"Come on, I know you thought of me every minute because I did not call you. If I called you earlier and got on with our date, maybe you would not think of me as much. I'm quite honoured that you thought of me so much."
"You think you're a charmer, don't you?" Lisa asked while being mildly amused. Though she was extroverted, the number of guys she dated was not more than 2. And Jason was unlike any other man she ever met.
"Yes, I do." He admitted shamelessly.
Whoah hold up! I know what you guys are thinking. How could he cheat on Amelia? Well, I will soon answer your question. Just keep reading people! Anyway,…
Lisa did not show any spikes like a cactus as she did earlier on. She became more easy going. She did not take it as a date instead; she treated it as making a new friend. After he revealed that particular piece of information from his childhood, she felt uncomfortable, but that feeling went away quite fast. Jason, unlike his brother, was quite the charmer. He knew how to talk to women. Sometimes I still do not understand what went wrong with Chris.
Back to the story. After dropping Lisa at her apartment, he did not leave, and neither did Lisa. They kept looking at each other with a hint of awkwardness. Obviously, they wanted to go on another date, but none of them wanted to give in first.
Lisa, who always takes the initiative, became quiet while Jason did not turn up his boyish charm this time.
"Well.."
"Well.." They chuckled while looking at one another. "See you soon, Lisa. This time, I'll call you as soon as possible."
"Or, I can call you instead. Now that I have your number." Lisa said with a hint of bashfulness. If I was there, I could never believe that it was the Lisa whom I know. Lisa immediately went up the stairs to avoid looking at Jason. She was actually trying to hide her red face. "Ah! I can't believe I went out with my idol." She jumped on her bed and covered herself in her warm blanket. She was only 23 after all, a young girl who was still blossoming.
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"Ah! Damn it!" Sheila shouted. She broke a very expensive vase of the hotel they were staying in. "Sorry dad, I did not do as you told me to. He slipped from my hands. I'll make sure to get him tomorrow.."
"Tsk, you useless brat. Look at your sister. She was much better than you ever could be. She is dating the Brooke family's heir, Andrew Brooke. He could snap a finger and everything is delivered to him on a silver platter. The youngest captain of the army soon to be promoted. While you can't even draw the attention of an actor." He scoffed with dissatisfaction.
"He is NOT just an actor, he is the second grandson of the Wilson family. Just because he is an actor, you cannot underestimate him or disrespect him." she argued.
"ARE YOU TALKING BACK?" he shouted in a fit of anger. Sheila was abused as a child and was extremely scared of her father. The moment he shouted, she shivered without control and quickly cut the call. 'So what if Tiana is dating Andrew Brooke, the Wilsons are as influential as them, if not more. Once I get my hands on Jason, I will never let him go. Lisa, you are going down.' She thought to herself while scheming against Lisa.
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"CUT!!!" the director shouted. "Sheila, what's wrong with you? I do not care if you're the producer's daughter. Act properly and don't waste our time. It's already the 17th take, for god's sake!"
"Yes-s sorry director." she immediately apologised.
A week flew by so quickly, Lisa and Jason went on another date and really clicked. Lisa had her guard up unfortunately, but Jason did not mind taking his time. The conversation with her father completely rattled Sheila so she could not focus on the script, causing her to commit blunders without a stop. "Director, let's take a break," Jason told the director. He was not a bad person. He could see Sheila was feeling under the weather, so he offered a small helping hand. Sheila, however, took it in the wrong way and thought Jason liked her as well. Her agent, on the other hand, was furious with her. "What's wrong with you? You are not that famous, but you got a chance to act next to Jason. Do not screw this up!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down." She muttered, thinking that she should change her annoying agent, but she could not see that she was simply looking out for her.
Jason slipped away from the crowd and found a spot where there was no one and called, "Hello, beautiful." He said cheekily.
"Jason…" Lisa simply acknowledged his presence. She tried not to show her emotions much. She was actually dying to know what was happening on his side. She had pins in her mouth as she tried to fix a very beautiful dress on a mannequin. She was designing this dress especially for her mentor's mother and nothing should go wrong. "I may be back in five days. How about we meet up?"
"I don't know. There is this gala coming up and I have so many orders to go through. I'll be quite busy for the next two weeks." She said dejectedly. Actually, even she hoped to meet up, but what to do? Work is more important.
"Don't worry, sweety, I understand. That's why I have an even better idea. How about you be my date for the gala?" he suggested with hope.
"Won't that cause an outrage?" Lisa asked doubtfully. She could imagine the headlines, 'a mysterious woman with the movie king'. She thought that Jason's idea was not bad if the matter could be tended to.
"Not if you designed my clothes. You can come as my designer," he said with happiness. He was sure that she would agree. Jason had an hidden motive behind the idea of going public.
"That's actually not a bad idea. Come as soon as possible, I'll make sure you stand out in the gala."
"I always do, though." he laughed, he kind of enjoyed teasing his 'little kitten' (nickname), he knew he was getting way ahead of himself but he was sure that Lisa would fall in love with him.
"Hah! Cheeky," she said, smiling to herself. She had grown fond of this guy, though it had only been a few days.
"But you like it." he cut the call after some time, while whistling happily to himself he returned to the set. Sheila, who eavesdropped on the entire conversation, clenched her fists in anger. She thought of bringing him a hot cup of tea in the cold weather because of his help but he was openly flirting with another woman which she could not tolerate. She threw the hot cup of tea in a fit of anger and left the scene.
Lisa kept working on the beautiful dress when Jaque interrupted her. "Where's my little student~ Lisa~"
"Jaque? Since you're here, what do you think of the dress so far?" Lisa inquired, she rarely saw Jaque nowadays, ever since he suddenly left because he had 'urgent matters' to attend to.
"Oh~ Don't be so serious little student. Come, let's go out~" he added playfully. She really could not understand his character. He was always playful and cheerful, but when he becomes serious, he is extremely scary. Maybe because getting angry would be out of character.
"Uh, Jaque, I have to finish this dress before the gala. You don't want your mum to be in a half-finished dress now, do you?"
"Aww~ My little student is so serious. I won't disturb you then~" He skipped away while humming to himself.
It was awkward for Lisa to see an adult skipping away, but then again he had a baby face so it low-key suited his personality. Lisa sighed to herself while she kept working. The sooner she finished the dress, the better.
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"Cut!" the director yelled once again. "Seriously, Sheila? Take the day off. We'll resume tomorrow." he sighed to himself in dissatisfaction. Losing one day means a lot of losses, and the director was infuriated.
"Tsk, why do they take such actors who don't know how to act, such a waste of time!" a man who was packing up the props said to another woman, it seemed as if it was a private conversation but it was loud enough to hear.
"Shh, she is the daughter of the producer, don't talk much unless you don't mind getting fired."
"Ah, these rich kids who get what they want by using their family's influence, so shameless."
Sheila, who could hear all this, turned red with anger. She could not perform well because she over-heard Jason's conversation and it occupied her mind ever since. She could feel all eyes on her and she could hear many whispers among the people there. She clenched her fist and immediately left the set. This time Jason did not do anything because the matter does not concern him. He simply helped her before, because he felt sorry for her.
After a few days, the day of the gala came. Lisa was helping Margery try out the dress.
"It's so beautiful, sweety!" Margery exclaimed in excitement. She absolutely loved Lisa's work, and she showed it by pinching her cheeks. "Say, are you single? Do you like my Jaque?"
"Cough, cough. Sorry, I'm already taken…" Lisa lied. She did not have such feelings for Jaque. He was a good friend and a good mentor. And she actually started to like Jason, but she did not think that this relation would go somewhere. For now, their relation was just casual. When Margery said 'sweety' she got reminded of Jason, it was his usual way of calling her other than 'hey, beautiful'. "Aww, that's too bad. If you don't like my son, I should introduce you to Jason. A hunk like himself deserves a beautiful girl like you." Margery's words made Lisa blush. She was, in fact, dating Jason.
After Margery's dress fitting is done, Jason was next.
"Hey, beautiful. How was your day?" Jason went in for a hug, no matter how much Lisa told him to stop. She had many things in her hand, so she told him to stop. "Well, you made it better." Lisa flirted back because she could no longer hold back. Till now he was the only one who flirted, so she wanted to up her game. He pinched her cheeks, "Is my little kitty flirting back? I did not expect that."
Why's everyone pinching my cheeks today? Lisa thought. "Well, expect it from now on, you're not the only one who knows how to tease."
He kissed her forehead and extended his hands, waiting for her to help him into his outfit. Lisa got flustered because of his sudden action. She was not very intimate with any man before, yes she did date two guys before but the relationship did not last more than a few months. And there was nothing but innocent touches like hugs or holding hands. Seeing her little blush, Jason chuckled and pinched her nose. "You're so cute."
Lisa ignored him and started making final changes to his outfit. Soon after which, she changed herself and they were headed to the gala. Many reporters swarmed the entrance. They were all trying to get photos of famous designers and celebrities. They were especially waiting for Jason and Sheila among the celebrities because the movie was greatly advertised by the production house, which piqued the interest of many critiques. And among the designers, the reporters were on the lookout for Jaques and his intern, Lisa, who caused a great sensation in the industry in a very short time.