CHAPTER 167: EXHIBIT QUINN

’So, is he an actor?’

Julia covered her lips, watching the auburn-haired man on the screen.

’It’s like a dream.’

She wondered if this could be considered ’meeting’ an actor.

Like any other married woman, she first thought about calling her friends and telling them about it.

But she held her hand, which was hovering over her phone.

’What’s the point? They won’t know him.’

But there was one person who came to mind.

’Yoko must know, right?’

She texted her weird friend.

- Watching the CBC show. Is this a documentary? Who’s this Quinn?

Although she was younger than her, she was also the most honest of her friends.

They had met at the London Fashion Week a few years back. Julia remembered the younger woman leaving quite an impression on her.

- Long Live the Quinn. It’s a mockumentary. I know the actor; we worked together once. Averie Quinn Auclair.

’That was fast.’

The reply came earlier than usual.

’What’s the occasion? Normally, she would be busy with her work or her hobby.’

Julia hadn’t learned what this hobby of Yoko was, and no amount of prying had gotten her an answer.

’So, did he model for her?’

Now, she was curious to see what that looked like.

Julia sent another text.

- By chance, is he on a cruise bound for Rome?

The reply came even faster than before.

- Is he? Let me check.

Five minutes later, a flurry of text appeared on Julia’s screen.

- He is!

- How did you know?

- Are you there?

- Are you on it?

- Are you a fan?

Julia smiled.

- I think he is staying in the room next to mine. He winked at me. Is that normal?

The reply came instantly.

- For him, it’s normal, I think. Anyway, what’s the name of the ship?

Julia scratched her forehead.

’What was the name again?’

In her college years, she would have remembered something important like this. But since the wedding, she couldn’t recall even the most obvious of things.

One time, she couldn’t remember her husband’s name.

There was justice in that, or so she had thought. After all, there was no reason to remember someone who was practically a stranger, someone else’s lover.

She walked up to the bed and examined the embroidered words.

Osteria.

She quickly typed in the name and sent the message. She put down the phone and returned to her seat as the ad break ended.

Lost in the show, she missed Yoko’s desperate messages.

- Are you serious?

- Are you really on Osteria?

- Answer me, please!

***

While munching on a handful of popcorn, Hyerin covered her mouth.

"Who was it?"

Averie turned off his phone.

"Yoko."

"Yoko Roy, the fashion designer."

"Yeah." He smirked while giving Min-Ha a side eye. "Not a failed one, her."

It really enraged Min-Ha, but she was pacified by her coworker, who really tore into Averie.

"Apologize!"

In the end, the diabolical actor had to apologize.

"What about Yoko?" Hyerin asked, returning to her tranquil self.

"She somehow found out about our cruise vacation."

"Oh?"

"That’s it."

Disappointed by the lack of drama in her friend’s life, she turned to the TV.

Quinn was sitting across from zoologist Clara Ling.

"Prof. Ling," he said, "while I appreciate your candor, don’t you suppose you are being a little too hard on humanity?"

The woman waited, intently listening to the greatest troll of the century.

"You say that we shouldn’t be putting smart animals in cages. But we, as humans, must show the rest of the animal kingdom who’s the boss, correct?"

The woman still kept intently listening.

Quinn looked her in the eye. "That’s all."

"Oh." Prof. Ling looked around the papers in her lap. "Um, I... don’t know what to say to that."

"Aha." Quinn snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "Checkmate."

After a moment of silence, where the two diverted their gazes around the room awkwardly, the devilish host cleared his throat.

"Well, Prof." The man twirled a fountain pen between his fingers. "I asked the same question I asked you to a handler at a rather large zoo. And she—a very charming lady, I must add—assured me that the zoo handles the physical and mental health of the animals with utmost care."

He looked at the woman, who was shaking her head.

"Then, by contradicting her, are you saying that she is lying?"

The older lady shook her head frantically. "No, of course not. I am sure she is a wonderful handler and that she truly believes in the help she is providing to these captive creatures—"

"Are you saying she is delusional?"

Her eyes widened.

"No!" She quickly raised a finger. "But—"

"There’s always a ’but.’"

"—she is an employee of a facility that prides itself on imprisoning beasts. What other choice does she have but to repeat the corporate talk?"

"You are saying she is lying so she could make money?"

"Again, no."

The old woman was glaring at Quinn with unprecedented intensity.

"Her character is hers to judge. It could be that she truly thinks she is doing good—and in a sense, she is. She is providing education to hundreds of children each day, the price of which cannot be measured pragmatically."

"It can be, actually." Quinn took out a crumpled note from his back pocket. "It’s, uh, 30 pounds for adults and 21 pounds for children."

He shook the ticket in his hand.

"That’s the price of a bunch of tortured animals."

His face was as expressionless as it could be.

Watching his unimpressed face on the TV, Averie snickered.

While shooting that scene, he remembered, the old professor had burst into a fit of laughter, which had caused his stoic act to crack.

Min-Ha turned to Averie. "They cut off all the smiles and laughs, huh?"

"Yeah."

Averie remembered taking multiple takes for a few of these scenes. They had to film the same mundane stuff repeatedly just because the old professor couldn’t keep a straight face.

Although he was relieved that it was all behind him, he was also sad that he wouldn’t get to do that again.

’I will miss it.’

Quinn looked at one of the papers attached to the file in his hand.

Just watching it made Averie smirk.

"There was nothing on those papers, right?" asked a jovial Hyerin.

"Yeah." Averie held back his laughter. "It was my idea to carry along a file of blank papers."

Min-Ha waved her in their faces. "Shush, you two!"

Quinn looked up at the professor.

"So, Prof. Ling, would it be fair to say that your argument rests on the assumption that elephants are highly intelligent beings?"

"Compared to other mammals?" She emphatically nodded her head. "Yes. And it’s not an assumption; it is a fact."

"Eh." Quinn looked unconvinced. "I would rather believe the hot lady at the zoo than a professor at a prestigious university."

The woman only stared at him.

And Quinn returned the stare undauntedly.

Min-Ha squirmed in her seat. "This is always so awkward to watch."

"That’s the point," said Averie.

The next few scenes weren’t much different. They were mostly about the welfare of animals in captivity.

"I see that you are not willing to change your opinion on the matter," said Quinn.

"I am firm in my belief, and unless evidence contradicting me comes to light, I do not believe I would be changing my views."

"Hmm."

Quinn fell into deep contemplation.

"Then, I feel it is only prudent that I propose a radical approach to testing this very issue."

The woman leaned back. "And that is?"

They looked like two mafia bosses discussing a deal of illegal sorts.

"To test whether the zoo is a spa centre or a torture prison for wild animals, I put forward a brilliant experiment."

He pointed a very confident thumb at himself.

"I will put myself on display."

Hyerin coughed uncontrollably, choking on a piece of popcorn. She had to be helped by an amused Averie.

"Are you okay?" he asked, laughing in her face.

She drank a glass of water and rubbed her chest. "I was expecting it, but still, it hits hard."

The professor on screen had the same reaction.

She blinked her eyes. "What?"

Quinn, on the other hand, was being genuine.

"Put me in an enclosure and let the visitors see—" He spread his arms wide "—Quinn in his natural habitat."

With her mouth ajar, she looked around, at the crew off-screen and at the camera, wondering if the actor was being serious.

"That’s illegal," she said, somewhat unsure of the gravity of the situation. "Human zoos are illegal."

"It’s fine."

Quinn jotted down something on the paper in his file.

"What did you write?" asked Hyerin.

"I drew—" He turned his head at the ceiling, trying to remember a proper term, "—a phallus."

Quinn, on the screen, looked up.

"We will do the necessary legal work to make it happen. I am good at signing documents. After all, I even signed on my late friend’s loan papers as a guarantor."

There was pain hidden behind his expression of nonchalance.

"Quite a hefty loan it was."

He laughed, his lips quivering.

"The bank people have been calling me since he passed away."

He laughed again, this time more cynically.