"Sarah! Sarah! Where are you, Sarah!" A middle-aged woman suddenly burst into the restaurant, screaming and startling everyone, including the police who were taking notes.
"Mom!" The little girl sitting silently next to Adrian immediately stood up.
"Oh, Sarah! Oh, Sarah!" The middle-aged woman rushed over and hugged her child tightly, crying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left you here alone... I shouldn't have, I'm sorry..."
"I'm fine, Mom, I'm fine." Big teardrops instantly welled up in the little girl's eyes.
"Are you alright, are you hurt?" The mother, thinking of something, began to check her child for injuries.
"They took the money, they took all the money," the little girl sobbed while holding her mother tightly, "I shouldn't have carried so much money with me... It was hard to get an advertisement..."
"It doesn't matter, dear, it doesn't matter, let them take it, as long as you're okay." The mother smiled reassuringly and wiped the tears from both her own and her daughter's faces.
"No... I wanted to buy you a gift... I wanted to make you happy... I wanted to..." The girl said, sobbing and getting a bit agitated. She suddenly turned her head sharply and looked resentfully yet somewhat desperately at Adrian, who was comforting Kate, "You said it would get better, you said the difficulties would pass. Why can't I see that now?"
"Sarah?" The mother quickly pulled her daughter closer, then looked at Adrian with confusion. A customer who had just finished giving a statement quickly explained to her.
"Sarah, how can you speak like this? You should thank this gentleman." The mother immediately scolded her daughter, "He saved your life!"
"He didn't save my life! He just wanted to get rid of those guys as soon as possible." The little girl shouted angrily.
"Sarah!" The mother called heavily but didn't know what to say. Clearly, her daughter had transferred all her anger at the robbers onto Adrian.
However, Adrian didn't mind, and he gently stopped Kate, who wanted to speak angrily. Politely, he nodded to the mother, "It's okay, ma'am, I can understand how your daughter feels."
"Thank you, sir, and I'm very sorry." The mother nodded with a bitter smile, hugging her daughter tighter. The little girl, however, was ungrateful, still glaring fiercely at Adrian.
Adrian, who was initially about to leave with Kate, raised his eyebrows and suddenly asked, "Excuse me for being so bold, but is your daughter an actress?"
The mother was stunned for a moment and then nodded, "Yes, Sarah has performed excellently in some TV series."
"I see..."
"Rosellan Gela, you can call me Rosellan."
"Alright, Ms. Rosellan, I am Adrian Cowell, a film director. I am currently working on a movie. A week ago, a young actor who was supposed to report to the crew had to terminate her contract due to an accident, and we are looking for a replacement." Adrian said, handing his business card to her, "If you're willing, you can take my card and bring your daughter to the Bossworth Film Company for an audition after Thanksgiving."
******************************************
Breathing, along with the sound of splashing water, echoed intermittently in the steamy room, sometimes low, sometimes excited. Amid the splashing water, back and forth, from this side to that side, and back again, seemingly endless.
"Isn't it much better now?" Adrian brushed her wet hair and asked with a smile.
"Where did you learn that?" Kate asked, blushing and coquettishly.
Adrian just smiled without answering, continually kissing her cheek, his hand gently caressing her body under the water. After finishing their statements at the restaurant, they had driven back, and Kate had been somewhat absent-minded along the way, understandably. It's not easy to recover from having a gun pointed at you.
So after sending Mrs. Galen away, Adrian carried her to the bathroom and stripped her bare for a couple's bath. According to him, what's a better remedy than sex?
"Stop thinking about those things," said Adrian, comforting Kate, "As long as you're okay. Such things don't happen often." Perhaps it's time to consider hiring some bodyguards. Of course, avoiding poorly secured areas is the most important thing.
"Don't worry, I'm fine now." Kate laid her head on his arm and, after a long period of intimacy, started hesitantly, "By the way, Ed... I want... I want..."
"You finally want to ask?" Adrian teased as his hands mischievously pinched her chest from behind.
"You knew? Why didn't you tell me!" An annoyed Kate bit his shoulder.
"Ouch!" Adrian "screamed," "How can you be so barbaric?"
"You find that barbaric?" Kate squinted her eyes, "Then how about this?"
She suddenly reached into the water from Adrian's abdomen.
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about that," Adrian shifted his body and changed the topic, "I just want to help her a little. Clearly, she loves her mother very much and needs that money. Her attitude towards me was only out of sadness. One way or another, it was indeed me who persuaded her to hand the money to those robbers, so I thought this might compensate a little."
"I thought so too, but..." Kate looked at Adrian, puzzled, "Setting aside that 'Memento' is nearing completion, the script doesn't have a role for a little girl. Are you planning to add one temporarily?"
"What better solution could I come up with in a few minutes?" Adrian shrugged, "Should I just give them the money to cover their loss? That'd be too rude."
"But there's no script, and don't you think..." Kate gestured to say something, but then noticed Adrian's amused smile, causing her to grit her teeth and reach into the water for a squeeze.
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you," Adrian hurriedly called out, "It's very simple. I just need to draft a few script pages in two days, roughly fitting the plot. As for filming thereafter, my dear Kate, haven't you heard of a job called editing?"
"You mean..." Kate suddenly looked enlightened.
"Yes, we can completely edit her scenes out. It's quite normal, isn't it?" Adrian sighed suddenly, "I really don't know why I'm doing this. Not only do I have to rush the script in the next few days, but I also have to notify Laverne to arrange the audition and inform the crew to keep it confidential... It's really strange."
"Because you're a good person," Kate said, hugging his waist and kissing his broad chest.
A good person? Adrian snorted softly in his mind. The only reason he even considered helping that little girl was that it stirred something inside him due to her feelings for her mother. Let others be good people, in whatever sense.
With an imperceptible shake of his head, he moved closer with a smile to Kate, "So, what's the reward for being a good person?"
Kate coyly glanced at him but didn't kiss him as usual. Instead, she signaled him to sit on the edge of the tub, then flicked her small tongue across his chest and slowly slid downward.
"Wow," Adrian gasped, "How do you know this?!"
"Don't think only you guys watch adult films," Kate giggled, lifting her head, but her hands kept moving. She deliberately circled her tongue at the corner of her lips, making her look incredibly alluring.
"However..." She looked awkwardly at what she held in her hands, "The size is just a bit too big."
"Can I take that as a compliment? Ow! Don't bite!"
********************************
After Thanksgiving, the "Memento" crew resumed work. Only a few dozen shots were left to complete, and if everyone remained focused, they could wrap up in three days. But now the timeline might extend to five days, as the crew had gained two new members.
"Simply put, this character, due to family reasons, is indifferent and cold to others, but at this time, the male lead piques her curiosity a little. I know it's not easy for you, so just portray any two of these traits." Adrian explained to the thirteen-year-old Sarah.
"Okay, so I can... keep a straight face... or act indifferent?" The little girl thought for a moment. Her tone carried a hint of nervousness, and she dared not look directly at Adrian, unsure if it was due to her first time filming or the previous incident at the restaurant with Adrian.
"Let's do a trial shoot first to let you get a feel for it, then we'll discuss other things. Since your audition passed with the company, you must have something to offer." Adrian comforted her, standing up and clapping his hands, "Alright, everyone, let's start getting ready for a trial shoot."
As he spoke, he gestured, and everyone understood, nodding and getting busy with their tasks, acting nonchalant. Adrian had warned them beforehand that if anyone slipped up and let the little girl see something off, they would have to leave. This left many people speculating about Adrian's relationship with the girl named Sarah, wondering why he was going to such lengths.
In fact, Adrian was initially quite perplexed about this, as he had told Kate before. Not only did he need Laverne's help to cover up, but he also had to ensure crew confidentiality. More importantly, he had to produce a few new script pages within two days. If not for his thorough knowledge of the "Memento" story and his decent scriptwriting skills, completing it would have been uncertain.
However, the somewhat unsatisfying feeling vanished when he received the little girl's resume. She had a very ordinary name: Sarah Michelle Gellar.
(Alright, continuing to ask for recommendation votes...)
The Qidian Chinese Network www.qidian.com welcomes readers to browse and read, the latest, fastest, and most popular serials are all on Qidian's Original!