George stepped out onto the foyer, accompanied by a scowling Rina. She hated that Scottsdale had treated her manager that way, knowing how hard she worked to get him access in there. But worse, she wasn’t comfortable with the fact that her drama had affected him and that he hadn’t let her speak up on his behalf. It almost felt like he’d been waiting for that moment, to get those words off his heart and walk out of the doors, never looking back. He did it with his shoulders squared and his head held high. Still, Rina couldn’t decipher whether it was bravado or plain stupidity.
“You would still have your job if you’d just let me say something,” Rina muttered as they took the turning to the parking lot. “Now, Isaiah is going to have your head, and maybe blame me for your death as well.”
“I spoke about this with him already,” George explained, his voice still on the usual wavelength, not dampened by what just happened in there. “We decided it was best I left rather than work in an environment I wasn’t comfortable in. Half the time, I wanted to scream in their faces for talking bad about you, when they all knew those stories were fabricated. A few of them like you though, but they aren’t enough to stop the mass of people that love the idea that you are gone.”
“And you can’t blame them, can you?” Rina muttered. “I used to be pretty close to some of them, but they stopped talking to me the instant the rumors got published on the internet and I was blacklisted. I don’t think it’s about what they believe exactly. They probably do not want to be out of a job and have to play the role Scottsdale expects of them.”
“Cowards,” he spat.
“Maybe not. Not everyone can easily walk out the doors the way you just did, and go hungry. George, what are we going to do about this? You can’t manage anyone else in Scottsdale for now, and since they have influence in the entertainment industry, the news is bound to spread. Only those who like me would be open to employing you, but they wouldn’t want to be seen in a bad light.”
“I have some savings.” They were in the parking lot now, and Rina leaned on her car. She saw Oleg at a distance, acting indifferent to the scene when in truth, his eyes and ears were on her. Zayn had managed to build such a strong network of loyal men that when it came to anyone that he cared about, they were willing to put out an arm, and a leg to ensure they were safe.
“And when you exhaust that?” Rina questioned, sighing. “George, are you sure you thought this through?” She knew what it felt like living without anything because she’d done that after Finn left. Rina had barely enough left for groceries. If she hadn’t found Joel that day and had gotten offered a job, she might have had to move to her parents.
George shrugged. “So, you better make enough money to pay me then. And let’s get you back to your star point, so the whole world can be focused on you positively. Then, I would get back my job.”
“You just increase the burden on my shoulders,” Rina said in a humor-laced tone.
“It’s not yours to bear alone. You have me, Isaiah…” His voice trailed off, and then he said in a whisper, “Mr. Graham, and that man over there, watching you like a hawk.”
Rina laughed. She had forgotten how George was so keen on details that he never missed anything.
“He’s Zayn’s man, isn’t he? You now have your own personal security detail. That’s cool.”
“I used to have one before all this drama started,” Rina murmured. “But we both know how that went.”
George laughed. Rina used to hate the attention security detail brought, but it was necessary for per person in the industry. And when she got married to Finn and retired, Scottsdale still offered to have security on her since she was still a person of great importance. She had tried shrugging it off but Finn had insisted it was necessary. At the end of the day, they had followed him almost everywhere, while she stayed home alone. Now that she thought about it, Finn probably liked the attention it drew to him. It made him feel important. It was the reason he was with Kayla. He couldn’t survive without the perks fame came with.
“Now that we have both been banned from coming in here,” George started, referring to the last decision of the board a few minutes ago back inside. “We should probably leave the lot too unless we want to end up getting towed with your car. Isaiah was supposed to get me after work, but I haven’t exactly told him I no longer work here anymore.”
“Hop in.” Rina glanced at the time as she got behind the wheel. She hadn’t realized she had spent so much time in there already. It was almost seven and she was supposed to meet Joel by 8 pm. That gave her less than an hour to drop George at his place, then return to the villa, and get changed before circling back to the diner close to O. S. N fashion house. It was going to be quite the journey, and Rina was already asking herself why she had agreed in the first place. All she wanted to do at that moment was search for more production houses or agencies she could apply to since a door just got slammed in her face.
George read the look in her eyes and said, “You should head home to rest. I will send out more applications on your behalf today, seeing as I don’t have any other thing to do.”
“Is that supposed to be a joke?”
George grinned. “I’m laughing. You’re the only one who isn’t. You have all my time now, Rina Powers. I’m going to prove resourceful to you, just as I have done all these years.”
Rina had no doubts about that.