CH 12

Chapter 12 Stranger’s Frenzy

In fact, with this film contract, Jenny does not have to work two jobs— during the day and night. Waitressing is an unstable profession, and if she takes a week off, at most, other waiters can cover her shifts or they can find a temporary worker to help out. With Jenny’s looks and popularity, Johnny wouldn’t fire her just because she took a week off.

But she still insisted on working the night shift, not mainly for the salary, or to make it easier for Johnny, but…

In the second scene filmed in the interrogation room, George also had some issues with forgetting lines, which caused the filming to go on until after five o’clock. Jenny removed her makeup and changed clothes, and Dave drove her to the restaurant. She was already two hours late, but Johnny did not blame her at all. Instead, he told her that being two hours late was not a big deal, and she could even leave early when there were fewer people, but he would need to halve her basic salary.

Jenny had no objections to this. She had underestimated the exhaustion of filming. In the acting space, she couldn’t feel physical fatigue, at most, only mental exhaustion caused by continuous immersion in the role. Today, although she only filmed two scenes, what she did not expect was that she had no time for rest even during the waiting period. It was even more tiring for her(as compared to waitressing) as she had to make sure her gown was not wrinkled.

Next was a six-hour shift, and by the end, Jenny supported herself with mere willpower. As soon as the busiest time for supper passed, she immediately said goodbye to Johnny and clocked out.

Dave had been waiting for her at the restaurant all this time, and no matter how she insisted, he refused to leave. He didn’t let Jenny walk home but drove her to the entrance of her building.

Jenny fell asleep in the car, exhausted. She woke up when the car stopped. “Are we here?”

“We’re here,” Dave said gently, looking at her. “Go upstairs and rest. You have to wake up early tomorrow — I’ll pick you up and have breakfast together.”

This is why Jenny needed to work the night shift. If she did not have the night shift, Dave would take her out for dinner, and then everything would naturally progress. She had no way to prevent Dave from confessing without hurting his feelings, and she did not want to reject Dave right now.

If this was taking advantage, she would calmly admit to it. For a girl who has nothing, how could she avoid having a guilty conscience in order to make it in Hollywood? At least, Jenny was still holding onto her bottom line, unwilling to sleep with Dave, not only because she had no interest in selling her body, but also because it would be an insult to Dave’s character — if he was the kind of lecherous producer who targeted her looks, she wouldn’t mind keeping him at arm’s length, taking advantage of him for her own gain, and then kicking him to the curb without any guilt. It was because Dave was so sincere with her that she kept avoiding the moment of desperation. Not only because she needed Dave as a friend, but also because she was unwilling to hurt him.

What eased her conscience was the fact that she actually liked Dave — after her ex-husband, Chen Zhen was no longer interested in handsome and wealthy men. Back then, her ex-husband appeared at her film academy as a wealthy, handsome gentleman, but it turned out that a person’s true nature had little to do with their looks or wealth. Dave was dedicated to his work, sincere in his personality, and behind his shy demeanor he had a bit of clumsy humor. If it weren’t for her special situation, she wouldn’t mind continuing to develop a relationship with him.

But now she did not have the time, Chen Zhen really did not have the time. For the girl with a goal to reach the peak of Hollywood, a relationship with Dave would be a huge waste.

Jenny was groggy at the moment, with no extra energy for guilt. She thanked Dave and then staggered up to the fourth floor, falling asleep the second she hit the bed without even taking a shower.

The next morning, Dave really came to pick her up for breakfast. As they sat in the breakfast shop, and smelt the delicious aroma of sugar and oil, whilst watching customers happily bite into donuts with their teeth, coupled with the greasy and salty taste of bacon and fried eggs— Jenny’s couldn’t stop the burn in pits of her stomach. Just the thought of over ten hours of shooting later, as well as the six-hour night shift, she had a strong and desperate craving to eat even just a bite of high-sugar, high-salt cake. Regardless of how mediocre the taste was, Jenny wanted very much to just savor the happiness of sweetness and the aroma of starch—

“Black coffee, a chicken salad with no dressing,” Alas, she stuck with her usual order, but added hesitantly, “and half a portion of vinaigrette dressing, please. Thank you.”

Dave ordered bacon with fried eggs, chocolate pancakes, mocha coffee, and orange juice. Jenny stared at his breakfast and really began to understand why celebrities usually have a bad temper.

“Wanna try a bite?” Perhaps noticing her expression, Dave asked as he handed her a pancake.

Refusing this bite of a pancake was even harder than rejecting Dave’s future confession.

Jenny closed her eyes and said with great difficulty, “No, thank you.”

#

Filming on set was not as straightforward as many outsiders imagined, with everything shot in chronological order. As it was an indoor shoot with a lot of set changes, the CSI crew used a unit-based approach to filming. Yesterday, they shot several scenes at the ‘ceremony scene set’ and completed the interrogation room parts. Today’s scenes were set at Juanita’s fashion shoot location, with some scenes spanning across a wide shoot schedule. Most of the scenes were with Nick, played by George, and she hardly had any scenes with female actors.

This relieved Jenny as to be honest, after Dave’s warning yesterday, she was worried about possible bullying incidents on set. Dave had told her many rules on set, both overtly and covertly, when they were in the trailer together yesterday. In such TV drama sets, the main actors were like princes and princesses, and unless they offended the all-mighty writers and producers, they could even bully the director at will, let alone a minor guest star like her. Unless one became intolerant, otherwise, even if bullied in front of everyone, others would pretend not to have seen it, to avoid losing their job.

Fortunately, there are only two female main cast members in CSI, and neither of them is taking the beauty route, instead focusing on their professional demeanor. Additionally, George, with who she plays a supporting role— has a good relationship with his girlfriend, and more importantly, he is not very interested in her off-camera. As for Warrick —who plays Gary— who seemed interested in her, she did not share even one scene with him. In addition, during their filming, he is preoccupied with his shoot with the green screen scenes in a neighboring studio. Thus, Jenny does not have to worry about harassment from either female or male actors at the moment.

Furthermore, today’s filming progress appeared to be much smoother compared to yesterday, George may have adjusted his acting approach after going back yesterday. Nick is captivated by Juanita’s allure but tries to maintain his composure and dignity, while Juanita treats Nick like she’s a cat playing with a mouse, finding his infatuation and struggle amusing. Once this tension-filled dynamic is portrayed, the rest is just delivering lines, and both of them are confident in that aspect.

In the afternoon, Jenny was called to the green screen room to shoot some solo scenes, which is even easier for her. Moreover, she finally could change into something that is not as tight-fitting, allowing her to be more relaxed during breaks without worrying about wrinkles on her clothes. Despite the busy shooting schedule, today overall felt much more relaxing than yesterday, as she feels herself getting accustomed to this atmosphere. Although the ‘performing arts space’ can simulate a very realistic set, there is still a difference between simulation and reality.

On this day, the crew members on set started showing obvious interest in friending her, including Emma Swan. During lunch, Emma pulled Lynch and they sat with Jenny and Dave, getting acquainted with each other and exchanging phone numbers.

On the third day, George invited her to a party, but Jenny politely rejected him letting him know she had a shift at the restaurant at night, George expressed his disappointment. Realization dawned on Jenny that this might be an indication of optimism for her future, as there were quite a few people who wanted to be like Emma Swan.

In other words, they all see potential in her future performance in Hollywood, which is why they are investing in friendship with her now. In Hollywood, relationships are sometimes more important than abilities, and this is almost instinctual for everyone in the industry.

However, Jenny did not get caught up in socializing because of this. It may be true that everyone wants to be friends with a promising actress. But for a female actress, only friends who can help her progress further, are worth the time investment.

After all, it’s just one episode of a TV series, and the shooting has been smooth sailing so far. Thus, Jenny’s scenes were mostly done by the fifth day. Though it was nearing the end, she had some significant scenes lined up to shoot in these two days as the crime scene setting had been set up. She has many murder scenes lined up, as well as the final dialogue scene between Nick and Juanita for this episode that was used during her audition.

Taking makeup into consideration, the scenes were shot in reverse order, with the final dialogue scene placed as the first scene. George mentally prepared himself before shooting, with his eyes shut, he muttered, “You can do it, you won’t forget your lines again.”

Jenny couldn’t help but laugh. “Is it really that exaggerated?”

“Didn’t you feel it yourself?” George said seriously. “When you were on set, it was like you became a different person. That aura… I don’t know how to describe it, all I can say is, I’m glad you’re completely different off-set.”

Jenny did not answer George’s question, but instead interjected, “By the way, are you a fan of Marilyn Monroe?”

George was a bit puzzled, but still answered, “Yeah? I’m an absolute fan of hers. I’ve watched ‘The Seven Year Itch’ many times. Though it looks a bit outdated now, her charm surpasses everything.”

Jenny understood now why George was so infatuated he even forgot his lines, while others simply thought she performed well. Jenny said, “I like her too, so I imitated some of her gestures in my acting. Maybe that’s why you found me charming while filming.”

Epiphany dawned on George. “ So that’s why.”

He asked again, “Are you sure you’re acting for the first time? You didn’t have any prior acting experience?”

Jenny immediately thought of her four years of acting classes and countless practices in the ‘performing arts space’…

“No.” She said firmly, “I really had no idea how well I performed.”

“You had no idea how well you performed, hahaha.” George laughed as if he heard a big joke, “Come on, do you really not know why Emma and the others are so enthusiastic about you?”

“Fine, pretending might be a bit melodramatic.” Jenny shrugged half-truthfully, “But I really don’t know why. I mean, I don’t even know where my next role is yet.”

“Sometimes you have to be patient.” George said, “Remember my party invitation — it’s still valid. I think in another two months, after the first episode airs, your phone will definitely be ringing off the hook. Don’t forget me then. After that, you’ll definitely have time for parties.”

This was exactly in line with Jenny’s thinking. She also believed that her career breakthrough would come after the airing of CSI201.

Seeing that the cameras were probably in position and the director could call “Action” at any moment, Jenny suddenly had a mischievous idea. Internally, she called out “A Week with Marilyn” and familiarly called on the character’s emotion.

“Hey, baby.” Jenny lowered her voice, her eyes flickering as she looked at George with a half-smile, “Don’t think I’ll forget your invitation so easily.”

George’s stunned and defeated look successfully pleased her. She released the character’s emotion and bent down laughing, a blushing George, pretending to punch Jenny, “You’re really terrible.”

Hearing the set manager calling for clearance, they quickly adjusted their emotions and expressions, returning to their professional performance mode.

#

In this final scene, there is a strong tension between Juanita and Nick as they engage in a fierce exchange. It is the first time Nick has gone on the offensive, taking the initiative from Juanita and catching her off guard. The scene has a lot of dialogue, but perhaps because of the joke that Jenny and George made, Nick is surprisingly relaxed, getting it right in just one take, while the director called for a few more takes of the scene for effect. After filming, everyone appeared to have had a weight lifted off their shoulders, letting out a sigh of relief.

Following this scene, the scene of the CSI team investigating will be shot. Jenny is free until lunchtime, so she happily searched for Dave in the crowd. However, she found Dave with Lynch standing in a corner of the set, apparently in a heated argument with a third person.

She quickly walks over, while lifting up her skirt in a bid to get there faster, and asks, “What’s going on, guys?”

As she approaches, she realizes that the third man is the middle-aged man she saw on the day she came for a makeup and costume tryout at the request of the director. He is bald and slightly chubby, with a prominent birthmark on his temple, so Jenny remembers him clearly.

On that day, he was looking at her from the end of the hallway, and from his expression, he appeared to have been captivated by her. She couldn’t help her amusement and even flashed him a smile.

Ermm, could it be that he is very interested in her and specifically came to see her film, so he could approach her after it’s done, using money to get close to her or something? Jenny is taken aback by her own thoughts, but she also knows that this is not unlikely, after all…to be honest, she is very young and beautiful, and these two qualities are enough to attract attention.

But even if that was his intention, how did Dave find out? What are the three of them arguing about? Was Dave trying to kick him out? Jenny can’t help but feel a headache creep up on her. Great, this is just what she needs, her first job on set and she already had an encounter with a storm of jealousy.

As he spotted her approaching, the third person’s voice grew louder, “Lynch, this girl doesn’t have a manager, she’s a free agent now, I can talk to her myself – I don’t see why your friend has any right to stop me.”

He looked at Jenny and then turned to Dave with a fierce expression, “If you really want the best for her, what’s the point of stopping me!”

Dave seemed to be struck hard, and a pained expression appeared on his face.

“What happened?” Jenny asked, confused. She walked over to Dave’s side, “Hey, are you okay?”

Dave shook his head, flashing her a smile filled with dejection. He hesitated for a moment, and then took the initiative to introduce Jenny to the man, “Jenny, this is Jim Davidson.”

“Jenny Jane Jefferson.” Jenny extended her hand and shook Jim’s hand, “I remember you, we met on the day of my makeup tryout.”

“Yes.” Jim glanced at Dave again, then adjusted his suit as if to make himself look neater, “Let me confirm with you again, you don’t have a manager, right?”

“No.” Jenny was still puzzled. “May I ask…”

“Good,” Jim’s eyes lit up, and he interrupted her without hesitation. “You need to come with me now, Cesare is leaving for the East Coast this afternoon, and we only have three hours.”

“Cesare? I—” Jenny was a little intimidated by his enthusiasm. She reflexively leaned towards Dave. But Lynch stepped forward, grabbed her shoulder, and said, “This is your opportunity, Jenny. You don’t know what kind of opportunity you’re getting right now. I have only one thing to say to you, seize the opportunity, go get it, understand? Now go with him, come back before lunch, I will explain to the crew.”

Jenny hastily glanced back at Dave, who was still standing in place, immobile. He forced a smile and nodded when he noticed her gaze.

Meanwhile, Jim, who walked briskly, had already disappeared in a hurry. After a while, he drove a Porsche 911 to the entrance of the studio, shouting impatiently, “Get in the car.”

Jenny looked back again, and Lynch and Dave were standing together now, gesturing for her to go quickly. Lynch even clenched his fist, urging her to do her best.

She took a deep breath, lifted her skirt, and walked through the scorching California sun, before getting into the sports car.

“Where are we going?” she asked, fastening her seatbelt.

Jim glanced at her, obviously extremely excited. Once he confirmed that Jenny had buckled her seatbelt, he immediately started the engine and then spoke a few words softly.

“Century City, CAA headquarters.”

The sports car shot off like an arrow, quickly disappearing at the end of the asphalt road.