[General POV]
The director, Trey Fanjoy sat at the director's seat, and rubbed her chin as she contemplated about the music video and the two kids' fate had tangled in the matter.
"It's funny. They're feeling very threatened by a 15 year old child. Why?" She mumbled to herself as she watched how Edward Newgate, who was arguably the hottest commodity in the current music industry, allowed himself to be dragged so easily into the music video production.
Edward however, was indeed aware of the significance of his participation in the music video, but he did it anyway to show his support for his friend. It made Trey acknowledge his integrity, and she slowly started being influenced by the shipping movement on Twitter, which wanted Ed and Taylor to end up together.
Trey had already contacted his lawyers, who surprised her as they were already ready for her call.
She mulled over the whole thing. The kid she was observing was laughing together with the makeup artist as she tried to put a fake beard on his face, and Trey couldn't help but break into a smile as she finally made a decision.
"Well. I'm not the one who will have to deal with the consequences soon after." She thought as she laughed.
Her phone rang at that very same time however as she picked it up after checking the caller id.
"Oh. You're very, very late. It's best if you don't even come." Trey said in a casual manner, making the other person in line express his shock with a gasp.
"There is traffic! The police pulled me over and asked me multiple questions! I even needed to call my lawyer; they even wanted me to go down to the station!" The male lead of the MV panicked as he tried to explain himself.
It wasn't his fault that he fit the police profile for the Tea Time Strangler, but the director didn't care about him anymore. He was the 'next best thing' , but not 'THE Best Thing'.
"The shoot's already over. There was an emergency, so we are pulling the curtains early. I'll call you back… when we decide on the new schedule." Trey lied in a casual manner.
'If he fits the profile for the suspect… Maybe I should have a talk with the agency before changing the main lead…But I guess it's unnecessary now… Although, I do hope Taylor would tell me about this sooner.' Trey thought secretly. She also planned to turn off her mobile after the call, to make the 'previous' male lead realize her hint.
"Honestly. It'd be pretty stupid not to use Ed now right?" Trey muttered to the always angry Jessica who stood beside her.
"Yes. But what can we do? The agency made it clear that we shouldn't let Edward near this production at all." Jessica replied with an angry scoff..
"Oh well." Trey smiled inexplicably, which made Jessica feel a little weirded out. "It's not like they are checking on the progress…" She trailed off and walked away, which made Jessica's eyes follow her exit while simultaneously questioning the director's sanity.
Then, she turned her head forward and snapped, "WHO THE FUCK PUT THE VASE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BALLROOM!? ARE YOU PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR GODDAMN MIND-"
[Edward POV]
"Beard?"
"Yes."
"To make me seem like a college guy?"
"That's correct."
The makeup artist answered my every question while she still kept her hands moving as she worked non stop on my face.
"Hey, it tickles." I said as I shrunk my neck, trying to escape the brushes with the fake beard glue. The make up artist smiled in disbelief before pulling my head and making sure it was straight before continuing her job.
"Don't move. This is already pretty hard without you moving around like a squirrel."
"Wait, you did makeup on a squirrel before? Was it called Alvin, Simon or Thedore?"
She rolled her eyes and continued tickling me as she put on the fake beard on my cheeks. A golden vase, a black suit, frills on the sleeve and the neck, and then the fake beard and classy Duke hairstyle. As I looked into the mirror, I muttered, "Wait. Isn't this the male lead's outfit design?"
"You're overthinking. You're just an extra."
Suddenly, a voice answered my question from behind. I turned and automatically fell in awe as I saw Taylor in a princess-like, golden dress which was the same color as her hair. Gone was the seductress, and only her innocent girl persona was kept.
Her cheeks were rosy, her lips were painted a natural color, her golden locks were styled like a Victorian era princess, revealing her nape and bringing attention to her neck at the same time.
She smirked as she saw my reaction, and laughed at my frilly outfit, "Who are you? Ron Weasley?"
'So she was also a Harry Potter fan. Good to know.'
"That's preposterous my lady. Look closer. There aren't any similarities between me and that sniveling, shameful excuse for a man… none at all! I say."
Taylor laughed and blushed a bit. She lowered her gaze and said, "That…sounds nice."
I tried to guess, "Insulting Ron is nice?-"
"You, calling me… 'My Lady'." She interjected. Her already blushing cheeks turned even redder, and her words made the make-up artist gasp and cover her mouth before chuckling at the teenage drama going on in front of her.
Taylor gazed into my eyes while shyly brushing her hair behind her ears, which made me stare in awe for the second time.
"Ahh." I exclaimed before the make-up station fell into an uncomfortable silence. The make-up artist rolled her eyes again and said, "Don't flirt just yet. I'm not done yet."
"Then. I'll wait for you at the dance floor…My lord." Taylor joked and ran away while holding her long skirt up before I could respond.
The make-up artist mumbled aloud, "Hmm…To flirt so brazenly in front of other people…I guess that's the beauty of being young."
I rolled my eyes at her before chuckling a bit about the whole situation. After 10 minutes, the director called me to the center of the ballroom set. She then asked, "Ed. Do you know how to dance?"
"No." I replied. "But I guess I'll be a fast learner."
"Well we'll see if you can back up those words. Jay-jay. Take the lead." He said as he gave the floor to the choreographer.
The latina dance director suddenly pulled me forward and grabbed me by the waist. "Oh god." I exclaimed from her forceful action.
"You're going to partner with me, and I will teach you what you need to know." She said before she suddenly spun me around, and then grabbed my hand, making me lock eyes intensely with her as she made me pose.
"I'm still waiting for your answer." She muttered.
"Y-Yes ma'am." I replied hurriedly as I got swept away by her momentum. Taylor laughed as she had already learned the dance in the morning.
It took only 15 minutes to learn the ballroom 'Renaissance' era dance, and I had thoroughly impressed the coordinator by truly capturing the essence of the dance in such a short time even when I was learning directly from her.
"You have talent. Do you want to learn how to dance-"
"He's busy enough already." The director saved me from the awkward situation by shoving the excited dance coordinator aside and walked right at me.
"Ed. A word." She called.
"Sure." I replied before walking side by side with her to the edge of the set.
"Hey, listen. The male lead couldn't make it, so the shooting had to be postponed. So, I was wondering…will you shoot the scene with Taylor instead?"
Although I had the feeling that she always wanted me to play the main lead from the very beginning, I decided not to expose her and simply say, "Okay. I will do it."
Trey smirked and said, "Good enough-"
"But I know that the whole video isn't going to be shot in a day, or even just at this location. I mean I do want to do it, but I don't know if I can make it to the next shooting. So, are you sure about this?"
To my surprise, Trey dismissed my concerns and said, "Don't worry. I have already contacted Harvey. She gave me the okay."
"Oh. That's great…But, the agency wants to settle the music video shooting today right? So how-"
"Don't worry about that. And don't say any more words that could be used against us later on. Just play along. I know I am."
I nodded with a confused face and said, "Okay then."
…
The set played the song Old Russian Waltz- Expectation as the scene started. We shot the dance scene first and foremost before the cast member forgot all about their choreography, and also because the director wanted to see Taylor and mine's chemistry on the screen as we danced.
Taking advantage of the lack of a microphone in the set, I spoke to Taylor as we got ready in our stance, arm reached out, wrist almost touching one another as we spun while looking at each other. "You look wonderful in that dress." I gave her a compliment.
"Is this turning you on- Wait no. I need to keep an innocent girl persona here." She muttered jokingly. Both of us chuckled a bit with our eyes never separating from one another.
The director was satisfied as she watched us through the camera and gave the cue, "Okay now lovers. Start dancing."
We finally stopped spinning, and we danced the whole ballroom routine together. As we danced, I asked Taylor, "So. Apparently there is some kind of secret plot going on behind the scenes in my casting process. Any thoughts on that?"
"Honestly, It was just luck." Taylor said ambiguously as we stuck a joint pose, hands behind our back, but still connected with one another.
"Really? And does this 'lady luck' know that I am unavailable for the entire week because I have a small performance to prepare for? Does she know I can't fly to Texas for 2 days to shoot the next scene at the castle and college? Mind telling me what exactly is 'Lady Luck' planning to do about all that?"
"Just believe in the lady. Has Lady Luck ever disappointed you?" Taylor asked jokingly, still not giving me an answer.
"A lot of times actually." I replied. Taylor then whispered, "That's too bad. Should Lady Luck cheer you up for her past transgressions? In her golden-ballroom gown that you couldn't pry your eyes away from?"
"I'd like that. But I have to clarify. It wasn't the gown I was in awe of."
She looked a bit confused as we had to change position to face each other, with our hands together close to our chest.
"I was struck by the person wearing it." I said. Taylor blushed and she missed a step, causing her to fall into my arms.
"Be careful. It's easy to get injured, especially when your skirt is dragging on the ground." I said with a concerned voice. She blushed before she stood back on her feet, "I know…I'm counting on that."
"What-"
Before I could ask, the director clapped her hands and said, "WONDERFUL! MAGNIFIQUE! BRAVISSIMO! I KNEW IT! EDWARD'S A NATURAL IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA! EVEN MORE THAN TAYLOR-!"
"HEY!" Taylor retorted.
"I know! I did a whole song about that." I joked playfully, which made the staff members around the set laugh out loud. Then, we continued with the next scene, which was the first time Romeo asked Juliet for a dance, and when they planned to sneak out of the ballroom hall to meet up at the back garden.
The more scenes we filmed, the more validated the director felt about her split decision to cast me as the male lead today. However, as we finished the day, Taylor's, short haired, glasses wearing, chubby but still quite hot ghost-writer/assistant/agency-spy entered the set with a sleazy looking lawyer by her side.
"What is going on? Why isn't anyone answering their phones?" She asked angrily. "Also, why is Edward Newgate acting on this? Didn't the agency clearly say to make sure Taylor stayed away from him?"
"Hey." I called out to her with an angry expression on my face. She suddenly realized what she had done, and shrinked back to hide behind the lawyer as I was walking up to her.
"I-I'm-"
"Shut up. SO…The agency wants me to stay away from Taylor? Why? Is she your slave?" I asked with fake anger. I already knew about the matter as Taylor had told me about it before, but now seemed like a good time to make my stance clear in all of this drama.
"Mr Newgate. Miss Berry misspoke. Isn't that right miss?" The lawyer interjected before I could continue.
"And you are?"
"Paul. Paul Winger. I'm a lawyer sent here by the agency directors, just in case. But as I step in here, I can guess their intuition was spot on." Paul said. "I need to talk to Trey. Let's all walk together shall we?"
Paul's tone was calm, and it was hard for me to continue my act as soon as he intervened without making myself look like a fool so I just nodded along as we all walked to the director's seat together. Trey was checking the footage, when she saw us and proceeded to expertly greet the lawyer and the assistant happily when they arrived.
"Trey. I hope you understand that while Mr Newgate here is certainly welcomed on site given his status within the industry and as a close friend to our star we don't have a contract with Entertain. The company will be in big trouble if you act like this. You should have at least notified us of any problems so that we could come to a possible solution." Paul said with the hidden meaning, 'You shouldn't do anything without talking to us first.'
"Because of that, all of the efforts the kids have done here today will be for nought. We can reshoot the entire thing tomorrow. Nothing personal Ed, I know you have a busy week. We're planning to release the music video next Friday, and we really can't adjust to your schedule. You understand, right? It's for Taylor after all."
"We still have the set for one more day, so consider today as a 'cheat day' , a simple time for you guys to have fun together."
I could've pointed out the multiple lies and inconsistencies in his speech, but I decided to hold myself back as I saw the look on the director's and Taylor's face.
Taylor nodded at the director's cue and had a determined look on her face. She walked towards where we were standing and called out to the assistant, "Ber-"
But then, she suddenly stepped on her long skirt, slipped and fell down on the floor. Her fall however was so fake I nearly burst out laughing while she screamed, "Owwww…" in a monotonous tone.
"Huh?" Berry and Paul were confused, but the director and I had already run towards the fallen girl.
"Taylor? Are you alright?" I asked with a concerned tone, a skill that made the director almost break her composure as she wanted to praise me for it.
"My-my leg." Taylor exclaimed in a poorly concealed fake tone. I raised one of my eyebrows as I thought to myself, 'She sure can't act.'
Trey checked her ankle and said, "This looks bad. It's already bruising and swelling up. I think it will take about a week to heal at the very least, especially before she can reshoot the dance number."
'I'm surrounded by pig teammates.' I thought to myself.
"What bruise?!" Berry and Paul hurriedly came over and Berry checked on the ankle herself, but of course, Taylor's legs looked normal to her.
"I said it's coming up, not that it's there right now." Trey rebuked her. Berry scrunched her face in frustration and shouted, "Is this your scheme-"
"Berry. Can't you see that Taylor's in pain? She needs to go to the doctor." Trey said urgently. "Left leg or right?"
"Right. Go–Go to my family doctor. He's nearby." Taylor said, trying hard to fake pain in her tone.
'I'm sure he is.' I retorted to myself before saying, "Good. Let's go." I then wrapped my arms around Taylor's neck and waist, startling the girl. She stammered, "Wai-wait-"
But I ignored her. The longer she stayed here, the easier it would be for the lawyer to untangle her schemes. I picked her up in a princess carry, which earned a gasp from the people watching the 'scene'. She fit neatly in my arms, which made her blush up a storm.
"See. Her face is bright red, clearly in pain. How can you still say that she's faking it?" Trey added.
'NO ONE SAID THAT! Stop Talking!' I screamed in frustration internally before turning to Berry and said in a cold tone, "I'm taking her to the doctor. Do you have any problems with that?"
"N-N-N-No."
"Good. I'll meet you guys there." I said before walking away with Taylor in my arms. Some girls who were watching squealed and even snapped a picture of the fairytale worthy scene, making Paul and Berry flabbergasted as they quickly went to try to confiscate the 'evidence'.
As we got into her car, I glanced at the girl who was burying her face in my chest and rubbing it inappropriately as she got the chance before saying, "Your left leg…Is it still hurting."
"Yeah. It hurts…a lot." She replied, faking her pain again.
I raised one of my eyebrows and asked, "Didn't you say it was the right one back on set?"
"..."
"Okay. I'm busted." She said with a smile on her face.
"So…is this your master plan? Faking an injury so they postpone the shooting until I can make it?"
"Isn't it obvious? Although, my ankle and my knees are really hurting now. I slipped at the last moment, and slammed them pretty hard." It was clearly a tiny collision, but she was feeling extra-clingy and wanted to get pampered by me more.
"I wanna say 'Serves you right', but I'm afraid you would actually kick me so…" I joked as I laid her down gently on the backseat of her black Mercedes Benz SUV. She laughed and said, "I can't kick you now. My feet are supposed to be hurting, remember?"
After a light chuckle, I asked, "What's the plan now? And is the doctor a part of it?"
"Yes. Dr Jaime always lets me play hooky when I want to. I've already told him about the plan a few days ago."
"And how did you get Harvey to join you on this endeavor?"
"That's…a secret between the girls…so I won't tell you." She said while pulling her tongue at me before lying down on the seat. "Now, take your princess away to see the doctor- Wait, You still don't have a license-"
I smirked and pressed the pedal hard before she could finish her words, causing her to be thrown to the backrest. She groaned in annoyance and kicked the back of my seat as the car entered the streets. "Drive properly!"
…
[General POV]
Back on set Trey was still getting grilled by Paul and Berry after Edward had left with Taylor.
"Trey. You do know it's not too late to change the director. I hope you're clear on that." Paul said through gritted teeth as all he could get after so long were some lazy and ambiguous answers from the stubborn woman.
Trey drank her coffee and said casually, "No. I'm not clear on that. In fact, I do know that those are just some pretty stupid threats that would only work if they came from anyone but a corporate slave, as it stands I have seen the budget and there is no way the studio is doubling that up in order to cover up your mistake."
"You bitch-"
"Whoa-Whoa-Whoa. What's with all the aggression? And here I thought Pictionary night with Pepper was explosive enough." Harvey suddenly walked in, making Paul freeze where he was standing.
"Hi. You must be Harvey." Trey stood up from her director's seat and walked to shake hands with Harvey. Paul was visibly sweating as he was reminded of the terror he had felt the last time when the woman in front of him sat across from him during the collaboration contract negotiation.
Pulling on his collar a bit trying to breathe easier, Paul said, "Miss Specter. Why are you here?"
"Well my artist is working here, unpaid if I might add. And, if I was the suspicious sort I might be forced to think he could have been tricked by some bad people, so I decided to air on the side of caution and rush over here in order to set things straight." Harvey said in a sarcastic manner.
She looked around and then said, "I guess we have a lot of things to talk about…Don't we Paul?"
"Um…" Paul's face paled, and then Harvey turned to the girl beside him. "And Berry. Long time no see. I guess you should report to your owner about the … 'incident' right about now, or they might fail to see the value of your continued employment and should that happen… who knows they might just realize that you have no value at all…"
"HARVEY!" Berry screamed in anger.
"What?" Harvey replied in a cold manner while glaring at the girl.
Trey interjected quickly before Berry would cry, "I guess…we should talk about the acting contract now, right?"
"We should wait a bit first. Taylor might not be injured, we are still unclear on that." Paul muttered.
"Keep lying to yourself Paul." Harvey snided.