CHAPTER NINETEEN

After she stayed up late yesternight chatting with you know who, she had no idea if it would be possible to get to set earlier than intended and escape the wrath of Mr. Grumpy. She had coined the name for Jordan Wilder considering the number of times he had been grumpy on set, she had no idea how he went about his usual day knowing he looked the grumpy dwarf from snow white, only that he was not a dwarf and he was extremely hot.
Adonia didn't know what she would have done without Maxine who helped her set up everything she was going to wear before and as crazy as it sounds, she had less than an hour to get ready and get on set. Give or take thirty minutes and Bella Diez would be here trying to keep the party moving. She genuinely had no excuse to stay up that late for the sake of her career. One could say she got carried away by the way the conversation was going. Adonia got ready to go to the set earlier than she would've thought thanks to Maxine who already helped her select her outfit and jewelry before she woke up. If not, she would've spent an extra twenty minutes deciding what she would wear. That way she had escaped being late and half of Mr. Grumpy's wrath. Maybe when she acts her role perfectly, then she would know she completely escaped it for today.
After getting dressed, she applied some light makeup and She took a cup of Maxine's magic cup of coffee. She wanted to smile at the memory of her mother doing things for her but she swallowed painfully instead, things had changed for the better since Bella Diez started managing her but that didn't mean she would not say the truth about how she felt at home being constantly around her mother. That way she wasn't scared of making mistakes because her mom was her superhero who was always there to walk her through every part. She wasn't going to get emotional this morning and she made a mental note to facetime her later today.
She was hanging around with other actors and her mind went straight to Sheepcraft, what if unlike her, he didn't have to wake up early to go to set? Maybe his father was a billionaire and he didn't have to work hard as her. What if unlike her, breaking away from his own path was hard because he was a male and he was expected to take over the company. What if he was just a guy trying to barely survive and being on that app was his own way of surviving life. Every man to his own, she wanted to open the app and see whether she had a message waiting for her, she paused for a moment. She wouldn't want the rest of the team finding out her new obsession, she could be banned from going further. She gave in to curiosity and she opened it.
Adonia logged into her wonder account while Maxine gave her some boost. There, she already had a text waiting for her from her favorite space sheep. She giggled to herself silently and she imagined his expression when she talks about it to him. It did sound cute though and she was willing to look at it. She would tell him one day but now, she needed to see if he left her a message or not.
Sheepcraft12: Morning turtle
The text was from thirty minutes ago and she blew air through her mouth in exasperation. After yesterday, she wasn't expecting to text her first, he had been doing most of the talking and another person might consider her boring. Funny how she was starting to like the name Turtle because of him, she groaned. How could she be comfortable with someone calling her turtle, that was how rigged it was.
She decided not to reply. She didn't have much to say anyway. And.. she didn't expect the stranger from the internet to greet her first. She berated
Even though they were vague about themselves, she felt this pull towards him.
She sighed and changed her mind, she shouldn't ignore his message if he reached out first. This was the first real friend she was having on the internet.
Celine23: Morning, I have a big day ahead of me today. Wish me luck!
She waited a bit and almost immediately the profile tab started showing typing, she had no idea he was online. She tried not to think he was waiting for her to respond to his message and she smiled when his message came in. Maybe this new friend of hers was here to stay permanently in her life.
Sheepcraft12: Me too, good luck to the both of us.
Adonia felt strangely comforted because now she felt she wasn't the only one that had to do something right. So she was going to do her best. If she and stone achieved something good today, it would be something good to talk about.
If not, she'd hate to be a carrier of bad news.
'Adonia, you're on." Maxine handed her a script. Thankfully it wasn't the director himself that came to her, he would have had her head. She smiled as she watched him pocket his phone from afar and she gulped before taking another look at the script. This would be easy if she let all the tension out of her system. She'd gone through it once and she knew exactly what to do.
'Let's go." She said without collecting the script from Maxine. She whispered to herself remaining how much of a badass she was and how talent flowed through her like blood. Nobody had a right to pull her down because she was Adonia Konstantinos, she would rather let the world know that whatever the Konstantinos girls put their mind to, they achieved it without any stress. Adonia saw the director walk out of the set and she thought maybe he was going for refreshment because he looked like someone who barely got any sleep.
Tyson, her co-star walked up to her before kissing both of her cheeks and she smiled at him. She hated to break it to him but him coming close to her had a really bad effect on her and she was sure she didn't want a repetition. She made a mental note to ask Sheepcraft for how to gently tell people off her without coming off as rude. He should be good at that considering how fast he came up with comebacks.
'Hey, how do you tell your co-worker not to kiss your cheek again? I mean you arent even that close and he thinks you are friends." She hit send on her phone and she groaned at how athletic she must have sounded, she might have sent the wrong message across him. She opened her app again to delete it but too bad he had seen it already.
'Just tell him never to do it again, you aren't comfortable with it. Be clear with your boundaries and people would learn to stick to theirs. It might come off as rude and he might hate you for it but don't compromise your feelings for him. Good luck on gaining a new enemy!" came his reply shortly and Adonia giggled. Her new friend was the total badass person she needed. She sent him a thumbs up before pocketing her phone and she walked closer to the stage.
'Hey," Quincy greeted and they shared a smile. Adonia couldn't find it deep down to hate him so she just came to a conclusion she was going to be casual with him as she was casual with everyone else on this set.
'Hi," Adonia responded.
Just then, Jordan walked in a suit, he looked charming even with his somewhat disheveled hair. This wasn't what he was wearing before but she focused on the harder part of today, getting this scene with Tyson done and dusted.
'Are you guys ready?" He said. No greetings, no nothing. Just straight to the point. This man was rude or maybe he had a strict policy he was following but he never attempted building a cordial relationship with other casts and aside from his best friend, Adonia wondered if he had other friends in real life.
'Yes sir," They chorused, and somehow, Adonia felt like they sounded like school children and she wanted to giggle at the thought f all of them in school uniform and hairs in piggy tails with a lunch box or something.
'We're shooting the scene where Liam Newton is sitting in silence while checking the scenery outside the window. Claudia McPherson will join him and place her arms around his neck and he'll hold her while they watch the scenery in silence. I don't want any mistakes today because this scene doesn't involve words, only action!" Jordan's voice was loud enough for even people outside to hear and what he wanted was so clear in his voice, somehow that scared Adonia.
'Yes sir,"
Adonia took in a deep breath. The director was right. This was the easiest scene as it didn't involve any words.
She just had to act in love with Liam Newton and that was all. It was simple.
THREE
TWO
ONE
ACTION
Tyson had switched characters and was now walking as Liam Newton towards the window. His face had nothing but a content look plastered in them.
There was something surreal about his face as he looked out the scenery.
Adonia lifted her head and slowly walked towards Tyson, the look on her face calm. She slowly crept behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Tyson smiled and turned around to look at her. Then he grasped her wrist and let her stand next to him. Then, his fingers snaked around her waist.
Adonia instinctively stiffened and backed away from Tyson.
'CUT!" Jordan roared.
'Are you okay?" Tyson asked Adonia who still looked taken aback.
She thought she was moving on.. even if she was, something about a man touching her made her very uncomfortable. Almost violated.
'Adonia what is it this time? The scene was going so smoothly!"
'I'm sorry, Mr Jordan." Adonia immediately said, 'I-it won't happen again."
She had to get her act together.
This was her movie, she could own this character. It didn't matter whatever triggers she had from her past relationship, she had to snap out of it.
Yes, Quincy scared her. Took advantage of her and made her look stupid.
But this story was about Claudia McPherson and this character had some feelings for Liam Newton.
She was also comfortable around his touch.
'We'll continue from where Claudia wraps her hand around Liam's neck in three two—"
'—Hold up, Mr Jordan. Give us a minute." Tyson interupted and Adonia wanted to kiss in total relief. It was like knowing someone be
Jordan sighed before yelling, 'ONE MINUTE BREAK!" He was obviously frustrated and one could feel it even in his voice, everyone walked away from the previous position and Adonia started to walk near the window, she needed to catch her breath and prepare herself for repeating the same line she had been repressing since the scene started.
'Adonia," she paused before waiting for him to catch up with her, she knew he would probably be pissed off right now because they could have been close to finishing that part if not that she kept on growing uncomfortable each minute.
Tyson stood in front of her and asked, 'How can I make you more comfortable to my touch?" Adonia's head snapped up in shock as she heard his words. Never in a million years has anyone asked her that question on set before. She always felt like she had no choice but here was Tyson making sure to be as gentle as possible.
Adonia appreciated the thought and she now felt ready to perform her role. She might not be comfortable with him but Tyson is everything a lady needs in a woman, he was gently and most importantly, he understood what consent means. That was nice and she knew people like him are rare in this fucked up world.
'Just be gentle in your touch, that's all." She had a whole lot to say after those words but she didn't know how to put them into words. She had no idea since when touches started to repel her. She really wished there was a hack around it and she would stop frustrating Tyson's efforts.
'Got it." Tyson chuckled and he gave her a thumbs up. She managed to flash him a smile while ignoring the deep thing edged in her throat. She whispered to herself that she could do this and she was an asking queen. A Konstantinos woman would never be scared of anything.
'Alright, that's enough. Let's get the movie rolling." The director announced and everyone straightened. Adonia whispered a short prayer not to be embarrassed today or worse be insulted out of anger. She could low key relate to the man's pains. She would have gotten frustrated too if she was in his shoes.
Tyson and Adonia took their spot in front of the window and Tyson yelled out, 'THREE.. TWO.. ONE.. ACTION!"
Adonia felt herself embody the character of Claudia as she wrapped her arms around Tyson's neck. Tyson too softly touched her arms and as she let go of him, he pulled her next to him with his arms wrapped around her waist.
She looked at him and smiled, he too stared at her with a glimpse of affection in his eyes.
Then, they stared at the beautiful scenery.
After a few seconds, Jordan said cut.
Then he clapped, 'Amazing, you two looked like the perfect couple. You both did great, if you both keep this up, you'll be successful in the acting industry."
'Thank you sir," Tyson and Adonia said.
Adonia especially felt really good being complimented by the strict director. If she kept this up she might just win his favour.
'You two go get some rest and prepare for the next shoot." With that, Jordan walked out.
He seemed really busy.
'Nice job, Adonia." Tyson said and Adonia nodded, 'You too. See you at the next shoot."
When Adonia got back to her trailer, she was all giddy and mushy. Even Maxine could guess what happened.
'You did well?"
'Director Jordan complimented my acting, Maxine."
Maxine smiled, 'About time he recognise you're a natural."
Adonia grinned and grabbed her phone before logging into her wonder account.
Celine23: Your good luck charm worked! My grumpy boss was less grumpy today and things went smoothly. What about you?
Sheepcraft12: I'm glad things worked out for you, I'm about to try my luck. I'll update you if things work out. I tap from your good luck by the way.
Adonia grinned.