You are my super star

Heated Scene (1)

Leon closed Jules' script. He was lost in thought for a few seconds, but then suddenly snapped out of it, turning back to Vivian. "Get Jules a drink. A hot one. And please take this script back to him."

Vivian gave Leon a judgmental look. Has it finally dawned on you that you were too mean to Jules? And now you want to play good cop and bad cop?

"What kind of drink?'' Vivian asked. ''Can't be ginger tea again, right? I doubt he will drink it."

"Milk tea." Leon replied hastily. "Go now, in case he'll be busy doing make-up."

Vivian gave Leon an Ok gesture and left the room.

In Jules' room, Willet was sharing recent gossip with Jules. The sight of Vivian coming in with milk tea brought a beaming smile to Willett's face, who stood up hurriedly. "Thank you so much, Vivian."

"You're welcome." Vivian brought several cups of drinks with her and gave one to each person in the room. She then turned to Jules. "Leon sent me. He was worried that you would soon be busy doing makeup. Be careful, the tea is hot."

It was heartwarming for Jules to know that Leon had sent the tea. He mustered a hurried reply. "I really appreciate it. Please tell him thank you."

Vivian stepped forward, explaining with a smile. "Leon is a little quick-tempered. Don't take it personally. He doesn't even realize it." She softly placed her hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

Jules smiled back at her. "It's okay. I won't."

Jules held the warm milk tea with both hands. "I can tell when someone who is nice is sincere or only pretending. Leon is kind, so he taught me."

Vivian simmered with laughter, having reservations on Jules' "Leon is a kind person" theory. "Are you sure about that? In all the years I've been his assistant, this is the first time I've ever seen him being 'kind' enough to offer a tutorial to one of his co-workers."

Jules was stunned, his excitement bubbling inside of him. He tried his best to hide his elation from his face, lest he embarrass himself in front of Vivian.

Jules took a big swig of milk tea and swallowed it, feeling warm from his inside to out.

"Maybe that's because you two really hit it off." Vivian smiled. "Right. I better go back to Leon in case he needs me."

Jules nodded. "No problem. Thanks."

"You're very welcome."

Willet eyed the assistant's leaving form with cheeriness in his eyes. "That's so nice of Vivian, and she's pretty too. Leon's assistants are so professional! Jules, should we prepare some gifts in return? Courtesy demands reciprocity, you know."

"What kind of gifts?" Inquired with hesitance in his voice.

Willet thought for a few seconds, then slapped his thighs with realization. "Thermal stickers! You brought a lot of them with you, right? The Movie King will like them. They're practical!"

Jules suddenly choked on a swig of milk tea.

He thought back to the day when Leon had asked him to stick thermal labels onto him, images of them two in Leon's room flashing in Jules' mind.

Jules' mood suddenly changed, his ears beginning to redden. He tried to fudge the topic. "Ok... I will give them some when I'm back."

Willet had an expression of satisfaction plastered on his face, mentally patting himself on the back.

They started working half an hour later. With the help of Leon's advice, Jules performed perfectly in every way during the four-minute scene. The level of his performance reached that of Leon, culminating in a neck and neck acting duet.

"Cut!"

Tripp did not even look at the replay before giving the next order. "Get ready for the next scene."

The assistant director praised Jules' performance, but Jules stayed humble. "Without Leon's help, I wouldn't have done so well."

Jules fixed his sights on Leon unconsciously, not because he was expecting praise from him, but rather because he hoped that Leon would be satisfied with Jules' performance.

Leon gave Jules a smile. "Well done."

Jules perked up at Leon's words.

On seeing Jules' excitement, Leon could not help blaming Vivian in his mind. Was that too much? He's a little too excited right now!

The next scene saw Jules performing solo.

In the scene, Peters bumped into Miner, who was taking a bath. In that moment, all those wild memories from their teenage pasts sprang to Peters' mind. Jules could fool everyone but himself. His eagerness for Miner almost broke through his rationality. To prevent Miner from finding out his secret, he fled out of the apartment in panic.

"Miner is in there. When you look at his naked body, you feel your physical and mental impulse of love to him being weaved together." Tripp was at his forties, and was hardly moved by such erotic plots. Not even the tone of his voice wavered. "Remember what he did to you when you were madly in love. Let out the lust that was suppressed for years. Let it course through your body. There will be a close-up shot of your face. Control your facial expressions, but don't appear too suppressed."

Redness spread over Jules' cheeks and ears. He exhaled. "Understood."

Although Leon should have been seen as bathing, only Jules was in the scene. Leon had finished his part about one month ago. There wasn't even a showerhead in the bathroom. When the script clerk called "Cut!", Jules had to pretend that Miner was in the bathroom, and then he would be so panic-stricken that after slamming the door, he would stormed off.

The who should be naked, bathing under the water, now was smoking in a suit aside.

In addition, he was not ready to leave!

Jules cried silently.

There's nothing Leon can do in the next scene, then why isn't he back in his rest room?

It not interesting about me rutting to an empty room!

Since this scene followed the previous one, there was no need to change the location or costume. As soon as the lights were adjusted, they were ready to start.

Tripp gave Jules several minutes to prepare.

Jules held his breath, getting a sense of his character.

When Tripp passed by Leon, the latter blew a smoke ring towards him. "No more tips for him? Isn't that a little harsh?"

Tripp frowned at Leon. "Mind your own business. If everything goes smoothly, we can take another shoot. Are you going to do make-up?"

Leon gave him a heartless smile. "No hurry."

Tripp could do nothing else to drive Leon away.

Vivian handed Leon a disposable paper cup for him to use as an ashtray. "Is the next scene hard to do?" She asked, quietly.

Leon replied. "Depends on Tripp."

(1141 words)