"I've heard that Maevie has signed a contract with the show."
And he was right. It was a short moment. But for a second, Luther paused.
But he cleared his mind in a blink of an eye. Victor could not see any difference in his face. The only reaction he got was,
"Oh."
"…"
The agent paused.
"Oh? That it. That's all you have to say to it?" He exclaimed. A hint of frustration in his voice.
Luther looked up and stared into the eyes of the agent and with a lazy voice, he reasoned,
"What else do you want me to say?"
"…"
Truth be told, Victor himself was not sure what kind of reaction he wanted from Luther. But he was expecting for something more than just a single syllable sound of disinterest when hearing that the girl who had been restlessly chasing after him and had never given up after being rejected for more than a dozen times go to a dating show.
"I don't know." Victor was honest. "But something more than just an Oh."
Luther turned back to his book once again. But his agent was not done with the topic.
"Hey!" He tapped the table. "Do you really not care that she's going to a dating show?"
Luther flipped another page as he replied,
"Is there any reason for me to care about where she goes and what she does? Why? Do you want me too?"
"No… It just… You seemed to care so much when she got into the accident…" Victor argued.
"As I said before. It was natural for me to be concern when someone whom I had known for almost half of my life gets into an accident. There is no need for you to read too much into it."
"For real? You don't care that she's going to that show?"
"Uh Huh"
"Well... What was I expecting!" Victor thought out loud.
He looked at the ever undisturbed man who was reading the gruesome information of the murder case as if he was reading the inner peace sutras. The agent could only click his tongue before he went away to get a drink for himself.
It was only when his figure disappeared from the room that Luther slowly closed the book. He leaned against the back rest of the couch and took a deep breath.
He did not know what kind of reaction Victor was hoping to see from him. But all he felt at this moment could only be described by one would. Liberation.
Ever since he could think by himself, Luther's life had very little problems. In fact, his life had always been smooth. But ever since he met Maevie, who was only nine-year-old at that time, he had seemed to bounded by an unbreakable spell.
'I'm gonna marry you when I get older.'
Luther still remembered her declaration. At that time, he only thought that the little girl was bold. He only smiled and joked that he would wait for her to grow up.
Tyler, who was standing besides him, as soon as he said that, gave him a waring. Saying that he would regret saying that.
Oh! How true he was!
Luther had never regretted anything more in his life than sprouting those words. Even as he was about to hit his thirty, he wanted to smack his 17-year-old self for making such joke.
Maevie was not like anyone he had met. She was willful and did not care about how other would feel about her actions. At first, he thought that her damn care nature was refreshing.
She was bold, even as a child. Not shy to show her love for him. Even went against her 'rival' who was almost twice as old as her.
Luther would not lie. He did enjoy the attention and the affection he got from the young Maevie. But he only considered it as a pre-teen phase of the girl. And that she would grow out it.
Oh! How wrong he was!
The phase never ended. In fact, it had gotten even worse.
As time goes on, Luther was aware that Maevie was a selfish girl. Stubborn and ignorant. She did not care whether her words would hurt someone else. In her world, there could only be her. It had always been about her. Her hair, her shoes, her nails. Her wish. Her desire. Her everything.
It was as if only she had values and reasons. And other was nothing but pawns to bring her desire to life. To play to her like.
And Luther realized that only he seemed to be an exception. He saw that she cared about him. Genuinely. But that was not something he was glad about. Because that affection she had for him made him the biggest victim of her abuse.
He hated when she disregards his comfort and push herself to him. Played tricks to get his attention. And even blamed other for getting close to her.
Her love for him scared him. He wanted to be as far away from her as possible. This obsession she had over him.
And what scared him even more was the fact that he could not bring himself to hate her. Cause he had never felt himself become someone else's world.
Yes. Whenever he stood in front of her, Luther could see in her eyes…. That he became her whole world… To Maevie, when he was before her, nothing else mattered. Only him.
What Luther feared was not her affection. But the action caused by her obsession. And since he could not bring himself to hate her. He could only get away from her. Praying that one day she would get over him…
When Maevie withdrew from 'Tomorrow's Idol', Luther feared that the girl would find another reason to stick to him. And that she would appear within a week at most.
But it had already two months, she had not shown herself in front of him. Maybe her last hope had been extinguished when he did not answer her call that night.
And now, she was going to a dating show, according to what Victor said.
Luther could only feel relief…. That God was finally listening to his prayer.