Ashton:.....
I rest my head against the table and sigh. I haven't an ounce of strength in me. Why is she so aggressive? It's not like I don't want it but,... I can't even remember how many times she MADE ME do it. She did say that she hadn't been in a relationship for 7 whole years.. Is it because of that?
I'm about to close my eyes and sleep instead of revising the script when the door of the greenroom opens with a click. I turn my head around to see Leah standing there, smirking at me.
Ashton:..?
What does she-
Leah: I can already guess who got laid last night.
She gives out a throaty chuckle and I roll my eyes.
Ashton: You were supposed to get here before me.
Leah: And you were supposed to hit the gym in the morning.
How did she know? Hahh, I don't even care right now. If I tell that I was tired she'll tease me again.
Ashton: I forgot.
Leah: Oh? A little bird told me that you were tired.
Ashton:..!
How the hell did she figure it out?! She places a bottle containing some... questionable looking liquid in front of me. This thing looks like something straight out of Harley Potter..! And I don't mean it in a good way!
Leah: Anyway, drink up.
Ashton:... Is this sewage water?
Leah: What? No, it's my special smoothie.
Ashton:.....
Leah: Stop looking at it like that, it's not poison. It'll energize you up right away.
It doesn't look very... drinkable.
Ashton: What's in it?
Leah:... Some stuff. If you don't drink it, you'll doze off. The shooting starts at 11 so you don't have enough time to y'know, perk up by yourself.
Huh, I guess that's right. I silently pray for my safety as I take a sip of it.
Ashton:.... Blergh, it tastes horrible.
I stroke my poor throat. The last time I did this was... No, stop thinking about it!
Leah: Just be a good boy and drink it.
Ashton:...
She called me a what now? She rubs my back a little to soothe me and then goes off on her laptop on the mini couch. I don't like this but, she'll feel dejected if I don't finish it and I don't want to see her like that. Sometimes I really hate loving her.
I take a deep breath to brace myself and chug it down my throat..... Urk, what all did she put in it? It might've tasted awful but, I'm completely awake now. This stuff does work (but in a weird way), huh. I place the empty bottle back on the table and grab my script.
Okay, let's do this! Wait, the after taste isn't so bad; it tastes like apples and... kale. Ugh, she tricked into having that ugly, green thing again. I mentally sigh and continue revising my lines.
After a while, Leah shuts her laptop and stretches her limbs. She turns towards and smirks confidently.
Ashton: What is it?
Leah: I just fixed you up with a high-end clothing brand advertisement shoot AND an audition for the male lead in... Drumroll pleaseee... Leo Cappuccino's new movie!
Ashton: What?!
Leo Cappuccino as in the director who has won the Best Movie of the Year award for 4 years straight?! If I get selected, this could be a major boost for me!
Leah: The movie's name is 'The Revenge of Yours Truly' and it starts filming 5-6 months later.
Ashton: When's the audition?
Leah: 1 month from now, on Sunday. I'll email you the script by today evening.
Ashton: Okay.
Leah: I'll go clear up your schedule right away!
She opens her laptop again and starts typing on it vigorously. H-Hey, she's going to make those keys fly away if she continues to do that..! She looks even more excited than me. She might've started as my manager only to spy on me for my parents but, she's really getting the hang of it now.
A small smile spreads across my face as I watch her practically break her laptop. I'm about to get back to the booklet in my hand when the the clicking of her keyboard suddenly stops. Feeling that something's off, I look back at her to find her staring at the screen, frozen.
Ashton: What's wrong?
Leah: This... This is going to be a problem.
She replies still looking at her laptop and I begin to feel a little uneasy.
Ashton: What is it?
Leah: I just received an email from Mr. Cappuccino's secretary; it says that you're shortlisted for the second round based on your experience in the industry..
Ashton: What's wrong about that?
Leah: Let me finish! You remember how we were discussing that thing about most of his movies being based in exotic locations?
Ashton: Yeah...
I have bad feeling about this.
Leah: 'Turns out, if you earn the role, you'll have to be away for almost a year.
Ashton: Wh.. What?! A year?!
Leah: Well, it's 11 and a half months but you know what I mean.
It was fine when I was single but now, there's Kate. If it was a girlfriend, I would just dump her like always and leave but it's not just anyone, it's Kate and she's my wife. We have so much history together... I can't just leave her all alone just after we got married.
We didn't hold a ceremony, we didn't make the news public, I hesitated over even getting her a wedding ring and now, I'm just going to leave her behind for almost a year if I get the role.
I'm being a horrible husband to her. I can neither miss this opportunity nor can I just take it blindly and not care about the consequences.
Why did I agree to this marriage? I shouldn't have been swayed with her words so easily. I can't play the victim card here though; she made sacrifices too. Ugh, why is this so difficult?
Leah: You should discuss this with her.
Ashton: It can wait, I haven't been selected yet.
The truth is, I don't know how I should break this to her. One day into our arranged marriage and I'm already talking about moving away? That hardly seems fair.
Leah: Are you an idiot?! What if you get finalized, huh?! You're just going to bombard this on her head all of a sudden?! She'll have no choice then!
Ashton:.. I know that.
Leah: And yet you're acting this way?! Even if this is an arranged marriage, do you not care about her feelings even a little?! You're heartless!
Ashton:....
Heartless, huh. Why does that word not surprise me anymore? Maybe it's because I've broken countless hearts during my stay abroad. 'I hate you!', 'You have no heart!', 'How could you do this to me?'... These and other countless curses have been thrown at me by those women whose names I don't even remember.
I won't even defend myself at this moment. Ever since I left home 8 years ago, I haven't let anyone into my heart because I didn't want to be hurt again. I never cared about anyone's feelings towards me (except Leah because she's my closest cousin) either. Heh, I bet they all wished that I should rot in hell. Call me a terrible person, I don't even care about it anymore.
*Knock Knock*
A staff member knocks on the door.
Staff: We're ready for you, Mr. Beckett.
I exit the room leaving Leah behind who's trembling with anger. She hasn't never seen this side of me because I didn't let her; I didn't expect her to understand me anyway.
Things are not the same now though, whatever decision I make will affect us both; I'll talk to Kate when I get home today. Weird, I've never cared for anyone else's feelings when I need to make a choice... This time, something's holding me back from hurting her.
With the unknown feeling buried in my chest, I go about my schedule thinking of ways to break the news to her...