Violet had actually known Pei Li was talking to the figure who was running away hastily while ordering their snacks. She purposely chased the vendor to be able to catch the person, but to no avail.
"Pei Li! Here… Got us some pancakes… Oh…" Violet paused, noticing she was holding a cup of skewers.
"Where did you get that from?" Violet asked with a frown. "Who was that?" She pretended to ask out of curiosity but noticed Pei Li was nervous and a little shaken.
"Promise me you will keep this between us?" Pei Li finally said to Violet, who nodded as she sat and listened to Pei Li explain the entire event.
It made Violet even more worried about her impending departure in a couple of days. She had no choice but to also share with Pei Li the threat she had from Cao Tung's agency. They both knew they had no choice but to keep all these among them while playing by ear with the situation.
"Don't eat this, but don't throw it here. We might be spied on. Hold it till we are back, alright?" Violet whispered to her ear as she nodded, understanding the risk.
To ease their tension for a moment, Pei Li swiped to her phone's gallery and took a look at Wayne's toddler picture she found in his home, where she and Pei Ni were in it. It was the only picture they had ever taken together in Pei Ni's entire life because it was his fifth birthday.
"He's so cute…" Violet commented as Pei Li nodded in agreement.
"All we hope for is for them to shine in their career and live well, but the industry is so brutal…" Pei Li commented as Violet hugged her.
"We will figure something, alright? Promise me when I'm away, you will take care of yourself too." Violet said as Pei Li began to tear up.
"Can you not go? I haven't had a genuine friend for such a long time… Why does everything good have to always be so short?" She sobbed silently in Violet's arms.
"It's only temporary. I will try to be back for the filming, right? I need to take an exam over the weekend. Hopefully I can stay at the filming site by then…" Violet sighed.
"I will ensure you can. I will sneak you in even if that bad Fang Li is there…" Pei Li ranted as the girls ended up in laughter while they slowly made their way back to the studio.
That night, Sebastian's new cooking show finally aired as a distraction from his growing concern about his fans on his agency pestering him to renew his contract with many tactics. Hence, to appease his fans, the agency had no choice but to start the show a week earlier than scheduled.
It got Sebastian worried at first about the sentiment of the public, as he expected it to be aired when he was filming next week. However, with the early release, he couldn't help but feel the anxiety creeping up on him as he paced back and forth in the unit he rented out to Sam and Violet while Sam prepared him dinner. His phone had been confiscated by Sam to prevent him from gluing himself to the comments and reviews.
"Hey sit… Stop pacing. You're frustrating me. Dinner's almost ready…" Sam called out to him.
"Do you think it will be a flop? Will there be another bad press? Why did they even release it this week? What's wrong with waiting for another week, oh my gosh?!" Sebastian vented frantically as though half panicking, while Sam turned off the stove.
"Bro, how long have you been in this industry?" Sam's question managed to calm Sebastian down enough to think rationally.
"I get it… I have always been playing it safe all these years. This cooking show. It's new. It's not the normal routine, mysterious drama and acting all cool." He explained as Sam started to serve them their meal.
"Have some confidence in yourself. How are you going to film romance as Phor Tat after this?" Sam questioned him with doubt on purpose.
"That's definitely going to be a hit. Mysterious and cool guy to all, romantic and maybe whatever the public wants, a domineering boss is a safe bet. Not this vulnerable skills-dependent sort of series…" Sebastian explained.
"Now, you have another one where you have to go camping right after filming ends. Why don't we cancel that?" Again, Sam purposely gave in to Sebastian's worries cause he knew Sebastian wouldn't give up so easily.
"No way!" Instead of only one voice rejecting his suggestion, there were two. Both of them saw Violet entering the house.
"How can you cancel a show that he had been looking forward to? It's healing for him and a sweet ending for his career as Sebastian. So, let him enjoy himself during the camp as a gift for his loyal mesmerised fans! Look at their feedback! They cannot believe he can cook, and of course there will always be haters who say he probably faked it or had a stand-in when the camera clearly showed him chopping, preparing and cooking that stir-fried pork noodles!" Violet was venting to them both while showing Sam the comments, knowing it's detrimental to let Sebastian look at them now.
"Are you sure? Are you sure they genuinely like it?" Sebastian asked sceptically, trying to peep at the comment section while Sam nodded approvingly.
"Wow, at this rate, they might just invite you back for another episode…" Sam complimented Sebastian, to which he finally was willing to take his first bite of chicken noodles.
What was a jovial moment turned Violet gloomy as she excused herself to her room when she received a reminder text message from Cao Chew Long, the notorious director of the agency, on their agreement.
All thanks to you, we have to release the scheduled programmes earlier. We have an agreement. You should leave ASAP.
She sighed at the message. She knew she couldn't abruptly leave. She needed to buy time.
With that in mind, she decided that leaving on Thursday after Jade's award ceremony would be best. Besides, towards the end of the week, Sebastian's schedule was more relaxing. Despite this, it was because she didn't mention to the agency that she would return to filming next week after her tour guiding exams in Phut Bi over the weekend. She reminded herself to avoid alone time with Sebastian the whole night till she fell asleep, to no avail, as the next day, she woke to find him asleep, hugging her by her side.
She quickly slipped off to get ready for his photoshoot session for a magazine with Wayne and purposely went to the studio first, letting the agency's driver drive him over. There were several agencies trying to approach Sebastian for jobs. Violet had reviewed their proposal, and it was very promising, but she didn't want Sebastian to take these opportunities under his current agency.
Instead, she presented Phor Tat's Lucky Clover's namecard instead.
"Phor Tat? Who is this? Lucky Clover agency? Are you sure they are reliable?" Alex Lim, the spokesperson for a niche but high-quality men's beauty product, asked.
"Mr. Lim, I have to be very frank with you. Lucky Clover may have just started, but Phor Tat is a very reliable business partner. If you want more conviction, here…" She handed Sam's name card and instantly saw the changes in Alex's face.
"Sam Chu! What a small world… Alright, we shall head there and see what deals we can come up with." Violet was surprised at how easily Alex was turned around.
She also understood it was probably because of his niche branding that he couldn't be so demanding. Selling her brother's name, which was well known for the wrong reasons with his previous agency, but many respected his resilience and candour, was enough to get Alex to change his appetite.
"Yes… If you have any other business partners to introduce, please do so. He's currently recruiting too. Hope this contact would greatly compensate for your loss in trying to secure a deal with our very busy Sebastian." Violet tried to appease Alex, who was very satisfied with her offer.
"Surely I will look for Sam…Thank you so much… Err, you're?" Alex asked for her name.
"Violet…" She hesitated over her surname as Alex thanked her before calling other contacts to share the news about Sam's business.
"Is Sebastian renewing his contract?" Alex's question agitated Violet very much, but all she could do was to maintain a poker face and say the famous tagline "no comment" before walking away.
She was glad she had extinguished a small fire for Sebastian right before she needed to leave in another day or so. She knew she could only do this with the small brands, else who knew who would expose her deeds to the agency.
While Sebastian was expecting a hectic schedule as he browsed his organiser, he was half relieved to see some free time allocated, especially during late nights to rest. The schedule felt a little off, but he welcomed the frequent breaks since he was going back to the last bit of filming next week before rushing for a camping variety show.
He doubted he would have any rest by then, but the thought of Violet constantly supporting and accompanying him by his side gave him some comfort. The sight of her rushing around to check with the other crew members on his arrangements made him remember his divorce. He realised he hadn't heard from Janice since that night, nor from their lawyer.
That made him send his lawyer a quick text to catch up on the situation, though he knew there wouldn't be an instant reply. He hoped that, with him following up, it could expedite Janice's submission of the divorce papers. Because of his text, his lawyer then followed up with her lawyer.
The ripple effect eventually reached Janice shortly that night. She sighed, reading her lawyer's message.
It's time to bravely face it, isn't it? She questioned herself while taking a break from reading her next promotion proposal.
She didn't realise so much time had passed since the last time she met him. Drowning herself in her career was one thing, but she wanted to speak with Violet first before she submitted the papers, yet she didn't have the time.
Guess it's time… Janice told herself as she sent Violet a text message to meet discreetly.