A DEAL WITH THE CEO

“It’s about to start! Where’s Tessie?” A little girl yelled excitedly. “She’s in the bathroom.” Her sister, Debbie, was relaxed on the sofa, also waiting for the show to start. “Call her. It’s about to start!” The little girl whined. “Tessie, it’s about to start!” Debbie obliged just so her ears wouldn’t bleed from her sister’s whining. “What! Wait for me!” Tessie was in the bathroom having her bath when she heard her name. She paused what she was doing and ran to the living room where everyone was gathered, ready to watch the show. “Jeez! Tessie, wear something!” Debbie yelled at Tessie. “Shhh! She is going to be living now.” “Don’t you shush me!” “It’s time…” Debbie was probably the only sane person in the room. But when they all waited for more than two minutes and nothing happened, even she became worried. “What’s happening? Why is she not on yet?” Like every one in the room and everybody in the country watching the program, they were confused. Back in the studio where the program was aired from…. The entire place was in chaos. “Where is Kya? Have you seen her?”someone asked. “Where the f**k is that b***h? If I don’t see her at the next minute, she is fired!” The director yelled. “Oh my God! Kya! Kya!” Sandy, her personal assistant panicked. Her job was to make sure Kya was ready for the show. Now, everyone looked at her questioningly like she was supposed to know where Kya was. “ Oh oh… She is so f*****g screwed this time.” Becky, snickered. She tried acting like she was worried but failed. The situation was just too dramatic for her to keep a straight face. “I knew that b***h wouldn’t last,” Suzy commented. “Suzy!” Becky chided her playfully. “That’s not a nice thing to say.” She said before laughing. Suzy joined her. Both of them hated Kya. Ever since she came around, she had taken away their spotlight. Now, nobody is interested in watching the “Suzy and Becky” act anymore. They all wanted Kya. People wanted to see her on every TV show, they wanted to see her sing, see her dance, every single time. It was as if Kya had brainwashed them all. Now, seeing Kya messing up and the show’s director mad at her, they couldn’t help but laugh. They were good actresses. But at that point, they couldn’t contain their amusement. “Joking aside, where could she be? I know this show is important to her too.” Becky was the first to try putting on a straight face. “Yeah, it’s her only ticket out of the slums she’s from.” As Suzy said that, they both started laughing again. “I heard her family was once rich.” Becky chipped in between laughter. “Where did you hear that from? Have you seen her? Does she look like someone that has seen at least a million dollars in her life?” “Uh huh…” Becky shook her head in disagreement. Suzy did look like them. While Suzy was from a struggling home, they were both from a wealthy family. At that moment, Sandy, the lady who was in charge of Kya rushed to the director, alarmed. “Where the hell is Kya?” The director didn’t have the patience. He wanted to find Kya so he would savage the situation. He had put his assistant in charge of keeping the channel busy while they searched for Kya. “Sir, she’s… She … She’s…” Sandy stammered. With both her hands on her knees, she tried to take in air. She was sweating profusely and everyone turned worried. Everyone’s attention was on what she had to say. “Where?” The director demanded. The poor girl was still heaving for air. She was totally struggling to breathe like she had been running for centuries. Pointing towards a hallway, she said one word. “ There…” Eager to know what had happened, everyone including the director rushed in that direction, towards the room where an unconscious Kya was. She was thoroughly high on drugs. With her body sprawled on the couch in the waiting room, one of her hands pointed towards the table where a glass, half filled, was kept. “What the hell….” The director walked in to check what was in the drink. “ What the f**k is this?” It looked like alcohol. But with the way she was, everyone suspected it was drugs. “Everyone out! The show’s over! Out!” He tried to savage the situation. “Sandy, call the guards, take this b***h out of here. Use the back door!” He didn’t want a reckless teenager to destroy his career. Immediately, Sandy obliged. While everyone left and was busy, a reporter sneaked in. He took pictures of Kya in her vulnerable state and a picture of the drink beside her. That was enough for a juicy story. He left quickly before he got caught. Later that evening, the headline for the news in the entertainment section was…. TEENAGE RISING STAR, KYE WAS FOUND UNCONSCIOUS OF HIGH DOSAGE OF DRUGS. The media only told half the story, the part that they knew. The truth didn’t matter. Even after Kya had regained consciousness and had tried to explain what really happened, no one was willing to listen. They all chose to believe she was a drug addict like her mother. That day, when she later regained consciousness, she realized she had lost everything, her career was gone. Any chance of her being successful as a singer was destroyed. People were quick to believe what was on the news. And no matter how many times she explained, no one gave her a chance for a comeback. And she had one person to blame. Just one person to blame for the tragic demise of her career. Rowan Levon. He was her nemesis. The reason is that everything was crashing down. Earlier that day, fifteen minutes before the show would start, he had visited her in her waiting room. She had made the mistake of trusting him and giving him a chance in her life. Despite both their family history of being enemies for generations, she tried to end the cycle of feud between their families by being friends with him. But, look at what it had cost her! Her entire career! Five years of her hard effort down the drain. Forget her damaged career, when she tried applying to colleges, she was instantly rejected. No one wanted her. It seemed like she had turned into some plague. She tried waiting it out. There’s no way she would be the topic of discussion all the time. At some point, rumours die down. And it did. But her life was already ruined. Even after the rumours had died down, when she walked in the streets and somebody recognized her, her past would haunt her again. When she mistakenly enter the bus or train, someone would recognize her and she would have to deal with the whole thing over again. At some point, she wanted to take her life, end her miserable existence. But, she didn’t. She couldn’t make a decision so selfishly. What would become of her dear o’ dad? He had suffered enough. Her mom was a drug addict still recovering in rehab. Her dad ran a local restaurant all by himself. His business was already suffering a lot because of the scandal about her. The only customers that kept coming were the old ones that had become friends with her dad over the years. The local restaurant, Big Bites was a family business for generations. Kya had once heard from her father that the restaurant was once a top restaurant in the country. They had a lot of branches in the country. But the Levon Enterprise was the cause of their downfall. Ever since, both families have hated each other. Now, Rowan Levon, the current heir to the Levon Enterprise, had destroyed his career! One night, she swore to repay the Levons back. Would she make them pay even if she died trying to?