Vivian contacted the talent agency who were madly in search for her. They accepted her immediately and fixed her meeting with their president.

She opened the door and saw a young and tall man, perhaps in his 30s, talking on a phone while standing while looking outside the glass walls of the buildings. She stood at the door and knocked it gently. He turned towards her and hung up the phone.

"So, you are the girl." He said and she nodded.
"Please, have a seat," She sat in front of him while he sat on the other end of the table.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Vivian Garnette" He walked towards her, grabbed her face and looked at her closely.

"The skin is fine enough, we'll cover the rest with makeup. What is this?" He pointed at the key, the choker on her neck.

"I can't remove this. It's there since always." She lied.
"Fine. It looks classy enough so I don't mind it. It can be your signature style. Now, do you know how to dance?" He asked. He had dust brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a black coat, just like Ethan. Actually, his attire was quite similar to Ethan.

"No."
"How many octaves can you sing?" He asked.
"Octaves?"
"What is your comfort scale?" He asked as he moved away from her. She just looked at him, confused.
"There's a lot to teach you." He concluded.

He went back and sat on his seat "My name is Sejok Jiro. The CEO of Saturday Weekend Productions. I've been in this business for quite some time now. Vivian, right?"
"Yes,"
"I've heard your singing already. It's great you can sing so good at a live event. We usually have difficulty finding singers like you. Would you like to join Saturday Weekend?"

"I'd love to,"
"You're aren't Japanese, right?"
"No, I'm German"
"I see," He passed a bunch of papers towards her "This is our contract. You need to bond with the company for one year to the minimum. We'll get your work which you are expected to do sincerely. Try not to create any chaos and scandals."
"I will keep that in mind," She took the bunch of papers.

"You have your future into your hands,"
He passed a pen to her. She read the paper and pressed the tip of the pen on the rough paper. Ethan's face appeared before her and disappeared right after, she signed it without realising how this drop of ink would change her life in the best and the worst way possible.

Ethan returned home and opened the door. Vivian hugged him and he pressed his hands on her back.
"So, how did it go?" He asked.
"I did it! Training starts tomorrow!" He didn't look happy. His grip around her waist grew weak.
"Ethan, my dreams don't seem that far now. I'm so happy"
"I'm happy for you," He faked a smile.

She moved away and looked at his face "Of course you are." She closed her eyes and pressed her nose on his "I can go far ahead now," She looked into his eyes.
"But, I don't want you to go" He held her hand "We are enough, Vivian,"

She left his hand and walked towards the kitchen "I'll lay down the food" She said. Ethan looked at her
"Okay"

The next day, training commenced. Vivian was taught about scales, octaves and various singing techniques. Apart from that, she was taught how to dance and was put on a strict diet by a dietician. After training, she was free to go anywhere she liked. She'd spend the day training and spend the night at home, with Ethan.

They worked on everything-- From voice to visuals. She would practice day in and day out-- Dancing with heels, and it was not the ballroom dancing she was learning but hip hop dance.

"This is going smoothly. But at this rate, you'll take about six months to perfect your skills" Sejok said.
"Can't it be faster?" She asked.
"Well, practice during the night. That's the only way. Increase the hours. Sleep less."
"Yes."

She called Ethan "Can you get the groceries today? I'll be home late"
"Come back home right now" He replied and hung up.
"He's not supportive at all."

She stood before the mirror and practised with her choreographer-- A woman who'd just sit around and watch her dance. She would point out her flaws occasionally and ask her to start over. Singing wasn't very difficult for her as she was a natural. But dancing was not in her blood and that took a huge toll on her time.

She returned back home at one that night. Ethan sat at the dining table, looking into his phone. He had bought something from the convenience store.
"You didn't get the groceries?" She asked.
"No," He said without looking away from his phone. His voice was cold. "Why?" She asked. Her voice turned cold too.

"Because I didn't want to. I told you to come back home, didn't I?"
"Which kind of excuse is that?! How will I cook breakfast tomorrow?!"
"I don't want your breakfast! I want you to listen to me!"
"I'm not your puppet that I'm going to listen to everything you say!"

"Oh so now you want to break free? I don't want my woman to be out at this late hour!"
"Really? Now you know how I felt when you came back home at such hours reeking of a perfume you didn't own?! At least I'm not fucking around with other men like you--"

"VIVIAN!" Ethan shouted as he raised his hand but stopped suddenly as he remembered that this was exactly how his father would hit his mother.

"So, you're gonna hit me now to force yourself on me? I never knew you could stoop so low. But, I'm not like you. I will only love you and no other man. So, you don't have to put me in your shoes."
"That's it. You're not going there from tomorrow"

"Who are you to decide that?"
"I'm your husband, in case you've forgotten. It's only been a week and look at us! Wake up already before we sink further than this!"
"I can't. Plus, I've signed a one year bond with them"

"What? Why didn't you tell me anything about that?! You didn't even bother asking!"
"You don't have to know everything I do. I never asked you what you do at work so why do you care?! I have a life too-- I'm a damn person too!"

"I thought I was your life. So, that was a lie, huh." He looked at his feet. She was quiet after that.
"Let's not talk. I feel like I'm gonna hit you any moment now. Go sleep"
"But I--"

"I said go!" He shouted as he upturned the dining table and everything fell on the floor. She looked at him and he looked back at her. Her eyes had hatred, his eyes had pain. She walked towards the bedroom and got into the blanket.

"I don't understand why are you feeling so emotional? At least I'm not cheating"
"Thank you for doing that favor of not cheating on me," He walked towards the fridge and took out a can of beer.
"You're welcome. I didn't come back home for this," She said.

"Then it's better you don't come back home. 'Cause you won't stop and I can't stop."
"That sounds better"

Few weeks passed by and she didn't come home. Ethan would go to the office and come back home to sleep on that large, lonely bed. Not many days back, his wife used to warm it up from him but now he was alone, silently screaming for her to come back. In the end, their pride had the worst of them.

"Vivian," Sejok said "This is your manager, Mr Hans. He will take care of everything-- All your schedule and meetings. You just have to be obedient."
"Hello Vivian," Hans greeted her with a smile and Vivian shook his hand with her notepad in her other hand. She looked sad but all Sejok noticed was "You wrote a new song?"

"Yes, it's called 'so emotional'," She said. "Okay, give it here. We'll prepare the music." He took the notepad from her.
"That would be great but I don't feel like singing it. It's something personal."

"That means you can sing it with fuller emotions! What could possibly be better? I'll give it to the sound engineers right away." He walked away. Vivian stood there quietly and looked at all the people around her.

She missed him and she knew it.

- To be continued

Vivian Garnette
My Heart Hates Me