Two

|ATHENA|

The audition was a bust. It wasn’t that I forgot my lines or stuttered, I fucking over-acted. In the second scene where I was supposed to play the part of realizing that ‘my’ lover was a bad person, I got too emotional.

I even cried.

As soon as I finished acting out the scene, I thanked the judges and ran out of the audition room before they could say anything. It was actually foolish of me to do so, but I already did it.

Outside of the building standing beside Mina, I hit my forehead with my palm repeatedly.

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”

With every self-insult, I facepalmed myself.

“Stop it. That’s enough!” Mina held my wrist and put my hand down.

“I blew the audition, Mina. What am I supposed to do now?” I whined without thinking.

Mina let out a sigh and said, “Stop saying you blew the audition. It’s not over yet. You may be surprised. In a week or two, you might get a phone call informing you that you got the role.”

I gave Mina a deadpan look.

What she was talking about was basically impossible. The one thing directors and movie producers hated was over-acting in an audition. It would have been better for me to even under-act.

And it didn’t help that I was a former star. They probably thought I was very desperate to get back into the spotlight now. I mean, I was. But they shouldn’t think about it in that way.

“Don’t look at me that way. There’s still hope. Be optimistic.” Mina encouraged, then shot a thumbs up.

I sucked in a deep breath and put on a fake smile, then said, “Sure. Let’s go with that for now.”

Mina could still sense that I was in a bad mood, so she said, “How about this? Let’s have dinner at Graham’s to celebrate your first step back into the entertainment industry.”

My eyes widened in surprise.

“Graham’s? Isn’t that too expensive for someone who blew their audition?” I spoke with a flabbergasted tone.

Mina elbowed me and said with a serious tone, “If you say anything about blowing your audition again, I’ll leave you here.”

I pouted and apologized, “I’m sorry. I won’t say that again. But are you really willing to take me out to Graham’s for dinner?”

Mina smiled brightly.

“Of course I am! I have a friend of a friend who works there. I could get us a private room. So ease up and smile. Just you auditioning is enough reason to celebrate. You should be happy, okay?” Mina shook my shoulders.

I gradually eased up and a lazy smile made its way to my lips.

“I’m happy that I was able to take this first step today. Thank you for being here with me.” I said to Mina with a sincere tone.

There were hardly any agents in the industry that would stick themselves to celebrities who had fallen off the grid before and wanted to make a comeback. Yet, Mina here has been doing everything in her power to get me back to my feet.

She was truly a treasure that was worth more than I deserved.

“It’s okay. I believe in you.” Mina said to me with a meaningful tone.

My heart warmed up at her words. Having someone believe in me felt better than I could imagine. Maybe there was still hope for me after all.

***

Graham’s was a popular restaurant in the Eastside of California. It was an eatery for the rich and famous. So I had been a bit skeptical when Mina offered to bring me here.

Now that the two of us were being directed to a private room, I really believed that Mina had strong connections. A friend of a friend was able to hook her up with a private room! What were the odds!?

“Ladies, here we are.” The waiter who was escorting us to the private room finally stopped in front of an open door.

I looked inside the room to see that it was as luxurious as expected. The decor was so mellow and calming. And there were even scented candles inside the private room.

“Thank you.” Mina and I said to the waiter. He nodded in response.

Mina and I were about to step into the private room when the door to the next room opened up and two people stepped out of it.

“Fuck…” I cussed aloud without thinking as I set my eyes on North Ackerman.

This guy, what was he doing here!? And what were the odds that I would bump into him twice in one day?

North frowned, probably thinking the same thing as me. He opened his mouth to speak, but my voice sounded before his own.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.” I said.

Gosh, that made absolutely no sense, but I wanted to rile him up a bit. It was his fault that I over-acted in the audition earlier today.

If he hadn’t been so condescending and plain rude to me before the audition, I wouldn’t have gotten emotional and fucked up badly. He had to at least face consequences for his actions.

“Athy, I don’t think this is the right place for-”

“It’s fine. I just wanted to say hello to my former co-star.” I cut Mina off with a casual tone.

I wasn’t going to outright go for North’s throat in public. That would be like shooting myself on the leg. He was now a big boss of his own entertainment company. The best I could do was say a few words to provoke him, then pretend I was unaware of crossing the line.

“Are you stalking me now or something?” North asked with an irritated tone.

The tension in the atmosphere surged after he said those words.

The person that had stepped out of the private room with North awkwardly excused themselves and left. The waiter standing by also took the opportunity to dismiss himself.

Too bad they were going to miss the drama that would soon unfold.

“Stalking is a strong word. If anything, you’re the one who seems to be seeking attention. You could have just said ‘hi’ back to me this morning and be polite. Instead, you decided to be rude. For what reason, may I ask?”

I revealed the reason why I was acting this way. He could have just been polite to me in the morning. Being rude to me was just uncalled for!

“Really? What reason do I have to be polite to be someone who can’t be dedicated to their work and would choose to give it up for something as fickle as love?”

The entire world went silent to my ears after North said those words. My hands tightened into fists at my sides as blood rushed to my head too quickly.

No. I couldn’t deal with this right now. No. I had to leave this place.

I took a step to walk away, but North blocked me by standing in my way.

“Leave us.” He said, probably speaking to Mina.

She didn’t need to be told twice as she walked into our private room and shut the door. Meanwhile, North forced me to step into his former private room, then locked me inside.

“What do you want from me?” I asked him through gritted teeth, my head buzzing with so many other questions.

“Nothing else but honest answers to my questions,” North replied.

I looked at him with furrowed brows and said, “What?”

“Tell me, you and Jason are divorced, right?”