I am the Entertainment Tycoon Chapter 980: A Couple of Bestfriends

It was late Saturday night, and the throaty purr of a high-performance sports car echoed through the underground driveway before the vehicle smoothly glided into its designated slot within Theo’s garage.

As the driver’s side door swung open, a truly striking figure stepped out. Her long, wavy purple hair was gathered into a high, effortlessly messy ponytail, highlighting a flawless porcelain face and a statuesque, supermodel physique. Ayia’s ethereal features were striking enough to grant her worldwide fame on her aesthetics alone. Yet tonight, she was dressed down in simple dark jeans, worn sneakers, a plain white T-shirt, and a classic leather jacket. She wore no jewelry and carried no luxury adornments, but her natural elegance turned the minimalist outfit into something incredibly cool and trendy.

Standing by the stairs, Theo’s eyes lit up the moment he saw his girlfriend. Even after all this time, a part of him still couldn’t entirely believe that a girl this breathtaking was his girlfriend. But the most incredible thing about Ayia wasn’t her exterior; she was just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. Her personality was profoundly generous, fiercely loyal, and fiercely lively. She possessed the rare kind of radiant charisma that could effortlessly illuminate any room she walked into. Though they had known each other for just a year and had been officially dating for five months, the depth of their bond defied the calendar; it felt as though they had shared a special, soul-deep connection across multiple lifetimes.

"Babe!" Theo exclaimed, a brilliant, relaxed smile breaking across his face as he stepped forward to meet her.

Ayia let out a melodious laugh, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight, eager embrace. "Baby!" she cheered.

They stepped into the private elevator, as they didn’t want to climb 3-flights of stairs. Far from being exhausted, Ayia was practically bouncing on her heels. It certainly wasn’t her first time commanding the kitchen at The Spark; she was a seasoned pro who handled the high-intensity line with absolute grace. Plus, being extremely fit and active, a standard Saturday night rush barely scratched the surface of her stamina.

"Alright, let me smell you," Theo teased as the lift began its smooth ascent, leaning in with a dramatic sniff. "Yep. Rosemary, seared scalops, and a very distinct undertone of garlic."

"Hey! I washed my hands and arms thoroughly, thank you very much!" Ayia laughed, giving him a playful swat on the chest. "Besides, garlic is the scent of a record-breaking night! You should be kissing my feet, Chef Theo. We absolutely crushed the numbers tonight. Your special lasagna completely sold out by eight o’clock."

"Is that so?" Theo grinned, looping his arms around her waist as she leaned back against the elevator wall. "So, you managed to handle it even without Shizuka and me?"

Theo, Ayia, and Shizuka were the three chefs of the restaurant. Theo was the Head Chef while Ayia and Shizuka assumed the post in his absence. But today, Theo and Shizuka had their day off, which meant that Ayia didn’t have Shizuka’s assistance tonight.

"Please, it was a piece of cake," she joked, crinkling her nose at him. "Kumiko has been acquiring sous chef experience with Shi-chan, and she already managed to learn a lot, so things weren’t complicated. Plus, we have a great team of cooks. Tell me everything. How did the first full month check-in at Genesis go?"

"Incredible," Theo said, his eyes shining with genuine excitement as the elevator doors parted directly on the third-floor hallway. "The art team is doing things with Nier: Automata that are amazing. Mei completely mapped out the gothic-lolita designs for 2B. It’s early development, sure, but their momentum is insane. I spent an extra two hours just geeking out with the programmers over combat collision physics."

The two of them soon entered Theo’s spacious bedroom which had ample vision for the Pedrarruna Forest.

"Look at you, a certified tech mogul," Ayia beamed, sliding her leather jacket off and tossing it onto a nearby armchair. "I love it when you get that nerdy spark in your eyes. But first—I am taking a shower to get the literal kitchen grease off my skin. Don’t you dare start the deep dive into game architecture without me, I want to hear every detail."

"Go, go," Theo chuckled. "I already prepared a relaxing bath, just in case you wanted to unwind."

"Oh, an actual angel," she called out over her shoulder, already pulling her hair out of the ponytail as she retreated into the master bathroom.

True to her word, Ayia emerged 30 minutes later, completely refreshed and wrapped in one of Theo’s oversized, plush white bathrobes. Her damp, wavy hair fell casually over her shoulders, and her porcelain skin radiated a healthy, post-shower glow. She didn’t look a single bit tired; instead, she looked like a best friend ready to stay up all night talking.

"Alright, hand over the goods," she said, spotting the chilled bottle of mint and cucumber-infused sparkling water Theo had brought up. She took a giant gulp, sitting cross-legged right on top of the king-sized bed. "Ah, perfection. Okay, tell me more about 2B’s weapons. Did they actually make the hovering magnetic swords work?"

"They did!" Theo sat down right across from her, matchingly casual in his anime T-shirt. He immediately launched into an animated explanation, using his hands to mimic the floating longswords. "Kenji’s team wrote a localized gravity script so the blades follow her silhouette dynamically. It completely eliminates any fabric clipping issues with the dress."

"That is brilliant," Ayia said, her golden eyes wide with fascination. As his best friend and closest confidante, she loved dissecting his creative projects just as much as he loved supporting her culinary triumphs. "It gives it such a supernatural, elegant vibe. What about the combat speed?"

"Volatile but promising," Theo smiled. Then, remembering his earlier thought, he moved closer behind her. "Hey, turn around and let me get those shoulders anyway. You might be in peak shape, chef, but I know standing rigidly over a workspace for five hours still tightens up the upper back."

"Ooh, I will never turn down a massage from those hands," Ayia agreed instantly, spinning around and letting him press his thumbs into her upper back. She let out a contented sigh as he expertly worked the minor tension out of her muscles. "Mmm, right there. Okay, so while you were playing tech god, I had to deal with a minor supplier crisis today."

"Oh yeah? What happened?"

"The seafood vendor tried to bring in standard shrimp instead of the jumbo spot prawns we explicitly ordered for the weekend special," Ayia explained, shaking her head but laughing. "I had to tap into my inner Shizuka, cross my arms, and give him ’The Look.’ He literally drove back to the warehouse and fetched the right batch within forty-five minutes."

"I can picture the scene perfectly," Theo laughed heartily, his hands moving smoothly across her shoulders to work out the last of her posture tension. "I’m sure the poor guy didn’t stand a chance."

"Hey, but you absolutely cannot tell Shi-chan that I said that!" she replied, tilting her head back to look up at him, her lively expression suddenly switching to a comically worried face.

If there was one single entity in the entire universe capable of striking pure fear into Ayia’s heart, it was her formidable older sister, Shizuka. Shizuka was a legendary force of nature and the only person on the planet who could effortlessly discipline the otherwise unstoppable head chef.

"Really?" Theo said, a mischievous, teasing glint flashing in his eyes as he raised an eyebrow. "But I think I really want to tell her. In fact, I might text her right now."

"Hey, you punk!" she exclaimed.

Before he could even react, Ayia pivoted with explosive speed, leveraging her reflexes to throw her weight into him and initiate a full-blown wrestling match on the mattress. Ayia was a certified black belt in Judo, possessing incredible core strength and flawless technique. Unfortunately for her, Theo was a high-tier grandmaster in Jiu-Jitsu.

What followed was a chaotic flurry of flying pillows, tangled sheets, and breathless competitive banter. Ayia tried to lock in a clever pin, but Theo smoothly countered, shifting his weight with effortless precision to neutralize her leverage. Amidst a symphony of competitive trash-talk, mock groans, and loud cascades of shared laughter, the two wrestled across the massive king-sized bed. They only finally ground to a halt when both of them were laughing far too hard to maintain their grips, collapsing side-by-side onto the plush duvet, completely out of breath.

A while later, after the playful adrenaline had finally settled, Theo raided his closet and handed her a pair of his grey sweatpants and a vintage graphic T-shirt. The clothes were overwhelmingly large for her slender, athletic frame, draping loosely over her shoulders and bunching up at her ankles. Yet, as Theo leaned against the wardrobe watching her roll up the sleeves, he couldn’t help but think that her figure looked incredibly beautiful and effortlessly alluring in his oversized clothes.

With the workplace completely forgotten, the two best friends crawled back under the warm duvet, with the two cats, grabbed a bowl of light snacks, and turned on the bedroom’s master projector screen to wind down the night watching their favorite anime together.