Chapter 14 What is love to you?

Chapter 14 What is love to you?
This was the table reading for Crimson Oath. All the actors were sitting together with Daniel Kwon at the head of the table.

The leaked pictures of Rowan and Adrian had gone viral, the entire fandom exploding when Daniel had the social media team make the cast announcement.

Like he’d anticipated, everyone automatically thought the paparazzi pictures of them coming out of the hotel together was staged for the movie.

There had been mixed reactions from the public. Everyone was wondering how the two biggest rivals in the industry had managed to land a movie where they were each other’s love interest.

The other half praised how perfect they looked together which made Daniel happy. Now all he had to do was make them get along beyond the cameras.

He even noticed how they avoided contact with each other, he knew there was a hidden story there. 

All he needed was time to figure out what it was.

“Let’s start with the third act when Lucien and Kael realize they’ve fallen in love with each other.” He looked at Rowan and Adrian, “I need you both to tell me what love means to you and how it translates to your character.”

Adrian almost scoffed.

Yes, they were similar to their characters in a lot of ways. Especially with their arranged marriage. But, like their characters they’d never fall in love.

Ever.

And as for what love meant, Adrian had no idea.

He’d never had the luxury to experience it. 

The only thing he’d known his entire life was survival. Only someone who had a complete meal in front of them could afford to catch feelings.

Which was why he’d spent all these years crawling out of the slums and making sure he never ended up back there.

“Adrian…”

Rowan’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

Right.

They were supposed to talk about love.

“Go first,” he told Rowan. “You know more about love than I do.”

It felt like a dig but everyone could practically name all of Rowan’s past lovers with their eyes closed.

Rowan narrowed his eyes on Adrian, wondering what he was on about.

“Love is…” he thought about it for a while. “Quiet and sure.” He flips through the script, “There’s no confusion when someone’s in love with you. Their feelings are clear, you never have to doubt it.”

Daniel nodded his head as he listened. “And how do you communicate these feelings to your significant other?” he risked a quick glance at Adrian.

“You don’t.”

Everyone turned to look at him.

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked, “Why won’t you let them know how you feel?”

Rowan shrugged, tapping his index finger on the table. “Because then it becomes unpredictable. What if those feelings are not reciprocated? What if you fall out of love after confessing? The best thing is to help the person whichever way you can.”

Adrian scoffed from his side of the table. “That just makes you a coward.”

“How so?” Daniel put his elbows on the table. It was about to get interesting.

The two actors were very much different from each other. 

If he wanted them to have the level of chemistry required in the movie, then he had to understand their differences and work around it.

“His problem,” Adrian started, “Is that he always wants to be in control, and that’s not how loving someone works.”

Rowan dropped the script on the table. “Looks like you’re very much educated on this topic.”

“Love isn’t something you schedule like one of their meetings.” He kept his gaze trained on his opponent. “You don’t control it, it just happens. For something as deep as love, it knows no bounds. It won’t bend for you.”

Then he turned to Daniel. “Whether you like or not, the feelings you have for someone will always show in one form or another.”

“I like that thought.”

“That just brings uncertainty,” Rowan countered. “People will do all manner of heinous things and blame it on love. When in reality what they have is lack of discipline and self control.”

Adrian laughed. “Control and love have no business being in the same sentence.”

Rowan leaned back in his chair. “Of course you’d think that, you’re the type to do whatever you want without caring about the consequences.”

“Right,” Adrian’s voice was slowly rising. “You know what director? I’m going to go ahead and schedule a time for falling in love this year. Then I’ll proceed to not even confess to the person I’ve come to love just because I don’t have the courage to face the possibility of being rejected.”

“That’s not what this is.” Rowan’s blank expression was starting to sleep, his lips set in a straight line. “I’m not some coward that can’t take rejection.”

“Were you rejected by your first love?” Adrian teased. “Or your father is so controlling he won’t let you choose a partner of your own?”

Everyone immediately knew he’d hit a nerve when Rowan tensed up, his script falling to the table. 

“I’ll have you know I’m capable of making my own decisions,” he finally replied, jaw tightening and his hands folded in a fist.

“Doesn’t seem like that to me,” Rowan continued, then gestured to his hands. “Are you going to lose control and punch me?”

Then—

He stood up, a smirk on his lips, and hands on the table. He leaned into Rowan, silently daring him to look away first.

There was something absolutely divine about seeing the man that always looked perfect and untouchable finally unravel.

If he could, Adrian would let his fingers reach into Rowan’s hair and mess it up a bit. He’d seen him spend a good thirty minutes trying to lay down the strands with hair gel.

He might even unbutton the jacket he was wearing and undo a couple buttons of his black shirt.

“Do you know what I think, director?” he asked, eyes twinkling with mischief. “My love interest…he seems to have lost control for the first time since I’ve known him.”

Adrian did the unthinkable, he grabbed Rowan’s wrist. “He wants to punch me, but I can bet my entire life that he doesn’t have the courage to actually hit me in the face.”