And Cut!

Chapter 1

When Jabari had woken up from his sleep, he reached over to the right side of his bed, seeking Kia's warmth. Only to be left in the cold.

She's not here. She left you, remember?

Jabari sighed. It had been more than a year since their breakup and he still couldn't get her off his mind. He cursed himself for it because thinking of her brought nothing but misery. All the happy memories had vanished, leaving only the painful ones to replay in his head, over and over again.

Then he heard a ring from his phone.

It's near Fajr. Who could be awake now? he thought while pushing himself over to grab his phone.

Farid: Dude are u going to the party?????

Jabari stared at his phone in confusion.

Jabari: What party?

Farid: The one Saad invited us too, remember????

Jabari: Oh that one! Yep definitely going

Jabari wanted to go to that party to relax after all the shit that happened on set, thanks to Stella.

Stella was the girl who wouldn't get the hint. She'd try to make moves on him, which resulted in rejection after rejection. She was always possessive and acted as if he was hers. What's worse is that if she ever noticed another woman looking at him, she'd make a huge scene on set, earning him glares from the director. If it wasn't for the acting contract he signed, he would've filed a restraining order on her by now.

Only a few more weeks left, he'd tell himself. Once the movie was done filming, he'd finally be rid of her.

"Allahu Akbar-"

Jabari jumped up at the sound of the athan ringing through his apartment.

It's Fajr already. Might as well do my prayers.

And that's exactly what he did.

+++

A few hours later, Jabari arrived at the set where the movie How To Steal A Prince was being filmed.

How To Steal A Prince was originally a best-selling romance novel, that was now turning into a rom-com. Jabari loved the book, which was the reason why he auditioned in the first place.

And since he was the leading star in the movie, he was given special treatment. As he was walking, more crew members came to him, either greeting him or giving him offers for whatever he needed. He politely told them no and hurried off to the hair & makeup department, anxiously looking around to see if Stella would make a surprise appearance.

While doing so, he ran into Noor. Noor was both his co-star and Farid's younger sister, which sadly meant he saw her face a lot outside of filming. She wasn't exactly a joy to be around, even when they were kids. They'd argue, play pranks on each other, etc. So when she got the role of his best friend, he definitely didn't take it well.

"Watch where you're going next time, idiot, " she snarled at him while fixing her mahogany hijab.

He glared at her. "Same could be said for you."

"How about you two argue after filming? I don't need you both ruining my hard work." Bertha scolded. She then went over to fix up Noor's make up, which Jabari found unnecessary. She looked fine to him. Then again, he wasn't the makeup artist here.

After Bertha was done with Noor, she deemed her ready to change into her outfit. Noor hurried off to the dressing room, but not before giving Jabari one last glare. He had the urge to stick the middle finger at her, but stopped because that would be unprofessional. And Jabari was far from unprofessional.

"You two really need to sort your issues out, " Bertha muttered.

Jabari laughed. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

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Cover by @WORLDCRY