Much to Avery’s excitent, the class ended within the next thirty minutes. With her books already packed, she only had to swing her bag over her shoulders and bolt down the steps to escape Orion, but her attempt ended up futile when she collided with soone on her way down.
"I’m sorry!" she apologized imdiately even without seeing the person’s face, and prepared to continue with her escape but was pulled back.
"What’s the problem, Ava? What’s the rush for?"
It was Jodi’s voice, totally unexpected which made Avery look up, surprise evident in her eyes.
"What are you doing here, Jodi? Your hall is—"
"A considerable distance away from here, I know that. I ca because I heard so ’hot’ professor was lecturing this hall today and turns out the hot professor is Orion Smith. Just look at the crowd for heaven’s sake," Jodi complained, exhaustion tinting her voice as she swept her gaze around the hall.
Avery chuckled. "I guess everyone ca here to see the hot professor the sa way you did. That’s not his fault."
"I guess so. How about you by the way? Where were you rushing to?"
"Oh..." Avery began, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "I received a call from the casting manager, Broken Hearts. What was his na again?"
"Leroy Jas," Jodi supplied, her heart tense with anticipation. "Received a call earlier today too. What did he say?"
"He invited to take on a role nobody wanted or auditioned for, I think. But he said beauty is the only quality required of this character so they thought the most eligible," Avery replied. With a nonchalant shrug, she added, "I’m guessing it’s a character that will appear only once but I’ll be making maximal use of this opportunity."
Jodi almost scread in excitent when she heard that and it was all she could do to withhold herself.
"Oh my god! Really?! Does that an we’d be on the sa set even if it’s just for a day or two?"
Bobbing her head in confidence, Avery’s smile widened all the more. "And congratulations to you too but I’d have you know that..." she trailed off, a hint of mischief tinting her eyes when she saw the confusion vividly expressed on Jodi’s face.
"You’d have know what?" the latter asked.
Avery continued but was cut off as soon as she started, "That you got the role not because of your skills—"
"Ava, tell you did not tell Mr Donovan about this—"
"Will you just let finish, Jodi! You didn’t get this because of your skills but because I predicted it. I used to be a shaman in my past life," Avery concluded.
Letting out a relieved sigh as dramatically as she could, Jodi stated, "Jeez, Ava. Cut down on the jokes next ti or I won’t take it easy,"
"Is there a secret I should be let in on?" Orion’s head popped in between them.
"Nothing that I know of," Jodi replied. "But then...you have to leave on your own, Orion, unless you want angry girls mobbing Ava when you aren’t here. Take your hunt for girls further away from her, uh?"
"You are not her. So I don’t need to listen to you," Orion retorted.
Avery kept her mouth shut, refusing to get in between the both of them. Pulling Jodi with one hand, she began to walk towards the hall’s exit with Orion trailing behind them.
"Ava, I’ve wanted to ask this for a while now. Also, you don’t have to answer if you deem it too personal... Can I ask?" Jodi whispered.
"What is it?" Avery asked, half scared that she wanted to ask her sothing related to the McCAllum family. It was already strange that no one had suspected anything all this while, and though she had no idea why, she had prayed for it to continue like that. But now... Her thoughts were soon cut short when Jodi blurted out her question, "You’ve been married to Mr Donovan for three years but only arrived in the country weeks ago. Did you elope with him?"
"What?" Avery could not hide her shock.
"Yeah. You married him when you were 19, a little bit young if I might say so... That’s why I’m asking if you eloped with him?"
Before Avery could think of an answer—not like any seed to be forthcoming— she was accosted by a brunette who looked sohow familiar.
"Hey Ava!" the girl waved cheerfully, her eyes moving to Jodi, "And hi..."
"Jodi."
Avery turned slowly to et Jodi’s eyes, the question in them clear. How co her own na was known but Jodi’s was not?
"Hi..."
"Damn surprising that you do not know my na. I’m Alice." The girl extended her hand.
Her first na was all Avery needed to hear to know who she was. Alice Sherman, an A—list actress who was in her third year at NEU. It showed why she hadn’t know Jodi’s na even though the latter was a popular campus personality; because she was more popular.
’’But if this logic works, how did she know my own na then?’’ she wondered out loud, oblivious to what she just did.
"The professor called you out earlier, that’s how." Alice replied.
"The professor..." Avery trailed off, turning to see that Orion had disappeared from behind them.
★★★
"We don’t need won to entertain us, Mr Sherman," Neil said for the umpteenth ti in ten minutes. At tis like this, he could understand why Archie usually ignored this scions of conglorate families, and buried himself in a novel...just like now, whenever they had compulsory etings like this.
"And why do you not need won? If you think I will be bringing low standard won, then rest assured, you know my sister, do you not? Alice Sherman, she’s bringing a few of her friends and we’d definitely have fun."
Neil looked to Archie for help, but the latter simply turned a page of the book in his hand, and continued reading so he turned back to the man.
"Uh... Mr Sherman, maybe you haven’t heard but the Chairman is married and I am not single either. It would be inappropriate for any of us to—"
"How inappropriate could it be? Your wife and girlfriends wouldn’t be here. This is a once in a lifeti opportunity that I’m offering you—"
All of a sudden, Archie slamd his book close and looked up, his eyes glinting with anger.
"Shut it, Benedict. Why does the drink taste strange?"
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