Jessica signed up with her current management company just because it was a rival of Tip Top’s. Yet, it appalled her that her management company decided to sell her to Tip Top for money. Summer was surprised too.
“How could they do that?”
“I’m going to kill Carl right now. Get me a knife!” Jessica looked extremely pissed as she turned the ignition key.
Nevertheless, Summer knew that Jessica did not mean what she said; Jessica was just foaming at the mouth. Then again, Summer realized that they were heading toward Tip Top Entertainment. She looked over at Jessica, who still appeared mad.
“Are you really going to Tip Top?”
“Of course!” The corners of her lips curled up like those villains in the movies.
“Why don’t you guys sit down and talk over it?”
“That’s what I’m going to do now!”
By the looks of it, Jessica would knock the daylights out of Carl. It seemed there was nothing Summer could do to stop her.
Jessica stopped the car, slammed the door shut, and strode into the Tip Top building. Before she could make her entry, however, the security guards at the entrance stopped her.
“Excuse me, lady, may I know who you’re looking for?” one of the security guards asked.
“It’s none of your business!”
Jessica was like a bear with a sore head, storming past the security personnel. The guard looked at Jessica and at his mobile phone, stopping her.
“I’m sorry, lady. You can’t go in there.”
“You’re not letting me in?”
Things were not looking good. Jessica used to be a school bully, a dab hand at gang fights. The gloves were off. Summer quickly stopped Jessica.
“Calm down. This is an office.”
Going through the roof, Jessica couldn’t care less about her image now. “I am now Tip Top’s artist. They will do nothing to me!”
Jessica had a point. More so, it was Carl’s fault. So Summer left her to it.
Jessica had got skill; she jackknifed several security guards who came up to her. But Summer could see that the security personnel were very restrained. They did not want to hurt her. Jessica dusted off her hands, looking like a rascal.
“Can I see Carl now?”
“They won’t let you see Carl today,” Summer said.
She picked up a phone from the floor and handed it to Jessica. The screen showed a group chat message with Jessica’s photo in it.
“This woman will come to look for President Jones today. Don’t let her in. But also don’t hurt her.”
No doubt, it was Carl who issued the order. He had apparently foreseen that after he bought Jessica over from her management company, Jessica would surely come looking for him. As Jessica’s bestie, Summer knew she should stand with Jessica and teach Carl a lesson. But she just could not hold back her laughter.
“Coward!” Jessica hissed, then brought Summer out of the place.
In the car, Summer said to her, “Carl really knows you like the back of his hand.”
“He had potty-trained me when we were small. How could he not know me?”
“No wonder.” Summer tried hard to not laugh. Fortunately, Jessica only shot off her mouth in front of her.
“We were living in the same courtyard back then, and our families were in a good relationship until something happened…”
Jessica’s face turned gloomy and said not a word again. Summer did not ask why. Not that she did not care. She just did not like to stick her nose into others’ privacy. Jessica might appear happy-go-lucky and rarely kept things to herself. But she had never mentioned about her past with Carl. It must have been a hurtful experience that she did not want to talk about it.
…
Jessica drove Summer to a pub, which was opened by someone from the entertainment industry. Most of the patrons were celebrities. So it had a tight privacy policy.
Jessica asked for a private room, so they could do the tongue-lashing of Carl in private while boozing away. It was from such occasions that Summer learned to drink from Jessica. Now, Summer could drink just as much as Jessica did. But she was holding back tonight, knowing that Jessica would drink until she dropped and she had to send her home.
Halfway, the room was suddenly opened. A woman, dressed up to the nines, stood at the doorway, looking at Jessica with a smile on her face.
“It is really you, Jessica. People said they had seen you here. I didn’t believe you were here. What a surprise!”
While speaking, the woman walked toward them. It was not until the woman got close enough that Summer began to find she looked rather familiar. She nudged Jessica on her shoulder, thinking she knew the woman. But Jessica was half-drunk now, squinting at the woman.
“Who are you?”
Apparently not too happy with Jessica’s reaction, the woman’s face darkening. “I am Laura Cotton.”
Laura Cotton? Now Summer started to recall the name-the most searched name online and the most popular in the entertainment news feed. She was a celebrity with a very high exposure rate. But she looked very different in person from the photos.
The penny dropped and Jessica finally recalled. She nodded away. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t recognize you from your heavy makeup…”
Laura appeared less pissed now.
The next moment, however, Jessica said, “You look different from when I saw you last time. Did you have a cheekbone plastic surgery?”
Laura’s face collapsed, reaching to touch her face, looking as if she was going to bite Jessica’s head off. By the looks of things, Summer knew that Laura did not just come to say hello. She quickly came up and stood in front of Jessica.
“I’m sorry. She has one too many.”
“Who are you?” Laura squinted at Summer.
Just when Summer was about to answer her question, a group of people barged in.
“Laura, we have been looking high and low for you!”
“Guess who I have bumped into?” Laura looked back at them with a smile.
They came in with the leading man’s voice dripping with sarcasm. “Wait, isn’t this Jessica?”
Summer’s brows were knitted together. Apparently, Laura was here looking for trouble.
“Since we are all friends. Do you mind if we join you, Jessica?” Laura looked at her with a sinister smile, not bothering to hide her vengeful intention. She nearly got a role in a film last time, but the opportunity had gone to Jessica instead. So Laura had an ill feeling toward Jessica.