Chapter 2

Aidoneus awoke and took a moment to process his surroundings. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the place he was in. The obnoxious yelling and the stream of apologies gave him a guess in which part of the plot he was placed in.

One arm was laid over the back edge of the leather couch he was sitting on, while the other held a drink. Aidoneus, still not looking up to look at the scene in front of him, inspected the drink. A mix of vodka and Dr. Pepper.

"Azariah!" Aidoneus looked up from the drink and stared at the person who called his name with a raised brow.

The male lead, Jordan Ferray, Had his hand extended towards him. The white shirt he was wearing, A stupid choice of clothing, was stained a classic lipstick red. Limes, glass cups, and a tray were on the floor.

The more Aidoneus looked at Jordan, the more annoyed he became. Black hair that laid messily on his head, but in a charming way. A description he'd heard far too many times. Chiseled jawline, athletic body, and green eyes. It was like seeing millions of the same people in one person.

"Azariah! Hand me my fucking jacket!" Jordan flexed his fingers, his face becoming flush with anger, or annoyance. Something in between. His head whipped towards the female lead, Ivanna, who was picking up the fallen cups with shaky hands. "This clumsy bitch can't fucking hold a tray correctly!"

Aidoneus said nothing and continued to listen to Jordan throw insults at the girl. Others that tagged along with Jordan made similar comments. In a moment, 15 seconds if you want to stretch it, Jordan and Ivanna would make eye contact. And that would last for who knows how long, and this will be the start of the plot. But he can't imagine Jordan showing the deep affection that was said he displayed in the plot given to him.

Aidoneus focused on the two in front of him. Some part of him wanted to tear his eyes out after witnessing the exaggerated breaths Jordan took and the way his hands balled into a fist. But what sealed the deal for him was the look of pure awe in Ivanna's eyes as the two stared at each other.

"What are they doing?" Aidoneus turned to Dalia who was also not participating in whatever this was.

"You tell me."

Dalia shook her head, "I feel like this is going to be some stupid whirlwind romance."

"How'd you know?" Aidoneus responded with a smirk. He stood up, dusting himself off, "I'm going to head off. I have things to do."

Dalia waved bye and went back to watching the scene unfold and sipping on her coke.

Aidoneus got up from his seat and dusted himself off. He threw Jordan's jacket at his head and left a few bills on the table and walked out. He'd have to listen to Jordan reenact the scene the next day anyways. What did he have to gain by staying here?

Aidoneus got into Azariah's car. A black sedan with an off-white interior.

'Why'd you leave so quickly?'

Aidoneus's grip on the steering wheel tightened at the sudden appearance of Isul's voice.

'There was nothing important to stay any longer for.' He responded.

Isul hummed. It was clear that Aidoneus would have left even if he was aware that something important would happen, but she didn't feel the need to call him out on it.

'While you're out, buy some groceries, this kid is living off of expired pasta sauce and ramen.'

Aidoneus took the detour and grabbed the groceries and went to the apartment. He found Isul laid on the couch asleep. Aidoneus looked around, it wasn't like the Azariah couldn't afford food, it was that Jordan would go out and usually he tagged along, so he just ate at these establishments.

He put the groceries up and was once again startled by Isul ramming her head into his leg. This cat had issues.

"Are you okay?" He wasn't asking about her physical health.

'That phone has been vibrating ever since you've come here." Her head jerked towards the bar counter where Azariah's phone was placed, "Pick it up!" Isul then turned around and proceeded to make herself comfortable on the couch again.

Aidoneus put away the last of the groceries and picked up the phone. 20 missed calls from Jordan. He called back and made his way to Azariah's room to get changed. This mission should last no longer than a year. So though he wished to act outside of Azariah's personality, he decided not to as it would be a waste of time.

"Azariah, where'd you go?" Jordan's voice came through. Aidoneus put it on speaker and threw it onto the bed. For some reason he always found himself playing the role of the male leads best friend. Depp in his heart, he expected for this pattern to change. Something that didn't involve so much patience.

"Home. I have classes tomorrow." Aidoneus put on a shirt and shirts. He grabbed a comb and some other products. He would have the time or energy to revive his hair every morning, so he decided to twist them for the time being.

Jordan hummed, "Well anyway, I've fallen in love."

"I've heard you say the same shit for the past seven years."

"Azariah, she's different." Jordan defended himself.

Aidoneus let out an exasperated sigh. Why couldn't he be a random extra or something?

"She's so pretty. And she has the nicest brown eyes I've seen!"

"You called her a clumsy bitch who couldn't hold a tray correctly," Aidoneus said.

"We moved past that," Jordan responded.

"You sure it wasn't because she was fucking scared? Caused a scene over a white shirt."

"Yeah, I know. I apologized for that. I don't know man, she just- something about her Azariah." Jordan sounded lovesick, his voice dripping with sugar.

The two moved on from the topic and continued to talk until Aidoneus was done twisting his hair.

"Night Jordan."

"Good night."