Some things about Luke Allen.

We went down to the kitchen. It was almost time to eat, so while mom, Isabelle and Alice sat at the table, I got started on dinner. Isabelle had made dinner on her own for a few days already, so it was my turn now.

“So, to begin…” Mom cleared her throat, trying to push an awkward feeling out of herself. “Alice, you… You know about this, don’t you? About the offer Oliver received and… the reason why he received it.”

“Yes, I know. The others do, too,” Alice answered firmly and confidently. “We’ve known about the spirit, Frey, for a while now. We’re sure she exists and we really believe she means no harm. As for Mr. Allen’s offer, we found out a day before you did.”

“What do you think about it?”

“It’s… hard to say. It’s one of those things that sound too good to be true, but Oliver says he has a good feeling those are never empty words. If this deal does go through… It would help a lot,” Alice said with a sheepish smile.

“So? What did you learn about this guy?” Isabelle asked mom. “Can we trust him?”

“Not sure, but I did hear pretty much everything I expected to hear,” mom said. “Plenty of good, plenty of bad, plenty of indifference and even one wild first-hand account story.”

“Let’s start with the bad,” I said while chopping some onions.

“Very well. Most of the bad things I heard were about him firing people for no reason. Of course, those were all second-hand accounts, since he hasn’t fired anyone at my job. He’s not directly involved. It’s all ‘someone I know’ or ‘it happened to a friend’ or ‘I heard from someone’. The most common complaint I hear is that he’s terrible to work with because he demands utter perfection out of everyone. no matter the job.”

I nodded. “From what I gathered from talking to him, I believe it. He seems to put the highest value on personnel competence.”

“Yes, that seems to be the case. He wants things done perfectly and in the minimum time possible. I hear he doesn’t tolerate mistakes and will fire you the moment you screw up.”

“That’s conflicting with what Diana told me,” I said. “She’s been working directly with him for some time, and she says she treats everyone well. Then again, Diana is the kind of competent worker he looks for.”

“I see.” Mom decided to not call attention to me bringing up Diana. She was still waiting for her to introduce herself, after all, but Diana was busy. “Then there are the allegations against him, some serious, some dumb. Accusations of having a monopoly in certain areas, tax avoidance, and sexual harassment.”

Isabelle and I winced.

“Did you look up where those accusations came from?” Alice asked.

“I did.”

“Can I take a guess?”

Mom grinned. “Please do.”

“I bet the accusations of monopoly came from competitors trying and failing to gain a foothold in those areas. It happens all the time. I’m not very sure about tax avoidance, but he donates to charity, doesn’t he? The drama probably comes from people who believe he’s donating to fake charities, reduces his taxes and still gets all his money back. Then again, it could still be a legitimate accusation.”

Mom laughed. “No, you’re two for two. And the sexual harassment?”

“Those are bullshit,” I told them, shaking my head.

Mom blinked. “And how are you so sure?”

“I don’t know the man well, but I’d still bet everything I have that those are accusations from former employees that are angry at being fired, like you said he does. I know it, I felt it. Mr. Allen doesn’t have it in him to do something like that.”

I read his mind, felt in my bones the love he has for his three girlfriends. I know the kind of lover he is, even if that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Alice giggled. “He said it before I could. I agree with him.”

Mom chuckled. “Why did I even bother researching this if you could guess it? You’re correct in all three. The girls who said he had harassed them retracted their statements the moment he said he'd take them to court.”

“I mean… Not like anyone can pay for the best lawyers as he can, right?” Isabelle said.

“True. It’s possible he just **** them to shut up,” mom admitted. “And that’s one of the many rumors about him. But you heard your brother.”

“Alright then. And what about the good?” Isabelle asked. “Is there anything good about him?”

“For starters, I can vouch for this myself. Compensation for working for him is more than fair. Good salaries, medical plan, health insurance… I remember things got better at my job when he acquired our parent company. There are also people who swear by him, saying working for him is the smoothest experience ever. This comes from people who got moved from the parent company to ours. Then there is that first-hand story I mentioned…”

“Oh yeah. What’s that about?” Isabelle asked.

“There’s this young guy in my team who also swears by Mr. Allen, calling him his hero and role model. He IS an impressionable kid, but he’s no liar. He told me that his grandmother got scammed out of all her life savings in one of these fake bank phone calls.”

Oh man did I feel bile in my stomach hearing that.

“Well, this kid is one of the people who got moved from the parent company, so he worked with Mr. Allen for a short while. He says the man approached him one day after seeing him really down and he told him about what happened to his grandmother. Apparently Mr. Allen took it badly, looking hurt by what happened. Couple days later, all the money returned to the old lady’s account, the scamming call center shut down and all its ‘workers’ were thrown in jail.”

“W-What, how?” I asked.

“No idea. My coworker doesn’t know, either. All he knows is that Mr. Allen was involved because he approached him and told him ‘I hope everything’s okay now’.”

…

Mr. Allen was business savvy, but let’s not forget he also has magical abilities. I really wondered what he did, and why he did it. If he was willing to answer, I’d like to ask him that next time.

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