However, despite the praise she received online, Maria felt a bit uneasy. After all, she didn’t save the woman herself; she just did what she could. So, when Kim brought the old lady earlier that day, Maria complained a little. But instead of sympathy or agreement from Kim, all she got was this response, “You don’t have to be modest; you deserve all of this.”
“I never thought Maria would do something like this,” Jane said as she looked at the news online. She nodded in satisfaction and confirmed with Maria’s agent that it was true before calming down their company’s PR team and keeping Maria’s popularity going for a while longer.
Just then, there was a knock on Jane’s office door. She looked up and said politely, “Come in.” Osborn walked in and greeted her with a nod.
“What brings you here?” Jane asked surprisedly.
“My agent sent me some scripts to choose from because there is a new actor he wants to introduce,” Osborn replied as his deep eyes fell on Jane.
Jane suddenly remembered that they should take advantage of this opportunity and let Osborn continue his streak by starring in another film.
She stood up but paused when her peripheral vision caught sight of her computer screen.
“Is there something wrong?” Osborn asked curiously as he watched Jane hesitate.
Jane shook her head and picked up a stack of scripts from her bookshelf but didn’t hand them over to Osborn right away.
“These won’t work,” she said after briefly scanning through them. The characters were similar to those he played last time which would limit him even if creating new hype around him would be great now during his peak popularity period.
“Osborn, do you want to play the same kind of role again?”
Osborn immediately shook his head without hesitation because being an award-winning actor meant challenging oneself rather than staying within one area only.
“I’ve decided we’ll create an original TV series tailored for you,” Jane pondered aloud.
“For me?” Osborn asked incredulously.
“Fifty-fifty,” Jane clapped once before showing him news about Maria on her computer screen.
“You’ll play male lead while Maria will play female lead.”
Today, although Osborn saw Maria’s hot search, he didn’t pay much attention to it.
Looking at the extensive praise in the news media, Osborn also had some thoughts in his mind.
Just…
“Youthful idol and inspirational TV dramas, Maria’s popularity is perfect for this kind of promotion,” Jane planned simply, but looked up to see Osborn hesitating.
“Do you have any questions?” Jane asked.
Osborn regained his senses and asked softly, “Can we change the male lead? I…”
Since Maria confessed to him last time, they both felt awkward. Now they had to film the same drama again. Osborn thought that they should avoid each other until Maria recovered from her feelings.
Thinking of Maria’s hurt expression on their last encounter, Osborn felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
“Your CP with Maria was very popular last time. Fans love seeing you two interact again,” Jane said nonchalantly.
“This…” Osborn frowned slightly.
“While your characters may overlap and cause aesthetic fatigue, promoting your relationship as a pair won’t. It’s just good publicity,” Jane explained calmly.
Osborn understood this reasoning well and had no choice but to agree reluctantly.
“Great! The script will be given to you in a few days,” Jane nodded approvingly.
Osborn left the office and checked his social media account where he saw that Maria posted a wrap-up photo for their previous project.
“Osborn!”
Suddenly, his agent’s voice interrupted him from behind as he turned around blankly with empty hands in front of him
“What project did you choose?” His agent couldn’t help but ask when he saw Osborn empty-handed.
“Jane said she would customize a drama for me.” Osborn put back his phone into his pocket calmly while answering his question without much emotion.
…
“What did you say?”
Maria looked at her agent incredulously; she wondered if she heard it right or not?
“Why? Are all those compliments online making your ears go deaf now?”
Her agent chuckled lightly before continuing, “The company has decided to promote you heavily by lending out several advertisements and variety shows while riding on your current popularity wave.”
Maria blinked rapidly feeling overwhelmed by surprise coming too fast too soon for her liking.
Actually, she already had quite some resources before this promotion plan came up but nothing compared to what was being offered now. She knew deep down that this was an opportunity for her big break!
Her agent flipped through the schedule, “Afterwards, there will be another customized TV series where we’ll give you the female lead role.”
“And who is playing the male lead? Has it been decided yet?” Maria immediately became curious about who would play opposite her character?
However, what came next made Maria’s smile freeze on its tracks.
“It has been decided already. Someone familiar… Osborn.”
“What?” Her heartbeat raced uncontrollably at hearing Osborn’s name mentioned like that!
“Osborn, you two have worked together before,” the agent repeated.
Maria bit her lip and slowly sat back down on the couch. She thought that after her confession was rejected last time, they would never have any contact again. But now they had a chance to work together.
Maria lowered her gaze and twisted her dress hem with her fingers. She couldn’t help but feel happy because she liked Osborn. Every day she would stare at his social media account, but she didn’t dare to contact him for fear of making their relationship even more awkward.
In the same company, there will always be times when people meet each other again. But now that they had a chance to work together again, Maria felt a little unsure besides being happy about it.
“Why do you look unhappy?” The agent noticed Maria’s disappointed expression and asked quickly.
“It’s not that I don’t want to work with him again; I’m just afraid it’ll be awkward…” Maria said softly.
“Awkward? You two have already worked together before; there won’t be anything awkward.” The agent patted Maria’s shoulder reassuringly.
“You don’t understand…” Maria pouted, turned away, and her facial expression became somewhat subtle.
Having poured her heart out to him, declaring her feelings with passion, only for him to see her as a sister.
Maria suddenly felt a bit emotional, realizing that some TV dramas might seem unrealistic, but they are definitely based on real events.
“Relax, the first time you worked with Osborn wasn’t so bad either! Besides, your chemistry is so hot; the company will definitely take advantage of this opportunity for publicity.”
The agent encouraged Maria by saying this as she had been guiding Maria since debut and knew what kind of person she was deep down inside.
“I hope so!” Hearing these words made Maria straighten up and give herself some encouragement in preparation for working alongside Osborn once more.