Sentimental Chances (On-Going)

Chapter 13 : Warm Drinks and Desserts

I was at my photo studio, contemplating what I had just done. What was wrong with me? Why did I get hypnotized by his familiar face?

Never mind that.

"You okay, Peps?" Linus asked me all of a sudden.

I snapped back into reality and turned to him. We were getting ready to shoot a collection for a fashion designer. "Hmph? Oh! Yeah, why?" I stammered.

"You were tightening your lens for like ten minutes... without even looking at it."

I looked over at my hands, and I over-sealed the lens to my camera. "I was making sure that it won't fall off," I claimed.

It was not that convincing to him. "Oookay," Linus muttered while fixing the lighting. "Anyway, thanks again for helping me out."

"No problem."

"I am going to need a break after this shoot. We are almost done."

"I think there's one more room in Loveday Inn," I blurted.

"Nah... It looks great and all, but I'm thinking like Vietnam or Taiwan maybe," he said.

"Maybe going with my mom in England wouldn't be so bad."

Linus gave me a questionable look on his face. "Why not? You... Kinda need that more than all of us here," he snickered.

"You know I can't just leave. I have this studio to make sure everything is running smoothly," I reminded.

"Mavy, Jo, and I can handle things here. It's not the first time you were gone, and we were the ones managing the studio."

"I appreciate that you guys are just looking out for me, but really, I'm fine. I just want to bury myself with all the projects that I can get my hands on."

"Okay, real talk time. Look, I get it. You have a problem with letting things go," Linus confronted my issue on not letting go. "I'm just glad that you are not a hoarder."

That time, I didn't want to hear his "real talk," but I knew I had to. Reluctantly. "Your point?" I huffed, feeling so annoyed with the conversation.

"I'm just saying, try to let go. I know it's hard, but holding it more will get harder. It doesn't have to be the whole thing, just one thing at a time."

The sad part was that he was right. I did need to let go of one thing at a time. However, the mindset was not there yet. It felt like a lifeline, holding on to these memories that surrounded me. "I will ponder on that," I replied.

Linus sighed like he had given up. At that time, I did not understand what it was. "Okay," he exasperated, then he took out his phone. "Anyway, I should check on my client. What's taking him so long to get here? We're almost ready."

----

After a long day of work, I went back to the inn with Linus' advice haunted my conscience. I remember feeling pissed about it.

While trying to forget that annoying conversation in my head, I felt like I put on a workout without even doing any workout at all.

The only workout I did was when Topher made me go hiking in Australia. It was fun, yet I kept grunting the whole time while he was all giddy about it. Still, it turned out great after seeing a beautiful view in one of the oldest forests there.

Anyway. Like I said, I was exhausted. I entered the inn, and as usual, other non-guest people went there to eat dinner when they did not feel like cooking in their own homes.

Although, since it was a weekday, it was not that crowded. I scanned the dining area, and half of the seats were taken until I saw someone getting my attention by waving at me from the distance. I looked over to see who it was.