Shuffle Playlist: Gimme Love by Sia
Sabrina looked around and smiled when she locked eyes with a few people in the industry. When the award show was over, she went to take a few pictures with the media and did a quick interview before looking for Tia.
Tia was busy making connections with the industry people. As Sabrina's manager, she had always left no stone unturned in making friends and creating opportunities with people so that Sabrina could get work from them.
Tia was good at what she did. She was a beauty with brains. She and Sabrina grew up in the same community and attended the same elementary school right to high school. They were best friends who knew each other and could tell the other's feelings without the need to say it out.
Sabrina waved at Tia when she saw her in the midst of the directors. Tia beckoned with her eyes for Sabrina to go over and she did.
"Sabrina, whoa! You look so beautiful tonight." One of the directors working under Sky Records said and attempted to put his hand over Sabrina's shoulder but she swiftly stepped to Tia's side.
"Thank you, Director Ben." Sabrina replied. Behind her, the CEO of Tyme Magazine was having a chat with a group of producers. He noticed what Sabrina did but didn't give it much attention as he began to chat with the producers.
"Director Ben, I really enjoyed your movie. Sabrina and I went to the theatre to watch it. We had a lot of fun." Tia noticed the change in Director Ben's face and decided to butter up to him.
"Really? Sabrina went to watch my movie?" Director Ben asked elatedly.
"Of course, I did. The movie was impressive and educative." Sabrina replied.
"Right, honorable directors, Greta Gigwet invited Sabrina to her afterparty. Look at me? I am now just remembering it. We are running late. We will leave here, but I will personally visit you for a chat." Tia said professionally.
"Directors, it was nice meeting you." Sabrina added before turning to leave with Tia.
"Smile!" Tia reminded Sabrina as they walked away.
"I won't waste my smile on this bunch of trash." Sabrina replied angrily. As she walked away, she passed by Vincent Maraj, the CEO of Tyme Magazine. He turned and looked at her subtly before looking away.
"Rubbish! These old geezers really think they can openly make sexual advances at women without fearing being aired out." Sabrina continued to vent out as she changed inside the van while Tia sat at the driver's seat.
"Alright! You avoided him swiftly. Don't let him spoil your night." Tia said.
"Darling, I was being polite because of you. I don't want to make your work difficult. I swear if I were alone with that trash, I would have put him where he belonged. A trash bin."
Tia chuckled. "Thank you for thinking of me and not acting out. I am proud of you, dear." Tia started the car.
"15 minutes. That's how much time I am spending at Greta's party. I am only going because you insisted. Everyone knows that woman is a lesbian. I don't want to be in the same space with her because she is clearly interested in me."
"15 minutes is too little. Make it 30 minutes. 30 minutes, I can make up something for us to leave after that." Tia said.
"Are you kidding me? Darling, I have a busy schedule tomorrow. I need to sleep early."
"You call grave hunting a busy schedule?" Tia cocked her brows.
"It is important to me." Sabrina looked at her left wrist. There was a mysterious timer on her wrist, dated for an unknown time range. It was reading.
"Stop looking at your wrist!" Tia shouted.
"You startled me. How can I stop looking at something that is about my life?" Sabrina asked back.
"I found a tarot reader. We will go there tomorrow. I am not giving up on you, Sab." There was obvious sadness in Tia's voice.
"Whatever! Wake me up when we get to Greta's." Sabrina closed her eyes and relaxed on the seat.
Tia pulled over at the car park and turned to wake Sabrina up. She tapped Sabrina gently and the latter opened her eyes.
"Are we here already?" Sabrina asked. She looked exhausted.
"Mm! You must be tired? You haven't had a decent rest these past few months due to the recording of the documentary and you had to attend the award show and now this party. Am I overworking you?" Tia asked.
"Isn't this the world of entertainment. But if you are feeling pity for overworking me, why don't you give me a break?" Sabrina got out of the van with Tia as she asked.
"I will cancel a few appointments so that you can get some rest. After all, we're in December. We can take this festive season to rest and make plans for next year."" Tia locked the van and walked in with Sabrina.
Sabrina sighed when she entered and saw the many invited guests. Most of which were people in the industry and corporate bodies. She and Tia saw Miss. Greta entertaining some guests and decided to go over. The latter equally saw them and excused herself to go and meet them.
"Sabrina, darling. You are finally here. Look at you, ever so beautiful and elegant as usual." Miss Greta said as she hugged Sabrina.
"Thank you, Miss Greta. I must say this is a lively party you have here." Sabrina replied.
"Yes, I just organized this party so that everyone can relax. Come with me, let me introduce you to a few people." Miss Greta held Sabrina's hand and Sabrina gave Tia an uncomfortable gaze before walking away.
Tia looked around and saw a few industry people that she was familiar with and walked over to greet them.
Sabrina hated being treated like a delicate flower that was meant for only display. That was exactly how she felt, following Miss Greta around as she was introduced to the corporate bodies present.
She knew firsthand how the industry worked. It was filled with freaks and creepy old men who took advantage of women. Gay men who thought they had the right to discuss a woman's body just because they identify with a particular belief.
Of course, she didn't hate homosexuals. She has a couple of friends in the industry that were homosexuals and she related very well with them, but what she hated was the men and women who behaved gently outside but were total creeps and groupies on the inside. These type of men and women took advantage of artistes and make them do their bidding for petty gigs.
Greta was a woman in her late forties. She had divorced her partner over alleged physical abuse but that was a topic for another day. Miss Greta was protected in the industry by the corporate giants. She brought in a lot of money from her works, so it wasn't easy to go against her.
But Sabrina had always maintained a distance with her. She was neither too polite not too rude towards her, hence she was able to keep away from being a puppet in the industry.
Sabrina maintained a professional smile as she chatted with the directors, and producers that she was being introduced to.
"I have always admired Sabrina, but we have never gotten to work together. I'm working on an adaptation series and you quite fit the main female lead character." Director Alfonso said, drawing Sabrina's attention to himself when he found her pacing out.
Sabrina hadn't seen Tia for a moment now and was casting her eyes around to find her when Director Alfonso spoke. She turned to him with a smile. ""It will be an absolute pleasure to be considered to voice for Director Alfonso's adaptation. I've been a fan of your films since I first broke into dubbing."
"Then, why don't you leave your number with me? We can meet for lunch some time and discuss the details." Director Alfonso thought he was sleek. He used work to get Sabrina's number.
"That's fine by me. My number is 00800*****." Sabrina gave Director Alfonso her business line which was also the phone that Tia used for work purposes.
"I've saved it. I will contact you very soon…" Director Alfonso smirked and tried to touch Sabrina but Tia arrived at that moment and stood between him and Sabrina.
"Dear directors, Sabrina has an emergency and needs to get going.'' Tia said politely even though she wanted to punch Director Alfonso in the face.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go." Sabrina played along and acted sad.
"No worries, you can go. I will give you a call very soon." Director Alfonso winked at Sabrina.
"Gosh, I really want to punch that man in the face and damp his face into a pill of shit." Tia cracked her knuckles as she spoke while walking away with Sabrina.
"Hold it in! I want to do worse than that to him but I'm holding it in. Have you seen Greta?" Sabrina asked.
"She is at the back chatting with some guests. I already spoke to her. Let's go!" Tia replied. As they walked out, they met Bianca and Mimi at the entrance.
"Look who we have here? Our best voice actress, Sabrina Van." Bianca said sarcastically.
"I believe the party has just started. Are you leaving already?" Mimi asked Sabrina.