Chapter 78 - People & Paper Planes (1/2)
”Paige, I have looked through the contract. Send it to the legal team. I'll directly be going for the meeting so I'll see be late,” Darren was instructing his secretary on the phone while changing his shoes in the foyer.
”Boss, CEO Mo wants to see you for the Flick City project,” his secretary informed him.
Darren's hand on the doorknob paused for a second before he pulled open the door and said, ”Then if there is nothing important, clear my itinerary for the afternoon. I'll go to Capital myself.”
”Okay, boss,” she replied in a plain voice.
Darren hung up the call and walked towards the elevator. There was already someone waiting for the elevator. But Darren was confused to see that even though the elevator was empty that person was not stepping inside. What was that hesitation all about?
”Where are you lost? The elevator is already here,” Darren waved his hand before Xiu's face almost startling her and entered the elevator.
But Xiu still didn't move. Now her attention was fixed on Darren's face. Even though he looked refreshed and energized but that same look seemed really familiar to her. 'Fear in disguise'. That one phrase unconsciously came to her mind.
Darren pressed the button of the elevator to stop it as he raised his eyebrows in question, ”Aren't you gonna enter, Sweets?”
Xiu nodded and stepped inside. The elevator doors closed and Xiu's eyes found their way back to Darren's face. Do you know what fear in disguise is? No? Honestly speaking, every one of us is familiar with this phrase. We live with it.
Fear of showing your sadness, distrust, or simply of being yourself. We all have it inside of us. But to hide it, we disguise it with a whole new persona of ourselves. But calling that persona as confidence would be wrong because, at the end of the day, it's still just a disguise.
If Darren thought his disguise was perfect then he was mistaken. Because Xiu had seen that same disguise on her own face too many times that she lost count. Spending a night drowning in tears and wearing the mask of a smile to face the world. How could an actress like her not be familiar with such an obvious disguise?
”Is there something on my face?” Darren asked as he lifted his eyes from the phone screen since he could feel her burning stare for a while now.
”Are you okay?” She asked straightforwardly without dilly-dallying anymore. It was better to just ask straight away than waiting for an excuse to ask the same question.
Darren tilted his face in a thoughtful way and replied, ”Just a bit stressy and a little depress-y. But everything else is just peachy and bright-y.”