Chapter 179 Buy One Get One
"So? Did you see him?" Linda rushed over to ask when she saw Nora come out.
Seeing Nora's devastated look, she immediately understood: "Didn't see him? Or did he reject you?"
Nora held onto the car door as she got into the van: "Didn't see him."
Linda had been in the entertainment industry long enough to know that some big shots were beyond their reach. The reason Kurt helped Nora last time was probably as a favor to someone else. This time, Kurt wouldn't even give them a chance to meet, which clearly meant he had no interest in Nora.
"What did Kurt say?"
"His secretary told me to know my place and stop coming to see him."
Nora irritably grabbed a bottle of water and took a few gulps. As she held the bottle and stared ahead through the windshield, some emotion welled up in her chest: "Are there any other options?"
"We can't count on Rainey anymore, Kurt won't work, and there aren't many people left in Emerald City who have any pull."
"Really?" William's face flashed through Nora's mind. Her hand tightened slightly around the water bottle, making it crackle.
......
The next day, Thalia returned to the set. As soon as she walked in, she felt something was off.
She went into the makeup room and grabbed someone to gossip: "What's going on?"
The makeup artist glanced carefully at the door, afraid Aaron might overhear the gossip: "Someone uploaded the incident from the other night about Nora delivering watermelon online."
"Aaron came in this morning and threw a huge fit. He was going to cut Nora's scenes, but now there's a problem with the screenwriter."
"What problem?"
"The screenwriter got hit by a car. Right now they're in the hospital being treated, life or death unknown."
Thalia's mouth dropped open in shock. What a coincidence, right? This whole thing felt kind of strange.
Not an accident earlier, not an accident later, but an accident at this critical moment?
Seeing Thalia's shocked expression, the makeup artist quickly leaned in: "You think it's strange too, right? Everyone on set is talking about whether Nora might be behind this."
Thalia thought to herself, we shouldn't be saying this - walls have ears.
"So are we still shooting today?"
"Yes! We already stopped for a day yesterday. If we stop again today, Aaron definitely won't allow it."
Thalia waved her hand: "Then let's do makeup!"
Halfway through her makeup, someone knocked on the makeup room door. Luca poked his head in: "Thalia, Gregory sent me to get coffee."
Thalia pointed at the coffee machine: "Help yourself."
"Okay."
Thalia watched Luca through the mirror. Seeing him grind coffee with practiced ease, she impulsively called out to him: "Luca, did you guys upload the watermelon incident online?"
"That's nonsense," Luca immediately denied it without hesitation: "Gregory isn't that kind of person. Besides, if we actively leaked this, wouldn't that be like inviting Nora to create a scandal with Gregory? Gregory wouldn't be interested in that kind of woman."
"I'm just curious, don't be so nervous," Thalia tried to calm him down, then tilted her head and glanced at the makeup artist, who tactfully left.
Once she was gone, only Luca and Thalia remained in the makeup room. Thalia sat in her chair, chin propped on her hand, watching Luca: "How are you guys planning to handle this?"
Luca thought: Could her gossipy intentions be any more obvious?
"I don't know. We have to wait until Gregory contacts the management company before we can decide on a plan."
"I see!" Gregory was like her - they both called it a management company, but really they were their own bosses. He clearly just didn't want to say.
Luca felt Thalia's eyes were full of scheming today. After finishing the coffee, he grabbed the cup and left, afraid he wasn't running away fast enough.
Today's scene featured Thalia, Nora, and Gregory together.
When Thalia read the script, she kept nodding. The plot fit the current atmosphere perfectly.
Aaron had said he would avoid having Nora and Gregory interact, but with the screenwriter's accident, they had to shoot according to the original script. As for Nora's scenes, they could only be edited out later.
As Thalia lifted her dress to go to the garden, passing by the makeup room, she heard people discussing in fragments: "Aaron said to postpone scenes with both Gregory and Nora, but Gregory said no special treatment needed. See, that's professional dedication. Now look at Nora - as an entertainment industry star, instead of focusing on acting, she pulls these tricks."
"Exactly!"
Thalia wanted to stay and listen to more gossip, but Isla pulled her back: "Layla told me to watch you and keep you out of this."
"Aren't you curious?" Thalia was puzzled. Was everyone really this calm? Not even interested in gossip anymore?
"I'm not curious," Isla said, dragging and pulling Thalia all the way to Aaron.
When Nora arrived, the whole set went quiet.
Seeing Thalia, Aaron's face immediately fell: "Let's start!"
In the scene, Thalia and Nora had a conflict. Gregory protected Thalia and criticized Nora with passionate and harsh words that made Nora's eyes turn red.
"Someone like you - letting you into my house is already doing you a favor. Don't be ungrateful and push your luck."
Gregory delivered these lines with such intensity that everyone felt stirred up, nodding along, almost applauding.
...........
"Keep it down, speak quietly. Are you afraid people can't hear you?" After finishing the scene, Nora returned to the makeup room and started losing her temper, ready to smash everything in the room. Linda covered the door and tried to calm her: "What you need to do now is perform well and make everyone believe you really were just delivering watermelon that night. The more you act like this, the more Aaron and everyone on set will think you have bad intentions. Nora, are you stupid? This show just started shooting, there's still editing to come. If you don't perform well now, believe me, during editing Aaron can make your character not even exist."
Nora's temper cooled a bit.
Linda continued persuading her: "Just focus on shooting, do well in every scene of this show. There are still several months until shooting ends. During these months, we'll find a backer, and then we'll have the money people pressure them. They won't have the power to cut your scenes even if they want to."
Nora trembled with anger, clenching her fists.
She forced herself to hold it in.
The night shoot finished at nine. Thalia checked the time, removed her makeup, and stopped by a coffee shop to buy two coffees on her way back to the apartment.
"Drinking two coffees by yourself?"
Just as she crossed the street with her coffees, she saw Gregory and Luca coming out with some daily necessities.
"Buy one get one free," Thalia calmly responded. She wasn't going to say this coffee was for William.
"Want to grab something to eat together?"
"No thanks. You've been involved in too many scandals lately. I need to keep my distance from you."
Gregory's mouth twitched. He'd never met anyone like Thalia who spoke the plain truth so directly.