For almost half an hour, Nichole was locked in the toilet and no one noticed. Nichole even kicked the door repeatedly and made noises to let people know she was there.
Although it sounds impossible because the sound from inside the bathroom must not be heard from outside, Nichole tried. Nichole also prayed that Miley would realize she was missing.
Nichole knew that many people disliked her. But she didn't know that one of the haters was in this company itself, the safest place for Nichole right now.
Nichole had never thought of having enemies in the company. Everyone was very nice and they were also seniors. Nichole was the only newcomer.
But it turned out that Nichole misinterpreted their kindness. Nichole forgot that no one could really be trusted, even if it was a senior actress.
"Don't they suspect I'm not coming back soon to read the script?" This time, Nichole was tired of kicking the door. Her shoes were even scuffed. She sat for a while in the toilet and tried to think of the culprit who locked her in here.
Because she rarely met fellow actresses or actors, it was hard for Nichole to remember their voices. Especially since she had only met a few times.
But Nichole remembered one voice that was a bit heavy like the voice of the woman who yelled at her earlier. There is one person that Nichole remembers very well. That woman gave Nichole coffee without sugar on the first day Nichole arrived at the company.
After a long wait, Nichole finally heard a rumbling sound from outside. Then the sound of approaching shoe steps.
"Is it that woman?" Nichole immediately stood up on alert. "I should be able to anticipate if she does something." So Nichole took off her two high heels and held them tightly as weapons.
On the count of three, the door opened. But it wasn't a woman that Nichole met, it was Nathan.
Nathan stood in front of Nichole with an angry and worried expression. Next to Nathan was Miley who immediately hugged Nichole.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry I didn't quickly notice that you weren't in the room," Miley said regretfully.
"I'm fine. Someone locked me in here on purpose. I don't know who it is, but I can recognize her voice," Nichole replied. She whispered to Miley. "The senior actress from that time welcomed me."
"She's really outrageous," Miley said vehemently.
"Can you take off your high heels?" asked Nathan.
Nichole realized she had been lifting her high heels into the air. "Thank you Sir for saving me."
"You're welcome. We're going to find out who did this to you," Nathan said firmly.
"I suspect this has something to do with our rumors on the news."
"Let's talk in my office." Nathan walked away.
At his young age and single status, Nathan was the center of attention of the actresses in the company. They all tried to get his attention. It was not uncommon to deliberately offer Nathan to spend the night, but Nathan firmly refused. The actress would be threatened by Nathan to be removed from the company list if she continued to do so.
Despite being in showbiz for a long time, Nathan was not interested in having a relationship with an actress.
"Look at that strapping back, Nichole. He was so worried when you went missing. And he ran over here," Miley said while looking at Nathan's retreating back.
"Obviously he was worried, his company's assets disappeared suddenly," Nichole replied.
Nichole's answer was realistic. Nichole also didn't want to overreact to Nathan's help.
"But there was a security guard he can send here. But he intervened directly." Miley was still teasing Nichole.
"Never mind, I wouldn't consider it anything special. It's just coworker concern." Nichole hurried to Nathan's room to discuss. This was a good opportunity to put this rumor to rest. Nichole could restore her reputation immediately.
When Nichole arrived at Nathan's office, the legal and IT staff were still there. They were working hard.
"Miley, buy them coffee and food. You get some food too." Nichole handed her ATM card to Miley.
"Thank you Nichole. What do you want to eat?"
"No need, I'll eat after all this mess is over."
Nichole opened the private room, where Nathan was sitting. "Are you starting to think this is getting serious?"
"Sit down first, Nichole."
Nichole pulled up a chair in front of Nathan's desk. "Due to a rumor that wasn't resolved in time, someone is trying to harm me. Maybe for now she's locked me in the toilet. But we don't know what else she'll do because she hates me."
One of the IT staff entered and handed Nathan a laptop. The laptop contained CCTV footage of the actress room.
"We've found the culprit." Nathan showed the CCTV footage to Nichole.
A senior actress who matched Nichole's suspicion entered the toilet not long after Nichole entered. It was really beyond Nichole's prediction at first. Someone who behaves well in the beginning does not necessarily have sincere intentions.
"What are you going to do? She's a senior actress," Nichole said.
"Her contract will terminate. I'm not renewing it."
"Then what else are you going to do to save your actress from the rumors on the internet? I don't think withdrawing the news and compromising is enough."
"What do you suggest? I'll listen to it."
Nichole took a deep breath. "Let's clarify in person. Invite the media or if that's too difficult, just do a live broadcast in this company. Let the team of media organize it."
"You already know that I've never done that," Nathan argued.
"Then do it first for the sake of your company's image. By always avoiding clarification, public speculation about you and your company will get worse. That's why clarify for the first time."
Actually, Nichole was also trembling when she said this. But she tried to be brave so that this problem would not escalate. Nichole didn't know what the people who hated her could do out there.
"I've never appeared in the media directly." Nathan's answer made Nichole quite surprised. But Nichole tried to remember again, it was true that Nathan had never appeared in the media even though he was the CEO of a large entertainment company in New York.
"My decision still remains the same. I am not going to clarify in person."
The anger Nichole was holding back had reached its peak. She stood up and placed both hands on Nathan's desk as she gave her boss a sharp look. "You need to take responsibility for your actress' peace of mind. Don't make that excuse so you don't have to take responsibility. I have a long career ahead of me, even if I'm not in this company anymore."
"What do you mean, you want to quit?"
"That's not it! That's just a term. I mean, just do this clarification once. For me, Nichole Anderson. If you really don't care about your company. Please care about my career."