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
Dante was still peering into the dark, small space in confusion after Lyra's question when the sudden jolt of the elevator caused Lyra's figure to stumble forward."Careful, Lyra, keep steady." Dante's voice pierced the dimness. But Lyra, on the other hand, was hardly steady; the extended period in the dark, confined space, coupled with the sudden, unexpected ascension of the elevator, had made her lose stability; she missed a step and, for some weird reason, began to feel her head spinning immediately; she was beginning to lose her consciousness, and she had begun to slip downwards slowly, her legs stretching out."Lyra!" Dante’s voice was louder this time. He rushed towards her uncoordinatedly and in apprehension. It was at that point that the elevator lights came on again, revealing the crumpled body of Lyra on the floor; her head lolled to one side and her hair fanned out in disarray."Lyra." He whispered, fumbling with his hands, blinking repeatedly, and stooping at once to car
"Hey, shhhh." Dante hushed with a finger crossing his mouth, throwing a cautionary glance at Mirabel, who was looking even more stupefied."Don't you ever call her that again, Mira!" He warned before returning his gaze to Lyra.By this time, Lyra was already on her feet."Could you please just take a little more rest?" He pleaded, stretching out his hands towards her.But Lyra held her head up obstinately, barely looking at him as she started to strut towards the door."Lyra, could you please just hold on and..."His voice trailed off as Lyra had already pulled the door to the bedroom open, slamming it right after she was gone.He let out a helpless gasp, looking at the door while Mirabel's puzzled face glared at him with a screen of anger and disbelief covering it up."Wait, are you serious right now? You did not only have the guts to rub shame and scorn on our faces in the media by flaunting a competitor's design; you even brought her into your house. Like, I don't get, For what?"
It has been approximately two weeks now since Lyra commenced the first phase of her latest series of designs, and this morning she was seated with Drey in her office to discuss one of the finished products.Lyra sat behind her executive desk, tapping on the neat stack of files right next to her, glancing at the wall clock casually as she spoke with Drey. The time was exactly 8:30 a.m."Here, check this one out." She said, holding out a paper sketch of her recently finished work toward Drey.He snatched it up eagerly, and after looking into it for a while, he lifted his head quickly again. The expression on his face was pleasant but also a bit tentative."This is nice." He complimented it, tapping one of his fingers on it."But if you may ask Madam, I thought you made mention of working on two separate designs. So what about the second one?"Lyra nodded knowingly to imply that he was right and that she had not forgotten. "That is quite true, but let's concentrate on producing one fir
Lyra ran towards the bedroom, panic surging through her veins as she stopped at the center of the bedroom, looking around vaguely for something to defend herself. The approaching footsteps of Matthew increased by the second She closed her eyes desperately, willing her brain and her limbs to work in unison, but nothing was working.She was fearfully clueless, and then, in a stupid attempt to just grasp at straws during the height of her panic, she picked up a book from the Nestle table, and as soon as she did, she immediately realized how useless it was. But before she could correct the mistake, Matthew was already upon her. He grabbed her from behind while she struggled back, throwing her arms about wildly to fend him off. He pushed her towards the wall and attempted to pin her to the wall; his breath was hot on her face.The scuffle continued, and as soon as Lyra discovered that he was beginning to overpower her, she raised her voice to scream."Help!"Matthew laughed as he increase
The following day was a Saturday. Dante woke up a little bit earlier than usual, pacing back and forth along the length and width of his bedroom.He was still bitter about the previous night; even the thorough trouncing he had given to Matthew had not felt enough.He was still thinking of better ways to get back at him after what he caught him trying to do to Lyra. "I could always tell he was a jerk, but a rapist? I could never have guessed that." He thought.“I swear it to the heavens, I am going to make that nitwit pay for every ounce of hair he pulled yesterday. He's going to smell it and would not like the scent."He continued to groan.After a few minutes of going about like this, he stopped at the center of the room when a thought suddenly occurred to him."Wouldn't terminating his contract be a good way to start?”He reasoned, brushing his face with his palm and nodding satisfactorily, as the idea felt like a nice one to him. But before he could do any follow-up on the thought