Outer Masks: Chapter 2: Childhood Lies

Peach Salinger rolled her eyes as she strutted into the Analogue Bar in Greenwich Village.

The reason for her ire, Joseph Goldberg, was sitting next to Beck, facing away from her.

Beck had texted Peach, Annika, and Lynn, asking them to join her in meeting Joe’s never before been mentioned sister so that the atmosphere would be causal, as she felt awkward about meeting a member of her boyfriend’s family.

Peach did not understand why Beck was so nervous about making a good impression on Joe’s sister. In her opinion, his sister would be just as strange and creepy as he was, meaning that his sister would be falling over herself to get Beck’s attention.

“Girls, Joseph. So, where is this mysterious sister of yours?” Peach said as she sat in the free chair next to Beck.

“She’s running a few minutes late, but she’ll be here, Peaches.” Joe answered as the two side-eyed each other.

Before she could tell Joe not to call her ‘Peaches,’ she saw a familiar face enter the bar from the corner of her eye. “Rory?”

Rory Hayden had looked around the crowded bar for a few moments until she looked in the direction of the group and began making her way towards them.

Peach scoffed once Rory reached their table, “You stalking me or something, Hayden? I know your mommy said we should be friends, but following me around is pushing it.”

Rory paused as she looked Peach over, a sneer forming on her face. “Trust me, I have better things to do than stalking an anorexic Barbie.”

Peach glared at Rory and immediately turned her gaze over to Annika when she heard the woman let out a loud snort in response to Rory’s insult. Annika quickly schooled her features when she saw the way Peach looked at her, she had just started to rebound after the video of her ‘tirade’ had made the rounds on social media, she did not want another ‘anonymous account’ to release another.

“Uh... hi? You two know each other?” Beck asked as she looked between Peach and Rory.

Joe stood up and placed a hand on Rory’s shoulder, gently pushing her away from Peach. “Beck, this is my little sister, Rory. Rory, this is my girlfriend, Beck, and her friends, Annika and Lynn.” He then looked at Peach, “And I see you and Peach have already met.”

“This is your sister?” Beck asked, surprised by how different the two looked when standing next to each other.

“Rory Hayden, it’s a pleasure to finally meet the woman my brother just can’t stop talking about.” Rory said with a charming smile, grinning wider when she saw Beck blush.

“No way! You're Rory Hayden? Like Hayden International? You have like five million followers on Insta.” Annika exclaimed.

“That would be me.” Rory replied, taking the free seat on Joe’s other side.

“Wait, your parents are Walter and Amber Hayden, so how is Joe, your older brother?” Lynn asked, phone in hand as she had instantly searched the woman up. “Especially since you and Joe are...”

“Especially since you’re black and Joe’s the whitest person at this table?” Peach asked, staring at Rory and Joe with unmasked suspicion.

“Peach!” Beck admonished, as she turned to her boyfriend and his sister. “I’m sorry about her, that was out of line.”

Rory and Joe shared a look, one that Peach did not miss.

There is something these two are fucking hiding. And I'm going to figure out what it is. Peach thought.

“No, it's understandable. Siblings is not the first thing that comes to mind when you see Rory and I together. We share the same mother but have different fathers.” Joe answered.

“There’s no way Amber Hayden is your mother.” Peach said, knowing that Amber and Joe looked even less alike than Joe and Rory did.

This time Rory spoke up, “Not her, our biological mother. Walter and Amber adopted me when I was a child, but before that Joe and I lived with our mother in Brooklyn." 

“You’re adopted?! Me too! Age four and from Canada, you?” Lynn said in excitement.

“Uh, I was eight when the Haydens adopted me.” Rory answered, confused by Lynn excitement about the topic.

“And why did the Haydens only adopt you? I mean, the age difference between you and Joseph doesn’t appear to be too large. It just seems so... strange.” Peach asked, false insincerity was evident in her tone.

“I had already been taken in by my own adoptive father at that point. Ivan Mooney, the owner of the bookstore, he’s an older man so he couldn't take care of a younger child like Rory. So don’t feel bad, it worked at for everyone involved.” Joe explained, sending Peach a sharp grin.

More like the Haydens wanted a cute child that they could dress however they wanted and manipulate into a perfect doll for their ambitions, instead of a broody teenager with ‘creepy eyes.’ I was left behind because I didn’t fit into their mold of a perfect nuclear family. Joe thought.

“That’s... great.” Peach replied just as sharply.

“Wow, your guys' life would make like the perfect Lifetime movie. I can totally see it be the movie of the year. Ooh! It can even be called something like ‘A Tale of Two Siblings' or something boujee like that!” Annika wondered.

“That’s nice to hear but I don’t think Joe and I's lives are all that interesting, especially not enough to be made into a movie.” Rory replied.

“Still, it's crazy how life can turn out for some people. Even when they’re so close.” Beck agrees.

This was a wild thing for her to learn about her boyfriend and Beck could tell this was not the entire story of the two siblings.

They had to end up as orphans at some point. And there’s still the lack of info on their different dads. Beck thought.

“Ooo, Rory, we have to do a story together!” Annika squealed, standing from her chair, and making her way over to Rory's side.

“Uh, sure. I guess we can do that.” Rory muttered, watching as the woman quickly pulled out her phone.

“Me too!” Lynn cheered, rushing to join Rory and Annika.

Beck playfully rolled her eyes at her friends’ excitement, it reminded her of when they first met Joe, treating the man like a new puppy.

“Hey, why didn’t you tell me about your sister?” Beck whispered as she leaned into Joe's personal space.

Joe let out a rueful sigh, “I love my sister, but introducing her to others just reminds me of our parents. It’s hard not to be reminded of what we lost.”

“I’m so sorry.” Beck said, placing her hand on top of his.

“There’s also the people who when they find out the truth, only want to befriend me because my sister is the heiress to a multi-billion-dollar company.” Joe said jokingly.

“Ah, yes. Because that’s why I’m dating you, you found out my secret plan of using you to get closer to your sister.” Beck retorted sarcastically.

“I always knew this was all too good to be true.” Joe laughed.

“So how do Peach and Rory know each other?” Joe asked once their laugher died down, seeing the glare Peach was throwing his sister’s way.

“I don’t know.” Beck side-eyed Peach, remembering how she and Rory reacted to each other when Rory first entered the bar. “Hey, Peach. How do you and Rory know each other?”

Peach blinked, breaking her laser focused gaze on Rory. “We met at a party her parents through last night, Beckalicious.”

Rory snorted when she heard Peach’s nickname for Beck, grinning when she saw Peach sneer at her.

“So, drinks? Whatever you all want, it's on me tonight.” Rory asked as she waved down a waiter.

Rory received three smiles from Beck, Annika, and Lynn, a roll of the eyes from Joe, and a frown from Peach.

I think I’ve made a good impression.

~X~

“Where the fuck is she?!” Raphael Goldberg screamed as he tore through the apartment.

Rory desperately pushed herself against the wall to make herself smaller.

The four-year-old had run into her and Joe's bedroom and threw herself under Joe's bed. She used her brother’s dirty clothes and shoes to cover her body, hiding her in case Raphael looked under the bed.

Rory did not know what she had done to cause Raphael’s ire, but she knew that could not allow him to find her.

The Goldberg patriarch had hated Rory from the moment she was born, despising the little girl with his very being as every time he looked at her, Raphael would be reminded of his wife's infidelity.

Raphael had come home from work drunk out of his mind, and when he searched the rundown apartment for Sandy and only found Joe and Rory, he lost it, throwing furniture around and cursing Sandy's name.

Rory knew then that she had to hide because it would only be a matter of time before Raphael grew tired of destroying the apartment and turned his anger on her. And she was right after about ten minutes Raphael ran back to the living room and only found Joe sitting on the broken couch.

“Where is she, boy? Where is that dirty little bastard?!” Raphael screamed at his son.

“I don't know.” Joe responded.

Raphael quickly closed the distance between them and grabbed Joe by the shoulders, his nails digging into his skin, blowing his hot beer scented breath into Joe's face. “I won't say it again, where the fuck is she?!”

Joe whimpered in pain, “I-I, I do-don't kno-know!”

Raphael's face turned red with anger, and he quickly pushed Joe away.

Just as Joe caught himself, he soon found himself on the floor, clutching his now throbbing face. His father had punched him, it was not the first time, but it was always painful.

Raphael continued beating his son, not caring when the boy curled into a ball and wrapped his arms around his head to protect his most vital areas.

“Stop! Please stop!” Raphael looked up from Joe's prone body. Across from them stood Rory, her tiny body shaking with fear as she met her stepfather’s gaze.

“You.” Raphael growled, abandoning Joe, and stalking towards Rory.

Before she could react, Raphael grabbed Rory by the throat. Rory desperately struggled against his hold, gasping for breath as Raphael’s hand tightened around her neck.

“You worthless bitch, didn’t you hear me call you? Why the fuck have were you ignoring me?!” Raphael screamed, spittle flying everywhere as he raged.

“I-I-I I’m so-s-sor-sorr-sorry.” Rory cried, tears falling down her face.

Raphael scoffed, “You’re going to be.” Raphael then raised his arm and pulled it back, forming a fist with his hand.

Rory quickly closed her eyes when she saw Raphael's fist hurdling towards her face, bracing herself for the painful impact.

“No!” Rory screamed, flailing her arms to protect herself.

The young woman gasped for breath as she registered where she was; sitting up in her bed, in her new apartment.

“It's not real, it’s not real. It was just a fucking dream.” Rory whispered to herself.

She groaned as she laid back down, gently rubbing the side of her neck. Despite telling herself that it was a dream, Rory could still feel the phantom sensation of his touch.

Rory hated that even after two decades, Raphael Goldberg still had a hold on her. Hated that deep down inside she was still terrified of him.

“Argh! C'mon, Rory, grow a fucking pair.” She muttered as she climbs out of bed, getting herself ready for the day.

It’s only 6:35 in the morning and I already want this day to be over. Rory thought as she changed into her running clothes.

~X~

Peach was currently sitting on her bed, using both her phone and laptop to find out everything she could about Rory Hayden and Joe Goldberg.

Her annoyance grew as she found nothing substantial on either of the two; Joe had no online presence whatsoever, barely being mentioned by outside sources and Rory’s image was perfectly coordinated, not single hair out of place and no skeletons in her closet.

There is something seriously off with those two, and I am going to find out what it is. Peach thought.

“--- right, Peach? Peach? Peach!” Peach was pulled from her research when she heard her best friend screaming her name.

She looked up and saw Beck standing in front of her, hand on her hip and an eyebrow raised questioningly. Peach only sighed as she went back to looking at her laptop screen, “What is it, Beckish?”

“I’ve been trying to have a conversation with you, and you haven’t been listening.” Beck answered as she walked to Peach’s side to see what had gripped her attention. She scoffed and let out a laugh when she saw Rory’s Instagram page on the screen, “Seriously, Peach. I know that you and Rory didn’t get off to a great start, but isn’t stalking her online a bit much?”

“I’m not stalking her; I’m trying to figure out what she’s hiding. There’s a difference.” Peach replied, now reading an article written about a science fair that Rory had won when she was in the sixth grade.

“Sure.” Beck drawled, not believing a word that left her friend’s mouth.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” Peach asked defensively, not liking the tone in which Beck had spoken to her.

“A new rich woman from a prominent family comes to town and she already has Annika and Lynn eating out of the palm of her hand? I think you’re afraid of the new competition.” Beck retorted.

Peach scoffed, offended by Beck’s comment. “Afraid of what? That freak of nature is not ‘new competition,’ she’s nothing special in the slightest.”

“Peach,” Beck sighed.

Peach only shrugged, “What, it’s the truth. There’s something seriously wrong with Rory Hayden.”

Beck rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say.”

Peach glowered, hating how her sweet Beck was dismissing her, it was the worst feeling in the world knowing that you were not being believed.

Fine! It doesn’t matter, I’m going to find out what Goldberg and Hayden are hiding and expose them. I need to do this, to keep Beck safe. She’s so naive and entirely too trusting, she needs me to save from the creeps of the world, and that’s what I’m doing!

Peach turned back to her phone and laptop as she hardened her resolve, her desire to be proven right and to once again be the most important person in Beck’s life fueling her.

~X~

Rory sighed as she stood in front of her new office at the very top of Hayden International’s corporate office.

The only other office on the top floor was Walter’s and Rory hated this fact.

She already knew from the stares she had received when she first entered the building that most people only saw her as the CEO's daughter, which was the only reason someone who is only the head of a development team was given such a prestigious office.

Not even the members of the board were given such an honor, adding to the belief that Rory did not deserve her position.

‘Rory Hayden, Business Development,’ was the words that stared back at Rory in dark bonded letter, further adding to Rory's depressing thoughts.

Well, I can’t stand I’m this hallway all day…

Rory stepped through the door but was unable to take in the large and furnished room as she stared at the man sitting at her desk. “Max? What are you doing here?”

“C'mon, Ro! You couldn't really have expected me to not be here for your first day at Hayden Central.” Max replied.

Max or Maxwell Cornelius Rockefeller was a Caucasian man with wavy shoulder length dirty blond, blue eyes, and was tall, standing a few inches tall than Rory.

And unlike Rory who was wearing a black pantsuit, Max wore ripped blue jeans, black sneakers, and a blue Yale sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

“So, you decided to break into my office?” Rory asked but the smile on her face contradicted her chastising tone.

“Yeah.” Max said shamelessly, “Plus, you need me here to make this place actually cool.”

Rory just shook her head as she walked to the other side of the desk, pushing Max's legs off and putting her bag down on top of it. “Max, today’s my first day, I really don’t want to rock the boat.”

Max rolled his eyes, “I’m not asking you to do anything crazy, only to change up your office. This room is fucking boring.”

Rory laughed, “Offices are where you work, they're supposed to be boring and serious otherwise people would never get anything done.”

“I’m just saying we could add a few things. How do you feel about replacing all the chairs with beanbags?” Max asked.

“And how would I be able to work at my desk?” Rory asked, staring at the man in confusion.

Max shrugged, “That’s what laptops are for.”

Rory rolled her eyes and playfully pushed Max's shoulder. “I’m happy you’re with me again, but I thought your dad was holding you back at home?”

Max’s playful smile fell, and his expression became clear. “He was, he keeps threatening to cut me off if I refused to ‘grow up’ and if I left Orange County again.”

“And yet you left Orange County and followed me to New York?” Rory said rhetorically.

“I left Orange County and followed you to New York.” Max repeated with a smirk.

Rory simply shook her head in amusement, she knew all about the tumultuous relationship between Max and his father, Ashton Markus Rockefeller.

Ashton was a conservative and old-fashioned man, for him it was either his way or no way at all, so he disliked his son's devil may care attitude and lack of ambition. While Max hated how rigid his father was and how the man tried to control every aspect of his life and turn Max into another version of himself, it had gotten to the point that Ashton would tell his son something and Max would immediately do the opposite just to anger him.

Although I would never say it to either of their faces, Max and Ashton are far more alike than they are dissimilar. Rory thought.

“Besides,” Max started as he stood up and walked over to Rory’s wall of windows that overlooked the city. “I have an idea for a new video; bungee jumping off the top of Hayden International!”

“There is no way in hell I’m letting you do that.” Rory quickly stated.

“Oh, c'mon, Ro!” Max whined.

“No and I mean it. Who do you think is going to get in trouble if you do something like that? My dad still hasn’t gotten over that time you turned his Ferrari into an actual fish tank.” Rory complained, already hearing her father's angry voice in her head.

Max had always been a wild and adventurous person so when they were in their junior year, he decided to create a YouTube channel known as ‘Daredevil Nation'.

His content was varied; from food videos to let’s plays to TV and film reviews but with ten million subscribers and counting, Max was mostly known for doing anything and everything no matter how dangerous.

In the early days of his channel, it was their friends and family who were subjected to Max’s wild antics.

Rory herself had been in a couple of videos over the years, usually the tamer ones like eating the world’s hottest peppers or trying to complete an escape room in under an hour.

She was no YouTuber, but she did get recognized from time to time as Max's sarcastic friend who had a funny scream.

“Walt just needs to get a sense of humor, cause that shit was funny.” Max brushed off, “And you could just tell him it was all me and you had nothing to do with it.”

“That would do nothing to help.” Rory deadpanned.

While Amber found Max to be funny and charming, Walter found him to be annoying and a bad influence on Rory.

It is funny to see how quickly dad's face changes whenever Max enters a room. I’m pretty sure the only person he dislikes more than Max is Joe…

“Fine.” Max sighed, conceding on this issue for the moment. “I’ll just table that one for now and think of something else.” He then turned to Rory, “So, what have you’ve been up to in the week since we’ve seen each other?”

“Not much. I had to go to a party my parents held the other night and then last night I met my brother’s girlfriend and her friends.” Rory shrugged.

Max paused and quickly turned his head towards Rory, a look of disbelief appearing on his face. “Wait, you mean to tell me that serial killer Joe got himself a girlfriend?”

Rory leveled a small glare at her best friend, “Max, you know I hate it when you call Joe names, especially ‘serial killer’.”

Max waved his hand, “You know I didn’t mean anything by it, Ro.”

Rory continued to glare at Max, she knew that her brother and best friend did not like each other, their poor opinions of each other firmly cemented from the moment they met. But Rory did not like or tolerate hearing them mock each other in her presence.

Max raised his hands in defense, “Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Rory just sighed, knowing it would be best to move on, “Why are you even surprised that Joe has a girlfriend?”

Because your brother is a freak who hides behind a facade of niceness but you're the only one who doesn’t see it, is what Max wanted to say but held his tongue because it would just lead to a fight between them. Instead, he asked, “Never mind. So, what's this girl like? She's got to be... something if she’s caught Joe’s eye.”

Rory shrugged, “Beck’s nice from what I saw. She’s a grad student trying to become a writer and she’s pretty outgoing. She’s smart and kind of dorky, which I’m sure is what drew my brother to her.”

“And? Is she hot?” Max smirked.

Rory rolled her eyes, “Yes, Beck is hot. Blonde hair, green eyes, and a nice body, in case you’re wondering.”

“Hey, this is important shit to know.” Max argued, “If she’s hot then that means she has hot friends. Hot friends who I assume are single if they were able to go out to meet their friend’s boyfriend’s sister.”

“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.” Rory muttered under her breath, sitting in her desk chair, and turning on her desktop, wanting to actually start working like she was supposed to before Max’s sudden appearance distracted her.

“Don’t worry, I'll find out.” Max stated as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Rory did not respond, focusing on the twenty emails she had received between last night and now. Most of it was junk mail, the only important ones were from her father and Simon Pierce, the company’s chief executive officer.

“Ah! Guinevere Beck! Aged twenty-four, is currently studying to get her master's in fine art, and dreams of being a writer. She’s ridiculously hot, even if her tweets about hating Mondays and Shakespear are cringy as hell.” Max said after a few minutes.

He then went to Instagram and seeing her latest post, a selfie of her, Rory and two other women. In the background he could see two others; Joe and a third woman with dark hair. Neither looked happy to be there, unlike the four smiling in front of them, the picture had captured Joe in the middle of one of his pretentious eye rolls and the dark-haired woman was glaring at the back of Rory’s head.

“Damn, it looks like I was right; her friends are baddies too. So, when you going to introduce me?” Max said with a grin.

Rory pretended to think, “Hmm, how about never.”

Max rolled his eyes; he knew that he would eventually get Rory to cave and introduce him to Beck’s friends, especially Annika Attwater. He licked his lips as he scrolled through her Insta, liking everything he saw.

I love the body positivity movement. The day fat girls decided to show their curves for the gram was a blessed one. Max thought, pressing the follow button on Annika’s page.

“So, what does Peach Salinger have against you? She looked like she was trying to light you on fire with her eyes.” Max asked once he made his way to Peach’s page.

Rory scoffed, “I don’t know, I meet her at my parents' party before Joe introduced to Beck and she’s been a bitch for no reason. To be honest, I get the feeling that she doesn’t like anyone besides Beck."

“Then what happened when you saw her again and found out she was one of Beck’s friends?” Max asked.

Rory explained the two interactions she had with Peach, but she made sure to leave out how she first thought Peach was attractive.

But due to their years of friendship, Max was able to easily read her, “Damn, Rory. I've never heard you talk about a girl like this before.” A smirk then appeared on his face, “Now I’ve got to meet her, I need to know the girl my friend wants.”

Rory glared, “I don’t want her. Did you not hear me call her a bitch?”

“Just because she’s a bitch doesn’t change the fact that you want her.” Max retorted, “Look don’t be shy about it, I’m proud of you for finally showing an interest in someone.”

“Go fuck yourself.” Rory muttered, ignoring Max’s responding laugh.

Rory had always been someone who struggled with allowing herself to be truly intimate and vulnerable with others, especially on a physical level due to her status as an intersexual woman. The abuse and ostracism she faced as a child and teenager made it hard to trust others, which is why Max was her only loyal friend and her love life was nonexistent.

This is stupid, Max doesn’t know what he’s talking about; I don’t have a thing for Peach Salinger, the Ice Queen of New York. I mean, yeah, Peach is hot, I would have to be crazy not to notice that, but being in her presence twice was enough to tell me that she’s also the worst.

The hate between us is clearly mutual, even if her hair looks soft to the touch and her longs go on for miles, and her whole HBIC attitude causes me to sweat and a warm pit to form in my stomach, and--- NO! Damnit! No, I am not attracted to Peach!

Rory tried to clear her head and focus on her work, but to her annoyance, Peach Salinger would continue to invade her thoughts for the rest of the day.