Chapter 281: Stumbled Upon A Rare Gem
After her talk with Ethan, she went into her dressing room, where for the first time since filming she was dressed in her costume and shot her first scene.
The filming crew had their eyes fixed on her. They had seen Brooke try and fail in blocking, but it was the first time seeing her in her costume and makeup.
Although her character was a pale, sickly princess, she looked radiating. But then again, some of the extras had judgy looks on their faces.
"So what if she’s a little pretty? That doesn’t mean she can act for shit." One said.
Another seconded, "Look at how bad she is at blocking. It’s a miracle we’ll be able to get any filming done-"
"Ready, and....action!" The director yelled, followed by the clipping sound of the film slate.
Silence enshwed.
Everyone remained still as Brooke began running her lines, immersing herself in the character. It was a simple scene, where she was briefed by her handmaid on her sister’s banishment because of a political framing.
All Brooke had to do was react to the news with a silent cry and then fainting on the spot.
It was a scene that seemed so little, but needed much technicality.
The director knew that much. ’Most actors can rely on dialogue to let their talent show, but it’s scenes like these, with minimal lines and focus on expressions that make or break actors.’ he narrowed his eyes at the script.
The script writer left much to the imagination, which meant that Brooke was allowed to execute the scene at her own discretion as long as it stuck to the central idea.
A tasking challenge for a first timer.
He held onto his megaphone tightly, ready to yell ’cut’ when she made a mistake.
However...
*Thud*
Director Flynn was so caught up in his thoughts that he failed to catch the moment. He turned to his assistant director, who just like the cast had their jaws dropped.
Immediately, he got off his chair and went to the camera crew, "Show me the footage."
The lead camera man nodded, snapping out of his daze. He played the scene to the director, who was left utterly speechless.
After watching for a second time, his lips flattened into a wide grin. He averted his eyes to Brooke, who had a worried look on her face from the silence on set.
"Lucas, it seems we’ve stumbled upon a rare gem." he said under his breath.
Brooke finished filming in the evening, since she hadn’t been on set much, she begged the director to let her fill up for the scenes she missed.
And after hours of nonstop filming, Brooke retired to her hotel room to change out of her clothes and meet up with Thane. He had messaged her earlier that he was out in the area and could pick her up.
After changing, she decided to quickly go and check on Sadie, who would be filming at night with Damien. However on her way out she got a call from Kayden. She got into the elevator and quickly answered.
"Hi, how’s everything at the hospital?" She asked.
Kayden replied, "He’s out of danger and has been asking to see you. I tried calling earlier but..."
"I’m so sorry, I was filming and had my phone on silent." She apologized. Her mind spiraled to two things, one, the Cassie situation, and then the thing with Susan.
Fortunately, it was as though Kayden could read her thoughts. "Cassie’s still here, unfortunately."
"Have you called the police to have her removed? What about the security cameras?" Brooke interrogated.
"No good, the cameras show her running into your room with a knife, but since the bedrooms don’t have cameras, we can’t strongly prove that she was the one who stabbed him. Especially, since she’s claimed that you were the one who did it." He hissed.
"What? But she brought in the murder weapon."
"I’m having the knife tested for her fingerprints, that wench won’t get away with this. She’s dug a hole she can’t climb out of." He assured Brooke.
Brooke nodded, "What about your aunt?" She had been meaning to ask this, throughout filming it was all she thought about.
The elevator reached the grand floor of the hotel room, Brooke stepped out, attracting the stares of the staff members hanging around the lobby.
Kayden’s tone dropped, "We haven’t been able to contact her the whole day."
Brooke stopped in her tracks, "What?"
"She’s not answering her calls, I’ve hired some people to look into it, it’s odd that she doesn’t have her phone on her."
"Hey, that looks brutal."
"Oh my God..."
Brooke heard some murmurings from the staff watching television downstairs, she shook her head and refocused her attention on Kayden.
"Did she have her location on? Did you know what hospital she was having the test ran?" She frowned at the unsettling feeling resting in her chest.
"No, she kept it a secret from me. I asked Julian about it, but he says she didn’t tell him either to make sure it stayed secret. As for tracking her phone, we’re waiting for the police to get back to us..." his voice was drowned out by the reporter on television.
Brooke hissed and turned to leave, but her eye briefly caught sight of the headline on the news.
-"LIVES LOST AS A SPEEDING CAR SLAMS INTO A TANKER TRUCK"-
She shook her head in pity, then walked out of the hotel, switching the phone to her other ear. "Please, if you hear anything about her whereabouts keep me in the loop."
"Of course. And if you could, come see Julian, I think he has something important to discuss with you."
Something important? Was it about Cassie? Or about something else?
Kayden quickly added. "And he specifically asked for you to come with your husband. He said he wanted to ask you both something."
Brooke frowned, just what could Julian want with both her and Thane?