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The biggest life lesson I’ve learned is that the entire world revolves around money. Everyone always has the mindset to gain the most money out of any endeavor, but their motivations and intentions vary from person to person. For instance, my cousin Peyton wants to gain ownership of the studios to make more money from his cash grab films. In a more wholesome example, Isa is a good daughter who wants to earn a lot of money to provide a comfortable lifestyle for her family back in the Philippines. The two of them are different, but also the same all at once. It’s that tired cliche from Old Hollywood:Money makes the world go 'round,but I’ve never claimed to be money-hungry. Every single person in Camden Studios knows that I make movies and oversee projects for the sole reason of making sure that the films are of their best quality and that they send messages to the audiences. It’s why Jordan and I get along even in the workplace: we share the same vision.
“W… Why would you do that? Why would you be willing to lose the very company that made you a billionaire?” Dolores Langley inquires, still shocked at my stunning declaration.
I shrug. “Because I don’t need the money. I never wanted the money.”
Dolores’s face morphs into even more confusion, shaking her head in disbelief and further fueling the legitimacy of my little life lesson. “Then why would you fight for ownership? Why go through all that trouble to make sure that you still owned the company?”
I smile, seeing my father’s face flash in my head and how he once used to run the studios with such fervor and passion that I can only mimic a fraction of. “Because it’s my father’s legacy, and I plan to uphold it as long as I possibly can,” I answer truthfully, feeling my heart swell up.
I can only dream of him being alive and telling me that he’s proud of who I’ve become, but for now, I’ll just dream. “And you’re right, Ms. Langley, there’s always going to be a chance of me losing the studio, and marrying Isa would prevent that. I’ve never denied any of that.” This time, memories of Isa and I walking down the sandy path in Boracay Island flood my head, making me smile even more. “But I would sacrifice everything I have and everything I am so that I can marry Isa Maria, the woman I fell in love with. The woman who worked for me for years, only to realize it was just the world making sure that we both meet each other. The woman who had a wonderful upbringing from the Philippines, who welcomed me into her own home and culture so I could experience first-hand what a million Filipinos experience every day. I fell in love with a woman who showed me the wonders of family and the beauty of her home country. And if all of that means I have to give up my father’s legacy, then I would happily do it, and I know he would understand.”
My heart’s beating rapidly against my chest as my breath picks up. I’ve never felt so impassioned in my life, and I mean every single word. I have so many emotions surging up within me, but I fight my hardest to contain myself.
Dolores’s mouth continues to remain agape, still surprised by my sudden revelations. If I’m being honest, I’m a little surprised by them too. I never thought I’d go that far to prove all of this to the immigration officer right in front of me.
“Well, Mr. Camden, that’s quite a fervent resolve,” she comments, writing something down on her folder as she does. She looks at me one last time, seemingly analyzing me carefully, probably double checking if I’m just acting or not. “Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind us proceeding into my set of questions about Ms. Isa Maria?”
I open both my palms, welcoming the notion. “Let’s do it,” I tell her confidently, and she spends the rest of the hour asking me things about Isa. Dolores doesn’t even ask the obscure ones. It’s all pretty surface level, which kind of is a good sign for me. It just means that she doesn’t feel the need to dig deep anymore, which tells me that I convinced her with my initial answers.
Now, it’s all up to Isa, and I have faith in her. I know she will pull through, and I can’t wait to kiss her in celebration.
Chapter 25
Isa
It’sbeenalmostanhour by now, and I’m feeling queasier and queasier as the ticking sound of the wall clock above me sends shivers up my spine. It’s easy to assume that Dolores Langley is over in Leo’s interview room first, meaning I’m the one who has to match all of Leo’s answers. It’s nerve-wracking, that’s for sure, but it’s also why we’ve spent days and days preparing for this.
I try to do some breathing exercises in an attempt to calm myself down, knowing there’s nothing to be afraid of. If I believe enough, everything’s going to work out in my favor. It’s kind of toxic positivity, when I think about it sometimes, but coming from a family who lived paycheck to paycheck, it’s all I really had for most of my life.
When nothing was working out in our small house back in Manila, when there was barely any food at the table, or there were some school supplies we didn’t have enough money to buy, all I had in my small little mind was the belief that my life would get better as long as I didn’t lose faith. It’s sad, now that I think about it, but it’s helped me get this far in life. Granted, it could be better, but I am in no place to complain. I’m far from the little girl back then, and I’m proud of myself, and one of my deepest wishes is to make sure that none of my family members will experience having nothing but their positivity ever again.
The door gently opens and Dolores Langley walks in. She has a rather indifferent look on her face. Not in the way where she doesn’t care what she’s doing, but more so like a poker face, so I can’t tell what she’s feeling about her just-finished interview with Leo. This woman’s good. I have to give it to her, because even as she sits down across from me, I still can’t really tell a single emotion on her face. It’s almost robotic, like she's been blindsided. But I assume she is just trying to not give anything away. She should think about becoming a professional poker player if this whole immigration officer thing doesn’t work out for her.
Wait, I’m getting distracted. “Hello, Ms. Langley. It’s nice to see you again,” I greet politely, but the woman still doesn’t budge.
“Hello, Ms. Maria,” Dolores responds, voice flat and monotonous. It’sreallyscary now how good she is at this. “Let’s begin, shall we?”
I nod, a little too enthusiastically, but it’s really just my nerves showing. Again, I was raised with just positivity overflowing in my head, and I guess I’ve made it into a coping mechanism. “What would you like to know?” I inquire, feeling my heart already quickening its pace. I take a couple of silent deep breaths, repeatedly mentally telling myself to calm down, especially since she hasn’t asked a singular question yet.
“I would like to know…” she begins. The way her voice remains lifeless is honestly bone-riveting. She’s not giving me any hints whatsoever about what happened at Leo’s interview. No hintsat all. “I would like to know, Ms. Maria, why you willingly violated your visa terms during your extension application process? Even at the advice of your superiors, you still flew to London with Mr. Camden. What drove you to do that?”
It’s… not exactly the first question I was expecting. It’s actually the first thing I’ve contemplated since Teresa first told me why my visa extension was rejected. Because I do remember her explicitly telling me to stay in the United States and to not accompany Leo to a shoot in London. I remember her telling me that it’s going to cause problems, and I remember her telling me that I’m being crazy. It’s all stuffed in the back of my head due to everything that happened in the past few weeks, but I remember those events happening, and really, the answer is quite simple. “Because I’m Leo’s assistant, and he needed me to be with him.”
Dolores, still indifferent, continues her questioning, “So, you were willing to risk everything you’ve worked hard for in coming to this country because your boss needed you? That sounds a little extreme, wouldn’t you think?”
I nod, not denying that she’s right. “You don’t really know Leo like I do, Ms. Langley. All this time, before I came along, he has always been alone,” I tell her, feeling my heart break at the countless stories I’ve heard about him always alone in his office while he continually runs his father’s film studio. “He’s worked in Camden Studios as CEO for almost all of his adult life so far, and bringing in that kind of success in less than two decades is often impressive to the naked eye, but it’s actually at the cost of his happiness.”
“His happiness?” Dolores grills, still monotonous, but I’m not as bothered by it anymore.
“Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be surrounded by people yet still remain so fully alone?” I offer her a little riddle, but her face remains expressionless. “Leo’s an amazing CEO. The year I came in as his assistant, he was cold and unfeeling, and some of his longtime colleagues tell me that it’s because he’s used to the loneliness. It was hard at first, being stuck in an office with someone who rarely remembers that I was there,” I tell her, remembering the first few months of me working in front of his office. “Countless people before me took that spot, but left after a couple of months, unable to keep up with his demanding work ethic and cold demeanor, but I stayed.”
“Is that really the reason you stayed with him?” Dolores is quick to interject with that one, but I saw it coming from a million miles away.
I shake my head. “I’m not a saint. I never claimed to be. I stayed at first because I needed the money, and the job paid well. It was a nightmare trying to get through every single day with a boss who’s distant yet arduous at the same time,” I clarify, and my heart begins to ache at the words I’m about to say. “But I’ve screened a lot of calls for him, and I notice that each time a family member calls him up, he’s quick to dismiss them. The only person who could get him to open up at the time was a director that quickly became busy because of his award-winning film.” I run a hand through my hair, starting to get stressed out at the rocky beginning of my work partnership with Leo. “Eventually, however, he started to become comfortable with me, and he slowly opened his tightly closed shell. Little by little, I discovered who Leo Camden was on the inside, beyond the iron-fist CEO of Camden Studios.”
“So, again, why risk everything you’ve worked for to accompany him to London?” Dolores reiterates.
I can’t help but chuckle a bit, now realizing that everything was right in front of me the entire time. It was right under my nose, but I’m realizing all of my actions are motivated by the same exact thing. “Because I fell in love with him,” I answer truthfully, thinking back to every single extra act I’ve done for him, the twinge in my heart whenever I see signs of his loneliness, and the flutter of it every time he opens up to me little by little throughout the years. “I got to know who he is through countless hours in the office, and I fell in love with him, and I didn’t want him to be alone ever again. I didn’t want him to go to another shoot by himself like he’s been doing all these years. I want to be someone who’s there for him, for the man who sacrificed so much of himself just to keep his father’s dream alive.” A tear runs down my face, one of overjoyment, but I don’t bother to wipe it off. “I want him to feel that he’s never going to be alone again as long as I’m around, and I know it’s crazy to risk my visa for that, but I just…”
