“Ha!” scoffed Kathleen as her scarlet lips curled with cold derision.
Spencer frowned and asked, “Do you or do you not want to proceed?”
Astrid froze in response as she took in his question.
Spencer exclaimed angrily, “Get lost if you’re not continuing with the filming! I’m warning you, don’t bother with all these useless schemes when you’re in my film crew. I don’t buy a single one of them! I don’t care who you have backing you. I’ll personally shame you on the internet if you dare to create a situation where I can’t continue with the filming!”
Astrid’s face stiffened and was stony as she returned Spencer’s gaze. He was clearly different from the other directors she had worked with and certainly commanded significant influence within the entire film crew.
She bit her lip in thought as she recognized she hadn’t achieved her objective and thus had to find a way to prevent herself from being kicked out of the film crew. With that in mind, she didn’t dare to retaliate despite being reprimanded by Spencer at length. She cradled her face and grudgingly accepted that she had taken the slap for nothing.
Later that evening, the film crew had packed up for the day and were ready to leave. Kathleen strode out and immediately caught sight of Samuel.
Why is he here?
His tone was heavy as he said, “Get in the car. I have something extremely important to tell you.”
“I’ve promised Timothy that I would have dinner with him,” replied Kathleen as she gazed at him curiously.
Samuel frowned slightly in response to her sudden announcement.
At that point, Timothy strode over and asked, “Mr. Macari? What brings you here?”
Samuel coolly replied, “I heard that you were planning on treating Kathleen to a meal. Is that right, Mr. Currah?”
“That’s right,” replied Timothy readily with a nod. He continued, “The director told us to familiarize ourselves with one another, or we would only be awkward and distant in the scenes that we acted in together. That would then impact the overall effect that the film brings to people and its success.”
A stark coldness emanated from Samuel’s gaze as he asked, “You wouldn’t mind if I joined you for your meal tonight, would you?”
“Of course not,” replied Timothy, dumbfounded.
Kathleen’s brows furrowed as she frowned and looked at Samuel. He remarked coldly, “Since the goal is for the two of you to know each other better, I’m sure we can achieve the same outcome even with a third party present. It’s not as if you will be doing something else together.”
Kathleen was rendered utterly speechless by his comment. Timothy was a little taken aback as well.
“Come on. Get in the car,” instructed Samuel as he pulled Kathleen in along with him.
Kathleen frowned and asked, “What are you up to, Samuel?”
He shot her an icy cold look that was more than capable of freezing anything in its tracks but didn’t respond to her query. Instead, he merely put on his seatbelt. She glanced at him from the side and began, “You…”
“Seatbelt,” commanded Samuel irately.
Kathleen was frustrated but had no choice but to comply and put on her seatbelt. Samuel didn’t speak another word and proceeded to drive off. He followed closely behind Timothy as the latter led them toward the dinner venue he had previously arranged.
Timothy had made arrangements for their dinner. Furthermore, he had arranged for a stew for sharing. Kathleen absolutely loved having this kind of food for her meals.
It was clear that Timothy knew Kathleen very well. Even as she sat beside Samuel, she could feel the waves of displeasure cascading off him. However, she made up her mind and decided to ignore him. For the entire meal, she only focused her attention squarely on Timothy and engaged him in conversation.
Timothy picked up on the fact that Kathleen was giving Samuel the cold shoulder. Instead of helping the latter out, he conversely began to engage with Kathleen more enthusiastically.
Throughout the entire meal, Samuel had barely touched his fork, let alone pick it up. He was infuriated beyond measure at how things had developed but also knew that he didn’t have the right to be mad.
“I still remember your newcomer performance during your first year of university. Your performance was a contemporary dance that truly astounded the audience,” recalled Timothy fondly.
“What? You actually saw my performance?” asked Kathleen in surprise.
“Word spread around campus the very moment you reported on the first day of school. I mean, how could it not? They claimed that a peerless beauty had joined our faculty of performing arts, so everyone inevitably knew of you,” explained Timothy with a chuckle.
Kathleen was rather embarrassed and commented shyly, “To be fair, there were quite a few gorgeous ladies on campus.”
“Stop being humble already!” exclaimed Timothy with a laugh. Then, he added, “Back then, everyone knew for a fact that you would be famous eventually. After all, there were several directors who had already picked you out for parts in their productions. It’s just that no one expected you would stop coming to school once the mid-year break for your second year ended.”
Kathleen was momentarily dumbfounded. She thought back and realized that she had already gotten married to Samuel at that point in time. She sipped from her glass of water before she explained, “My family wanted me to maintain a low profile at the time. That’s why I ultimately didn’t pursue a career in acting.”
Timothy shot her a long and meaningful look as he said, “It’s a pity. You could have gotten famous much earlier.”
It was clearly being suggested that Samuel had held her back for several years and in doing so, had affected her career prospects. As he listened on, he reflected and realized he had never gone to visit Kathleen at school during her university days. He didn’t know what her university environment and experience were like either. He had only picked up from the occasional whisper here and there that she had been very well received.
Ah! Timothy’s saying all these on purpose!
After their meal, they headed out of their private room, and Timothy made his way to the counter to foot the bill. However, Samuel reacted faster and beat him to it. He pulled out his credit card and said, “Bill, please.”
The staff at the counter hesitated for a moment but finally accepted the card from Samuel.
“Didn’t we agree that I would be treating for this meal?” asked Timothy as he stared meaningfully at Samuel.
“Thank you for letting me hear so much about Kate and her university days. This is nothing more than my way of showing my appreciation to you,” replied Samuel coldly.
Kathleen glanced at him and couldn’t help but wonder why he was behaving so strangely.
Timothy smiled and said, “If that’s the case, I’ll take you up on your kind offer. Let me send you home, Kate.”
“Why are you sending her home? Do you want her to appear on the headlines the next day?” asked Samuel aggressively. He continued, “Don’t you know just how viciously and cruelly your fanbase will defame her online?”
“Mr. Macari, there’s nothing going on between Kate and me. We’re innocent,” stated Timothy simply.
“Do you think the fans out there would believe that?” demanded Samuel as he grabbed Kathleen’s wrist. He continued, “She doesn’t need you to send her home. Also, I feel that both of your acting skills are excellent. In view of that, there’s no need to improve your relationship off the stage any further. I’m sure you’ll perform well nevertheless.”
With that, he tugged at Kathleen and dragged her away.
Timothy’s eyes flashed dangerously for a moment as he took in Samuel’s words.
It seems like Samuel still has feelings for Kathleen.
Kathleen was dragged away from the restaurant by Samuel and back to his car. As she was infuriated, the second Samuel joined her in the vehicle, she exclaimed, “What are you doing, Samuel!”
He sat there sullenly before he replied in a low voice, “I won’t allow him to get close to you.”
“My affairs are completely none of your business! Who are you to intervene? I’m only colleagues with Timothy, do you understand? Samuel, even if we view each other as family, you’ve crossed the line this time,” fumed Kathleen.
Samuel swallowed hard but coolly kept his silence.
She adjusted her tone of voice and added, “Even if I have feelings for Timothy and want to become a couple with him, that’s also not something you can interfere with and control.”
Samuel’s face contorted into an utterly ugly expression as her words sank in. He realized that she could fall in love with anyone else but himself. To be fair, this was a fact he was long aware of, but he simply could not accept it. Even though he also knew he had no right to step in or make a judgment, he ultimately still couldn’t control his emotions.
He was afraid that someone would steal Kathleen away from him and that those men would be so gentle that they would win over Kathleen’s heart. Deep down, he was fully cognizant of just what kind of man she loved.
She pursed her lips for a moment before she stated, “It seems like you’ve yet to internalize our relationship, Samuel. I’ve said before that we won’t even have the chance of being friends if you continue to cross the line like this.”
His already paper-thin lips were now pressed together so firmly that they almost formed a single line. He finally spoke up and said, “I’m sorry.”
She didn’t comment any further and only lowered her eyes to stare at the floor for the rest of the journey. It didn’t take long before Samuel had driven her right to the Johnson residence’s doorstep.
As she released the clasp of the seatbelt, she decided to leave some parting words for him. “Samuel, I hope you head back and take some time to think things through. If you continue to overstep the boundaries and intrude into my life, I promise you that I’ll hide from you and avoid you forever.”
With that, she prepared to step out of the vehicle.
However, Samuel grabbed hold of her wrist and declared in a low voice, “I dropped by to find you for something legitimate. It’s some information on Astrid.”
He handed the packet of documents over and continued on with his coarse voice. “Take a look at what’s inside. If you have any questions or issues, feel free to call me.”
He knew that he couldn’t push her too much, or it would only achieve the opposite outcome. She was right when she had said that he needed to get used to the nature of their current relationship. At the end of the day, they were really just ordinary friends labeled as family.
