When Valentina looked up, her eyes briefly met with Rio's before she hurriedly stood up. What was he doing here?!
Seeing him kneel before her while holding on to her leg, Valentina could feel her face heat up as she blushed in embarrassment. Even though he was kneeling, his head was still very close to her belly.
Valentina immediately tried to move her leg away, but he held on tightly.
Glancing at her in amusement, he said "Hold still" before grabbing the ribbon and attempting to unravel it. She immediately froze and watched in shock as he helped her untie everything.
As if to mock her hard effort, the ribbon on her right leg quickly unraveled followed by the one on the left.
His cold fingers gently and diligently unwrapped the ribbons down her calves before he stood up and held his arm out to her.
Valentina looked at him in confusion, and he quirked an eyebrow at her before smirking and saying, "To lean on as you take the shoes off unless you were planning on looking like a flamingo?"
Caught off guard by his joking manner, Valentina immediately pouted and glared at him before realizing that this was her employer and she had to be courteous.
She hurriedly braced herself on his arm and quickly took off her shoes, collecting them with one hand.
As her bare feet hit the floor, the tile felt a bit cold, and she flinched before getting accustomed to the temperature.
She quickly released Rio's arm, bowed her head, and said to him, "Thank you for your help."
"You didn't want to try to catch yourself this time?" Rio asked.
Valentina looked up quickly as she heard him repeat the words she had grumbled earlier.
Seeing the smirk on his face, she narrowed her eyes before turning her face away quickly.
Hmph!
Clearly, he was such a petty, small-minded man. Who knew the great Rio of the Fallen Angels would hold a grudge? Why couldn't he treat her with politeness like Yuri?
Before she could respond, he asked again, "Do you want me to carry you, so you don't trip again?"
Turning back to him again, she gave him the stink eye and decided to tease him in return.
"I wouldn't dare sully the hands of the great Rio. Thank you for the offer."
"Don't worry they wouldn't be sullied. Still, let's go back, it seems she's waiting for us." Rio nodded his head towards Yuri.
Valentina then looked and saw that Yuri was standing further along and staring at the two of them. Although her expression was smiling, Valentina could see that flames were burning in her eyes.
Sighing internally at the trouble that just seemed to be coming her way, Valentina walked as fast as possible to distance herself from Rio.
Unfortunately, he just stretched his long legs out and matched her pace and in the end, it was Valentina who was out of breath and feeling tired. She swore she heard a chuckle.
It wasn't her fault; it was this weak body of hers okay!
Thankfully Valentina arrived with no further comments from either Yuri or Rio.
The café had 4 rectangular tables facing each other with Shawn and Sarah already sitting at one table. There was a pile of meal boxes and drinks on one of the tables and Valentina allowed Yuri and Rio to select a box first.
Looking at the options, Valentina selected a sandwich box and grabbed a bottle of water.
She chose a seat across from Sarah Lee and was surprised when Rio chose to sit next to her, and Yuri chose to sit next to him.
My good sir, please shift far away from me. My back is sweating from the flames being exuded by that young lady next to you.
As she opened her food box and prepared to eat, Sarah Lee asked.
"Rio, what do you think so far? Has it been a satisfying enough experience for you?"
"Not bad. It's capturing the essence so far." Rio blandly replied.
"This is your vision so speak up if you have any thoughts or tips to the actresses. While they're changing looks, we'll review footage and plan for the next stage."
"Mm," Rio agreed.
Nodding, Sarah Lee turned to Valentina and then Yuri.
"The two of you have been doing well so far so good job there! While Rio, Shawn, and I are deciding the next steps, you two go back to hair and makeup and get touched up got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" they both responded.
"Good. Make sure to fuel up properly because the next part really depends on the two of you!"
'Yes!" Yuri enthusiastically shouted while Valentina nodded.
Lunch ended quickly and they quickly headed their separate ways with Yuri and Valentina headed to the dressing room.
As soon as Valentina sat down, Yuri approached her and stood in front of her angrily, hands perched on her hips.
Sighing while rubbing her head, Valentina asked "Yes?"
"You- You have no shame!" Yuri almost shouted.
"It wasn't bad enough that you made Rio catch you when you fell, you also had the audacity to make him remove your shoes for you and you flirted with him. You. Shameless. Woman!"
"How did I make him remove my shoes for me?" Valentina asked.
At Yuri's silence, Valentina pushed harder.
"When did you hear me say the words, Oh Rio come and help me remove my shoes? Hmm?"
"You pretended to be incompetent so that he would help you. I know your tricks; I've seen them before! I won't let you get away with it!" Yuri shouted.
As Valentina looked at her quivering body and flushed face, she couldn't help but think that Yuri really reminded her of an obnoxious little rabbit.
But rabbit or not, she was tired of this girl always accusing her of one thing or another. If it wasn't cheating to get the role, it was acting incompetent so she would be noticed. It was time to clear the air once and for all because otherwise, this would continue for the rest of their filming days.
"Listen here because this is the first and the last time that I will be saying this. I am not interested in Shawn or Rio or any man romantically. I am here to do a job and complete it successfully. Please stop insinuating that I am doing anything to target Rio. He is an adult, and all actions are his own. Now if you don't mind, I'd like a quick break to collect my thoughts before filming starts for the next part. I suggest you distance yourself from me and do the same."
Ignoring the stunned look on Yuri's face, Valentina just looked away until Yuri decided to leave.
Rubbing her pounding forehead, Valentina sighed and hoped the day would end sooner.
POV Yuri
As she was getting her makeup touched up, Yuri snuck a glance at the girl sitting not too far from her.
Valentina was also getting her makeup touched up and was paying her no mind. Upset at the scolding that she had just received, Yuri felt anger bubbling up inside of her.
Angry at not being able to argue back, Yuri angrily texted her best friend Emily about Valentina.
[Emily can you believe this bitch! She dared to scold me even though she stole your role! Who the hell does she think she is.]
A reply came back quickly.
Emily: [Are you talking about your partner in the MV shoot?]
Yuri: [Yes, this girl called Valentina. She's been flirting and throwing her body all over Rio! She's so shameless!]
Emily: [Wait you mean Valentina Salazar, that shameful newcomer of the industry?]
Yuri: [Yes! Do you know her? You know I don't listen to rumors.]
Emily: [I can't believe you haven't heard. She's apparently a leech who tries to use connections to climb but her skills are subpar! She even delayed filming from her last project because of a lack of skill. You have to expose her to the directors and not let her hold you back.]
As Emily continued to dish the messy details around Valentina, Yuri made her mind up that she had to expose her to Sarah Lee. She couldn't let her idol Rio be tarnished by a 90th-rate artist who was here with impure intentions!
When her makeup touchup was finished, she followed Valentina to the next set while glaring at her.
Unfortunately, the girl continued to ignore her. A Valentina strutted to the next location, her hair and ribbons swaying gently around her, Yuri wanted to shove her down.
She retrained herself and when she arrived she put a big smile on her face. Shawn and Rio were standing next to Sarah Lee, and she couldn't help but take a second glance at Rio.
Rio's red eyes looked cool and sharp as he bent his head to listen closely to what Sarah Lee was saying. His bangs hung seductively over his forehead and Yuri could not help but sigh at his beauty. When the two arrived, he glanced over them, and Yuri could feel herself blushing. He was just so handsome.
"Good, the two of you have arrived. Let's get started, for the next part. What we're going to do is split the roles. Yuri will move on to film individual scenes, while Valentina will prep for the battle scene. Valentina, you will go learn battle choreography with Shawn. Any concerns?" Sarah Lee asked while glancing at the two women.
"Yes, director I have a concern!" Yuri raised her hand immediately.
"Go ahead, Yuri." Sarah Lee replied.
"I truly don't believe Valentina is suitable for the role, I don't know if you are aware but she's a subpar actor and I think she's here for the wrong reasons. I think that the image that she's built so far will bring down the quality of the work when it's released to the public. Please reconsider getting another actress!" after she got everything off her chest, Yuri bowed respectfully toward the director.
She was sure that when the director heard her words, she would immediately fire Valentina and somebody more suitable like Emily would be invited to come.
"Thank you for your thoughts and concerns Miss Yuri but we believe we've chosen the correct person for both roles. Valentina's acting has been successful thus far so we will keep everything as is as long as the quality of performance is maintained." Sarah Lee replied sternly.
"But-"Yuri protested but she was quickly interrupted.
"We do not listen to rumors here; we just chose the best person for the role. If you don't agree with the decision, feel free to leave.' Rio quickly interrupted in a cold voice.
When Yuri heard the ice-cold tone, she shivered and quickly nodded in acceptance.
"Understood." Yuri quickly agreed even though she felt tears filling up her eyes. She looked up and saw that Rio was glaring at her and she couldn't believe he was glaring at her and defending Valentina. Sure enough, he had been corrupted by her! She had to do her best so that Rio would see Valentina's true colors.
POV: Valentina
Fortunately, the rest of the day went seamlessly. Although she was shocked that Yuri would complain to the director in front of everyone, she couldn't believe that the girl tried to get her fired. She vowed that she would execute everything perfectly so Yuri would have nothing to complain about. Thankfully there were no more interactions with either Rio or Yuri even though she could feel the gaze of the latter burning into her head at any given opportunity.
Sighing with relief after removing the costume and wig, Valentina rubbed her aching arms. She had been trying to learn mock battle choreography along with Shawn and she had to say, this body was really too weak!! Even though the sword she had was plastic and relatively light, having to memorize the movement patterns and execute it was exhausting! When practicing with Shawn, each hit sent tremors through her whole body, and she almost went flying. She felt like she was an ugly chicken next to his graceful and strong moves and even though the choreographer told her she was doing great and to add more power to her moves, she wanted to ask what power and melt into the floor. She even wished at some point to start vomiting blood so she could get a break but alas it was not meant to be.
Thankfully she finished the day safely and said goodbye to Sarah Lee and everyone else.
When Valentina arrived home, she didn't even have the energy to prepare dinner. She quickly ate a protein bar, took a shower, and passed out on her bed.
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