The Big Pretense

Chapter 17

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

For those who do not know him, his name is Max Nattapol Diloknawarit, a Thai actor who played the role of Korn in Together With Me the series.

Also credit goes to reader @staynew for giving the author a new idea for this ff. Big thanks!

Third Person POV

"No, no, no, I can manage to walk to my room," Preeda protested as Podd reached her, already bending to carry her in his arms.

"Are you sure?" Podd asked, stopping midway in the act of scooping her up from the couch and then straightening himself up.

"Yes, I'm sure," Preeda replied, standing from the couch, putting her weight on her unaffected leg.

When Preeda placed her weight equally on her other foot, she winced at the pain in her injured knee. Mew had noticed the facial grimace.

To everyone's surprise, Mew approached Preeda swiftly and scooped her up in his arms.

"Which one is your room?" Mew asked Preeda.

An astonished speechless Preeda could only point to the door adjacent to the bathroom door.

Podd, who had also been taken by surprise by Mew's swift and unexpected action and therefore had no time to react or protest, rushed forward and opened Preeda's bedroom door for Mew.

"You really didn't have to, but thanks for your kindness," Preeda said to Mew, already regretting that she had stopped Podd from carrying her to her room.

Podd stood in the doorway and watched as Mew set Preeda gently on to her bed.

"My room is right next to yours," Podd remarked, "if you need anything just knock on the wall. My bed is set right against the wall separating our rooms."

"Thank you, Podd, I will," Preeda said shyly.

Mew had also remained by the doorway after he had set Preeda down on her bed.

"Was there any other assistance you needed, Preeda?" Mew asked.

Mew felt that he owed Preeda for her kind support during the morning conference session when he was feeling utterly miserable over Podd's and Gulf's kissing bit.

It was Podd who answered Mew.

"I will take over from here on in, thank you Mew," said Podd, glaring at Mew as if inviting him to defy his statement.

Mew turned away without another word and walked back to the living room.

Gulf was gone from the living room.

Mew went to Gulf's room and knocked on the door before opening it and peeking in. Gulf wasn't in his room. Where the hell was he.

Mew went to the kitchen. Gulf wasn't there either.

Mew fished out his phone from his pocket and tapped on Gulf's contact number. After several rings, his call was directed to Gulf's voice mail.

What the devil was Gulf up to. Mew was starting to get unhinged. He knocked from room to room asking around for Gulf. No one had seen him nor knew where he was at the moment.

In frustration and anger, Mew went to his room, opened and banged shut his door and flung himself onto his bed, only to spring back up on his feet.

Mew grabbed and threw back his bed cover.

"Surprise!" Gulf exclaimed, a big grin on his face.

"What the hell are you up to, Gulf? What dumbass game are you playing with me?"

Gulf sat up from Mew's bed and put on a serious expression.

"Let me confess that at first I felt some stupid jealousy against Podd for the attention he was giving Preeda," Gulf began.

"Why would you feel jealous toward Podd, unless..."

"That is why I labeled it as stupid!" Gulf interrupted Mew, "There was no reason for me to feel jealous. I am dumbfounded myself and can't think of any reason why I should be."

Mew stared at Gulf, while shaking his head slowly.

Gulf stretched out both arms towards Mew, motioning for Mew to join him on the bed.

Mew slowly walked towards Gulf and pushed Gulf back onto the bed.

"You are going to pay for all your dumbass games," Mew growled before lunging at the side of Gulf's neck.

Gulf shrieked and giggled. The side of his neck was a vulnerable and ticklish spot.

In the meantime, the assigned director of the series, Mr. Siripool, had just finished his lunch at a nearby restaurant, just a few buildings away from the building where the series actors and actresses were being housed.

As Mr. Siripool waited for the waiter to bring his tab to his table, his phone started to ring. He swiped his phone screen.

"Yes, sir," said Mr. Siripool into his phone. It was the producer Mr. Boonsri.

"Listen, I was approached yesterday evening by the writer of this series we are working on," Mr. Boonsri began.

Mr. Siripool stayed quiet, waiting for Mr. Boonsri to continue, his index and middle finger crossed lightly, to ward off any bad news.

"She said that she has added a new character into her story, somewhere in the middle of it," Mr. Boonsri explained.

"Did she say why she was doing that?" Mr. Siripool asked, still not sure how to react to the latest development of the series that they were working on.

"She explained that she felt that the progression of the conflict between the two main characters seemed to develop too fast. She wanted to add some kind of interlude, an intermission if you will, to make the progression more credible," said Mr. Boonsri.

"Okay...... so what's happening next?" Mr. Siripool asked, still sounding uncertain.

"The additional actor who will play the additional character will report to your building tomorrow morning," said Mr. Boonsri, "please schedule him to join your morning session."

"Just like that? That quick?" Mr. Siripool asked, incredulity now very much evident in his voice.

"He is a seasoned actor," Mr. Boonsri informed his hand picked and trusty director, "he will have no problem diving in to the sessions."

"Very well," Mr. Siripool said, nodding in acknowledgment to the waiter who brought his tab to his table.

Mr. Siripool handed his credit card to the waiter who inserted the card into the portable mini credit card machine and then ripped out the receipt that smoothly and quietly flowed out of the machine and handed the small piece of paper with a powdery surface to Mr. Siripool.

Mr. Siripool took out some bills from his wallet and handed the cash tip to the waiter who bowed and smiled a thank you to him before walking away.

Mr. Siripool stood up from table and started walking towards the exit, his phone still against his ear.

"And who will be this seasoned actor who will be joining the rest of the cast?" Mr. Siripool asked as he continued walking into the parking lot toward his car.

"Max," Mr. Boonsri replied, "His name is Max Nattapol."