"The photo looks good. You really look like a high school student with those clothes and hairstyle. I remember your photos from when you were in high school."
Uncle Sam's voice came out from the phone. Aiden had just sent him one of his photos from the set, which was the look they were going for Arthur.
Currently, he was wearing a grey hoodie with blue jeans, and his hair was cut very short. There was light makeup on his clean-shaven face as the makeup team had tried their best to make him look younger than he was.
He was 25 years old, but he looked more youthful with the makeup.
"Yeah, they applied different stuff on my face for over an hour. It was pure torture but way better than what I went through during [Black Saints]."
Aiden muttered, and a chuckle came out from the other side of the phone.
"Get used to it now. You will have a lot of movies in the future. Audiences these days think that a good actor has different looks in every movie. So, you might even need to sit for 5-6 hours. It was way easier when I was in the business, but perceptions changed with time."
"I know. I hope I learn not to get bored just sitting in one place as people apply makeup on my face."
"Hey, nothing more boring than being married for over 30 years. There's no spark left. Your wife finds yoga fun like every other rich wife in Beverly Hills, and you find video games fun. In the end, you don't find each other fun."
Uncle Sam said. Aiden couldn't say anything as he knew his uncle and aunt loved to take digs at each other whenever they got the chance.
In a way, they both were very similar.
He just shook his head with a light smile. After that, they talked a bit more about other things, mostly about Hollywood, filmmaking and how his uncle's restaurant was going.
Then, he put down the phone and picked up the script to read through the scene they were doing today again.
"Aiden, are you ready? We are starting soon."
It was then that Leo, Jayden and Katie walked over to him. Today, they were shooting a scene in the residential area where Arthur would persuade Claire to take revenge on her ex-boyfriend, who had cheated on her.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Is everything set up?" Aiden asked, standing up from his seat and glancing around the set.
Most of the staff was doing their own work, but it did look like everything was ready.
"Most of it is. Are you excited? It's the first scene where we are going to act together." Katie let out a teasing smile. "It's fine if you are too nervous to act with me and give a bad take. We could afford that."
"No, we can't." Leo sternly said. "It would be best if we could finish it in one or two takes. We can't waste too much money. Every bad take means an increase in the budget."
This was one of the things that an independent movie director needed to take care of. If an actor gave out a lot of bad takes, the budget would skyrocket, and it was very hard to ask for more budget from the investors.
"I will do my best, Leo," Aiden said and glanced at both Katie and Jayden. "And rather than you, I'm more excited about the scene due to Jayden. Not every day you get to hit your co-actor with eggs and tomatoes."
Hearing that, Jayden could just give out a wry smile, "Please go easy on me."
"The scene won't come out good if you don't get hit by some eggs and tomatoes. We need that situational comedy."
Leo said, patting Jayden's shoulder. This was a scene in which both Arthur and Claire would find Sam, her boyfriend's car, outside the house of another cheerleader, and she would say that he's surely cheating on her in her room.
Arthur would come up with an idea and will get eggs and tomatoes to throw at his car and the window of the cheerleader's house. In the process, a few of them would also hit Sam, who would open the window.
"Just don't hit too hard."
Jayden was only able to mutter that. Aiden couldn't help but feel a bit bad for him by seeing him like that.
***
[30 days of HappinessMay 16-2016Act 1Scene 3Take 1]
"There's the car."
Claire said as she pointed at a white car standing outside a house. Arthur stopped his own car, the gift he had gotten from his mother on his last birthday and gazed at the home behind the car.
"It seems like your boyfriend would be in that house. Do you know who lives there?"
Arthur looked at Claire, who nodded. Her face turned a bit stiff as the suspicions in her mind turned into reality. He noticed the change in her expression too, and waited for an answer.
"Yeah, I have been there a couple of times. It belongs to Genny Davies. Her parents are mostly out, so she often calls the entire school to party there. You have never been—"
Claire stopped in her sentence, realising that Arthur was treated as a social outcast, more or less, and he shrugged his shoulders awkwardly.
"I don't know enough people to get invited to parties." He muttered. "Anyway, what now?"
"I, I don't know."
Claire stuttered her words, and her eyes kept glancing at the house's window.
She wondered what was going inside. She was not stupid. She could guess what her boyfriend was doing there, but it was a scenario that she didn't want to face.
Arthur noticed her inner struggles too.
He wanted to tell her that they should turn away and leave. He didn't want to interfere in her relationship as he was never the type to help others. But this time, he hesitated.
Frowning, he again thought about what he should do. Maybe, this was the chance he was always looking for. He had given up on any hope long ago and was content with it, but it might be the chance he never imagined he would get.
In the end, he took a deep sigh and opened his mouth.
"Tell me one thing. Are you sure he's cheating? Like completely sure. I don't want it to be a case of a misunderstanding."
"I saw him kissing her, and he has lied to me many times. I just… know it. I'm very confident that he's cheating."
"Okay. Good enough." Arthur smiled, getting an idea in his head. "Get out of the car. I think I still have some eggs and tomatoes in the back."
"What? Why do you have those in your car, and what will you do with them?"
Claire asked as she stumbled her way out of the car. Arthur didn't say anything and just picked up a grocery bag from the back and passed it to her.
"My mom told me to get these. I forgot them in the car, but I guess they have more needs than to be used in making my dinner."
"What are you going to do exactly?"
She asked, squinting at him, and he just smirked in reply. Then, glancing in between the car and the eggs and tomatoes in his hands, he replied.
"How's your aim?"
It was then that Leo's voice came as a signal to end the scene.
"Cut!"
The immersion ended as Aiden looked at Leo, who was giving him a thumbs up. It seemed like the scene had gone well.
As it was a romantic comedy and the world of it was pretty much the same as the real world, unlike the greyish vibe of [Black Saints] and the tense, war atmosphere of [Shadows of War], his immersion didn't change a lot of things for Aiden.
The one thing it did though was to make him feel Aurthur's emotions more vividly, making him feel like he was really crushing on Katie, who was playing Claire.
"Okay, onto the next scene."
***
[30 days of HappinessMay 16-2016Act 1Scene 4Take 1]
"Are you sure you want to do it? I'm very nervous."
"I'm nervous too. I have not played baseball in a long time."
"And I have not played it in my entire life."
Claire sighed, taking deep breaths to control what was happening in front of her. Currently, she was holding a pair of eggs in her hands, and her neighbour was standing beside her, urging her to throw them at her boyfriend's car.
"Okay, at my signal. Think of the eggs as the weapons to take your revenge." Arthur said.
"You seem like you have done it before."
"No, I just read it in a book. I always wanted to try it out. Now Throw!"
Arthur shouted, and like it was a reflex action, Claire threw the egg at the car. It hit one of the wheels, and Arthur urged her to throw one again.
This time, the aim was better as he hit the top of the car.
"Good job!" Arthur exclaimed. "Let me try too."
Shouting that, he threw one of the tomatoes at the car, and it suddenly started making a 'Beep' sound. Stopping in his tracks, he glanced at Claire, who wasn't stopping even now and was just throwing eggs one after another.
At that moment, the window of the house next to them suddenly opened.
"Hey, what the fuck is going on here?"
A girl looked at them from above. Arthur recognised her as Genny Davies. She was wearing a very thin shirt and looking at her messy hair. She was surely in the middle of some action.
Raising his head, he waved at her.
"Hello, Genny Davies. Uh, I'm sorry, but can you go back inside and send out the guy who you are busy with. We don't really have any business with you, and I don't think you would like to be out when there are eggs and tomatoes getting thrown here and there."
"The fuck are you—"
"Bitch!"
Before Genny could finish her sentence, Claire threw an egg at her, and it landed straight on her face. Even Arthur was surprised at her aim for a second.
Genny didn't stay long to look out at them, and quickly Sam glanced outside from the window, half-naked and his eyes worried, knowing that he was caught red-handed.
"Claire, what are you doing?" He said, then looked at his car. "Fuck! My car!"
Just as he said, Claire and Arthur glanced at each other and started throwing down everything they had at Sam.
...
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