11. On Set
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When I returned to the penthouse, I walked into my room and plopped myself on the bed.

I was so tired.

I don’t even think it took two minutes for me to fall asleep. It was about 5 PM when I fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was 5 AM. I guess I really needed sleep. I slept for 12 hours. I had regained my morning routine. I worked out in the gym for a short while before washing up and making breakfast.

Today was the first day of filming for me. My role wasn’t big. It was a really minor role.

The movie was called “Running from Fate.”

It was about a man called Drew getting reincarnated over and over, and each reincarnation was in a different era. I was in one of the longer eras. 

It’s a romance where he meets a girl in each era. But it turns out, she is the same person, reincarnating over and over again, and each time, they promise to find each other again. When they reincarnate, one of their memories is erased. In order to regain their memories, they need to meet the other person. It finishes with a happy ending because they overcame their fates.

My role was Marcus, the boyfriend of the female lead before she met her true love. The female lead’s name is Heather.

I arrived on the site and got out of the car. People were setting up. The sun was rising as I reached the set. Someone greeted me.

“Hello! How can I help you?”

“I’m new here and don’t know what to do. Can you help me?”

“Sure, what is your job here?”

“Acting, minor role.”

“Oh, okay. Please go see the director for more information.”

“Where is he?”

“Right over there.” the person pointed to a small corner where a group of people were talking.

“They look deep in conversation. I don’t think I can butt in like that.”

No one answered.

I looked back to where the person was and saw nothing but air.

Great. I was talking to myself.

Whatever. I’ll wait until they finish.

I sat down on a black chair with some letters on it and waited for them to finish their discussion.

It wasn’t even 5 minutes before someone tapped on my shoulder from behind.

I looked at this person. They had gorgeous blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked taller than the average woman and had radiant sun-kissed skin. I bet the guys would kill for her.

“Excuse me, you’re in my seat.” She stared at me with a smile.

“I am? How do you know?”

“My name is on there.”
“Really? Where?”

“On the back and where your back is.”

“Oh. Excuse me then.” I got off and walked to the wall and sat down on the floor.

“It’s okay. What’s your name?”

“Shay. What’s yours?”

She giggled.

“What’s funny?” I asked.

“It’s new and amusing that you don’t know who I am.”

“Oh. Would you enlighten me please?”

“Sure. My name is Melody Rose. I’ll be playing Heather. Nice to meet you, Mr. Shay.”

“Oh, so you’re the main actress!!” I was amazed. The people with the big jobs usually intimidate me. That’s why I told myself that if I get famous, I’d stay humble and not let it get to my head.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal though. You don’t need to treat me any differently than you would a random person in the street.”

“I know, and I won’t.”

She smiled. “I like you, newbie. I’ll give you some pointers during your time here. You never know. They could become useful in different situations.”

“Thank you for your guidance!”

“Don’t mention it. It’s a kill or be killed world in the entertainment industry. I’m just hoping to keep one kid alive longer.”

“Kill or be killed?”

“Yes. This industry is really competitive because it relies on the people. You need to keep up a reputation to please the audience at all times. Some people fold or get exposed. People are fickle and their preferences often change.”

“Oh, I get it now. So you’re saying that the audience can turn on me in an instant if I don’t play my cards right and maintain my public image?”

“Exactly! You’re a fast learner.”

“Thank you.”

“Yep. Don’t die so soon, Shay. You’ll get your chances. If you need any more assistance, email me.”

She got a piece of paper and wrote down her email address, then handed it to me.

I saved it and looked at the script alongside her. I asked a lot of questions.

“So, my role is to be your boyfriend in the second era.”

“Correct. Your script is here. The text that is aligned in the middle like this..” She pointed to a certain section that went like this.

 

Marcus

(Laughing) Did you think this was a joke? You mist be stupid!

 

Drew

No, it’s not a joke. I just know that you and her aren’t right together.

 

Marcus

You’re wrong! All of you are wrong! I love Heather with all of my heart!

 

Drew

Love will always win and it will prove your false statements wrong. You’ll see.

 

Marcus grabbed Heather’s hand and dragged her away.

 

“So, these are some of the lines in the script. Based on the conversation, you need to decide for yourself how you’d act this out.”

“I understand.”

“How long has it been since you started acting?”

“Uh, this is my first time.” I smiled awkwardly and put my hand behind my head.

“Your first time and you’ve got a role like this? Interesting! The director must think you’ve got something special.”

“I don’t have anything like that, but I’ll try to live up to his expectations.”

“You’d better. This is basically your debut.”

“I see. Thank you for all of your help uh.. What should I call you?”

“Rose is fine. I’ll call you Shay.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“No need to address me formally, please speak freely since you said you’d treat me normally.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now, your scene is coming up. Go get ready.”

I nodded and left.

 

I had to get into my costume. It was during the 1980’s. My costume consisted of black jeans, a black leather jacket, a white shirt, and white shoes.

I walked out of the dressing room and headed over to the prep departments.

My face got caked with makeup. It was really uncomfortable and my hair got styled in a feathered, poofy, weird looking way..

And finally, I was done.

I walked out to the director and he greeted me. He was finally done with his conversation, so I could talk with him.

“Hello, director.”

“Hello, Mr. Shay. Do you know what you’re going to be doing?”

“Kind of.”

“Then we’ll do a small take and see where you are and if you need help understanding some things.”

“Yes sir.”

I got on the set. It looked like a house. My scene in this was that I got drunk because Heather left to see Drew again. In my drunkenness, I flew into a rage and went to go find Heather.

I’ve never gotten drunk before, but I could attempt it.

Being in front of the camera was a little intimidating because it could catch all of my mistakes.

I sat down on the couch and poured myself a glass of “whiskey”. It was actually tea, so I wouldn’t really get drunk.

I kept drinking it, glass after glass, and stopped after my third.

I slammed the glass down on the table and put my head down while interlacing my hands, looking like I was contemplating something.

I had read the script all the way through, so I was aware of this character’s personality. Marcus was like how my piece of shit father used to be when mom and I didn’t do what he wanted.

It was easy to grasp his character.

I leaned back on the couch and stood up quickly. I stumbled a little and walked to the front door with my eyes half open.

I’m often tired and have learned how to see with my eyes half open. It looked like the top of my vision was black. I could see the line of my eyelid and the separation of light and dark.

The crew watching this looked surprised, the director especially.

“Mmmmhhh” I groaned while trying to open the door.

“I’m going to kill him. I’ll kill that bastard that took my love. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get ideas again.”

I finally managed to open the door and staggered through it.

“Cut!” The director shouted.

I fixed my posture and expression and looked at the director.

“No good. Shay. You need to fix your expression like this.” The director showed me a picture. I changed my expression into what was shown.

The next take was a NG (no good) as well because I messed up on the timing.

Same with the next one, except I looked at the camera and got conscious of it.

When acting, you’re supposed to treat the camera as if it’s not there. It’s actually a really hard thing to do.

I now fully understand how hard it is to act. Actors are amazing.

After a long series of NGs, I was told to take a break. Rose walked up to me and gave me some tips.

The male lead’s actor, Preston, was shooting daggers at me.

I shrugged it off.

When my break was over, I got back on stage and ran through it again.

“CUT!” Director Griffin shouted. “Good! Now, we’ll move to the next part.”

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. They seemed to think we would be doing this part for the whole day. It was only three hours. And 25 takes…

The scene changed and I was outside of the house. 

“Action!”

I staggered down the steps and almost fell on my way down. I caught myself just before hitting the ground and lifted myself up slowly. That was a pure accident.

I walked down the road and soon met up with Rose, who was playing Heather.

She turned around, surprised.

Her eyes displayed fear.

“Marcus? What are you doing here?”

“Hm? I’m here to bring you home.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re mine.”

“Yours? I’m not an object! You don’t own me!” She was furious! As a woman, it would have been very offensive.

“No. You’re my woman. Now stop talking back to me. I own you. You’re nothing without me!” I also shouted at her. My face was red from the whiskey.

“As a woman, I have rights. What makes you think you’re above me?”

“Because I’m superior. We are superior. Men. To. Women. Now come over here and let’s go home.”

“I don’t want to.” She held her hands at her chest and started backing away slowly.

“You will obey me. Such a disobedient woman needs discipline.”

“What are you saying? You won’t actually hurt me, right?”

“My dear, why would you say such things? I’m merely teaching you where your place is.”

I grabbed her wrist and raised my other arm, about to strike.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my wrist and shoved me off of Heather.

I was now lying on the ground.

Realizing where I was, I stood up under the influence of alcohol and got up from the floor. I swayed as I stood there.

“Who the hell are you?”

“I’m no one you need to know about.”

“Why? Shouldn’t I know the name of the person who’s about to die?”

“No. I don’t want you to know the name of the person who’s going to beat you.”

I displayed a nasty grin and lunged at Drew.

He dodged my attack and dropped me to the floor. Thank god it wasn’t concrete, but a soft floor because I could have been seriously injured.

I had the feeling that he wasn’t just acting, but letting out some of his frustration.

I staggered to my feet and threw another sloppy punch, this time, totally missing him.

I got punched instead. It was a light punch, but it still made an impact and a mark.

I fell to the floor and fell asleep.

Drew took Heather’s hand and brought her off the stage.

“CUT!” 

Everyone froze, then stood naturally.

“Good job. Everyone go get lunch!”

Rose walked up to me.

“Hey, you little rascal! That was pretty good! You really learn fast! If you keep this up, then you’ll be a star in no time.”

“Thanks. I’ll try to get better so I won’t hinder you all.”

Rose patted me on the back and gave me a thumbs up.

Preston, who saw this, looked at me with hatred. I noticed his glare and looked at him in confusion.

He walked up to me.

“Hey, newbie. Why are you so close with Miss Rose?”

“She’s helping me out because this is my first time doing this kind of thing.”

“Hah! So you have no experience? Then let me, your senior, teach you something.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t get in my way. It’s annoying for a new kid like you to mess up repeatedly and waste our time. You’re not the only person on the planet.”

“I understand, sir.” I started looking down to the floor before realizing that I’m not Grey Lennox right now. I’m here as Shay.

I raised my head and met his eyes.

They had put contacts in my eyes to make them hazel. My eyes stand out too much, so they had to use this method.

Preston walked away and we continued to the next part.

 

Filming finished for that day and I went home.

I was dead tired. I couldn’t tell anyone about this role either, since I’m not with any group. I’m what’s called an independent actor and an unprofessional actor. So I’m not doing this for a career, but quick cash.

The two weeks progressed like that. The occasional slander from Preston, the tests I had to go through, and the tricks he was pulling at every given opportunity. I had a lot of NGs because this was new. I had a small, but important role. 

Plus, this character has bipolar disorder. He’s all nice and loving to Heather, but then gets angry for no reason.

I learned so much from my mistakes.

There’s a lot to know for an actor. You must control your expressions and know your character. If you don’t know your character, then how can you play them?

Not only that, but you must be prepared for anything.

I learned this from the constant changing of lines from the script.

From that, I learned great improv skills.

The script would say something like, “You won’t hurt anyone ever again. Rest now.” and Preston would be looking down at me. I would be cuffed to the wall, so I could do nothing.

But Preston got in my face, grabbed my chin, and looked me in the eyes before saying, “The state you are in now is how Heather was in when she found me yesterday. How does it feel to be the prey in front of a predator?”

My original answer would be silence, but I improvised here.

“I’ll see you in Hell.” Then I broke a fake blood capsule to signify my tongue being bitten off, and died.

Rose was so proud of me, that she ran up to me and hugged me.

I smiled warmly. It was nice seeing people happy.

Preston, however, was in a much more sour mood.

Other things I learned while watching the other actors was their body language. They have extensive training in body language, so I learned how to read a lot of it.

And most of my expressions, I couldn’t fake. Instead, I recalled my memories and used the emotions of what I felt then into the scene.

This experience helped me with a lot of things. Although I'm never going to do it again, I still enjoyed the time I spent.

I had received my money and put it in my usual place in the corner of the room, under the bed.

I had two months left, so I’d be spending my time working around the company and taking commissions. I can’t forget modeling, of course.

The entire Saturday, I slept. On Sunday, I texted Kevin and I met up with the crew.

We rode for hours, catching up on everything that happened.

At night, I made Tina and I dinner.

“Ahh! I just love your cooking! When you were gone, I really missed this.”

“I missed life here too.” My expression was a satisfied smile.

“So. During the week, you’ll be taking commissions from the people who have been waiting since last year. When I told them you were back, they instantly booked appointments.”

“Oh. Can I write them down?”

“I already did that for you. You were so busy with filming, so I knew you wouldn’t get around to it.”

“Was I really that tired?”
“You reached here, immediately went to your room, and fell asleep. You wouldn’t have eaten dinner had I not woken you up. At least you took your shoes off before coming in. Seriously. You were definitely worth that much money.”

“Thanks for worrying about me, sis.”

“Yep. I also made a bet with myself.”

“What was the bet?”

“If I got good feedback from the actors and staff there, I’d buy you your own means of transportation when you visit here.”

“Did you win the bet?”

“Yes. I got very good feedback from them. So, I bought you a little something both as a reward and a birthday present. I’ll hand you it in the morning.”

“Okay! Thank you so much! Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“I hope you do.”

We both finished eating and went separate ways off to our rooms.

 

The next morning, I woke up early and worked out before showering and making breakfast for us.

Tina woke up from the smell of food and sleepily sat down at the bar.

“I hate mondays,” Tina said groggily.

“Me too. It’s a constant reminder that I’ve got 5 days to go until the weekend.”

“Breakfast is ready. Enjoy,” I said with a small smile on my face.

“Thank you master chef. The computer in the living room has the addresses you’ll go to and a broad description of what they want.”

Tina continued eating and I looked at the computer.

“Understood.”

The screen told me my schedule. I had two appointments today scheduled in an hour and in 6 hours. At the bottom of the schedule, there were two notes.

 

[On the left of the computer, there’s a notebook. It’s your agenda for the remaining two months. Keep it with you and plan your activities carefully.]

 

The notebook was there. It was a paper agenda, since I couldn’t bring the computer everywhere. It even had the addresses I’d be going to. I instantly recognized Tina’s handwriting.

I smiled in my heart and read the other note.

[And on the right is your transportation. Be safe. Her name is Raven.]

I looked to the right and picked up a key. I immediately recognized it.

It had a big K on it, standing for Kawasaki.

“Sis! This is a huge gift! Why would you do this for me?”

“...”

“...”

We both got silent and I realized something..

“Sis, How long will I have to work for to pay this off?”

“PFFT!” She almost spit out her food. She quickly swallowed what was in her mouth and yelled.

“That’s not something you need to buy from me!! Honestly, would I ever make you do something like that?”

She looked at me.

I slowly nodded.

“You little shit…” Her expression turned grim.

I’d say the most useful thing I learned while filming was quite literally how to act. I changed my expression, actions, and tone in an instant.

“I mean-- You’re the best! Sister is amazing and so kind! She’s such an angel, she would never do anything like that!” I ran over and hugged Tina.

“Tch. You really know how to butter me up. Get going, kiddo.”

“Yes ma’am. Thanks again, to my amazing sister!” and I packed what I needed in a backpack and left with much gratitude.

I went to the parking garage and looked around. I was excited to see what model it was and what color.

After walking around like an idiot for a few minutes, I found it parked in one of the spots.

“Woah!” My eyes sparkled looking at it. What a gorgeous bike. It must have been expensive…

‘Tina. You’re too good for me. I’ll never forget this.’ I internally wiped my tears of joy.

Raven was a gorgeous jet black Ninja ZX 10R ABS.

I almost didn’t want to use her because she was so pretty.

I had about 45 minutes to get to the place, so I left as soon as I could.

I didn’t bring my jacket or helmet on the plane because I didn’t think I’d get my own motorcycle in California.

It wasn’t far. I got there in about 40 minutes. I reached the doorstep and knocked on the door.

A lady opened it and greeted me.

“Hello. Who are you?”

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