186 A Lonely Sky

"Come in." Elle called out.

She recognized her father's secretary poke his head through the door. "Director Shaw, the Chairman asked to see you in his office."

Elle frowned. "Okay, I'll be there in a minute."

Elle quickly saved her work before heading up to her father's office.

"You wanted to see me?" She asked as she entered. Her father frowned when he saw her.

"Come take a seat."

Elle took a seat in front of his desk. "What is it?"

Her father sighed. "You don't even greet me now?"

"I'm busy."

"If you're so busy why have you applied for so much vacation?"

"Huh?" Is that what this is about Elle wondered to herself.

"You already applied for almost ten days off, I saw you requested another full day this morning."

"And?"

"Don't you think it's a bit too much?"

"Not really. Most of the days are only half days. Even though it's frequent it's not like I won't be here to oversee my division."

"Why do you need to take time off like this?"

Elle's eyes narrowed. "Are you asking as my father or as the Chairman?"

"Both."

Elle scoffed. "To the Chairman I will respond that it's private, to my father I will reply that it's not really any of his business." With that Elle stood up.

"We're not done here."

"I disagree. Don't worry Chairman, I'll do my work properly. If my division's performance goes down then we can discuss the problem of my vacation then."

Elle didn't bother to wait for his response, she simply walked out of his office, mumbling 'hypocrite' under her breath as she did.

Elle wasn't initially planning to go to set today. Adam had said he would pick her up from Tae after work so that they could go home together. However, Elle suddenly felt like she couldn't stand to be in this building another moment longer.

She quickly called Adam. He picked up on the second ring.

"What is it?" He asked in a concerned tone.

"What do you mean?"

"You never call during work. Did something happen?"

"No, it's nothing. I just wanted to let you know that I decided to go to the set today. You can go straight home, I'll meet you there after."

"You didn't bring your car today." Adam noted with a frown.

"That's okay, I'll just take a cab."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup." Elle replied cheerily.

"Fine. I'll wait for you to have dinner so don't stay too long. Call me if you need me."

"Sure."

The shooting was happening at an outdoor location today. Elle sat with the other writers as usual and watched the people around her rush about, trying to bring her silly piece of writing to life.

A cool breeze blew by. Elle close her eyes and let it brush over her calmly. She let it blow away her frustrations and disappointments as well. They weren't important, she didn't want to cling to them, so she let them go and let the wind carry them far away.

Elle continued in her own silent reflection until her melancholy spirit was suddenly joined but one much more cheerful than her's.

"You're here again today." Christopher said as he took a seat next to her.

A smile quickly assumed it's place on Elle's face. "I am. How is filming going?"

"You introduced my character too late in your novel." Christopher complained in a teasing tone. "You should have introduced me sooner and given me more screen time."

Elle laughed genuinely this time. Chris didn't know that the novel was in fact based on Elle's life. "Believe me, I wish your character had showed up sooner as well." She joked, thinking fondly of Adam.

In between their laughter Christopher turned his head to look towards where, unbeknownst to Elle, Amelia had been standing and silently watching. Chris and Amelia locked eyes for a brief moment until Amelia gave him a slight nod in greeting and walked away.

Chris watched the view of her back as she walked away. The smile on his face had vanished and something cold and hard had replaced the happy spark in his eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Elle asked, noticing his attention was fixed somewhere else.

"Nothing at all." Chris said with a light smile.

The filming continued, Elle spent most of the time watching blankly from her seat, as if she was watching a tv show that she wasn't interested in. When he wasn't filming his own scenes, Christopher would come sit with her. Occasionally they would share a joke between themselves, or comment on how well a scene turned out.

A few hours passed this way and the sun began to sink lower and lower into the sky. Elle took out her phone and glanced at the time.

"I'm going to go now." She whispered to Chris so that she wouldn't disrupt the filming.

"Do you need a ride?" Chris asked her back in a hushed tone.

"No, that's fine. The main road is just a few blocks down the road, I'll take a cab from there."

Christopher looked at her reluctantly but Elle waved goodbye and set off before he could argue with her.

As Elle wandered down the sidewalk she looked up at the dusky sky. It would be a clear night, without a cloud in the sky. A few evening stars were already out and shining brightly in the purple sky.

"I wonder why," Elle said aloud to only herself, "the sky looks so lonely tonight."

A few blocks down the street from where the shooting had taken place was a small parking lot. It had been too small for the crew to use but in the empty lot Elle happened to spot a familiar car with a familiar man leaning against it, blowing warm air into his hands.

"Adam?" She said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get you of course." Adam replied matter of factly.

Elle was still surprised, she continued staring at him blankly. She felt as if he was a figment of her imagination and he might disappear if she looked long enough. But he didn't disappear, no matter how long she studied him.

"You must be cold." Adam noted, ignoring her questioning gaze. "Why would you come out without a jacket? It's already late autumn and the nights are cold." He softly scolded her as he shrugged out of his woollen coat and draped it gently over her shoulders.

"It's so warm." Elle mumbled softly.

She let out a long sigh and leaned forward to rest her forehead against Adam's chest. His hands immediately came up to stroke her back.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Ha." Elle let out a sarcastic laugh. Adam looked down at her quizzically.

"I forget that you can't actually read my mind." Elle said with a smile. "No one else in the world could understand me so perfectly."

Adam didn't know what happened but that reply was enough to satisfy him. He DID know Elle best and so he stood out in the cold with her a little longer. One gently recharged the other, before going back home together.