Back In The Game

CHAPTER 18

3rd Person's Pov

"I doubt that the team in Bren will give us information because their management could already shut their mouths." Maria sounded like a detective.

"We should probably find out why they did this, we couldn't accept that kind of treatment, you know, that's defamation," Joanna rolled her eyes. "My management didn't take this likely and is currently settling with them. Even they aren't pleased with what they had done."

"Oh, I like this, should we go along with them?" Renejay asked his fellow players.

"I want to know why they did Joanna dirty." Yskaela made up her mind. "I don't like it."

"Me too, it's like they've insulted Joanna's influence and pride as a model," Karltzy said.

"That's settled then," Kairi said then turned to the girls. "What are we going to do?"

"Let's leave them at that for now, we can't just barge into their institution that easily. My management is still pressuring them as they should." Joanna told them.

"Let's wait until the boot camp. That's way more fun." Maria snickered like a maniac. Aleah sighed.

'I have to remind myself why am I getting involved with what they're trying to do.' She thought.

"Now that I think about it, how did you manage to be ECHO's model?" Yskaela asked. Joanna smirked at that question.

"Let's just say that ECHO didn't give up on me until the end. Ha ha ha." She laughed with pride while the back of her hand covered her mouth while laughing. They gave her a facepalm and turned to Karltzy.

"It was Yawi who convinced them that we should get her. We already had a picked model, but she wasn't that good at playing. So, she also agreed to it, and we've compensated her for the changes and contacted Joanna's manager."

"Yawi? If I remember, he was trending back in the day because of an issue, right?" Aleah asked. Silence filled the atmosphere. Renejay coughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, he's a friend of yours, right?"

Renejay nodded. "Yes, we're friends."

"I think Yawi is interested in you, Joanna." Aleah teased.

Joanna rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I don't think so, I think he was just considerate about the advantages if I were their model."

"All right, suit yourself."

The cover shoot ended successfully. Maria had already gone to her work whereas Aleah was being held back by Joanna because she wanted to bond with her.

"Come on Aleah, Please?" Joanna begged her. Already wanted to rest because her social battery is low.

Aleah sighed. "All right. Where should we go?"

Joanna skips in joy. "We're going to watch a movie!"

"Seriously? We can just watch it on Netflix." Joanna noticed that Aleah was emotionally tired of interacting.

"All right, we will go with Netflix. Anyway, can we invite them?" she pointed at the boys and Yskaela.

"It's up to you to decide. I'm just tagging along."

"All right, I'll ask them if they want to come with us." Joanna walked towards the group. Aleah watched her as she asked them. She sighed and closed her eyes and rotated her head.

They've found themselves in Joanna's apartment. All of them agreed except for Renejay who already had plans after the shoot. SZE also had plans of her own and she swore that she would come along on the next visit.

"Welcome to my humble home," Joanna told them, Aleah immediately went inside like it was her home and threw herself on the couch. "Don't be shy and come on in, let Aleah be because she practically treats my home as hers." She then shrugs.

"What will you be all watching?" Aleah asked as they settled in the living room.

"It's up to Joanna, she invited us so she should pick a movie," Kartlzy said.

Joanna nodded but told them that she was open to suggestions because she also couldn't decide what to watch. After a few suggestions, they finally decided on the movie. But before it started, Joanna went to the kitchen to bring some snacks. Yskaela helped her. Karltzy and Kairi were just talking whereas Aleah was lazily becoming one with the couch she was sitting on.

Kairi took a glance at Aleah from time to time, wondering what she was thinking about because she was just staring in front of her. Meanwhile, from Aleah's perspective, she was just dozing off and not thinking about anything. She was just recharging her emotional social battery and resting her mind from thinking.

Joanna and Yskaela joined Kairi and Karltzy's conversation after. And they've decided to roll the movie so that they could enjoy their free time. Joanna sat on the armrest of Aleah's couch and put her arm on Aleah's shoulder.

"What's running into that pretty head of yours? I'm not the only one who noticed that you've been too quiet." Joanna whispered to Aleah. Aleah just sighed and shook her head.

"It's nothing, I'm just a tired introvert, enjoying my own company like a sloth." Joanna chuckled at Aleah's response. "Why don't you sit with them? You're the host here, I'll interact with them later because I'm just recharging."

"Nah, they can handle themselves. The movie's already starting so they might be too focused on the movie than chatting with me."

"All right then, suit yourself."

After the movie ended, they played board games to kill time and talk a lot of random things. Kairi noticed that Aleah was nowhere to be seen. He got up and asked Joanna.

"Joanna, I noticed that Aleah is not here. Where is she?"

"Oh, she must be at the veranda. She prefers to be alone than with a lot of people. Let her be for a while." Kairi nodded, but he was still worried. He decided to check up on Aleah and walked towards the veranda. He could see Aleah watching the sky.

He was satisfied looking at her from there and went to the guys.