Chapter 12: Settling Down

Chapter 12

Lila’s POV

The view in Shanghai was stunning. The sky, the breeze, everything in fact. I walked out of the airport with the crew as they all talked and laughed on their merry way.

I wasn’t the type who easily interacted with people hence the reason why I was at the far back. Just watching them but never adding a word to everything they said.

“Oh I am so sorry. Forgive my manners”

What a perfect welcome. No one to talk to and I just got splattered with a whole cup of coffee on my white dress.

“It’s okay. You don’t need to bother. I can just quickly change it”

The girl before me looked so small and tiny, carrying a tray of coffee cups. Seems like she sold them to other people.

“If you don’t mind me asking? Aren’t you supposed to be in school right now?”

I watched her face fill with despair at my question. And she shook with fear as well.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to answer. Here…” I reached into my bag and brought out a stack of money that Ethan had prepared for me earlier. Combining it with the black card Adrian had handed over to me, I had more than enough to sustain me throughout my stay here.

“Oh no. I couldn’t possibly.”

She waved her hands as she rejected the money. I insisted for a bit before she finally agreed to take it from me. A huge smile on her face.

“Thank you ma’am. It truly means a lot.”

I simply nodded and waved her goodbye as I left. I had no intention of staying there and drawing the attention to myself. I helped her because I wanted to and because she needed it more than I did. Not because I wanted the glory.

I boarded a cab and made my way to the hotel.

“You are finally here. We thought you got lost or something”

Another crew member called out to me as soon as I stepped into the hotel lobby.

“Is anything wrong? We aren’t scheduled for any important meeting till tonight”

“True. But for some reason, the news about our arrival leaked and now the entire floor is flooded with reporters and journalists who want an inside information about the movie”

“But there has been no news about the movie yet. We haven’t even shot the sequel”

“I know. And that’s why the directors are panicking. No one knows what to do. And if this isn’t resolved, the movie won’t sell well since we started with a bad hype”

I could tell she was panicked as well. This wasn’t something that happened on a regular basis.

“Where are the directors and producers? Maybe we can all think of something? Or we just face the problem head on”

“Face the problem you say? Seems like you don’t know the squad up there. Come on. I will show you”

She dragged me by hand as we went up the elevator. Once the elevator doors dinged and opened, I was shocked.

“That truly is much.”

I was awed by the crowd of people and the cameras swinging left and right. I looked to the side and saw the one of the directors and scriptwriters and I walked up to them.

“Sir. If it’s possible and okay by you, can I talk to them?”

“Only if you could Lila. Everyone is in a fix and doesn’t know how to handle this. The movie producer, Mr Raymond and Mr Peach are no where to be found either.”

“Okay then. Let me try”

I had no idea what I was going to do but someone had to step up.

“Excuse me. But you can ask me your questions in an orderly manner. You are disrupting everyone’s peace with the ruckus.

Once I dropped my statement, they all rushed to me as their questions flew out one by one.

“I heard the male lead for the movie ‘His Empress’ hasn’t been made known yet?”

“Is it true that you are adapting a popular book series for the book and not just creating a new draft?”

“When is the sequel of the movie going to drop?”

The questions kept on coming as I just stood and looked at the crowd. The same thing carried on for about a few minutes before they decided to calm down on their own.

“Now that everyone is finally calm, I can finally address the main questions asked.

One. Yes we don’t know who the me lead is going to be.

Two. We are adapting the web series. Though a few tweaks we don’t know of will be made.

Three. The sequel will drop when it’s meant to drop. Any other related news will be discussed by our media team. Thank you”

I took a bow and went back to where the scriptwriter and director stood. Their faces were in shock.

“What happened? Did another problem come up?”

I was speechless. Just how many issues were we going to deal with here.

“No problem. No more problems at all.”

The director’s face lighted up as the reporters excused themselves and left one by one. No doubt they didn’t get the juicy details they had come for.

“You were so cool there. You left them blabbing like a bunch of parrots. And when they were finally done, you dropped the bomb and left. You even gave them a bow so they won’t have any issues later on. From here on now, you are my mentor. I’m Sienna by the way. The third female lead”

The girl who dragged me up rambled as she brought out her hands to shake mine eagerly. No doubt she was still a teenager as she still had the young girl vibe. I shook her hand with a warm smile. Reciprocating the energy she was giving.

“I didn’t do much though. I just answered the important question asked. There was no other need to still stand there.”

“Go on, both of you have your rest. The movie premiere is still at the same time so you already know what to do”

The scriptwriter and director were still giddy as they left. Leaving behind I and Sienna alone.

“Have you found out who to pair with in your room? I can pair with you”

The directors had made the provisions that two people would be assigned to the same room in order to control the costs.

I was going to pair with anyone I had interacted with well during my stay but Adrian had heard about it and strongly refused.

I couldn’t argue with him so I just went along with his plans. Though we agreed that I would still stay in the same hotel as the others. That much we could agree on.

“Oh don’t worry. I already have plans.”

“Bummer. I will see you during the movie premier then. Goodby Lila”

She waved as she sped up to an open door. Yup. She was a teenager.

I made my way to the front desk to ask about my reservation and I was directed to the master suite.

What was I expecting when Adrian was involved?

Making a mental note to call him after the movie premiere, I dropped my bags and started picking out my dress.

I was going to wow everyone.