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"Are you going to the department social?" she asked.
"Are you?"
"I said I would. I'm not really in the mood for being exceptionally social, but I'm alright with free alcohol. And meeting Anh and Malcolm might help me get a sense of normalcy.”
"Are you sure?"
She was not, in fact. Hence the previous use of "might". But she nodded.
Getting there, Olive soon started drinking. One drink, two, three, until the knot in her throat eased out.
She shouldn't have been surprised when Adam did not leave her side. She had assumed he’d go mingle with the important people, at least for a while, but he showed no interest in doing so. He was just… by her side, people-watching while she drank.
“Your friend Malcolm is definitely flirting with Holden.” Adam remarked, a bit amused.
“Yeah. Finally someone is making a move.” Olive said, forcing a minimal dose of emotion. She wished so damn much she was in condition to be truly excited for Malcolm. But all she felt was numbness.
Anh was close by, rightfully freaking out, highly entertained like a good friend would be. Jeremy was just following her and indulging her rambles, like a good boyfriend should.
Some time later, as it was usual in her life, everything eventually went to shit.
Olive had failed to think that while going to the department social to meet her friends would help her get her sense of normalcy back, Tom would also be there.
Tom passed briefly in front of them and apparently because Adam behaved normally with him, he surely assumed she wouldn't say a word and that he had everything under control. He gave her one of these disgusting smiles that wouldn't seem all that disturbing if one didn't know about the things he did and said to get so content with himself.
Olive started rethinking her reasoning of not telling Adam about what had happened with Tom.
It would be so easy. A couple of words to Adam and the truth would be out. He'd either believe her or not… Sure, the consequences could be disastrous either way, professionally and emotionally, but that didn't seem so serious with so much alcohol in her body. So what if her world ended? She'd simply deal with it like everything else the universe threw her way.
And so she did. Olive spilled the beans. She told Adam the person that had said those horrible things to her was Tom and that he'd said and done much more than that. She stuttered a bit, but Adam listened attentively in silence until she got the full story out. She couldn't control the tears that silently fell even while she was still speaking.
Adam was tense all over. Still, he held her arms so gently, looking at her with such an intensity that it was as if he could see her fucking soul. He sensed her doubt and her previous hesitation. Maybe he understood that she’d been hoping to protect him from the awful reality of his friend and research partner.
“I believe you, Olive. He’s not going to get away with it.” he spoke darkly, giving her arms a squeeze and caress before letting violence take over his demeanor.
Adam turned and went to find Tom immediately.
"Hey, Tom!" He called and before Tom could even turn to Adam properly, he got punched hard.
Adam’s punch throwed him off balance, enough that Tom's surprise made him take a moment to actually fight back. Once he did, it was a shitshow: two prestigious researchers throwing punches at each other in the middle of the party while people got out of their way and tried to understand what was going on. There was blood coming out of Tom’s nose, he was clearly getting the worst end. Adam was like a caged wild animal that had finally been let loose. Even if Tom hadn’t been caught by surprise, he could never be a match for Adam. Soon they were wrestling on the floor until other men finally made a joint effort to break them apart with much difficulty.
"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Adam screamed at Tom, while at least four guys tried to hold him, including Holden and Malcom.
Olive knew it was the furthest thing from mindless violence as it could be. It was vicious and above all, purposeful. Adam was doing it for a reason and that was her. It was terribly attractive, her mind registered. She was probably not taking the situation as seriously as she should. She couldn't help but think it was just like the protectiveness he presented in her first interview with Tom, resembling a panther protecting a kitten... but multiplied by a thousand.
Ahn and Jeremy were by her side, asking her what was going on, but she couldn’t find the energy to explain it to them.
The entire sea of people around them were staring and whispering, everything else forgotten in favour of this development. The keynote speaker attacking another researcher? That’s not something that happens everyday.
Adam Carlsen was known for being rude, antagonistic, unapproachable and all that. But violent? No. Everyone was absolutely shocked. He had an image to maintain. Throwing a petri dish at a wall was very different from actually fighting someone, drawing blood.
And there was also Olive, who had tears running down her cheeks and seemed to be the only one who was not confused by what had just happened. Since most people knew she was Carlsen's girlfriend, it was easy to imagine she was involved somehow or at least had an inkling of what the hell was going on.
Holden was the only one that didn't think Carlsen had gone insane. He didn't know exactly what had happened to warrant such a display of murderous fury, but unfortunately, he could totally guess that Tom had done something horrible and Adam had discovered about it this time. Holden had dreamed about the time when Adam would finally see Tom's true colors, but considering Olive's teary eyes, the price for that realization had been high.
He had pulled Adam off Tom and once the situation was controlled, he went to Tom and sneaked one last punch for himself. There were exclamations all around and some guys were ready to separate them, but Holden backed off on his own, returning to Adam’s side. He’d waited so long for a scrap of payback in his friend’s honor, he couldn't just lose an opportunity like that, right? Whatever trouble it got him, it’d be worth it.
Olive just wanted that dreadful day to end, although she was feeling a peculiar calmness. The truth was out. Adam would take care of everything, surely. It was satisfying to see Tom rumpled and bloodied, with a shocked look in his eyes, like he couldn’t have imagined in a million years that his actions would have consequences. It wouldn't make her a bad person to enjoy the memory of Tom being beaten. Especially when the applier of vengeance was her Adam.
She could have better handled the situation, Adam could have better handled the situation. They could have done it the right way, and not made such a spectacle of this. But then, would it really have worked? She could never know. Maybe he would have found a way to get away with it, maybe not be punished as much as he should, maybe the case would have been hushed over? Now it was undeniable: everyone knew something serious had happened and there was a thirst for the full gossip.