In the evening after Ziva had left, Elara lay on her bed staring at her phone. She scrolled slowly through the screen. Every now and then, a small smile appeared on her lips.
Most of the posts were about the showcase and also, about her. Many of her own videos were posted by the high school students who had attended that day. Others were posted by people she did not know.
After a while, Elara turned off her phone and stared at it quietly. Before she got the money from the showcase, she had been thinking about buying a new phone but now that she finally had enough money, she kept delaying it.
"Ah..."
She sighed and turned her head to look at the clock on the wall.
6:34.
"I should go eat sothing," she muttered to herself before she stood up and walked to the wardrobe to change into sothing more covering.
That was when a gentle knock sounded on the door.
Elara raised her brows. Apart from Ziva who went ho not long, people rarely knocked on her door. Usually, soone only ca if there was a problem... or if Mr. Kain called for her.
And when Mr. Kain called, it was rarely a good thing. He still hasn’t stopped making things difficult for her. Sotis he would suddenly ask her to stay late and repeat vocal practice again and again. Other tis he forced her to re-record the sa training song many tis even when the other singers had already finished and gone back to rest.
And this had been quite stressful for Elara because she still had to go to the restaurant. It was clear he was only looking for ways to trouble her.
Elara walked to the door and opened it. The mont she saw who was standing outside, her heart almost jumped.
It was Relanie. She stood there looking glamorous as ever.
Elara stared at her for a mont, forgetting to close the door. Relanie was famous and highly respected in Voice. She had never expected her to appear at her door.
Also...Elara did not want to get too close to her. She did not want history to repeat itself.
Relanie smiled warmly. "Sorry for coming suddenly, may I co in?" she said politely.
Elara hesitated for a brief mont. But she still stepped aside and made way for her. Once inside, Relanie quietly looked around the room. Her eyes moved slowly from the bed to the desk, then to the wardrobe.
"Your room is nice," she said after a mont, turning back to Elara.
Of course Elara already knew that. She was not worried about sudden visitors seeing her room because it was always neat and clean. She had mild mysophobia, so she often rearranged and cleaned everywhere again and again. Even though the room was simple, it was always very tidy.
Relanie walked to the desk and sat down on the chair. Elara also sat on the bed, watching her with slightly raised brows.
After a mont, Relanie spoke up.
"I heard you were promoted to Grade Four." She said with an expression which looked strange to Elara.
"Yes," Elara replied nevertheless.
Relanie stayed silent for a short while. Then she smiled again. "Well, congratulations. You’re quite lucky."
Elara’s smile froze slightly. This was not the first ti Relanie had said that.
But Elara had always known she was not a very lucky person. Anything good that happened to her was only because of her own effort. So she gave a brief smile.
"Well... I don’t think so, I’m not very lucky." she said calmly.
Relanie’s smile wavered a little. "Oh," she muttered. Then she sighed. "That microphone accident that day... it must have been stressful." She said and then shook her head slightly. "I wonder what the showcase coordinators were doing. How could they allow such a thing to happen during a program?"
She paused.
"They couldn’t even handle a small event like that. What if it was sothing bigger?" Relanie turned to look at Elara with raised brows. "Or what do you think?"
Elara only shrugged. "Just another bad luck," she said simply.
After chatting for a short while, Relanie finally revealed the reason she ca.
"Actually, I ca to invite you to a party." she said while Elara raised her brows. Relanie paused briefly before continuing. "My birthday is this Saturday."
Then she added quickly, "Have you ever attended a party like that before?"
Elara thought for a mont, then she gave a wry smile. "Nope... I don’t really have ti for those things."
Then she added politely, "But since it’s your birthday, I’ll gladly accept your invitation."
"Oh... yeah, thanks" Relanie said. Not long, she stood up from the chair. "I should go now. Take care."
Elara nodded and stood up as well. After Relanie walked out and the door closed behind her, Elara slowly walked back to the bed. Then she fell onto it with a thud, face first.
The real reason she did not attend parties was not because she had no ti. It was simply because she did not like parties.
And now this invitation felt like another heavy task added to her shoulders.
Also, who knows what might happen there?
–
Night had fallen and Adrian was still in his office. His laptop was open on the desk. On the screen was a video eting with several senior executives of Vale Group.
Most of them were older n who had worked in the company for decades. They were discussing an investnt project. After so ti, Adrian made his decision about the project.
The mont he finished speaking, several of the executives frowned. One senior officer suddenly beca angry and hit the table with his hand.
"That’s too risky Young Master Vale, when Mr. Vale was still managing the company, he never made reckless decisions like this." he said.
A few of the others also started talking one after another, clearly showing their disagreent. Soon they beca quiet again and looked at the screen, waiting for Adrian’s response.
Adrian stared back at them with his usual cold expression. He did not seem angry. In his hand, he slowly fiddled with a key fob.
After a mont, he lifted his eyes and looked at the man who had spoken first. "Then it’s quite fortunate Mr Vale isn’t the one making this decision," he said calmly.
The man shifted restlessly in his seat but Adrian continued speaking as if nothing had happened. Even though the expressions on the faces on the screen is everything but pleasant.
Finally, Adrian said,
"That will be all."
A few seconds later, he closed the laptop and leaned back in his chair. He took a slow breathe. His expression looks a bit tired.
Then he leaned forward and opened the cabinet beside his desk. He began searching inside it. His movents were a little impatient.
While he was rummaging through the drawer, a small paper slipped out and fell to the floor.
Adrian’s hand paused for so ti. Then he bent down and picked it up. It was a small photograph. In the picture was a young girl smiling brightly.
Adrian stared at it silently, his grey eyes seed to darken by several shades. Then he placed the photo back into the drawer. After that, he finally found what he had been searching for.
A pack of cigarettes and a lighter.
He took one cigarette, lit it, and placed it between his lips. Leaning back in his chair again, he took a few slow puffs.
After staring at empty space for a long ti, he took out his phone and dialed a number. The call was answered almost imdiately.
"Hello, good evening," a female voice said from the other side.
"Did anybody make a complaint about the Grade Four promotion?" Adrian asked calmly.
There was a short pause. Then the woman replied, "No. Nobody complained officially." She paused again before continuing. "But most of the singers protested about it."
After a small mont of silence, Adrian simply said, "Alright." And he ended the call.
When it ended, he opened his laptop again and his fingers moved slowly across the keyboard. Then he clicked on sothing.
Not long after, a video began to play on the screen...
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