“Bring the scene closer, then play it again… Yes, that’s right, keep it at this distance… Hey, Emma, don’t simply grab anything. Sit still, I’ll be done soon… Wait, play that scene again… Damn it, I can’t see it clearly, play it again… Okay, that’s it, but Red’s scene should be inserted here, or it’ll be too long… The others are okay… Emma, stop moving… That’s it, you may continue. Ask me again tomorrow if you’re not sure.”
Adrian rubbed his eyes as soon as he hung up. Although the videophone he purchased had the biggest screen that was available, it was still too small for him, and he would easily feel tired after staring at the screen for a long time. Nonetheless, there was nothing he could do as remote editing through a videophone was the best solution he could think of at the moment.
‘This isn’t a big deal, it’ll just be less efficient than if I were to edit them myself. Besides, this is a great time to train the other editors, and I can just amend them after if there’s a need to since it’s easier than producing the film.’ Adrian comforted himself. Moreover, he had found professionals to handle matters other than the editing, for instance, Thomas Newman agreed to work on the film score.
Nevertheless, there was still a problem with remote editing, which was the call duration was too short. He could only spend 2 to 4 hours a day contacting the crew at the studio through the videophone, and since the work efficiency was already low, his original plan to finish the post-production work by the end of August would be further delayed. He did think about extending the call duration, but his eyes would be weary, there would be an issue with the time difference, and he had to take care of little Emma.
“Hey, Emma, we agreed on this. You can stay by my side when I work, but you can’t disturb me.” Adrian turned to sigh at the little girl who was grabbing the corner of his pants.
Emma blinked her eyes, and seemed like she did not quite understand him, but she noticed that he was rather unhappy. Hence, she pursed her lips, then raised the item in her hand to his mouth. “Apple.”
“For me?” Adrian was slightly surprised. The little fellow nodded and looked at him with pitiful eyes. As such, he sighed and caressed her head. “Alright, thank you.”
Following that, he held her head with both hands, then planted a kiss on her forehead. Consequently, little Emma blinked her eyes again and suddenly smiled. Although it was only a very slight smile, she looked as beautiful as a newly bloomed flower.
Adrian was startled for a while before he quickly carried her and dashed outside.
“Hey, Madam Marsen, the little fellow smiled,” Adrian shouted from the living room.
“Emma smiled?” Madam Marsen who was tidying the house looked up surprised, then quickly approached them.
Unfortunately, Adrian’s actions startled the little girl, and since Madam Marsen was an outsider, Emma wrapped her hands around Adrian’s neck, then looked around her as she was afraid.
“Jesus, I was too excited.” Adrian was somewhat vexed. It was worth noting that even though Emma was not as stiff as she was after living together for a few days, she never smiled. It was as if she had forgotten about that emotion. Therefore, when she finally smiled, Adrian was extremely surprised.
“It’s okay, as long as she smiled, it means that she’s improving,” Madam Marsen comforted. “Sadly, Mr. Russell isn’t here to witness this, or those ladies and gentlemen can shut up.”
“It doesn’t matter, why should I care about them?” Adrian waved his hand.
The ladies and gentlemen that Marsen meant were Emma’s uncles and aunts. Many things needed to be done for the Watson couple’s funeral after the tragedy, so Adrian attended with Emma a couple of times. Honestly, he felt quite awkward during those occasions as he was an outsider, but there was no other way around it because Emma would not leave his side.
Thus, it was inevitable that some big-mouthed relatives gossiped about him after those gatherings, and while they did not talk about him when he was present, they made unnecessary remarks about him in private. A few times later, Adrian expressed to Mr. Russell to reduce the number of times he needed to attend such occasions, who then agreed to his request as he had also heard about the gossip.
“Alright, I’ll bring the little girl to the park. Would you like to come along, Madam Marsen?” Adrian asked. He would take little Emma outside every day, so as to let her interact with other people.
“Okay, wait for a while, I’ll pack some things.” Madam Marsen nodded. “Honestly, Mr. Adrian, you’re such a gentleman, and I wonder which lucky girl will be your girlfriend.”
“Thanks for your praise…” Just as Adrian was about to finish his sentence, he was stunned for a while before he slapped his forehead. “Sh*t, I forgot!”
=======================================
“Hey, Kate, do you want to go out tonight? Cliff has a party.” Kate’s sister’s voice was suddenly heard, which startled her as she was being absent-minded.
“Uhm… Maybe not, I don’t feel like going out today.” She shook her head to decline her sister’s offer.
“Why? You’ve graduated, and you’re a big celebrity of two films. Why are you staying at home and not going anywhere?” While Samantha questioned her, it was obvious that she was teasing her.
“Firstly, I did act in two films, but I’m not a big celebrity, secondly, graduating doesn’t mean that I can’t read anymore. Is there a problem if I’d like to read at home?” Kate answered with a seemingly calm expression.
“Wow, wow, wow, I never knew that you’re so hardworking. When I came in 2 hours ago, you were reading page 122, and you’re still on that page now, your spirit is truly respectable,” Samantha remarked playfully, and exposed Kate’s lie mercilessly.
Kate’s face instantly reddened, but Samantha added before she could say anything, “Oh, Eddy’s such a b*stard. How dare he not call after so long, cute little Kate’s soul has left her body after waiting for him for days…”
“Samantha!” Kate yelled furiously.
“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” Seeing as she had joked enough, Samantha raised her hands. “Okay, Kate, stop thinking so much, I’m sure Eddy’s caught up with something. For all you know, he’ll show up on our doorstep tomorrow. Pick yourself up, and take a stroll outside with me, it’ll make you feel better.”
Upon seeing her sister’s serious face, Kate finally sighed. “I know, I just… Okay, Samantha, just let me stay in my room for a while.”
After looking at each other for some time, Samantha mentioned, “Alright then, I’ll be heading out.”
Kate looked away after her bedroom door was shut. When she looked at her book again, she leaned against the table and put her fingers in her hair. It had been almost two weeks since she received a call from Adrian, so she felt like a piece of her heart was missing. It was true when Samantha said that her soul had left her body.
‘What exactly is wrong with me? He just hasn’t called for a few days… A few days?! It has been more than 10 days! He never does that for more than 4 days, and when I called his hotel, they said that he checked out already! Even if he had to leave due to an emergency, couldn’t he have called to explain?’ Kate closed her book hard and was extremely angry. Nevertheless, she was dismayed again after a few minutes, and she leaned against her chair.
‘Alright, I’m just not used to this. I’m just a little bit angry, and I…’ Kate tried to find excuses for how she was feeling, but she could not find a suitable one. The missing piece in her heart just could not be filled no matter what, and the torturous feeling was about to make her go crazy.
‘Jesus! I should pack my things now and fly to Los Angeles to see what exactly he’s busy with!’ Being the impulsive person she was, she suddenly stood up and packed her things.
It was then when a knock was heard on her door, followed by her mom’s voice. “Kate, there’s a call for you.”
‘A call?!’ Kate immediately stopped when he was going to open her wardrobe. A few seconds later, she ran over to open the door, then asked nervously, “Who called?!”
“Who else.” Her mom shrugged.
At the spur of the moment, Kate ran down the stairs like the wind, and her heavy footsteps echoed in the house. Her mom sighed without saying a word.
Though Kate could not contain her excitement, she became unusually calm when she picked up the phone.
“Hi, who’s on the phone?” She said while rolling her eyes.
“Hi, my love, it’s me.”
“Eddy? Why are you looking for me?” Kate replied casually, but was actually gritting her teeth.
“Wow, look at that tone, are you mad?”
“Of course not, why would I?” She played with the phone cord with her finger.
“Alright, do you know about the bus accident that was reported on BBC News a few days ago?”
“Yes, why?”
“I’m one of the lucky survivors.”
Kate was stunned for over 10 seconds before she reacted to the situation. “What did you say?!”
“Calm down, it was just an accident, and I only suffered minor injuries…”
Before Adrian finished, Kate began asking as she was worried, “Where are you? Are you at the hospital? Are you heavily injured? Oh my god, you haven’t been calling because of this, right? Damn it, I was still complaining about you, I’m sorry…”
“Kate, okay, Kate, can you listen to me?” Adrian did not know whether to laugh or cry.
“Where are you? Where are you?! I want to see you, I’ll only be at ease if I see you!” Clearly, Kate was not listening to him.
“Okay, I’m at 89 Mauridi Street, I’ll tell you everything in detail when you’re here.”
“I’m heading there now.” Afterward, Kate ran back to her room to pack some things, then rushed out of her house, so much so that she did not hear her mom at all.