CHAPTER 81

THE MEETING BEGAN WITH A PREVIEW OF THE MOVIE PLOT. An Indian policeman who loves his wife dearly looses it after he finds out she's having an affair. He shoots the man, gets to jail and later defends his case in court himself and wins after pleading not guilty.

One of the Indian screenwriters was the one who took us through it. Along with the others they discussed the movie and comparing it to the actual plot, it was going on very well until Drake halted the production for a month.

"Following the stop in production that we had, we have incurred quiet a number of losses..." a Spanish woman in a blue suit sitting next to the president of Bollywood, against the tag that said secretary, read out from her report.

Bollywood was an international marketing company which specialises in providing the best of movies in India.

I couldn't understand how drake managed to have them tied on his finger to the extent that they didn't protest when he decided to pause the movie.

It's true his father had invested a lot of money in it but it was a movie under their company...why did they do anything?

Could Drake really be the one that was subbotaging me?

Only someone rich enough to buy off everyone in the entire city would be capable of pausing a movie under a highest level company like Bollywood. And right now....that someone was Drake.

I quickly reached for the bottle of water in front of me and drank from it all the way down to a drop. The nearby waiter saw that I was out of water and she rushed to give me another bottle which I also drank down.

If drake was really the person after me, oh God...I had absolutely no idea on what to do next.

"Hey...are you alright???" he turned to me and on reflex, I was surprised and moved my hand away from his.

"Drake...." I smiled and smacked my forehead.

"You don't look good...." he whispered and I nodded drying my mouth with the serviette.

"I...I feel stuffed...." I rubbed my eyes and looked at the entire boardroom.

Everyone was quietly seated listening to the financial report of the losses we invited from the movie.

"As she said....it is true that this sudden pause in filming was really unnecessary. In a month, we could have finished filming and maybe land on another project by now...." Almond McDonald, the president of Bollywood, showed his frustration by smacking his hands on the table.

"Yeah....maybe. What's the guarantee in that??" Drake protested and murmurs brew in the room.

He was one adamant man and wouldn't back down until everyone was able to believe and testify he was right.

"Guarantee? It's not a matter of guarantees. I think he's right. Almond's right. Even if we had no other project to work on...it was nonsense to pause a production for a month because of a slap...." the supposed best director in the world, Lane Min Joon, couldn't let such an opportunity pass by and jumped in.

Suddenly, the room was filled with murmurs and I felt like a pest. My slap meant nothing to no one except Drake and I was beginning to think I was in a jungle. They didn't care for my feelings in the least but the money.

"A slap is total humiliation. It was wrong of Natalie to slap Eleanor, I agree, but pausing the movie for a month was not the way out...." Gemini perfectly embraced the sandwich rule and in that moment I locked eyes with Natalia.

She was sitting next to Lauren and Gemini was on her left. From the last time I saw her, she looked rather thinner. Has Eros been giving her a hard time maybe? Last time I checked, things between them weren't as hoping as they used to. Something was definitely up or she wouldn't be here.

Her stare became more scary by the minute and I wondered if all was well with her. She was looking at me like I was dead meat once this meeting comes to an end. Am sure I did a good job damaging her reputation and making her the evil woman in a day. She wouldn't dare mess with me.

Upon remembrance of the slap, commotion broke out in the room and it became like a class in one of those kindergartens. Too much noise with nothing sensible being talked of.

"Hey....you sure you're okay?" Drake asked resting his hand on my shoulder. I turned my gaze to look at him and it seemed he had been looking at me for a while.

"I...I think I need some air...." I rubbed my face and he helped me up and out of the room.

"Where are we going??" I asked worriedly.

"To take some air...." he replied less worried and effortlessly. He still had my hand in his and in no time I found myself in his car with him in the driver's seat and me on the passenger's.

"Uh...how did I get here??" I asked looking back hoping I'd get a clue. He chuckled and looked at me with a seductive smirk on his lips.

"You walked right in and sat there. Are you sure you're okay??" he asked again.

"Well.....some ice cream would do...." I pursed my lips and he changed the gear steeping on the accelerator.

"On it...." he grinned. I looked outside the window, hoping that this plan of mine was going to work. Wherever Adam was, am sure he was worried about me. He must've called Aaron and Lauren several times to find out about me. Am sure of it. I was dying to talk to him too but I couldn't.

If he trusted me, he was going to follow through and not question me at all.

Admiring the trees, I didn't notice that my phone was ringing until drake shook me to it.

"Your phone...." he motioned to it, stepping on the brake. The moment I saw it was Adam, I declined the call and shoved it in my bag.

I was smart enough to not miss the confused look on Drake's face.

"Uh...I don't mean to pry but...you just hang up on your boyfriend! Everything okay???" he asked really concerned and I got lost in proving he was really the one I was looking for.