In another office, Isabella's assistant, Sarah, scratched her head, her mouth agape. "Boss," she asked, bewildered, "are you really going to do this yourself?"
"We don't have anyone else in the company right now, so this is the only way," Isabella replied without looking up from her screen. "The script should be here any minute. Get ready, and go ask him to come over for the audition."
Sarah shook her head in confusion and turned to leave. She couldn't understand it. Isabella was always so cautious, turning down roles that were even slightly too risqué. How could she agree to personally try out a sex scene with such a young, inexperienced actor? But… women understand women. Sarah thought about Peter's handsome face and lean physique, and the way Isabella's eyes had lingered on him. It clicked. The boss wants to taste some tender grass.
Isabella sat at her desk, searching through a folder on her computer. The office was sleek and modern, with a three-person leather sofa and a tea table arranged before a massive floor-to-ceiling window. The corridor outside was shielded by one-way frosted glass, and the soundproofing was impeccable.
Soon, she found the document: a script for a sex scene. It was shorter than the one she'd been given before, but it was comprehensive, designed to test an actor in every way.
"Okay, this is it," she murmured after reading it for a few minutes. "I want to see if that kid is just bragging."
A moment later, Peter opened the door and entered her office. The company's ad-hoc director and a lighting engineer were already there. Word had spread, and other employees, hearing that the boss was personally going to audition a sex scene with Peter, risked getting fired just to peek through the doorway.
"Do you all want to be fired?!" Isabella's voice was sharp, her sideways glance radiating the full force of her authority. The sound startled even Sarah. Instantly, the crowd at the door dispersed. The assistant scurried over and sensibly closed the door.
"Peter, let's get started," Isabella said, standing up and handing him a piece of paper. "Read this audition script first."
Peter took the script and began reading while the director started setting up the monitors and cameras. Filming tested an actor's sense of the camera, something often more critical than raw acting skill. Peter studied the pages carefully. The script was about a couple reuniting after a long, painful separation. It had few lines and relied almost entirely on body language.
After a few minutes, Peter nodded, signaling he was ready. Isabella, already familiar with the script, gave the director an 'OK' gesture.
"Actors to your marks!" the director called out loudly. "Three, two, one… Action!"
Everything was set up like a formal movie shoot. As the final word fell, Peter's entire demeanor changed. His eyes, once calm, now burned with an intense, affectionate fire. He closed the distance between them in two quick strides, his hands finding Isabella's slender waist and pulling her into a crushing hug. The soft mounds of her breasts pressed into his chest, and through the thin fabric of her blouse, he could feel the distinct, hard points of her nipples.
His face buried itself in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. As he held her, a jolt of heat shot through him, and deep in his pants, he felt himself stir to life. Isabella gasped softly, her body stiffening for a fraction of a second as she felt his slow, hardening arousal against her stomach.
This was the reunion of long-lost lovers, like rain finally breaking a long drought, like a spark hitting dry hay. They just… clicked. And holding a woman as beautiful as Isabella, who could possibly resist? Peter was in his twenties, his body brimming with vitality. He didn't know if it was the system's skills or his own primal instinct, but he unconsciously pulled her tighter, a nameless desire igniting within him. Isabella's hands gripped his back, her nails digging slightly into his shirt. She was enjoying this, enjoying a romantic charge she hadn't felt in a long, long time.
After a few moments of desperate, nibbling kisses against her neck, Peter drew back, one hand cupping her cheek. They stared at each other, their eyes locking in a loving gaze. Gradually, her expression softened, becoming hazy and drawn.
Isabella spoke her lines, her voice trembling with emotion. "Honey, you missed me so much! Do you have any idea how much I've missed you all this time you've been gone?" She pulled him into another deep hug, her hand roaming his back.
A tingling sensation spread across his skin. Following the script, Peter answered mischievously, "Then what part of you was thinking about me?"
Isabella playfully hammered his chest with a soft fist and snorted. "Hmph, you're bad. Every organ, every pore, every cell in my body was thinking of you!"
"Then you'll have to let me check and see just how much you missed me," Peter growled, and with a gentle push, sent Isabella tumbling backward onto the sofa, her feet flying into the air.
She looked impossibly hot and sexy in that moment. With a twist of his body, he followed her down, landing so that she was pinned beneath him. They were a tangle of limbs, their faces so close he could feel the heat of her breath on his lips. His gaze flickered between her eyes and her mouth. His hand slid from her waist to the swell of her hip, his thumb brushing over the thin silk of her skirt, tracing the delicate line of her panties underneath. The air was thick with a palpable hunger, as if they were two starving people about to devour each other.
Isabella had a wealth of acting experience, but her eyes gradually became blurred, her focus lost. At that moment, she truly didn't know if this was a real reaction or if she was just acting. A faint blush crept up her neck as she found herself both surprised and delighted by Peter's performance. Keep going! a voice in her head urged. It was as if Peter truly was her lover.
A few minutes later, their actions became bolder. The original script called for a two-minute scene, but the crew on set were too stunned to keep track of time. They whispered quietly, their eyes glued to the couple, afraid to miss a single detail.
"Can we even watch this?"
"It's just a trial run… is it supposed to be this intense?"
"Boss, when did you get so… hungry?"
Outside, the employees who had been driven away were sitting at their desks, listening to the muffled sounds coming from the office. It was an eye-opener. Who knew that Ms. Vance, who was always so serious and cautious, could be so bold?
Inside the office, the director hadn't called cut. The plot progressed, and the eyes of the few people present nearly popped out of their heads. The image on the monitor was too beautiful, too explosive, almost too intense to watch. The performance was impeccable, utterly natural. If you didn't know they were filming, you would think you were watching a private moment that could shatter the entertainment industry.
After another minute, the director finally realized how much time had passed. He shouted, "Cut!"
And at that exact moment, in a building across the street, a paparazzi wearing a baseball cap grinned, the lens of his camera focused intently on the office window, his finger pressing the shutter again and again.
This paparazzi was an employee of Victor Russo's team, one of the most famous in the business. He had been tailing Isabella for days with nothing to show for it. He was just about to give up when he stumbled upon the scene unfolding in her office. His heart hammered in his chest; this was the jackpot. Ecstatic, he raised his camera and started shooting.
Inside the office, the director's shout of "Cut!" shattered the spell. Peter and Isabella broke apart, both panting heavily. A deep flush colored Isabella's face, and her clothes and hair were a mess. Her assistant immediately rushed over to fix the hip-hugging skirt that had been pushed high up her thighs. Peter straightened his own shirt, the raw intensity of the scene still humming through his veins. It was obvious that both of them had been completely lost in the drama.
After a moment of adjustment, the room erupted in applause.
"Brilliant! That was absolutely brilliant!"
"The chemistry was so natural!"
"Ms. Vance, your acting just now was incredible," the director said, his face beaming with satisfaction. "Your performance was truly outstanding. The emotion in this scene was perfect."
Hearing the praise, Isabella felt a small spark of pleasure, but she kept her expression composed. After all, she had starred in massive hits like Crown of Embers and The Last Dynasty. Her acting skills were not in question. Still, this was her first time performing an audition of this scale, and she was surprised by how deeply she had thrown herself into it.
His performance had been recognized. Peter let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. The system's rewards were no joke. "Yes," he echoed with a smile, "Ms. Vance's performance was fantastic. Very dedicated."
"I have to admit, you're quite good at this," Isabella said, looking at him with a new light in her eyes. "Your acting is surprisingly strong. Just now I was…" She almost let her true thoughts slip, but quickly corrected herself. "I thought you were joking, but I didn't expect you to actually be this capable." She patted him on the shoulder, her gaze lingering. Before today, she remembered Peter's auditions as uniformly terrible, his dialogue stilted and his actions awkward. But in this kind of role, he was a natural. He really did have a talent, after all. She was glad she'd given him the chance; otherwise, the company would have missed out on a treasure… albeit a treasure with some very specific, crooked talents. But with cultivation, she could see him developing into something more.
Isabella sat on the sofa, taking a deep breath to calm the frantic beating of her heart. Peter's performance had completely exceeded her expectations. Every movement, every expression had been exquisitely detailed. As she replayed the feeling of his body against hers, she suddenly realized that the scene had felt exactly like the dizzying rush of falling in love for the first time. She hadn't felt anything like that in a very long time. As she sat there, she realized with a jolt that her own body was having a very real, very noticeable reaction.