Even though it was her second time entering this place, it still felt so novel. The life of the wealthy was something she had never encountered before.
Eva greeted the butler and was led to meet Will, the man she was supposed to care for.
Will, portrayed by Jake, sat in a wheelchair, and there was a breakfast that he had just knocked over on the carpet beside him.
Eva noticed it, furrowed her brow, but still took it upon herself to clean up the mess.
Will didn't show any surprise at the unexpected visitor. She wasn't his first caregiver, but the previous ones couldn't stand him and left.
"And who is she?" he asked.
"Her name is Martha."
Will didn't say anything more.
Martha was actually curious about Will, but the butler advised her not to inquire about his past.
It was sound advice, and Martha took it to heart.
Every day, she would feed him, give him massages, and take him for walks.
Sometimes, Will would become inexplicably irritable, throwing tantrums without any apparent reason, and Martha silently endured it all.
Soon, she received her first paycheck, a generous one that was enough to alleviate her financial woes.
Martha paid the remaining rent to her landlord and was overjoyed. She also inquired about the family she worked for.
Mostly, she asked about Will's past.
The landlord had been in town for a long time and knew him.
She said that the boy used to be very cheerful and had a good sense of humor. He was educated and good-looking, the object of many girls' fantasies in the small town.
However, since an accident a year ago, he rarely appeared in public.
As time went by, Martha became more familiar with Will.
She learned that he used to love sports, and ironically, the accident had taken away his ability to engage in physical activities.
As they spent more time together, they often chatted.
Martha was not well-versed in worldly matters, but Will was different. He knew a lot and loved photography. He taught her how to capture life's moments through images.
Whether it was the woman's unique charm that attracted him or her optimistic attitude that touched him, Will gradually became less distant and more relaxed. He started to make jokes.
"I'm wondering, can you really take care of people?"
In the garden, Martha, who had just learned to use a camera, seemed to forget about Will's presence. She was wandering around, taking pictures.
"Oh, sorry."
Martha stuck out her tongue and left the beautiful flowers she had been in front of. She went back to pushing the wheelchair.
"Can you take a picture for me? Right here."
With the surrounding beauty, Martha's tone changed.
Her mood became lively and cheerful.
Acting was a multifaceted skill, not just about facial expressions. Body language, dialogue, and movement were all part of it, and Eva seemed to have a good grasp of it.
"Sure."
In the twilight of the garden's corner, a boy in a wheelchair took a picture of a girl with a very sweet smile. Her smile seemed to have a kind of magic, immersing the audience in the cinematic world of light and shadow. Everyone in the theater sat calmly, not wanting to miss a single frame.
Every day, when Will woke up, he could see Martha, who would kindly say, "Good morning" to him.
They would stroll around the castle every day.
Accompanied by a light and cheerful guitar tune from Hans Zimmer's studio for the movie, the days passed by.
Wide shots, medium shots, long shots, close-ups, and short shots... Various camera angles were used to showcase it all.
Martha would ask Will many strange questions, like, "Is there really a Loch Ness Monster in Lake Geneva?" She would also push Will to sprint downhill, experiencing the thrill of speed. She even encouraged him to go out and explore the town below the mountain. Regardless of what they did, she was always there with him.
Though they had never explicitly expressed their affection for each other, they seemed like a genuine couple, so sweet that the audience was captivated, unable to extricate themselves from this dream.
But dreams do end.
At Will's birthday party, he finally revealed his true feelings.
"I don't want you to miss out on everything someone else can give you."
"More selfishly, I don't want you to look at me one day and feel even a hint of regret or pity."
"I can't live like this; I can't do it."
Bella saw this scene and had a foreboding feeling.
How could she forget that this director had created films like "Fury", "Miscreant", and "Buried", where the fates of the characters were always left hanging, tormenting the audience's emotions.
The previous beauty seemed to have made her forget that Will had contemplated death.
Martha's clumsy words of comfort and Will's growing determination made Bella's chest feel heavy.
Though she often found the creativity in romantic movies lacking, the heartwarming scenes in daily life had completely enchanted her. She was more than willing to see Will and Martha, the lovers, finally come together, but it seemed that the plot was slowly deviating.
Will was a man who had seen the world, experienced a fulfilling life, and now, he wanted Martha to experience that same happiness. Deeply aware of the pain of being confined to a wheelchair, he didn't want to imprison her by his side.
That would be too selfish. Life should not be only about love.
"I love you, and then I lose you. I don't regret loving you, and I face losing you with equanimity. If I could start over, I would still love you. I like the changes you've brought into my life, discussing movies, books, and the world together. I cherish all the scenes we've witnessed together."
"I will remember you, and that's a mark in itself."
Will was too clear-headed. That was why the dream was shattered by his own hands.
Living in such pain, suffering the agony of being unable to embrace the person right in front of you, how sad that would be.
He understood that there were too many barriers between them. Did love really have to slowly dwindle away in this sense of powerlessness?
Compared to the uncertain and hopeless future, letting go was the best choice.
People hoped for love, wanted to possess it, but some ended up losing it. Perhaps it wasn't really a loss but a lasting presence. Mature individuals should learn to respect that.
Martha respected Will, and their meeting had made her a better person.
That's how Bella saw it. Very realistically.
The coldness and the disappearance of a life were all suppressed within the frames of Martha's tearful yet smiling shots. In that moment, as if feeling it herself, Bella's heart surged with emotions – confusion, sadness, and what else?
She didn't know.
She could understand, but she couldn't do it.
Perhaps she wasn't as selfless as Will. In the end, the letter consoled Martha, "You've become better, and that's my greatest achievement in my remaining days. You must take good care of yourself. I'll continue to accompany you in a different way."