“Cut!”

     Gerald’s grip on my face starts to loosen and so does his grip on my lips. I slowly open my eyes just in time to see his eyes open, too. They are still wild and raging. He slowly backs up, keeping his eyes on me until he finally turns around and walks away.

     My hand shoots up to feel my lips. They feel so . I stood there, dumbfounded.

     “Break time, guys!”

     Haidi walks up in front of me, stopping just a foot away. She remains still and just watches me.

     “What?” I demand.

     She breaks into a smile and sighs, “Alas, you guys could’ve been so beautiful together. That kiss..." She looks down."Oh, that kiss.”

     “Nonsense,” I reply, turning around towards my tent.

      Haidi catches up and walks along with me, “Nonsense? Tell me, Kim Chiu. Did you feel anything in that kiss?”

      I stop in my tracks and look at her. “Uh, no. Well, I felt his lips, of course, but other than that, no,” I answer and continue walking.

     “Oh, that kiss,” Haidi sighs. “But what I meant was; did you feel anything stir in your chest when you kissed him?”

     “You’re starting to get corny, Haidi. Something stirring in my chest? What, do you want me to have a heart attack or something?”

     Haidi shakes her head. “Ay, I’m the one who’s gonna have a heart attack from you. It’s just a simple question." She exhales, "Kids these days.”

     I chuckle as I put my arm around her, “Love you, Haidz.”

     She playfully slaps my . I squeal and we both end up laughing.

     “Oh, by the way, Sam texted,” Haidi announces.

     “What’d he say?”

     “He said he’ll pick you up today so you guys can have dinner together.”

     “But it’s already nightfall.”

     “He said he’ll wait for you,” replies Haidi. “After all, he’s busy ‘til then.”

     “Okay.”

     We stop by Jose who was quiet the whole time we were doing the blocked scene. “That was too good,” he says. “Wait, where’s Gerald?”

     “Oh, um, he...” I mumble, “Uh, I don’t know.”

     “Oh, okay. I’ll just let him know later.” He pauses, “ Anyway... good thing I had the cameras rolling during that scene. The emotions, it was so raw, so sincere. I could feel the sting of that moment.”

     "Ay, me, too," Haidi tells him, putting her hand up for a high-five.

     Jose plays along and high-fives her. I laugh along with Jose.

     “So we’re done with that scene? No redo`s?” asks Haidi.

     “No need to,” Jose replies. “That was just perfect and spot on.” Jose turns to me, “Kim, tell me, what kind of reason or inspiration were you running on during that scene?”

     I turn to look at Haidi and she just stares back. “Reason...? Inspiration? Um,” I pause. What was my inspiration? Why was I so raw and so sincere, like Jose said? What was I thinking during that scene? All I could come up with is Gerald and his presence and the sad air that surrounded us. “Experience, I guess.”

     “Ah, experience, the greatest teacher ever,” Jose says. “Well, remember that experience because we’re gonna need more of that rawness you showed. Okay?”

     I nod and smile. Jose lightly slaps my shoulder before leaving. Once we get in my tent, I flop down the makeshift bed. Haidi tosses me the script and some clothes.

     “The script is marked. Next scene’s with Vhong,” Haidi says.

     “Is Vhong here?”

     “I think he just arrived.”

     “Well, alright,” I reply, setting the clothes and script down. “What time does the next scene start?”

     “Don’t worry, you have an hour-long break.”

     “Then I’m gonna take a nap. Wake me up after thirty minutes.”

     Right before I fell asleep, a flash of the sun’s surrender came to me.

     “Kimmy!” Someone is shaking me.

     I slowly open my eyes to Vhong sitting at the foot of the bed. His presence surprises me so I quickly sit up. “Oh, hey, Vhong,” I yawn out.

     “Hey,” he answers. “Haidz told me to wake you up.”

     Right then, Haidi walks in and takes a seat at a lawn chair across Vhong. “You’re awake,” she states. “Gerald brought you something while you were asleep.”

     “He did?” I ask, rubbing my eyes.

     “Yep,” replies Vhong, smiling at me. “Yes, he did.”

     “What is it?”

     Haidi points to the table. “See for yourself.”

     I walk over to where Haidi was pointing, a white plastic bag sitting on the table. I peer in and grab the Styrofoam box out. Siomai, the Styrofoam box has siomai in it. I couldn’t help but smile.

     “Uy, look at Kim Chiu, getting all giddy,” Vhong tells Haidi. And Haidi eagerly nods along.

     I roll my eyes at them. “I should prolly thank him.”

     “He’s doing a scene right now and you still have to memorize your lines and get ready.”

     “Oh, crap. I forgot,” I grab my clothes and head straight for the curtained booth at the back of the tent.

     “Twenty minutes, Kim,” yells Haidi.

     After I dress up, I start reading my lines. Vhong runs his lines with me to help me memorize. Once everything has been memorized, Haidi touches up my hair and make-up while I remain seated in front of my dressing table.

     “Oh, Vhong, I forgot to tell you,” Haidi says as she clipped on one of my hair extensions. “You missed the best part of the day.”

     “Hm,” he answers, looking up from his script, “What would that be?”

     “Kim and Gerald had a kissing scene today!”

     Through the mirror of my dressing table, I see him turning to me and then he raises his eyebrows before slowly breaking into a huge grin. “Oh!” he barks and starts laughing in disbelief.

     “I’m not joking,” Haidi shakes her head. “It’s true.”

     “Oooh-ooh-ooh!” Vhong laughs. “Already? That's... This is why I idolize you, Kim Chiu. Kissing your ex? God, I’d go mad if I were you.” I am going crazy.

     “But then again, it’s a whole different case when it comes to the Kimerald,” Vhong continues.

     I turn around to look at him, “How is it different?”

     “I don’t know. It just is," he shrugs. "It seems that you guys don’t really fall out of love with each other even if you’ve got new loves... I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.”

     “Bull,” I say, rolling my eyes. That didn’t make any sense.

     “Whatever, Kim.” Vhong turns to Haidi, “You should’ve told me to come earlier so I could watch the kissing scene.”

     “Oh, God, you would cry if you did. We only did one take and that was just the blocked one.”

     “Oh,” Vhong sighs. “Kimerald magic, huh?”

     “Yup. Jose said it was so raw and so sincere.”

***

     Vhong was still teasing and funny. It took us seven takes to finally perfect the scene. And by then, everyone started packing up. Vhong and I remained to watch the shot scene with Jose.

     It's half-past eight and I still haven’t had dinner. Weariness is starting to hit. As I walk back to my tent, I see Sam come out.  My heart beat picks up pace along with my steps. I jump onto Sam with open arms. I bury my face into his chest, close my eyes and inhale his presence. The weariness starts to fade. I look up from behind Sam’s shoulder, just in time, to see a last quick glimpse of Gerald’s blank eyes, a few yards from us, at me right before he abruptly turns around and walks the opposite way. The weariness is all gone.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I merged some chapters together so there are fewer chapters now. This might confuse some of you so I encourage you to check the previous chapters just to make sure you didn't miss any:)