Reel or Real

Chapter 17

Another month has passed since I first met Alexandra. When we went home that night, I excitedly told Jasmine all about it that I sounded like a child telling Santa what she wanted for Christmas. Then, the day after that, I went to my mom and little Jasmine and told them all about it, too. Mom told me that she was happy for me, but I could see it in her eyes that she was afraid.

So, before I left them that night, I had a heart-to-heart talk with her and made her fears go away after giving her comforting words. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I left her in the state she was in. But, what made her really release all those fears was when I told her that Alexandra wanted to meet her, too.

Unfortunately, I couldn't come with them when they met up because of I have practice after school, but, based from both their stories, it went really well.

A lot of things had happened during the month other than that.

Jasmine and I's relationship were going really well. I wasn't able to take her out on dates like I really want to, so, instead, I would usually just set my room up in a romantic theme, sometimes the balcony since its spacious enough. Jasmine would always be in tears every time I would surprise her and it always end up with us making out, so I kept doing it, because kissing her is one of the few things that I enjoy doing.

Mary and I's relationship are improving, too, along with all of her friends. They accepted Jace and I into their group, too, and haven't been violent towards us. They even became carefree with us, and Jace and I are grateful for that. I don't think Jace could handle the glares they were giving any longer and, although it was fun watching him fidget under their looks, I was also uncomfortable with that.

Jace kept telling me that Mary is starting to like me again like that, but, in my defense, Mary is also very close to her Elliot and Michael.

Yeah, but she always wants to be close to you.

I could hear Jace's voice whenever I would say something in my defense.

I just don't think Mary likes me like that.

You're just oblivious.

But, the most eventful thing that happened that month involves Johnson, and it's not a bad thing, kind of.

There was a man that came into the house; I just got home from school and the first thing that I heard upon entering the house was Johnson's voice berating at someone. At first I thought it was one of the maids, but proven otherwise when I saw him in the living room in front of a man who has his head down in shame. Johnson was fuming; you could tell by the way his face reddens as he continued yelling at the man.

It was something about their plan being compromised and having to start all over again.

I honestly don't know why I spoke or why I said what I said, but seeing Johnson release all his anger on the poor man ticked me off, so I had uttered the words that I didn't know would save their plan.

At first, Johnson yelled at me for eavesdropping on their conversation, though I'm sure the whole household could hear their conversation, and then I saw realization dawned on him and he looked at me in disbelief, the good one.

"How did you think of that?" I remember Johnson asking.

"If you didn't start lashing out on the man and actually used your head, maybe you would've, too" I told him as I passed them by. I gave the man a quick look and he gave me a grateful one. I just nodded at him.

Johnson seemed to be too much in shock to realize the fact that I had just disrespected him in the presence of someone.

When Jasmine went to my room later that day and told me Johnson wanted to talk to me, I thought it was to finally admonish me for disrespecting him. Instead, he told me that he wanted to introduce me to his work.

"It is only fitting that I train you now, seeing as you will be the one to run the businesses in the future" he said as he sat at the dining table with Alexandra, who is trying to hide a smile on her face. "Dear, why don't you just admit it that you have seen potential in her and thank her for saving your upcoming project" Alexandra spoke in the most controlled voice she could muster without letting the smile on her face be seen.

I gave Johnson a smirk, but he just huffed out in irritation and told me that he will have a schedule given to me. When he left the room, Alexandra stood up from her seat and went over to me to give me a hug.

"I am so proud of you, Alex" I was shocked, to say the least, when she called me by my real name. Usually, it's only Jasmine that calls me by that. Amanda doesn't really call me by name, it's always something like an overly dramatically long "hey" or "hi" to call my attention.

But, having my mother call me by my real name made my heart flutter.

"Should I be worried, though?" she immediately dismissed my worry with a laugh. "You'll be able to get it in no time. Johnson might not be a good father, but he's really good with business and he's going to personally teach you the ropes" That didn't really eased my worry, though.

"Plus, from what he told me, it seems like you've got a lot of potential" that eased my worry.

"Did he come to that conclusion just because of what he said?" my mother perked up at that. "Actually, believe it or not, Johnson had been intrigued by you. He would almost always talk to me in awe about how you easily picked up things in training, whether it is mentally or physically. He would always talk about you, you know?" If it weren't for the fact that that came from Johnson's wife, I probably wouldn't have believed it.

"He's probably been thinking of introducing you to the company for a while now, that's why when the opportunity came up, he immediately grabbed it"

After that, I began to juggle school, practice, and work that I barely had time to rest. When I'm done with practice, I would only have about 20 minutes of free time before I would have to go where Johnson wanted me to. I've told Jasmine about it and, though I would always get home late, she would always be waiting for me in my room and the tiredness I would be feeling will immediately be forgotten. When Johnson started giving me some of the work load, I'd be forced to stay up throughout the whole night, and Jasmine will be there. Whenever she would see that I'm starting to get frustrated, she would give me a kiss on the cheek or massage my shoulders.

Jace and Mary knew about it too, of course, and, although we would only have 20 minutes to spare before I would be hauled to wherever Johnson is, they still waited for me after practice. That helped reduce my tiredness, too.

They would always distract me with their silly stories. It also helped a lot that they were helping me with homework. I mean, I could do it, but I just usually don't have the time to do it. So, I'm very grateful for them.

Since I also don't have much time to eat before I go to work, Jace and Mary made it their mission to prepare a small snack for me to munch on while I rest and listen to their stories. It swelled my heart, really. I'm just not used receiving care from people other than my family, so when they first did it, I was really shocked and speechless. Of course, they made fun of me for that.

So far, I was able to tour around Johnson's companies within the country. He said he'll take me to the ones abroad, but for now I should focus on the local ones. Like my mother had said, Johnson made it his responsibility to teach me everything I needed to learn about running the businesses. I'm sure he's also waiting for me to mess up whenever he assigned me to do something. But, his look of awe whenever I would do things the way he wanted, maybe even more, would always bring a smug smile on my face.

I'm not going to lie, though, at first I was beyond nervous to do anything. But the look of judgment I would receive from his staff, especially those old, wrinkly ones, had fueled me to excel. Just so I could rub it in their faces that I'm better than them despite them having years of experience. I don't want them to think that I was given the top position just because Johnson is my father, although, that is one of the top reason why I was given it in the first place. So I wanted to prove them otherwise.

When I first came with Johnson, I thought that would be the most interesting my life could get. But, seeing everything that's happening now, I can safely say that it's just the beginning. Whether it's for the good or for the worse, even I am just about to find out.