Sagaki had returned precisely a half hour before two, the scheduled time for the shoot.
He hadn't had a moment to himself since morning, and any more celebrity drama was going to make him snap any moment. He had been holding it all in since Dunh had told him to select a replacement for Itika from seven others that they had shortlisted three hours before they had to start shooting. That got them an hour late, and Sagaki was not happy, although his smiling face never gave that idea.
'Mr. Rayo, is there anything you want me to explain, before we go upstairs?' Sagaki asked, sternly.
'Umm.. like what?' Shawn gestured the stylist to undo his collar button, its tightness had begun to hurt him. The middle-aged man, with a fairly small name in his field compared to the number of projects he had worked on, complied right away and undid the top most button of his cotton shirt.
'Okay then. I take it you're thorough.' Sagaki flashed a defeated smile, and continued, 'Miss Burton, have you gone through the script?'
'Yeah. You mean sitting at the bar, looking at him with a horny look, going after him, dancing, and putting my hand on his chest from the back? That's some ground breaking script you have, but yeah, I have.' She rolled her eyes at the end of her attention grabbing bitchiness.
Shawn and the stylist looked at her in disbelief. Sagaki nodded, biting his tongue, but only smiled in return. He had much bigger things to worry about than the superficial tantrums of a newcomer. He turned a button on of a Bluetooth he wore on his left ear and said, 'Shall we do a quick rehearsal now?'
'Sure.' Shawn replied, lightening the tenor of the room.
Sagaki quickly briefed them about the camera placements, and how to follow director's cues. He asked Elaine to approach Shawn from the back, and make her move.
Shawn and Elaine got up together and positioned themselves following Sagaki's narration. Sagaki's personality switch from when Shawn had first met him outside the elevator to now when he was working astonished him. The swiftness with which he carried his miniature self clearly specified that the man's elegance was natural and a little feminine.
Elaine started with her part first. From the very first step that she took toward Shawn, he felt as if she too was a completely different person from five minutes ago. She had switched into the skin of the enticed girl that Sagaki had intended to feature in the ad, and Elaine didn't disappoint. Shawn was taken aback by her transition. And when it was his turn to just walk in the room, and smile when a hand was on his chest, Shawn forgot to act sheepish in confusion when his chest was felt up by her.
Sagaki nodded with a warm smile. 'It's not bad. But it can be better.' He added, patiently.
Shawn was embarrassed. He wasn't good at acting. He wondered why he felt bad about that. He wasn't supposed to be an actor, he was a singer, and a pretty great one at that. Leih had come to him because he was popular, and not because he was a good actor. It was okay if he didn't know what he was doing.
'phssh!'
Shawn looked back. The girl was grinning with her head down.
He paused for a few seconds and said, 'That's enough rehearsal for today. I think we all know what we have to do. If you don't think otherwise, Sagaki then I would like to have a few minutes alone here.' Shawn stated, irritation coating his words.
Sagaki eyed the stylist in confusion. He wasn't sure if they were done, but he knew they couldn't do better anyway. They were going to need to get several takes of Shawn and stitch up something decent in editing.
'Alright. We can leave. You have ten minutes before you are on.' Sagaki replied, the warmth in his face had disappeared.
The two men left in silence, while Elaine let out a sigh before stepping out of the door.
Her demeaning attitude had ruined his mood. He pulled out his cellphone from the back pocket and typed 'Elaine Burton' and pressed 'Send'.
***
'1999 Born - loves dogs - hates 21 guns - part time baby sitter - no nudes online - 3 boyfriends - enjoys beaches - was once arrested for tress passing'
Shawn's phone blew up in a series of texts from Silvers. They were all about the useful facts he could find on Elaine in an hour after Shawn's text.
After the first segment had been over, the team was sent off for a break while Shawn had to change into his next scene in a bathroom.
He was now standing in his changing room as another stylist worked around his shoulders, straightening the creases around his white shirt. He looked himself in the mirror - still lean and tight. Shawn hated going to gym, but enjoyed sports. Lawn tennis, baseball, soccer helped him keep in shape. His lean yet muscular body didn't overshadow his charming face.
'New message from Rico.'
Shawn clicked on the notification without thinking. There was a series of pictures of Elaine from her social profiles on the internet.
Silvers had cut through all the selfies and sent only the ones that showed Elaine's personality - she wore a short blue sequin dress in one and her tongue was out, with a peace sign while sitting on a guy's lap. There was another with her in the back of a pickup truck as she lied on a carpet with empty glasses and a bottle of scotch sitting empty near her.
'Nice.' He whispered under his breath, not caring if the stylist heard him or was looking at his screen.
There was another message that read a string of numbers and at the end 'Itika Jones'.
Shawn decided he would deal with her later, but first, he needed to straighten things out with the girl who seemed to have resented every bit of Shawn's existence.
'Can you please get me something to eat?'
'Umm... sure…' The dresser who was working on his hair, said from behind him. 'I'll just text the food department to send something here. Do you need anything specific?' He added, walking a few steps away to get a blender sponge from the long dressing table.
'Get me anything fried with some ketchup.' Shawn didn't seem to notice that the dresser wasn't an assistant. He had come to do a specific job and getting him food wasn't it. But, Shawn had made the request so politely that he couldn't say no. He had refused lunch earlier and now he was starving, he didn't know whom to contact now since everyone was busy so close to the shoot.
The dresser wasn't pleased by Shawn's greasy food choices when he was all ready for the photo-shoot. But he smiled politely and dialed in a shortcut into the intercom kept on an ottoman in the far end of the room.
Shawn smiled guiltily.
Another photo shoot and a bathroom scene and he was free for the day, and the night. Elaine's scene was over before lunch, but she hadn't left the building.
He opened a chat window under her phone number and typed, 'My place, at 11. Block me if not interested. Reply if are.'
A few minutes had passed since the text. The text had been received and read but no reply followed. Elaine could be angry and make a scene, and Shawn would shrug it off, or she could simply show up. His gut said that she would. Shawn hadn't mentioned his name to her, and his number wasn't in the directory under his own name. A Samuel Chard had texted her for a booty call. Things could get ugly. Shawn laughed inside.
Before his food arrived and he had to go up for the shoot, Shawn opened another chat window and sent a 'Hi.'
The message was seen right away.