The Start of Something Big

[Drew Conner]

Drew had been a busy young man.  He'd been home from his extended weekend trip to Las Vegas for a while now and even his own sister, Eve, had barely seen him.  Taking full advantage of the freedom of summer, Drew threw himself headlong into... something.  It  was a project he'd discussed at length with Eve, as with everything, though the gritty details on how to set it all up were left largely vague.  That wasn't Eve's role, after all.  She was the stabilizing force.  The numbers cruncher.  The one behind the scenes that made sure everything ran smoothly.  Drew kept in touch, naturally, as he went about traveling here and there, making use of their family's plane on more than one occasion during the past few weeks.  It had been a long time coming.  He'd put countless hours into his new endeavor and finally, at long last, the time had come to give it a little push and hope it got off the ground.

As with all things of this nature, it was time to flush out the old and bring in the new.  Drew sat behind Eve's desk in the office space the two of them shared in their apartment.  It was mid-morning, late enough to where the Conners had been up for some time, but far too early for most 18 year olds to be moving about, especially during summer.  A large mug of now lukewarm coffee was sitting on the desk, placed carefully upon a coaster (of course), as Drew busied himself with feeding page after page of Eve's work into a paper shredder.

Drew was more than proficient in the numbers game.  He knew which books had been used to track business of a somewhat dubious nature and which were simply the standard bills, legitimate income and expenses of the twins.  "I fear things are close to getting out of hand."  He said calmly, his eyes not lifting from the task at hand as he heard Eve enter the office.  "We're walking on this ice, dear sister, and I don't care to find out what's underneath it should it break."  Which wasn't a vaguely ominous statement to make at all.

[Evelyn Conner]

Opening the door to the office, the brunette wasn't even phased with the sight that met her. Instead, a thin amused smile formed on her lips as she leaned against the door frame. It grew slightly as her brother started talking, but she didn't move. Instead, her dark brown eyes moved over the office space before finally stopping upon the paper shredder. Was she mad? Of course not. As with everything her brother did, he had a reason, and this was likely just another thing he had to do.

A soft sigh fell from her lips as her head shook. "I think claiming that we're on thin ice is a little dramatic, brother," she began, as she pushed herself off the frame and started further into the room. "This is probably a good time for me to tell you that I might have pissed off Elsa Bellefonte - or at the very least made her dislike us more - if that's at all possible." Opening her mind, Evelyn ran through the events that had occurred during her meeting with the other Bellefonte twin. "Apparently, I need her," she snorted. "Another silly, little girl who thinks this school is the crust of the world." It was funny, if only just because that everyone knew that Elsa didn't hold the power she seemed to claim that she did. "Naturally, I made it very clear that I do not."

[Drew Conner]

"Maybe." Drew replied as he turned a smirk upward toward his sister. Yes, he was being a touch dramatic. It was his nature to do so. "But the fact remains we've been in the wrong business for too long." There was much more to the story than this simple observation and, yes, Drew was building to that point although he would take a detour given this new information. "Really?" His eyes perked up at hearing of Eve's encounter with his now sister-in-law. "That makes a lot of sense, actually."

With a low sigh and a shake of his head, Drew leaned back in Eve's chair and plucked his coffee mug off her desk to take a short sip of the lukewarm liquid. "It seems as though someone has made it their business to learn of our... dirty little secrets." He mused, rocking a little in the high backed chair. He would have to make a note of why Eve's desk chair was far better than his own. It probably had something to do with the fact that she had been the one to order them. "I've always known Elsa was suspicious of me even before I got involved with her sister." His eyes shifted to glance down to the gold ring that now adorned his left hand. "Recent events, I'd imagine would only make that suspicion worse."

[Evelyn Conner]

"If you ask me, it sounds like she needs a hobby," she drawled. It was no secret that Evelyn found the whole thing rather depressingly pathetic. There was a line where being protective of your siblings was being crossed and simply turned to become rather tedious. Evelyn saw no reason for either of them to be afraid of the Bellefonte girl. What could she possibly do? And who would believe her? After all, there was already plenty of rumors out there and if no one had picked up on the scent thus far, she seriously doubted that anyone would care overly much for what Elsa Bellefonte said.

"Like I told her during out meeting, what happens between you and Erika is none of our business and that does not mean we're suddenly meant to become best friends with her washed up sister," she continued, eyes rolling to the back of her head. Somehow, Elsa thought that Evelyn was supposed to befriend her simply because their siblings had gotten together. It wasn't as if they had anything to do with one another save for that little fact, and even then, Eve wasn't supposed to befriend the sister of her brother's wife. How that made sense, she didn't understand. The only relation to the Bellefonte family Eve cared to have, was to Erika.

"Besides, who cares about Elsa Bellefonte anyways? She's old news, and she's hardly a threat." Even though Evelyn was on board and fully agreed with the changes that needed to be made: She wasn't agreeing to it because she was afraid that Elsa would discover anything. "It's like claiming that Ellen Banks can ruin our lives." What a funny notion that was.

[Drew Conner]

"She does." Drew agreed, now settling into the chair to make himself even more comfortable. There really was a great disparity between Eve's chair and his. He hadn't noticed it before, obviously, since he rarely gave his sister's furniture much attention, but this was ridiculous. "Apart from running off to Africa with the guy her twin sister passed over." Was this a harsh, needling assessment? Perhaps. But Drew was growing weary of this game much like his sister. He'd forever be dodging the questions and suspicions as long as he opted to continue playing.

"Only a fool underestimates his opponent." Drew pointed out sternly. While he agreed with his sister on most things and even, for the most part, her take on the threat of Elsa was roughly around that of the misguided to the point of near delusional Ellen Banks was accurate, Drew wasn't quite ready to label his sister-in-law as harmless just yet. "Elsa still has pull. She can still get things done if she sets her mind to it. There will always be those who look at her name and think she possesses some form of authority."

"Now." Leaning forward, Drew went back to the stack of papers that had been sitting on the corner of Eve's desk. He was ready to dismiss the 'dangers' one Elsa Bellefonte posed and move on to much more pressing matters. "I'll have you know as of midnight this morning, Conner Industries Incorporated officially exists." He said, beginning to feed the forms into the shredder again with one hand, while bringing his coffee mug to his lips with the other. "I spoke to our father about it and he was intrigued, to say the least." He smirked again, his eyes shifting toward his sister with a gleam in his eyes that signaled nothing less than sheer triumph. "He gave us access to one of the off-shore accounts to cover operating expenses for the first few years."

[Evelyn Conner]

"Do I sense some territory marking in there?" she asked, eyebrow quirking in amusement. It was funny, how her brother chose those exact words to display whatshiseface. But alas, they both knew that even if her brother was marking his territory, there was little else he could do save for getting his wife pregnant, and somehow, Evelyn doubted that to happen anytime soon. Her brother and Erika might have made some rash decisions, but they weren't quite that foolish.

"Perhaps," she nodded. "But not compared to her sister, and we all know who holds the power out of the two." And not only because Erika was the one to inherit the school, but also because it was blatantly obvious that Elsa had and still did live in her sister's shadow, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it. Elsa was still an insecure little girl who hid behind a stoic expression and a false impression of power she'd never held to begin with. She was in all senses of the word, harmless. She could do no damage. Not as long as Erika stood by Drew's side.

Nodding at her brother, Evelyn drew closer to the desk, finger tips running along the smooth surface. "Good," she said, carrying her usual stoic expression which quickly turned into an almost sly smirk. "Now, if you could please stop making love to my chair, that would be great. It's rather distracting." She turned around the corner of the desk and placed her hands against the back of the chair. "And of course our father was intrigued." When was he not? After all, neither of them had ever done something to earn their parents mistrust.

[Drew Conner]

"I think I went and marked my territory far more than either of us had planned." Drew pointed out, lifting a hand to show the simple, gold band he wore on his left ring finger. "I wouldn't have married her if I had any doubts whatsoever that I would need continue 'marking my territory' after it was all over." His trust in Erika was complete. If it hadn't been the two wouldn't have found themselves wed after a long night of drinking. It may have taken alcohol to push the couple to take that step, but it was apparent they both wanted to regardless. "I was merely pointing out that, much like everything else, it seems as though Elsa feeds off Erika's scraps."

"Erika has the force of personality." Drew admitted with a shrug. "People will always be drawn to her over Elsa." Much in the same way people were drawn to Drew, rather Eve. Though, the Conner twins held these roles by choice. They worked in perfect tandem together. Rarely did they disagree when it came to business and when they did, the discussions were civil and well thought out. "But I'm not one to hide behind my wife." To do so would be a dangerous mistake. "Regardless, Elsa can threaten and dig around all she wants." He fed another paper into the shredder with an almost childlike glee. "There won't be anything for her to find."

Drew let out a short laugh and finally went to push himself out of Eve's chair. "Little did I know you've been sitting her in the lap of luxury this entire time." He remarked, chuckling as he rounded the desk, allowing Eve access to her work space. "I have all the knew asset data ready for you to take over. It was done by our parent's CPA, so I'm sure you'll want to go through it and fix it in your own, special way." He reached out and tapped the thick, dark blue folder sitting on Eve's desk. "We've finally done it, Eve."

[Evelyn Conner]

"True," she nodded with a quick smile. Despite not agreeing with the decision the couple had made, she was happy for them. Someone who could bring her brother that much happiness? Yeah, she'd take that over how he'd been after the two of them had parted any day. It was clear that they'd made the choices they had because they wanted to, on their terms, and truthfully, part of Evelyn was glad that her brother seized what he wanted, regardless of what anyone else thought of it. Chuckling, the brunette rolled her eyes. "No secret there."

Her head shook faintly. "It's less about hiding," she began, "and more about facts. If it comes down to a showdown, it's rather clear which side your wife-" she smiled a little at that. "-will pick. Despite her obvious flaws, she's headstrong and much like yourself, she foes for what she wants and doesn't apologize for it." Which was likely one of many reasons why the two worked. Now, Eve honestly doubted that Erika would have any of her sister's meddling. Evelyn's smile widened slightly. "Oops," she shrugged, her smile turning into a sly smirk.

Taking a seat in her chair once her brother had moved, Evelyn folded her hands over the desk and turned her gaze back to him. "Don't be jealous," she said, bopping her head. She turned her gaze to the folder and nodded, clearly pleased. As much as she appreciated the good work of others, she much more preferred her own routines and ways of doing things. They were so much more efficient. "What's our first order of business?"

[Drew Conner]

It still felt strange hearing the word come from the lips of another in reference to him. 'Wife'. Drew didn't know if he'd ever get used to it. He supposed he would, in due time. He imagined when they finally got around to planning their honeymoon, he and Erika would more than likely overuse their new titles until they were both sick of them. The thought reminded him he should probably give his wife a call. It had been a few days since there'd been anything more than texts between the two. He would do so later. For now, there was business at hand.

"Exactly." Drew pointed a finger at Eve for emphasis as he leaned back against her desk, folding his arms in the process. "As of now there is nothing to find about us save for the work we've done on getting C.I.I. off the ground." He gestured to the papers he was shredding. There were precious few of the spreadsheets and informal expense reports left. "This is the last remnants of our former operations." The cell phones and tablets the twins used to conduct their illicit 'business' had been destroyed days prior leaving them with just their personal devices and severing any personal connection they had with anything less than legal. "Once this last page is shredded, and the remains incinerated, there's nothing, at all, that Elsa or anyone else, could possibly find."

The bit of smug arrogance that had settled over Drew faded the moment Eve brought to light there was still much work to be done. Instantly, in the blink of an eye, Drew fall into a calm, stoic work-like attitude. "First thing we have to do is file the development contract we have with Karsen Ford and move the necessary assets under that company's control." Drew opened the heavily bound folder and flipped through a few of the pages. "Here." He tapped the original copy of the contract signed by the teenager's parents in his name. "I've already taken the liberty of marking what all needs to be moved, the most important of which is the storefront we purchased downtown."

[Evelyn Conner]

"Good work," she said as she handed the last paper over to her brother. Evelyn was honestly excited to embark on this journey. Though, it wouldn't be much different, save for a few important key factors. She'd still be doing the same thing she always had, more or less - so in truth, it didn't really matter. That didn't mean she wasn't on board, of course. She usually was. She also believed that it was in due time for them to find another pet project. They were growing up and as such it was time to put childish endeavors behind.

Evelyn had to resist a roll of her eyes at the mention of the odd little boy her brother had taken under his wing. She didn't care much for the boy, though that was hardly a surprise. She didn't care much for most people. Which actually reminded her, there was still other businesses that were far more personal she had to indulge her brother in. Though, this was not the time. Instead, Evelyn reached her hand out for the contract and read it over. "As always, you're one step ahead. Good."

[Drew Conner]

"I have my moments." Drew said, retrieving his coffee and coaster and crossing the room to his own desk and painfully inadequate office chair. He nudged the wheel of the chair with his foot and sighed lightly, shaking his head before turning and going to settle onto the poorly cushioned seat. "Of course, seeing as how we just became a legal company last week, there's little rush in getting everything filed." To which Drew didn't believe for a moment Eve would wait. If he knew his sister well enough, he fully expected her to jump at the chance to start fresh with a project that held a great deal of long term potential.

"Wait, wait." Drew's eyes narrowed. Just beneath beneath the surface of her thoughts he picked up on something that didn't quite sit well. Something he couldn't put his finger on or eve get a good grasp of without fully using his power. It piqued his curiosity, among other things, and his gaze shifted to settle upon his sister. "Now is the perfect time to discuss anything that may be on your mind." He countered.

[Evelyn Conner]

Looking at her brother from the corner of her eye, Evelyn sighed, fingers flexing over the folder. It was obvious that she was eager to get started, but she already knew that when her brother was curious, no force of nature could stop him. Issuing a low, overly dramatic sigh, Evelyn turned her chair around so that she could face her brother. Leaning back, she crossed one foot over the other and folded her hands in her lap.

"The rumors Dirty Laundry has been spewing does have some sense of truth to them." She rolled her eyes. "Not the overly cliche part, mind," she paused. "I went to Los Angeles right after you left for Vegas. The hotel made a mistake and I got roomed with another student at the school." It was obvious from her demeanor alone that Evelyn had been less than pleased about these course of events. She loathes the boy, that much was obvious. "He's been pestering me every since the day we met, which leads me to believe that he's trying to get on our good sides, and failing miserably." She felt her brother should be aware that there was another person trying to get onto their good graces.

[Drew Conner]

"Mm hm." Drew studied his sister as she spoke. He didn't particularly care for her response and the faint traces of a frown that tugged at the corners of his lips showed his displeasure. Who was this person and why had he taken an interest in Eve if she so obviously hadn't reciprocated? Perhaps it was the 'big brother' coming out, but nothing about this situation sat right with him.

"Who is he?" He asked abruptly, his arms folding across his chest as he regarded his sister with a stern expression. Drew always took outsiders trying to worm their way into their lives seriously. It came with being the face of the duo. He was commonly put out in the public eye, making deals, talking with people, playing the game Eve had no time or interest for. He was a naturally cautious and particular person when it came to his personal life and that extended toward his much less socially inclined sister. "What does he want?" There would certainly be an investigation of sorts into this individual. Drew's curiosity was piqued and he was already forming a plan to gather as much information as he could. "And... what came of this mistake the hotel made?"