The flight was not that bad, Marcus was thankful that the studio took care of his transportation. Because if he drove to LA from San Francisco where he lived, then it would take almost 6 hours. Marcus didn’t think he would be able to drive that much without crashing.

Don’t get him wrong, he is a good driver, but doesn’t drive that often. The university is at a walking distance from him and he doesn’t need to drive. Also, him not having a car might be a problem.

LA’s airport was filled with people, you could hear all the languages by just walking. Marcus took his luggage which was only a backpack filled with a couple of jeans, 3 shirts, and 3 pairs of underwear. He was only staying for two days, as tomorrow on Friday he would do the show, which will be aired live. Hang around LA on Saturday, and on Sunday fly back home.

He will miss tomorrow’s lesson, but he has already told his substitute teacher what she needs to talk about. Also, he feels like the students need some time without seeing his face, the second-year lecture was a disaster.

Most of the students even couldn’t look him in the eye when answering. A girl, Duaa, straight up started crying when he asked her to stay after class to discuss her latest assignment.

After talking with the students, he understood the reason for their weird behavior. They were afraid of him; he didn’t like it. But he understood it was normal, the thing he posted was not something normal. Honestly, he started to regret ever posting these videos, yeah, he made over 300,000$ from both videos. But the videos affected his relationship with his students, a relationship he holds dear.

He doesn’t even want to know his parents' thoughts on the subject. He still hasn’t talked to them; he has a feeling that it would be a long and tear-filled call. And he was not ready mentally, his mind was not right. He still has to sort out a lot of things. One of them is to talk about his biggest issue, he killed three people. And not in a merciful way, but in a hideous and disgusting way. He can’t show his face to his parents, he can’t show them their murderer son.

‘Maybe I should go to therapy….’ He thought of the same thing for the thousandth time.

“Mr.Ricci?” A feminine voice entered his ears, he looked around him trying to find the person who spoke. But he found no one.

“Down here.” A hand waved in front of him, he followed the hand and was met with the shortest woman he ever met. She was approximately 150 cm, with short blonde hair and gray eyes.

Seeing she has his attention, she smiled at him. “Hello, Mr.Ricci. My name is Stephanie, Steph for short. I will be your companion for the next two days. Also, Rhax, just an fyi, I’m a big fan.”

Marcus smiled; he extended his hand which she took in a heartbeat. “Hi, Steph. My name is Marcus Ricci, but you can call me Marcus. I look forward to working with you. But can you do me a favor?”

“Anything.” She looked very sincere when she responded.

“Can you not call me by my other name in public? Most of the people don’t know who I’m, and they only know my in-game character. While we do look the same, I have two eyes and he doesn’t. So, I would appreciate it if you don’t call me by that name, at least only for today. It wouldn’t matter tomorrow.” He wants to live his last day of anonymity without anyone approaching him.

Steph nodded and gave a huge smile. “Of course, Rh-Marcus… Now shall we, the car is waiting for us.”

“We shall…” Marcus followed her to the car, it was a fancy car. It would shine out in any other city, but it would not shine in LA.

Marcus and Steph both got in the back seats. The driver nodded at them and then took off.

“So, Steph, where are we going?” Marcus asked while looking outside the window.

“The hotel, I figured you are tired from your flight and need some rest.” Stephanie was writing something on her phone when she answered.

The car fell silent after that, it was an awkward silence. Marcus and Steph were practically strangers. So, to ease the awkwardness Marcus decided to ask something. “So, how long have you been working with Ethea Now?”

Stephanie seemed to thank God for the question as she started to tell her life story. Marcus was actually surprised because of how young she was, she only turned 21 this year. She has been working for the show for 2 years now.

“Well, you're only 21, you have your whole life in front of you. Who knows, maybe someday I will sit down on my couch, turn on the Tv and be met with your show.” Marcus honestly was tired of hearing her rant about how it is unfair that her colleague got her own show just because she was dating a director. So, he gave her some words to silent her.

But it seems his plan was not successful as Stephanie started to tear up. “Hi, why are you crying?” Marcus asked in a gentle tone while trying to hide his irritated tone. ‘Really? You cry after I cheered you on?’

Stephanie was holding a sob as she answered. “T…that’s because my dad used to tell me the exact same words.”

Marcus’ irritation disappeared, losing a parent was not something you just forget. He thankfully hasn’t experienced the feeling yet and hopes he never will. “I’m sorry for your loss. Not to be intrusive, but when did he pass away?”

Stephanie wasn’t holding the sob anymore and started crying. “He passed away 4 months ago, car accident.”

Marcus was honestly feeling sympathetic, so he put his hand on her shoulder to show his support and his sympathy.

“I’m sorry, you’ve only met me and I already cracked in front of you. You must think I'm a crybaby now?” Stephanie chuckled but her chuckle was dry of joy.

“Nonsense, losing a parent is not an easy thing. I don’t know the feeling personally, but many people throughout history did a lot of questionable things as a grieving method when one of their parents died. So, don’t batter yourself, you are a human and should show your emotions.” Marcus patted her shoulder and withdrew his hand.

After a couple of minutes of silence that was only broken by hiccups and nose blowing. Stephanie spoke again. “Thank you, I feel a lot better.” Her red eyes became a crescent when she smiled.

“Anytime, and you don’t have to hide your emotions. It will only make it worse.” Marcus returned the smile.

“We are here.” The silent driver spoke from the front seat. Marcus looked outside and was met with a tall building that looked like a corporate building.

“Hey, Steph. What is this place? I thought we were going to a hotel?” He was confused, why were they in a corporate building?

Stephanie looked at him and tilted her head to the side. “This is the hotel, Marcus…”