Behind the Scene

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Cheers for the success of this movie"

Our director announced. After our taping earlier, we are celebrating an advance wrap up party now in the beachfront of our lodging.

"Cheers!" I greeted all the stuff.

"Congrats in advance Aurea" Our director embrace me. He also greet Augustus in my side.

"This will be a hit" I cheered. The staff just cheered at me. I also thank them because they really work so hard for this movie. We did tape this for months.

"Good job Costin" Augustus greeted me after greeting all the stuff. I gave him a smile and offer him an embrace, genuinely I'm kinda thankful to him for dragging me in his spotlight and I'm confident enough he will drag me more to the peak.

He chuckled before hugging me. I immediately smelled his perfume, he towered me over as we hug while patting his back. It takes second after we collapsed from the hug.

"Long to go, we can do it" I said to him because seriously this is only the start of our partnership because after this we will be doing a lot of movie promotion, interviews, and many more.

"Trust me" He said confidently.

It feels so good to hear that from him. I become more certain that soon I'll be at the top because he will be pushing me. He's right I must trust him like my grandma do.

We just eat together, our sponsors did provided a catering service so there's really a lot of food. It's just so relaxing to have a little party in beachfront, with the sounds of waves and night breeze. We also played some music to jam over and the other staff did start a bonfire dahil pagkatapos ng kainan ay may kunting inuman din.

"Kayo na noh?" Becca maliciously asked. We got to sat in the sand facing the bonfire.

I just laugh at her. The fuck! Bakit naman naging kami! The urge to tell Bianca that his Irene's man!

"Ano na namang nakain mo" Umiling-iling ako.

"What's the hug for huh? Like pati isda kinilig te" Biro niya pa.

"Duh! What's the purpose of love team if hindi kami nakakakilig, ano ba!" Saway ko sa kanya.

"Can you be real honest with me, you don't feel something even the slightest?" She asked. Everyone are just minding their own business, laughing and some are dancing to the music playing.

Nahagip ng mga mata ko si Augustus, he's just laughing with the camera men and male staff with a canned beer in his right hand, he's now wearing a beige buttoned down polo leaving the first three unbuttoned, and black shorts.

I smirked at Becca before answering her. "No, all I feel is urge to do better than him" I honestly answered Bianca.

We are partners in this industry but I know in the end of the day my grandma will still compare me to him, so every time I look at him I really have the urge to figure out how could he make it to the top, not because I wanna be him but because I want to be higher than him.

"Gosh! That's how competitive you are? Wala bang kilig sa katawan mo te? I guess you should try to date someone" Giit ni Becca sa akin.

I scoffed after hearing that from her. "I will after this contract, I don't want to fuck up and add up the fire–"

"What do you mean? Augustus is dating somebody else?" Nanglaki ang mata niya.  I pursed my lips, gosh! I think I'm a little tipsy now, kahit ano na lang ang nasasabi ko.

"I didn't confirm yet but I saw them in BGC, so maybe he is" I shrugged.

Becca immediately pouted. "Te! Ship ko kayo eh" She pretend to cry. I know she's drunk already. "But who's that lucky girl?" She asked.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone?"

"Yes promise"

I sighed before telling her.

"Costin, picture daw tayo" Sapaw ni Augustus kaya hindi ko nasabi kay Becca, who's still crying besides me, I suppose to comfort her pero tinawag na ako ni Augustus.

"I'll be back stop crying, the hell!" Saway ko sa kanya.

"Anong ginawa mo sa kanya?" Nagtatakang tanong ni Augustus.

I just shrugged and finally proceed to take a picture together with the digicam. Probably this is for our socials.

"Closer" The camera man ordered.

Augustus went near to me, wrapping my waist with his firm hands. I'm wearing a beige long cover up dress with my black swimsuit inside, my long hair is in braids, I know we look so good together because this was already planned by our managers and teams earlier.

We also did take some wacky pictures, tinukod niya lang ang kamay niya sa ulo ko, habang nakanguso naman ako. After taking pictures for our socials we also did film some Tiktok videos.

"It's a wrap!" The camera man commented. I gave Augustus a thumbs up and go back to Becca who's still crying.

"Stop crying!" I rubbed her back.

Kalaunan ay nakatulog na si Becca kakaiyak. Some of our stuff also did settle to their rooms dahil may super last tapping pa kami bukas. It's just a montage for the finale and then after ay babalik na kami sa Manila.

"Madaam, hindi pa po kayo aakyat?" Tanong Leni.

"Susunod ako, tapusin ko lang 'to" Pakita ko sa beer na dala-dala ko. "You can sleep na, I know you're tired also" Giit ko kay Leni, alam kong inaantok na siya kakahintay sa akin sa gilid. Ang dami niya ring ginawa today she deserves to rest.

"Sige po madaam, good night po" She said before leaving.

Natira ako sa dalampasigan mag-isa pero may mga hotel crew naman sa cottage na nagliligpit. I just wanna watch and listen to the waves for the meantime. Ang dami ko ring ginawa ngayong araw I know the sea could ease me adding the warmth of the bonfire.

"Pinapabigay ng manager mo" Napalingon ako sa nagsalita. It's Augustus, he's handing me a blanket. I smiled and get it from him.

"Salamat" I thanked him next was a silent.

"Hindi ka pa aaykat?" Tanong ni Augustus.

"Later, I just wanna watch this" Turo ko sa dagat sa harapan namin. "You? Why are you not sleeping?" Tanong ko.

"You're not sleeping yet" He shrugged.

I look at him teasingly. He just mocked me.

"About the talk earlier" He thrilled. I remained silent. I just wanna listen to him. I didn't care much about his love life but this time it could do something to me so I'm all ears.

"I did send a flower at your house" He started. "That's actually for you" He stated.

Agad akong napatingin sa kanya. He's just seriously watching the waves too.

"And about you said earlier, I'm not seeing Irene" Dagdag niya pa na kinagulat ko. Ano?

"You're not?" Hindi makapaniwala kong tanong.

"She did confess to me that she likes me, sinabi kong kaibigan lang talaga ang tingin ko sa kanya, but she requested to take some time to think, kaya nakipagkita ulit ako sa kanya kinabukasan para sabihing iyon talaga ang naramdaman ko" He explained.

My lips are just parted. The hell! Irene likes him, and he did rejected her, like he did rejected the Irene Costin, the icon of this industry. Gosh! How perfect could he be?

I wanna asked him why but I guess I already know the answer. He just hate a Costin.

"So you don't have to worry, I won't fuck up, we won't fuck up Aurea because we're exclusive for this partnership" He added.

I breathe heavily before facing him. Right! I should focus on my job, kung ano mang nangyari sa kanila ni Irene, that's their business not mine. I'm here to make my family proud, to build my fame and this man is willing to be the stepping stone so why not use it.

"Right, Exclusivity Augustus, let's do it for a year?" I offered my hand to him.

He nod at me, reaching for my hand so that we could close the deal.

"Exclusive only for you Aurea Costin" He stated.