Natali walked out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee and handed it to Alice as she yawned on the sofa. She had slept in till evening.
''Thanks, sis'' Alice sipped the coffee and muttered, ''that hit right on the spot''
''Look at the time you woke up? Are you really a celebrity? Can you be a little careful about your public image? What would you have done if Mikael didn't find you? How could a young girl like you drink herself to such a waste? Can you not make me worry about you? I already have myself to worry about''
''Sorry, sis. I was just frustrated. I promise, it won't happen again. If I ever drink like this again, I am not a human being. You can just call me a pig''
''What happened yesterday? I couldn't ask you because you were so wasted. You kept murmuring and speaking incoherently''
Alice drunk all the coffee and placed the mug on the table. ''Luis kicked me out of the agency. Now, I'm a free agent''
''Is that why you drunk so much?''
''I just wanted an outlet to vent out. I hope I didn't give him much trouble''
''You kept calling him Thomas and even pulled his hair. Right, he said you should call him when you wake up''
''He did? Then, I should call him immediately'' Alice picked her phone from her side and called Mikael. She relaxed on the sofa.
''Hello, brother in law'' she said and Natalie looked at her.
Mikael entered into his office and went to sit on his desk as he spoke on the phone with Alice.
''Looks like you already know what you did last night. Are you just waking up?'' he asked and could already imagine the smirk on Alice's face.
''My sister told me you brought me home last night. Thanks buddy''
''Do you remember what you did at The Men last night?''
''What did I do?'' Alice sat up at once and asked, ''did I do something I wasn't supposed to do?''
''You asked Josh to quit his job at The Men and be your boy toy. Do you even know who he is?''
Alice coughed and asked, ''what did you just say?''
Mikael shook his head. ''I'm busy, let's talk when I come home''
Alice looked at the phone and turned to Natalie, ''big sis, I think I did something bad last night''
Natalie raised her brows and asked, ''to who? Who was so unfortunate to have encountered your drunken self?''
''The bartender at The Men''
''Why am I not surprised?'' Natalie replied and chuckled. Her phone buzzed from the side and she looked at the unknown number displayed on the screen.
''Who is that?'' Alice asked.
''I don't know. I will answer it first'' Natalie cleared her throat before she answered it. ''Hello''
''Natalia Jun?''
''Yes, this is Natalia Jun speaking. Who is this?''
''This is William. Miss Jun, can we meet and talk?''
''Sure, send me the address. I will meet you there'' Natalie hung up and said to Alice, ''that was my boss. He wants to meet me''
''Will you be okay, going out alone? Do you need me to go with you?'' Alice asked worriedly.
''I will be fine. You can't even go out with me''
''Then, be careful and call me''
''I will. I will change and go now. We are meeting at the café across the street. If anything happens, I will call you''
Shelton Café
Private Booth.
A waiter put two cups of coffee on the table and went away. William smiled and pointed at the cup of coffee in front of Natalie saying.
'Drink your coffee, is quite freezing outside''
Natalia smiled and sipped her coffee before saying to him, ''I left suddenly without permission; I'm sure there is some kind of punishment for me''
''First of all, as the company's CEO, I failed to protect my employee and caused you to be wronged. On behalf of the company and myself, I want to apologise for that''
''You don't have to apologise for anything. What happened is not your fault, sir. I can't blame anyone either''
''How have you been doing? I was constantly worried about you but I couldn't contact you because your phone was turned off''
''I'm fine. I had to turn my phone off because my doctor asked me to''
''I saw your letter of leave. Is there any problem?''
''I have a little personal problem and I need to leave to sort it out''
She had written a leave for a month so that she could go on a month treatment plan that she had come up with. Her health was going from bad to worse and she could see it herself.
''I see. You can take the rest of the month off, but, we will be launching 'Shadowed Beauty' next month and I hope to see you by then. After all, you brought it to life and worked hard behind the scenes''
''Sure, yes, William''
William smiled and they both drunk the quietly.
....
Sun Group.
Mikael was getting ready to leave the office when Assistant He came in and said to him.
''Sir, the CEO of Empire Entertainment is here with actress Lin Yan''
Mikael furrowed his brows. ''Where are they?''
''In the Meeting Room. They seem to be in a hurry to sign the contract with us''
''Okay. Is the contract ready?'' Mikael asked and Assistant He nodded his head. he heard followed Mikael's instructions and had come out with a satisfactory revenge contract plan.
''Yes, is ready''
''Okay, let's go''
Inside the meeting room, Lin Yan readjust her sleeveless short dress and said to Luis.
''This is my first time of meeting Mikael Sun. I hope to leave a good impression'' she was feeling extremely nervous. Since the time he handed her the trophy, she had been dreaming for the moment to stand in the same space with him.
Earlier, a month ago, she had wanted to steal the script of 'LWANBIL' from Alice but the director was strictly asking for Alice so she couldn't replace her but now she has the chance to become the brand ambassador of Sun Group. It made her heart feel jittery.
''Yes, just behave and watch how I make you their brand ambassador. This time around, no one will be able to stop your success in this industry'' Luis said proudly.
''Thank you, Luis'' Lin Yan quickly retreated her hand on Luis' laps when she saw the door open.
When she saw Mikael entering the room, she smiled flirtatiously and looked at him lustfully. Her face turned red
''You are the CEO of Empire Entertainment?'' Mikael asked and sat across them. he turned to Lin Yan and frowned. He felt disgusted by the way she looked at him. he looked away and asked, ''who is this?''
Luis straightened up and spoke with pride. ''This is Lin Yan, the most beautiful and popular actress under Empire. She has a lot of fans on all social media network''
'That is not the answer to the question I asked. I asked what she is doing here with you at an official meeting'' Mikael asked again and Lin Yan stiffened. She clutched her fingers against her bag tightly and still maintained a professional smile. She looked at Mikael and decided to talk.
''I am Lin Yan, my CEO told me he had a meeting with you and I asked to go with him. Actually, I am a fan of yours…''
''Pass the contract to him'' Mikael ignored Lin Yan and said to Assistant He. Lin Yan felt humiliated but Luis touched her subtly and she kept calm.
''Yes, sir. Here is the contract'' Assistant He passed the contract to Luis.
''I asked for only on person, Alice Hanson. My company will not be endorsed by an unknown artiste'' Mikael spoke and Luis frowned.
''Mr. Sun, Lin Yan is not a nameless artiste. She is very popular and her fan base is huge…''
''Mr. Luis, come again when Alice Jun is with you'' Mikael said and stood up. Lin Yan also stood up at once and spoke.
''I will do anything. Please, give me a chance to represent your company. I might not be as popular as Alice but I also have a huge fan base. I won best supporting actress award last year and I am currently preparing to act in the series, 'Purple Romance' written by the popular webnovel writer Purplebride. It is projected to be a hit series and I am likely going to be up for best actress award alongside Mimi Song and Alice Jun''
Assistant He smirked. She has taken the bait. She is right where they want her.
''Really?'' Mikael turned to look at her.
''Yes? That book is one of my favourite. Are you sure you can relate accurately the varying emotions Maria had to go through?''
''Yes. I've preparing and working hard for this series''
''Are you confident about your performance? There is a particular scene in the story that I've always been intrigued about. That time, Maria got into the accident with her best friend. A lot of people criticised the writer for killing her friend but I think it was a well written scene because it later brought Calia into the picture and she became a wonderful mom to Tania''
''I too particularly love that scene. It was the most heart breaking scene in the entire story''
''I heard the director is also known for having crazy ideas and he doesn't intend to use stunts. Can you put your body through the ordeal?''