Chapter 220：The Apology (18)

Joann missed a step and she tumbled forward. Seeing this, Xu Jing quickly reached out to grab her. It was a typical scene that you'd find in a romance setting, which was why the director smacked the cameraman on the back of his head as a signal to get the camera rolling. This was tv gold. Perfect for a series they were doing.

However, the scene where the two leads looking into each other's eyes before one turned away shyly did not happen. Joann pushed herself up from Xu Jing and said her thanks in an almost robotic manner. One could interpret that as shyness, many other unknowing viewers definitely would but there was no blush that rose to Joann's face nor did her tongue get tangled. If anything, it felt like she could not wait to get away from her husband's physical touch. The disappointment on Xu Jing's face could not be understated, perhaps the man too thought this would lead to a romantic scene.

The director was about to say cut and had them reenact the whole scene when Joann realized due to her fall earlier, the strap of her shoes had come undone. She started to bend down to fix it but before she could do so, Xu Jing already got down on one knees to fix it for her. The man noticed the strap before she did and he would not hesitate to take the opportunity to make himself useful. It was as if the man was going overdrive on his obsequiousness to Joann to make up for the sin he had committed.

With another valuable scene before his eyes, the director retreated back to behind the camera and kept the camera rolling. To have a man who was willing to get down on his knees to do something as menial as fixing one's shoes, that would strike at the heart of female audience, which were the majority of their viewers. Of course, the director would not let such a valuable scene go to waste. Missing that take would be a crime of epic proportions.

Unfortunately, Joann did not technically pull through for the director. She did not lean down to give her husband a kiss, say thanks or even have a smile on her face to show any sign of happiness and bliss. She had a barely discernible scowl on her face like she was resisting the urge to kick him away. After Xu Jing was done, he turned his head up in anticipation, hoping that his wife would smile down on him and perhaps tell him that everything had been forgiven.

Alas, all he saw was Joann's back. The woman turned and walked away without a single word, not even a thank you when he was done fixing her shoes. She did not extend him her arm to help him get up from the floor or even wait for her husband to stand up. She just turned and strode away.

Xu Jing looked like he was crushed, it was as if his soul was yanked out of his heart and stepped on. Then again, he knew he only had himself to blame. The self-inflicted guilt added to the pressure on his shoulders and the devastation on his face heightened.

Another man who was felt the disappointment, albeit on a much smaller degree, was the director. He just could not get his luck that day. The couple kept giving him footage that he could not use. The series was trying to showcase the celebrity couple's blissful everyday moment and that would bring in the audience through the vicarious sense of happiness. He needed the kind of scenes that would make the viewers go ooh and aww...

However, so far he had gotten nothing. If Joann wasn't such a big star, the director would have yelled for her to redo everything already. The director sighed and he planned to go to Joann to discuss the direction of the series. He wished that she would understand what the audience want to see and cooperate with him to give him the footage he needed to make the illusion work.

As the director moved away from his seat, he realized Xu Jing was still kneeling on the floor. Feeling sorry for the man, the director intended to walk over to him to tell to get up from the floor when he saw the expression on the man's face.

It was a mask of such genuine sadness, contrition and apology that the director couldn't help but be impressed. He had only seen such vibrant and emotive performance from Oscar-winning actors. Then, the director was struck by inspiration. There was more than one ways to garner an audience, if the heartfelt moment and instant gratification was not going to cut it, one could always lean back on drama.

The director then realized drama was practically the staple of reality tv and they had not included one dramatic scene yet... but that was going to change alright. The director slunk back to his seat and ordered the cameraman to focus on Xu Jing's face and how the man was still slumped on the floor. Looking at the video that was on the camera, the director knew he had struck gold.

Normally, Joann would have stayed back to join the editing team after the shooting but since she had the movie premier to attend that night, she left the job in the capable hands of the team. That was why she had no idea the different direction the director had taken for the latest episode and the episode was released on the internet for the whole world to enjoy, creating a force that was going to disrupt her life in more ways than one.

Xu Jing woke up one morning by the end of the week and as it had been become his habit, the first thing he did was to find his phone and log online to read the comments of the latest episode of Call of Joy that was posted online the day before. It was not wrong to say, he was not prepared.