The Luster of Stars in Moscow
⁇ 50
"When I got on the plane to St. Petersburg, I heard your name called. I'm shocked too! Ah—real... here Rafael found his beloved doll, I thought. So, I was following you!" The man grinned.
Cheri clenched his mouth while frowning an eyebrow.
"By the way.I've watched The Beautiful and the Ugly!" The man added. "I think your acting there was really good, but why was the MoscovArt Theatre disbanded?"
Cheri tightened his jaw and looked up at the man.
"It looks like Rafael can't get up for a while, huh?" The man smirked thinly. "But you must remain an actress!" It's underscoring. "Come with me to Tsar Dramy!" The man then extended his hand to Cheri.
You're so shameless, Vladimir Vallensky! Cheri growled in his heart.
You have captured the male lead, bought tickets with your money, robbed the audience on the first day of the performance, recalls Cheri bitterly.
And because of that…
Rafael's other personality can appear to take over his body.
It was this man who had made Rafael throw away all his dreams, his plays, his friends!
He's the one who caused Rafael to disappear!
He is the main cause of all these problems!
THE PLAQUE!
Cheri landed a hard slap on Vladimir's cheek. "that's disgusting!" the hardic. "Because of your trap, Rafael suffered greatly. And now he's gone too! Who do you think would want to work in your theater?!"
"Disappeared?" Vladimir blinked and stared. "Rafael? Disappear? Is that true?"
"Stay away from me!" cheri snapped and shook Vladimir's hand and hurried to leave the man.
"Ah—ya!" The man pointed his index finger at Cheri's face. "At that time, things were a little strange!"
Cheri stopped his steps and turned his head with squinted eyes.
"Is something going on?" Vladimir raised his eyebrows and returned grinning.
Cheri cut him down and turned his face again. Then hurry up.
I have to return to Moscow as soon as possible, said Cheri.
There I will wait for Rafael!
.
.
.
Moscow, March 25, 2023.
Cheri looked up at the building that felt foreign and very familiar while pensive.
MoscovArt Theatre…
Looming haughty before his eyes. So close, yet so far away.
Entering Rafael's room…
The girl returned pensive.
The room looked abandoned. His writing desk looks empty and his stool looks lonely.
His little bed was neatly arranged but filled with dust.
Just a few days, thought Cheri. This place is just as bad as a funeral!
"Rafael.." she groaned and pressed her face against the edge of the man's bed, just as a wife mourned her husband's body on the edge of the gurney. "Where are you actually? Are you all right? Where are you now? What the hell are you doing? Answer me!"
Something soft touched his feet. Then someone touched his shoulder.
Cheri was flabbergasted and looked down and raised his face. "Mikail," he sizzled.
"You're back?" The man looked at her with a concerned look.
"I'll stay here" whispered Cheri as she wiped her cheeks with her palms. "I want to wait for him. Can I stay here?"
Black cat! Cheri forced a smile, then stroked the cat's fur.
Mikail leaned over, scooped up the black cat and hugged it. Then sat down on the edge of Rafael's bed and looked at Cheri. "Because you've decided to wait for him here, I can't say anything more" he said with a faint smile. "But promise me you'll continue school until she gets back!"
"No," Cheri grimly charged. "I'll quit SMU and also ballet school. If I'm allowed to stay here, I'll find a part-time job."
"Can't! You should still go to school!" Mikail insists. "As long as Rafael hasn't returned, you'll be my responsibility."
"But it requires money" protested Cheri. "Our theater's broken up too!"
Mikail let out a short sigh while stroking the cat in her lap. "Well--yeah, this staging business is indeed quite troublesome. Our theater has suffered a loss. But it's okay. Rafael's family has never been fond of wasting money on everything related to Rafael!"
"But—" Cheri tried to interrupt.
"Rafael won't mind!" cut Mikail.
"That's not what I mean!"
"Your school fees are covered by the company-it's a scholarship, did you forget?"
Cheri let out a short sigh and bowed. No more arguing about Mikail.
"Oh, yeah! One more thing," Mikail added, lowering the cat from his lap and putting it on Rafael's bed, then getting up. "I've found the place I thought was Rafael's stopover. Now I'm going there."
"I'm coming!" pekik Cheri while jumping to his feet and grabbing the arm of Mikail's suit.
"Don't.." erang Mikail.
"Why?" Cheri groaned back.
"Why do you think he's hiding? That's because he feels like if he's around you, he's worried about putting you in danger, right?"
Cheri clenched his mouth with a sulking look.
"Patience, Beauty!" Mikail persuaded him while wrapping one arm around the girl's shoulder. "Just leave everything to me" he patted her on the chest, then brought her mouth closer to Cheri's ear. "At the same time I can't take the Bad One Apparently, right?" the whisper teased Cheri.
"Alright," murmured Cheri helplessly. "Then I will gather the remaining members of the theater!"
Mikail knitted her brows.
Cheri developed a smile and turned to the man half looking up. "Yeah, even if there's a little, as long as we can form a theater group, we won't lose to Tsar Dramy."
Mikail is scraping now.
"When Rafael returns later, we can start our activities immediately and finally we can defeat Vladimir Vallensky!"
"Hmmm.." Mikail muttered as she rubbed her chin, while the other hand was still coiled around the girl's shoulder. "Actually I was a little worried earlier, but it looks like you'll be fine!"
Cheri lifted his chin as he turned. "I'm an adult now!" He berkilah.
Mikail chuckled and shook her head, then rubbed the girl's shoulder excitedly.
Cheri resuscitated his head on Mikail's chest while smiling in relief.
Who said he was an adult? The man stroked his hair and said goodbye.
"Get yourself!" cheri Message.
"You too!" mikail replied as she blinked one eye at the girl. "Administrative room unlocked, by the way! The contact list of all the members is never far from the phone plane." The man added, before finally turning the doorknob and sneaking out. Then it disappeared without looking again.
Cheri sighed and clenched one of his hands enthusiastically, "Excite!" he said to himself, then rushed towards the administration room.
I will contact all the members, both those who are still surviving and those who have decided to leave. Who knows if some of them changed their minds!
"I thought God didn't plan to separate you and me" Kyle told Cheri a few hours later.
The boy came to the MoscovArt Theatre building with three new friends from the creative team.
Sesha and Ibrahim caught up with them not long after.
Cyzarine came alone, and he didn't go straight in. The girl folded her hands in front of her chest while leaning one shoulder against the door frame. "Don't tell me you're taking the director's position now!" his scorn on Cheri while grinning.
"Excuse me! Who ordered the pizza?" The cat actor looked behind Cyzarine while holding some pizza boxes in his hand.
The whole room was shrieking happily and clapping.