408 TO ‘REKINDLE THE FIRE’
ASTRID was inside Ellis’ flying car. They were on their way to the TV station where [Baby’s Day-Off] was being aired. He glanced at his agent that currently had a dark expression on her face. It had been like this since earlier.
After saying goodbye to Livi, Astrid met with the other staffs of the program and they all went to the mobile truck that was monitoring the recording. The moment they entered, they immediately felt the cold atmosphere inside.
Most thought that the air conditioner must have been set at a very low temperature. But Astrid didn’t think the same. Just by looking at Ellis’ expression, he could tell that it was because she was in a very bad mood.
They were supposed to go with the program team back to the TV station. Astrid still had to record some follow-up interview, like asking for his opinion about the things that happened during the recording. Then, they would superimposed it to the corresponding scenes once the episode aired.
Ellis told the program team that the two of them would go to the station by themselves though. Astrid could see the shaky expression on the assistant PD’s face as he nodded.
And now, here they were.
“Sister Ellis, is there a problem?” he asked in a tentative voice.
The other turned to him and then suddenly let out a huge sigh. “Sorry.”
Ellis closed her eyes. She must have looked like she wanted to beat someone that’s why Astrid asked her that. She was still contemplating on whether to tell Astrid about Olivia. At the end, she decided to just say it.
.....
The other was her artist, it was her job as an agent to properly explain to him things that could affect his career. And this one surely would, depending on what Olivia’s motive was. But Ellis didn’t want to gamble on the possibility that Olivia didn’t have any ulterior motive. It’s better to think that she had so they could prepare for it.
“The mother of the child you took care of today is Olivia Crane,” she said straightforwardly. And then she added in a bit of sarcastic tone, “Or should I call her ‘Olivia Thornley’ now?”
Astrid wasn’t able to quickly react after hearing that. Olivia Crane? That Olivia Crane? The actress that Ellis was formerly in charged of? No, he shouldn’t probably referred to her as an ‘actress’ since the other had already retired after she married some nobleman.
Even after hearing that Olivia Crane was Livi’s mother, there were still a lot of information that his brain had to register. After digesting all that, he started to analyze the situation.
Since Livi’s mother was Olivia, it couldn’t just be a simple coincidence that he was invited to this program today. Especially considering that the first one the program team contacted was the celebrity parent/s. What if Olivia actually made my participation in this episode a requirement for her to allow her child to appear in the program? If that was so, then he couldn’t help but think that there’s definitely a motive behind it.
It’s definitely not because of him though. The two of them didn’t have any kind of connection aside from having Ellis as an agent. So, it’s safe to say that Olivia’s purpose for doing this was Ellis.
Then, he suddenly remembered Livi’s full name, ‘Oliviel’. Wasn’t that just a blatant combining of hers and Ellis’ name? He didn’t think much of it when he first heard Livi’s full name. But after knowing what he knew now, wasn’t that just too obvious? That woman, Olivia, wasn’t even trying to hide it.
Astrid already had a hunch that Ellis’ relationship with Olivia went beyond a simple agent-artist relationship. At least that’s what he got from the conversation he heard between Ellis and Director Evans.
But now, didn’t he just find a definite proof of that?
He glanced at his agent. “Sister Ellis, could she be targeting you?”
Hearing that, Ellis knew that Astrid got a quick grasp of the situation. “Why do you think she wants to target me?”
Astrid shrugged. “Maybe because she wants to have an affair with you?”
Ellis almost choked on her own saliva because of that unexpected ‘attack’. She couldn’t help but glare at the teenager. “Do you know what you’re even saying?”
“Well, Sister Ellis can’t really blame me for thinking that.” Although Astrid said what he said earlier in a joking tone, he truly meant it. “Unless, Sister Ellis actually wronged Olivia Crane and now she’s planning to get back at you.”
“Hah! If there’s someone wronged here, then it’s me, not her,” Ellis couldn’t help but retort.
“Then, it could only mean that she wanted to rekindle the fire with you.”
Ellis seriously felt like she would have a headache because of all the nonsense Astrid was saying. That reason didn’t even cross her mind. After all, their separation was pretty... ugly. She doubted that Olivia would want to rekindle anything.
But then again, there was the name of the kid. Honestly, when she first heard it, she didn’t feel touched or even remotely flattered. It just felt... icky.
She shook her head. Thinking of the ‘why’ of that wouldn’t really help them right now.
Astrid, who saw Ellis shaking her head, thought that the other must have been denying what he said about Olivia wanting to have an affair. “Well, since Sister Ellis knew more about her, then you probably have a more solid idea on why she’s doing this.”
Silence filled the inside of the flying car.
A bitter smile appeared on Ellis’ face before she answered. “Honestly, I’m no longer sure if I ever truly knew the real her.”
Astrid could see that Ellis must have been pretty shaken because of this connection to the past that suddenly appeared before them. She must have really loved that Olivia.
“If you ask me, I think Sister Ellis dodge a bullet by not ending up with her,” he said. “Your separation was definitely a blessing in disguise. If not, then you probably would have never met me.”