Behind The Scenes Novels & Stories

Helen snapped before storming out. Laura stood frozen, her voice trembling as she whispered, “Be – Behind me?” The confusion was too much. Jerry’s fists clenched in response, and the tension in the room was intense.

"Oh, by the way, where's your husband? Didn't he come? This is an important event for his wife." "He has a lot of work, and I don't like involving him in events like this." Svarga nodded, linking his arm with Arsila as they walked to the red carpet stage to join Catherine. The eyes of the two women met, and Catherine welcomed Arsila as if she didn't know her at all. In contrast, Arsila gave a fake smile. The large backdrop featuring Gistara's cosmetics and skincare brand was the background for photos of the two women. "This is interesting," Arsila whispered as the cameras continued snapping. "We meet again after everything that happened in the past."

She was screwed. By lunchtime, Desiree had looked at the schedule and planner, arranged a meeting with Simons, prepared the conference room for the meeting, and met all the department heads. The only thing left was the analysis of all the projects of this past month. On her way back from the finance department, she was breathing heavily. She hadn't taken a break for a single moment, and her head was close to exploding. There were so many files, so many meetings to arrange, so many things to do according to the planner and schedule. And it was just her first day.

When my car drove in, it immediately caught everyone's attention. Someone exclaimed, "Mr. Peterson, your company is really wealthy if employees drive such nice cars to work!" All eyes turned toward me. I calmly got out of the car and walked straight up to the three of them. Lucia's eyes were filled with jealousy. Marcus's expression changed as he lowered his voice to tell me, "Why are you here? The film crew is still around. Whatever it is, can't it wait until they leave?" I smiled and said loudly, "Mr. Peterson, I'm here to resign."

They did not leave Crescent Threshold Behavioral Systems empty-handed. By the time the sun had climbed high enough to bleach the frosted glass of the waiting room, the clinic itself had become evidence. Every drive had been mirrored. Every intake packet had been photographed. Every threshold-room kit had been bagged and labeled, and every active file duplicated under chain. The staff had been separated, documented, and warned with enough clarity that no one in the building could still mistake what was happening for an administrative inconvenience.

Zara's POV I removed the flash drive and tucked it beneath the drawer in my closet before entering the master bedroom where Nico and Tessa were waiting. Nico was adjusting the last strand of my hair while Tessa, ever the multitasker, filmed content for the media. “Tessa,” I said, meeting her eyes through the mirror, she paused the video. “When the red carpet’s over and the event has been going for at least an hour, have security clear out every photographer. No phones, no cameras. Not even from the guests. Do you understand me?”

James’s face was pale, anger twisting his jaw. “I can’t do this here,” he hissed at her, but Brenda didn’t move. “Then when, James?” she demanded. “When will you introduce me?” Gasps rippled from the onlookers, whispers already spreading like wildfire. My chest burned, but I kept my face composed, drifting closer, pretending like everything was fine, not going to throw a tantrum like everyone expected. James turned on his heel and froze when his eyes met mine before excusing himself, leaving Brenda standing there, chin lifted in defiance.

Ronald said looking at me and I nodded my head. Wow! Sometimes I wonder how loud I could get. Even in much noise Ronald heard me. I got up to go and saw Loren too following behind me. He didn't say anything and just kept walking behind me. I walked backstage and to be honest there were so many people behind. They were much busier than the people sitting in the front. I learned a new thing here. To run a programme the most hardworking people are the ones working backstage and fortunately there wasn't any media to capture their hard work.

He settled back in his chair and watched the room fill and told himself to leave it alone. ***** Backstage was a different world entirely. The calm that Raymond had carefully constructed over the last two hours was holding, but only just. Most of the models were in their final looks, the hair and makeup team were doing last touch ups, and the floor manager was moving from station to station with a headset and a clipboard checking off names. The music from the front of the house was audible back here, muffled through the walls, and that sound more than anything else was making it real.

Someone could be naked for Christ's sake. "Follow me now." He ordered with an air of authority. We exchanged looks and followed her immediately. Moving out, the man had led us backstage. Our changing room was really close to it, I wondered how we didn't catch any noise from there. They must have a good soundproof system. There was a large screen at the back which showed what happened on stage. I studied it closely. There were several rows of seats full of spectators, scrutinising the show. Noah Park the three others stood out the most with the most intimidating aura around them, setting them apart from the general.