After I Lost Weight They Knelt And Begged For Forgiveness Chapter 08
The lobby manager’s words hung in the air. The room went dead silent.
Jenna shot to her feet.
“Which Sterling?”
The manager glanced at her.
“Director David Sterling.”
The color drained straight out of Jenna’s face.
Last year, she’d camped outside Sterling’s studio for a week just to catch a glimpse of him.
She hadn’t even gotten his assistant’s Instagram.
And now, Sterling was upstairs waiting for me.
She forced a smile.
“Sienna, you know Director Sterling?”
Before I could answer, Lauren’s call came through.
“Sweetheart. Eight minutes.”
“Sterling says he’s coming down to escort you himself. He’s already in the elevator.”
The room was too quiet. Everyone heard every word.
Ryan was staring at me. Something dark shifting behind his eyes.
“What is it exactly that you do?”
“I’m an actress.”
“That’s impossible.”
Jenna blurted it out before she could stop herself.
“Stellar didn’t sign you!”
I looked at her.
“How would you know?”
She choked on the answer.
Someone whispered.
“Didn’t she audition at Stellar three times?”
Jenna’s face went scarlet.
Right then, every phone in the room buzzed at once.
Eight o’clock, exactly.
Stellar Entertainment had dropped the official announcement.
【Welcome Sienna Reed. Officially signed to Stellar Entertainment. A new journey begins.】
Immediately followed by a second post.
【Sienna Reed confirmed to star as the female lead supporting role, Vivienne, in David Sterling’s upcoming film “The Long Night”.】
The photo attached: me in this black gown, standing in front of Stellar’s floor-to-ceiling windows.
Within a minute, the comments and shares started climbing.
【Holy shit, it really is her.】
【Stellar’s flagship talent contract?】
【Second lead in Sterling’s next film? That resume just launched into orbit.】
The people who’d mocked me for “borrowing money” to place my bet were now silent, phones in hand.
Jenna was staring at the announcement page like she was going to burn a hole through it.
“Second lead?”
“No way.”
“Sterling picks his cast based on acting ability. You’re a rookie. On what grounds?”
I looked at her, calm.
“On the grounds that you auditioned three times and didn’t make it.”
“And I got it on my first.”
The line hit like a slap across the face.
Her lips went white. She couldn’t speak.
Ryan seemed to snap out of it. He came toward me.
“Sienna, you signed with Stellar and didn’t tell me?”
“Honestly, I always thought you were pretty.”
“Everything back in high school, I just got dragged along with the crowd.”
The crowd.
He said it, and then unconsciously glanced at Jenna.
Jenna’s eyes went wide with disbelief.
“Ryan, what are you saying?”
“Back then, you were the one who taped her love letter to the lockers yourself!”
“Enough.”
Ryan cut her off, impatient. Then turned back to me. His voice went soft.
“That hug from earlier, we never finished it.”
“Since I promised you, let me make good on it now.”
He reached for me.
I stepped clear.
“Who said I still want it?”
Ryan’s hand hung in the air.
“You had a crush on me for three years.”
I laughed.
“People can’t stay blind forever.”
Ashley was on her feet, furious.
“Ryan, you’re hitting on her right in front of me?”
“Did you forget who your girlfriend is?”
Ryan shook her off. His frown deepened.
“I’m just catching up with an old classmate. Don’t make a scene.”
Compared to a few minutes ago, his attitude had done a complete one-eighty.
Ashley’s eyes went red instantly.
That was when the sound of footsteps came from outside.
David Sterling and Lauren walked in, one after the other.
Sterling caught sight of the old shirt on the wall and the scale on the floor. He stopped mid-stride.
“What is going on here?”
Nobody dared to answer.
I bent down, picked up the【NO FEEDING THE PIG】sign, and held it out to Jenna.
“Director Sterling is asking you.”
“Didn’t you want to reminisce about the old days?”
Jenna’s face was chalk white.
I pulled out my phone and hit play on the recording I’d saved.
Her voice, laced with laughter, rang out across the room.
【Back in the day, wasn’t the whole reason anyone hung out with you because you were fat enough and funny enough to keep everyone laughing?】
【A reunion needs some entertainment, doesn’t it?】
The recording finished. Total silence.
I looked at her, spacing every word out.
“Now. It’s your turn to entertain everyone.”