Mystery Lover

Act of Kindness

"Piero, really I'm not kidding. What's wrong with Jos?" Ignazio whispered in Piero's ear. "Hey, you think Gian knows what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know, Igna." Piero said over his shoulder, "He may know something." Ignazio just looked at the scene in front of him and then at Piero. He thought that he might help out by going towards them, but Piero stopped him. "No, leave them alone."

"But I want to help." Ignazio said but Piero just shook his head and he stayed there.

Gianluca wanted to kiss her forehead but he stopped as he sensed that Piero and Ignazio were looking. "Hey, come on, stop crying. People might have an idea of who you really are if you keep crying like this." He whispered in her ear.

"You're right." She said as she looked up at him. "I'll stop." She sobbed a bit and wiped her tears away.

"Jos..." Piero finally called and walked towards them. She looked around, just like Gianluca did too and stood up.

"What's going on? Are you okay Jos?" Piero asked her only. Gianluca looked at Piero and frowned at the worriedness written in his face.

"Hey, what happened?" Ignazio asked after him.

"Fine, Gianluca, what's wrong with Jos?" Piero said and looked at GIanluca. GIan stood up straighter and said, "He was too tensed during the show that once he stepped down the stage, he had a melt down." He lied. "Jos, stop it."

Sofia sniffed a bit and nodded, trying her best to calm down. Piero just kept looking at her, wanting so much to give her a hug. "Hey! You guys did a fascinating job! It was fantastic!" Michele walked in and stopped between Piero and Gianluca.

"Uh, what's going on here?" He asked as he saw how Jos was crying.

"It looks like Jos endured a lot of his feelings that he just had a breakdown." Piero replied. "And Gianluca happened to be consoling him."

"And I kept thinking you hated Jos. That is a wonder act of kindness from you." Michele said and patted Gianluca's back. "Barbara, take him to fix up his makeup, we are still not done."

Barbara, without hesitation, walked towards Jos and looked her away. "You're face is a bit chubby. We can fix that." She said.

"Please do it quickly. The reporters are dying on getting to talk with Jos." Michele said and Barbara nodded, taking Sofia back to the dressing room. As Sofia left, Gianluca and Piero didn't stop looking at each other in a serious way. Ignazio, in the other hand, just had a his worried face still on.

*In the dressing room*

"Um, I heard about your mom from Gabriel." Barbara said in a low voice as she finished fixing Sofia up. Sofia just sighed and breathed in slowly, "I know I shouldn't cry right now. But I can't avoid it."

"You're brave, I know you can hold it a bit longer so that when all this is over, you finally let go of your feelings." Barbara said, trying to console her and warn her too about this situation.

"I know I can."

"No you can't." Someone said from the doorway. Both Barbara and Sofia turned and saw that Gianluca was standing there. "If you're going to be crying like the girl you are, everyone might just get the idea that you are an actual girl. Do you want that to happen? Will you tell them the truth?"

Sofia got up from her chair and said, "I'll be okay. I know I can hold on to this."

"Just take her away." Gianluca told Barbara, "She must want to know how all this happen with her spy in person. Plus, you won't be fully concentrated on the interviews. Hurry, before Michele sees you still here." He handed her her phone and took it from him.