Raina sat still like a doll while the makeup artist dabbed foundation on her face endlessly with a powder puff.It has been going on for an hour.Her character, Queen Yun Xi was a beautiful woman known to have pale skin and doll-like features.So extensive makeup was needed to transform her into the character.
A not-so-loud yell awake Raina from her trance like state.Everyones head whipped to the direction of the sound simultaneously to see a boy kneeling and apologizing, almost groveling at another person's feet in a pitiful manner.
"Would sorry fix my skin that you almost burned!" The actor bellowed at his assistant.He was the famous Casper Lu.An A-list star renowned across the continent.Loved and revelled by countless fans for his good looks and acting prowress.He came from a well to do family also and did not lack anything...except manners, obviously.Everyone watched silently as he humiliated the poor boy not wanting to get involved.
"A poor rat like you can not afford even just a single one of my skin care sessions." The contempt and disdain was so palpable that Raina itched to smack him hard across the face! Was she the only one who felt that way?
She hated rich entitled brats like him who think they are the sun and moon thinking of others like dirt below their feet.To think she would have to get romantic with him as he was playing the male lead made bile rise up to her throat!
"I--I did not mean to.I was br--bringing the coffee and you happen to stretch your legs at that m-mome--"
"So you are saying it's my fault,huh?" Casper cuts in harshly.The boy trembled and before he could utter any more words,he had received a punch to his jaw.Raina startledly winced for the poor guy as if she was the one who had been hit. "Let's continue" Raina's makeup artist said and turned Raina's face away from the violence and continued doing her job.
"He is at it again.He's just looking for someone to vent his anger on like he always does." The woman sighed.
"Is that how he is?" Asked Raina curiosly.There hadn't been a single trace of surprise on their faces.The woman did not reply.Perharps she answered through the silence.Raina tried to distract herself from the punching sound by subtracting numbers in her head but still could not concentrate.Her mind was on the show of bully.She turned her face suddenly, causing her eyeliner to be crooked. "Stop it!" She yelled out, soon realizing how much of a mistake it was.She was now the center of attention.The entitled brat's menacing gaze settled on her.Raina gulped an invisible lump out of fear.Everwhere went dead silent that one could hear a pin drop echo.She was almost deafened by the sound of her heartbeat echoing in her ears.Perharps she should not have gotten involved.The sorry gazes on almost everyone's faces said it all.
"Did you say something?" His voice was dangerously low,like he was daring her to repeat herself. "I said stop it!....Y-you w-were h-h-hurting him." Raina always prided herself as a person who could not be intimidated.But it was impossible not to stammer under his predator gaze.
"Who are you." That wasn't a question but a statement as Casper added a cynical answer the next second. "Ha! You are the no-name lowlife who should have been a body double but somehow got lucky to play a major role." Adrian said tauntingly as his eyes wandered over her features.If he didn't respect Mr Robertson,he would never have agreed to star with this insignificant lot.He always had a say in the selection of the cast whenever he starred in a movie,but this time the old director went ahead and did it all without consulting him.Now he was forced to star with someone way below his level.
What a brat! Raina fumed inwardly.As much as it hurt her pride,she knew she had to choose her words carefully and diffuse her own part.He is an A-lister and she is nothing compared to him and could not match his level.Treading wrongly would affect her but biting back her words would be so humiliating too!.
At that moment, Honey Smith walked in and told the costumers and makeup artist to pick up the pace.Raina quickly went back to her makeup, Inwardly thanking Honey,
"Why did you do that,what were you thinking?" The makeup artist scolded in a whisper.
"I got pissed seeing that no one made to stop him from hitting the guy!" Raina argued her cause in a reciprocative whisper.
"Casper Lu is not someone you or any of us can handle,you should have stayed out of it!" Raina had thought so too,but when she saw the guy's beaten face,the thought disappeared.No one should treat another like that.Bullying and injustice topped the list of things she hated.
Damn! How was she going to stand acting alongside him? They were both the key characters and leads and they were going to be onscreen lovers.