Previously...
...
"Ralph? Haha.", Lisa laughed.
"Yeah. He saved me.", Ruby sounded extremely relieved and grateful.
Lisa could relate.
"Haha... Poor girl. Thank goodness. Maybe Ralph should be your bodyguard.", she remarked.
She thought about a similar debacle she had faced only yesterday when she was saved by her bodyguard.
She was about to tell Ruby, but then images of her and Theo stuck in the broom closet flooded her mind...
She decided against it.
'Wow, telling about that would be a major slip up.', she thought with pink cheeks.
"Yeah, maybe.", Ruby answered, not looking at Lisa's face. She looked down instead, blinking a dozen times in a minute and hiding away her own pink cheeks...
They each didn't notice each other's pink cheeks...
...
Ruby waved her pink cheeks away. She changed the topic.
"Hey, get this, Ralph works in the Human Resources Department at Platinum Entertainment! He sent me an ad for an internship there. Platinum is awesome! It's my dream to manage artists at a huge firm like that. This internship is all I need to learn. I plan to apply. If I get in, I might get to meet the almighty Vince Plat!", she said, ending on a high note.
Lisa shared her excitement.
"That's great news! I'm so happy for you!", she said, poking Ruby.
Ruby giggled.
"Oh yeah, and you know what else is great news?... Mom's shop is also booming.", she added cheerfully.
"Ha! Cool! From the deal with Platinum?", Ruby asked, rescuing her black hair from the chaotic wind.
"Not just that, you know my mom. She got me to take some pictures, blew them up into lifesize cardboard stands and put them at the shop with a huge sign that reads; 'Curseword's No. 1 Bakery! Also approved by Platinum Entertainment!!' Customers have been flooding in like crazy! Hahaha!", Lisa burst into a fit of laughter.
Ruby followed. She couldn't help it.
"What?! Hahaha!! I love your mom. She's perfect! Hahaha!!"
"Yeah, smart businesswoman. Haha..."
They laughed again.
...
Meanwhile, in the background, somewhere in the neighbouring shrubs, Steel lurked quietly.
He noticed a group of boys in the nearby garden talking about Lisa.
"Hey, isn't that Curseword?"
"Yeah. You're right!"
"That dragon guy isn't with her today."
"Yeah he was scary. Let's go get the photos we wanted."
"Yeah! Her autograph too!"
"And maybe we can get her number too... hehe..."
The large group headed for Lisa.
Suddenly, Steel jumped to action.
He shot tiny tranquillizer darts at them!
Prick! Prick! Prick!
"Ouch! Something just bit me!"
"Ouch! Me too... these buggss..."
"Ouch!"
"Ow!..."
Flop
They all flopped down to the grass one after the other and were soon sleeping peacefully.
...
...
The blissfully ignorant girls kept talking cheerfully. Ruby updated Lisa on the latest trendy gossip.
"Yeah, speaking of funny scenarios, did you see what happened to James yesterday? His brand new car got impounded for 6 months! Haha!"
"What?! How?!", Lisa couldn't help smiling.
"You didn't hear? Well, his car was impounded for parking in a VIP reserved parking lot. Haha! Serves him right!", Ruby gladly informed.
"Really? But he parked at the faculty car park.", Lisa remembered his display at the car park the previous morning.
"Yeah, but apparently, someone bought out the entire faculty car park for Curseword. For you! Girl!
"What? No way!", Lisa exclaimed.
"Yaasss ways Girl! It's true. Ask the school... I have a theory. Either Theo did it, or you've got a secret admirer!", Ruby pitched with actual stars in her eyes.
Lisa burst into another fit of laughter
"Honestly Ru, that sounds ridiculous..."
"Yes, ridiculously romantic, smoooch smoooch...", Ruby joked around, smooching the air to tease Lisa.
Lisa couldn't respond. She was choking on laughter.
"Oh yeah, someone recorded James' furious reaction and posted it on the school website haha! It's trending right now. Check it out.", Ruby played the trending video on the school website.
Lisa obviously got a kick out of it
"Haha! That was... haha... so satisfying to watch. Haha.", she managed to say between giggles and chuckles, cleaning a rogue tear of joy from her eye.
...
The girls gossiped away.
'It's strange. The fans haven't bothered me today...', Lisa thought to herself.
...
**************************
...
After School...
At Platinum Entertainment Headquarters
...
Lisa got into the elevator, headed for a meeting at Mr Vince's office.
She got out on the 99th floor and walked towards the luxurious door before her.
She opened it, only to find Kevin, the biggest star and renowned bad boy of Platinum Entertainment staring back at her from his luxurious lounge.
He sat at the far end of the cloudy lounge with two women on either side of him, a table packed with bottles of expensive wine and food before him, and a few friends around him.
He looked at Lisa with his cold, menacing red eyes. His jet black hair and jewelled piercings glimmered under the dim lighting. His tattoos accentuated his cool and dangerous look.
Lisa knew him well. His reputation preceded him. Kevin was trouble. He was the exact kind of hot Lisa knew to avoid.
He smirked at her.
"What do we have here?", he asked, getting off his seat.
He walked toward Lisa at the door with his hands in his pockets.
"Little girl... Are you lost?... I can help you find your way...", he said like the fox that ate up little red in the fairy tale.
He flashed another mischievous smirk.
Lisa rolled her eyes.
"Wrong room!", she said, slamming the door in his face.
She turned the opposite way, back to the elevator.
"Hmm... Feisty!.", Kevin remarked. His interest increased.
...
Lisa got back in the elevator.
"Huff... Safe!", she sighed with relief, glad to have escaped Kevin.
'Haish... I lost my way, only to bump into Kevin! Kevin!! The coolest, most notorious and biggest star of Platinum Entertainment. He's so influential, that even the administration has a tough time with him. He could be trouble. I hope he doesn't recognise me later.', she thought.
...
After a while, she found Mr Vince's office.
"Ahh! Lisa! Come in, come in. It's great to see you.", Vince warmly welcomed her.
Welcome to Platinum Headquarters! Trust me, you'll love it here...
Come Kevin, I have someone to introduce to you.", he called someone from the adjoining room.
'Kevin?', Lisa's ears tingled at the mention of the name.
To her utter dismay, Kevin appeared from the adjoining room. He walked into Vince's office with his dangerous stare and a ridiculous smirk pointed right at Lisa.
Her heart dropped.
Vince pleasantly introduced them.
"Lisa, this is Kevin. You must know him, don't you? He's a bit of a bad boy, but he's the pride of Platinum Entertainment. The best we have here. Kevin, this is Lisa, our latest star,-"
"Curseword.", Kevin mentioned, smiling brighter.
"Yes. Great. You know her. Lisa, you will work with him. As a senior, he will give you great tips that will get you started off. Your training starts immediately.", Vince added.
Lisa was stunned dumb.
'Oh boy! Do I have the worst luck!', she thought.
Kevin took her fingers like a gentleman with his ringed ones.
"It's a pleasure to meet you.", he said with a charming wink after placing a small kiss on the back of her palm.
"Likewise.", Lisa forced a smile.
"Vince, I have just decided to personally oversee her training.", he said.
Lisa's jaw dropped.
Mr Vince thought about it for a second.
"Hmm... that's rare. Fine. I see no problem with that. It'll help us whoop her into shape faster.", Vince agreed.
Lisa gulped.
"Uhh... Can I refuse?", she asked politely.
Vince took a long, suspicious look at Kevin.
"No, you can't. He's the best Lisa. But, if he gives you any trouble, come straight to me. I'll take care of him.", he said with an assuring smile.
...
After the meeting...
...
Lisa left Vince's office.
"Keep your eyes off her. Someone's already interested.", Vince advised Kevin knowingly.
Kevin scoffed.
"If by someone you mean yourself-"
"Not me... Leo.", Vince cut him off mid-speech.
"Oh?... Makes it all the more interesting.", Kevin replied with a dangerous smile.
...
*********************
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...
...
********** TKE Q&A **********
Surrealish: Welcome back folks to,
Crowd: T! K! E! Q&A Woooo!!! (Applause!!)
Surrealish: Yeah!! The crowd is lively tonight, and that's because we have a new character in the house!! Ladies and Gentlemen, please make welcome, Kevin!!!
Crowd: Woooo!!! (Applause!!)
Fangirls: We love you Kevin!!! (Screams!!)
Kevin: (Smirk) Thank you.
Surrealish: So Kevin, you just basically declared your interest in our FL, even after hearing Leo is interested.
Kevin: Yeah, She's a pretty little red-haired. Who wouldn't want that? And afterall, I don't see any ring on her finger.
Plus, I think everyone agrees, that we need some competition to spice things up (wink)
Crowd: Woooo!!! (Applause!!)
Surrealish: Haha! Wow, what makes you so confident you have a chance here Kevin?
Kevin: Well, Surrealish, even you can't deny. The good girls always want the bad boy (wink) (smirk)
Crowd: (goes wild and uncontrollable)
Surrealish: (Screaming) Oh wow! The room temperature just rose to 90 degrees and no one can hear me over these screaming girls! Haha!
Stay tuned to find out how this competition ends! (completely inaudible)
(Surrealish shouts above the noise): That's it for tonight! See you next time on uhh TKE Q&A!!!
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