Proofreader/Editor: Kaima
Two weeks later, when the day of filming arrived, the weather had already taken a turn for summer. Mason settled the sunglasses on his head and looked around the streets, where the sunlight was pouring. The streets, where people were preparing for the shoot, looked so familiar. The buildings and streets, and the people observing the staff preparing for the shoot, everything, of course, looked familiar.
“I’m back here again, so soon…..”
Mason mumbled, with a sigh. Today’s filming location, of the movie Real, was at the 120th Street, New York, a block away from his old apartment.
“Huh? What did you say?”
Tony, who was following him from behind, holding an umbrella, couldn’t hear him well and asked him again, and Mason said waving his hands, “No, I was just talking to myself”. He had felt so embarrassed about his past that, he’d said good-bye to this place, thinking he’d never see it again.
“Ah, it’s pretty scary near the slums, right? The director wanted to film it very realistically, so….”
Mason had an uncomfortable face, and Tony thought it was because he was scared. So he shivered his shoulders and acted as if he was scared too.
“Still, there are so many people around. So it’ll be alright, right? Just don’t walk around alone….”
Mason shrugged his shoulders. People still lived in places like this, so there was no need for such exaggerations. And this place wasn’t even that dangerous. Of course there would be some thieves trying to rob anyone who were walking alone, but well, was there any place that wasn’t like that. Mason looked around the area. A woman, who was at the side of where they were preparing for the shoot, felt Mason’s stare and ran towards him, providing a greeting.
“Ah, Tony, you came? Haley, nice to meet you. I’m the producer, Gloria Sue. Do you guys have a hotel to stay?”
“Not yet. Where is a good place?”
“Not sure. It’s better to take a car and drive a bit farther, before booking a hotel. You need to go at least three blocks away, to find a place where cockroaches don’t come out from under the bed.”
She sounded sick of saying it.
“But since you didn’t arrive late…. It’ll be hard to say, since it’s an action scene, but if you can work until late, we might be able to finish it in one day.”
Actually there weren’t many scenes. She looked sideways at Mason thinking, ‘this can’t possibly be, though’. Her eyes glittered when she laid her eyes on him and she soon grinned.
“Hahaha, we came a little early, right? This guy is a big fan of Director Vick. I told him it’ll be a nuisance if we go here too early, but he insisted that he wanted to see the director-”
Tony tapped Mason, who was standing still, and Mason looked around indifferently, smiling back at her.
“Hahaa…, really? Who wouldn’t be his fan? If they have eyes.”
Gloria smiled freshly and took them to a place under the shade.
“Unfortunately, the director didn’t come in yet. I’ll introduce you to the actors, who will be filming together.”
“The.., there are actors who came earlier than us?”
Tony, who acted triumphantly like ‘a manager whose actor came the earliest’, asked in surprise and Gloria had a proud face like ‘a producer who picked up the world’s best actor.’
“Oh my, of course! Didn’t you check who is playing the lead role in this movie? He is at-, oh my gosh!”
She looked around the area, with a lively face, to look for the leading actor, but she was startled and ran to a very tall man. He was walking, carrying a big luggage, like the other staff members, on his shoulders.
“Chase! Oh my, gosh! I told you not to do this. What if you get hurt? Joe, I told you, not to let Chase do this, didn’t I?”
“Oops, Gloria! When did you get here?”
A tall male actor dropped the luggage like it was hot and brightly smiled at her, showing his teeth.
“Wow…. It’s Chase Viller.”
Tony mumbled in amazement, and Mason frowned a little and backed away. The man named Chase, who was smiling as if the words ‘good man’ was written on his face, looked his way.
“Don’t you remember Chase? When a rumor leaked about him having a sex video, you didn’t even come out of your room.”
To masturbate…. Mason shook his head, at Tony’s bitter words.
“Not sure.”
He may have seen his face a few times on a poster, when passing by. But he didn’t know his face that well, and….. Because a very handsome man was smiling brightly, showing his teeth like that, for some reason Mason felt repelled, a little bit.
The man, who was listening to Gloria’s nagging, rolled his eyes and found Mason, just standing awkwardly and shouted, “Hello!”
“Are you the new actor who’s coming today? Ah…? –Haley Lusk?”
He looked slightly surprised, but soon smiled brightly and approached him. Haley wasn’t so short, but when the man came close with his tall healthy body, he looked like a big bear and gave him his hand.
“Wow, you look prettier in person. Nice to meet you, I’m Chase Viller.”
“Aren’t the cameras used by the paparazzi, really strange? Mr. Viller, you look better in person too.”
Mason smiled and properly held his hand. He managed to look a little surprised and shook with both of his hands.
“No, really. This is seriously unexpected. The atmosphere about you is pretty good and actually, I’m quite surprised right now.”
He put his hand on his chest, like he was being honest and said with a serious face. Mason just smiled, while Tony gasped, with his eyes wide open, at the top actor’s lip service. He seriously was not getting used to Hollywood’s amicable atmosphere.
“No, wow-.. This is- amazingly,”
Chase didn’t let go of Mason’s hands and his gaze was fixed on Mason’s face, with an amused expression. ….This wasn’t a lip service, was it? Mason started to frown slightly, when he heard the crowd erupt into a loud noise.
In front of the filming set, a beautiful woman with a bold red hair alighted from a pink Ferrari.
“Ah…..!”
Chase, who was holding Mason’s hand, looked upon the new arrival with a little dislike. She waved her hands calling, “Chase!” The man sighed quietly and greeted her with a little bit more toned down voice.
“Hello, Melisa. You are early today.”
“Oh my, it was only that one time when I came late.”
Melisa greeted him and smiled as if she didn’t notice Mason or Tony. She lifted her sunglasses up and as she got closer, she finally saw Mason and Tony. She frowned a little bit and blocked her nose.
“Oh no, don’t you smell a rag?”
“Look at the set, seriously!” –She glanced at Mason as if annoyed and went on, disappearing towards the shade, in a rapid pace.
“That, that, that bitch…!”
Tony mumbled in anger. He then took note of Chase and blocked his mouth, smiling perplexedly.
“Don’t worry too much, Haley. She is a little….”
Chase said, a little gloomily. He was a man like a hot sun, but like the clouds on the periphery of a hot sun, where the darkness is deep, he seemed to be getting stressed by her, a lot, despite having a happy and beautiful life.
Mason was about to say that he didn’t really care, but then she’d settled on a chair, underneath the tent, with her legs crossed and started yelling, “Chase! Excuse me!”
“Will you see this?”
She said, while waving her script. Chase rolled his eyes, like he didn’t like it, but went on to meet her as if he was being dragged. Chase seemed like he didn’t really like her, but because of his polite and gentle personality, he good-naturedly answered all her useless questions.
“That bitch! She couldn’t even look at your face last time, but now, because of that one movie which hit a jackpot, she acts all-“
Tony cursed at her and chewed on her. Mason indifferently said, “Who cares?” and tried to calm Tony. Mason looked around for a minute, to gauge the situation. This time he had enough time, before the shooting, to prepare himself. He had researched and studied and now he was able to understand what was going on. The producer did say that the director hasn’t arrived yet and so, everybody was getting ready at a relaxed pace.
Mason asked a staff member where the restroom was. He stopped Tony who wanted to follow him even though it was just the next building.
Behind him, he heard Melisa’s voice saying, “Chase, don’t talk to the rag. He thinks all men wants him just because they talked to him a little.” Maybe she got her boyfriend jilted away by Haley. Mason did not care at all and went to the restroom. He was in hurry because he had been sleeping in the airport and hadn’t yet relieved himself.
“……”
Mason stood in front of the urinal and took out his package and urinated. Looking at his listless urine stream, he was thinking ‘I need to take that piercing out… Do I have to go to a piercing parlor? It’s so embarrassing to ask.’ But then he felt something behind his back.
“…..”
Feeling a stare in the men’s restroom while urinating? Mason glimpsed beyond his back, where a young man was standing, in front of the restroom door, with a serious face.
“?”
Is he homophobic? Mason stared back at him indifferently sending vibe that he is not going to attack him. He shook off the urine, closed his zipper up and flushed. The man kept staring at Mason with a strange look, while Mason finished urinating, closed up his pants and flushed and washed his hands.
“Do you have some business with me?”
Was it someone Haley knew? Mason asked indifferently, and the man shook his hands.
“No, no. I don’t.”
He said he didn’t, but he was checking out Mason more obviously, from top to bottom and from side to side. In the end, he squinted his eyes. Mason passed by him, and the man followed.
“I don’t sleep with men anymore.”
Mason said to the man behind him. It was the obvious reason for a man to send out a sticky stare, inside a men’s restroom. For a second he remembered the dream about sleeping with Noah, but didn’t show it on his face.
The man following behind him giggled and said, “Really? I don’t sleep with men, too.” Mason thought about what to say, but got annoyed and left the man alone. The man continued to question him, from behind his back.
“Did you do some exercise?”
“Do you take good care of your skin these days?”
“Did you change your coordinator?”
“Botox?” “Cosmetic surgery?”
“Ah! Did you get a nose job?”
Instead of answering, Mason picked on his ear and went back to the set. While pondering on how to get rid of the son of a bitch, Gloria ran into him.
“Oh my, you guys already met?”
“I was trying to introduce you guys to each other.” Mason turned around and looked at the man. ‘Introduce him?’ Mason had a questioning look, and the man had a carefree smile.
“Yes, you said you were a fan. What do you think of meeting the director?”
Gloria asked Mason, and Mason quietly moaned, “Ah!” The man, Vick Procter, smiled as if he was having fun.
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Happy belated Easter! I hope you guys had a good Easter~
Today's long~ since I skipped a week and there's nothing really big going on haha
enjoy!
Continue to Part 2
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