34: The Optimist and the Pessimist part 3

Ashmille left the scene immediately and grabbed her food.

Anthasia’s nerve-racking interrogation stressed her. Biting into small, savory bites was worth the trouble she got herself into. She enjoys the bruschetta, crispy bites, mini sandwiches, samosas, falafels, hummus with pita chips, jelly bites, and macarons.

She hasn’t had her lunch because she worked during her lunchtime to make time for Drino’s debut party. She arrived on time by skipping her hour-and-a-half lunch break. She won't leave until she's satisfied, making her stress and effort of going here more worth it.

She was about to get a tissue, but her hands were full.

“Here you go,” Anthasia handed her a tissue.

“Hi. Thanks,” she said and ate a macaron to calm herself, seeing Anthasia approach her.

“How’s working with Drino?” Anthasia cornered her.

She finished chewing before speaking. “It was interesting, a breath of fresh air to be working in this field aside from the office.”

“So, you’re having fun being with him?”

She went silent. She didn’t know whether to say yes or no. Either answer will get her in trouble.

“W-We’re dating professionally.” She’s bad at lying, yes.

“What?!”

“But we don’t do it romantically. You know, it’s for his acting project-”

“You’re a shameless girl! Where are your manners?” she walked out.

“Wait”

“I’ll make sure Drino will wake up to his senses.” She pointed at the crumbs on her black polo shirt. “Make sure you clean up your mess, or his agency would know what you’re doing.”

Ashmille put down her food on a table. They both looked for Drino. Ashmille saw him talking with the other guests. Anthasia glared at her and walked to approach Drino.

Ashmille seized her phone and called Drino.

“Drino, we need to talk,” Anthasia called him.

“Hold on,” he said to Anthasia, answering his phone when he saw it was Ashmille calling.

“Hi, do you need something?”

“I spilled that we’re dating professionally to Anthasia, and she got mad about it. S-She said she will report us to your agency.”

“We’ll talk. Meet me outside the village gate.” He whispered and hung up.

“I’ll go ho-” Ashmille was cut off.

“Where are you going?” Anthasia asked. “We need to talk.”

“I have something urgent. I’ll be back.”

He ran and went to his garage. He entered his car and drove away from his house to the village’s main gate.

He saw Ashmille standing. His house was near the village’s main entrance. He parked outside the village. He got out of his car and approached Ashmille.

“It is about Anthasia. I think she could smell right through our lies.”

“Us, working together, is not a lie.”

“Yes, but I am not a certified professional character partner or an acting coach. This is your personal request for your acting career. She even mentioned revealing about us to your agency.”

“Exactly, this is for my work. We’re both benefiting from this with mutual consent. We’re not doing something unprofessional. My manager secured this deal for my professional development. You’re doing great, so the agency has no problem with it. Anthasia should understand this,” he explained.

How did she do a great job at being his character partner when all they do is simply date like normal couples? Ashmille pondered. She also wondered how being his date had become her profession.

Drino gave her clarity to secure that she’s not doing anything to be embarrassed about.

“I’ll talk this over with Anthasia. Fret not, okay? She approached me earlier, most probably to talk about this. I cannot disclose anything yet to her during my party with many people, so I called you out here.”

“She’s here.”

Drino turned his back and saw Anthasia’s car parked meters away from them.

“Why are you following us?” Drino questioned her.

“You seem suspicious, so I followed you two. Tell me, why shouldn’t I be?”

“C’mon, Anthasia, this is an affair that has nothing to do with you.”

“Is she blackmailing you?”

He scoffed. “What are you talking about? Who’s blackmailing whom?”

“I suspect that Ashmille is blackmailing you about something that could damage both your career and your family's reputation. She must be hiding a secret of yours, that’s why you let her work with you as an acting coach for a show. And that’s not all, she must be asking you for more money.”

“Where did you get that idea?”

“I was the one who asked her to work with me. No, there wasn’t any dirty money going on here. She isn’t that kind of person.”

“Or maybe she evolved from having a crush on you at college to being your crazy fan. Since she knew things about you when we were in college, she used it to her advantage and made you date her.”

“Those are your assumptions.”

“She is obviously a lowlife. Look at her!”

“You’re judging someone based on their appearance? How low could you be?”

“I’ll go home now. Thank you for the night.”

“Wait, I’ll give you a ride.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll book a ride.”

“A little more push and that girl’s true colors will show you, Drino.”

“Stop! I don’t want to hear from you. Please stop disrespecting her. If you have a problem with me working with her, then deal with it with me alone. Because of what you just said, it is your true colors have shown.” He glanced at her with a stern look. “So, this is the real you, Anthasia.”

Anthasia stared at him with a disappointed look when she saw his eyes, looking aggrieved.

Drino took hold of Ashmille’s right arm.

“Don’t follow us,” he remarked in a deep voice.

They walked away. Anthasia was left devastated.

“My phone’s low battery,” Ashmille mumbled.

Drino booked a ride for her using the Drino app.

“I’m sorry… For everything that Anthasia said and accused you of, I’m very sorry for what she has done.”

Ashmille became silent.

After 3 minutes of walking, the ride he booked arrived. Drino opened the car when a black van parked in front of the Drino ride’s car. Two unknown men in black got out of the black van and forcibly captured Ashmille and Drino.

Ashmille was supposed to scream because of the tension she was feeling or to ask for help. But no voice came out of her mouth because of fright. Instead, he bit into one man’s hand, which made him scream.

They covered their noses and mouths while restraining them. Drino kicked one of them, but lost consciousness instantly when a man punched his face. His eyes blurred as he saw Ashmille close her eyes.

The van left instantly.

“D-Drino…” Anthasia muttered.

She saw what happened from a 50-meter distance through silhouettes. Despite Drino telling her not to follow them, she still did.

She ran towards them, but it was too late and far. She ran back to her car and went back to Drino’s house.

“Miss, are you okay?” Tim bumped into her, looking disturbed.

“H-He’s missing…” she whispered in panic while talking with him. He calmed her.

“Call the police! Drino was kidnapped by a group of men in a black van,” she reported hysterically.