“Sure, that works I guess.”
However, Justin did not sound particularly enthusiastic. His voice had given that much away.
Shermaine had a really bad feeling about the audition, especially since it concerned Clarissa. It seemed as if Justin had read into something else Clarissa conveyed, so what was this? Was Clarissa taking revenge? Anything was possible.
Shermaine walked up to Justin. They murmured something then walked out of the venue for some privacy.
Clarissa was not remotely curious. Since Shermaine was the last to arrive, it signaled the end of today’s auditions as well. She promptly left after Shermaine did.
That evening, Shermaine had dinner with Justin. Matthew and Jeremy were invited as well.
Matthew, however, did not show up.
Of course, Matthew’s presence was not important. Not all of them met Shermaine through Matthew, so they all got along just fine without him.
One of the topics that came up was the movie Justin planned on making.
“So, Shermaine. I heard you audition for Yates’ movie this time? However, since you’ve worked with him before, you won’t gain much since you’re familiar with him. Isn’t it better to expand your horizons and work for someone else? I hear there is a new director by the name of Charles or something.”
Shermaine and Jeremy were somewhat related but through distant branches of the family.
Justin was introduced to Shermaine via Matthew.
Everyone thought that her persistence with Matthew would eventually pay off, but who would’ve thought that someone else could succeed where she had failed. Shermaine had lost to an outsider, at that.
It had to be fate, who could argue otherwise?
Everyone also knew Clarissa. But nobody wanted to break the news to Shermaine since Matthew himself had not said a word about it.
Shermaine smiled. “Well, I like acting in Justin’s movies. Besides, we already have a good working relationship, so why would I want to make things more difficult? I’m going to support Justin as much as I can.
Shermaine sounded as if Justin had yet to cast a protagonist in his film.
On the surface, of course, it sounded as if it was just affection and genuine support.
Justin was never one to mince words. Even if they were in the presence of others, he always said what needed to be said.
“Shermaine, I don’t think the first lead suits you. The supporting role would be a better fit instead. That being said, this is still a supporting role, and maybe you think that you need not be playing something so small. So even if you turn it down, I’ll bear you no hard feelings. I just have to recast the role.”
Justin only said that she was unsuitable to play the role, but he left out how she did not perform as well as Yaala.
Shermaine’s expression darkened. The others then decided to jump in and change the subject to uplift the awkwardness from earlier.
“Shermaine, if it’s truly unsuitable, just let it go. I think you should pay attention to the finer details. If they want to cast someone chubby as the princess, it’ll definitely not work for you. At least, that’s how Justin described it. By the way, I have a decent drama coming up, maybe you can check that out!”
Shermaine shook her head at Jackson’s suggestion. “Justin, I know I’ll be suitable for the role when I do get down to performing. Didn’t we do pretty well in our previous show? You also said that I was unsuitable then, but I ended up winning an award. The response was great too. I think you don’t mean what you’re saying.”
After Shermaine finished speaking, Justin looked at her with a stern frown. “So, what are you trying to say?”
“Whatever happened in the studio with Clarissa was just a misunderstanding. She might even resent me still. If you’re helping her vent by denying me a good part, then I’ll be very disappointed in you. We’ve known each other for so many years now, is that nothing compared to your affection for one woman?”
Justin cleared his throat audibly, and the others seemed to look quite uncomfortable.
Shermaine eyed them suspiciously.
What is that reaction supposed to mean? Were they not aware of the incident between Justin and Clarissa?
“No, Yates, but…you and Clarissa..”
A sharp look from Justin shut Yarick up immediately. ”Shermaine, I have a working relationship with Clarissa. Moreover, the final decision for casting is mine to make. It has nothing to do with her.”
“If her opinion doesn’t matter, what was she doing at the audition today? You know what? Fine. I don’t care what you do with each other in the future. But now, I’m still cast in a supporting role. This is an outrage and an insult. This is revenge.”
“That’s enough!”
Justin yelled at Shermaine, who trembled at his sudden outburst of anger.
Come to think of it, why was she so insistent on starring in this movie?
In the beginning, Justin was a very fussy director who would nitpick over everything. He either ignored her face onset or cursed at her outright. Shermaine hated him initially but had to admit that Justin had an artistic genius about him. Every single one of his productions was masterpieces in their own right.
If she did not have faith that his work could restore her declining popularity, she would not insist on starring in Justin’s film.
That was why his sudden outburst suddenly caused all the feelings of disgust and fear that she tried so hard to suppress to overflow again.
Justin barely had any sympathy left for her.
“Shermaine, I knew from the start that you were every bit the narrow-minded person who would spread rumors to incur malice. I should not have cast you at all.”
It was a curt statement. Cruel, ruthless, even, But it was effective.
Everyone present stared at Justin in surprise. His face, however, was unrelenting.
Shermaine who had already turned quite pale by shock looked quite pitiful.
“Alright, I’ve said my piece. I think you’re not suited for the role, and that’s that. There was no need to drag anyone else into this. The grudge you both seem to have, regardless of how true it is, has nothing to do with me.”
Shortly afterwards, Justin got up and left.
It took some time, but Shermaine finally broke into tears, seemingly inconsolable.
This display upset everyone, but it affected Jeremy the most. He always had a soft spot for damsels in distress.
“It’s alright, Shermaine, don’t cry. Yates has always been blunt. Especially when it comes to movies or his own body of work. He did it to get a rise out of you, but I don’t think he meant it. Don’t take it to heart!”
“Yeah, Shermaine. Yates probably had a bit too much to drink and decided to run his mouth.”
Shermaine cried for a long while, and her eyes reddened quite badly. When she finally managed to stop, she dried her tears and spoke for the first time. “He wasn’t like this before. Did he actually rile me up on Clarissa’s behalf? This is unacceptable. He did this over a girl. He’s also treating me like this today, so that means he’ll do that to someone else? Does he not care for his friends?”
This is ridiculous enough.
The corners of Jeremy’s mouth twitched in a secret smile. He shared a look with Henry, who also seemed to have an inward grin.
Her intended meaning was not exactly difficult to miss.
They have not had much contact with Shermaine before. Since she spent more time with Matthew, they didn’t know much about her.
As they reflected on this, they realized that it was no different this time.
Yates knew Shermaine best, but he had never appreciated Shermaine. On the contrary, he preferred the warmth of a person like Clarissa and went to the extent of protecting her. They only understood this when they compared the two women that way.
As Yates said before, Shermaine was quite a difficult person.
Closer to the end of dinner, Shermaine seemed to have drunk quite a bit of alcohol. It could be either Matthew’s disregard or Justin’s anger that caused her to feel depressed. Since she was already inebriated, she kept calling out Matthew’s name.
If anyone tried to approach or touch her, she would struggle.
Given the situation, they had no choice but to seek out Matthew.
Matthew, however, had flatly refused without any mercy.
He had nothing to do with the situation there. At the house, Clarissa held a piece of fruit as she snuggled against Matthew. She tried to focus on the TV show she was watching but then overheard the word “Shermaine” and could not focus anymore. After Matthew hung up, Clarissa silently focused on her show but to no avail. The phone call had already bothered her.
After a while, Matthew finally spoke. He gently squeezed Clarissa’s finger and plopped the grape she was holding into her mouth with a chuckle. “What are you thinking about?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Is that so?”
Matthew flicked at her hair with his fingers to see if he could get a reaction from her. Clarissa pushed his hand away quite impatiently, after a while.
“What are you doing?”
“Tsk. Are you annoyed?”
Clarissa murmured a gentle response and ignored him again, seemingly engrossed in the program she was watching. Her annoyance had nothing to with his ministrations to her hair.
Matthew was well aware of this. He smirked and leaned over, letting the warmth of his breath tickle Clarissa’s ear.
“Someone called me. It was about Shermaine.”
Clarissa’s body immediately stiffened. She pursed her lips and did not say anything.
Matthew stifled his laughter and continued to tease her. “Come now, aren’t you the least bit curious why they called?”
“No, what does that have to do with me? Go away, I don’t want to hear a single word.”
Clarissa pushed Matthew away impatiently, and the latter fell on his side with a dull thud.
She sat there, quite still, but soon felt that the show she was watching had suddenly become unbearable. She could not stand the way they were all smiling at the screen.
Flustered, she picked up the remote and began restlessly surfing through different channels.
Matthew leaned back lazily on the other side of the sofa and grinned while he observed the annoyed woman with great interest.
It wasn’t long until Clarissa suddenly hurled the remote control away in frustration and set down the fruit bowl before she burrowed deeper into Matthew’s embrace.
Matthew could no longer hold his laughter in. As Clarissa snuggled deeper, she accidentally elbowed him in the ribs. He yelped with a little pain but did not stop laughing.
Like a torturer hell-bent on extracting a confession, Clarissa pressed her arm against Matthew’s neck in a mock chokehold. “Out with it. What did you guys talk about?”
Matthew raised his eyebrows at her. “Well, didn’t say you didn’t care?”
“That was then. Focus on the now. Speak.”
Matthew did not feel threatened by her gesture at all. Instead, he lazily held her by the waist and smiled at her. “Fine. Shermaine got drunk and they wanted me to go get her.”
Clarissa started fuming the moment he finished speaking.
“Why does it have to be you? Who asked you to anyway?”
“Jeremy.”
“That’s a bit too much, even for him. He knows you’re with me. Why did he even bother asking?”
“Ah, yes. I am with you. A most astute observation. Why don’t you actually tell everyone that, though?”
