Surprise meeting

The old man was back home after a long business tour to Japan. He had been there for about 3 months, no contact whatsoever with his daughter even. It was a habit of his to just disappear and come back unscathed. What was there for him to be afraid of when he had an army of men to keep him covered. 

When the news of Aldric Sheng's arrival reached, Ryu was both surprised and concerned. Surprised because he could finally see him again. Concerned because he was basically holding a young woman hostage in his house. With a daughter he loves to the moon and back, Aldric would tear him apart if he got to know of Ryu hiding a woman. 

He was standing near the window view, looking at the time on his phone when Aldric Sheng had walked into their billion dollar spare villa near the seaside resort. The cold evening breeze from the beach ran through Ryu's long black locks, his dark orbs reflecting the old man's silhouette approaching him. Aldric was a tall, grumpy man in his sixties but a huge smile lit up his face as he saw Ryu. 

"My boy! How have you been!" He pulled the younger in for a big hug. 

"I'm doing great, father." Ryu smiled, not so much. In fact his face looked strained. 

"Hmm. Doesn't look that great to me. Is there something you're hiding?" The old man was as playful as he was serious but only with the people he trusted to the core. Ryu hid his inner shock with a playful smile. How was this man so sharp to find out his business even accidentally!?

"Nothing at all father. Lyra's been giving me a tough time." 

"Ugh that brat.  Talking about her I haven't even called her for long. You know how she hates little chats. She insisted on seeing me instead." The old man chuckled, taking a sip of his champagne.  

"I'll make the arrangements." Ryu answered with a smile. 

"How about at your place, Ryu?" 

He paused. Ryu was visibly frozen in his spot, not knowing what to say. Aldric would catch on if he stayed silent any longer so he quickly talked in the same monotonous voice. 

" My place is just empty. It's like an old man's abandoned bungalow. Lyra would like it more if you took her out for dinner in a fancy restaurant."

Aldric gave it a thought. Seemed reasonable enough. So he gave a nod and kept a hand to Ryu's shoulder. The young man smirked as he leaned his head to a side…

_____

"Even if you say you love her, you'll someday understand that it will never compare to what you had with me. The day you'll realize that will be the day I'll be finally gone." Lyra ended her dialogue with a hand over her chest in a very real manner, closing her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek, the droplet gently rolling down her silk top. Darah was silent, mouth shut tight and Devin gulped a can of soda, trying his best to hold in a chuckle. Behind Lyra, Darah observed a very statue like Zeke, eyes filled to the brim with water because he was afraid he'd burst out laughing any moment. 

"You did great Lyra!" Darah clapped with a gentle smile on her face even though she knew it was only making it worse. Was this a newfound form of acting? Beside her she saw Devin, eyes squinting at her. 

"You call that great!? She can't do serious contexts. She'll get rejected before she even lands there!" 

Darah pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear and gazed at Lyra who seemed a bit too excited. It seemed the words Devin said had no effect on her. Oh her puppy eyes… She didn't want to break her spirit. 

"I'll only believe what Darah says! You boys can shut your mouth." She smirked confidently.  Darah smiled back at her and slowly got up from her place and held Lyra by her shoulders.  Looking into her eyes, Darah took a deep breath. 

"Look Lyra. I know you're passionate about this and I can see it in your eyes. Trust me when I say you can definitely act. You might be your own kind of person, but to me, I feel like it'll make you look more beautiful if you imbibed the emotions you're supposed to feel when you say the dialogue. That you feel the pain the same way the character who utters the dialogue does. Every emotion matters. It's in your hands to make them come to reality." 

The whole room was silent for a few seconds or so until a flush of rose appeared on Lyra's cheeks. She looked at Darah so endearingly that she forgot she wasn't acting anymore. Was this her fairy godsister!? The fact that the encouraging words came from a woman made Lyra's heart bloom with happiness. No girl had ever complimented her before. 

"I'll do my best to portray the realest of my emotions tomorrow." Lyra smiled warmly, making Darah feel like a weight was lifted off of her chest. As she sat down, she met gazes with Devin who was equally spellbound by her words. He didn't realise he had been staring too long until Darah looked away out of embarrassment. After a while of chatter,  Lyra decided to take her leave with Zeke.

"I guess I'll get going now." She hugged Darah with a wide smile and waved out the door. Right after she left with Zeke,  Devin got up slowly, also trying to leave but he couldn't take his eyes off of the latter. He had been thinking it in the back of his mind for a while that Darah looked breathtakingly beautiful today but his shyness was off limits for the same reason. 

"You're not giving her the wrong idea are you?" Devin asked, scratching the side of his neck. 

"She will do her best." Darah smiled. 

"Hm.." Devin once again found himself staring too long and once again, Darah turned away feeling her cheeks turn red. He felt like hitting himself at this point but instead tried to walk out the door without even saying goodbye. He turned around again, slowly but before he could say anything, he noticed how Darah lost her balance slightly and held her wrist in time. 

"Are you okay?" She held herself up and nodded, feeling a bit weak. 

"Come, sit here." He led her to the bedside and poured her a glass of water. It was only then that Devin noticed the dark red mark around her wrist.  He grew eerie. She saw it too and this time, Darah's gaze turned dull. She gulped down the glass and sighed. 

"Did he do it?" Devin's gaze was sharp as he stared into her eyes. Ryu wasn't the kind of person to do that, not to Darah unless she messed up. Still, he couldn't believe it but who else could it be? 

"Please get me out of this place." That was the only thing she could mutter…