Four

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Note: Yes, litong-lito na din ako sa proper pronoun to use but bear with me. =) And sorry if there's a lot of cursing.

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Maine had early rehearsals for Alden's Sunday show, which he was taping because he was booked for another provincial show. But, before all that, she had to learn how to shave and then head to the gym.

She sucked at both.

She tried to Google tips on how to shave but it was a challenge to understand so she decided to wing it. After her shower, she slathered a generous amount of shaving cream and then started. Yup, she nicked Alden's face all over.

Mama Ten was so pissed off. "Bakit ganyan ang itsura mo! May test shots tayo para sa magazine today!"

Shit. "Sorry, Ma. Medyo, um, nahihilo kasi ako sa pagod siguro... Hindi tuloy ako makafocus. Test shots palang naman. Malulusot na yan."

At the gym, she had to do sit ups, pull ups, treadmill, weights... His body was conditioned to do it so the exercises were done, with a little coaching on the proper form. However, she all but collapsed at the van due to exhaustion.

At the show's rehearsals, she caught up with Kristoffer, who was their guest that Sunday. "Brad!"

She met him with an air kiss. 

"Gago ka ba? Bakit ka be-beso?" Tuns joked.

"Ah. Umm. Oo nga. Sorry. Umm. Kamusta na, Brad?"

"Ok naman ako. Makaka-work ko si Maine sa next project ko. Kamusta naman kayo?"

"Ganun pa din." Maine replied, vaguely.

"Away pa din kayo ng away?"

Maine looked away. She didn't realize that Alden had shared their problems with other people, but she knew how close he was with Kristoffer. 

Kristoffer continued, "You two are good together. Maybe you should re-think plans to break up with her?"

It took all the lessons she learned in her acting workshops to keep a straight face at this revelation. "Break up?"

"Di ba yun yung nakwento mo last time? That you felt like maybe you should break up with her nalang because you didn't even feel guilty when you chose work over her for your anniversary?"

Poker face, Maine. Poker face. Wag kang iiyak.

"Ito lang, Brad. Kung talagang ayaw mo na, wag mo nang hintayin na siya mag-initiate. Tapusin mo na kesa pareho kayong mahirapan."

This conversation was still in her mind as she went to Alden's meeting with Artist Center that evening. 

"Alden, wag kang magagalit ha but we just feel this is the right time to re-propose this. Management feels like it's time for you to be paired with someone else. AlDub is just a memory now and though marami pa rin kayong fans ni Maine, it's time to shake things up. Sayang yung talent mo."

"What do you have in mind?" She asked, ignoring Mama Ten and Leysam's attempts to get her attention.

They told him of a movie project where he would be the lead star but would had a very dark side. Maine had to agree with the team, Alden would be perfect for that role. Thing is, he would be paired with another actress and they would have a lot of steamy scenes.

"Send me the script, but I'm interested in taking that project."

"Rj, hindi mo ba kakausapin muna si Meng?" Mama Ten whispered. 

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