The King's Invaluable Possession [Bachelor in Love #4]

Chapter 2

Linda

The day had arrived.

Last night, Oliver really helped me a lot.

To be honest, I was quite surprised at how well he could perform and got into deep the act that easily. I assumed he had zero knowledge of how to act. He didn’t lie when he told me that he loved movies and maybe because of that, he knew how to act perfectly.

I still saw him as Jason. It made it a lot easier for me to get into the role. Oliver didn’t mind as well. He knew how I felt about Cathy’s brother and he always comforted me whenever I needed someone to talk with.

Not just about Jason, but his sister as well.

Cathy had no idea that I’d fallen with her brother. That I hid this feeling of mine for the past seven years. A one-sided love with a guy for seven years? People might consider me stupid and ask me to look for someone else. Maybe I should. But this guy was Jason and his existence meant a lot to me.

He was the very first man who looked at me as I truly was. He never saw me as a piece of meat ready to be devoured. Unlike other guys. Maybe because I was his sister’s friend but I’d seen how Jason respected women. And I really wished I could be his special lady. Hopefully, when I reached my dream, I could confess and he would accept me.

“Linda?” Oliver’s voice broke my thought. I looked at him, seeing him staring his eyes at me. “You’re okay? Nervous?”

“Um, no.”

He smirked. “You’re a terrible liar. You are nervous.” I couldn’t counter his words. I was, actually. Couldn’t help it, right? “Relax. You’ve practiced a lot for today. I know you will do great. Even if you failed, don’t be so down. You still have tons of choices out there. But still,” he paused and patted my head. The kind of affection I’d always loved from him. “I know you can do it. You are, after all, Linda Greene.”

I smiled like an i***t at his words. “Thanks, Liv.”

“Linda Greene?” someone called my name as I looked at the person. A young woman, maybe around her thirties, and she had brunette hair.

“Yes!”

“It’s your turn now,” she informed while smiling.

“Okay.” I looked up at Oliver. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck, little bee.” I let out a short sigh with his nickname.

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Old habits die hard, little bee. And to remind you, you’re like a bee to me. Always so f*****g noisy.” I giggled at his explanation.

“Whatever. You owe me a drink when I’ve passed.”

“Roger that, my lady.” I smiled and I followed the lady inside the audition room. When I entered, three men were sitting behind the long table covered with white cloth and they were staring at me. I bet one of them was the Director while the others were the producers. The lady sat on the other side of the room.

Now, my nervous level just increased by eighty percent.

I stood at the X part as the lady told me before. “Miss Linda Greene, correct?” the middle guy with glasses asked.

“Yes.”

“Well then, let’s not waste any more time. Let’s see what you can do,” he said while looking at the man standing beside the table.

He walked toward me and gave me a warm smile before he greeted me. “Hi there. I’m Colin. Nice to meet you, Linda.” Colin? Oh, he was the main actor in this play.

“Okay,” I whispered under my breath.

Inhale… Exhale…

Inhale… Exhale…

I closed my eyes for three eyes. When I felt calmer, I opened them. Colin was gone. Only Jason there. He was right in front of me, looking at me so lovingly. The gaze I so wanted from him. The only eyes reserved for me. I wanted that, not the one he always gave me, to the girl he only considered as a mere friend.

In this play, he was in love with someone else. With the lucky woman who was able to capture his attention. Oh, how I was so jealous and envied that woman she got all of his attention. His warm and gentle eyes. His loving touches. His passionate kisses. I would never get that. I craved for his attention while he starved for another. If I reached out to him, he would never look at me. His eyes were always looking for someone else. His mind was somewhere else. No matter how much I loved him, always beside him, supporting what he wanted to do, he never had his eyes on me. Like I was never there. He only considered me as his sister’s best friend.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

But still…

I was still hoping that he would look at me, just once. Staring into my eyes to see how I truly felt about him. With his soft crystal blue eyes. To show me how much he treasured me. Just one time. That was what I wanted. I wanted to be loved by him. I wanted to see the side he never showed to anybody. Only to me. To show his love to me.

One small dream that I could never have.

Because I knew by the end of the day, he would only hurt me. More importantly, he would hurt himself. He never wanted that. He was always careful with every single action he took. He was scared to hurt someone, especially his baby sister. Jason would never give false hope to anybody. He always drew the line whether he knew it or not. If he found out my feelings now, I knew he would ask for forgiveness because he couldn’t give me what I wanted from him. His heart. In reality, I would never blame him. It was my fault. Because I loved him. Because I did, I had to let him go to the woman he truly loved. It was hard but I had to do it. No matter how much I loved him and how I wanted him to choose me, I didn’t want to see him break. I wanted Jason to be happy.

If this truly happened in the real world…

If Jason was really in love with someone else…

This was what I would do.

Reaching out my hand to him, I touched his warm cheek. Smiling where I felt so sad and breaking from the inside. Even I could see the pain on his face. The pain because he just hurt me. The pain because he couldn’t push himself to love me. So, I said, “Go get her and never let her go. Because if you do, you will regret that decision for the rest of your life. And that is not what I want from you. All I want…is for you to be happy. Even…without me.”

“Cut!” one of the judges said as I blinked my eyes and Jason was gone from my sight. Only Colin was here. I pulled my hand from him and his green eyes were wide open. He didn’t even move. He was just standing there, looking shocked. It took him a few seconds before he finally moved his hand and touched his cheek – the place where I touched him. I nervously looked at the three judges and they were staring at me without saying anything. s**t, did I mess up?

But then, I heard claps…from Colin. He clapped while smiling so proudly at me. The three judges soon followed. Even the lady. I couldn’t help but smile. That was…a good sign…right? “Um, did I do good?”

“Good?” Colin smirked. “That was amazing! It’s like seeing a real one. Not just a character. I never thought I would see this from, I’m sorry, a new will-be actress. Was it truly an act or based on your experience?”

“No, it was just an act,” I lied. How I wished Jason could love me back.

“You did a great job for the role, Miss Greene. I’m impressed. We are impressed,” the middle guy said.

“You’ve had some talents in you,” said the guy on the right.

“And it is not going to be wasted,” followed by the guy on the left.

I didn’t know why but I had a good feeling about this audition. I kept reminding myself to not be overconfident because there were still a lot of awesome contestants out there, waiting for their turn. “Thank you. Your compliments mean a lot to me,” I said and then walked out of the room after the lady told me they would announce the result soon. Oliver was still sitting at the same spot but with a cup of coffee in his hand this time. He immediately stood up when I showed up within his eyes and approached me.

“How was it?”

It took me two seconds before I answered, “Well, they’re impressed. I’m feeling great but we should see the result later.”

“See? I know you can do it. You’ll pass, I’m sure. If you’re not, they have to check their qualities again.”

I laughed. “Thanks.” Both of us went to the waiting room with the remaining people who had already gotten into the audition. I could sense the nervous level here was so strong. Some cried. Some angry.

An hour later, the lady from before entered the room to announce the person who passed the audition. I could sense the sweats on my hands. I had never been so nervous like this. Oliver sensed it so he gripped my hand. I looked up at him and he smiled. Wanted to make sure everything would be all right.

And then, “Miss Linda Greene?” she mentioned my name and I went to her. She smiled. “Congratulations. You’ve passed the audition,” she announced. I covered my mouth with my hands as people clapped their hands. I even got tears in my eyes. f**k yeah!

“Oh, my God. Thank you so much,” I said and she escorted me and Oliver outside of the room.

“You did an amazing job with the performance. The judges are very impressed. Honestly, I never saw such talent around here before,” she told us.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me. Jesus, I want to cry.”

“You deserve it, dear. And since you’re passed, we will see you tomorrow to start practicing the role. The act will be performed in September. We expect a lot from you, Miss Greene. And who knows? This will be a small step to reach the Hollywood level,” she encouraged me.

“I will do my best. I can’t wait to perform on the stage as well.”

We went our separate ways right after. When she was out of our sight, Oliver and I looked at each other and he picked me up to hug me. “I know you can do it, right?”

“Thanks, but put me down!” I shouted while laughing. My feet kissed the floor and looked at his eyes. “Thank you so much for helping me last night.”

“No problem. I already know you can do it anyway. So, I promised you a drink, right? Let’s get you back home first and then we can have our date later.”

“You got it!”

We walked out of the building as Oliver wrapped his arm around me. We went home. Today was Saturday and my parents would be at home. I walked inside the house and saw them in the dining room. Mom’s green eyes were on me. “Oh, welcome home, sweetie. How was it?” she asked. I looked up at Oliver and we smiled. “Oh, my God. You got it, didn’t you?”

“Really?” Dad asked. I turned to them one by one and smiled.

“They were impressed with her acting,” Oliver informed.

“Oh, my God! Congratulations, dear! I don’t care but I’m going to hug and circle you around. Come here, you!” Dad said and immediately picked me up like what Oliver did earlier, circling me around like he promised. Only this time, I let him. I usually didn’t. Just for a special occasion.

But not this long too! “Come on, Dad. Enough. Put me down,” I told him and he finally put me down and kissed my forehead.

“We know you will pass and that’s why your mom has prepared a lot of food. All your favorite.”

“You knew or this is your plan to cheer me up in case I failed?” I swore, I could see a knife stabbing his chest even though he was smiling. I knew deep down he thought I was going to fail. Who did he think I was? I was Linda Greene and I was his daughter.

He took a step back, still maintaining his smile. “N-No, pumpkin. I know you’re going to be okay so I told your mom to prepare all of this.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’m serious!”

“Come on, you two. I haven’t gotten the chance to congratulate my little baby,” Mom said and walked to me and squeezed me. “Congratulations, dear. You’ve made us proud.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Right after, we began our dinner. Even Oliver joined us. A request from Mom because he usually avoided us having meals together. He always said he worked for us; not our family. That was f*****g ridiculous! Of course, he was family now. He was like a big brother I could never have.

“So, put aside the acting, for now, have you found someone?” Mom’s question almost made me choke the salmon out.

“Darling, why do you ask her that?” Dad asked.

“Because Linda never told us about guys ever since we moved here. I’m curious.” That curious word turned on something within Dad. He glared at me. I knew how he hated this conversation – conversation about guys. He never did. I didn’t want to be interrogated by him, not when I wanted to have fun with Oliver later.

So, my only answer was, “I have someone I like.” Both their eyes were on me. I quickly pushed the last piece of the salmon into my mouth and stood. “I’m done. I’ll get change, Liv.” And ran away.

“W-Wait! Who’s the guy?” Dad demanded.

“I’m not telling you a thing!”

“Wait, Linda! We’re not done!”

I escaped to my room even with Dad’s bellow kept following me. I slumped my back on the door, feeling the tiredness overwhelming me. Mentally tired but a little bit of booze would do just fine.

So, that was that, then.

I passed the audition. I would tell the news to Cathy, James, Eva, Lily, and Kylie too. Because right now, I needed the drink.

I got ready quickly and met up with Oliver downstairs.