BXBX NOVEL Chapter 167
As the door opened, a tall man wearing a blood-red suit stepped out of the car.
With his long hair done in a bun, as soon as the man adjusted his jacket and removed his shades, the girls who appeared on the sidelines out of nowhere to get a glimpse of their favourite star went gaga. The shrill and cheers echoed loud enough to deafen a perfectly normal man.
Alex did not know when the girls appeared, but he felt that if not stopped early, some nice tops were going to be ripped apart.
The man was about a couple of inches shorter than Alex, with a near-perfect jawline and a nice dense stubble. When he saw the huge support for him, a smile bloomed on his face, and the man waved towards the girls who were being pushed back by the security as well as the staff from Theation and ‘AR’ from breaking the human wall. And it worked like a charm. The recognition from their heartthrob rejuvenated their hopes, strengthening their resolution. Thank god that they had a few capable men to hold them back, if not, there could have been a stampede.
“Was there such commotion when Veronica arrived?” Alex asked Rebecca, who was standing beside him.
“I don’t know,” Rebecca shrugged, “But I doubt it. Veronica is never the one to create such commotions. She might not look like it, but her approach towards her fans is quite... Lethargic... I would say,” Rebecca could not think of a better word to explain it.
.....
“Her Social Media is all about work and nothing private. For example, I am sure she would have posted a photo of her being at the Airport in Elenor, not divulging the details of where she was going. And there will be some stills from the shooting that she would post regularly,” Rebecca told Alex, “Nothing more... I would say.”
“... As for the commotion you are seeing now, it’s preplanned by that guy,” Rebecca leaned a bit towards Alex and whispered, pointing towards the handsome guy who just got here.
“Brad?” Alex asked in disbelief, ” I don’t believe you. I have heard he is such a nice guy.”
“As if,” Rebecca muttered to herself so that Alex could not hear her.
“Come, let’s greet him,” ignoring the murmur from Rebecca, Alex held her arm and tried to pull her with him towards Brad.
“No way,” when Rebecca heard Alex, she forcefully pulled her arm away, “I don’t want to do anything with him. It’s strictly business between him and Theation. There is not an ounce of humility that I am going to extend toward him. You can wash his feet if you want to, but keep me out of it.”
“Who’s washing his feet? Isn’t it basic etiquette to welcome him? We are pouring so much money into this project. Shouldn’t we let him know our expectations as the investor? After all, we are going to be working together for the next few months.” Alex shrank away from Rebecca’s remark.
“Do you think you I can’t see the excitement on your face?” Rebecca tried to hold back her smile, “Don’t tell me you are his fan as well?”
“Einhh... I won’t go as far as to say I am his fan or anything,” Alex said, trying to act calm, “I have seen a couple of his movies. I admire his acting, his dedication to doing his own actions, and...”
“You are his fan...” Rebecca interrupted, staring keenly at Alex, “And don’t even think of denying it.”
“As I said...” Alex still tried to show his unbiased opinion, but Rebecca again interrupted him.
“Let me get one thing straight across that dumb brain of yours which you hardly use,” Rebecca bombarded Alex with such deep insults in a single sentence that he was left with his mouth open, “He is not the man you would like to hang out with. Rest is your choice.”
While Rebecca was lecturing Alex, Brad made his way toward them. As Alex watched Brad walk closer, he ignored what Rebecca was saying and made his way forward beside Mr Lulu. He was going to introduce himself and, if possible, get an autograph.
“Welcome, Brad... Welcome...” Mr Lulu was the first to extend his hand when Brad was close enough to them. The enticement of strawberry desserts was enough for him to make the first move. Meanwhile, Alex was ready to introduce himself the second Brad was done with the old man.
But contrary to their expectations, Brad walked past both Alex and Mr Lulu without even turning his eyes toward them. As they looked at the smiling face of Brad go by them, when they turned, he was headed towards none other than Veronica, who was standing right behind Rebecca. But one thing to note was that in the short time that Alex had left Rebecca, she had pulled up a mask over her face, trying to make sure Brad could not identify her.
“Veronica, Veronica, Veronica. Oh, Veronica, My Veronica. How long has it been?” With his arms wide open, Brad gleefully walked up to Veronica and tried to hug her. But Veronica was quick to put her arm on his chest, putting up some distance between them.
Brad had hoped that in front of so many people, Veronica would give him some face and oblige into giving him a hug. But looks like she is still the same, not caring about anyone but herself.
“Look at you. Looks like a cat caught your tongue,” Here, Rebecca had moved beside Alex and said, pulling her mask down. As he stared at Veronica and Brad interact, his lips had gone apart on their own.
“... Look at you standing speechless after being ignored like that. I bet, if it was someone else, you would have been hard on their throat by now,” Rebecca continued to make fun of Alex.
“Of course, he is different from people like you. He is the star of the show. Brad’s acting, his actions, his mere presence in this project will help skyrocket the ratings later on.” Alex still stuck to his belief that it was right to give preferential treatment to Brad.
“I don’t think you read the news so much,” while Alex and Rebecca were conversing among themselves, Abir also joined in the conversation. And from his words, he had heard Alex.
“What news?” Alex turned towards Abir and asked curiously.
“Well, leaving his bad acting aside...” Abir took a bite from the apple in his head and started explaining.
“Hey... Hey... Don’t say anything about his acting. I think it’s pretty dec...” Alex again tried to defend Brad.
“Let’s leave that to the critics,” Rebecca interrupted, “Someone like you won’t even know what acting is. Haven’t you heard that a blind man is no judge of colours?”
“Look at you, acting like a doctorate in English,” Alex made faces, “I am sure that’s the only acting you know as well.”
“Don’t get me started. At least I went to school,” Rebecca was ready to rile up, but with so many people around, she had to stop herself just by gritting her teeth.
“Oh, don’t stop on my accord,” Alex, on the other hand, just wouldn’t stop.
“Guys... stop. Mellow it down a notch. You guys are the big bosses here,” Abir stood between them, trying to meddle in, “Look around you. Do you guys want to create a scene here?”
“Big boss, my foot. He just got ignored by a nobody,” Rebecca commented.
“Che... It’s not worth quibbling with you,” Alex looked away. Finally, it was Alex who had to give up.
“Ahhahaha... As if I am dying to butt heads with you,” Rebecca also looked away when she saw Alex turn away his head.
“Huff...” As Abir watched the cease-fire finally come into play, he sighed and tried to leave, “Aiyee...” But he was pulled back by Alex.
“Where do you think you are going? Complete what you were saying about Brad.” Alex pulled Abir towards him and, with his back towards Rebecca, asked Abir to continue.
“That...” Abir paused as he thought about what he had to say, “My sister said he is not the type of person who portrays himself to be. In fact, she barred me from even coming in a two-meter radius around him. She said something about an inductive effect and that I would end up absorbing his bad character into me without even interacting. She really does not have a good impression of him.” reα.c૦
“Your sister does not have a good impression of me as well, so does that mean I am a bad guy?” Alex asked, “Hey... tell him if I am a bad guy,” Alex, forgetting everything that had happened moments ago, turned his face towards Rebecca and tapped on her shoulder.
Hearing Alex, Rebecca turned to look at his silly face with confusion, ‘Hey, we just fought moments ago. That’s way too fast to forget about it and let go of the matter.’
“Hey... Earth to Rebecca,” Alex snapped his fingers in front of her face.
“How would I know? Humpf...” But Rebecca was not willing to forget that so easily.
“Aiyyaio... I don’t know why these girls act so snobbish all the time?” Helplessly shaking his head, Alex turned his attention back to Abir.
“... I don’t know why you would say that, but I don’t believe Brad is a bad guy,” patting his shoulder, Alex left from there, leaving Abir with Rebecca.
“But he is said to be connected to Abu Salem, the notorious gangster. The two of them have been photographed together,” Abir whispered to himself.
“Everything can be morphed these days,” but unexpectedly, Alex heard him. And without even looking back at Abir, Alex replied, waving the back of his hand towards him.
* * * * *