Velika: The story of a lover

They had lunch at a small restaurant near Hollywood Boulevard, where the Walk of Fame was where Daniel Heinrich viewed it as a narrow street with celebrities' names on. He couldn't help thinking about how that felt when thousands of people stepped on the names every day. Perhaps the celebrities never cared, it was fame, after all.

"I would never put my name on that street." Said Velika O'Sullivan abruptly, sipping her cocktail, "Don't want anyone to step on my name."

"Sounds like you have a chance." Daniel Heinrich chuckled, a little amazed by she had the same thought as he did.

"We'll see." Velika winked. She carried on her so-called 'human observation.'. Perhaps it was a legacy from her long-term training, she had a very unique interest in observing people and guessing about their lives.

Daniel Heinrich noticed she focused her attention on a middle-aged man in a neat suit. His face was perfect angular and with an indiscriminate look like he could care less about everything.

"No way." Velika O'Sullivan bit her bottom lip, she frowned and lowered her voice, "How come he's here?"

"Pardon?" Daniel Heinrich looked to the way where she was staring at, he had no recollection of that man.

Well, he hadn't met anyone from Velika O'Sullivan's world yet.

"It's Shane." She started rubbing her temples.

"Shane?" He frowned, searching for this name in his memory.

"Shane Leontes, Romeo Leontes' elder brother, Astoria Leontes' husband." Said Velika O'Sullivan in a vexed tone, it irritated her how he still couldn't remember the names of the Leontes' family, who was his current employer, "I haven't seen him for almost, oh well, I can't even remember how many years. Now, what's he doing here?"

"Do you think he knows about our collaboration?" Daniel Heinrich crossed his arms.

"No." She stood up and walked around the table to him, "Let's figure out what he is up to. Show me how good you are at acting."

She held his hand and pretended to laugh at some jokes he said. He was impressed by how good she was at faking things, she should be an actress, thought him. He placed his arm around her shoulder while he was still holding her hand, now he was hugging her, he felt her drew back a bit but then she lifted her head at totally leaned against his shoulder.

At that moment, he wondered what they would finally become, but he shook that idea off right away as there were more important things to be concerned about and the idea itself was ridiculous.

"Shane!" Said Velika O'Sullivan pleasantly, "Never expected to see you here!"

"Velika?!" Shane Leontes stopped, and his tone was filled with astonishment, "Nice to see you again. I'm sorry I didn't attend my father's funeral; I've been very busy."

"You don't need to apologize to me." Velika O'Sullivan curled her lips, Daniel Heinrich felt the pressure on his hand had increased, "Romeo is very concerned about you. It would be great if you could tell me what you are doing recently. I haven't seen you for years."

Her tone was demanding. Daniel Heinrich's curiosity about this woman's relationships with her employers increased to a higher level. What kind of employee dared to say this kind of words to her boss, or former boss?

"But at least you should call Romeo or Astoria." Velika O'Sullivan was agitated, "For years, we didn't hear a single word from you. I wonder who else do you care aside from yourself."

Shane Leontes frowned, tried to say something but failed, he was more confused than angry about her tone. He looked directly into Velika O'Sullivan's eyes, and so did she. For whatever the reason was, Daniel Heinrich started to think those two were hiding something together. After almost a minute of silence, he finally opened his mouth.

"I sent you emails, and I even wrote letters, telling you I'm running a small company." Said Shane Leontes with a complicated expression, "And I'm not with Astoria anymore, we divorced after she took over my position without my permission."

"So, you are saying," Daniel Heinrich interrupted, "You didn't pass your position to your wife, she took it herself and you wrote to your family but for some reason, they were lost."

"Excuse me, but may I know who you are?" Shane Leontes finally noticed Daniel Heinrich's presence and asked him politely.

"This is Daniel Heinrich, my partner." Said Velika O'Sullivan, she refused to address Daniel Heinrich by his first name.

"Oh, that's brilliant." Shane Leontes smiled, "I've been worried about you, you know after all you've been through…"

"It's fine, Shane, just give me your number and I'll be in touch." Velika O'Sullivan interrupted and after she got Shane Leontes' number, she walked away with Daniel Heinrich briskly.

"The second group," She paused and then said slowly with worrisome since she had yet developed any trust in her partner, "I believe it belongs to Astoria."

"Reason?" Asked him, even he knew how everything was panning out the same as he predicted, it was necessary to know what was on her mind, "What makes you think that?"

"Astoria is a very smart, ambitious woman. She knows well that she couldn't take the power directly because Natural is Leontes' family business." She kept the slow pace, debating on every single word she said, "Romeo and I both believe Mr. Leontes' death has a connection with her, she must have been plotting something, something horrific and flawless to detect."

"It's getting dirty." Daniel Heinrich mumbled but Velika O'Sullivan didn't hear his words. He knew if he spoke out what he knew, things would be much easier for everyone, but he wouldn't. Daniel Heinrich had been mistreated for way too long, he wanted to seek as many comebacks as possible for himself, therefore he decided to keep his head low and followed every step Velika O'Sullivan took, debrief every concept and finally receive what he wanted, even he hadn't had a vision yet.

"You said you want to meet the boss," She said when they got back to the car, looking outside the window, "Wish granted."

Daniel Heinrich turned on the radio, it was playing soft jazz which comforted both of their minds. On their way home, they were in silence, didn't know what to talk about. Indeed, he could tease her about saying he was her partner, but he didn't. All he had in mind was Romeo Leontes.

Velika O'Sullivan barely talked about her personal life, but the only name she mentioned quite often was Romeo Leontes. At first, he thought it was normal for an employee to follow the order of her boss, but then he realized things weren't that simple. He found that she devoted herself to Romeo Leontes and was a hundred percent loyal to that person, or at least she was pretending to be loyal. From her aggressive tone to Shane Leontes, he learned that the relationships between her and the Leontes family were more than complicated.

According to Velika O'Sullivan, Romeo Leontes was a very kind, decent young man who saved her life and offered her this job. However, in Daniel Heinrich's mind, he believed Romeo Leontes was manipulating her. Of course, this was only a feeling and needed to be confirmed. He was yearning to know what kind of person Romeo Leontes was and he could be fully trusted and admired-for the time being-by a woman like Velika O'Sullivan, with no hesitation and no questions asked.

"Why did you trust Leontes so much?" Finally, he asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." She squinted, turned to him, "Maybe because he plays an important role in my life."

He didn't respond. Somehow, he felt Velika O'Sullivan was trying to imply some deep meanings in this sentence, but he shrugged off as he believed he was just overthinking it. Still, he wondered, if it was even possible for a person like Velika O'Sullivan not to be able to sense the fishy part behind all the scenes?