President Wu had been explaining how the two’s cooperation would work, but he noticed that both Ryan and Elise seemed to be not paying attention to his words. The two’s gazes were locked at each other, like they were in their own world. He wasn’t a petty person, but their actions definitely pissed him off. He slammed his hands on the table which startled the two.

“President Wu, you didn’t have to do that.” Ryan commented.

“Oh really? The two of you have been staring at each other intensely ever since you arrived.”

“That… well…

Elise took a deep breath and held out her hand to the celebrity.

“I’ll be your handler form now on. I hope we can work well together.”

She noticed that he was a bit reluctant on shaking her hand, but he took it anyway.

“Yeah.”

“Do you two perhaps, know each other?” asked President Wu as he studied their suspicious movements from a while ago.

“No.” answered Elise flatly.

“Not really.” was Ryan’s answer.

“Right. I’ll leave you two to get acquainted then.”

When President Wu left, the room was wrapped in awkward silence. The kind where one could actually go deaf. Ryan felt uncomfortable, but he knew Elise was feeling the same.

“So… you’re back?” he asked to break the silence between them.

“Yeah.”

“Elise, about what happened, I-“

“You don’t have to worry about it. That was a long time ago and I’m pretty sure the two of us have moved on already.”

“Oh. Then what about the… you know? What about the baby?”

Elise wanted to punch the lights out of the man in front of him. He actually had the nerve to ask that? Where was he when she tried to contact him! Where was he when she was hospitalized dozens of time because of her pregnancy? He wasn’t there! He was living his life as a celebrity!

‘Calm down Elise. You have to be rational. You can’t fall apart here.’ she reminded herself.

After counting to ten mentally, she had decided to lie. She didn’t want a guy like the one in front of him to be her son’s father.

“I kept the child.” she said. “I went with my pregnancy.”

“Is that why you never attended the graduation?” he asked. “I also heard you went abroad.”

“Yes. My parents sent me abroad to continue with the pregnancy.”

She couldn’t believe it when he actually sighed in relief.

“I thought you would really have the child aborted.”

“I’m not like you.” she mumbled in a low voice.

“Pardon?”

“Nothing. Anything else you want to ask?” Elise asked, already sounding a little annoyed.

“What happened to the child?”

“I… I had him adopted.” she answered, already feeling a little guilty. “I couldn’t take care of him anyway.”

“That’s good, I guess.”

‘Good? That’s good? Ryan Zhang you-!’

Elise stopped herself. She couldn’t lose her focus, it was her job on the line after all.

“It’s nice to see you again by the way.” Ryan said.

“Yeah.”

“Also, your looks never really changed. You still look a lot like you did in high school.”

“Yeah. You look different though.” she replied.

“Do I look more mature?” Ryan joked. “Sometimes I have to look mature for a role you know.”

“Aah… Is that so?”

“By the way, I met your brother the other day. We never got to talk about your though.”

“That. Uhm… After sixteen years ago, my parents kicked me out.”

“Oh.” Ryan felt a guilty upon hearing her statement. “I’m so sorry about that.”

“It already passed.”

Elise’s words were actually an advice for herself. She was trying to remind herself not to linger at the past.

“Mister Zhang,” she called, trying to be formal. “From now on, I will be your handler. Don’t worry, I will take good care of you. As for our past relationship, let’s put that behind us. Let’s just stay professional from this point on. See you tomorrow.”

Ryan was surprised at her words. He was not even able to retort because she left the room afterwards. When he got home, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed at what just happened. Usually, when he meets someone from his childhood or teenage years, it would all be pleasantries. After all, he was quite a famous celebrity. Elise was the first one to brush him off and she was the one with the deepest relationship with him before!

“That’s your problem?” asked his best friend, Fred, who also happened to be his roommate.

They debuted together sixteen years ago, but Fred focused in his music and was now a renowned singer and producer, while he delved into singing, acting and modelling.

“You woke me up from my needed sleep just for that?” Fred asked again, his voice and expression both in disbelief. “Are you kidding me?!”

“Hey! You should be troubled with this! You introduced her to me!”

“That was when we were still senior high school students.” Fred huffed. “Eh? Ryan, I thought you were already over her? And the fact that she brushed you off also meant she’s over you. I’m sure she won’t hold the fact that you two had a child together against you.”

“That’s not the point Fred. Have you ever met a girl that said no to me?”

“So?”

“I can’t let her get away with it!”

Fred could only roll his eyes. His best friend was too childish for his own good.

Meanwhile, Elise was on video call with Anna. She made sure Seth was in his room and she had the door to both their rooms closed and told her what happened.

“You’re too nice Elise!” Anna exclaimed. “You should’ve punched him or at least slapped him in the face!”

“I can’t just do that! I have a reputation to keep you know.” Elise reminded her. “Besides, I’m already over him, so I shouldn’t be affected.”

“Hmm… It’s good that you’re still rational about it. But hey, weren’t you madly in love with him back in high school? You better not be like that again! I swear… I’ll be the one to slap you.’

“Noted Anna. And besides, it had been sixteen years. Of course I won’t be like a puppy struck in love with him again.”

The next day, she arrived at Wu Studios before eight. She was going to familiarize herself to the building and her new office. She wasn’t expecting to see Ryan already there though.

“Hey!” he greeted.

“Good morning too. What are you doing here?”

“Ever since we were young, you had always been an early bird, I figured you’d be earl at work.”

“You don’t say. Don’t you have a schedule today?” she asked.

“You should know that. You’re my handler now.”

“Right.”

Elise rummaged her desk and found Ryan’s schedule.

“For today, you will have a few photoshoots for the modelling ad you signed with for next month. After that, you will be filming the drama. I will find some time to visit you at the shooting sites. I need to talk to three other companies about renewing their contract with you as their model.”

“Right. You’ll be quite busy. But what if I have some emergencies? I’m sure you’ll come running right?”

Ryan couldn’t help but smirk. He was planning to tire her out on her first day, and he felt as if he was winning at it.

“Why should I?” Elise asked.

His smile vanished and his expression was changed to that of a confused one.

“What do you mean?”

“If you have something to say, you can just call me. After that, I can tell you Assistants and managers what to do. Isn’t that how it usually works?”

“Uhm… Well I-“

“We’ll both be busy today, so I would appreciate it if you don’t screw up.” she reminded him.

Ryan was only agape as he watched her walk out of the office. In the past, he used to tease her and she would easily fall for it, but the Elise he met now was different. Entirely different.

Elise couldn’t help but smile smugly. She shrugged off Ryan’s advances on teasing her and she was proud of herself. She proved to him that she was no longer the same Elise back then.

A few months passed and Ryan kept trying to pester Elise. Of course the latter had always succeeded in brushing him off which annoyed him even more.

“Am I ugly?” Ryan asked to Vin, his PA.

“I don’t think so boss.”

“Then, am I not charming enough?”

“I don’t think so as well boss. You can still sway girls off their feet even if you’re already in your thirties.”

“I can, can’t I? Then what’s her problem?” he exclaimed.

“Who boss? Miss Li?”

“Yes! Her! How is she not attracted to this face!”

Vin could only swallow the non-existent lump on his throat. His boss was definitely in a crisis. Ever since he worked for Ryan Zhang, he had never seen any girl reject him, much less brush him off. But his new handler, Elise Li, was definitely something. He also heard the two used to go to the same school during senior high. So he thought maybe Elise was just immune to him. And he was pretty sure if he said that, he’s have to say bye-bye to his job.

“Wasn’t I her first love?” he heard Ryan mutter. “Did she lie about that?”

All of a sudden, Ryan’s phone rang. He immediately picked it up when he saw the caller ID flash on the screen.

“Hey Elise! What’s up?”

“What’s up? What’s up is the sky Ryan!”

“Huh? Elise, I-“

“Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you are in right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come to the company immediately. The president wants to meet us.”

***

Ryan could only sigh in disbelief after reading the newly published article in a news portal in the internet.

“That is fake.” he stated.

“It looks real to me.” President Wu replied.

“This is the third scandal ever since I became your handler.” Elise commented and clutched her phone tightly. “Are you doing this on purpose?”

“What? Of course not! Why would I deliberately harm my own reputation?”

A new scandal popped up concerning Ryan and a new actress. It just happened that the latter was in the same production as him. The article he read a while ago consisted of a photo of him and that actress and was paired with an article that said how they were secretly dating.

“What should we do about this Miss Li?” asked President Wu.

“We can only go by two ways; either to admit to the rumor and both of them gain haters, or we can deny it and Ryan will be dubbed as a heart breaker. Which one would you like?” she said.

“Isn’t there a third option?” Ryan asked.

“No, there’s no third option.” she answered firmly.

All of a sudden, she walked towards to Ryan’s seat and leaned closer to him. Their faces were only a few inches apart and Ryan couldn’t help but stiffen in shock.

“I thought I already told you to stay away from rumors like this.” she reminded him. “The last rumor was like this too. And the one before that was being a third party. You really like me cleaning up your mess, don’t you? Just like back then.”

Getting reminded of his early years of being a celebrity, no, even before that, Ryan felt a little angry. He knew Elise was a little pissed off at what was going on, but she didn’t have to remind him about something that happened sixteen years ago.

He looked at Elise in the eyes and stood up abruptly. The latter was surprised at his movement and almost lost her balance, but thankfully, she regained her footing and managed not to fall face-first to the floor.

“You’re my agent, that’s your job.” he hissed. He took out his sunglasses and started walking out of the office. “Ah, if there’s anyone that needs me, I’ll be at home.”

Elise only raised an eyebrow at Ryan’s actions. She was thinking that the guy was already in her middle thirties, he didn’t have to act that way. She shook her head in disbelief and just started forming a plan on how he can save both Ryan and the actress’ reputations due to the rumor. She also walked out of the office.

President Wu was at a loss. Ryan and Elise seemed to have forgotten they were in his office and that he was in the office. The two completely disregarded him!

“Why do I feel so left out.” muttered the young president of Wu Studios. He picked up the telephone on his table and dialed his secretary. “Hey Pia? Can you look into something for me?”

“President, I’m your secretary, not a private investigator.”

“I’ll pay you extra.”

“Why didn’t you say so? What do you want me to look into President Wu?”

“Can you investigate the relation of Elise Li and Ryan Zhang? I have a feeling the two has some complicated past together.”

“Will do!”