Touch Of Solicitude

TREINTA Y NUEVE

"I never expected that he would smile once again like that," His manager blurted out, "When we were training him or even in a shoot, he would always wear a frown or a forced smile, either of the two."

He chuckled bitterly, "I am surprised seeing his changes after meeting you; he changed drastically from the past," He continued, "This is the first time I saw him smile. He is a lot more complicated than what you can see,"

I looked at him with curiosity, "Elias got a rather complicated family, his Father's company went bankrupt, his wife divorced him and ran away with some man," He explained, "However, he did not budge and lived life as he wanted. Elias was really an accidental child," My mouth gasped, wide open, the shock of what I learned.

"His Father met his Mother in a bar when he was starting up the business. When the company fell, that woman ran away, leaving the poor father and her son," He stated, "Elias often told me that they would go hungry for days, never eating at least once. Thankfully, Mister Ferreiro helped his old friend back in his feet,"

I knew that he had a hard time, but I never thought that it would be this tough, "He grew up in an environment that was considered the lowest. I met him outside Ylury, jogging, it was in front of a vending machine, he was taking out a sports drink," He smiled as if he was reminiscing a memory that he wanted to cherish forever, "He had a face and body that was good for the entertainment industry, at first, I did not even believe that he had a chubby appearance from the past,"

"Since then, I took care of him, everything from diet to his overall well-being. It was hard at first since he could not adjust to things easily, and he was also introverted, he did not like communicating much," I continued to listen, "However, he was interested in the modeling industry, he was strangely motivated when it comes to modeling, but now that I met you, I finally seem to know the reason why," He chuckled and continued to drive.

"With all of our hardships and effort, it all turned out well," He added, "He looks fun being with you, and I am more than happy seeing him being delighted. I want to see him smile more often,"

Elias must really treasure our memories together more than I expect. He has just found out a place that he belongs, not where one would judge him, but on the contrary, adore him. I never felt as proud as what I feel right now.

"Is this your house?" Through his stories, I did not notice that we were already in front, "Yes, thank you. Please drive safe," After waving bye, the manager drove off.

I will just shower and go to bed; I do not want to stay up all night given that it was already midnight; opening the front door, I saw Luigi leaning across a pillar, "You should not have gone home if you are just going to be back at this time," He snickered, "Luigi-"

Before I could finish my sentence, he dragged me off, pulling me to my room, "Let me go," I tried to escape, "What are you doing?" I exclaimed.

"You are back; why didn't you come in?" I was stoned with his question; I did not want to see him since I knew what he might do, "I just came back right now," I averted the topic.

The door shut close, "Now, did you enjoy yourself spending out this late with another man?" He questioned, "What?" My forehead creased.

"What did you do?" He started, "With him?" I took a deep breath, calming myself. If he continues to say something with malice, I will not hesitate to slap him.

"Do you even know what the words that are coming out from your mouth are? What are you talking about?" I raised, "I had a work meeting with his manager and Elias." He froze on the spot.

"I- I thought you were alone with him?" I shook my head, "If you are jealous, just say so; I had enough of your demanding attitude, Luigi, just leave the room," I opened the door, pointing out.

Just in time, my phone rang, with Lina being the Caller ID, "I apologize for bothering you on such a time; it is because you told me to update when something has been added or changed," I took a deep breath, "Go on, tell me," I responded.

"We already completed the shoots for the outdoor venue; just now, the photographer showed me the final pictures," I nodded, "It was a good idea to feature a model to touch up our magazine to not only focus on finance. Thank you for approving our idea for this issue, Miss Kim," I can imagine Lina repeatedly bowing from the other line.

What she said was right. Initially, I was against featuring any model, even if it was Elias; however, all suggested adding models to endorse finance; with Luigi's addition to the magazine, the board also approved after a thorough review of the plan.

Thankfully, after all those trials and errors, I can finally say that we have a draft for our next release, it would be a challenge for us to feature models, but the content and the statement from other CEOs, Presidents, and Financier are all on the spot.

With the call ending, Luigi continued to stand in front of me, "Tonight..." He uttered, my face went up, looking at him, "I am moving out," I felt a lump in my throat, as my body felt heavy as if someone was forcibly pinning me down.

"I bought another house; you can have this to yourself; I wanted to tell you in person. You came back late tonight; I barely managed to catch you before leaving," He added. I was not getting any more information; I couldn't- no, I did not want to understand what was happening, "Now that you are here, I am leaving,"