On the first day of filming, Alexander didn't turn up as he didn't have any scenes. On the second day, he had one scene. Arriving at 10 am, he didn't rush to get prepared, but instead he had sat down on a chair to observe the filming.
Due to Alexander's presence, even the actors without any scenes came. However, due to Alexander's frosty aura, no one dared to approach him or even come close to him, causing an invisible barrier of three meters around his spot.
During lunch time, everyone gathered for the packed food and Alexander was no exception. He accepted the food without any complains and began to eat silently.
He ate gracefully, emitting an aristocratic air. After his meal, he entered the dressing room to get prepared for his role.
The scene Alexander had today was with Helen.
Helen had started filming in the morning and was already prepared by lunch time. After Alexander was ready, Helen's makeup artist immediately came forward to touch up her makeup before the lighting and filming crew positioned themselves.
Alexander and Helen both debuted around the same time and had acted as a couple in multiple blockbusters. Both possessed good looks that matched each other, garnering the "Best on-screen Couple" title.
Since they had worked together multiple times, they were familiar with each other's working style. Even if they weren't acting as a couple this time, they were able to portray the atmosphere and emotions required for the scene perfectly. The smooth filming earned endless praises from the director as he continuously shouted, " Good! Great! Keep it up!"
Halfway through the scene, the director called for a break, signalling for the makeup artist to touch up their makeup.
Alexander took two sips of the water his assistant had passed him before waving it away. After getting his makeup touched up, he went to the filming location to wait.
After Helen finished touching up, they continued with the scene.
After getting everyone immersed in the filming previously, they also stunned those watching with their acting in the second half of the filming. They perfected the scene to the point people started to question if it was reality.
The second half of the scene finished successfully and, by the time the scene ended, the set was deep in silence. After about ten seconds, the director came back to his senses, shouting, "Cut."
After that scene, the filming for the day officially ended.
They were filming in a resort, and since the filming had to be done in private, the whole resort had to be booked, resulting in all the crew members having to stay in the resort hotel.
Since there weren't enough rooms for the full crew, only the more famous actors had an individual room. The rest shared a room with their managers.
After resting in the hotel room for a while, Isabelle and Camila both went to the restaurant on the third floor for dinner.
Dinner was buffet style, so they both took a plate of food each. As they were searching for a seat, producer Johnson, who was seated by the window nearby, waved to Isabelle.
"Izzy, sit here! We can discuss the filming for tomorrow."
Producer Johnson was seated at a table with six seats. five of which were already filled by the director, the male lead Jake, Helen, and Alexander, leaving only one seat empty. Coincidentally, it was the seat beside Alexander.
Isabelle walked towards the dining table with the plate. She hesitated and only when producer Johnson spoke to her again did she look up at Alexander. Her husband remained oblivious, chewing his food wordlessly. Isabelle placed her plate on the table cautiously before sitting down stiffly.
The director had just been explaining the main points for the scene tomorrow. He nodded towards Isabelle as a sign of greeting before continuing his explanation.
Only Alexander continued to eat as though nothing was happening. Everyone else was focusing on the director. Hence, Isabelle didn't even dare to move her chopsticks. Sitting formally, she paid all her attention to the director.
Thankfully, the director kept it short so the crowd could start eating.
Producer Johnson sat in front of Isabelle, and when he picked up his chopsticks, he smiled at her before asking, "Isabelle, have you memorized your lines for tomorrow?"
"Yes, I've memorized them." Isabelle smiled and nodded.
"Is this all you're eating?" Producer Johnson asked, looking at her plate.
"Yes," Isabelle answered with a smile.
"Filming is tough, you need to eat more," Producer Johnson chastised as he signaled for the waiter at the corner. "One more set of abalone rice and steak."
Alexander's chewing stopped momentarily before he resumed without any emotion present on his face. However, the air around him seemed to have fallen drastically.
Isabelle sat beside Alexander and could distinctly sense the frosty aura he emitted. As she grew more nervous, her actions became more and more reserved and formal.
However, Producer Johnson kept talking to her, so she had to keep her placating smile, acting as though everything was normal.
Isabelle felt as though this was the most painful meal she had ever eaten.
With much difficulty, she managed to endure till the director, Helen, and Jake finished their meals. Once they had left, she hurriedly put down her chopsticks, indicating that she was done.
Just as she was about to excuse herself, producer Johnson seemed to have thought of something, asking her, "Isabelle, do you have any endorsement jobs other than filming?"
Isabelle shook her head as she replied, "I don't."
"I have a friend that manages an European cosmetic brand in Asia. They're currently looking for a new endorsement model and have asked for my recommendation. I find your looks and personality well suited for the role and intend to recommend you."
Alexander tightened his grip on his chopsticks when he heard producer Johnson's words.
Isabelle didn't think they were close enough for her to accept such treatment, hence she thought for a moment before refusing his offer, "Mr. Johnson, I don't think I'm capable for such a role. I'm still a newbie without much popularity after all."
"Why aren't you capable? Besides, it's just a recommendation, I can't be sure if it'll go through. Once you're free, I'll introduce you to them, if they are satisfied, they'll accept you."
It wouldn't seem nice if Isabelle were to continuously reject him, so she nodded, saying, "Okay, thank you Mr. Johnson."
When Isabelle finished speaking, Alexander suddenly placed his chopsticks on the table. He didn't use much strength, but yet it gave off a distinct pressure.
Producer Johnson seemed to have detected Alexander's displeasure. He immediately turned to him with a smile plastered on his face.
"Mr. Smith, was the food to your liking?"
Alexander stayed silent, wiping his lips with his napkin. He then lifted his head as he placed the napkin back on the table. Glancing at producer Johnson with a frosty gaze, he said, "Mr. Johnson, I would like a word with you if you have the time."
"Yes, yes, of course I have time."
Producer Johnson immediately placed his chopsticks down and reached for his suit jacket at the back of his seat. Standing up, he walked towards Isabelle and reached his hand out to pat her shoulder, saying, "Izzy, take your time, I'll leave with Mr. Smith first."
Isabelle was wearing a sleeveless dress. When producer Johnson patted her shoulder, his hand came in contact with her bare skin.
A sharp glint flashed passed Alexander eyes before he suddenly stood up. He looked at the script he had placed at the side. Before reaching it, he stopped suddenly and turned to leave with a dark expression.
Seeing that Alexander had left, Producer Johnson didn't dare to stay any longer. Hurriedly, he rushed after.
The meal finally ended, and Isabelle sighed inwardly feeling as though she was finally liberated. She remained in her seat trying hard to calm herself down before standing up to leave.
Before she could take more than two steps, she heard the polite voice of a waiter from behind her. "Excuse me, could you wait a minute."
Isabelle turned back and saw a waiter coming forward with a script in his hand.
"Miss, is this yours?"
Isabelle didn't bring the script down for dinner hence she shook her head.
"It must be from one of members of the filming crew, could you help me pass it to them?"
Isabelle reached over to take the script.
"Thank you," the waiter thanked her before leaving.
There were only four actors present during dinner: herself, Alexander, Helen, and Jake. Since the script wasn't hers, it had belonged to one of the other three.
Isabelle flipped open the script trying to find any indication of the owner. On the first page of the script, there were the familiar words in strong neat strokes, "Alexander Smith."
It was actually Alexander's script.
Isabelle's heart pounded rapidly, resounding through her entire body.
Once she reached her room, she sat down at the table, staring at the script as she debated when to pass it back to Alexander.
She would have preferred to pass it back to him tomorrow morning, but he had a whole day of scenes the next day. What if he needed to memorize his lines?
She could easily pass the script to any hotel worker or Camila to let them then pass it on to Alexander but she was reluctant to do so.
Isabelle pondered for a while before finally reaching out for her phone to call Alexander.
The phone rang for a long time until he picked up. Without giving Isabelle an opportunity to speak, he said, "What is it?"
Even through the phone, Isabelle could sense Alexander's foul mood. Anxiously, she stuttered, "You left your script in the dining hall."
Alexander was silent for about five seconds before throwing a door number, 1001, to Isabelle. After that the line went dead.
Isabelle listened to the phone beeping for a long while before realizing that "1001" was actually Alexander's room number.
Why would he tell her his room number? So that she can bring the script to him?
Isabelle thought for a long time before coming to the conclusion that it must have been his intention. She threw Camila a random excuse and left with the script in hand.
Room 1001 was a presidential suite on the top floor.
While Isabelle stood in the elevator, her anxiety increased with each increase of the floor number.
When she finally reached the top floor, she took a deep breath before exiting the elevator with the script.
She followed the arrows on the walls towards room 1001.
Halfway through, she passed by the lounge area for several of the higher ranked crew members. The door for the lounge wasn't closed and inside she could hear a hushed conversation between two uniformed waitresses.
"Previously, I went to room 1001 to deliver coffee and almost died of fright. Mr. Smith was in an extremely bad mood, he was nit-picking on every detail of the movie."
"The person he was scolding, was it the producer of the show?"
"Yes! He is the producer. When producer Johnson offered him boiling water, Alexander actually waved it aside, scalding producer Johnson's hands. The resort doctor just treated his hand and I heard it was quite serious."
"How can it not be serious? It was boiling water! No matter what service room 1001 asks for, I'm not going. You can go instead since you are braver."
...
Isabelle grew increasingly more anxious and uneasy as she listened to their conversation.
Cautiously, she walked to room 1001. As she looked at the tightly shut door, she took several deep breaths, then reached out to press the doorbell.
Only after she had pressed it did, she see the "Do Not Disturb" sign hanging on the door knob. She then knocked on the door gingerly.
The door was not locked and, with just a soft knock, it sprung open.
Isabelle stuck her head into the room. The living room was empty so she lifted her hand to knock on the door again. Just then, Alexander opened the bathroom door dressed in casual clothes.
His face was tight, expression dark. Maybe due to the fight he had with producer Johnson, his whole body was emitting a frosty pressure.
Isabelle stood at the door, not daring to enter. She held up the script towards him.
"Here's your script."
Alexander swept his gaze over Isabelle without any intention of going forward to reach for the script.
Isabelle paused for a moment before walking into the room. She didn't pass the script to Alexander but instead placed it on the living room table.
"I'll put your script here."
She then lifted her head to look at Alexander again. He maintained a distance, leaning against the bedroom door, seemingly too lazy to say a word.