[004] romey's got a crush

                    It seemed like everyone suspected that Roman had a thing for Alice. Everyone except for Roman and Alice themselves.

                    They looked like a real couple at Logan's surprise birthday party and if it wasn't for the fact that Roman was already with Grace, then everyone would naturally assume that Alice and Roman were dating. They were so close, and they had been since high school. But a lot of people didn't understand their relationship. And no one could truly understand how someone as beautiful as Alice could be friends with a fuck-up and weirdo like Roman and stay that way for so long.

                        But the both of them understood each other in a way that no one else could. And sure, they'd tease each other and fight sometimes. However, they'd always find their way back to each other regardless of the situation.

                          As they waited for Logan to show up for his own eightieth birthday party inside of his ridiculously large apartment, Alice and Roman hung out amongst themselves. Alice had greeted everyone, known for being both Moderne's new editor-in-chief and for being Roman's best friend. She had talked to everyone from Shiv to Catherine and even Connor who had brought some sort of... goo. 

                         One thing about Roy family events was that it was nothing short of eventful.

                         "Why does your phone keep going off?" Roman frowned, glancing over at the taller woman as she once again went to go and check her phone. His frown deepens when he sees her smiling at the text she's read.

                         "Nothing," Alice lies.

                         "Bullshit. It's someone important. God, don't tell me you're getting back with Maximillian again?" Roman scoffed.

                          "Max is the last person on my mind," Alice shook her head. "I've moved on from him."

                          "Good, because he's moved on too," Roman pointed out.

                          "The fuck is that supposed to mean?" Alice narrowed her eyes.

                         "That's right. I heard he's been getting really cozy with some annoying influencer who lives off of fucking kale smoothies and diet pills. But she seems like she has an actual soul so she's beat you there," Roman smirked.

                         "Why should I give a shit? Like I said, I've already moved on," Alice sighed, quickly shooting a text in response before looking at Roman properly.

                         "To whom? The guy you're texting?" Roman interrogated.

                         Alice grins, more amused than upset with all of his questions. "Oh, don't tell me you're jealous, Rome."

                         "Me? Jealous? You wish," Roman looked away from her.

                         "You definitely sound jealous. If you want me so badly, you could just ask. Or I'd prefer it if you beg," Alice responded.

                         Roman scoffed, causing Alice to suddenly grab his collar and pull him towards her. Roman's breath hitched in his throat and his eyes got a little wider as her hand fiddles with the top button of his shirt.

                        "Don't act like you're above begging, Rome. I've seen you on your knees before. It was actually kind of cute," she continued, her voice now much softer than before. Almost... seductive.

                        She can see his eyes grow dark and his Adam's apple bob up and down. Roman knew that he shouldn't have let all of Alice's teasing get to him. She's done it before, plenty of times. But just like that, it had managed to get to him again. Alice loved to torture him, teasing him with something he could never have. And Roman loved it each and every time.

                        The moment is ruined when Alice's phone rings again and this time, it's a phone call. Roman tries to see who it is but Alice backs away so Roman didn't have a clue.

                        "Who is that?" Roman asked, deciding to try and actually ask for answers.

                        "A friend," Alice vaguely responded.

                        Roman weakly chuckles, still trying to recover from what Alice had done to him. "But... I'm your only friend."

                       "You'll be surprised," Alice remarked.

                       Alice then walked away to answer the phone, leaving Roman alone. Well, almost alone. It wouldn't be long before his little sister would join him with a smug grin on her face. Catherine Roy was as impeccably dressed as ever, not a single hair out of place. Seeing as Catherine was their father's pretty little doll, she couldn't afford to be anything but beautiful.

                      "Looks like you and Alice had quite an interesting chat. Care to share?" Catherine questioned with a smile, an inquisitive look burning in her eyes.

                     "In your dreams, Kitty Kat," Roman scoffed.

                     Catherine raised a brow. "Should I even bother asking why you brought her instead of Grace?"

                     "Nope. But... at least I brought someone. You're all alone," Roman retorted.

                    "I like being alone," Catherine argued, causing Roman to roll his eyes.

                    "Bullshit. What happened to you and Joey?" Roman inquired.

                    "You mean Joseph?" Catherine scoffed.

                    "Sure," he nods. Roman wasn't about to talk about him and Alice when he could bother his sister instead about her love life.

                    "We're over. He was being super annoying and clingy with me," Catherine rolled her eyes. "Why are men so annoying?"

                    "I know, men are truly the worst," Roman teased, earning a chuckle from Catherine.

                    "Do you want my honest opinion?" Catherine asked a moment later.

                    "No," Roman immediately answers without hesitation.

                    "Ditch Grace. That's a sinking ship and we all know it. Just make things official with Alice. I'd tell you to fuck her but you and I both know that will never happen. The least you can do is date her. Maybe engage in telepathic sex," Catherine spoke anyway.

                   "Haha. Look, I appreciate you wanting to help me but I don't need it. I'm fine," Roman huffed.

                   "Whatever you say. But I see the way you look at her," Catherine shrugs, now beginning to walk away. "Romey's got a crush."

                   "Fuck off," Roman hissed, throwing up the middle finger shortly afterwards.

                   Catherine walked off with a smirk, deciding to go and talk to Connor. She had always been close to him anyway, seeing as he looked out for her and pretty much all of them in a way their actual father never could.

                   By the time Alice emerged back from her phone call, that was when Marcia walked to the center of the room and get everyone's attention. "Folks, he's back. Find a place. Hide for the surprise."

                    "Looks like I arrived just in time," Alice smiles, although it bothers Roman to think that her smile could be from some other schmuck and not him.

                    "Oh, we're not surprising him, are we?" Roman groaned.

                    "Yeah," Marcia answers.

                    Roman scoffs as he and the others made their way to the elevator where Logan was expected to come from. "Oh, he's gonna love this. Think last time I surprised him, he took a swing at me."

                    Alice frowns but doesn't bother to say anything more. She didn't like to bring up the abuse Roman suffered from Logan. She had even seen it happen once, and Alice did her best to try and get Roman's mind off of it. That usually meant drinking until they were giggling messes. That was at the start of their friendship when they spent way more time together than usual and Alice saw a lot more than she was probably meant to.

                    Soon enough, the elevator doors opened and revealed the (now) eighty year old billionaire. But he wasn't alone. There was an incredibly tall man in the elevator, looking incredibly awkward. 

                    "Surprise!" everyone shouted.

                    "Great. Excellent. Wonderful," Logan responded, not looking the least bit happy with his surprise.

                     So maybe Roman hadn't been kidding about the man's hatred for surprises. Logan was already frowning and the party hadn't really started yet. He then turned to look at the tall man who had been in the elevator with him, motioning for him to walk ahead.

                      "Go ahead. Okay, give me room," Logan remarked as he walked further inside of his apartment, "What a surprise."

                      The first to be greeted was Connor, but that didn't last too long. It was then that Logan turned to look at Roman. He appeared to be happy with him, which was a first. Alice could see a flicker of surprise on Roman's face, although it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

                      "Roman! Romulus! Look at you, you look fantastic," Logan greeted his youngest son, pulling him in for a hug.

                      "Yeah, of course," Roman responds, patting his dad on the back, "Happy birthday."

                      After Logan pulled away from Roman, he turned to look at Alice and sent her a small smile. "Alice, it's good to see you again."

                     "Uh, you as well," Alice smiles back at him, feeling slightly awkward. Logan had never paid her much attention before, seeing her as Roman's friend and the daughter of Marlo Kim. Nothing more, nothing less. They didn't even talk much outside of pleasantries and from all that Alice had seen and heard from him, she preferred it that way.

                     "Tell your parents that we need to catch up soon. We have important business to take care of," Logan added before he walked over to greet Shiv and then Catherine.

                     "What... what's he talking about?" Alice turned to look at Roman, confused by what important business Logan could be talking about.

                     Roman looks equally as perplexed, shaking his head as he met Alice's gaze. "You really think he tells me everything?"

                     "Fair point," Alice sighs.

                     Not even her parents told Alice, which angered her. She was an adult, the same adult who was now editor in chief of Moderne, and yet they continued to leave her out in the dark like she was a child. Alice wished she could ask her parents but nine times out of ten, she wouldn't get an answer. And her mother would be extra vindictive because she landed the Grosvenor interview before she did.

                      "Oh, oh, oh. Everybody, this is... Craig, by the way," Logan then introduced the tall man, one Alice didn't recognize right away. "Cousin Craig."

                      "Craig? It's Greg, no?" Shiv asked, confusion written all over her face.

                     Suddenly, Alice remembered the awkward kid who sometimes came around the Roy's. She had only met him twice when she'd come over to hang out with Roman and he was so awkward around Alice. But then again, he was awkward around everyone.

                      "Yeah, yeah. Uh, Greg. People sometimes, like, mistakenly call me Craig too, so... I - I'll answer to both."

                      Alice figured she'd continue to call him Craig just to fuck with him.

                     "Here," Tom, Shiv's boy toy (those were Catherine's words, not Alice's), declared as he held out his gift for the man, "This is just a token of my very real and enduring admiration, in the hope -."

                      Before he could finish trying to kiss Logan's ass, the elevator doors opened again and Kendall walked through. Logan was one of the first to notice, peering over Tom's shoulder to get a look at his second born son.

                      "Kendall? You came?" Logan asked, not even bothering to hide how disappointed he sounded.

                      "Yeah, of course. Happy birthday," Kendall awkwardly responds before deciding to hug his father.

                      "Uh-huh," is all Logan says, not the least bit happy that Kendall was there.

                      Alice thought her family gatherings were awkward. But this had to take the cake. 

                     Alice decided to leave Roman's side when Logan walked over to him to talk, getting herself another drink. Catherine joined her, bumping into Alice's shoulder playfully in the process. She turned to look at the blonde, smiling at her. "Hey, bitch."

                      "Hey, whore. You having fun so far?" Catherine responded. "You and Roman look pretty close."

                     "We're always close," Alice shrugged, not seeing what was so bad about that.

                     "Yeah, Stevie Wonder could tell that much. I can't believe he talked you into coming here," Catherine chuckled.

                    "I had nothing better to do," she admitted with a shake of her head.

                    "Have you ever wondered why he asked you instead of Grace?" Catherine narrowed her eyes.

                    "I'm more fun?" Alice offered.

                    Catherine sighs. "You really can't tell?"

                    "Tell what?" Alice frowned, unsure as to what Catherine meant by that.

                    Before Catherine could respond, Logan called all of his children to meet with him so they could talk. Alice and Roman exchanged one final look before he went into the room with his siblings. Alice wasn't sure why she felt so worried about him but she just was.

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                    Alice had only been on a helicopter once before when she was a teenager. And she absolutely loved it. She felt like she was in a movie of some sort. But then again, Alice did see herself as the main character in her life so that made sense.

                   After a rather uneventful dinner at Logan's party following his tense talk with his children, the proposal of a game was enough to take the party from his apartment and to a park where they'd play the infamous game. But they'd go there by helicopter because... why the fuck not? Once they arrived at the park and boarded off of the helicopters, Alice decided to stand off to the side and watch the game. She wouldn't even know what to do anyway and her shoes were too expensive to get dirty.

                   As she watched, she was unaware of Logan approaching her. Not until she felt his hand on her shoulder. Alice jolted, only relaxing when she turned around and saw the CEO standing by her.

                  "Shit, you scared me," Alice sighed.

                  "My apologies," Logan replied. "I was hoping to talk to you for a moment."

                  "Uh, sure," Alice nodded.

                  Logan smiled. "You and Roman are very close. I don't think I've ever seen him that close with anyone before."

                  Alice wants to argue that Roman had other friends but she stopped herself. No one really liked Roman except for her. She was his only friend, as he was her only friend.

                  "He really listens to you, Alice. And I know you're a smart girl. You make the right decisions," Logan continued.

                 "Yeah," is all Alice can say. She's not sure how to respond to that, neither did she know where Logan was going with all of this.

                 "I was wondering if you could maybe... persuade Roman to agree to my deal," Logan finally got to the point.

                 "Deal?" Alice repeated.

                 "I put Marcia on the family trust. And I gave her my seat, that way she'll be secure in case my demise comes a lot sooner than planned," Logan explained.

                 "Was that what you guys were talking about in the room?" Alice inquired. No wonder all of the Roy children looked so grim by the time they left that room. Kendall especially looked like he might jump off of the balcony at any moment and end it all now.

                 Logan nods. "It's my only real birthday wish, Alice. And I feel as though you can help me with that."

                 "Me? How do you know he'll listen to me?" Alice asks, eyes wide.

                 "As you can tell, I wasn't born yesterday. He looks up to you, Alice. Use that to your advantage," Logan replied, now preparing to walk away. "I trust you'll make the right choice."

                 "I... I'll try," Alice nods.

                 "Try your very best. I heard that you were the new editor-in-chief at Moderne. That's very impressive," Logan remarked.

                 "Thank you," Alice allows a small smile to grace her lips at the small compliment.

                 "You're going to need some very important friends if you want to be as successful as your parents were," he added.

                 Alice tilts her head to the side. "Do I?"

                 "Of course. Connections are everything, Alice. Never forget it," Logan declared.

                 It was obvious what he was proposing. Alice would be a fool not to see it. If she helped him, he would help her. Although Alice didn't want to accept his help and do everything herself, she also wanted some sort of edge against her parents. To show her mother that she could be even better than her.

                  "I see," Alice replies, earning a nod from Logan.

                 And with that, Logan was gone. Alice felt as though she had to do this for him. Not only because he could grant her the connections needed to bring Moderne to a whole new level, but because she didn't want to disappoint him on his birthday. Alice wasn't sure how she'd convince Roman to go along with Logan's deal but she wanted to get it over with so she wouldn't have to get involved with Roy family business anymore.

                 "Boo!" Roman shouted, causing Alice to snap out of her thoughts.

                 She looked over at Roman who was booing Kendall for leaving the game early. But he was on the phone, probably on some important call. Nonetheless, the game seemed to be ruined now that there was one less player. And Alice figured she could now talk to Roman and get him on Logan's side. If he wasn't already.

                 "The kid! Hey! Hello!" Roman shouts, pointing at a little boy who had been at the field already with his parents beside him. Alice groans, wondering what Roman had in mind. "Yes, you! Wanna play?"

                  As expected, the little boy was reluctant to answer - even turning towards his parents. But after Roman would ask his dad whether he could play with them or not, the dad ultimately agreed. Alice could just tell that this would end up being a disaster. But she couldn't tear her eyes away, almost as though she was witnessing a car crash right before her eyes.

                  "Great, because I will give you one million dollars if you hit a home run! I'm serious!" Roman proposed with a laugh, obviously finding it funny.

                  That seemed to be enough to make the kid go on board with it, his parents and several other people cheering him on. Roman ignored all of the looks Alice sent him, knowing that she was obviously pissed with his little game. But he kept going and the game resumed. The little boy tried his best to make the home run and win the game, he ended up losing. It was a tragedy since he was so close too.

                  Even Alice felt a little bad for him.

                  To rub salt in the wound, Roman walked over to the boy - trying his best to act sad while the boy clearly looked as though he was on the verge of tears. But it was hard for anyone to believe that when he was laughing at the same time. "Oh no, you were so damn close! That was so close. Oh my goodness."

                  The boy absolutely looked crushed, but Roman wouldn't stop there. He'd rip up the check to pieces right in front of his face, a grin still on his face. Alice knew that Roman could be a cruel asshole. She had practically grown up with him. But this was probably the worst thing he had ever done.

                 "Oh, Allie! Allie, were you paying attention?" Roman exclaimed as he ran towards her, either completely unaware of people's disgust at his actions or choosing not to give a shit. Knowing Roman, it was probably the latter.

                 "I saw everything, asshole. What the fuck was that?" Alice frowned.

                 "I was just having some fun. Lighten up, Allie!" he nudged her, still smiling.

                 "I thought I fucking told you not to call me that," Alice quickly corrected him.

                 "You're not seriously mad, are you? I was messing around. Don't act like such a saint. You did shit like this back in school all the time. You were a real bitch back then," Roman reminded her.

                 "First off, those bitches deserved it. Second of all, I was a teenager. You're in your fucking thirties, don't compare the two," Alice argued.

                 "Just -," Roman began to say while reaching out to grab her hand.

                 "Fuck off," Alice shoved him away before he could even get close to her.

                 "Allie, come on," Roman huffed. He wasn't expecting Alice to get upset with him over this. But suddenly, she had developed morals and was now being a major buzzkill.

                 "Roman, Shiv! The other helicopter! You too, Alice!" Logan exclaimed, signaling that it was time for them to finally leave.

                  Thank fuck, Alice thought to herself.

                 It seemed as though Logan really wanted Alice to work on him, hence him inviting her on the same helicopter as Roman and Shiv. But she wasn't sure how she could even talk to him now when she was so pissed at Roman. Still, she sent Roman a glare over her shoulder before she joined Logan in the helicopter. Alice really just wanted to have this party done and over with so she could go home.

                  But her hopes were about to put on hold, all thanks to Logan Roy himself.

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word count: 3582
notes: fyi, catherine is my roy oc from my original succesion fic queen of hearts which i hope to update very soon! the more i plan this fic, the more i want to write a prequel of sorts with young alice and roman. i'm still debating on that one. as always, comment your thoughts and let me know what you thought!