The day of the filming of the advertisement finally arrived.
There was a lot of commotion at the Wishing Star as the first shot was going to be filmed. An expert arranged the clothing, accessories, and other product lines at the store's fixed locations where scenes were going to be filmed. A fashion expert and color coordinator were also ready. Lights were being set since morning, and the director was seen rubbing his jaw in deep thought—walking about and imagining the best of ways to bring alive the script.
Victoria was checking the equipment with other technicians. She was here to assist the director, Doyle, today in whichever way she could.
Ellie was pushing a small wheeled rack with hangers full of clothes. "That scarf looks hot on you," while passing by Victoria, she praised, pointing at the scarf she had tied her hair with.
Victoria smiled and touched the white scarf with beautiful blue colored prints all over it. This morning this scarf perfectly solved the trouble she had faced managing the birdnest on top of her head. "A little girl at a street shop gave it to me as a gift in Malaysia."
Ellie gasped, almost clapping her hands. "No way. You've been to Malaysia as well! I've always wished to go on a vacation there."
Ben came up and stared at Victoria with scrunched brows. "You've been to many places and have seen and experienced many things," he commented thoughtfully. "That explains why your eyes look so intelligent."
Victor was passing by the trio. He paused in front of Ben. "Intelligence doesn't always come from running away to different locations and gathering myriad experiences. Those are useless if you don't know how to dissolve the knots and darknesses at the very roots—a place they always choose to leave," he said, still not looking at Victoria, eyes firmly set on Ben and Ellie only.
Yet it was not hard to decipher for whom his words were meant for.
However, Ben and Ellie seemed flabbergasted.
"Roots?" Ben muttered in confusion.
"Knots?" Ellie had her face all scrunched up.
Disregarding them, Victor checked the time and his forehead scrunched. "Is this normal for the models to delay arriving to this extent?" He looked genuinely worried.
Sighing, Victoria stood up and let Ben and Ellie know that she was going to check what was going on. And while doing so, turmoiled thoughts whirled in her mind.
Victor had been actively ignoring her presence as though she was not there at all. Additionally, there were these indirect, mysterious remarks from time to time. And he had been overdoing it all to the point that everyone was beginning to notice and, furthermore, musing multiple versions of self-made conclusions. Questions were roused, and talks had started in whispered office gossip.
It was humiliating.
He had been actively humiliating her.
Soon, a sense of foreboding spread into the entire production team. Even the director didn't know about the models' whereabouts. None of them were picking up any calls—from anyone. Only the trained Morkie dog, Ronco, had arrived with its owner and was wrestling with a chewy toy. The designer had picked up a fitting doggy dress for it already.
Right when people were beginning to get anxious, Doyle got a call from Orland. Everyone watched with deep concentration as the middle-aged guy with prematurely greyed hair and an equally grey beard talked. His white skin turned red soon. His expression changed from distress to utter hopelessness in a matter of a minute. Defeatedly, he sat back down on his chair and covered his eyes with one hand.
Victor, Ellie, Ben, and most of the others inched closer.
The dog, Ronco, chewed his toy wildly, sensing the rising tension.
Victoria's heart thumped wildly, realizing from the director's expression that something disastrous had indeed taken place.
"What happened?" Victor had his hands placed on his hips. "Will there be any filming today at all? I cannot keep on this disruptive atmosphere for my customers for too many days."
"Well, bad news then—there will be no filming today," Doyle exploded, throwing up his hands. "Their car got into an accident."
"What!"
"No!"
"Are they alright?" Among multiple exclamations of shock and panic, Victoria asked. For God's sake, there was a kid in that car.
Grabbing the hat from his head, Doyle began to fan himself. He was sweating profusely. "The injuries are not severe, nothing life-threatening. However, they will have to be at the hospital for the next three days at a stretch and forget about having them work in the next week at all. And when they come back to work after that, it will be with plasters, crutches, and bandages. The kid is miraculously the least hurt of them all."
Victoria let out a shuddering breath of relief. At least there was no threat to their lives.
When the most crucial worry was out of the way, her heart skipped a beat for the concern that would need an urgent solution right at this moment.
She sat down quietly on the cold floor with her knees bent before her as everyone prayed for the models' quick ailment. Then, just like she had guessed, a huge blast of chaos spread through both parties. A concrete deal was fixed between Chimera and the Wishing Star—that Chimera would shoot the advertisement in the Wishing Star premises in a week. Victor was right about the shoot creating an obstruction for his customers. Nevertheless, Chimera was currently in a tight spot, too.
"Oh, my God!" Ben shrieked after being frozen in shock for so long. "It is my first day as a production assistant, and there's such a disaster. What if everyone thinks I'm a bad juju for the company and fires me from the job?" Holding his head, he took disheveled steps around in no particular direction and collapsed in time as a few people grabbed him.
After staring at Ben for an extended period with a blank face, Ellie turned toward Victoria, "How about hiring other models?" she suggested, which was the most normal suggestion during such a disaster.
"Orland's been trying to contact all the models, actors, and people he knows. He sent me a message already," Victoria replied, scrolling down her phone. "The problem is that it's an impossibly short notice for anyone to be available."
From the corner of her eyes, she saw Victor in a corner talking animatedly on the phone with someone—it was Orland, perhaps, she guessed.
Despite people sprinkling water on his face, Ben was still unconscious. A different sort of chaos was taking place around him.
Ronco had come up with his owner following him and licked all over his face.
"I think we need to take him to a hospital," Victoria commented, looking worried.
"No need, we have a new employee who can easily fix this," Ellie said before she ordered a staff, "Bring Miku fast."
So, an innocent-looking guy named Miku was soon presented on the scene.
Ellie crooked a finger and moved it back and forth to gesture to him to step closer. Miku did so nervously.
"Open a shoe," Ellie commanded.
"Er—why?" The guy looked stunned by such a demand.
Even Victoria felt the same. She sat up straight, not understanding where this was going.
Looking irritated, perhaps for the delay in movement on Miku's part, Ellie huffed and marched closer to him. Victoria's eyebrows rose in shock as she bent down to hold up his leg while two other staff came up to hold Miku as he almost fell backward, squealing in fright. Yanking a shoe off his feet, Ellie threw it away and dragged the now barefoot with only a sock as a cover closer to Ben. Of course, the entire guy connected to the foot followed suit, screaming—fortunate for him that the others who held him didn't let go and followed along.
Ellie thrust Miku's foot right at Ben's nose and counted down from three.
It worked like magic.
Ben gasped like he came up from underwater and sat up straight. Ronco bent down to sniff, too, only to bark once, go silent, straighten in shock, and then run off like hell.
Miku wrestled himself free and scurried back to a safe distance. He stood there scratching his head, looking utterly confused.
"Ah, hell. Who's cooking dried, salted fish during such a disaster!" Ben shook his head indignantly, and then his eyes fell on Ellie standing next to him proudly. He looked at her weirdly. His eyes widened. He turned his face to look at Victoria. His eyes widened further, and he clapped, suddenly grinning like a madman.
Had he gone completely mad!
"I think we really need to take him to the hospital," Ellie announced incredulously.
"I've found the solution to the problem!" Ben was ecstatic like a puppy. "We've got beauties among us who can shoot for the ad!"
Doyle was sitting at a distance in his chair, looking half-dead. He sat up straight and came hurtling toward them.
"Really?" Victoria, too, came closer.
"Who are these supposed beauties then?" With her brows creased, Ellie scanned around.
Ben was looking back and forth between Victoria and Ellie, smiling all the while broadly.
The director had been silent with furrowed brows the whole time. Looking at the girls, following Ben, he finally took the cue. "Of course! Victoria and Ellie!"
A moment of stunned silence reigned before both of them protested in unison.
"Eh?"
"No!"
"Not just anyone can be a model or an actress, can they?" Ellie crossed her arms.
Victoria was quiet and contemplating the entire situation.
With a shit-eating grin, Doyle spread his hands and suddenly gathered Victoria and Ellie from where they were standing. "It is confirmed. You two are our new models now!"
Of course, it was insane, and they both raised protests. However, both knew there was no other way, just like everyone else in both companies. Also, Victoria couldn't let Chimera fall or earn any lousy reputation for going against their given word, whatever the cause.
"But the script demands one more girl," Victoria pointed out, her heart thumping anxiously at the idea of being in front of the camera for a change instead of behind it. "And a kid who can barely walk. Where can we arrange them from? Or we should just change the script," she surmised. Her eyes were beginning to hurt from all the stress.
The person who arrived then was a God-sent.
"What's up, guys?" A childish garble followed Kate's cheery voice. "Say hi to them, Owen. Hi," she cooed, imitating a child's voice. But then, when she registered that everyone's eyes were set on her and Owen, her smile diminished.
In the next half an hour, Victoria learned that the cute, chubby little boy was Kate's adopted son. And he was beginning to understand the use of his feet other than just kicking people in the face when they took him in their laps—according to Ellie.
Kate was convinced to be the third model after a detailed explanation of the current problematic situation.
"But Owen's a boy!" Kate exclaimed.
Ellie convincingly held Kate's free hand that was not holding Owen. "No one will lift his dress and see. So, chill."
"There's a great history of kids playing opposite genders in films and commercials. So, it won't be a problem at all," Doyle affirmed.
Owen began singing the tone of the ABC song.
As the sole male model in this entire commercial, Victor was located as the most efficient candidate by Ellie. Victor initially stood against the idea.
"No one is telling you to fart in front of the camera," Ellie said. "Just walk, smile, and act romantic."
Victoria suppressed the laughter that escaped her mouth with a fake fit of coughing. Next to the duo—a few feet away, she was a silent onlooker.
Victor grumbled. "With whom?"
"I'm going to play the college girl. Kate and Lili, a production assistant, are going to play mother and daughter, and Owen is Kate's daughter's childhood version," Ellie counted off her fingers one by one. "So only one girl is left. Duh. Of course, it's Victoria."
Looking deeply disturbed and dumbfounded, Victor placed a hand on his hip. "What! That's preposterous."
It was like a humiliating kick in Victoria's gut. He couldn't have made his hatred of her more obvious. Lowering her head, she wondered if he would have given the same reaction if it were Ellie or — she tried to keep her thoughts indifferent at this stage — Kate in her place.
Victoria watched the confusion and suspicion on people's faces as they looked at them back and forth. Even Kate had a frown on her face.
Without saying another word, Victor left, stomping upstairs.
Doyle sighed, stood up, and told the flabbergasted audience, "No worries. I will convince him how great of a marketing strategy it will turn into if the customers know that the brand's owner is himself in the advertisement."
The director's expert convincing technique was sped up by Ellie's threat to place a solid punch on Victor's back. The guy had no other way than to agree.
Everything was settled.
The ambiance that had gone dull earlier turned back alive as it was confirmed that Victoria, Ellie, and Kate would shoot for the advertisement. And also Victor, Owen, Lily, and Ronco.
So, about an hour later, the girls walked through the entryway to stand in front of the camera in their chosen dresses, following the designer's expert assistance. Kate wore a beautiful long red dress carrying Owen. She would have to change her makeup to look a bit more mature to shoot with her grown-up daughter Lili later. Going with her role as a college-going girl, Ellie had light blue frayed shorts and a pink top.
Even though Victoria's hair was washed and styled to look soft and shiny, she still didn't let go of the scarf. It remained around her neck and tied in a chic knot. She had chosen a soft blue printed above knee-length dress to complement the scarf.
Victor strode behind them like a looming ghost whose otherwise good looks did nothing to lighten the shadows surrounding him.
Stationed next to Doyle, Ben was over the moon when the shooting started. "Now, no one will get me out of my job. It is my idea, look, my idea!"
Kate had to change her makeup twice to shoot for both the mature and younger versions of her role. Capturing the required scenes with Owen turned out to be the most tricky, as everyone could only excite or manipulate a kid to do something in a certain way. It took many retakes to get the perfect shots for that day.
When the time came to film Ellie and the dog's scene, they got into another problematic situation because, initially, Ronco seemed a bit off regarding Ellie.
As the director said, "Roll, camera, and action," Ellie twirled around, holding up the flowy dress on the hanger. Ronco was supposed to bark and jump up and softly bite the edge of the dress, which was supposed to look cute. But instead, the otherwise well-behaved and trained dog glared unblinkingly at her.
Ellie stared at Ronco. Ronco glared at Ellie. Ellie raised her brows. Suddenly Ronco barked in a way that spelled 'attack' and took two steps back to shoot forward. Screaming, Ellie threw off the hanger, which connected to Victor's face in the distance, and she shot off with Ronco hounding after her.
"He must have been traumatized after smelling Miku's foot," Ronco's guardian said after a train of people rescued Ellie and caged an angry Ronco inside an upside-down basket.
Deciding they would film the scene the next day, Doyle moved on to Victoria and Victor.
By then, the sun was on its way to bid farewell to their side of the earth. Its parting rays sipped in through the transparent glass walls of the store. Both of their silhouettes were further accentuated by techniques of studio lights.
It was kind of a dance move they had to perform at one point. Victor had to grab Victoria's hand, twirl her close and hold her against his body. Although he seemed pretty reluctant to conduct the move at first, his acting was surprisingly magnificent when they actually started rolling the camera.
Whatever mental trick he was using to make his expression seem so authentic worked incredibly well. Victoria was almost convinced that his hooded eyes were genuine when she twirled closer to him. The warmth of his skin soaked into hers as his hand held hers. He didn't have to slip his fingers through the gaps between hers and enclose them to hold her hand, but he did. As her palm lay snugly against his larger, rougher one, a foreign feeling similar to indigestion soared out of nowhere in her belly. At the director's command, she slowly lifted up her face to meet his stare lovingly. She blinked, noticing his sharp intake of breath.
Right here, right this moment felt so serene that the constant pain from her bruises shooting up every time with fast movements remained forgotten.
This blessed closeness to him proved to be her elixir somehow.
The fact that she was experiencing something other than his resentment felt gratifying.
Nevertheless, her heart broke the next moment recognizing that it was all an act.
His fervor—fake and only for the camera.
~
Word Count: 2848
~
A/N:
So, did you enjoy this chapter where the main leads dove in as models to save the day or the shoot?
Which part of this chapter did you like the most?
And Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!
Do you know I married my life partner one year ago on this specific day? So, it's our wedding anniversary as well! Yay. But we're celebrating it virtually in two different countries at the moment. Yet we're not letting our distance stop us from celebrating our love. He's an absolute romantic, sending me long messages counting down the days since February started. And he gave me an incredible gift (of my favorite color, pink) with uncountable foam hearts sprinkled all over the gift inside the box. We'll make a box each filled with gifts we're giving each other when we are away and exchange when we get to be together again. Love, joy, patience, and pain - this Valentine's day is filled with so many emotions for me.
Are there readers who are celebrating your love away from your beloved? I want to know your stories if you are.
Love,
Lara.