RBAVS: Chapter 24

Lilian was laying in her bed and staring at the ceiling. 

Her phone call with Irene just ended. She may not realize it, but her eyes sparkled with delight as she remained preoccupied with her thoughts. She had her phone resting between her chest as she clutched it with both hands. 

This was the first instance in a very long time that she felt a call could be this fulfilling. She wanted to share this enthusiasm with someone else. 

She turned to her side and scrolled through her contacts. It was not an endless list. After the second swipe, she reached the end. 

“Oh,” she murmured. 

Among all her contacts, she could only think about Adrian and Sophie, whom she could share with. 

Lilian unearthed their chat group. She excitedly typed her thoughts, eager to share. She reached her third sentence when she suddenly stopped and realized that it was already 3 am. It would be rude to chat at this hour. She may disturb their sleep. 

She contemplated for a bit and ended up deleting the paragraph she typed. 

Now, staring at their group chat, Lilian realized that it has been a while since this chat became active. 

Adrian was not sharing daily snippets of his life, and Sophie was not ranting about the day-to-day inconveniences she faced like they used to.

And her… I had put them at the back of my mind. It’s my fault. I’ll check in on them later this morning. 

Lilian looked back at the time on her phone and her heart skipped a beat to see that it was now 4 am. 

She still has a scene to shoot in the morning. Lilian frantically put away her phone and positioned herself comfortably in bed, tightly closing her eyes. Go to sleep, gotta go to sleep.

Her eyes snapped open. Wait. I better text Maine first to wake me up at 7 and to bring her some coffee too. 

Lilian reached back for her phone and decisively sent the message. 

After doing all that, she went back to sleep with peace of mind. 

***

Maine stared at the obvious eye bags decorating Lilian’s face. “You look bad.”

“Did you even sleep?” Maine handed Lilian the black coffee she requested. 

“Thank you.” Lilian accepted the coffee with two hands and took a whiff, feeling a burst of energy just from the aroma.

“I slept…” *yawn* “.. late.” 

Maine walked into the room and went straight to the closet. It did not need to be said. From the looks of it, Lilian has just woken up right when she knocked the door. 

So Main took it upon herself to help freshen Lilian up.

It did not take long for Lilian to get ready. They went to the studio as fast as they could. 

“Good morning, Alice.” 

Lilian was surprised to see Alice when she first arrived. More than surprised, she was also relieved and excited to have someone she know working on the same project as her, especially when she learned that Irene withdrew. 

Alice took one look at Lilian’s face and could not stop herself from commenting. “Are you in love?”

“Wa..” Lilian stared at her, speechless. 

“No one gets these” *pointing at her eye bags* “overnight without being” *cough* “loved. If you know what I mean.” *wink* *wink*

“Huh?” It took a moment before Alice’s words sank in. 

Then it dawned on her, and Lilian’s face heated up. She exclaimed, “No I’m not!” Her loud voice drew necks turning in their direction. 

Seeing the questioning looks they gave her, embarrassment washed over Lilian. She turned to them and apologized vehemently.  

She turned back to Alice and sat in her chair. She muttered, “Just continue with the make up”

Alice chuckled as she watched Lilian trying her best to hunch, shrinking further as she went.  

Afraid of causing more misunderstanding, Lilian added, “I was on a call all night with Irene, not because of…. THAT.”

Lilian pursed her lips as she emphasized that last word. 

On both sides of Lilian, Alice and Maine locked eyes. Both were clever enough and indulgently dropped the topic, or else someone here might turn into a tomato.

In the middle of the shooting, Lilian saw a familiar silhouette right beside the director. She could not discern for certain who it was from afar. 

They were still shooting, so after a few moments, Lilian had forgotten all about that familiar stranger and delved into the scene. 

In Lilian’s delight, she had no mishaps during her scenes. She was particularly proud of herself. Coupled with Maine’s praise, Lilian’s steps became lighter. 

Lilian was well liked in the crew. Her innocence and bright aura could soften any cold hearted person. Plus, she could remember the names of the staff as well. This made her more popular. Hence, from afar, you could see Lilian waving and greeting everyone she came across with. 

Naturally, from Vince’s angle, he could take in every detail of Lilian’s interaction with other people. He could see how enthusiastic she was towards every person she met; how her contagious smile jumped from person to person. 

“So how is it?” Mike’s sudden voice pulled Vince from his trance. 

Vince was forced to tear his attention away from Lilian and looked at Mike’s hand resting on his shoulder. Vince turned his head away and looked into the distance. “It’s good.” 

Mike’s tone jumped up a bit when he heard Vince’s words. “You mean it? I’ve been pulling my hair out to find some good scripts out there. Hearing you say that it’s good reassures me.”

In Vince’s small circle of friends in the industry, Mike was one of the few who made it in. He had been in a slump for quite a while now. Just as what he said to Vince, he was scouring for his next best thing. 

Thankfully, his prayers had been answered. When he got the script in his hands, he could not wait and acted immediately. 

In no time, he got the funding, the studio, and the crew. All that was left was his lead actress. He thought he was going to be subjected to months and months of grueling auditions before he could find the one. 

Mike had no idea what was happening, but it seemed to him that his luck reached its peak this year. A month into the audition, he got a call from Alex. 

Irene was looking for her next project after The Fall of Eden, and she was particularly interested in Mike’s script.

The stars aligned in Mike’s favor. 

The moment Mike got his hands on this script, the lead actress in his mind was Irene. He wanted her from the very start. 

However, it seemed that heaven was just realizing that his path was too smooth, and they sent him a boulder to challenge him. 

He heard that Irene was starring in Vince’s new project. 

All his plans went out of the window. 

And just like that, Mike spent months from obtaining the script to setting the crew up. 

Since Irene was out of the picture, Mike felt his body getting drained of strength as he watched the actresses auditioned one by one. In his eyes, they were all lacking, far from his imagination. 

After holding on for a month, it seemed that the heavens took pity on him again, and he received Alex’s call. 

Then it all came crashing down just when filming was about to begin. 

He had to find a replacement quickly. Everything was ready, and only the lead actress was missing. He could not afford to delay anymore. 

Speaking of which, Mike said to Vince, “Our new lead actress will arrive today. You could also help me check her out. You should know her.” 

Vince scowled at him. “I’m not your helper. The minute I stepped foot here, you’ve been dragging me to check this and that.” 

Mike just laughed off Vince as he dragged him towards the others. 

Lilian was on a break when she saw the director returning. He had his arm wrapped around the man beside him. 

As they got closer, she could now see the distinct features of the stranger. 

Lilian was stunned to see Vince. She was wondering who that familiar figure was… So it was Vince.

Just from their proximity, Lilian could deduce that Mike, and Vince had a close relationship. She was astonished how small the world of entertainment was; everyone was interconnected.

She just came from a movie Vince directed; now she was acting under his friend. 

Lost in her thought, Lilian did not notice Mike and Vince getting closer towards her direction. 

A shadow loomed over Lilian, startling her. She looked up only to meet Vince’s gaze. 

Her face heated up, and she stammered. “He..hello.”

Her stammering only fueled her awkwardness. However, Vince seemed to not notice her discomfort and greeted her back. 

Mike’s eyes widened to hear Vince greet Lilian back. He took a jab at him. “Hey, you actually know this pretty lady here.”

Vince observed Lilian’s ear getting redder as the minutes passed. He was in a trance. 

Vince felt a light punch hitting his bicep. His body jerked for a moment before finally realizing where he was. His stance went from vigilant to casual in seconds. 

He could see the curious look in Mike’s eyes but just dismissed him and stated the obvious. “She’s part of the crew of The Fall of Eden.” After saying that, he then walked away. 

Mike realized where he was going and followed him right away. But before he could get further away, he turned back to Lilian and praised her. “Great job on the last scene.”

After dropping those words, Mike then full throttled to keep up with Vince. 

Left alone, Lilian squatted. She face-palmed herself, producing a loud smack that reverberated through the room. WAAAAAAHHHH… What was that?! Huhuhu.. That was so embarassingggg… 

She could feel her heart hammering at her chest. Please God! Let the earth swallow me whole. 

Maine came back from fetching water and saw a mushroom sprouting in the corner. 

She walked near it and hesitantly pushed it. “Hey.” 

Lilian forced herself to raise her head and stared at Maine. 

Out of nowhere, those big, watery eyes hit Maine. 

Lilian’s face was flushed. Her lips were quivering as though she were about to break into a sob. 

Maine took a step back. Her hand tightened its grip at the bottle of water and swiftly turned to her sides and back. She hissed. “What are you doing? Stand up!” 

From afar, it looked like she were bullying Lilian. She could not afford such slander!

Maine grabbed Lilian’s arm with her free hand and helped her stand up. She fetched her “for emergency” handkerchief and shoved it into Lilian’s hands. Well, who would have thought that the handkerchief would’ve come in handy. Thank’s past self. 

“Quick, quick, wipe your tears before anyone could see.” As Maine said that, she again turned her head left and right while also squinting her eyes to make sure no one saw what happened. 

Lilian let out a small laugh at Maine’s actions while also defending herself. “I wasn’t crying. I was just….” She meekly scratched the back of her head and realized how absurd her actions were. 

“Haha…”

Lilian did not know why, but when was met with those dark eyes, she froze. Her hands started to get clammy, and her heartbeat became erratic. Rewinding the scene in her mind, she felt secondhand embarrassment for herself. 

Lilian had her head lowered while she kept shifting her feet. 

Maine watched this and sighed. She decided to drop the topic, realizing she was too shy to talk about it. If she’s shy, it probably wasn’t a big deal. She likely embarrassed herself in front of someone. More importantly….

Maine straightened her stature as her. Her tone turned serious. “Irene’s replacement is arriving today.”

Lilian’s eyes lit up with curiosity, but before she could ask, Maine shut her down. “It’s—”

Maine did not get to finish her sentence when a commotion drowned out her words. 

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