Maverick sighed when he saw that hurt look on Natalie's face. He knew he had messed up a lot this time. He has to explain everything now.
Ellie, to be honest, I had no plan for dealing with StarForge Studios. But I knew they were trying to kick me out because I didn't agree to that old hag's request. What was it again? Oh right—she wanted me to satisfy her! I wouldn't even touch the water she drank, and she expected me to touch her? Seriously? With this face and body? Have you seen her? She looks 60—and that makeup? Makes me want to puke." He said making puking gesture.
After the dramatic representation he continued "She was lucky I let her go without saying anything just because she's the boss. But she chose revenge. On me! Sigh. I shouldn't have let it slide. If I'd said something, maybe I'd have just lost a few ad deals. Instead, I took all the backlash. My reputation tanked. I hadn't hit the gym, I looked pale and stressed. And my manager made it worse—lecturing me nonstop like I was a kid. He nagged me for three straight days! I even lost weight. Pretty sure it was a curse from that old witch…
—" He paused, noticing Natalie's angry glare.
"I had to go through every detail of the video after hacking the company system. Then I tallied everything, just to make my case worse before turning it around for maximum compensation. And thanks to that witch's curse, I actually made way more than expected. I also revised the contract to bump up the payout. Don't you think, besides my good looks and body, I've got a genius brain too? Lucky for those lawyers I'm not joining the legal field—they wouldn't stand a chance," Maverick said with a smug grin.
Natalie knew that it was not simple as he explained. She decided to investigate this matter in detail as she knew he wont tell her the important parts.
As she was pondering about this she heard him say "I have decided to start my own company. I have the compensation money so it won't be that difficult for me to do it. It's just that I don't want to skip my masters right now. So I have decided to just start an entertainment company and I'll invest in some projects till I complete my masters. After completing my masters I'll resume acting in movies. What do you think?" Maverick inquiring asked Natalie. He really wanted to know her opinion. He valued her opinion.
"I think along with investments you should continue endorsements and modeling. It will help you as your fans won't forget you. If you won't appear in magazines or TV there are high chances that people will forget you. It will affect the movie in box office release. Besides, it will also financially support you" Natalie said after analyzing the situation.
"See that's why I love you. You always give me the best advice. But Ellie darling, how can you say that people might forget my handsome face? Don't you know the value of this face" Maverick said, removing his mask from his face. Natalie quickly stood up and covered his face and said I know I know! Please don't remove the mask. You already grabbed everyone's attention by kneeling now if you removed your mask there will be a long scandal! Come on let's go, we already had enough attention." She pulled Maverick out of the cafe.
"Okay okay. Don't pull me. Let's go to our favorite pastry shop. It's my treat as you know now i'm rich" Maverick said
"Yes yes my richie rich friend. Please don't forget me now that you are rich" Natalie jokes.
"Dont worry ill make you my sugar baby."
Natalie "..."
Maverick "Really dont worry ill satisfy you and…" before he could finish Natalie started to punch him and he started running away from her.
This bickering was seen by someone.
After entering the shop they started to talk about their assignments and exams. There was a long queue at the counter. When Natalie's turn came,she ordered Apple strudel, cream horns and her favorite Crocetta of Caltanissetta. Along with two hazelnut hot chocolate.
As she completed ordering, from the corner of her eyes she saw someone coming and heard him saying "two Crocetta of Caltanissetta please"
The person on the counter said "I'm sorry but the Crocetta of Caltanissetta is over."
"When this lady asked you to give her. Is there any special treatment for ladies?"
"No sir. That was the last one. You can come tomorrow for it. I'll give you a discount."
The man turned his head towards Natalie and said " State the price. I'll give you double that. Just give me those Crocetta of Caltanissetta"
Natalie frowned when she heard this. She replied "If you have so much money why don't you just buy this store then you can do whatever you want. Or better just buy this whole world. Acting as if you can own everything. Not everything can be bought with money!" Natalie said with a ting of anger in her voice.
The man was not expecting this. He stared at her face for a while as he was about to say something he was interrupted by Maverick "Oh look! I didn't expect Mr Neville Jolie to actually act like a rich spoilt kid. Throwing money at everyone's faces."
The man, Neville face turned dark after listening to maverick, "What i do is none of your business." he turned to Natalie and said in a softer tone this time "Miss please can you give me at least one Crocetta of Caltanissetta please"
As Natalie saw the helpless look on his face, for some reason she felt bad and decided to agree. Maverick was about to burst into anger when he saw she agreed to it. He said to Natalie "Ellie darling you don't have to agree to his request he can actually buy this own shop. And you can't forget how he almost threw money in your face!"
Natalie sighed she knew he would be angry so she just dragged him on the seat while taking the order which arrived. She gave an apologetic look to Neville. The man just stared at her face.
After settling down to the seat she convinced Maverick to just forget that matter and continued their talk about college. ALso she was glancing at Neville who was also going towards his seat. She was surprised when she saw he gave the plate of Crocetta of Caltanissetta to someone and sat opposite to him. That man did nothing but just stared at Crocetta of Caltanissetta with deep eyes. This was looking somewhat sad.
She didn't ponder about it much and continued her conversation with maverick.