"Vi! Not there!" Sam yelled, noticing Violet was entering his washroom just a little too late. He put his arms on his waist while sighing at the sight of Sebastian still bowing guiltily to him.
"No more next time in this room. Just stay in my room. Move in." Sam said before helping Sebastian to stand, as he was more worried about the chaos Violet would cause in his washroom. Sam was a neat person, while Violet was, on the contrary, a very messy person if she wanted to cause she learned to clean up her mess. Before Sebastian could thank Sam, Sam rushed off and banged on his bathroom door till Violet came out.
Just listening to the siblings bickering made him envy them. He had always grown up alone among the adults. He had no chance to bicker with anyone cause even if he wanted to, he was too busy picking up new skills or studying. When high school came, he was already packed with trainee schedules, so he struggled with studies sometimes.
Now he wondered what he had lived for? All his life, he had been living up to other people's expectations but not his own. If it were not for Violet, he would not have noticed he had lost his personality and preferences a long time ago.
His eyes teared up involuntarily when the siblings stopped bickering. Violet rushed over to hold his hand, noticing his somber mood.
"Hey… You'll be fine. We will head to the site together. I will help you with the preparations." Violet assured him as Sam realised what his sister was doing. He had seen such therapy given to artists before.
It dawned on him that Sebastian might need to seek professional help. He walked over and sat next to Sebastian.
"Do you want to visit a psychiatrist?" Sam asked as Sebastian shook his head.
"I have some leftover medicine from the previous session…" Sebastian said while closing his eyes. Violet was a little taken aback to learn he had sought psychiatric help before.
"How long ago was your last session?" Sam questioned as Violet began to worry.
"A few months ago… I can't go anywhere without being followed. I can't be at peace either. There's always this paranoia… It was also partly due to Janice having her whereabouts unknown. I… " Sebastian admitted as he sighed heavily, with both siblings understanding where he was coming from with his divorce.
"I will arrange for you to resume…" Sam offered, but Sebastian rejected.
"Sam… Don't. I can manage." Sebastian said as he got up and walked back to his unit to get ready to leave for his next job.
"I told you, didn't I?" Violet reprimanded him before wanting to chase Sebastian, but Sam held back her arm.
"Vi… This is a bad case… Are you sure?" Sam asked her in all seriousness before she squatted back down.
"How bad is it?" Violet questioned him, but Sam hesitated to reply.
"Like I said earlier? Suicide?" Violet prompted as Sam nodded. Violet's eyes reddened.
"I will see through this," Violet said with conviction.
Though she did, Sam was worried about both of them. He really did not want Violet to be hurt again, but Sebastian's condition indeed was better when Violet was with him. He could not decide what to do except to let them stick together. Even more so when Sebastian was going to film for three months consecutively on his upcoming drama.
Penny was still writing every day to Pei Li. Despite all her efforts to coax her out, it was all to no avail. Instead, Penny and Wayne's relationship had developed further. Since she was to accompany Wayne to the filming site, she had arranged for her visit to Dr. Herli to be once every fortnight instead.
The next day, Violet drove Sebastian to the agency as Sam was busy discussing with Maliwei on their new project. The first person they saw when they arrived was Wayne and Penny.
"Hey, bro!" Sebastian greeted, but Wayne was a little hostile. He only nodded before protectively pulling Penny closer to him as though protecting her from Sebastian.
Sebastian was a little confused over his reaction, but decided to play along, thinking it was probably the agency giving them issues as well. In actual fact, Wayne was wary of people around him trying to harm him or Penny, given Penny's sensitive situation as well.
"Hi…" Violet tried to pretend to be oblivious to the situation as she greeted Wayne, who nodded, and Penny, who was actually smiling at her. Wayne nudged Penny to remind her discreetly not to act too friendly, though Penny had already taken a liking towards Violet. Her smile disappeared instantly upon Wayne's reminder. They were all then rushed to their respective van, heading to another rural area for filming that day.
While in the car, Violet could not shrug off her curiosity about the couple's sudden change in behavior earlier. "Hey… the couple earlier…" She lowered her voice so that the driver, though outsourced, couldn't hear them clearly.
"Hmm…" Sebastian wanted to hum his acknowledgement, but ended up clearing his throat and choking. Violet couldn't help but chuckle first before passing him some water.
"Don't you find them …" Sebastian interrupted her again with a harumph and gave her a stern look. She knew she should just text him as she sat back, pretending like she was playing with her phone.
Why are they so weird? They looked like a couple, and why must he make his assistant act so hostile? She smiled at me. Violet sent her text to Sebastian, but he ignored it, knowing it was her when his phone vibrated.
He knew he had to pretend like nothing was going on between Violet and him, except a work relationship, to protect her, but also to avoid more gossip. However, Violet was so impatient that she passed him his phone. He frowned and was forced to read her message.
When at work, act professionally. The rest we will talk about tonight or when I am free from filming. You never know who is spying on us. He knew she would instantly read his message, so he lingered on his phone and pretended to browse other celebrity news as it was part of his job.
He smirked, noticing Violet rolled her eyes and pouted.
Meanwhile, as for Wayne and Penny, they were trying to maintain a hostile relationship against others as a protection from their lurking enemy. Since the roads were taking the mountaineering routes into the rural suburbs, Sebastian and Wayne had not been eating much before the ride.
Penny was briefed the night before, but not Violet, who was trying to feed Sebastian some bun, only to finish it up herself. He stopped her from having more on the way. Though annoyed by his controlling methods, she could tell his reasons when she felt nauseous. She also could understand the reason he was acting differently due to the people he did not trust at his workplace. She could only oblige to his arrangements and play by ear.
When they reached the secluded destination without any trouble, Violet somewhat felt it was strange to see the driver leave the venue. "Violet!" Sebastian was yelling for her to come over to him so that he could introduce his agency's assistant.
"Hey…" She greeted the new girl.
"Meet Fang Li. The agency's assistant. I need you both to coordinate on my schedule and necessities." Sebastian informed before briefly introducing Violet to Fang Li.
Violet, from her years of experience in human resources, could instantly tell that the vibe from Fang Li was not that simple. When she confirmed with Fang Li the schedules while Sebastian went to get ready for a scene, she noticed the driver's details were not written in detail. The accommodation was supposed to be at the foothill of the mountain, and the meals were heavy. So, she decided to question her a little.
"When will we get to confirm the driver's details?" Violet questioned in her usual professional tone.
"When the scene filming is over…" Fang Li rolled her eyes at Violet's detailed management.
"And when exactly is the estimated time?" Violet pestered on.
"Unknown… depends on the director." Fang Li pointed in the director's direction before leaving Violet to fend for herself. She and Fang Li were literally annoyed at each other.
Feeling suspicious, Violet stepped aside to call the transport company discreetly to double confirm the arrangements, only to find out there was no return trip request made. She instantly made the arrangements with the transport company herself for tonight, according to a rough schedule given, though she knew the cost would be trouble for Sam to fight with the agency later.
As a precaution, she also called the hotel accommodation to ensure it was in order, only to find there was only one room booked for the actor. She was prepared to stay by the lobby in that case, but she was more concerned about his meals. She regretted not driving all the way up but knew it was a challenge to do so on the mountain roads.