Theoretically, He Shouldn’t Care
1718 Words
Spring witnessed the grand closing of Millwich Ballet Theater’s winter season. When the snow melted, revealing the tender green buds just piercing out of the mud, a grand GALA was held in time for celebration.
Millwich Ballet Theater invited all its business partners during this winter season. After the performance, people were socializing in the banquet hall.
Eliana was taking pictures with Ophelia in her light blue dress, which set off her curves and youth smartly. For her, it was the biggest day in her life so far. On this final day of her being nineteen years old, she was promoted to Second Soloist.
“Nice picture!” Ophelia posted the picture with some cute colorful words, [Eliana Carey! The youngest Second Soloist at Millwich Ballet Theatre!]
The golden-spoon girl, whose father was one of the sponsors of Millwich Ballet Theatre, didn’t have much ambition. Compared to polishing her ballet technique, she preferred sharing her daily training, diets, and events online.
“Alright Ellie, I just posted you, so you will get famous soon.”
Eliana bantered with her, “How long do I have to wait?”
Ophelia started to count her followers. “Well, I have thirty followers now and one new follower every week on average, which means ... a million years?”
“Wow! I’ll definitely wait!” Eliana gave Ophelia a happy pat on the shoulder, her tone sarcastic.
Ophelia rolled her eyes, teasing back, “Eliana Carey, you are more and more bitchy day by day.”
“Excuse me, are you Eliana Carey?”
An unfamiliar male voice cut in. Eliana and Ophelia both turned around, and then were stunned on the spot.
Eliana had never seen such an unreal person. He seemed to be in his early twenties, tall and slim, his face angular like a sculpture. His blonde hair reflected the lights in the hall, making him look like a cartoon character walking out of comic books.
His voice was also ethereal, like whispering from the stars. “Miss Carey, may I have a word with you?”
Eliana didn’t know who he was and why he wanted to talk to her, but she still agreed, “Sure.”
Ophelia’s gaze shifted between the beautiful man and Eliana, and then she left, leaving Eliana a meaningful smile.
With only the two of them in the hall, the man scratched his hair and started to introduce himself formally, “Hello, I’m Tyler Abney, an independent model.”
“A model!” Eliana exclaimed, “No wonder you are so beautiful!”
“I know.” Tyler showed no sign of shyness.
Eliana was a bit surprised by his reaction. His personality was completely opposite to his appearance.
“I bet you do.” She became more interested in what he was going to say.
Tyler continued, but still not straight to the point, “I don’t like party vibes. I asked Mr. Warner to bring me tonight only because I have a request for you. Miss Carey, you have to agree.”
“What is it?” Eliana spurred him to get to the point.
“I’m cooperating with Starcase and will shoot for their new product next month.” Tyler looked at her, not hiding the eagerness in his eyes. “I want to invite you to partner with me.”
“Me?” Honestly, Eliana felt honored.
Starcase had been their costume provider for years. Dipping into the fashion area was an opportunity for her to be known by more people.
“Yes, you. I decided to talk to you the moment I saw you dance in Nutcracker. I think our vibes agree.”
“Of course! I’m honored!” Eliana agreed without hesitation.
“Perfect. I’m telling Mr. Warner the good news. He’s the manager of Starcase.” Tyler took out his phone and typed fast on the screen. After sending the text, he looked up at Eliana again, his gaze eager. “And I’m looking forward to next month.”
“I’m looking forward, too.” Eliana didn’t dodge his gaze, getting closer to him and taking out her phone. “We should exchange our numbers.”
The two of them stood so close, head to head. Eliana reached out to point out his typo when he was typing her name, and their fingers touched.
Someone walked past them at this time.
Eliana looked up subconsciously.
Then, she saw Xander.
Her heart sank.
Xander walked away without even looking sideways. Eliana wasn’t sure if he saw them, but if he did, would she be in trouble?
Their relationship was just transactional, so theoretically, he shouldn’t care. However, Eliana still thought maybe she’d better not be so intimate with other men right in front of Xander’s face.
Tyler didn’t know what Eliana was thinking. After saving her number, he put back his phone, scratched his hair, and breathed a sigh of relief. “Mission completed. I can finally leave. My boyfriend is picking me up. See you.”
With that, he waved his hand and left, leaving Eliana stunned on the spot.
Boyfriend.
She got the keyword.
So, he didn’t like women.
Eliana watched blankly as he left, realizing one thing: Her exuding feminine charm in front of Tyler wouldn’t lead her any further.
What a waste of effort! She rolled her eyes helplessly.
As she was regretting it, her phone rang.
She went to the stairwell and picked it up. “Mom.”
She told her mom about it as soon as she was promoted. She thought her mom called to congratulate her, but she was wrong.
“Come home for dinner this Thursday,” Lora ordered. “Your dad will also come.”
Eliana failed to restrain her sneer. “Did you force him again?”
“What are you talking about?” Lora was unpleasant. “I told him you got promoted. He’s proud of you and said he wanted to see you.”
Eliana wasn’t interested at all. “I’ll be there if I have time.”
“You have to spare time! Didn’t you hear me? Your dad wanted to see you!”
Eliana was a bit disappointed. There was not a single time she could purely share her joy with her mother. This time, her mother used her to negotiate with her father. Again.
Was her mother never going to change? Eliana was annoyed, and her words became sharp. “Mom, when can you wake up? Why are you so obsessed with keeping a married man who doesn’t care about you at all?”
“I did this for your sake!” Lora yelled, “He’s your dad! He hasn’t come to see us in 192 days! I’m trying to give you an intact family!”
Eliana raised her eyebrows. “I’m surprised you’re counting. I gotta go.”
With that, she hung up the phone.
Lora’s shrill shout was cut off. Silence fell.
Eliana realized her family wasn’t her harbor at a very young age, but it took her a while to figure out why.
She was an illegitimate child whose birth was a mistake in the first place.
Growing up with a twisted mom and an absent dad, she learned that she had no one to rely on, only herself. She hated her dad for being so selfish and irresponsible, hurting his family without feeling guilty. She also hated her mom for being a cheap mistress, but as a woman herself, she sometimes also felt sorry for her mom, especially when that gullible woman knitted a dream and lived in it with what she believed to be true love, refusing to wake up no matter how hard her daughter persuaded her.
Those women who believed in love would end up like her mom. That alarm bell kept ringing in Eliana’s head.
She swore she would never be like her mom.
In this cruel world of deceptive illusions, only interests were real.
Eliana put back her phone and left. When she was about to pull the gate of the stairwell, someone pushed it open and came in.
“Director Lane,” Eliana greeted him.
Xander nodded and said nothing.
“Director Lane, please wait,” Eliana called out to him.
Xander stopped, looking down at her.
The iron gate closed behind them.
She needed to explain to him about Tyler and her in case he misunderstood.
“That blonde man is Tyler. He’s a model. We were talking because he will shoot for Starcase...”
“Eliana.” Xander stopped her. “You don’t have to explain to me.”
Eliana looked at him with innocent eyes. “I just don’t want you to misunderstand.”
“I won’t misunderstand.” Xander’s voice was calm. “I know what kind of woman you are.”
A cheap woman.
When this label occurred to her, Eliana felt as though a big palm had grabbed her heart.
Was she like her mom now?
No, they were totally different. Her mom believed in men’s sweet words, yet she talked sweet words to men to get what she wanted. She did much much better.
But it was still unfair to hear Xander’s sarcasm. After all, he was involved in the very thing he insulted her for.
Eliana couldn’t read him, but she didn’t want to bother as long as he gave her what he had promised.
She brushed off his sarcasm with a smile. “See you later tonight, Director Lane.”
At around 9 pm, as GALA came to an end, people started to leave.
Eliana also left for Xander’s place.
There were too many people around the hall. Eliana didn’t want to be noticed, so she intended to walk further to hail a taxi.
She was walking on the pavement when a car honked next to her. Then, a black Benz pulled up, and the car window rolled down, revealing the smiley face of the man in the driver’s seat.
”Hello, Miss Eliana Carey. I’m Jeffrey Warner, manager of Starcase.”
Eliana immediately greeted him back, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Warner.”
“Tyler has told me.” Jeffrey was a middle-aged man with a gentle smile. “It’s late. Come in. I can give you a ride.”
- Writer
