Counterpoint

Chapter 57

Alexander

   I storm through the office hallways, the sound of Thomas's laughter following my every footstep. He had restarted laughing when we had arrived in the parking lot of the building and I couldn't take it anymore. I don't even remember looking back at him before jumping out of the car and racing through the building, eyes scanning every doorway for the name plate of the only person who could have possibly uncovered those pictures and childhood videos. 

   "Alexander, wait up!" Thomas calls out from behind me, his voice slightly frazzled with laughter. No, this has gone on far enough. I slam my hand harshly on the dark wooden door. The door opens slowly and a very confused Aaron Burr opens the door, his eyes wide when he takes in my furious expression. 

   "Alexa-"

   "Yeah, fuck you!" I cut him off. "I can't believe you went snooping and then sent what you found to Thomas Jefferson! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Aaron gapes at me with a rather perplexed expression as Thomas catches up to me, laughing as he laces his arms together and place them atop of my head.

   "Good morning Aaron." He chuckles. 

   "Yeah...Good morning." He replies slightly dazed. 

   "Don't fucking act like everything is cool! Everything is not cool!" I rage, taking a step forward before Thomas's arms loop over my head and rest around my collarbone. Aaron continues to stare at me with wide eyes, but a grin is beginning to form on his lips and I don't like the look of it. "Don't you grin at me like that!"

   "Alexander you need to calm down." Thomas chides with a chuckle. 

   "Thomas, I swear to God, if you don't let me go right this second I will bite the hell out of your arm." I threaten which makes him laugh even harder. He tightens his hold on me and I grip onto his arms tightly in warning.

   "I'm sorry." Aaron cuts in. "I was under the impression that you were aware that I was looking for these sorts of things."

   "What in the hell gave you that impression?" I snap. Thomas is still laughing and that is when I turn to look at him. His eyes are scrunched shut from the intensity of his laughter. "You son of a bitch!" I sink my nails into his arm before sinking my teeth harshly into his arm. 

   "Fuck Alex! Fuck!" He shouts, trying to pry me off of his arm with one hand. "Stop fucking biting me!" My vision is glowing a deep shade of crimson as I keep my hold on his arm, he's lucky that he is wearing one of his many obnoxiously colored suits, otherwise this would have been far more painful on his bare skin. 

   Aaron looks at the two of us with a rather horrified expression. He holds onto the door tightly for support, while the thought of simply closing the door and locking it crosses his mind. I can see his hesitation flash through his eyes as he watches our physical altercation take place in front of his office. Thomas has started hitting my head hard enough to cause discomfort, but not enough to cause me any serious pain or damage. I consider sinking my teeth even further into his arm, but the prospect of their being an audience squashes the desire. 

   "Let the fuck go!" Thomas snaps, his teeth grinding against one another as he struggles to free his arm from my teeth. 

   "Should I go?" Aaron asks quietly, seeming uncertain on what he should do in this situation. 

   "No!" Thomas snaps. "Help me!" I glare at him warningly, Aaron quickly shaking his head. 

   "I think I'm going to sit this one out." He replies, "But at least move whatever the hell this is out of the hallway. You're making quite a spectacle of yourselves." My grip on Thomas's arm loosens slightly as Aaron grabs onto us and pulls us into the cover of his office, quickly closing and locking the door behind us. "This lover's quarrel needs to stop now." My jaw goes slack and Thomas audibly sighs in relief as he snatches his arm away from me and retreats a couple of steps. 

   "I can't believe you actually fucking bit me." Thomas mutters. 

   "What did you just say?" My voice comes out raspy and slightly broken. 

   "You left a fucking mark!"

   "Thomas, shut up!" I snap glaring at him, his eyes narrowing as he looks back at me. "I'll deal with you later." Aaron looks a little frightened when my eyes finally fall back on him. "You, what did you just say?"

   "He said our lover's quarrel needs to stop...now." Thomas lowers his voice slightly in an attempt to imitate Aaron. I glare in his direction which only seems to embolden his behavior. "Perhaps you should learn to listen when people speak and you wouldn't have to resort to such childish actions like biting your boyfriend's fucking arm!"

   "How did you know?" I turn back towards Aaron, electing to ignore the brooding southern for a few more moments.

   "Thomas told me." He replies honestly, his arms crossing in front of him. 

   "Damn it, Aaron!" Thomas groans. "What is today? Is this just push Thomas into a fucking hole day? God damn." 

   "I'm not getting bit like you did." Aaron replies simply. "He asked me to try and find some pictures from your childhood because you didn't have any. I was under the impression that you knew about it." 

   "I didn't know a damn thing about it." I glance back at Thomas and he simply pulls his arm closer to him in an act of shielding it from me. "What else did you find?"

   "Everything that Thomas has right now is all I could find." I look at him suspciously, but his expression doesn't waver. "Thomas on the other hand, I found quite a bit." 

   "You what?" I can practically hear Thomas's inner turmoil at what Aaron could have possibly uncovered. I don't have to look back at him to know that his expression has wiped itself completely clean in an attempt to hide his panic, I've seen that expression several times across a conference room table. 

   "What did you find Aaron?" I ask with interest. A soft grin beginning to form across my face. 

   "It would probably be easier to show you." Aaron smiles as he walks over to his computer, I follow after him eagerly. Thomas looks back at me with a guarded expression. It would seem that he already knows what we have found about him on the internet. His expression is rather interesting as he waits for the ax to swing. 

   Music begins to emanate from the speakers of Aaron's computer. I laugh in surprise at the fact that my beloved pain in the ass was a rapper at one point in his life. He looks away from me and stares at the floor for a moment. After a few minutes the song ends and the room has fallen into silence.

   "Thomas Jefferson was a self proclaimed rapper when he was a teenager." Aaron breaks the silence.

   "That was so long ago, just let those videos die." Thomas grumbles, refusing to look back at us. His shoulders are tense as he waits for my reaction, for whatever scathing remark I am going to throw his way. He is silently preparing himself for the onslaught. 

   "Damn it Aaron," I sigh. "I can't even laugh, it was actually good."