I whipped my head around in an instant, my eyes darting around as I searched for the source of the voice. I found myself staring into a pair of unfamiliar eyes and my brows were knitted together.
The woman looked around my age, maybe slightly older than I am, only by a couple of years though. She had long straight blonde hair which made her light blue eyes pop. She was clad in a long black semi-formal dress that accentuated her figure.
I turned to see that Xavier's eyes flashed with recognition and he immediately broke into a smile.
"Sarah?" Her name left his lips as his voice was laced with surprise. He stood up from his seat and their eyes met. He leaned forward to give her a friendly hug and I chided myself for feeling even an ounce of jealousy. I quickly shook the thought off my head. "It's been so long since I last saw you."
The woman smiled. "Indeed," she agreed. "I haven't seen you in ages, but you still look the same," she teased while I remained seated in my seat quietly, tapping my feet against the ground as feelings of awkwardness washed over me.
At this moment, he turned around and placed his hand to rest on my shoulder and I felt myself relaxed, my posture no longer stiff and rigid. "This is my wife, Aurelia," he introduced proudly with a smile etched on his face. Immediately, I looked up and stood up from my seat too.
I smiled. "Hi, Sarah, it's nice to meet you."
I extended my arm and she gave it a firm shake as she nodded her head lightly.
"Likewise," she said, returning the smile. She then turned to pat him on his back. "Well, it was nice seeing you, but I have to go. I have been really busy with this movie we are shooting. We should catch up again some time though," she suggested in a hurry before spinning on her heels to leave.
Just as she was about to step away, it suddenly clicked inside my head. It was as if all the puzzle pieces that were once scattered around the entire place now came together to form the perfect completed image. I found myself calling out to her on impulse.
"Sarah, wait!" The words rolled off the tip of my tongue before I knew it and I couldn't take back my words anymore. She snapped her head around to look at me and we locked eyes.
"Yeah?" She murmured under her breath as she raised her perfectly groomed brow at me and her eyes burned with anticipation. "What is it?"
"Just out of curiosity…" I drawled, my voice trailing off. "May I know what movie you are shooting now?"
"Oh!" I watched as a look of surprise crossed her face for a moment before her eyes lit up with excitement. I knew she was more than happy to share. "It's an action movie, it's called 'The Last Kill'. It is forecasted to premiere sometime at the end of this year."
My dark brown eyes twinkled with recognition. The Last Kill… That sounded awfully familiar. It was almost as if I had heard it or seen it somewhere before. Within the next second, realisation dawned upon me and the memories came rushing back into my mind.
"Aurelia?" I heard her call out to me, breaking me out of my little reverie and snapping me back to reality.
"My ex-husband…" I muttered under my breath and the image of the contract he threw onto my desk the other time when he came barging into my office popped into my mind. I remember now. I saw it on that piece of contract.
Xavier turned to look at me with a puzzled look etched onto his face. "What are you talking about, Aurelia?" He asked, his voice laced with a hint of confusion. "What does this have to do with him?"
"Blake is currently working on this film," I said more to myself as I came to this realisation while the two of them stared at me like I am some foreign object they have never seen in their life.
"Blake? Do you mean Blake Carson?" Sarah questioned and my eyes lit up as I quickly nodded.
"Yes, it's him!"
"He's your ex-husband? I remember him… " She muttered as she recalled. "We hired him recently as we needed an extra pair of hands to help us on set. Why, what is it?"
The corners of my lips curved upwards into a slight smile as I looked into her eyes.
"I know we have only just met, but… do you think you could do me a favour?"
"Um… what favour exactly?"
"I would like to speak to the movie director."
***
By some miracle and Sarah's excellent persuasion skills, maybe coupled with Xavier's influence in the business world, the director actually agreed to let us drop by the filming set for a visit.
I couldn't be happier. Finally, I am another step closer to taking my revenge on my ex-husband.
Soon, Xavier and I found ourselves on the set. Sarah had brought us in and our necks hung a lanyard attached with a card at the end, on it was printed the word "Visitor".
I let my eyes wander around, scanning the area and a soft gasp of awe left my lips. After all, this was my first time on a movie set, and it looked spectacular, seeing how detailed and massive these sets are right before my eyes.
Chatter and buzzing filled the air as people rushed around from place to place, barely even looking up from the ground as their brows were furrowed together in immense concentration.
I turned to look at Sarah with a smile etched onto my face. "This place looks amazing," I told her while Xavier agreed alongside me.
She smiled. "It does, doesn't it? Although I see it practically every single day, I could never get bored of it. All thanks to the crew that helped set them up, a lot of hard work went into building all these sets," she said as we both nodded in agreement. "Anyway, let me go look for Sam, he should be available to speak to you soon," she informed before walking off in a hurry, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor echoed in the space.
Just like she had promised, I now found myself sitting in one of the many rooms that were at the back of this massive set as Sam sat across from me. He had his own lounge area where he would rest and take a break et cetera.
"So…" he began in a deep voice. "Sarah told me you wanted to speak to me. So tell me, what do you want to talk to me about?" He questioned as he leaned back into his seat and folded his arms over his chest.
"It's about Blake," I answered truthfully and watched as he raised his brow at me.
"Blake?" His name left his lips without a hint of recognition. I could see the gears in his head shifting as he tried hard to think. "Who's that? He works here?"
I nodded. "He's a helper on the set, he was hired recently."
"Right… I don't know the names of everyone on set, definitely not the newly hired helper," he said as a low chuckle left his lips. "So, what about him?"
"Well, for starters… Blake is highly passionate about filming and movies in general," I began. "He is a very hard worker and he has helped to film and direct multiple short films in the past during his leisure time," I continued even though I could see that he was losing interest and he barely cared about what I was talking about.
"And?"
"His dream since young was to be a director or at the very least, to assist the director."
He let a deep chuckle escape his lips. "Many people would dream to be one, but not everyone could be one. It's not easy to become one, it's a dog eat dog world here," he warned.
"I know," I simply said as I straightened my back. "But I was hoping you could help him, or at least… give him a chance. I have the links of some short films he directed in the past, I could show them to you."
There was a brief pause as silence lapsed between us for what seemed like an eternity.
"Why are you doing this? Who is he to you?"
I needed to build him up for now, and then one day when he didn't see it coming, I would tear it all down. He couldn't lose much if he didn't have anything to begin with.
I forced my lips upwards into a slight smile. "He's my ex-husband," I answered truthfully.
"Your ex-husband? Why are you helping him?"
"Even though we have divorced, he was still the man I once loved. He doesn't need to know but I want to support his dreams and passion."
There was a knock on the door and it flew open.
"Mr Cole, here is your coffee," the familiar voice announced and I whipped my head around to come face to face with Blake. I watched as his face fell in an instant and he narrowed his eyes into thin slits. "What are you doing here?!"