Date The CEO.com - Chapter 326: SS1 03: A Lesson on Acting 101

Hannah froze for a second. Like a robot, she stiffly straightened her spine and blinked twice at the woman before her. Hannah took Eve in, hardly believing that she was there.

“E-Eve?” She stammered.

“Miss, that extension. Where is it?”

Hearing the film crew member, Eve shifted her attention towards him and gave a polite smile. “Just a moment. There should be one in the utility closet.”

She crossed the room towards the supply closet. It usually contained cleaning supplies, toilet paper and towels but it did have a few other miscellaneous items. Eve crouched and dug out an electric extension hidden behind water buckets.

The film crew member thanked her and left to do his job without another word. Hannah released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Her body retreated away and her bottom crashed onto the couch.

“Rough morning?” Eve chuckled.

Hannah placed her neck on the backrest of the sofa and turned her head towards Eve. “You have no idea, Ms. Hart. I would tell you all about it but Mr. Hathaway is here and he might scold me for bad-mouthing about my job.”

Eve sat beside her and Hannah’s head slipped off the couch, landing on Eve’s shoulder. “How did you do all of these?”

“By bad-mouthing about my job.”

“I’m serious!”

“Okay, I wasn’t really bad-mouthing,” Eve clarified with a roll of her eyes. “But I did voice out complaints—just not to Am—Sir Hathaway.”

“You?” Hannah snorted. She would have shook her head too if it wasn’t on Eve’s shoulder. “Complain? I don’t think so.”

“And here I was going to suggest you take a break.”

“But who will do my job?”

“I will, of course.”

Hannah bolted upright. Her mousy brown hair had turned into a mess from lying her head around. “Are you serious?”

Eve put her hands on her hips. “Now, why would I joke about that?”

“Because it seems funny?”

“You have 15 minutes. Leave the tablet and get off this floor.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Watching Hannah escape, Eve stood up and straightened her clothes. She grabbed the tablet to see what needed to be done. It was outside normal office hours so the tasks concentrated on filming. She double-checked every place that contained confidential information, making sure they were locked.

Most of them were in Hannah’s workstation. Eve sat on the swivelling chair and checked the drawers under the desk. She also took the little scrap paper in the waste bin and tucked it in her pocket.

Nothing could be left to chance.

“Well, look at you! Already getting familiar with your role!” She heard someone say. A shadow came from across the desk.

Eve raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

Director Sguist tsked while wagging a finger at her. “I appreciate the effort, missy, but you were still late. You think you can sneak on set and pretend like you had been here all this time? Not on my watch!”

Speechless, Eve choked on her own spit. She fluttered her eyes. What was that person talking about? Was Hannah in trouble? But the poor girl seemed to be tired from running errands. And Ambryan had required her to be here. She wouldn’t dare to leave her post.

The director faced away from Eve and lifted up her megaphone to her mouth, saying, “Five minutes and we start filming. Places, everyone!”

Eve rose up from her chair. “Wait—”

The door to the CEO’s office opened.

“Is everyone here?” Ambryan asked no one in particular. He glanced over his shoulder one last time and scanned his office. It should do despite what the crew members had suggested. He refused anything that clashed with the monochrome color display.

Director Sguist gave him a thumbs up and a wink. “Rock and ready to roll, Mr. Hathaway.”

“Be more professional, director.”

“You got it, Mr. Male Lead!”

Ambryan sighed over his right shoulder. His violet eyes connected with another almost similar in color. Ghong Yu, the actor they hired to play the CEO, walked up to Ambryan. His leather shoes hardly made a sound on the carpeted flooring.

He tucked his hands inside his pant pockets.

The motion hadn’t escaped Ambryan’s attention.

“May I, sir?”

“By all means.”

Ambryan moved out his way. At this point, Eve came face to face with her fiance’s back. She backed away slowly. Her foot hit the leg of the swivelling chair, causing her to fall. Her glasses slipped off her nose and landed under the desk.

She immediately crawled to retrieve it..

“I do hope your acting skills are good,” she heard Ambryan say. “My fiance is not that clumsy.”

By the time she stood up, he had left to stand in the sidelines. That was when it clicked. Had they mistaken her as the actress for Evangeline? At that thought, Eve mentally screamed on the inside. It wouldn’t even make sense to wonder how they came to that conclusion—when the person they hired had to resemble her features.

And she definitely qualified!

“Places!” Director Sguist announced from behind the monitor. She sat on her chair while Ambryan stood beside her. He looked around the office in one swoop. Everything seemed to be in order.

“Action!”

Eve arranged the mock props on the filing cabinet near her desk. Funny enough, her body moved in its own accord once the camera started rolling. Every movement she made was out of muscle memory.

The situation was so hilarious she almost cried!

“CUT!” The director yelled. She glared at Eve. “That was your cue!”

Eve snapped out of her daze and did a double take. Ghong Yu had stepped out of the office. She reddened at the ears when they made eye contact. Then, she bowed her head, fiddling with the  stack of papers in her hand.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to mumble.

“Are you alright?” He asked, genuinely concerned.

Eve leaned towards him and whispered near his ear. “Do you know what I was supposed to do?”

His eyebrows scrunched together. “You… You haven’t memorized the script?”

“There’s just so many scenes like this. I’m not sure which one it is.”

Ghong Yu seemed skeptical but he gave her the benefit of the doubt. He pressed his lips together for a second and said, “It’s when you tell me about the breakup with Charlene Evans.”

“Oh!” Eve exclaimed. Now that was something she remembered vividly. “Got it. Thank you.”

He smiled at her enthusiasm. “Any time.”

“Let’s do this again…” Director Sguist instructed. The crease lines across her forehead deepened. This seemed like it was going to be more difficult than she thought. She waited for signals among the crew before yelling… “ACTION!”

Eve resumed what she had been doing. This time, when the door clicked, she walked towards her desk and handed over the folder to Ghong Yu. “Here are the previous contracts we made with investors. I would also like to report that Charlene Evans had accepted the gift.”

Ghong Yu shut the folder close after skimming the first page briefly. “Was there any problem?”

“Nothing we weren’t able to handle.”

“Good.”

“CUT!”

Everyone directed their focus on Sguist. She hopped off her seat and approached her actors. She briefly mimicked what just happened with quick hand gestures before addressing them.

“This can’t do, okay?” She spoke firmly. “There isn’t much time in the film. You have to establish chemistry from the start! No one wants to see you act this stiff! There has to be sparks even when there’s no romance yet. Maybe do a little ad lib flirting”

Eve opened her mouth to protest. “But—”

“I object to that idea,” Ambryan cut in. He stepped forward with his arms crossed over his chest. “The assistant and the CEO aren’t meant to flirt in this scene. It’s not how it goes.”

“We’re trying to condense this story into the movie’s time frame. The audience must root for the female lead from the start! That even with a montage of different women, the CEO has the most chemistry with her but they fail to see it!” Director Sguist insisted.

“Let’s try it once, okay?” She compromised not a second later.

Ambryan clenched his hands into fists. If this woman hadn’t been backed by the investors, he would have gotten rid of her on the spot. Her behavior was simply unacceptable! And there wasn’t any respect for the material!

“Fine,” he agreed through gritted. “But only once.”

Eve shivered down her spine. She exchanged looks with Ghong Yu before retreating back to her previous post. The crew adjusted once again and the third shot commenced. The atmosphere had more tension than usual.

Ignoring the frosty air, Eve added a small change.

She let her hand linger on the folder as she gave it away.  “Here are the previous contracts we made with investors. I would also like to report that Charlene Evans had accepted the gift.”

“Was there any problem?”

“Nothing we weren’t able to handle.”

Ghong Yu poked his inner cheek with his tongue, watching his assistant arrange the rest of the files. The way his eyes flickered was quick enough for the director not to call him out for the lack of ad lib.

He spent a significant amount of time staring at the back of Eve’s head.

Eventually, he gave in to his curiosity. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Eve stammered from shock. Her hands dropped the files. Legitimate panic agitated her head. It showed in her wide eyes. She made a move to pick them up but a shadow blocked her way.

Firm fingers dripped the tip of her chin and forced her to look up. Ghong Yu tilted his head the other way. “What gift would you have liked?”

“CUT!” Sguist shouted, brimming with energy. “Now, that’s more like it!”

“Now, hold on,” Ambryan said, his glare had turned into icicles. “That’s too much. That’s not how I would have acted. It’s not true to the chara—”

“How about we stop beating around the bush?” The director groaned. She threw her hand towards the desk. “If you are so opinionated, why don’t you show us how it’s supposed to be done?”