As far as Stella Lockwood knew, besides his habit of reading, Sean Quinn had another hobby: extreme sports. Every Saturday, he would set aside all his work and go to an extreme sports gym in the city for a two-hour session.
During those two hours, the gym would close for "maintenance," becoming Sean Quinn's private time slot.
'She had to strike while the iron was hot. With all the buzz online, she needed to win over Sean Quinn in one fell swoop. When she did, her popularity would undoubtedly skyrocket. Sean Quinn's background was too powerful and his public image was pristine. To avoid offending such a major figure and getting themselves into trouble, the online trolls generally wouldn't dare to write anything reckless about him. After that, as long as she was careful, she could rebuild her image.'
'But the prerequisite was that she had to win him over with her own abilities—and she had to record the entire process of her invitation. Today was just a small trial run; tomorrow would be the real invitation.'
To that end, she discussed the plan with Serena Lockwood. They would go to the city's extreme sports gym tomorrow to intercept him. "I'll do the persuading, and you'll be in charge of filming the entire process…"
Serena Lockwood gave her a strange look, feeling more and more that something was off. "You… how do you know he likes extreme sports? We're from a completely different world than Sean Quinn. How can you be so sure he'll be at the extreme sports gym every Saturday morning?"
"I've been to that gym before. Don't you remember? For that variety show that was going to film an extreme sports segment, I went to audition… Someone was messing with me that day and told me the audition was in the morning, so I ended up running into him. After that, I met a staff member, and they were the one who told me…"
It was, of course, a lie.
But Serena Lockwood believed her. And she had already agreed to be the accompanying cameraperson. If they succeeded, this footage would be edited into the show. If they failed, all this preliminary effort would be for nothing. Logically, they should have hired a professional videographer to tag along, but they didn't have the capital for that right now. They had to cut costs wherever possible…
*
Early in the morning, Stella Lockwood woke up bright and early, changed into a sweatsuit, ate breakfast, and immediately dragged Serena Lockwood out the door.
The whole way there, Serena Lockwood studied her younger sister. Ever since developing depression, she had gradually closed herself off, rarely ever initiating conversation with anyone, let alone actively fighting for something.
The roles she played were all ones Serena Lockwood had fought to get for her, and Serena had to push her to act in them. The doctor had said, "Acting can help her step out of her self-enclosed world. If you want to cure her, you must fully support her acting career. This is the only door she has to communicate with the world. If even this door closes, she'll basically be lost."
That was why she had become a full-time agent—in reality, she just wanted to cure her sister's illness.
But the Stella Lockwood of today was nothing like a patient with depression. Her attitude was positive and sunny, her conviction firm and powerful. She exuded a spirit that showed an immense love for life.
This version of her was utterly adorable.
'With her being this passionate, how could she not play along as her big sister!'
*
At ten in the morning, the Lockwood sisters encountered Sean Quinn inside the extreme sports gym. He was dressed in workout gear and doing his warm-up exercises. He had entered through the main entrance, while the two of them had snuck in wearing janitors' uniforms.
The first activity Sean Quinn was going to do was indoor rock climbing. He actually preferred outdoor climbing, but since Nancaster was a plains region with no mountains to climb, his only option was to come here once a week to train.
Just as he was about to start climbing, someone ran up from behind him, and a clear, sweet voice rang out, "Mr. Quinn, what a coincidence?"