"It looks... chaotic," Ari mused.
But there was a smile on her face.
’It’s good, very good.’
"CBC, though? How do I watch it?"
She immediately called her cousin, who surprisingly picked up.
"Wow, what’s the occasion?" She scoffed. "How come you picked up my call?"
"Don’t be snarky, little shit. I won’t send you pocket money."
"Oh, come on, dear cousin." She laughed like a moron. "It’s my love for you that comes out so passionately. Please, forgive me."
"So, why did you call?"
"I watched the trailer."
"I guess." She twirled with her hair. "Why is it so chaotic, though?"
"Usually, you want to show what the show is all about through the trailer. We are not just talking about the story or the plot. We are talking about the theme, the pacing, the vision, all that. Basically, we need to show what color represents this show the best."
"You mean the show is as ridiculous as this?"
"Oh, yes, dear." He smiled. "Very much so. You don’t like it?"
"I’ll have to watch it to know."
"They kept in a lot of scenes from the racing episode, didn’t they? It’s because it would grab people’s attention."
"Yeah, that was crazy! Did all that really happen?"
"Of course it did." He laughed like a madman. "What do you think? Isn’t your cousin the coolest?"
"Eh, I mean, not that—"
"You are the coolest! The best!"
By the time the call ended, Ellie had already finished all the dishes.
"Was it your cousin?"
He put down his phone and returned to his boiled broccoli with a displeased face.
There was a little venom in the redheaded actress’s eyes, and it did not go unnoticed.
"What’s the matter?" Averie asked, distracting himself from the bland taste.
"You..." She dabbed her red lips with a fragrant handkerchief. "How do you feel about the sudden attention?"
That didn’t sound like a simple inquiry. There was something deep in her query.
"In my case, honesty often comes off as lack of humility. Do you still want to hear the answer?"
From the window, a gust of wind blew, playing with the candles illuminating the dinner.
"I was born for this, and never have I once felt it unnatural. After all, why shouldn’t they admire me?"
He put his fork down and poured himself a cup of tea.
"On the stage, I am enchanting. Off the stage, I am beautiful. Yet, I do not face restrictions. I am free."
Ellie looked at him with bewitched eyes. There was longing in them.
"I want it," she whispered, her eyes glazed. "That attitude, I want it."
Averie chuckled. "Spend a few more dinners with me, and you’ll have it."
That comment wasn’t even half sincere, but it made her feel a sense of relief.
’Something is wrong with her.’
He had seen the girl plenty of times and had come to know her personality. Although she was three or four years older than he, it never felt like there was a gap in age.
Their relationship was no different than that of Averie and Peter Kang.
There was comfort in it.
They had never been more than that, and they had never been less than that.
But today’s Ellie was behaving a bit odd, or so Averie thought.
’Plenty of ladies lust after me. What’s new about that?’
He had seen her glancing at him for the same reason before, too. But in his own arrogant way, he had deemed it natural.
’If not the greatest sex icon ever, who would she admire?’
His gaze turned sharp.
’Perhaps this is for the best.’
He put down his teacup.
She stirred her glass. "Yes?"
"For my next role, I need to observe a female figure."
Ellie’s hand stopped, and for a minuscule moment, she forgot what it was that she was holding.
The red of the wine was reflected in her clear eyes.
"I need to study the naked body of an enchanting woman."
Another man would have felt shame saying those words, but Averie was dauntless.
The sincerity reflected on his face confirmed his words. His obsession compelled him to request such a thing.
"Just a little more," he muttered. "I need just a little more detail to achieve perfection."
For a second, in the moonlight, he looked like a dying man. A person so obsessed, he seemed to have cast away his life.
’What a poor man,’ thought Ellie. ’He has lost his majesty.’
The great actor looked hollow, his eyes displaying a flimsy consciousness.
She had always felt his greatness, and the current state of him could not hold back the sentiments bubbling inside her.
"It is an odd request, and I couldn’t make it to anyone but you."
He observed her figure, and weirdly enough, he envied her.
’The things I could do on the stage if I could borrow her body.’
The sheer thought seemed to excite him.
Alas, that could not be achieved. Unlike the other art forms, performative arts were restricted by gender. Certain things were simply denied to him.
’But even then, I will cross that boundary.’
It was a challenge that he had pushed to an extreme degree.
"You are the only woman I can turn to for this."
"Why me? There should be plenty of nude models."
"Because you are my only Sarah, Ellie." He bit his lower lip. "My only Sarah."
Hot blood dripped down from the cut, murking the tea.
A part of him, the Prince of Lust, obsessed beyond belief, had returned to desire Sarah.
Ellie breathed out a hot, inebriated air.
Sarah, Amsodeus, herself—she was tired of it all.
Yet, she liked Averie Quinn Auclair. She liked his freedom.
She sipped her wine. "You say that after I see you kissing another girl so passionately."
Her gaze turned to the paused trailer on her phone. It showed Averie with his tongue in another lady’s mouth.
"It is bothering me."