Jeremy"s guilty look did not make it better for Ryn"s heart. In fact, it made her get more furious."How could you?"
Mika who was the one catching Jeremy kissing the sleeping Ryn just now and the one crying in shock nodded. Although she wanted her best friend to be back to her brother, it did not mean she accepted him "raping" Ryn.
All the sleepinessin them dissappeared because of this.
"I... I..." Jeremy was lost for word. He knew whatever he said would only sound like an excuse to them.
What have he done to be caught like this? He should make sure nothing could interrupt him!
"You know what? Nevermind. I"m already here so Mika, goodnight. I will see you later," Ryn did not bother to say goodbye to Jeremy. She pushed him out of the way and stormed into the house.
Mika watched her best friend storming away before her accused eyes stared at Jeremy.
"Shut up," Jeremy muttered and got back into the driver seat. He threw a glanve at the house silently before drove the car away.
*~*~*~*
A few hours later...
Ryn rushed into the bathroom for a quick freshen up. She was getting late!
She grabbed her backpack and with two hands, tying her hair into a loose bun.
"I"m coming!" she cried as she locked the door quickly.
Mei Li yawned loudly. She was so tired but she knew Ryn was more exhausted than her. Ryn spent the day before with photo-shooting and then straight to the dinner. And by the look of the news online, it ended up pretty late as well.
Ryn must be exhausted.
"Is there coffee? I haven"t drunk anything yet," Ryn asked once she got into the car.
"It"s a bit cold. But we will go to the drive-through first before to the location," Mei Li said, rubbing her bleary eyes.
"Are you okay driving?" Ryn asked worriedly, seeing how sleepy Mei Li was.
"Yeah. Can you hold onto the fruits pickled? And please don"t eat them all," Mei Li begged as she handed two containers to her.
"Hmm..."
Ryn automatically opened one container and chewed a mango.
"Catherine!"
"What? I"m just tasting. Besides, I can"t fall asleep while you"re driving," Ryn took another mango.
"I need another sip," Mei Li took her cup and finished the coffee. She needed more caffeine!
The car quickly drove toward the nearest restaurant that opened 24-7. Both bought two cups of coffee each. And some snacks because both needed something to chew on the way. Then, they finally arrived at the location, after an hour and a half driving.
Ryn left her bag in the car and followed Mei Li into the building. They had to climb to the second floor to reach the studio.
"Miss Catherine, welcome," a young man wearing skull cap came to hug Ryn. He chuckled seeing her looking bright and cheery. No doubt while doing make-up Ryn would be sleeping.
"Sorry we"re a bit late," Ryn apologized as she hugged the man back.
"You two are just right on time. Come come. I"ll explain the concept," the man put a hand on Ryn"s back and urged her to the shooting area. "It"s an Alice in the Wonderland vs Maleficent."
"Cool. I"ll go change first," Ryn followed the stylist who quickly took a dress from the hanger. She quickly changed into it and went to sit so the make-up artist and the hairstylist could do their part.
About fifteen minutes later, Ryn approached them in her first outfit. She listened to the vision the director had and once she understood, she moved to the centre to take pictures.
It took only a few takes, and even that was too many.
Ryn changed into another outfit, makeup and hairstyle.
She again went to the front, this time she had to wait for the crews to finish preparing the site. She went to check the photos she took previously, discussing it with the director.
Mei Li, on the other hand, was already sleeping while holding her cup of coffee. Some crews giggled watching her antic. The shooting was so early so it made sense some of them still sleepy.
The shooting went on and on for over five hours. When the director cried "It"s a wrap." everyone breathed a relieved sigh and cheered.
The director could not stop from grinning from ear to ear. The concept and the vision he had in mind were done perfectly by Ryn with none of the frames go wasted. Of course, during the editing he and his team would have a problem to choose which photo to be used but it was worth it. He could not wait for the post-production step. He rubbed his hands excitedly.
Ryn c.o.c.ked an eyebrow seeing Mei Li sleeping peacefully on the chair. Although it looked uncomfortable but it did not disturb Mei Li in her lalaland. Even the cup of coffee in her hand was still firm without the risk of falling down.
Had Mei Li learned the technique of sleeping from her?
Shaking her head in bemused, Ryn shook her manager to wake her up. She grabbed the cup quickly when as she woke up, Mei Li unconsciously let loose of her grip to rub her bleary eyes.
Lucky. Ryn blew a sigh when she managed to save the coffee. Without thinking, she sipped the cold drink. Ahhh... Finally she felt better.
"Are you done?" Mei Li asked. She still had no clue of the incident she almost made. She stood up and cracked and stretched her arms, her back, her neck and her legs. G.o.d, she felt so tired!
"Hmm... Hmm..." Ryn patted Mei Li"s arm to indicate it had finished. Then, she almost pullled her still sleepy manager to the director to wave goodbye.
"Are you done for today or do you have another shoot?" the director asked, frowning seeing how sleepy the manager look.
"Four more hours before the flight," Ryn checked the watch. They actually would take a flight to the next location for tomorrow"s a.s.signment.
"Flight? Who will drive you to the airport?" by now everyone was gathering around, frowning seeing Mei Li started to sway.
Ryn simply looked at Mei Li, biting her lower lip slowly.
"We will take the cab," she finally decided and nodded her head firmly.
"Why don"t I send you?" one of the crews asked. He was worried seeing Ryn looking sleepy as well even though she forced her eyes to open wide. The two girls sleeping in the cab would be the perfect victims for a bad man!
"I would not want to disturb you..." Ryn frowned. She poked Mei Li but this manager of herd just nodded without thinking.
"Just let him send you. At least you can save the money for the cab fare," one of the girls chirped in, trying to persuade her.
"But..." Ryn was conflicted. She knew how busy they were and now...
"It"s okay. At least I can rea.s.sure everyone of your safety. What if you give the wrong address to the cab driver?"
Ryn looked at everyone and everyone was having the same serious look. Ryn sighed heavily.
"Thank you. We will go with you."
Everyone smiled. They knew Ryn could see the logic behind it. The man quickly took his jacket and led the way to his car.
Mei Li who was finally realized she was outside the studio (who knew she could walk down the stairs with her eyes closed without falling down which leave the man chuckling and Ryn speechless) looked around in puzzle.
"Are we done? Why are we here?"
Really. Mei Li left her speechless today. Ryn took a deep breath to calm herself and asked for the key from Mei Li.
When Mei Li innocently asked why, it almost made Ryn pulled her head in frustration.
The man who volunteered to bring them to the airport trying hard to swallow his laughter. These two were so funny!
Finally, Ryn managed to get both their bags from Mei Li car and got into the man"s car. She could only twitch her lips seeing Mei Li already asleep on the pa.s.senger side next to the driver. This girl was so... Unbelievable!
She thought she was the Sleeping Beauty in the team but it seemed like her manager was worst than her!
And she only slept like two hours or so today!
But her frustration seemed to slip away once she got into the car and leaned back comfortably. Even before the car started to move, she had fallen asleep, joining her manager into the dreamland.
The man could only get out of the car after starting the engine and pus.h.i.+ng the aircond. He could not hold it anymore. He spent about ten minutes laughing his heart out, ignoring the look from the other crews. He even had to wipe the tears away.
Once he managed to control himself, he nodded his head at the others as if nothing happened before and got into the driver seat. Both Ryn and Mei Li were oblivious of what he just did, too tired to even awake from the laughter. He glanced at both of them and took another deep breath. Then, he drove the car away.
Their destination? The airport.