Love's Deception

Bonus Chapter: Part 2

Bonus Chapter: Part 2

Lights! Camera! Action!

"All right, bud. Just pretend that you're sleeping," Haroun said as soon as the tape rolled in, Friso began to breathe slowly and made snoring noises to make himself appear that he was fast asleep. As much as the director wanted to make a facepalm since the scene was a failure at its first take, he didn't since he found that scene adorable. He made a note to tell the editor to mute it since he didn't want to ruin the authenticity he and Zhen were looking for.

"Okay, steady... you can wake up now," he directed, and not a moment later, the child twitched, rose from the bed and stretched with a yawn as if he just woke up from bed. What a natural actor!

"Okay... now start doing what you do first thing in the morning. Pretend that we're not here."

Being the bright and smart child he was, Friso followed Haroun's words and stretched once more before starting to look around. It lasted more than a minute, and the crew began to panic about why he was acting that way. "Where's mama or dada?" he then asked, looking at the camera.

"Cut!" Haroun ordered and the camera operators stopped recording. "What's wrong, Friso?" he asked in a gentle voice. The child might have been confused about what to do next, and he didn't want to frighten him. Kids could get easily upset with adults being disappointed in them.

"Mama or dada?" the child asked again with his index finger on his chin.

"Mama or dada?" the director repeated the question, his brain going in shambles.

"Yes." Friso nodded. "Mama or dada."

"Erm..." everyone fell silent for a moment, clueless about what the young man meant. They began to run their thoughts, especially Haroun. Each was finding ideas from the child's words. Did he want his mother and father to be present during the shooting?

"Mama or dada comes to greet Friso good morning!"

"Oh, gosh. I'm sorry!" Allison suddenly entered the conversation, stepping beside Haroun. "It's usually either Hades or me, or both of us greeting him with a good morning kiss when he wakes up..." she paused and leaned close to him, whispering in his ear: "He cries when he doesn't see us."

"I see, Mrs. de Vries. It's all right." The director nodded understandably then asked: "Is it okay if we roll you in the scene?"

"Much obliged." The doting mother nodded excitedly.

"Awesome," Haroun said with a smile spreading on his lips and they began to discuss some additional details and dialogue on the scene. "Okay, Friso. We're gonna pretend that you're sleeping again. Your mama's coming this time. Is that okay?" he turned to the young boy.

"Was Friso not doing good in playing pretend?" the boy asked with his doe-like grey eyes grasping a hiccup of the fear of failure and disappointment. Haroun understood this kind of fear since Friso was at the age that'd crave constant love and attention. Disappointing adults, who were keen figures that they look up to, especially their parents was an absolute no-no for them.

"No, no! You did great, buddy!" he denied, gently shaking his head to comfort the young man who was close to crying, his cheeks puffing and eyes reddening in contempt. "You helped us how to make things go better," he said, walking near the bed and squatting down to meet the child's gaze.

"Also, Friso..." he paused for a while, thinking about the next words he was about to say. "It's okay if you don't snore, my guy. You're already good with closing your eyes."

"But I thought it was gonna make things look better," Friso said innocently. What a thoughtful child!

"You're already a natural," Haroun replied. Little did he know that he made someone's day.