As soon as she entered the Halo Stars Entertainment building, Lu AnLing felt an instant familiarity but this time, it wasn"t a feeling of awe that ran through her body like the first time she had entered this place. Instead, she was filled with anxiety. She felt her heart beat hard and her whole body begin to sweat profusely.Quickly, Lu AnLing walked up the receptionist. The girl quickly recognized Lu AnLing and welcomed her nicely.
"a.s.sistant... uh... I mean, Miss Lu," she said as she looked through her notes, " you have an appointment. Head up, I"m sure you know where to go."
Lu AnLing smiled and then thanked the girl before she made her way to the elevator.
For some reason, the walk there felt longer and more awkward. She felt as if all eyes were on her but she knew that that couldn"t be true.
Looking around to see if she knew anyone, Lu AnLing prayed that she could get all the way up to the floor she needed without b.u.mping into anyone who would cause her trouble.
There wasn"t anyone so she safely walked into the elevator. The door was just about to close but then, a person suddenly ran towards the door, screaming, "Wait! Hold the door!"
Lu AnLing was happy previously since there was no one in the elevator with her but she couldn"t just ignore the scream, so Lu AnLing made sure the door didn"t shut.
Once the girl was inside, she leaned over her knees as she huffed and puffed; trying to catch her breath.
"Number nine... press on number nine." the girl said with a cough.
Lu AnLing looked at the girl for a second but it didn"t take her long to notice that it was Lin Li.
Lu AnLing"s body tensed.
Looking around, Lu AnLing made sure that Manager Hong And Ning Jie weren"t with her. After she confirmed it, she relaxed slightly.
It would have been a disaster if Ning Jie was there. The two girls would have probably gotten into a fight and Lu AnLing didn"t want that.
Manager Hong would have probably stopped Ning Jie from doing anything reckless but still... Lu AnLing didn"t want to be a reason for why the two best friends fought. Even if Lu AnLing never did anything overtly wrong.
Those thoughts made Lu AnLing frown.
Looking up at Lu AnLing, Lin Li gave a business smile and said, "Thank you,"
Though because her eyes were slightly blurred by the tears that formed in her eyes when she ran, she didn"t notice that it was Lu AnLing that she was speaking to.
"Uh... you"re welcome." Lu AnLing said slightly altering her pitch on instinct.
Hearing the girl"s voice, Lin Li wiped her eyes and then looked at Lu AnLing once more.
"Oh, it"s you." Lin Li said. Despite the harshness in the way she spoke, Lin Li bore no hate or ill intention. "Why are you here?"
"I have some business here." Lu AnLing replied with haste.
Lu AnLing looked at the elevator as it counted up the floors. Lu AnLing wanted to get herself out of this awkward situation.
Lin Li frowned. "You"re going to be someone else"s a.s.sistant?"
Lin Li"s question contained a bit of emotion that Lu AnLing thought was very unlike her, so Lu AnLing quickly said,
"No... I don"t plan on being an a.s.sistant in the entertainment world ever again."
Sure, she liked being an a.s.sistant. Lu AnLing thought it was fun and fulfilling but at the same time, she wasn"t pa.s.sionate about it. It was just a means to an end.
Lu AnLing didn"t want to deal with being belittled like other a.s.sistants or be worked like a dog. Either way, she didn"t need money anymore so she didn"t need to settle for such jobs
Watching Lu AnLing"s gestures Lin Li nodded her head and then she looked up to the numbers herself. Realizing she was almost at her floor, she said,
"You know, after what Ning Jie said to you at the Starlight event, Manager Hong quit. Now I"m managing Ning Jie."
Lu AnLing"s face paled slightly. She knew that she caused this. It was all her fault but at the same time, it wasn"t. Though deep down inside she wished she could fix it.
"Are they—" Lu AnLing started.
Getting the gist of what Lu AnLing was about to say, Lin Li said,
"Still friends?" Lin Li shrugged. "Maybe. Manager Hong told Ning Jie that she would come back when Ning Jie stopped acting like a brat. But since then Ning Jie hasn"t spoken about Manager Hong and she hasn"t been coming out to do public appearances anymore either. She"s just making music."
Lu AnLing frowned. If she wasn"t mistaken, the ninth floor was where the majority of the recording rooms were.
Seeing the look on Lu AnLings face, Lin Li said, "I have to say, I need to thank you. If this whole mess didn"t happen, Ning Jie would have continued being in a rut, and she couldn"t have kept relying on you and her friends help with writing music... I also wanted to thank you for that."
Right after the girl had said that the door opened and Lin Li immediately stepped out.
"Goodbye Lu AnLing." Lin Li said sadly.
Lu AnLing didn"t say anything or make a movement. She didn"t need any thanks from Lin Li or a goodbye.
The situation that happened in the Starlight Event was an unfortunate circ.u.mstance and as for helping Ning Jie with her music for a short time, this was just Lu AnLing"s own selfishness. Lu AnLing had wanted to know if her songs could suit mainstream audiences and by how well the songs had done when released, Lu AnLing had been able to build her own confidence.
She was sure— as sure as anyone— that if she put all her efforts into her music career, she would succeed.
Suddenly the door opened in front of her revealing a long hallway.
In there, Lu AnLing"s destiny was awaiting.
The girl took a deep breath and then she walked out the door.