To belong || 1

The meeting ended, Director Shen was the first to go out of the meeting room only to be met with dozens of employees. He got more angry and furiously went back to his office cursing Andrea's existence. The employees were confused as to why was Director Shen was so angry. Unlike him, The director inside were celebrating in harmony. Thanking god for having Andrea. "Thank you, Ms. Lian!" A director smiled. "Yes, Ms. Lian we can't tell you how much we love this place! thank you for bringing it back!" One after one but, they talked happily.

Andrea's face light up, for once, she felt truly needed. Damon finally stood up, walking to Andrea with a hand in his pocket, extending the other Infront of her for a handshake. "Let's work hard together," He paused, then whispered. "Ms. Too honest." He joked with a little tiny smile that nobody expect Andrea noticed since they were talking. "Mr. Gracia- please forget about that, it's quite embarrassing." Andrea mumbled as she shook his hand. "Goodluck to you." She whispered.

Damon shook his head. "To us, You'll be back in the industry. And that's my final decision." Before Andrea could even ask why he wants to help her, A director suddenly suggested. "Why don't we hold a celebration? That way, we could also add more sponsors! And invite other companies as well, Right?! We can have Ms. Andrea as our special guest too! After all, she's the one who has all the credit." He talked brightly. Andrea was slightly taken aback and Damon agreed without hesitation. "We should. We can also deny the rumors." Damon added to the suggestion.

"Lawrence, prepare a good place for our celebration and send invitations." Damon said, Lawrence smiled brightly and left.

Andrea stood quietly. She didn't have a good feeling about it for some reason although everyone looked at her like she was their savior. 'Something feels off...' She thought to herself. "Ms. Lian, Please follow me to my office." Damon's voice cut her overthinking short. She nodded and followed him quietly leaving the directors discussing her idea alone. Just as they both set foot outside the meeting room, all the employees surrounded them.

"Boss!!!! What will we do?!"

"We won't leave our work!!! right?!!!"

"Please...boss tell us this is all a nightmare!"

They started to question them like they were in some sort of press conference.

Damon shook his head.

Oh..

"No...The company.." Damon talked quietly, earning sad looked from everyone as he heaved a long sigh.

The Artists felt down and disappointed immediately, Andrea gave him a confused face. 'What is this guy doing?' she asked herself. Looking at the disappointed artists, most of them looked young, Some of them were having hope. The employees were quietly goodbye-ing eachother as if this was the end.

Andrea felt annoyed, She furrowed deeply.

Damon was about to talk but Andrea shut him up when she stood up suddenly on a nearby desk shouting "NO!" Everyone's attention turned to her. Damon looked at her in bewilderment. 'What the heck?' he thought to himself.

"Who said anything about Bloss closing? Come on, Are you all this hopeless?!" Andrea shouted. The Artists started to talk quietly. "Isn't this the A-list model that was blacklisted by GLDN?" The young artist asked, Another young artist nodded "She's so beautiful.." She replied quietly.

"LISTEN! YOU ALL ARE ARTISTS! Even if this had no way out, are you trying to tell me you wouldn't try again?! That you'd go and cry at night like losers?" She angrily talked, way back before Cameron's existence in her life, She often would feel pissed at people who give up so easily. "Stop acting like chicken, Think rationally! don't go like 'oh no I'll miss you' Be freaking strong! you should be icons, somebody people look up to!! And look at all of you, Hah. Can you call yourselves artists?!" Andrea scoffed. Everyone looked at her in amazement. Damon himself quite impressed. Lawrence, who was just done with his call and the directors inside listened carefully. Andrea gritted her teeth in anger. "ALL OF YOU ARE the sole reason for the existence of this company! Don't depend on someone to make a name for you, You make it yourself! with your own HARD WORK!" Her voice was loud and clear. "Actors should be convincing, Artists should touch hearts with their music and..." She paused, then continued. "A model...Should be confident!"

"Why did they blacklist her?" a new actress whispered. "I heard she kidnapped GLDN Ceo's girlfriend?" a model replied. "... Honestly? it seems like she has a convincing reason...don't attack me, it doesn't justify her for kidnapping, but still..!" a cute musician who seemed to struggle in communication replied. The other artists around them nodded in agreement.

"Bloss company is not backing down, Nor am I! At first, I was here because I thought the whole situation was stupid. But now, I'm here to teach ALL OF YOU a lesson! Believe in yourselves, Don't be a waste of oxygen, Don't be a burden to the company and focus on achieving your goddamn dreams! Make me feel that I made the right decision when I came here!" Andrea finally finished her lecture, she was breathing heavily.

Deep silence.

Not a single breathe.

'....What the fuck have I just done-?' Andrea finally realized she stood on a desk and spoke, not only that but also cursed Infront of so many people. She tried to calm herself down as she breathed in the silence.

Clap!

Clap!

Clap! clap! clap! clap!

A round of cheers went on along with loud whistles.

"Yeah! she's totally right!"

"Why are we standing here?! there are unfinished projects we must do!"

"Yes, there's still music I have to compose!"

"Let's work hard for the company!"

"Thank you, Ms. Lian!"

Now, it was Andrea's turn to be surprised. They were cheering for her, she felt something...she hadn't felt in a very long time. Her eyes found Damon, who was clapping along with them, with his lips curled into an encouraging smile. "Ms. Lian, You're amazing! Please help us to improvise, too! we believe in your talent!" a model loudly said.

"..." Amongst the cheers, Andrea felt like crying. She felt like she pushed them forward, She felt like they didn't hate her, She felt acceptance. Damon made his way to her, extending his hand to her to help her down "The scale is gradually going up, it's a 50% chance now." He said, all what Andrea heard at that point was his voice, she hesitantly placed her hand in his.

Feeling the coldness of his hand, she firmly held it with her own coldness, she didn't shiver, she didn't want to pull her hand back. She felt more eager to hold his hand.. Damon felt his hand warming bit by bit as he helped her down. He turned back to the employees, still holding her hand in his behind his back not letting anyone see. "Get back to work, let me see what you can do. I have my faith in you now." He said shortly, everyone returned to their offices and desks with their spirits lift up high. They were determined to do their best, while Damon took the lost Andrea to his office.

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(Psst, play 'May be' by yiruma)

"That lecture was quite the thing." Damon broke the silence between them, Andrea didn't say anything she just kept looking down at her legs. "Your honesty is truly something that remarks you, I think it left quite the impression on everyone and-" Damon was about to continue his admiration, Andrea started to sob softly. "Ms. Lian?...Are you oka-"

Andrea looked up at him with tears running down her face. Her expressionless face made him feel so hurt. "Why are you crying?" He asked in a soft tone, giving her hand a squeeze. "..." She locked her eyes with his and said nothing, pursing her lips into a thin line. Her face had no emotions but her tears were running down like a river.

Damon somewhat understood her. He, too, sometimes just feels like exploding at a certain point. And by the time that happens all he needs was someone beside him but he shut himself out. He didn't feel like anyone would be trust worthy, or that they're willing to listen. And he was right.

Eyes locked.

Dark clouds met a furious ocean.

Damon pressed his lips, saying nothing letting a comfortable silence between them. He took his handkerchief, and gently wiped her tears away. "..." Andrea felt...cozy. She hated everyone's touch but she felt at ease with her hand in his. "You know.." Damon murmured, her red dull eyes never leaving him. "I understand you, I'm pretty sure you're alone. You don't have anyone to celebrate your own success with,Right?" He softly said.

"I..." Andrea was trying to put her feelings into words but Damon gave her a comforting pat on the head instead. "You're doing well. You don't have to force yourself to talk." he said shortly. Andrea looked at him in surprise. The tears that dried just now were once more falling down.

'You're doing well, I'm proud of you.'

Such a simple sentence. But she never had the chance to hear them in her life.

Not by Cameron, Not by Evan, Not by Ann.

In her 23 years of life it was her, herself and She. Alone. Having someone's company felt nice, that's why she loved Cameron in the first place. She liked his consideration and gentleness towards her, turned out that she was dumb to do so. 'Pull yourself together, What the hell am I crying for..?' Andrea thought to herself, looking away from Damon. Wiping her tears trying to look strong. 'His hand...feels so warm..it's soothing..'

"Would you mind if I dropped the formalities?" He asked politely, to which she answered by shaking her head. He sighed in relief and stepped closer to her, looking down at her with gentleness in his eyes. Once again wiping her tears with the cloth in his hand. "Andrea.." He whispered. Andrea's heart started to pound loudly. Something about the way he called her name made her feel like she loved her name more. "I promise you, I will help you back to your position." he said firmly, sealing his promise with a light squeeze on her hand. 'Of course you'd help me...after all, I helped you, too.' She replied in her heart but said nothing about it. "And I won't help you just because you presented a good idea for the company; But because.." He continued, getting a puzzled look from her. "I believe in your talent, your words today were enough to make know what kind of person you are." He finished off his sentence, putting his hand on her shoulder. "What?" She asked. Damon let out a throaty chuckle. She looked at him as if she had just seen magic, he looked so handsome with a smile on his face. " 'A model should be confident'. And you're confident, honest and not afraid to take risks. Although this is only my 2nd day of knowing you, but your actions truly make your personality crystal clear."

"In other words, I'll help you because I'm almost certain that there's a missing piece in the rumors, and because you're a very professional and faithful model. You deserve it."

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'How could he..say such simple words yet make me feel so miserable..'

"..This is so unfair!" Andrea furrowed deeply while sobbing. "How so?" Damon rose his brow as he continued wiping her tears. "How could you say such stupid words and I end up crying like this?!" Andrea replied without hesitation, squeezing his hand back without even realizing.

Damon smiled softly. 'Seriously, How did Collins leave her? she's quite the thing..' He thought to himself happily, only then realizing. 'Haven't I been thinking about her relationship for way too long..? ever since I heard of Her's and Collins name together..' His eyes darkened as he narrowed them. He wanted to hold Andrea close at that very moment. "Andrea, You-" Damon was about to wrap his arms around her as if she was his precious teddy bear. But..

Ring, Ring!!