POV Yuri
As she was getting her makeup touched up, Yuri snuck a glance at the girl sitting not too far from her.
Valentina was also getting her makeup touched up and was paying her no mind. Upset at the scolding that she had just received, Yuri felt anger bubbling up inside of her.
Angry at not being able to argue back, Yuri angrily texted her best friend Emily about Valentina.
[Emily can you believe this bitch! She dared to scold me even though she stole your role! Who the hell does she think she is.]
A reply came back quickly.
Emily: [Are you talking about your partner in the MV shoot?]
Yuri: [Yes, this girl called Valentina. She's been flirting and throwing her body all over Rio! She's so shameless!]
Emily: [Wait you mean Valentina Salazar, that shameful newcomer of the industry?]
Yuri: [Yes! Do you know her? You know I don't listen to rumors.]
Emily: [I can't believe you haven't heard. She's apparently a leech who tries to use connections to climb but her skills are subpar! She even delayed filming from her last project because of a lack of skill. You have to expose her to the directors and not let her hold you back.]
As Emily continued to dish the messy details around Valentina, Yuri made her mind up that she had to expose her to Sarah Lee. She couldn't let her idol Rio be tarnished by a 90th-rate artist who was here with impure intentions!
When her makeup touchup was finished, she followed Valentina to the next set while glaring at her.
Unfortunately, the girl continued to ignore her. A Valentina strutted to the next location, her hair and ribbons swaying gently around her, Yuri wanted to shove her down.
She retrained herself and when she arrived she put a big smile on her face. Shawn and Rio were standing next to Sarah Lee, and she couldn't help but take a second glance at Rio.
Rio's red eyes looked cool and sharp as he bent his head to listen closely to what Sarah Lee was saying. His bangs hung seductively over his forehead and Yuri could not help but sigh at his beauty. When the two arrived, he glanced over them, and Yuri could feel herself blushing. He was just so handsome.
"Good, the two of you have arrived. Let's get started, for the next part. What we're going to do is split the roles. Yuri will move on to film individual scenes, while Valentina will prep for the battle scene. Valentina, you will go learn battle choreography with Shawn. Any concerns?" Sarah Lee asked while glancing at the two women.
"Yes, director I have a concern!" Yuri raised her hand immediately.
"Go ahead, Yuri." Sarah Lee replied.
"I truly don't believe Valentina is suitable for the role, I don't know if you are aware but she's a subpar actor and I think she's here for the wrong reasons. I think that the image that she's built so far will bring down the quality of the work when it's released to the public. Please reconsider getting another actress!" after she got everything off her chest, Yuri bowed respectfully toward the director.
She was sure that when the director heard her words, she would immediately fire Valentina and somebody more suitable like Emily would be invited to come.
"Thank you for your thoughts and concerns Miss Yuri but we believe we've chosen the correct person for both roles. Valentina's acting has been successful thus far so we will keep everything as is as long as the quality of performance is maintained." Sarah Lee replied sternly.
"But-"Yuri protested but she was quickly interrupted.
"We do not listen to rumors here; we just chose the best person for the role. If you don't agree with the decision, feel free to leave.' Rio quickly interrupted in a cold voice.
When Yuri heard the ice-cold tone, she shivered and quickly nodded in acceptance.
"Understood." Yuri quickly agreed even though she felt tears filling up her eyes. She looked up and saw that Rio was glaring at her and she couldn't believe he was glaring at her and defending Valentina. Sure enough, he had been corrupted by her! She had to do her best so that Rio would see Valentina's true colors.
POV: Valentina
Fortunately, the rest of the day went seamlessly. Although she was shocked that Yuri would complain to the director in front of everyone, she couldn't believe that the girl tried to get her fired. She vowed that she would execute everything perfectly so Yuri would have nothing to complain about. Thankfully there were no more interactions with either Rio or Yuri even though she could feel the gaze of the latter burning into her head at any given opportunity.
Sighing with relief after removing the costume and wig, Valentina rubbed her aching arms. She had been trying to learn mock battle choreography along with Shawn and she had to say, this body was really too weak!! Even though the sword she had was plastic and relatively light, having to memorize the movement patterns and execute it was exhausting! When practicing with Shawn, each hit sent tremors through her whole body, and she almost went flying. She felt like she was an ugly chicken next to his graceful and strong moves and even though the choreographer told her she was doing great and to add more power to her moves, she wanted to ask what power and melt into the floor. She even wished at some point to start vomiting blood so she could get a break but alas it was not meant to be.
Thankfully she finished the day safely and said goodbye to Sarah Lee and everyone else.
When Valentina arrived home, she didn't even have the energy to prepare dinner. She quickly ate a protein bar, took a shower, and passed out on her bed.