Five

|ATHENA|

[Suta drops Film Emperor Jason Lamar after finding out he lied during a private interview.]

As I read through the article, my expression changed from surprise to happiness to satisfaction. The gist of it was that Jason was supposed to be the face of Suta—an extremely popular brand of men and women’s jewelry—and did a private interview with them.

During the interview, he was asked a lot of questions about his past and how he worked to get where he was. Jason must have given them his regular bullshit of being lucky and having rare talent.

Apparently, he was supposed to sign a contract with them lasting one-year during the week. Now, because of the viral clips, the contract signing has been cancelled.

“Yes! Oh, my God! Yes!” I jumped up and down in the living room, clapping with excitement.

Gosh, was this what satisfaction felt like? Only a few clips was able to pull him down this way. I could only wonder what the other items I had in my agenda would do to him.

I just had to wait until then. Let this wave flow on its own while I plot my next plan.

***

“Hello…” I said with an uncertain tone.

This was because I was talking to an unknown private number. After eating, I had slept for a few hours, only to wake up with five missed calls from this particular number.

Almost about to dismiss it as spam, the number called again and I had no choice but to pick it up.

“It’s North Ackerman speaking.” A clear, cool voice rang out from the speaker. My grip on the phone tightened.

“Why are you calling me?” I moved straight to the point, seeing as the two of us were no longer friends and wouldn’t be having any need for pleasantries.

“I saw what you did.” North said.

One side of my lips tugged up in annoyance before I said, “And what did I do?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Athena. You know I don’t like that.”

My lips stretched to a straight line. Hearing North call me by my full name always seemed to irk me. Everyone else called me Athy. He was the only one who preferred calling me by my full name.

I had asked him the reason once. But after so many years, I’ve forgotten what he told me.

“Sure, whatever.” I casually dismissed his words, then sat up on the couch that I had previously been lying down on.

“You’ve been sleeping, haven’t you? Seems like you have nothing at hand to do.” North let out a laugh after saying those words.

I was tempted to put my hand through the phone and give his mouth a slap—if only it was possible.

“Can you get to the point? You called me like what, a billion times, and now that you have me on the phone you’re seriously going to waste both of our times talking nonsense?” I said with an irritated tone.

North didn’t say anything after that. I could only hear the sound of his rhythmic heavy breathing. It wasn’t until ten seconds passed that he decided to say something.

“Zina’s lounge at 8. Meet me there.”

“Why?” I asked, clearly confused.

“When you get there, you’ll know.”

After saying those words, North terminated the call, leaving me confused and annoyed.

I did tell him to hurry up and tell me what he wanted to. But simply passing his message just like that was just borderline rude!

North was known for his unstable temper. One moment, he was teasing and smiling with you, the next, he was all cold and frosty. You never know with that psycho.

I checked my phone screen and read the time to be 6:55. I had less than an hour to get ready and go to Zina’s lounge. Just the thought of leaving my house and going to that very place was giving me an off feeling.

Zina’s lounge, unlike the name suggested, belonged to North. The place was named after North’s maternal grandmother. It used to be a diner back when North and I were cool.

It was only recently that it was reconstructed as a lounge with a bar. And it was now a place strictly for the elite.

I looked down at the sweats I was wearing and sighed.

“Do I really have to go there?” I asked myself, but I already knew the answer to the question.

North was inviting me to his very own private lounge. Even if I wasn’t very smart, it was clear what his actions indicated. I was in for serious business!

With that in mind, I forced myself up from the couch and hit the showers. After doing a thing or two when I was done showering, I was ready to head down to Zina’s lounge.

The time was already 7:30. I hoped I wasn’t going to get there late and leave a bad impression. I hurried into a cab and stopped at the front of the building.

And, of course, there was a strict bouncer standing at the entrance. This wasn’t even a club! Why was there a giant-sized bouncer at the entrance!?

“I’m here to see North. We have an appointment.”

There was a skeptical look on the bouncer’s face after I said those words.

“Athena Carson. Please check the—”

I was about to tell him to check the list but realized he wasn’t holding any list, so I clamped my mouth shut and hoped that I wasn’t at the wrong place or in the wrong to be here.

“Miss Athena Carson, you do have an appointment with the boss.” The bouncer suddenly said, moving away and leaving me space to walk into the lounge.

It was a bit surprising that he stood down after hearing my name, but oh well, I was in now.

Someone directed me to the second floor after I stepped in. While climbing the steps to the second floor, I admired the decor of the lounge. It gave off this cozy but classy vibe.

It was designed under North’s supervision. There was no way it wouldn’t be top-notch.

On getting to the second floor, I hadn’t even fixed my eyes on anything yet, when I heard the words:

“You’re late.”