Chapter 3

Suddenly it feels like am in a bubble, his voice gradually faded into the background as I stared around trying to catch a glimpse of every face in the hall.

"Are you even listening to me" he called back my attention with a smile while I forced a nod

"Well if I said I no longer have feelings for him, then that's exactly what happened," I said confidently while he beamed

"You say that all the time, I would've believed it but it seems you are no longer dating your boyfriend Carson, so I doubt your words"

"Seems like you don't want me to stop liking your brother, why do you doubt my own emotions," I asked hoping he says something insightful about Demetria

"You didn't deny the breakup, it really is true," he said making me nearly roll my eyes, just what sort of relationship does she have with this guy, I suppose, she was close to him because of her crush on his brother but his words are rather too casual.

His phone suddenly began to beam signifying a message or perhaps a call, gradually the voices in the room began to grow making it hard to hear what he had to say, he left with a smile while pointing at his phone and uttering words I couldn't hear.

my attention followed the noise to see what the problem was, and there he was, in his well-tailored tuxedo walking into the hall with his stern face, in the crowd full of good-looking people he stood out the most, shining brighter than everyone even with his grumpy face as if there was a halo right above his head, his looks alone enough to make one stutter even without speaking, I can't even blame Demetria for being obsessed with him, the man right ahead of me turns every head man and females alike.

In my daydream with my mouth a gap and all, our eyes met and immediately I panicked forgetting how to function, my eyes refusing to look away.

"Deme" a gentle voice whispered, only then did I regain my composition turning around to meet the gaze of my supposed ex, my body immediately moved away from him, he wasn't in any way touching me but I immediately got irritated, my face turning into a frown.

"Carson" I called him trying to turn down the anger suddenly igniting in me, even without having any history whatsoever with this man, this body screams otherwise.

"You seem to be forgetting something," he said with a concerned soft gaze enough to fool anyone but not me

"I have nothing to discuss with you, I will advise we pretend not to know each other," I said what I think Demetria would say but in a more calm manner

"You must be mistaken Deme," he said with a smile that somehow appears creepy making me take a few steps backward

"I mean you are the star of the show, the investors are waiting at the top section and what are you doing here?" he asked me then slowly it clicked, it was true, I was supposed to be here because the Director personally invited me

"I can lead you there if you want," he said offering his hand for me to take but I rather skip than do that, I picked up my gown for easy access and walked away from him, immediately I left his presence I noticed I have been holding my breath, I have no idea where I am heading but I have to find the section myself, without stress I saw it, it was boldly written Vip perhaps for dummies like me to locate it easier, I took in a lot of air before approaching the door.

Without even saying a word the door was opened for me, as I stepped into the room, the voices I could hear chatting from the door went quiet as I stood awkwardly looking for a familiar face, Antonio beamed at me, seeing him made me breathe out a sigh of relief till I saw Raffaela sitting at the center with his gaze right at me.

"Deme!" I quickly recognized the voice as Amber's voice, with a shaky breath I went to take a sit, but instead of sitting beside Amber who was beckoning to me, I sat close to Antonio who smiled, he always seem to be in a pleasant mood, from my side eye I could see Amber frown but I could care less.

"I want to know why we had to wait for you miss. Auclair" Raffaele's voice pierced the quiet room, his voice was condescending like he had been waiting to ask me that.

"Uhu?" my speech failed me, perhaps the question was sudden, so I couldn't think of an answer

"I am sorry" I shamelessly replied almost attempting to lower my head but caught myself immediately

"Say that to the investors who have been waiting for you," he said still looking straight at me his face scarier, I turned to catch Amber sneaking in a smile

"It's alright, she is here now," the man opposite me said, he had on a warm smile as he slowly pulled out a pink book that somehow looks like a dairy,

"Miss if you don't mind will you help me sign this for my daughter, she is a hard fan of yours and wouldn't let me rest, please I hope you wouldn't mind," he said pushing it in front of me, I was taken aback for awhile but went ahead to sign with the pen lying on the table, I was careful to just write Demetria's name with a line over the written words with of course, a full stop, a classic.

"I thought you never sign, you were hugely against it for fear people might forge your signature" Amber butted in uninvited

"Oh is that true, is my daughter the first person to ever receive your signature, is that why she was pleading with me?" the man asked me in curiosity, now I have no choice but to answer that, although I had no idea, Demetria doesn't do that, I was a bit pressured to begin with, I still haven't relaxed and here we are

"Well one grows, I wasn't a fan of it in the past, but came to realize that was immature and very selfish of me, my fans are the reason why I am famous and the reason I have this life and I can't even give them something as small as a signature," I said trying to keep my voice high mimicking Demetria's high pitched voice, Emilia had pointed out that for some reason my voice has changed, I guess your voice changes when you soul change.

"Oh that's true, it's good my daughter is a fan of somebody like you who is self-conscious," The man in front of me said

"what could have resulted to this drastic change" Raffaele's voice came interrupting my thoughts, I had just managed to pretend he wasn't staring at me since I entered but he is making it hard for me.

"Change they say is constant" I used the oldest words in my bag of wisdom hoping he would at least stop

"I guess it sure is, of all people I would have sworn you would never change" I couldn't read the look in his eyes while he said that but the chuckle from Antonio beside me confirmed to me he was taunting me

What would Demetria say in this situation, fuck it, what would I say in this situation, while we were on the topic of change, why not just give this internal crisis of dialogue a rest, having to articulate what Demetria would say instead of what I want to say, Rosa is my name, not Demetria.

"Thank goodness you didn't, that would have been embarrassing" I just said turning back to face Amber who had on a forced smile immediately, we just sat silently while I notice almost everybody had their phone, I was getting suffocated till the door opened to review the director I met, he came in with two other older men and of course, Carson

"Oh you are here finally, I had gone to fetch you but here you are," the bald director whom I had forgotten his name said with a smile

"Mr. Benson, you have seen her, and with her popularity am sure it would be a hit" he went straight to business which I was thankful for

"You are indeed a beauty, I came in person to see for myself after hearing of your uncanny beauty," one of the old men said with a creepy smile

"Oh!" flustered if not frightened, like a person who had seen a ghost, he swallowed before shifting his necktie

"you are here as well Mr. Luciano"

The director said with evidence of fear present in his mannerism and tone, the look on Raffaele's face wasn't good at all, it was murderous, and the the director in question looked like he was caught doing something he shouldn't be doing

"Oh hello, you are Mr. Luciano, the Ceo of Megastar entertainment?" the man I had earlier signed his daughter's dairy asked in surprise same did the other older men appear

"Patrick, I would want to know exactly why Megastar is hosting a party and I have no idea about it," He said his tone angry as I looked on in complete bewilderment, what was going on now, he stood up from his sit pulling out an opened suitcase from under the table

"Sir it's completely for business, these ...the... These are investors" the director struggled to form his words

While everybody seemed tensed the only person who was relaxed was Antonio so I leaned in beside him

"What is going on?" I asked him

"Patrick, what is going on here?" one of the men asked in a vexed tone

"Mr. Benson, if I hadn't done a thorough investigation I would have been disappointed in you for I have in the past worked with your company, but to my knowledge, you as well as the actors in my organization have no idea of this ring," Raffaele said, the complete dynamic in the room told me exactly what was going on,

Oh snap, my mind went straight to the first time I met the director, he was creepy, and the two older men he came in with were creepier

"Sir, this is definitely not what you think it was," he said panicking

"Explain that to the cops, and you are fired," he said and it went straight to my ears ring a loud bell, what?

"Miss Auclair, you know this isn't true right?" he said to me while the two creepy men immediately got up and left the room in a rush.

He came over to me with a frantic expression grabbing onto my arm "This is a a lie, only you can save me right now, you know everything right?" he said making the whole attention on me

"Could it be you are working together?" Amber said as grasped her hands covering her mouth in shock, I know right away she was faking it to put me in this mess, slowly I took his hands off me, and got up from my seat, even if I know exactly what seems to be going on, I wasn't going to be trapped by this man nor Amber

"What on earth is going on Mr. Patrick!" I said in a frantic manner putting in my acting to practice

"What on earth is this situation, why are you getting fired, why did those men run away, you invited me here saying it was a launch of my movie and to meet investors for a new project, what is going on, and what Ring is the CEO talking about," I asked him with my voice louder than his, breathing heavily almost tearing up and basically having a mental breakdown, I took a peek around while on my drama to see the effect I had on the audience and the surprise and shock on their faces well except for Raffaele's face gladdened my heart and continued forcing tears till Mr. Patrick was dragged away and somehow I find my body being wrapped by Antonio, as he tried to calm me down.

"I would like to say thank you to you Carson for bringing me attention to this situation, it would have been worst if not for him, you have him to thank," Raffaele said coldly before walking away with his suitcase not even sparing me a glance at my whole drama, an awkward silence followed.

"pew" I breathed out in tiny still clutching onto Antonio's shirt