"Joanna, stay away from this guy in the future. His fans are not something you want to mess with. You better go talk to him, his fans tend to listen to him."
"If he’s willing to help you, this issue could be resolved relatively easily. If he doesn’t speak up for you, it’s definitely going to affect you."
Joanna Lawrence: "..."
She suddenly felt like crying.
She thought of herself as trouble incarnate.
Ever since Linda signed her, she had caused two scandals already.
The first was a scandal with David Benington.
Now, there’s scandal with Maddox Allenson.
Although Linda didn’t reproach her, she didn’t know what to say because of her guilt.
If she had signed such a trouble-causing artist, she would have regretted it for sure.
Probably, Linda already regretted signing her by now.
She didn’t bring any profit to the company yet, but she did cause a lot of troubles.
No company would want an artist like her.
"I’m sorry, Linda," said Joanna Lawrence, filled with self-blame. "I’ve caused trouble for you again. I know just saying sorry is useless, but I really mean it."
"It’s not something you can control." Linda spoke calmly, "Maddox Allenson is very popular now. Any female artist who gets slightly close to him would be accused of using him for popularity."
"Unless, that person has more fame than him."
"You’re not the first female artist to be accused of riding on his popularity."
"When I found out that he was the male lead for this series, I guessed that something might happen. I just didn’t expect it to happen so fast."
Joanna Lawrence: "..."
She would rather have Linda lash out at her.
At least she would feel better that way.
"For now, do not respond to anything. Let’s see how Maddox Allenson’s PR Team handles this. I’ll be keeping an eye on them too. I’ll call you to discuss what to do next when the time comes."
"Also, are you still on set? Be careful when you leave, I’m afraid his fans might harass you."
Joanna Lawrence was startled: "His fans... would actually come to harass me?"
She thought, at most, they would just curse her online.
Linda spoke gravely, "Of course they will. A female artist once angered his fans by forcefully creating a love team with him to gain popularity. She got cornered and had many stinky eggs thrown at her. She was scared out of her wits. She later developed a phobia because of the incident and ended up quitting the industry."
Joanna Lawrence was dumbfounded: "..."
Was it really... that horrifying?
"Anyway, be careful. Better safe than sorry."
"I know." In the middle of summer, Joanna Lawrence broke out in a cold sweat from fear.
She wiped the sweat off her forehead, ready to hang up the call, when Linda asked another question, "What’s going on between you and Gary White? I heard rumors from the drama crew that he likes you?"
"That’s not true at all," Joanna Lawrence hurriedly explained. "He’s a friend of a friend of my boyfriend. Before I came here, they had given Gary White a heads up, that’s why he pays me special attention."
"That’s good then. Since you have a boyfriend and you’re serious about him, you have to watch yourself when interacting with other men. Otherwise, when your relationship gets revealed, all these things will become black marks for you."