"No." Lyra blurted, shaking her head faintly and turning to face Matthew again."No, we can't.” She repeated.But we can still be friends, though." She added.Matthew breathed out loudly, taking a short but heavy pause to absorb the response. After that, he nodded and tapped on the steering wheel gently with one of his palms before smiling to respond."Okay." Lyra smiled back and thanked him for his understanding.He turned on the ignition and drove off in a forward direction.After their time at the park, Matthew dropped Lyra off at her apartment's central gate. After she climbed down, he lowered his head from the window to wave meekly."Thanks for making my day, Eleanor. I hope to see you again soon."Lyra let out a short laugh, waving back to say,"Thank you too, and same here."She stood to watch him make a reverse with one hand, finally returning the car to face the previous route before zooming off again into the dark. She then heaved a silent sigh as she turned around after
Dante stiffened at first as the hoarse voice behind him repeated the same question.He swiveled on his feet anxiously and flung his head backward to confirm his fears; it was indeed the wizened, accusing face of Grandmother Alessandra standing behind him.Lyra stepped partially out of the elevator, triggering the sensors on the doors, which delayed them from closing up. She was watching the familiar older woman and her grandson quietly.Dante threw one last helpless glance at Lyra before turning to face his grandma completely."What…what are you doing here?" He stuttered to ask with his eyes twinkling like someone who was before a ghost.And when his grandma kept staring at him judgmentally without answering for the first few seconds, he ran his hand over his head nervously before asking further."I mean, how did you find out about this place?"The old woman shrugged weakly."I told you I would find you, and so did I."Then she folded her arms and moved closer to him by two steps."Re
At Thompson's fashion headquarters, Felix was sitting in his office, with his head bowed and buttocks at the edge of his chair, while his grandmother stood some inches away from his table, with her hands on her waist, fuming and cursing."What the hell was that back there?" She asked, pointing toward the door as though that was where the showcase had been held."Did you see the reaction the crowd gave to these Elysium people? Did you witness the sales they were projected to make compared to us? How can we be losing in and out, Mr. CEO? How dare you bring me so much embarrassment?""But... I couldn't have forced them to show love to our brand." Felix stuttered to defend himself. Looking frustrated too.She stopped for a moment to stare at him disdainfully, dropping her hands from her waist. The look in her eyes this time did not just communicate disappointment but also disgust."Can you just hear yourself? I can't force our customers to show love to our brand,” she mimicked, wagging he
Aria stepped into the hall tentatively; she took a few steps in and then stopped again.Once she was past the entrance, loud music boomed from inside out, so loud that Aria had to screw up her face for a moment to absorb the wind of uncoordinated noise from the speakers. A small crowd was standing at the center stage, and most of them were made up of wild-looking males and skimpily dressed females dancing as partners, hands threw wildly in the air as they dry-humped themselves in the red, bubbly dimness, screaming happily to the sound of the music.Aria kept both hands on her waist as she looked around for traces of Felix.She did not have to look for too long because the moment she switched her face towards the bar area, she indeed found Felix's bowed frame sitting next to a stool with a glass of gin next to him. He was drinking.And his expression was as lost and pathetic as it could ever be.Aria sucked her teeth, not knowing what exactly to feel for him. After all, whatever it wa
"Nice doing business with you, Mr. Dante." Mr. Tommy, the former executive owner of JJ Entertainment, said, shaking hands with Dante as the both of them stood right in front of their head office moments after closing in on the purchase transaction they just concluded.Both of them posed calmly while Dante flaunted the signed agreement in his hand for pictures. About two or three reporters jostled and crouched for the best angle a few spaces away from them, flashing their devices at the industry owners as they tried to capture every moment of the landmark transaction.As the flashbulbs continued to pulse, the atmosphere shifted when suddenly A gray-colored land cruiser vehicle darted through the large, opened gate almost too quickly; it dashed into the sprawling yard of the label facility, followed by the violent screeching of its tires. The entrance made every one of them, including Dante and Tommy, lift their heads impulsively and uniformly toward the direction of the vehicle that
Matthew stopped by at the head office of his record label the next morning. He intended to discuss some of his touring plans with his manager, as he had been too busy attending shows the previous week.The first thing he noticed as he walked towards the sleek lobby of the managerial section was the over-the-board repainting and readjustments being made to the building from the inside out. Even the golden star logo peculiar to the JJ entertainment brand was being replaced all over the walls by a bold single "D" sign. The staff members, too, including the security men at the gate and a few of the cleaners he passed by, wore T-shirts that sported the same logo."What's going on?" He stopped to mutter to himself, wondering how the label owners could have made such a significant change to its logo without informing its biggest artist.He immediately burst into vibrant strides once again, hastening his footsteps as he approached his manager's office, swinging the car keys in his hands.He
Amidst the quiet clinking of cutlery against plates filled with garlic and fresh basil, Lyra and Matthew finally finished up their lunch.After that, they progressed to picking up their glasses almost at the same time sipping water quietly while stealing and watching each other in muffled silence. When Lyra finally dropped her glass she cleared her throat to ask casually. "So about what you said earlier when would you be coming back and if you don't mind me asking what would you be doing there?"Matthew shrugged with half of his shoulder before he answered with a faint smile on his face, he seemed pleased by the question. "At least she was already showing concern." He thought."So it's actually for a movie. A really big one, with so many stars from around the world getting featured. So a project like that would certainly last for months before I return. I can't tell the exact duration but I'm quite sure it's going to run into months." Matthew paused for a moment to stare at Lyra.
Lyra peered curiously at the web page of her browser, which was littered with similar headlines relating to a controversial photo that, according to them, was breaking the internet.The moment she clicked on the first one, her eyes narrowed. She glanced at Aria, who was standing at the other end of the table, and was nodding back knowingly.She suppressed a smile on her face as she went back to looking into the screen; this time she could not help but let out a sarcastic laugh because the image on her screen was that of no one else but Dante himself, but that wasn't just it.The eye-catching thing about the picture was what he was putting on. It was a bespoke suit from her latest collection of designs. Underneath the picture, the headline read thus: "Mr. Snub of the Year goes to Rival CEO Dante Cooper as he picks a competitor's design over a family's own."Lyra let out another laugh, looking genuinely amused. Inwardly, she was wondering why he would go to such lengths to get her atte