Under the Spotlight : The Obsession

"And... done! Thank you for your hard work, Mia."

Mia breathed a sigh of relief when the recording of her latest song was finally completed. After hours of discussion, they finally got a complete song like what Mia had imagined when making it. All the crew smiled in relief because their finally done.

"Well, Mia, your work is done for today. Let's go home. Boss is waiting for you in the waiting room."

Lily, Mia's manager, immediately approached when she felt that Mia had finished with her current business. Hearing Lily's instructions, Mia also nodded in understanding. She couldn't make someone as busy as her cousin wait too long.

"Alright. Everyone, thank you very much for today," Mia said politely.

"Boss, we'll go downstairs now."

As they walked into the elevator, Lily called Enzo, who was waiting in another room. [I'll meet you in the lobby,] the man replied from the other side of the call. Their elevator ride felt short, as in a few seconds, they finally arrived at the ground floor.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Enzo."

When Mia and Lily finally arrived in the lobby, Enzo was already sitting, accompanied by his secretary. Lily nodded slightly at her boss, then smiled slightly at her older sister, who was standing behind Enzo. Mia, who was behind Lily, approached Enzo. She was rewarded with a gentle pat on the head by the man.

"You're tired, aren't you? Have you had lunch, Mia?" Enzo asked with concern. Mia honestly shook her head. She insisted on finishing recording her song that they had unknowingly missed lunch.

After getting Mia's answer, Enzo immediately took a deep breath. He had expected this. Even Lily, who served as Mia's manager, would not be able to persuade the girl if Mia had made her choice.

"It's past your lunchtime, but I want to take you to a restaurant before taking you home today. Is there any special food you want to eat right now?" Enzo asked again. Mia shook her head again to answer Enzo's question. "No. I'll eat anything," Mia replied. 

After that, Enzo nodded. He got up and walked, followed by Rose and Lily.

"Then, let's go to my favorite restaurant today," Enzo informed.

***

"You're eating like you haven't seen food for a year, Leon."

Leon snorted when the first sentence his boss uttered after they finished eating was a calm insult. Leon quickly wiped the remaining food from his lips before replying to Victor's previous mean comment.

"Facing such an annoying person makes me hungry, Boss. I was annoyed with him. How could he look down on you, who is of a higher rank than a lackey like him?! Nowadays, the organization is led by you. An old man like him should no longer interfere in our matters."

Victor remained silent as he listened to Leon's protests. He played with the wine in his hand as his calm gaze swept over the movement of the liquid in his glass.

"I'll deal with him, Leon. You know very well who should have been more upset with him. But you also clearly know that we still have to do it. He's the former boss' trusted man. I still have to listen to him if I want to build connections with people."

Hearing Victor's answer, Leon finally stopped complaining. Well, they still had a lot to work on. Everything wouldn't be easy, especially since their world didn't allow people to let their guard down even for a moment.

"Boss, they..."

Following Leon's line of sight, Victor found familiar people who had just entered the restaurant. Victor knew the four people. Victor's eyes were only focused on one person. After that, he approached the person who had been bothering his mind since their last meeting.

Seeing that his boss got up to approach them, Leon immediately got up. His feet had just taken two steps forward when someone suddenly stepped forward to greet him familiarly.

"Um... you're the person who helped me when it rained a few days ago, right, Sir?"

Leon was surprised when Mia seemed to recognize him and took the initiative to approach him. The girl's face looked bright and radiant when she finally met her savior.

The problem was that Mia innocently passed Victor and rushed towards Leon, who was walking behind Victor. Leon could see Victor's darkened expression, staring at him with furrowed brows as if Leon was the one at fault there.

"Um, I..."

"Sorry, I stopped your car without permission at that time. If you are willing, I would like to invite you to eat with us as a token of apology."

The atmosphere turned awkward when Mia seemed to insist on thanking only Leon. Mia, who fainted before seeing Victor, did not know that the real savior was behind her. The misunderstanding lasted until Mia was confused by the people around her, who suddenly became silent.

In contrast to Mia's face, which looked happy, the other looked awkward as they stared at each other. Lily tried to tell her sister about the occasion that the woman had missed and what relationship Mia had so that the girl could know Victor's right hand. After listening to the explanation, Rose lowered her guard, but the awkward atmosphere continued because none of them wanted to open another conversation.

"That..."

Leon was surprised when he saw Victor seemed really bothered by the fact that Mia only remembered Leon as her savior. The man's firm eyebrows knitted together, his eyes lowered to stare at Mia, who did not look at him at all.

"Um, the person who saved you was my boss. He was the one who put aside his work to take you home that time. If you want to thank someone, you should thank him instead."

To avoid a worse disaster, Leon immediately cleared up Mia's misunderstanding by introducing Victor, who was standing still like a piece of ice. When Mia finally looked at Victor, she realized she had acted impolitely to her other savior. The girl quickly bowed as she intended to apologize to Victor.

"Ah, please forgive my impolite behavior earlier, Sir. I... I was too focused on the person I remembered that I didn't realize that you had also saved me. I'm sorry if my actions made you uncomfortable. And thank you for taking the time to take me home without telling anyone at that time."

Leon saw with his eyes that Victor's expression immediately relaxed when Mia finally realized her mistake. Leon thought Victor might be the same as him, not expecting that the cousin of an arrogant person like Enzo was a sweet and polite girl like Mia. Her sincere smile somehow made people not have the heart to scold her any further.

"It's okay. You fainted before we could meet in person."

While ignoring Enzo's gaze, Victor replied to Mia's words without hesitation. His sharp eyes continued to stare at Mia as the girl let out a sigh of relief. From her pink lips came a small laugh, which acted like a spell that made Victor want to smile too.

"Thank goodness... Ah, sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. My name is Mia Caroline, Enzo's cousin. Enzo said you guys already knew each other before."

Victor and Enzo's eyes met when Mia said they knew each other before. Both were silent before Victor extended his hand so that he could shake Mia's.

"Yes, I do know your cousin. You can call me Victor. And he is... my secretary, Leon."

Victor didn't want Mia to know that he was in the same world as his cousin. He only introduced himself quickly, but it was enough to make the people around him silent in surprise.

No one expected Victor to be friendly to someone he had just met. Especially to Mia, who was a part of the entertainment world that Victor despised.

If Enzo was described as arrogant and cruel, Victor was an apathetic figure. The man wouldn't feel guilty if he hurt someone. So, Enzo had to be wary when Mia met Victor.

Compared to the increasingly awkward atmosphere due to the unexpected conversation between Mia and Victor, Mia, who was completely oblivious to the situation, only nodded in understanding after hearing Victor's brief introduction. A sweet smile appeared on her face as Mia spoke kindly once again.

"Then I'll call you Victor and Leon. Um, have you ordered your food? I still want to thank you by inviting you to eat together if it's not too much trouble."

"Mia-"

"Boss-"

"We haven't eaten yet. We can eat together now."

The three voice owners spoke simultaneously when Mia finished expressing her gratitude. Enzo tried to distract Mia, so she wouldn't get even more intimate with Victor. Leon tried to tell Victor that even though Mia was nice and friendly to them, eating dinner at the same table with Enzo was still not a good idea. Meanwhile, Victor, without caring about anyone, immediately agrees to Mia's request.

"Thank goodness... Enzo, can I invite them? I want to thank Victor and Leon for their help. Eating together is more fun, isn't it? Moreover, you guys have known each other for a long time."

Faced with his cousin's eager eyes, all the words of rejection that Enzo had thought of suddenly disappeared. Enzo coldly glanced at Victor before looking back at Mia, who was anxiously waiting for his answer.

"Of course, you can do it. I also feel that I should talk a lot with Victor after this."

Leon could feel Enzo looking at them coldly as his soft voice replied to Mia's request. Mia smiled as she looked at Victor and Leon.

"Then let's eat together. Today will be my treat," Mia said with a big smile.