Shutting the door of her room, Lilian giddily jumped to the bed. 

Though disheartened because of earlier, she didn’t let it ruin her whole day and resolved to forget it all.

She propped her body using her elbows and opened her messaging app to chat with Sophie and Adrian.

[Lilian: Hey, what are both of you up to?] 

After transferring to another manager, this group chat of theirs had become silent for the most part.

Now that she was here, she couldn’t hang out with them for a long while. 

She missed them. Lilian waited for them to message her, but it was empty. In the end, Lilian was left disappointed.

Ten minutes went before someone replied to her. 

[Adrian: Sup, Lily. I’ve been doing some photoshoots lately. How’s your new manager? Tell me if he’s being an ass. I’ll beat him up for you. ᕙ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ]

Adrian’s reply made Lilian giggle. 

[Lilian: Alex is actually nice. By the way, I got a new project! Too bad I can’t confide in you the specifics, but I’m really grateful for this opportunity. (´∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩`) ]

She has no one to share such good news except for her friends. Though bound by contract, her desire to express her ardor to those close to her was unstoppable.

[Lilian: Where’s Sophie?]

Apart from Adrian, she was genuinely excited to disclose this to Sophie. 

It took a few minutes before a reply showed up.

[Adrian: She has also been busy these past few days. But I’ll tell her you said hi.]

Lilian was about to type back when another notification broke through her phone.

[Adrian: I gotta go. Someone’s already calling me. See you soon, Lily. And congrats on your new project!]

Just as it started, their communication was cut off.

Lilian stared at her phone for a couple of seconds before sighing and putting it on the bedside table. 

She laid on her chest and gradually, sleep came closing in. Her eyelids became heavy until steady breaths were the only sound that was heard in the room. 

***

Inside the building of Big Star Entertainment, Adrian looked up from his phone. There, he saw Sophie scrolling through her Instagram. 

Sophie could recognize this intense stare boring down her. She welcomed Adrian with her impassive look. One was trying to read the other’s expression while the second pair of eyes was apathetic.

A two seconds passed, and they returned to minding their own business. 

***

The sun was starting to make its exit when a knock interrupted Lilian’s deep slumber. The noise startled her awake, and she fumbled to open the door. 

Lilian was greeted by the dressed up Maine. 

Maine’s lips twitched when she was met with the drowsy state of Lilian. Heh.

Upon seeing her, Lilian’s mouth slowly shaped into an “O”. Her eyes widened slightly. 

Without waiting for her to verbalize her thoughts, Maine pushed Lilian into the room. “Come on, you shouldn’t be late for today’s dinner.”

Maine then went in and rummaged through Lilian’s closet.

At the same time, Lilian ran to the bathroom to wash her face. This snot-filled face shouldn’t be people’s first impression of her!

Thirty minutes flew by in a rush.

Lilian stepped out of her room wearing a white culottes with vertical stripes and an elbow-sleeve crew neck sweater. She matched this with a pair of gorgeous white low heel sandals. Her hair was breezily swaying as she walked.

This casual outfit made Lilian look taller and thinner. 

Behind her, Maine was closing the door. She took one last inspection of Lilian. 

Once satisfied, she nodded her head and said, “Alex said that they’ll be waiting in the lobby. We’ll enter the restaurant together.”

Lilian took a deep breath, calming her nerves. Can’t mess this up.

“Let’s go.”

She stepped into the carpeted corridor of the hotel.

The lobby was expansive. Adjacent to the reception were the neutral tone sofas; carved on the walls were wave sandstorm patterns. To illuminate the beauty of the interior, wall sconces and recessed cans decorated the top and side of the room. 

Walking out of the elevator, two figures caught the eye of Lilian. 

The woman, who had the same hairstyle as her, was about 5’10” and the man was bordering 6’3". Their amber and cerulean pupils, respectively, glowed with confidence. 

Their perfect facial structure earned them a glance from every single person present.

Their proportions were superb. The lady’s slim waist and the man’s broad shoulders were prominent from far away. 

The lady looked at the man and gave him a captivating smile. When she heard the elevator ring, she immediately diverted her attention to it.