Ryan had just settled into his chair, the kind that creaked every time he leaned back. He rubbed at his temples, trying to shake off the exhaustion from the day. It was late, and the city outside was wrapped in its usual blanket of neon color lightings and restless traffic. He was ready to finally switch off when his phone lit up.
Kai Arden.
Ryan frowned. Kai wasn't the one for late-night calls. If he did call, it usually meant something important or impulsive. With Kai, the line between those two things was thin.
Ryan swiped to answer.
"Mr. Arden."
On the other end, Kai's voice carried the crisp, decisive tone Ryan knew too well. "Ryan. I've made a decision. We're holding another audition in the city."
Ryan blinked. He sat forward in his chair. "Another audition? Here?"
"Yes," Kai said flatly. No hesitation, no explanation. with fully confidence.
Ryan narrowed his eyes, confusion cutting through his fatigue. "You've never done that before. One audition per city. That's what have been decided. now you want another audition ? here? you want to change your own words? What's going on?"
Kai exhaled sharply, though whether it was irritation or restlessness, Ryan couldn't tell. "I want to do it. That's all that matters."
Ryan leaned back again, chair groaning under the shift of his weight. He stared at the ceiling, lips pressed in a tight line. "No, that's not all that matters. Not with you. You've built your entire reputation on being disciplined. Ruthless, sure, but consistent. And now you want to break your own rule? Why?"
Silence.
On the other end of the line, Kai didn't speak. Ryan could almost hear the tension like Kai was pacing, jaw tight, hand probably running through his hair in that impatient way he had when he didn't want to admit something.
Ryan's voice softened, though his curiosity sharpened. "Why? one word was enough.
There was a pause, and then Kai's voice dropped, quieter than Ryan expected. "I didn't find what I was looking for."
Ryan frowned. ''Every time this happen, you shift the location. But now you want to try again?''
Kai's silence stretched again. And then he said, "This time… no one felt right."
Ryan tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair, studying the patterns in the wood like it could give him an answer. He'd known Kai for years long enough to see past the walls he put up. ''Do you think you'll find this time?
Kai didn't answer.
Ryan let out a short laugh, though it wasn't mocking more like disbelief. "You're actually serious. Is This is about… what? A gut feeling?"
"I don't need to explain myself to you," Kai ended the call.
The call ended, but the weight of it lingered. For the first time in years, Kai Arden was breaking his own rules. He'd built walls of discipline and precision around himself, but now what's that something that he's finding and he think he will find that in second audition.
Ryan could feel it in every clipped word, every pause that he took Arden is up to something and Ryan call feel it or may be Kai was chasing emotions.
And Kai? He hated it. Because the very thing he mocked in others was emotion, attachment, weakness was the very thing pulling him back into this city for a second audition.
The next morning, Maya locked up her apartment and hurried toward the lift. The familiar "ding" announced its arrival just as she reached the door and when it slid open, she found Ryan already inside, standing stiffly with his phone in hand.
"Good morning," Maya said politely, stepping in beside him.
Ryan barely glanced up. His jaw was tight, his eyes glued to the screen. He gave no reply just a faint nod, so slight it could've been mistaken for a twitch. The silence stretched uncomfortably, filled only with the hum of the descending lift.
Maya bit the inside of her cheek. Typical Ryan, she thought. Always curt, always distant. She tried not to take it personally, As she was getting late. though she still wondered why he was like that with everyone.
Maya's gaze fixed on him, the corners of her lips curving into that mischievous smile she always carried. He was standing across from her, his eyes were fixed on hi phone like the world outside didn't exist.
She tapped her high heals against the lift, half expecting him to look up. He didn't not even once.
Of course, she thought with the roll of her eyes. If phones were people, he'd probably marry his phone.
And yet, she couldn't stop watching him. The way soft glow from the screen brushed against his face, highlighted the sharp edge of his cheekbone. .... It was unfair, really. How someone could look so effortlessly good while being so... boring
''Staring wouldn't make me less handsome'' he muttered suddenly, without even glancing up.
The lift doors opened on the ground floor. He was so busy reading an email when he shoved his planner back into the bag too carelessly.
That was when a folded pamphlet slipped out, fluttering to the floor just behind him. Ryan didn't notice he was already pushing through the lobby doors, his polished shoes clicking against the tiles.
Maya stepped out of the lift a few seconds later. Something white on the ground caught her eye. She bent down, picked it up, and straightened with a frown. thinking it was of Ryan.
It wasn't just a random leaflet. Across the front, bold letters declared:
"CALL FOR WRITERS -looking for genuine love stories, heartfelt and real to be adapted into drama production
Maya blinked, surprise flickering in her eyes. She turned it over, scanning quickly. It was an open submission drive, an invitation for aspiring writers to showcase their work. that will be adapted into drama production
She stopped walking. For a moment, her heart beat faster.
Alina.
The name shot through her mind instantly, as if the pamphlet itself whispered it to her.
She couldn't help but think back to late nights in college when Alina had stayed up scribbling in worn-out notebooks, her pen moving so fast it sometimes smudged the ink. Alina had always been a storyteller vivid, passionate, almost alive when she spoke about her characters.
And yet, she had abandoned it all. She had locked her words away, convinced it wasn't practical, that she wasn't good enough.
Maya tightened her grip on the pamphlet. This is it. This is the sign she's been waiting for, even if she doesn't know it yet.
Ryan had dropped it, but Maya knew it had landed in the right hands
The night before had left Alina restless. She tried everything hot water, lavender oil, even counting backwards from a hundred but her body refused to surrender to sleep. By the time faint sunlight started leaking in through the curtains, her head felt heavy, like she had been carrying bricks all night. When she finally dragged herself out of bed, her phone buzzed with a message from Maya.
Maya: "Meet me at Hazel's Corner today. 4:00 p.m. Sharp. No excuses."
She stared at the message for a long time. Hazel's Corner. Their old haunt. The tiny bookshop cafe where they used to spend hours flipping through novels as they couldn't afford to buy, sipping one shared cup of hot chocolate because they were broken students.
But today? Today she didn't feel like facing the world, let alone Maya's mysterious plans. she typed half a reply..."I'm not feeling''.....then deleted it. She'd never let her off the hook anyway. So she went through the motions. brushed her hair into some messy version of neat, put on her usual jeans and top, dabbed some cream under eyes to hide the fatigue.
By the time she reached Hazel's Corner, she was already there. Maya looked far too fresh for someone who'd worked half a night managing the cafe. She had that mischievous sparkle in her eyes, the same one she used to get in school whenever she came up with a prank.
"You're late," she said, pushing a mug of Hot chocolate toward me. "Drink. I know you need it."
''All this for?.... what?''
"You'll see."
The way Maya said it made her suspicious, but Alina was too tired to argue. she wrapped her hands around the warm cup, inhaling the frothy scent, and tried to relax. We didn't stay long over there. Before I knew it, Maya had grabbed her bag, tugged her arm, and they were walking through streets that felt unfamiliar. The whole way, she hummed under her breath, ignoring her questions.
"Maya. Seriously. Where are we going?"
"You'll know in five minutes."
Her grin was infuriating, but also comforting. This was Maya....predictable in her unpredictability.
Finally, they stopped in front of large building, it was too heighted that she need to lift her head way too high. as she was able to fall Maya catch her
what are you doing? Maya asked
''This building?''
''yes'' she answered by nodding.
Alina froze.
"What is this?" she asked, though her throat was dry.
Maya turned to her. For once, she wasn't teasing. "I saw an ad," she said simply. "And I thought of you."
"Maya, I can't..."
"Yes, you can." She pressed the folded pamphlet into her hands. Alina hadn't noticed she'd been carrying it, tucked neatly in her bag.
This pamphlet made her remind of the first pamphlet that made her hate Kai Arden and now this? Is this pamphlet different from the first ? It looked ordinary. Just cheap white paper, black ink, a few bullet points about deadlines and categories. But to me it felt heavy, like holding a key to a door I wasn't sure I wanted to open.
she shook her head quickly, already retreating. "Maya, this is ridiculous. I'm not ready. I don't even know if I can..."
Her hand landed firmly on her shoulder. "Alina. You've always been a writer. Remember in college, when you filled half of your notebook with dialogues of your main characters?" She laughed lightly.
"That was different," Alina whispered. "I was… braver back then."
"You're still brave," she countered. "You're just scared right now. And that's fine. But don't let fear make your choices for you that you'll regret later"
She looked down at the pamphlet again. The same pamphlet again? why?...just why? The words blurred. Her mind was split in two one half screaming don't embarrass yourself, don't even try, the other half whispering the words of that stranger....
Because you don't understand what you gave me. I found pieces of myself in your words. And when you stopped… it felt like someone turned off the light in the middle of my favorite chapter
words feel like echo in her mind like she doesn't want to let go the voice...
Write. Even if it hurts. Especially if it hurts...
Maya didn't push further. She just stayed beside me, silent, like she knew the war happening in her head.
And for the first time in weeks, maybe months, she felt the tiniest flicker of something she hadn't dared to feel.
Hope.
And it was all because of that one voice that understood me when everyone doubt on me even when I doubt on myself .. out there, someone was there ... for me.