Shutter

Chapter 6 - Request

"Uh... I don't really think I have anything interesting that I could share..." Miles responded as he was quite unsure of the appropriate answer to Soren's suggestion. "Really?" the actor spoke back and Miles shrunk in his seat.

Despite how comfortable it was, his nervousness was taking the best of him.

It was completely different compared to when he was standing with the crowd watching celebrities from afar. Sitting in their living room and talking with them personally without anyone else around was another level of nerve-wracking.

Soren was staring at him with eyes that Miles couldn't fathom were expressing. Was it interest? Was it doubt? He did not know.

"Why don't you share about that thing that happened recently?" Soren added and Miles obviously flinched in his seat. The rate of his heartbeat doubled and cold sweat formed on his forehead despite the air-conditioning cooling the room.

'I knew it!' He exclaimed in his mind and nervously looked at Soren Chandler who was now looking at him with amusement clearly in his eyes.

He was right all along. His fears of Soren Chandler calling him to 'work' was just something the actor used for him to question Miles about the recent scandal that happened. He should have just stayed at home. He should have just ignored Soren Chandler's request.

He should have just rejected the proposal despite the tempting rewards he could get.

The moment they started talking with each other, Soren was already questioning him about the scandal. He did not even dilly-dally but went straight to the point. For Miles, that itself was alarming.

"I..." He gulped his nervousness because as much as possible, he did not want it to show.

However, his attempts seem to be futile as Soren chuckled. His voice entered Miles' ear and made the latter shiver in fear.

Miles couldn't identify it but there was something about Soren Chandler that was scary. It wasn't the normal fear of people speaking with others, it was similar to the fear one has when they are speaking to one that is much more powerful.

"You're fidgeting," Soren pointed out and Miles looked at his hands. Indeed, they were constantly rubbing against each other. It was an unconscious habit that he does whenever he was faced with something he was uncomfortable with.

"I'm sorry..." He managed to speak out and Soren's eyebrows rose at the small voice Miles used.

"B-But! There were a lot of us who took pictures of you entering the Blue Copper! Either way, if I did not take that photo of you, one of the journalists with me would have published an almost identical picture!" He reasoned out and it only added to the amusement Soren had in his eyes.

"What are you on about?" Soren chuckled again as he crossed his legs. Layla appeared from the kitchen with two mugs of coffee in either hand. Without speaking, she laid the coffee on the table in front of the two men and immediately left as if she sensed that she shouldn't be in the room.

When she was out of sight, Miles clenched his hands as he grinded his teeth. "What...?" He asked.

"I wasn't telling you to apologize about it."

"Then what do you want?!" He asked with anger laced in his voice. Miles did not like the fact that Soren Chandler seemed like he was playing with him like a cornered prey that has nowhere to go. The actor was obviously enjoying the conversation as his eyes gleamed from time to time.

"I said you should tell me things about."

"Like?"

"Like why is the quality bad, why does it look like it was captured with a cheap camera, something like that."