Chapter 86 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Seeing the smile on Celsie’s face, Anita assumed it was because Celsie was fond of Benne and happy to talk about him, “He is a very handsome and nice guy, you know?” Anita asked, and Celsie nodded.

“Yeah. And charming too.. It’s such a shame that he is single,” Celsie said with a shake of her head.

“What?” The CEO of Golden Stars Entertainment agency asked Bryan’s manager, Jeff, with a glare in his eyes, daring either him or Mia to repeat what they had just told him.

Mia exchanged a look with Jeff, and he shook his head, indicating for her not to say anything. Mia who had gone over to Bryan’s penthouse to deliver breakfast as requested by Bryan had been startled to see his ankle wrapped in an Ace bandage. Sonia had told her that Bryan slipped in the bathroom and hurt his ankle and that the doctor had asked him to rest his leg. Mia had the called Jeff on her way out to find out if he was aware of Bryan’s accident since Bryan not only had a couple of commercial ads shoots to film the following week, but he also had some movie scenes to shoot, beginning from Monday, and wouldn’t be able to do them with the ace bandage around his ankle.

Jeff had been surprised by the news and had asked Mia to meet him at the agency immediately. Once she got there and explained the situation of things to him, he had taken her up to the CEO’s office so they could tell him about it, as Bryan was one of the most successful stars in their agency.

“I’m sorry sir,” Jeff said with a polite bow. He knew he was partly to blame for only just hearing about this now from Mia. If he was a good manager, Bryan would have called him from the moment he slipped in the bathroom, even before getting off the floor. He had been too busy with the personal details of his life to pay much attention to Bryan.

“Sorry?” The CEO barked at him angrily as he stood up from his seat and paced back and forth, before turning to look at him again, “Does sorry cut it? Do you have any idea what this is going to cost us if he doesn’t meet up with his appointments? You are his manager for crying out loud and you are meant to babysit an important star like Bryan!!! Do I have to teach you your job?” He yelled, pointing at Jeff angrily, while Mia took some steps backward, not wanting to be in the line of fire.

“I thought he needed a break from…”

“A break? When have we ever given the stars a break? Can you see what happens when you give them a break? It always ends in a god-damned disaster! It’s either a fucking scandal or an accident! You should have known better!” He yelled again, before wiping his face with one hand and taking in a deep breath to calm himself.

Jeff looked at his feet without saying a word. Even though he had admitted to himself a moment ago that it was his fault, he couldn’t understand why the CEO was blaming him so much. He had only apologized because he felt guilty that he was only just getting to know that Bryan had hurt his ankle through Mia, not because Bryan had hurt his ankle. Why should he feel guilty because Bryan hurt his ankle? Why was the CEO blaming him for it? Was he the bathroom floor that had made Bryan slip? Or was he supposed to carry Bryan into the bathroom to bathe him? Jeff mused but kept a humble and remorseful expression on his face, as well as his body language.

The CEO looked at Mia, and she took another step backward, “You are sure he is wounded? What if he is just pretending just so he doesn’t work and spend more time with that lady?” He asked suspiciously, and Mia almost snorted before remembering that it was the CEO.

She shook her head instead, “The last thing Bryan wants is to be around that lady. If he had his way, I’m sure he would have moved out of the house, leaving her there all by herself,” Mia said, and the CEO’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you sure he got hurt in the bathroom and it was not that girl?” He asked, reasoning that it was possible Sonia had hurt him just so she could keep him in the house with her.

Mia shook her head once again, “She wouldn’t do something like that,” Mia said confidently.

The CEO bent his head to one side as he looked at her with a slightly raised brow, “And you are so sure, because?”

“Because she just isn’t that kind of person. If she wants him to stay put, she would make him do so without resorting to physical violence. She is smart,” Mia said with a small smile.

Jeff who had been looking down, finally raised his head a little when he noticed the tone of the conversation had changed. The CEO who had sounded so angry a while ago sounded less angry and more curious now.

“You seem to like and respect her,” He observed, and Mia gave him a nod.

The CEO sighed, and returned to his seat before glaring at Jeff who quickly looked down, “Give his doctor a call, let’s find out how serious it is,” he ordered, and Jeff quickly took out his phone from his pocket and dialed the doctor’s line.

“Sit down!” He ordered, “Both of you,” he added when they looked at him, not knowing which of them he was referring to.

They both sat down on the two seats opposite him, while they all waited for the call to connect. Once the call connected Jeff placed the phone on speaker and placed it on the table.

“Hey, Jeff!” The doctor greeted in a friendly tone since he was quite familiar with Bryan’s manager.

“What is the situation of Bryan’s ankle?” The CEO asked without bothering to introduce himself since he was sure the doctor knew his voice. The doctor was paid by the agency to take care of the health of the stars, so of course, he had to know the voice of his employer.

“Hello, sir! Good afternoon sir!” He greeted politely, every trace of the friendliness out of his tone.

“I’m waiting,” The CEO said impatiently.

“He twisted his ankle and has to stay off his feet for a minimum of ten days, in order to let it heal properly,” the doctor said, making the CEO sigh.

“And nothing can be done about that to speed up the healing process? For a golden star like Bryan, every second counts. We already gave him a week to rest, we can’t stretch it,” the CEO said, explaining to the doctor as patiently as he could muster.

“It can’t be helped. Unless his shoots don’t involve him moving around,” the doctor explained, making the CEO sigh wearily. Without saying another word he pressed the disconnect icon and sat back in his seat with his eyes closed as he tried to come up with something that could be done.

“The both of you should call the producers and companies Bryan has business with for next week. Find out if rescheduling is possible since Bryan is injured and can’t work at the moment,” the CEO said without opening his eyes while he kept thinking of what to do.

Mia and Jeff stood up immediately and walked out of the office. “I don’t think they are going to buy it. Everyone knows his fiancee is around. They are likely going to think he is skipping work to laze around with his fiancee,” Mia told Jeff as they walked into the office allocated to Bryan.

“We won’t know if we don’t try,” Jeff told her, pointing to one of the telephones in the office for her to pick it up and place the call.

Thirty minutes later Mia had an ‘I told you so’ look on her face as she and Jeff dropped the telephone receivers. The producer had been pissed off that his movie was about to be delayed again all because of Bryan.. The three directors of the various companies in charge of the commercial ads Bryan was supposed to shoot for their company were equally pissed, and two among them had hinted that Bryan was becoming irresponsible since his engagement.

“The CEO won’t like this,” Mia told Jeff who sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Like I don’t know that already?” He asked with a scowl. The major problem at the moment was that none of them were willing to believe that Bryan had truly injured his ankle. They all thought he was avoiding his duties because his fiancee was visiting.

At that same moment, Mia’s phone beeped with an Instagram notification message and she clicked on it. It was Sonia’s post. She had made a video of Bryan who was fast asleep, and in the video, Bryan woke up once he heard Sonia’s light giggle, and glared at her before covering his face.

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