29: The Romantic and the Realist

“Scene one, action!” The film director shouted to begin the acting session and recording for the short romance comedy film.

“It’s been years, huh?” Drino, portraying Aldrin, scoffed.

“Not quite long, but yeah, it’s been years.” His leading lady, whose real name is Ritch, is playing the role of Marshe.

She has long, brown, curly hair, fair and flawless skin, and an alluring face.

“If five years for you weren’t long enough, then I wonder what your definition of a long time is.”

“A lifetime. Lifetime’s long enough for me.”

“Do you want to last that long?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why don’t we have a deal then?” he crossed his arms, smirking.

“I have no time for your games, Aldrin!”

“Whoa, slow down, Miss hothead. No need to be aggressive. Things can be done with smooth talk.”

“What’s your deal?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Now you’re interested.”

“No, I just want to shut you off by hearing what you want to spout about.”

“Thank you for hearing me out, Madam. Here it is. The first one who falls in love again loses. The loser will comply with the winner's conditions. Pretty easy to understand the mechanics, isn’t it? But we’ll see who’s the loser enough to fall for love propaganda?” Drino stated confidently, living the character he’s portraying.

“Do you hear yourself?”

“Definitely”

“But you’re not aware how dumb you sounded just now?” she laughed scornfully. “Get out.”

“If you’re that confident that you hold no romantic butterflies for me, this challenge would be a piece of cake to you.”

“And why would I agree to do such a foolish deal?”

“To prove that you can end this chapter that includes me in it.” He said with a serious tone.

“You think I’m that desperate to play with your schemes?”

“You’re not… but I am.”

She gulped, tempted by what he said. “Alright then. If this would give you peace, let’s start this challenge to put an end to it.”

“You won’t regret this.”

The guy would like to revive their relationship. He didn't reveal to the girl his conditions until he won. But the girl would like to forget their past and move forward.

The goal is not to fall for you but to make her fall because he's already fallen for her.

“Five years later and you’re still into games.”

“And you’re walking out again five years later.”

“I know that you’ve become a different person. The moment I looked at you, I didn’t recognize who this fine man I was talking with. I can see how much you’ve improved in your career, but what happened with your hopeful romantic tactics?”

“You didn’t recognize me immediately, but your heart did skip a beat.”

“How vain of you.”

“I am not this hopeful, Marshe. My biggest regret was to give us up, so I won’t be making the same mistake again.”

“So, you want to test me that bad?”

“It’s more than just a test.”

“Then what?”

“You still haven’t figured it out.”

“Just tell me, okay?”

“I want to revive what we had before.”

“There’s nothing to revive.”

“There is”

“And there’s no past that has been gone between us.”

“If it was nothing for you, it meant a lot to me. Tell me you don’t love me anymore.”

“I don’t love you.”

“In my face.”

“I don’t love you, never was.”

“I can’t feel that you no longer love me, and I never felt that you never loved me.”

“What do you want me to say to satisfy you?! I’m done with this bullsh*t!”

“I was never done with our story. No, in fact, I never wanted to put an end to it. It was supposed to be a story that is long enough for you—a lifetime.”

“This isn’t obviously a fairytale, Aldrin. Get a grip on yourself. Wake up, we’re living in a cruel world with cruel people.”

“Are you one of them?”

“If that’s what makes you leave, then yes.”

“Why don’t you wake up from your slumber, too?”

“What nonsense.”

“Wake your feelings up and tell me, looking into my eyes, that there’s still a chance, even 1%, that we could revive what we used to have and make it even better.”

“Aldrin… Please, I’m begging you,” she knelt on her knees. “Don’t make this hard for me. I’ve had enough,” she cries.

“I don’t want to make you cry.” He bent and wiped her tears and held her face with both hands. “But if it’s what it takes for you to be finally honest with yourself, then let’s turn those tears into joy.”

She sobbed and sat on the floor.

“For one last time… give me a hug if you want to give up on the second chance of us and move forward as we’ve never known each other.”

She turned her gaze to his. She moved her arms slowly, reaching both of his arms. He looked into her painful yet beautiful eyes. He was not ready for her response.

This last embrace he asked would mean the end of their love story and a bitter beginning of their new lives without each other in each story. However, he wishes that Marshe would not hug him for an exchange of a lifetime embrace.

Marshe’s head rested on his left shoulder. They turned their head simultaneously so that they could see each other’s faces, so close about four inches.

This beautiful face inspired Aldrin to become a better person, and this handsome face motivated Marshe to fight for her desires against all odds

There was a bead of tears on Aldrin’s left eye. It was about to fall when Marshe turned her head slightly and leaned forward, kissing Aldrin passionately. He was astounded that he left his eyes open for the whole five seconds of their kiss.

Ashmille’s eyes widened at this scene. Drino didn’t mention a kissing scene for this. She’s wondering why the first scene would include an immediate kissing scene.

Marshe stood up fast and walked out of the room.

“That wasn’t a hug… She k-kissed me,” he stammered, still in disbelief that she kissed her.

He was thinking whether it was supposed to be a goodbye kiss or a welcome kiss.

“Cut!” the director shouted. “Drino, you’ve improved a lot, but we have to retake the scene from where Ritch rested her head on your shoulder to the scene after the kiss. Your expression lacked sincerity. And the kiss wasn’t intimate enough. Do it with strong romantic feelings, understood?”

“Yes, Sir”

Ashmille raised her eyebrows.

Wasn’t that kiss intimate enough? Then what does this director want Drino to do? Unlimited intimate kisses from that girl?!

Her mind boggles. She was watching Drino on her phone screen before, but now she’s watching his live acting. However, she didn’t expect to be pissed by it.

“Ritch, you did well already. Just maintain what you did a while ago.”

“Okay,” she affirmed.

“Take 2, action!” he shouted.

They did a retake. This time, Drino threw away his thoughts and put his mind into it.

“Cut!” he shouted. “Approved”

After several minutes of the retake, the director praised Drino and accepted him as the leading man.

“You didn’t say that you’ll be having an intimate kissing scene,” Ashmille noticed.

“Oh, yeah, the director did a last-minute change and tested me with it. He said if I cannot do that scene well, he’ll terminate me. I’d feel so bad if we did. Good thing he gave me a retake as a second chance to prove myself.”

Ashmille did a so-you-enjoyed-the-intimate-kissing-scenes look. She put on her poker face.

“You signed a contract already stating that you’ll be taking the lead role. So, the director cannot terminate you easily. Besides, cameras are recording that scene. That wasn’t just a practice take.”

“You have a point. I’ll ask them about it. By the way, are you free after this?”

“Yes, why?”

“Can we do our sixth date, I mean, sixth prototype date after this? I’ll be done in two hours.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Spa and buffet”

“That was your date request in college?”

“Yup! That time we had stressful days and nights doing our individual thesis, I thought of a simple yet relaxing date. Of course, this is also my treat for my character partner!”

“Character partner, huh?” she scoffed, mimicking Drino’s acting and first line on the first scene.

“Ohhh, you have a knack for it, huh?” she teases him. “Not so bad, Madam Ashmille,” portraying his character, Aldrin.

They both chuckled at what they’re doing.