Chapter 29 - A Familiar Name

Brushing off last night's incident, Mei woke up slightly hazy, her eyes flickering around the room, realizing how late she was going to be.

"Shit! Not again!" she cursed out, hastily reaching for her phone on the side to check the time.

Regaining her composure, she sighed in relief as she read the day "Saturday" on the screen.

Snuggling back in her blanket, she mumbled, "Finally, I'll get some rest today."

Interrupted by the continuous buzzing of her phone, she huffed in annoyance, grabbing it back to see Kuan sending her messages.

"Hey, newbiee! Good morning!"

"Get up, get up."

"Girl, wake up, we got plans, the cafe will close at 1:30 pm you know that right?"

After contemplating if she should reply to her or go back to sleep, she finally decided to try her best to make new friends in the group.

Walking to her washroom, she sent her a text,

"Hey Kuan, sorry to have kept you waiting. Don't worry I'll head out in 15 minutes and reach you there."

After a minute, she answered with an exciting message,

"See you there then!"

"By the way, could you send me the address for the cafe again?"

Instantly she replied, "Oh don't worry about it, I'll have my driver pick you up. I already have your address from the work phone so I'll send him in 10 mins. Get ready soon newbie!"

Shrugging it off as a free ride, she dug through the closet, quickly picking out a pair of jeans and a black Capri top, picking up a towel as she head in for a quick shower.

"Nobody said I had to be fancy for this now. It's just a cafe anyways."

Fifteen minutes pass by when she heard Bao Zhai calling for her,

"Mei? There's a car for you out the gate. I couldn't let them in through the gate but I told them to wait for you."

Smiling softly back at her, she nodded, thanking her,

"I'll be right there."

Leaning forward, Mei twisted the doorknob, walking outside to see a glossy white car waiting for her near the entrance.

Puffing her chest out with a deep breath, she stepped into the car.

Hoping to stay silent through her ride, she picked out her earphones, plugging them in only for the driver to greet her at the exact moment,

"Good afternoon, Miss."

Hiding her face as she looked out the window, she responded with a greeting.

"G..Good afternoon."

"I must say, you sure are lucky. The cafe has been a big hit since a new movie has been filming near it and most of the actors and actresses pop in there for their break," he chattered along with Mei who smiled awkwardly.

"That seems nice."

"Miss Guan knows multiple people and her cousin is some hotshot's assistant, otherwise it's closed off for the general public nowadays."

Clenching her jaw, her voice wavered, "Wh...Which cafe was this again?"

Chuckling, the driver replied, "I'm surprised you don't know, Whispers Lounge? Ever heard of it?"

Shuffling her feet with a stoic expression on her face, Mei nodded her head.

Her thoughts winded through her head, unknowingly not paying attention to him,

'Isn't that great? Just next to the cafe where Lien and I had our fight the last time we met. I really should have just gone back to sleep.'

Snapping her back, she heard, "Miss? Miss? Excuse me, Miss? We have arrived."

Walking away quickly after thanking the driver, Mei bumped into a woman hasting out the doors with a coffee in her hand.

"F##K! Can't you see where you're going?"

Glancing up at her, she recognized the familiar face as Daiyu's assistant, Chun Lan.

Narrowing her eyes, she slightly raised her voice in exasperation,

"Ugh, you? What are you doing here? Whatever, I don't have time to deal with you, get out of my f##king way already," pushing her to the side while she kept mumbling to herself, jogging down the road back to the set.

Scratching her fingers, she groaned out, "Another bad sign, I think I'm just going to leave," heading back to the streets before she felt an arm around her, pulling her back through the entrance.

Hearing a cheery voice behind her go, "The door's here, newbie. You surely didn't sleep a lot today, did you?"

Kuan popped her face in front of hers, tilting her head to look at Mei, patting her cheeks,

"My my, You need some coffee girl, you look like you stayed up all night. Good thing I saw you before you got wounded up on the street."

"Ha, might need more than just coffee probably."

Squinting her eyes at her, Kuan pouted, "It's 12 pm in the afternoon mind you, and don't worry, we will leave soon anyway, and then you can sleep all day long."

Crossing her fingers, Mei slapped a fake smile on her face, "Hopefully!"

///

"And that's when he just left the room without saying a word! Man, he sure was mad at all of us that day. We had to apologize and cheer him up with a bunch of pastries to not get killed by him on the next day," Kuan and the other girls prattled about to Mei about the past year of Group A.

Finally feeling at ease, she lightened up, laughing at their stories and sharing her own.

"Trainer Wei seems like a really nice teacher."

One of the girls agreed with her, nodding, "He really is. When we used to be in Group C and B, all the other trainers just couldn't stop criticizing us while Wei always finds a way to compliment us on our forms."

Suddenly, two of the girls gasped out loudly, pointing at the entrance in secret, muttering and squeaking, "Oh my god, they are finally here!"

Dreading to turn back, Mei understood who they were talking about.

"Newbie, check it out! It's one of our seniors, Lien Hua! Weren't you a trainee with her?"

Shifting back to peek at her, she bit on her shirt to hide her face to see Lien standing along next to her friends while laughing out loud.

Her heart sinking, she hid behind a menu card, her eyes peeping out to see her once best friend.

Kuan's gaze shifted to the card, "Oooh Mei, let me look at the menu too!"

Hearing a familiar name, Lien stepped back to look around, her curiosity getting the best of her.

Trying to stay hidden, Mei attempted to crawl under the table, only for the chair to topple over, creating a loud thud, grabbing everybody's attention.

Their eyes briefly locked onto each other, the silence turned into a large commotion as Kuan and the others helped her stand up, while the sounds faded around them, an extended stillness growing between the two.