Only Kamu (A MeerNa's Fanfiction)

Chapter 9: That Feeling

A few days have passed since Qeef confessed his feelings to Eli and got rejected. These few days surely feel like hell on earth for both Qeef and Eli. The chemistry they once had has suddenly vanished into thin air. Every scene they did, albeit satisfactory, lacks emotion. But it is what it is. Their interactions on set are now purely for work purpose only. No more extra affection off camera.

"Get ready for the next scene in an hour, everyone!" the voice of the assistant director is certainly loud enough to wake Qeef up. He stretches his tired muscles before checking his phone. He has posted his ice cream ad promo, which features Jess on his Instagram. He goes into the likes and comments for the ad. One particular comment catches his eyes. It is from his co-star, Hana Adli.

"Finally go public!" it says.

"Damn it!" Qeef cursed. "I hope Eli didn't see this," he says, and immediately realises that he's not making any sense. Why should he care if Eli sees the comment? It's not as if they're in a relationship. It's not as if she's gonna care.

"Whatever. I really don't care whether or not Eli sees it.." Qeef says out loud, unaware that Tina, the make up artist is there in the room with him.

"Sees what?" Tina interjects and comes charging in Qeef's direction. Without warning she grabs his phone and starts looking for what Qeef meant. Qeef, taken aback by Tina's bold move, freezes for a second or so.

"Ooh..this! Well, Eli might not see it yet, but she knows about you and Jess," exposes Tina casually but hits Qeef like a shockwave.

"Wha...what? Eli knows? How? When? Who told her?" Qeef bombards Tina with question upon question. His head feels tight; it's starting to pound.

"Oh, I told her on the day of your ad shoot itself," adds Tina.

"But how?" asks Qeef, annoyed by Tina's confession. Why would she do that? He needs to know.

"I was just teasing Eli; I thought she knew. It turns out that she had no clue. You know what, she was pretty grumpy and moody that whole day. I wonder why," explains Tina, casually as if she has done nothing wrong.

Noticing Qeef's erratic pacing around the room, she asks, "Why are you so tense..." But he's already gone before she could finish her sentence.

"Hey, come back! I need to get you ready for your next sceneeeeee...!"

—

Qeef storms out of the room in a state of confusion. He's so overwhelmed with what he's heard from Tina.

"She knows.. she's moody.. she's grumpy.." Tina's words echo endlessly in his head. All of a sudden it occurs to him that Eli must have thought he is still with Jess, hence the rejection.

"That's it! That must be it! How can I be so stupid! If only I had told her earlier about Jess, I might not have been in this mess," thinks Qeef while walking as fast as he could to find Eli, to confront her, and to find out the truth. This new realisation gives him a glimpse of hope. He still has a chance to win Eli's heart. All he has to do is come clean about him and Jess to Eli.

—

Eli's watery eyes are glued to her phone. Nasty articles about an incident during her pageant days have been in the headlines for days now. She was accused of sabotaging another contestant, but it was totally a baseless accusation. It had nothing to do with her at all.

She doesn't understand why the whole sticky situation is brought up again after so many years. It should have been water under the bridge for everyone involved especially when she had clarified everything. The timing of it certainly adds to her despair and brings her spirit down. Eli is worried that this might affect the rating and reputation of My Cheeky Wife, as she is the lead actress. She hates to think that people are going to despise the drama before it is even aired.