The Accidental Star

CAFE

ANNE

" This boy just suddenly came up to me and asked me to sign his t-shirts, " I was telling Jake as I sipped from my coffee cup. " He probably had thirty or forty shirts that had my face printed on them. It was amazing! "

Jake looked up from his mobile and frowned from across me. " Those were not our merchandise. We don't do shirts with our talent's faces on them. Too tacky. "

I rolled my eyes placing down the saucer and coffee cup on the table. " You're missing the point. "

Jake was typing something on his mobile again. Not bothering to look up, he mumbled, " What's the point? "

" The point is, it was an amazing experience, " I told him. " Being approached by a fan who has tshirts of me. It's probably a no big deal for most celebrities but this is new to me. "

" That boy could have been a pervert in the making, " Jake muttered shaking his head disapprovingly, his eyes still glued to his mobile.

I leaned across the table and without warning, I snatched his phone from his hand.

" Hey! What the hell?! " He finally looked up and glared at me.

He tried to grab his phone from my grasp but I was faster than him. I quickly moved my hand away and dropped his phone inside the purse sitting on my lap.

" Anne, I'm finishing an important email-"

" I'm sure you can finish it later," I cut in as I lifted the coffee cup from the table and held it with both hands. " After we finish our coffee. "

It was a lazy Friday afternoon and we were sitting in a cafe that was about half an hour drive from the Spotlight Tower.

Jake wasn't too keen on the idea of lounging in a cafe during office hours but I had to get him out of the office.

I did a commercial shoot earlier this morning with a clothing line that I was endorsing. We finished the shoot earlier than expected. Chang wouldn't be free to meet until late that evening so I decided to hang around Jake's office to kill time.

Rachel left Seoul three weeks ago and Jake had been uncharacteristically quiet these last few days. He wasn't saying anything but I knew that my cousin was greatly affected by Rachel's departure and the fact that the latter had finally decided to accept Adrian's marriage proposal.

If he'd asked me, I'll tell him that it was entirely his fault. Why, they've spent practically everyday together since Rachel got here in Seoul during the premier. We could all see something was happening to the two of them. But Jake never made a move. And Rachel finally got tired of waiting for him to come around.

About an hour ago, while I was skimming through pages of a fashion magazine, I heard him get into several arguments over the phone. After the third heated call, I decided that I had to intervene. He was growing grouchier by the minute.

And so there we were in the cafe.

" Why are we even here? " He said as he looked around. " I still have a lot of things to do in the office. "

I sipped from my cup calmly. " Oh really? What, get into more arguments with your shareholders or your HODs maybe? "

He narrowed his eyes at me as he finally lifted his coffee cup to his mouth. " It's called running a business, Anne. "