after you visited him at his office, i went over thinking he’d be more receptive. he didn’t let me in. he’s been avoiding my calls. i even went over his place after brunch but he changed his door code and i couldn’t get inside…..(fuming) i couldn’t get inside a building i own

victor: technically he owns it

lily: aiyaa…it’s in his name but that’s it!

victor: (smirks) lily, he could just be seeing someone new.

lily: (disgusted) this feels different.

victor: (smirks) maybe she’s really ugly.

lily: (annoyed) victor, be serious.

victor: you’re being paranoid.

lily: i don’t think so. he’s fine then all this. he’s hiding something. (pauses) i have a bad feeling he’s not sober anymore

victor sighs

lily: how did he look when you saw him?

victor: cheerful…fine, really but (he pauses) although….he showed up to work before 10. he never does that but…that’s a good habit. i don’t think you have anything to worry about.

lily: maybe he didn’t sleep the night before.

victor: lily….

lily: i knew it was a mistake to let him move back to that apartment alone. knowing him he probably just picked up where he left off. going out at all hours of the night and slipped back into old habits. and i know it has to do something with this girl.

victor: (looks up) you want me to ask david about this?

lily: (pouts) he’s got his hands full trying to find whatsisface’s mistress. i don’t want to distract him so i thought i’d find someone else to do the job…

victor: (reluctant) he can multi-task. (mutters under his breath) i pay him enough to do so.

lily’s eyes light up

lily: fine. i want a full background check on her. leave no stone unturned. david’s firm has been monitoring him, right?

victor nods reluctantly

lily: ok, then i absolute need a detailed run down of what he’s been doing since he’s moved back and who he’s been seeing.

victor: he’s an adult. we agreed as long as he’s clean, stays out of trouble and does his job, we’d leave him alone.

lily: i know but i just want to be sure. he hasn’t been answering my calls. the last time he ignored me like this was before he ended up in the hospital. (looks down) i’m only looking out for him. i was forced to do this. (looks down)

victor: (rolls eyes) you weren’t forced.

lily: (exasperated) i was! he’s been avoiding my calls! he hasn’t been checking in. he didn’t stick around to say hi to me at brunch. plus alison said he was sweating buckets when she saw him. what else could it be. he either not clean or hiding something. i think it’s worth looking into.

victor: he looked fine when i saw him

lily: but you’re not particularly observant. you didn’t even know he had a problem (victor rolls his eyes) why are you doing that when i’m right?

victor: (annoyed) so you want me to ask david to look into her, find her, and what…give her the NDA treatment? (grumbles) we’re going to scare off this one like the others i guess?

lily: it’s not like we killed them! NDAs are common for people like us! (sighs). and yes! but first lets find out if she’s anything to worry about. (pouts) i’m trying to protect all of us. i don’t know what type of people he’s out there with.

victor stares at her unconvinced

lily: don’t give me that look! you make me sound like i’m evil! * (quietly)* he’s all i have left of dai-…he’s all the family i have left. (aggravated sigh) god forbid he knock this one up, and we don’t get there in time and boom we’re stuck taking care of some poor idiot’s child! and supporting her broke family. you know he’s not dating anyone in our tax bracket and the absolute THOUGHT of being a grandmother at this age…..

victor: grand-aunt actually. and we are unfortunately at THAT age.

lily: (mutters) speak for yourself….

victor: i’ll call david in the morning. it’ll take a while for him to get the info you want but he’s thorough.