24 Water Fight
992 Words
The Wind Film Group – eight o'clock in the morning: By now, people had begun to gather in the hallway to see what all of the commotions was about. Before the situation could escalate any further, though, Peter pushed his way through the crowd. Maria was the first to greet him, but he barely looked at her. Even so, Maria did not feel ashamed of how she'd been treating Jasmine.
Cosette smirked and said, "I'm sorry, Maria, but didn't you and Susan just say that even if Peter saw the way you were behaving, he wouldn't say anything? Well, now is your chance to prove your point."
Maria and Susan's faces froze as Peter turned in their direction. Maria's palm began to sweat, and Susan's arrogant façade was gone.
Peter was about thirty years old, and his facial features were handsome. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his face was expressionless. Everyone knew that Peter's biggest pet peeve was when artists gossiped behind each other's backs. Peter turned around and looked at Cosette.
Maria cleared her throat to get Peter's attention. She had prepared an apology, but Peter ignored her and went to Cosette instead. After a moment, he smiled and said, "Oh my god! Cosette, it's really you. I thought that I heard your voice just now, but I wasn't sure if it was really you. What a surprise! What are you doing here?"
When everyone heard how Peter had greeted Cosette, they were shocked.
Cosette searched her Memory Banks for the first time she had met Peter. It had been at Edward's house, and Peter had been delivering a document to him. At first, she had thought that they were homosexuals – they weren't, though. That had been a misunderstanding on her part.
"Hi, Peter," Cosette said. "I have something to do."
Peter: "What's the matter? just tell me what you need to be done, and I'll ask someone to do it right away."
Everyone was speechless, but Peter acted like there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. Maria looked incredulously at the scene in front of her. Not only wasn't Peter paying her any attention, but he was practically kissing Cosette's ass! What the hell?
Cosette narrowed her eyes. She had never been the type of person that let others bully her, and she always stood up for her friends.
Cosette: "Peter?"
Peter: "Yes? What can I do for you?"
Cosette frowned, and after a dramatic pause, she asked him what he would do if he discovered that one of his employees was a b***h. Peter turned to Maria with a knowing expression on his face. Peter had been with the company for so long that he knew what kind of characteristics these people had – good and bad.
Maria met Peter's eyes, and her body began to shake. "Peter," she whined. "Don't listen to this woman. She's talking nonsense. You know me! How could I be a bully?"
Peter: "Oh?"
Maria bit her lip. She still didn't know Cosette's identity, so she had nothing to throw back at her. "It was just a misunderstanding," she cried. "I was just joking with Jasmine. Everybody knows that I have a good sense of humor, right?"
"Wow!" Cosette laughed. "That's what you call a joke?!?!?! If you think that's funny, I have a real knee slapper for you!" One of the people watching had a water bottle in their hand, and Cosette took it from him. She walked over to Maria, smiled, and emptied it over her head.
Maria screamed. "What are you doing!"
Cosette began laughing. "Ha! Ha! It was just a joke! Sorry. Not sorry." Then Cosette turned and walked away without a second glance to see how Maria was reacting to her "joke". Cosette hooked arms with Jasmine, and the crowd parted for them as they walked off in the direction of Anna's office. Behind them, they could hear Maria cursing, while Susan was helping her.
"I can't believe that Peter let that woman do this to you?" Susan grumbled. "He should have done something to stop her."
Peter laughed. He gave Maria a sharp look and said, "It's just a joke. Like you said. Nobody cares. Don't bother me about it. I can make you famous, or I can ruin your career."
Maria gasped, and she didn't dare to speak again.
Peter left, and the crowd began to disperse. Some of them chuckled as they went on their way, and others glared at Maria with looks of contempt and disgust. Maria hated how quickly she'd fallen out of Peter's good graces. He was a powerful man, and he could make her life very hard if he chose to. Maria looked at Susan. She clenched her fists tightly and said, "Go and find out who that b***h is!"
"Don't worry. I'll check into it immediately," Susan said.
**********
The door to Anna's office was open, so Cosette and Jasmine walked right in. Anna raised her head, nodded, and said, "Sit down."
Once they were seated, Anna folded her hands on her desk and said, "We need to talk about what happened in the hallway. It wasn't right. Cosette, you are too impulsive."
As soon as Jasmine heard Anna's words, she said, "I'm sorry. It was all my fault."
Cosette looked up at Anna and said, "Anna, let's be honest. Do you think that Maria and I can get along peacefully after this, as if nothing happened?"
For the past three years, Cosette had been at the bottom of the entertainment industry. She was not naïve or impulsive, as Anna believed. Her response to the bully had been thought out. Cosette had met many people like Maria, and even if today's events had not happened, the confrontation would have been inevitable.
Anna was silent for a long while, and the silence in the room was oppressive. Finally, Anna stood up and said, "Let's go. I will take you to the training room."
Cosette thanked Anna, and she and Jasmine followed her out the door into the hallway.
- Writer
