Cordy laughed dryly—John’s brazen attitude never did change. "Why are you laughing?" John frowned, her laughter upsetting him somewhat."Because you're younger.""You must be overjoyed." John grinned smugly.Cordy smiled, but said nothing."And don't change the subject," John said sternly. "Don't meet Patrick Stuart ever again from now on. It upsets me.""We have a business partnership," she replied.She always kept business and personal affairs separate, and Patrick always had been a gentleman."If we ever were going to be together, we already would have. We certainly wouldn't wait until now," Cordy added bluntly. "Fine, then how about this?" John said, as if suddenly coming to a realization. "Call me whenever you're meeting him, even if it's for business. I'll sit in."Cordy stared at him incredulously. How could he get so petty?"Trade secrets are involved. Having a third party would be inconvenient.""Then I can wait outside while you have your discussion.""Could yo
John went to kiss Cordy right then, but she turned away just as their lips touched.He felt as if something clawed through his heart, but she reminded him, "You're not single yet."John closed his eyes, restraining himself as much as he could.She really knew how to turn him away. With a retort like that, even if he wanted to flip out, there was no way he could do anything out of line towards her.Damn it! She had a leash over him, asserting full control even before they started dating. Nonetheless, he released her.The instant he did, his lips inadvertently brushed against her ear.It was a slight touch, but a jolt of electricity seemed to shoot through his body, and he felt himself turning into jelly…John swallowed, his Adam's apple rolling repeatedly.So this was hell.As he moved a few steps away from Cordy, he saw that her face was red, as if it was bleeding.Even so, he restrained himself and said, "I'll talk to Nana tomorrow and clear up everything.""Yeah.""
Beside Zoe, Candice said, "Looks the same to me." "No way," Zoe said as she checked the script again. "This one is so crude!""Well, how complex did you want it?" Candice laughed. "They gave you a minor role before, and it's paragraphs for you now. What more do you want?"It was just banter—she meant no harm despite the irony in her words.On the other hand, Zoe was frowning as she came to a realization.Could it be…?!She couldn’t help asking, "Could you show me your last script?""Hold on, I think I kept it in my bag…" Candice quickly took it out and showed it to Zoe, while unable to hold back a huge sigh. "See? I had at least two pages' worth of lines last time, but it's been halved! I'm sure I won't even have this much in the next round."Zoe read Candice's script for the last round twice, and finally confirmed her earlier suspicions. Even her script for the last round was different from the rest of the cast; her heart skipped a beat, while she felt a flutter over her ch
That was when Zoe saw Quinn, leaning against her car door while looking at her with glee."When did you come back?" Zoe huffed, trying to make herself look angry."When you were pressing yourself against that geezer for a photo," Quinn replied."He's just a fan," Zoe snorted, but clearly proud.Let her have this moment—it had been years since she felt like this.Quinn simply smiled and returned to her car with Zoe.They headed to an expensive restaurant, running into Bob at the entrance.Cora was not with him, for once.Bob was surprised to see them. "You two are eating here as well?""Yeah." Zoe nodded."Oh! Jay, Sam, and I are having dinner here too. We never did meet up after Sam got out," Bob explained, and eagerly invited them. "Care to join us? This is too good a coincidence to pass up."Zoe presumed that Quinn would say no, so she kept quiet.After all, she couldn’t reject Bob well; their short stint of a relationship left her somehow dwarfed around him these days.
Though their eyes met for just a second, Zoe immediately turned away. Jay also quietly turned away.To make herself appear calm, Zoe told Bob, "Don't even joke about it. You're engaged.""That's exactly why I'd joke about it," Bob grinned, though there seemed to be a slight bitterness in it.Even so, mentioning the engagement did make Zoe feel a little less awkward."Let's drink," Sam suddenly said, raising his glass and clearly not keen on letting the mood be spoiled just like that. "You've been nagging us to drink, but you're not touching your glass when you arrive."Bob was being nice when he brought Zoe and Quinn as well.Zoe picked up her glass of water, which Bob spotted immediately. He exclaimed in disbelief, "You're drinking water, Zoe?!"The girl was an incorrigible alcoholic!"I'll pass since I still have a rehearsal tomorrow." Zoe smiled. "Don't worry, I'll drink as much water as you would alcohol for the night. And pure water, at that.""Isn't that a little weird?"
Remembering how Hailey had yelled at her the last time around, Zoe decided that she must stop drinking immediately.Deciding that she needed to stay sober, she excused herself to the washroom. Unfortunately, she was already tipsy and almost in a state where she wanted to drink more at the moment.Thus, she needed to wash her face and clear her head.It took her a while, but just as she opened the door to leave, she found Jay standing outside.She glanced at him, and then at his cane.So, that was a permanent disability and not a temporary fracture.Jay sensed her stare.So, she knew that he was now a cripple?He swallowed, but said, "Tomorrow's rehearsal has been canceled.""What?" Zoe was a little surprised."Didn't you check the group chat?" Jay asked. "Bob's been making me drink, so I didn't notice. When was it canceled, and why?" Zoe asked curiously as she whipped out her phone.Then, she found the notice that the rehearsal for tomorrow had been called off. Everyone
"You call yourself fat?" Bob found it inconceivable, and grew exceedingly agitated. "Do you even have fat on your body? It hurts to see you so skinny! Hell, I’d like to cut off my flab and give it to you."As Jay slowly returned to his seat, Zoe looked disgusted. "Please don't. I won't survive that.""Look, I'm telling you, Zoe," Bob huffed. "I don't know how things work in showbiz, but I can't take it if you have to become skin and bones just to stay in it.”"You don't have to take it," Zoe retorted, speechless. "As long as the audience likes it.""What, I'm not a part of the audience?""An insignificant part of the audience.""I'll be your No.1 fan, believe it!""Thank you, but you should stick to being Cora Levine's No.1 fan. I don't need the trouble," Zoe said bluntly.Such was the influence of alcohol—she was much more candid now.At that, Bob's expression changed a little.Cora seemed to be a touchy subject around this table, and the mood around the table changed dramat
"That won't do," Bob said. "Ending as soon as we got started? We’re going elsewhere. That, or I'm telling the waiters to bring us a second helping for everything we ordered. Either way, everyone’s getting drunk before they leave.""Bob…""That's non-negotiable." Bob was determined, and promptly booked a private room at a nightclub without asking for anyone's opinion. "Alright, let's go—Phantom Nights, room 008."None of them had any choice but to follow him. Since they had been drinking, they split into two cars.Bob pulled Jay and Zoe along to his car, knowing that Zoe might give them the slip; no one other than him would be able to stop her.As for Sam and Quinn, Sam was most definitely staying since he was always that straight-laced—he agreed to join Bob and Jay in the first place, and therefore would stick with them until the end.As for Quinn… Well, they’re married, and Sam was the one who decided if Quinn went or not.To no surprise, Zoe had asked repeatedly to leave along