"Why? Does she not look fine?" Raymond whose eyes were centred on Joanna's body feigned ignorance of his friend's statement.
"I am sure you must have noticed that something is off about her before I do, so you can quit the pretence. I won't fall for it," Derrick shrugged his shoulders and moved to stand in front of him.
"Hey, you are in my way..."
"Since you didn't approach her despite knowing that all was not well with her, I believe you have an idea about what is wrong with her, so why don't you let me in on the secret hmm?" Derrick implored.
He refused to budge despite Raymond's attempt to push him out of his front.
"Who knows I might be able to cheer her up on your behalf if I know what the problem is..."
"This is a problem neither you nor I can solve. The best way to help her is to act as if we don't know anything," Raymond replied.
"But how can we leave her like that?" Derrick blurted. He pointed his index finger at the lady who has been running around from one place to another ever since they assembled two hours ago.
"I am afraid she is gonna exhaust herself to death if we leave her this way," Derrick stated his fears.
"Maybe that is exactly what she wants. She believes that as long as she keeps herself busy she won't have the luxury to think about her problems..."
"And is that even possible?" Derrick whispered. He moved away from Raymond's front at last.
"Of course not. But at least it's better than not trying at all," Raymond replied out of experience.
"If you insist then I will play ignorant about what I noticed... but we need to trick her into having a rest before we leave for our next appointment. I am afraid she won't even spare herself a minute rest if we don't do that," Derrick suggested.
"Sure," Raymond tapped him on the shoulder and walked towards where a lady in white denim trousers stood coordinating a group of other students.
"Miss Butterfly, do you need help?" Raymond asked when he reached where she stood, trying to correct the lady whose leg movement was wrong.
"No," Joanna replied without taking her eyes off what she was doing.
"You got that all wrong Lia... your legs should be this way," Joanna corrected.
"How about I take over from here while you take a break?" Raymond insisted. He reached out his hand to grab her but she avoided his touch.
"I can handle this, don't worry," Joanna flash him a smile only to divert her attention back to what she was doing.
Raymond strolled back to where Derrick was when Joanna wouldn't accept his help.
"See, I tried but she wouldn't budge," Raymond relayed even though Derrick had seen everything.
"Because your first attempt failed doesn't mean the second would. So why don't we wait for a while and give it another shot?" Derrick who looked like he had some idea off his sleeve winked naughtily at him.
After so many attempts to cheer Joanna up and forced her to take a break, their last resort turned out to be a success.
With the food, drinks and blood delivered by Raymond's agency, everyone had no choice but to take a break.
And Joanna was not an exception.
But after they left for their next appointment none cared whether or not Joanna took a break.
By the time they concluded their marathon rehearsals, it was night and everyone got ready to leave for their respective homes.
"Don't forget to call me, text or email me if you come across any problems concerning any of our performances. I will be more than happy to help out to the best of my abilities..."
"We heard you, Joanna. You don't have to repeat the same thing countless times... we will reach out to you if we need assistance with the performances," Lia cut in but she didn't sound rude.
"Did I repeat it way too many times?" Joanna scratch her hair as she stared at the lady who was already heading towards the exit with her two other friends.
"Yeah, you did," Lia replied. She paused in her tracks, turned and gazed at the lady who hasn't made any move to leave their rehearsal room.
"Also, make sure to leave early too... remember we still have rehearsals tomorrow. And trust me, none of our group members will take rehearsals seriously if you were to break down," Lia commented, a sweet smile lingering on her pretty face.
"What you are afraid of won't happen. You can trust me on that," Joanna replied. She didn't forget to return the girl's smile.
"Go on now. Your friends are waiting," Joanna urged her on with a wave of the hand.
After she watched Lia leave with her friends Joanna moved to the right corner of the large hall where brown benches were neatly arranged.
From where she sat Joanna stared at the quiet hall which was filled with people and liveliness a few moments ago.
"In the past, I never understood why heartbroken and lonely people always buried themselves in their works... but after experiencing what it means to be heartbroken, I can understand this feeling a hundred per cent," Joanna mumbled, her right hand clutching her chest.
"Kay, I can't wait for all this to be finally over so I can come to find you without any worries," Joanna whispered and closed her eyes.
She stayed in this position for over fifteen minutes without moving an inch.
Joanna was still wallowing in her pains when she recalled that she had some unresolved business to take care of.
Some minutes later, a lady in white denim trousers and a black cropped top was seen running into the front of a moving vehicle in the middle of a lonely street.
Had the driver not applied brakes in the nick of time he would have hit the lady who ran into their car from nowhere.
The startled man who occupied the backseat of the black car was infuriated and relieved at the same time when he raised his head and saw the face of the lady.
He came out of their car angry to the bones.
"Hey, Joanna Anderson, do you have a death wish or are you perhaps sick of living?" He growled, his index finger pointed at the face of the lady whose piercing glares were shot at him.
....
Hello ever lovely readers, it's your darling author here again. I am so sorry I wasn't able to upload chapters for days, believe me, it wasn't planned.
I fell seriously ill which made me unable to write anything. Although it wasn't intentional on my part I still want to apologise.
You guys had to wait for days without any updates, I am sorry. I promise to make it up to you guys when I get better.
Thanks for your understanding.
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