10 : Pain, Anger and Jealousy

Olivia pulls the towel off her body and stares at the mirror, turning her shoulder to the side. She touches the bruise on her elbow and winced in pain.

She's still in shock over what happened earlier. She can't really get it off her mind. She tried to recall the face even if he had a mask on but she can't.

It doesn't feel like someone she's familiar with. Could it be the stalker fan? It could be someone else... but why does he keep watching her. It's frustrating to think he does. She doesn't feel safe in her own home anymore!

A knock on the door interrupts her thought and she quickly wrapped herself with the towel and turns away from the mirror, making sure to keep the bruise away from Lucy just as she stepped in.

"What? You aren't dressed yet?" Lucy asked with a serious expression. "Sage is here, do you want him to wait till eternity?"

Olivia quickly moved to her wardrobe to get ready, forgetting to keep her bruise completely hidden.

"What is this? How did you get this?" Lucy grabs her arm, taking a close look at it.

"I.. Well, I..." Olivia thinks of a perfect explanation to give. She can't just tell her sister that she went after a secret stalker and that's how she got the bruise.

Lucy would only get worried for no good reason.

"I tripped over at the industry, that's how I got the bruise, it's nothing serious!!" She laughs nervously.

Lucy eyes her suspiciously then shrugged and left to the door. "Hurry up and don't keep him waiting for long"

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

MOMENTS LATER

Grabbing her purse and checking herself in the mirror one last time, she steps out to meet Lucy whispering something into Sage's ear.

She stares at them suspiciously, Lucy only lets out a cocky smile. Olivia turns her gaze fully to Sage who seems to be in a trance.

Now standing in front of him.. Olivia feels her cheeks flush. There's something about the way he looks at her.

"You.. You look... extremely pretty" His voice came out more like a whisper.

"Thanks.. You don't look bad either" Olivia smiles, avoiding his piercing gaze. Can he just stop looking? It's really weird.!!

Lucy, who has been observing everything couldn't help but giggle slightly and her giggles seems to pull Sage out of his trance.

Sage rubbed his neck nervously, embarrassed that he has been caught staring.

"Uhm, Let's get going Sage or we might get there late!" Olivia breaks the awkward silence between them. Sage nods and leads her out of the building, getting the door for her like a perfect gentleman.

Reaching the venue, Sage got the door for her and they both walk in, exchanging pleasantries with everyone else.

The party started and more actors and actresses from other industries kept trooping in.

Olivia was nervous but she decides to shake the feeling off and enjoy the party like everyone else would. It's indirectly hers and Sage's party, yeah... Because they're both the lead characters in the story.

By tomorrow, the movie will be out everywhere. She's sure her fans will be so excited.

"You want some drink?"

"Yeah, Some red wine would do!!"

Sage left to get her a drink and Olivia focuses her mind on everything else around her. She could recognize some actors and actresses and then some she couldn't even recognize but Mr Harper still had them invited.

For a moment, Olivia stopped breathing and fear grips her as her gaze landed on Maynard and Vernes at a far distance from where she stood.

Why are they here? Did Mr Harper invite them also?

Balling her fists, her cheerful emotions got replaced by mixed feelings. She feels both anger, jealousy and hate towards them at the same time.

Why does things like this always happens when she finally wants to completely move on, she keeps remembering the past.

Seeing them both makes her heart boil. They look so happy, with Maynard's arms around her waist.

Those two made her go through severe heartbreak trauma and if it wasn't for Lucy's presence and comforting words, perhaps, she would have resulted in taking her own life.

The nerve of them playing a sweet couple right on front of her.

Sage walks up to her with two glasses of wine. She didn't seem to notice his presence, he followed her gaze to see she was staring at Maynard and Vernes. He could recognize them because he has seen lots of movies they featured in.

"Are you okay?" He couldn't help but ask after seeing how hard she gazed at them.

Olivia turned and swallowed a huge lump of her saliva. Her lips felt too heavy to utter even a single word. She stares at Sage, then back at Maynard who was already laughing hard with Vernes.

As if the stars were on her side, Mr Harper makes an official announcement that it's going to be a masked party, stating it's actually going to make the party more fun.

Olivia quickly went over to get a mask, relieve washing over her as soon as she puts it on.

What a good way to keep her identity hidden throughout the party. The party started fully and being the Central character in the movie, she's meant to give a speech alongside sage.

Right after Mr Harper and other producers were done with their speech, they were called up the stage.

Olivia carefully takes her steps alongside Sage. As she began to give her speech, She noticed Maynard never stopped staring at her.

She had to conceal her emotions while staring back at him so as to give a perfect speech.

No doubt, he already knows that it's actually her.

Olivia feels consumed by lots of emotions. There's absolutely no way she's going to keep staying under same roof with Maynard and Vernes.

She can't let them see her.. They might make mockery and humiliate her in front of everyone and she might end up doing something really crazy.

"I.. I have to leave. Am sorry" She turns to Sage and scurries out as soon as she rounded up her speech, ignoring him as he calls out her name, running after her.

"Olivia... "Sage grabs her wrist and She tries to wiggle out of his grip but he wasn't ready to let her go. " .. Why are you leaving all of a sudden? Did something happen? Did you see something?" He looks really worried and concerned.

Before Olivia could respond, Maynard showed up. Even if he had a mask on, she could still recognize him.

"Excuse me, Can I have a word with you, Olivia Dalton?"