156 Heading to Dinner (2/2)
”No,” I responded.
”W-why would you think that?” Irina blushed as she realized what Lindsy had just asked me.
”Really?” Lindsy looked over at Irina in a teasing manner.
”Yeah,” Irina answered. ”We're just friends...”
”Friends?” Lindsy raised an eyebrow almost as if she was suspicious of Irina's testimony.
With the faint illumination provided by passing streetlights that shined in and then almost immediately vanished before the cycle repeated once the next set of streetlights were reached, I saw that Irina appeared to be in a difficult spot. She appeared troubled and somewhat flustered as she struggled to come up with anything to say. It perplexed me as to why she had lost that persona of a calm and collected celebrity all of a sudden, but without thinking much further, I decided to intervene so as to help her out.
”We're just friends from school,” I averred Irina's statement.
”That's cool,” Lindsy nodded. ”Normal friend from school that you take to your job?”
”Lindsy,” Henvle chimed in. ”Stop with all that gossiping.”
”I would like to know,” Lindsy smiled and peered over at Irina. ”The type of people that a young and talented girl like her would associate herself with.”
”Hey don't leave us out, you know?” Shol called to the back of the car. ”What's the conversation about?”
”We're talking about Irina's friend right now,” Henvle responded.
”Right,” Shol nodded his head. ”Nice to meet you there. I'm Shol. You probably know everybody who's in the car right now, so how bout you introduce yourself?”
With a suppressed sigh, I prepared myself for my self-introduction. It felt quite weird speaking in front of these people who regularly perform before millions, but... since the situation calls for it to be done, then I guess I have no other choice...
”I'm Alevian,” I said. ”I'm Irina's... friend from school.”
”Oh!” Shol exclaimed. ”Does Irina act the same way in school and on camera?”
I noticed that all the eyes were on me as they prepared for my answer. Irina, in particular, had a genuinely curious expression on her face. Maybe it was because she will be able to hear from me what I've noticed about her, but... whatever the case may be, the situation was extremely awkward for me, and it made me quite nervous.
”Well...” I started speaking. ”Irina does act... different when she's with us.”
”You better be glad that there's no reporters with us right now,” Boro joked. ”Otherwise the headlines tomorrow will be 'Irina, Different Person when Off-Camera!' Something like that.”
”It's not in a bad way,” I quickly explained. ”Even though she's still quite lively and energetic, she's more shy in her private life.”
”More shy?” Lindsy chuckled. ”She is a young girl after all.”
”So you're saying you're old now?” Henvle smiled in a joking manner.
”That'll make the headlines,” Boro laughed.
I listened on as the group of acquaintances joked and bonded. It was quite amazing how these people that are simply acquaintances were able to become friendly with each other after a simple talk in a car. However, that doesn't mean that what was developing was true friendship. I understand that these are all professionals on the big stage before the cameras. Therefore, they're able to conceal their true thoughts and feelings better than anyone, but even then, they cannot escape my eye. Just by simply observing, I could tell that there's a genuine good vibe going on, but everyone is keeping themselves distant from the other as a cautionary measure. No one knows what an accidental slip-up of the mouth in front of anyone can lead to. However, what's odd is that among these people, I could sense that Henvle was actually trying to befriend Irina.