In the meantime, in the hospital, Agent Wander was observing the changes in his notorious artist.
"Are you sure you want to withdraw the show?"
"Yup!"
"So… I can release the statement…. Of your withdrawal?"
"Yup!"
Maevie popped the 'p' with a prominent and playful 'pa' sound.
When Wander had come to visit her this noon, after dealing with all her messy ends, the first thing she did after greeting him was thank him for his hard work. He had to physically walk up to the window to see if there were two suns in the sky to check if he was still in his dream land. Then he heard Maevie thank Nora for passing her the fruits.
'Is she acting or has she really changed?'
He had to take Nora to an isolated place to ask her what was going on.
"She had been like this ever since she got up. She's happy for even a little thing."
It was like a happy virus had infected her when she was hit by the car. Or maybe what Nora had suspected before was right. There was a problem with her nervous system. To make her feel happy all the time, a nerve of her brain must've been hit in the accident.
Maevie was indeed very happy.
She came back to her real world. She doesn't have to sit in the old white class, being taught by a ridiculously blue bunny. She did not have to pretend to be someone else.
And most of all… she now had a chance. A second chance to her life.
A second chance to mend all her bonds.
But then, she remembered something… Someone…
'And to give up some.'
And Wander seemed to sharing the same thought as his artist.
"Aren't you going to case after your crush anymore?" Wander asked.
It was no secret that Maevie Oz had a long and deep crush on Luther Zeev Greyson. And that she had entered the talent show just for that reason. To chase for his love.
"You don't need to worry about that…." Maevie breathed out. "Not anymore…"
"…"
"…"
Both Wander and Nora wanted to ask what she meant by those words. But neither had the courage to open their mouth.
As if to divert their thoughts from the topic, Maevie asked Wander if she had any upcoming works.
"Since you previously planned to stay in the show, I had cleared up schedule for the whole month. So… No. You don't have any now…"
Maevie nodded. It was perfect. In this whole month, she could recover and plan out her future steps. And maybe mend the fragile bonds with her family.
Just when she was thinking of that, a knock came from the door. Nora opened the door and froze again like she did the day before. A pair of similarly looking men, yet emitting such contradicting vibes, was standing at the door.
She immediately recognized one. Mr. Llyod James Cacia, the President of Sirus Entertainment which was the company she was working under. Then she looked at the man who looked similar to her big boss, yet looked so different at the same time.
'He must be the twin.'
It was the first time for Nora to see Abel.
'He's so different.'
Indeed. Although Llyod and Abel were in the same womb in the same time, they had contradictory aesthetic and taste in many things.
Llyod gave of the vibe of a gentleman who is very attentive and caring. While Abel looked like he could throw a man off the building if he got irritated.
The assistant could only step aside and let the two bosses enter the room.
Seeing her two brothers, Maevie was pleasantly surprised. She had never even imagined that the twin would come to visit her. At least not after the party incident. The two were very angry at her.
"Second brother… Third Brother…"
"Hi…"
"Hello…"
Nora looked at the only other person she was close to besides Maevie. Wander. And she could also see the man giving her the same look she was giving him.
'Awkward'
The three were clearly not at ease to even have a normal greeting.
"This…"
Llyod placed the box he was carrying on the bed stand.
"The heard the doctor said there was no dietary restriction so I brought this."
Maevie open the box and there was a pair of cute looking pie. She could tell without having a bite that they were lemon pie. Her favorite.
She felt her eyes begin to sting… So she had to control her breath as she convey her thanks.
"Thank you. Second Brother. Third Brother."
"Hmm…"
Llyod nodded. But Abel did not utter a word. All he did was kept his eyes on the little figure on the bed.
The scene of the man approaching her in the club and the car being hit kept on flashing in front of his eyes. Seeing that there was barely a scratch on her face…
'God bless the fools.' He could not help thinking as such.
"How… How do you feel?"
It was foreign for Llyod to show his caring side to Maevie. And the later was also feeing the same.
"I'm doing great. I did not get hit… heavy…"
Maevie's broken sentence showed the awkwardness she felt. And she herself knew of this. So, she did the cover up.
"There is only muscle pain. In fact, I don't even feel the need to be hospitalized. Its just that Big Brother said to do a complete check and was not ready to discharge me. But. I've talked to the doctor this morning. He told me that I could get discharged tomorrow."
She had said so much in a short breath of time. But her listener only gave a short reply.
"That's great…"
"…"
Silence made the air in the room so thick. So much that Nora felt that she could cut chunks of it with a knife. So much that she felt the need to escape the room.
And so, she did. Along with her other companion. Wander Son. The two escaped the awkward heavy conversation that seemed to have crickets croaking at every pause.
Escape the Awkwardness.