Film of Love

Trente Quatre

“OMG! Did you hear that?” Tine enthusiastically exclaimed while we were on our way back to the floor our Division occupies. The meeting was dismissed minutes ago and we are told to get back to the pack—mostly those people that were assigned in a different division will pack but for us, what I mean is Christine and I are rooming where the Division 1 team will reside—means that we will stay here and for the others, they will need to go out and be with their other colleague from their respective Divisions.

“Yes, I did!” I replied late because I was drinking my coffee as I took a sit in my chair. I saw in my peripheral vision that she is still standing up and zoned out. For time being, the people went in and out one after another while they carry their things. They were like students back then that will exchange seats per subject but the difference here is they will be permanently staying here; it will just change if someone changes it.

A group of people went inside and did something I didn’t notice earlier. The wall that serves as a partition between the rooms is now being folded and some can be removed to make the room more spacious and accessible for us. There is still a wall that protects and gives us some privacy from people who are not part of our team.

The company itself looks big outside that can accommodate thousands of employees considering the floors it has. Speaking of floors, the employees below the line (those who are not directors, or executive producers) are on the floors below them. One Division team occupies the whole floor and it was divided by the departments they are in, inside this big ass space.

The system in this company is said to be different—first of all, screenwriters are contracted freelancers but then the company decided to hire us as a direct employee and was given an exclusive contract. The system of the company is unique—as far as I can tell it’s their way to maintain the organization and as neat as a new pin. This entertainment company will never be seen down below the top 10 great and successful companies.

When all of us settle down, the Division 1 Head arrived and entered the room. He introduced himself and he is Mr. Adrian Lambert, the head and he will be the one who will look out, manage and lead us as we work on our latest project. Apart from that, we begin discussing and they also informed us that we will be starting the project today. He has some assistants beside him that roam around us just to give out the handouts or the softcopies they are referring to in the meeting. I am flabbergasting on how they made the softcopies within a short amount of time. It looks like they have some sort of magic tricks or whatnot or there’s a ready-made template and they will just encode the summary of the meeting. The latter seems realistic but still, it is cool and amazing I’d say.

“OMG!” Tine squealed while she looked at the paper. From my point of view, there is nothing to be happy about, blush or squeal in the paper. I took a glance at the others if they have all the same expressions as Christine. They looked like the paper is their happy pill but noticed that I am looking at a different page of the paper.

Curiosity definitely can kill a cat.

I turn the page to where I guess it could be, to see why they are all reacting like that. I found myself in the section where the actors and actresses are well presented with their pictures—I can’t even figure out their faces because it was printed in black and white and you can just see their character description beside them.

I can’t help to look back and the time we made eye contact, she asked. “What?” There’s something in her tone but it doesn’t feel like she wants to argue with me. I also gave her a bit of a judgmental(?) look and maybe that’s why she thought that I’m judging her reactions when it turns out to be funny.

They all looked like Cosette when I told her about Tristan. They all have this buoyant mood whenever their eyes met the actors in the paper. I never thought that even the guys have an exhilarated side especially when it comes to giving out their affection to their celebrity crushes in the public or it’s just that I didn’t have that much of an experience of people reacting like that.

I scratch my nose before I reply to her question. “Well, I’m just curious about why are you all smiling and squealing like a teenager.”

“Well, friend,” she sighed looking like I need teaching from the way she acts. “Look at this!” she told me as she pointed out the actor. I read it and it was the actor who will portray the main lead in the movie that we will create.

I looked back at her and saw that she is trying not to smile and fangirl over him. I rolled my eyes out because she doesn’t look good when she forcibly stopped her to squeal like a seal.

“Wait a damn minute…D-don’t t-tell m-e…” she stuttered while asking me. “You don’t know him?”

I looked at her awkwardly. “Isn’t it obvious?” I thought. I just shrugged and shake my head. I honestly don’t even watch or I’m not a big fan of romance and If you ask me, I can’t seem to tell that I watched him in one of the films with the genre I like nor he is familiar with. I don’t even bother to look at the list of the actors because I am bad at memorizing names, so how can I memorize their faces.

“What the f---!” she gasped and her eyes went wide. “Omg! How could-” she stopped mid-line. I assume that she is too stunned to speak. She has crossed her arms and looks so done, but, what I can do? I straight up don’t know him. Some of the actors who are ages higher and my parents talk of the town are them so I was affected by it and unexpectedly know some of them.

I saw her gulped again—calming herself down as she ran her fingers exasperatedly through her hair and spoke. “You are a scriptwriter and then you don’t know anything about him?”

“Should I be concerned with my well-being for not knowing him?” I asked. She is such a drama queen. It looks like it is a big deal for her but not for me. It’s not right to straight-up tell me and associate it with my job position.

“Yes, you should be!” I heard another person cut in and comment. I looked at her with a sour face for being nosy.

Argh! Who is this man anyway?

“I told you!” she whispered and sat beside me. “Everybody knows him.” She appears to be calmed now as she continued. I am irritated by the thing they say that “Everybody knows him” or what, it’s like should I care?

“But not me!” I insisted. She rolled her eyes at me and continued. “He is like the star of our dreams, he is the perfect man of my life! He is good-looking, rich, and good at acting.” She exaggeratedly explained and I nodded pretending I understand her and her fantasies. She is dreaming of an upper side one. I shake my head thinking of it.

“Yeah! He seems to be a fine man and looks like he will never be yours!” I savagely commented and she slap me at my shoulder lightly. The only job I can do for her is to pull her out of her delusional dream or serve her a delusional pill if there is one.

“I hate you!” She snaps and I ignored her lies.

She doesn’t even have enough reasons to hate me if I am just being a normal and kind person that wants her to be awakened from her delusional state of mind. Her idea of surpassing what would be considered normal should not be normalized.

I know for sure that there is some kind of rules when you’re in the industry, especially if you’re a starting one. I think I read it somewhere that there will be a dating ban in this field or maybe actors are excluded from the rules. I think most of the companies within the top rankings are using it to stabilize and gain fans from the actors by fan services that’s why they were banned to date, that’s just what I read in some kind of article on the internet.

I sighed for the nth time this day, for the reason that I am wondering about my inner thoughts about the dating ban when I should focus on the given plot for us to start.

“This is so much pressure!” I commented and just whispered it to myself. It’s a pressure for us scriptwriters because we will be doing the film from a scratch but at the same time glad the leader decided to give us a long time to do it. I can also tell that the senior scriptwriters who have been loyal to the company, will be guiding us and also help us brainstorm ideas. We need teamwork, creativity, openness, and a great mind when creating the whole storyline. I know I can depend on them but I should also depend on my abilities.

The atmosphere went back to normal as we all focus on our main job when Christine speak up to me. “Hey, Aryn! Mrs. Rousseau sent a message and told us that we have a meeting in the brainstorming room.” I looked at her and nod my head.

“What time is it?”

“Sometime later I think. I will inform you what time is it exactly, but for now, we should try to get ideas, rough drafts, and even keywords for the movie.” she continued. I nodded once again and saw her getting up to one of the senior screenwriters on our team to get something.

She came back to our table with a paper and said. “Here is the main plot because in the softcopies that was been scattered earlier was only a summarization of it.” I took the paper out of her hand and read it.

We went back to face our computer and I also open my notebook and just randomly write keywords and words I can think of first that I know that it connects to the story. We’re also given a guide for the movie.

I should give you a sneak peek, or a prompt. The movie is all about a story of a girl who dreamed about a boy. They spent so much time and laughter in the space she created. One day, she confessed to him that he wasn’t really in the first place. He is just a hallucination in her mind but then the boy steps forward and caresses her face and peck her lips. They both looked in the eyes and apologize and said that he’ll wait in the same place for her until she falls asleep.

It will be a beautiful at the same time tragic movie or we don’t know because we can pull off such an amazing plot twist if ever it needs more enthusiasm for the viewers. I decipher the very little and not too detailed prompt of the film. It will look splendid movie and I felt exhilarated as ever as I imagined the scenarios. I faced again my computer and started typing out much more precise and long dialogues that I can input into the script.

Hours passed by so quickly, we ate lunch and I didn’t notice that it was a pleasant afternoon. Tine, informed me, exactly when we were called out to gather in the brainstorming room.