The Unlucky Turn by Mark Twain 254
One week later, Tamara took Carola and Deborah to Clive’s talent agency.
Just as they reached the office door, they heard a loud crash from inside, sounding like something heavy had been smashed.
Then came Clive’s cold, harsh voice. “You can’t even handle this little thing? What am I paying you for?”
Tamara paused, frowning slightly. Although Clive was terrible to Leilani, he always maintained a gentlemanly image in front of outsiders. Why was he losing his temper like this today?
She pushed the door open gently. Clive was standing by his desk, his face dark as a thundercloud, his long fingers drumming heavily on the surface. A young female assistant stood with her head bowed, clutching a stack of files, her shoulders trembling.
“Clive? What’s wrong?” Tamara called out softly.
Clive turned and saw her. His expression softened slightly, and he waved his hand at the assistant. “Get out.”
The assistant looked as if she had been granted amnesty. She hurried out, casting a grateful look at Tamara as she passed.
Tamara glanced at the messy files on the desk and walked over with a worried look. “Clive, what happened? Why are you so angry?”
Tamara had told Clive beforehand that she was bringing friends, so he wasn’t surprised to see her. At her question, he let out a cold laugh, his tone gloomy. “It’s that bitch Leilani again!”
Tamara’s eyes flickered, but she feigned surprise. “Leilani? What did she do? Did she upset you again?”
Clive took a deep breath and, through gritted teeth, recounted the confrontation with Leilani at the mall.
“That day at the mall, she humiliated me in front of everyone! If there hadn’t been so many people filming with their phones, I wouldn’t have let her off the hook!”
As for why he was taking it out on his assistant? It was because bystanders had uploaded videos of the argument online. Although Luke had spent a fortune to scrub the trending topics, new videos kept popping up from random accounts. Clive suspected his rivals in the industry were seizing the opportunity to strike back.
He had been incredibly irritable about the situation lately. Seeing the reports the assistant brought in just added fuel to the fire. With nowhere to vent his rage, the assistant had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
After hearing the full story, Tamara pretended to be angry on his behalf. “How could she do that? Doesn’t she know you’re a public figure? If people post that online, who knows what they’ll say about you! Leilani went too far this time. We’re family. How could she be so inconsiderate of you?”
Tamara voiced the exact thoughts running through Clive’s mind. Sighing softly, she looked at his dark
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expression and comforted him. “Clive, don’t be mad. Maybe she just acted on impulse.”
“Impulse?” Clive sneered. “She did it on purpose! Does she think she has the right to be arrogant in front of me?”
Tamara soothed him gently. “Alright, Clive, calm down. Don’t make yourself sick over her.”
Only then did she seem to remember her guests. She turned to Carola and Deborah with an apologetic smile.
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