Chapter 5
The cameras flashed along with the loud and indistinct voices of the media pressing questions on Kevin as the man from the top media company walked away from them, going in the opposite direction with a smirk that faded quickly into a stoic face. He then disappeared from the crowd as soon as the chaos unfolded, even more, so that the security could barely contain everyone anymore.
On the other hand, Bethany only watched the reporter as he walked away before being tapped and pulled into reality by her friend Amy.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know either,” Amy said to her, her voice forced to get loud, and she already looked like screaming in her ear. “But we have to Kevin, he looks like he needed us to be there and find ways to control the situation that that reporter just did.”
“All right,” she answered and disappeared from backstage going to the board room, where Kevin was already there together with a person that was slightly plump and had rectangular glasses. His skin was also a little tanned, but his posture and the way of talking seemed to be serious.
The said man was talking to the troubled Kevin. Bethany and Amy stepped inside the room and overheard their conversation as they pull out a nearby chair, listening to them.
“We tried to keep it a secret from them, about your past,” the man with the glasses said to Kevin. “But it seems like the top media is not fooling around, even wanting to bring you down together with the company.”
Kevin did not respond and only had his hands covering his face. The man talking to him continued to talk until he got frustrated too, with the two of them only listening to him.
“This is frustrating, we are not even the top company, so why do they want to bring us down?”
“Excuse me,” Bethany held her hand up, catching the attention of the man, and looked at him with a fierce expression. She was taken aback but swallowed the lump in her throat and asked her question anyway. “What do you mean by what you said earlier, the past of Kevin?”
The man looked at Kevin who also looked at him. He shrugged his shoulders and motioned his hand to the man. “Would you like to explain to them what happened to you, back then? It seems that the cat is already out of the bag.”
Kevin chuckled, then turned to Bethany, sincerely looking at her with worry. His hands moved away from his face and deeply breathed before speaking his words.
“What was asked of me earlier was true, I was supposed to be debuting with a group years ago after training so hard. But I was kicked out since I displayed… inappropriate display of behavior.”
“Inappropriate? Like being rude to your members?”
“Yes, that one,” he snapped his fingers and resumed to speak. “It was at that time when everyone was starting to get their own limelight while I got being shelved just because I did not get to participate in such a debut. I pitied myself and got angry and started to treat them in a rude manner.”
Everyone was quiet and only waited for him to continue.
“At first, it was only small things, like ignoring them and acting as if I cannot follow what they are talking about. That distance then grew larger until I don’t know who I am anymore, and I don’t know them.
It came such a time that I found myself carrying my things and walking away from the very group that I was supposed to get into and tried my best to hide my true identity. But it seems that not every secret is going to stay hidden.”
“And that moment of rage and frustration of yours had this moment as a fruit,” the man said to him. Bethany flashed him a side glance, looking like he was insulting Kevin for what he had done at that time.
“But I am not judging on what you should have done at that time, Kevin,” the man said as if he read what was in Bethany’s mind. “For now, we should deal with the pesky media trying to pry into your life and will twist your words for something that can sell their news and so-called information.”
Kevin nodded, agreeing with what one of his assistants was saying to him. “All right, I guess we should do that. Thanks, Lee.”
He bowed down and started to walk away. When he was shifting his sights toward the exit, his eyes landed on Amy, staring at him. The two of them shared a brief glance at each other and quickly looked away, not even knowing who they were besides their names.
The room became quiet until Kevin started to tap his fingers lightly at the edge of the table, the chaos got him good, and his secret is now spilled. Bethany tried to talk him through it, in her mind thinking that this was a duty for her as his secretary.
“This is a rough start to your first day as the big boss.”
Kevin answered with a chuckle, shaking his head. “Yes, it is. The entertainment industry really is a big animal and relentless as long as someone can supply the entertaining part to them.”
“Do you… need me on something I need to do as your secretary?”
Amy flashed a look at her, slightly furrowing her eyebrows and kicking her by the leg. Bethany winced a little and turned in her direction, lightly biting her lip. As a response, she heard a light laughter from Kevin.
“Don’t mind me,” he assured her, waving his hand to her. “Just do your thing as my secretary. Have you already adjusted my schedule for the day?”
Bethany silently gave him the tablet and he browsed the device, looking over the sets of different schedules. Kevin could not help himself but had his eyes widen for a second.
“Now, that is a lot of tasks that can help me to take my mind off some things earlier.”
“Yeah, that is a lot indeed,” Bethany replied with a chuckle. “If you ever need anything –”
The conversation was cut short when the door came open and there was Gwen rushing inside and towards Kevin, giving him a hug and checking if he was all right. Bethany was only watching the scene until she felt a tugging on her arm. She turned around and there was Amy, looking at her and looked with slight annoyance at the woman clinging on Kevin.
She mouthed her the words “let’s go” and she followed it, standing up.
“I think we should go now,” Bethany said to him and looked at Gwen for a second, bowing her head and pretending that she never said anything earlier. “Just call me whenever you need my help on something on your work.”
“All right then,” Kevin said with a sincere smile. “Thank you for sticking with me earlier.”
They exchanged smiles and followed Amy outside. The friend was shaking her head and put two of her fingers at either side of her hands, still processing what she saw earlier with Kevin and Gwen.
“That was annoying,” Amy commented, pointing inside of the hall where they left. “That woman. You are right, she might be one of my favorites as a fellow worker. I prefer not seeing her again.”
“You are lucky then that you are in a different department and a different workstation compared to mine,” she replied with a chuckle in her face. They walked and she felt that her friend shifted her mood and nudged at her with a teasing expression.
“What about you, earlier? What were those words that you said to Kevin?” Amy snapped her fingers and pretended to remember until she repeated the words uttered by Bethany earlier in the room. “If you ever need anything…”
She trailed off, so is Bethany, waiting for her to continue what she was saying.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Beats me, what are you trying to say?” Amy emphasized the word you, which Bethany felt and immediately regretted even saying those words, trying to console her new boss earlier.
She turned silent the whole time until her friend resumed her talk, already giving her a piece of advice before she could even ask what she would want her to say earlier.
“I am just saying this to you as a friend, as your concerned friend, Bethany Waters,” Amy pointed at her shoulder lightly, serious in her tone and the words coming out from her mouth unfiltered.
Brutal honesty, the way their friendship was born.
“I know that you liked him when we were young, but you have to remember that the times before and now are different. Both of you are adults now, and the way you knew him is not the same as before. All right?”
“What are these for, Amy? Of course, I know that thing, I was just helping him out as her secretary… and a former friend of his.”
“Is it, really?” Amy retorted with suspicion. “Because the way I saw it earlier, you seemed to have a small amount of feelings left for him. Forget it, that was the Bethany before.”
Bethany was silent all throughout, but she appreciated the friend’s words. She then remembered the amount of work she has to put through into the person she is today. She is not going to risk herself for someone from her past, trying to have their story continued.
It took them a few more minutes and a few more floors to pass by before they decided to split and have their work done for the day.
“I am just saving you from another heartbreak, all right?” Amy said to her gently before they parted ways and continued on with their day.
“And that is all, thank you for your hard work recording the song!” The producer said on the other side and four men went outside of the studio, bidding goodbye and finally to their room, eagerly waiting for their song on how it came out.
A man was browsing senselessly on his social media and was surprised by the headline, fixed his posture, and called the other members.
“Whoa, would you look at that, it is Kevin,” one of the members, James, pointed out. “Who would have thought that he was a CEO now? I would have liked it if he came with us and stayed.”
Another member, Jamie, chuckled at his statement. “Do you even remember what he did to us back then before getting kicked out?”
“I am sure he has his reasons, all right,” James replied to him, standing by their former member. “But, enough for that now, what does it say there, Lucas?”
The man holding the phone, Lucas, read the article, and all of them were left in shock.
“What is a top news company going to do with a lower one? Are they planning to put ENT six feet under?”
“Maybe,” another of their members, Silva, agreed with what James said. “But let’s not hope to have another entertainment company fail in their most-awaited spotlight. We know what almost happened to us.”
“Agreed with that,” James snapped his fingers and stood up, dusting his backside from the couch. “I suppose I should give an old friend a call before sleeping tonight.”