Chapter 45

Chapter 45

For the last requirement for my graduation, we needed to team up with the students from the other creative degrees to come up with a production team. I had an idea kung ano ang gagawin dahil kasama ko si George palagi, but this still felt different because this would be a graduation requirement.

"Thank you for meeting me," sabi ko kay Serj. He already graduated from SCA and he's doing very well in the indie film industry. One of his films did very well that it was picked up by a mainstream production and it was distributed to cinemas around the country and some abroad. I was proud of him.

"No problem," sagot niya sa akin.

"As you know, I'm down to my last sem in Creative Writing."

He nodded. "Bilis ng panahon," he replied. "Dati drop out ka lang."

I nodded because it was true. Ang bilis ng panahon. It seemed like only yesterday I was still studying Legal Management and decided to quit so I had to be the assistant of the basketball team. And then I became a Creative Writing student. I apparently experienced heart break. I failed Math, so I had to go back to the team. I did what was necessary to move forward. I continued to study under Creative Writing. I made some friends from the production teams I joined. I was regularly going into therapy. I finished a lot of seminars. I took all summer classes, so I was graduating earlier than initially planned.

And now, all I needed was to participate in producing a short film and I would be done with my degree.

"I know," I agreed. "I had some film students approach me, but I still want to ask for your opinion kung ano ang magandang gawin ko sa pagpili ng production team."

Based on experience, kailangan kasundo ko sa vision and work ethics ang makakasama ko. I did not want delays. I did not want people giving me excuses when I was very clear about deadlines. I wanted to be informed kung hindi magagawa. It's a waste of everybody's time. And I thought this would be the norm and the standard, but joining a lot of productions, alam ko na hindi lahat ay pare-pareho ng work ethics. I learned that the hard way.

Serj and I talked about the production. He gave me a lot of good tips and insights. George was very good and I learned a lot from her, but since Serj was already working in the industry, I learned new things.

"Do you have a script in mind?" he asked.

"Yes," I quickly replied. I knew that this would be the last requirement, so I had been working on this script for two years. It had gone through five revisions already. And finally, I was contented with what I had written. I wanted to write a simple story—it was about a lawyer who was burned out with her work, so she decided to go abroad for a one month vacation. There, she met this DJ and they had a whirlwind romance that led to her staying there. They lived together. She learned about his ex-wife and his son who was living with the ex-wife. Since she was a lawyer, she helped her boyfriend get weekend custody. But since the boyfriend had a bad record, the requirement was that she had to be there whenever the kid would visit. At first it was good, but later she realized that she was not meant to be there and she wanted to go home. But she was trapped. If she leaves, the boyfriend would lose custody. Her week would begin and end that way until it was Monday again.

"Do you have an actor in mind?" Serj asked.

"I'll have to consult with the director," sabi ko dahil gusto ko na laging collaborative. Hindi porke ako iyong writer ay alam ko na lahat. Sometimes, mas maganda iyong vision ng director. I just wanted to keep my options open.

After my meeting with Serj ay nagstay ako sa coffee shop habang hinihintay ko si Ryder. When he texted me that he was outside ay lumabas na ako para puntahan siya.

"Hi," I said nang maka-sakay ako sa passenger seat. He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. "Tapos na 'yung shoot mo?"

"Yeah..." he replied, sounding tired. "Sorry I made you wait."

I nodded. I waited for two hours. Sinabi niya sa akin na 30 minutes away na lang siya. But Manila traffic was unpredictable.

"How's your day?" he asked while we're inside his car. Three months ago, he asked me if I was open to dating. I said yes because I knew I needed to be open again. But I told Ryder about what he could and could not expect from me. I was very clear about my boundaries. He agreed to everything. He also told me that we could not be seen in public. I understood because I know some actors and I had already been disillusioned—what you see on the screen is the opposite of what really happens off screen.

"Kausap ko si Serj kanina about my requirement for graduation."

"Hey, congrats! Finally," he said, smiling.

"Thank you," I replied.

"Will you use the script you told me about before?"

"Yes."

"Do you have an actor in mind?"

"Wala pa. Kakausapin ko iyong director para sabay kaming magdecide."

Ryder nodded as he was drinking his iced Americano. He's always on a diet. The camera adds ten pounds. "I wanna throw my name in the hat."

"Hindi ba busy ka?" I asked because sometimes, his assistant would text me kapag hindi siya makaka-punta kahit nagsabi siya na pupunta siya.

"Yeah, but I really like the script. I'll make time."

"Okay," I replied. "I'll talk to the director."

Ryder and I stayed in his car for another hour before he drove me home dahil mayroon siyang photoshoot na kailangang puntahan.

"I'll see you again," he said as I unbuckled my seatbelt.

"Okay," I replied.

"Bye," he said as he leaned in and kissed my cheek bago ako lumabas at maglakad papasok sa bahay.

* * *

After a week of careful deliberation, I ended up with George because I really liked working with her and we were already familiar with each other. And then we decided on the other members of the team.

"Ryder Silverio," I said.

"The actor," she replied.

"Yes. He said he's interested on playing the part."

"Isn't he busy?"

"He is, but he said he'll make time."

"Is he good with his word?"

"Yes," I said dahil tuwing may lakad kami at may trabaho siya, mas laging nauuna iyong trabaho. He's good when it came to work kahit na pinaghihintay niya ako palagi.

"Okay, let's do a script reading to make sure that he fits the role."

Nag-usap pa kaming team tungkol sa mga possible location ng shoot at kung ano ang mangyayari sa wardrobe, which wasn't hard. The main problem was the location dahil for abroad iyong script ko, but we'd work on looking for locations na pwedeng mukhang abroad and we'd adjust the color grading of the film. We'd do some tests at kung hindi, I'd adjust the script accordingly.

"Hi," I said when Ryder called me two hours after I texted him.

"Hey," he replied. "What's up?"

"George, the director, said that she wants to do a screen reading first."

"Okay," he replied. "Can you send me a part of the script and I'll record and then I'll send it back to you?"

"She was thinking of doing this personally."

"Okay... but I'm not free until Friday."

"I'll talk to her. But kung makukuha mo 'to, wala bang magiging problema sa schedule mo?"

"I'm free on weekends," he said.

"Okay," I said and then he told me he needed to go dahil magte-take na ulit sila para sa teleserye na shinu-shoot niya.

I talked with George about the schedule and she said that Ryder should just send the video dahil wala siyang order para maghintay hanggang Friday. George mentioned again that I needed to make sure na hindi namin magiging problema iyong schedule ni Ryder. He's free on weekends... I would just adjust my Calligraphy class and therapy para maging free din ako sa weekend.

* * *

"Call him," Dominic said.

"I already called him."

"Well, it's been an hour."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Call him."

Hindi ako sumagot. Ngayon iyong dress rehearsals namin. Next week iyong start na ng shooting. George loved Ryder's approach of the character, but she didn't tell him that. She told me nang makaalis na si Ryder. But she was also very vocal about how she hated his work ethics.

"Seriously, he's always making you wait," Dominic said.

"Artista ka rin dati—you know the schedule."

"Yeah, but there's a reason why you have an assistant to fix your schedule for you—so things like this don't happen. So unprofessional," reklamo ni Dominic. I didn't even ask him to wait with me. Busy kasi iyong girlfriend niya kaya nandito siya ngayon.

"He's doing this for free."

"He volunteered," Dominic said.

"Galit ka ba kay Ryder?" I asked because he's always got something negative to say about him.

"No," he quickly replied.

"Then why are you like this?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

He put his hands inside the pockets of his pants. "I feel like you bend over backwards to accommodate him and his schedule."

"So?"

"It just feels different."

"Different good or different bad?"

"Haven't decided—just different."

Dominic uttered a curse under his breath nang dumating na si Ryder. I saw Dominic rolling his eyes nang halikan ni Ryder iyong pisngi ko. We rode in his van papunta sa location kung nasaan iyong dress rehearsal. Ryder said that he's sorry dahil puro re-take dahil nagkakamali iyong ka-eksena niya sa scene niya. Inabutan ko siya ng tissue dahil may bakas ng lipstick sa gilid ng labi niya.

"What?" Ryder asked, frowning when Dominic snorted.

"Nothing," Dominic said. "I mean, you're sitting beside the girl you're 'dating'," he said with air quotes, "And you got lipstick stains on. It's funny if you really think about it."

I tuned them out hanggang sa makarating na kami sa venue. George did not look pleased, but I already told her that if this would be a problem, we could just look for another actor, but she would not entertain the idea.

After two hours, natapos na iyong dress rehearsal. Ryder said that they needed to go, but that they'd drop us off sa kung saan nila kami dinaanan kanina. I was about to agree, but his assistant cut me off and told me na out of way daw, so I just told Ryder na hindi na kami sasabay.

"What?" I asked because Dominic was looking at me and shaking his head.

"Nothing," he replied. "You want ice cream? I feel like you deserve ice cream."

Naglakad kami. We're still inside the campus, so I did not understand the 'out of the way' comment dahil paikot lang naman iyong campus. But it was fine dahil nag-e-enjoy akong maglakad. Last semester ko na. After this, makaka-balik pa kaya ako sa school? My plan was to submit scripts and if opportunity allows me, I wanted to take a short course in New York for script writing. I always wanted to learn more.

"Is that Austin?" Dominic asked nang mapadaan kami sa may Registrar. He was looking at the back of a guy who was wearing a light brown khaki pants, white short sleeved polo, and brown boat shoes.

"I don't know," I replied because that could be anyone... although from where we were standing, the guy seemed to be the same height.

"What if it's him?" Dominic asked.

"Then it's him," I replied.

"It won't be weird?"

"Why would it be weird?" I asked. The last time I talked to him was when I told him that if he was trying to win me over, that he should stop it. He was honest and told me that that was what he was doing. I told him I needed him to stop. He apologized. He said he didn't think things through when he asked me to be friends. But he still did. He could not change that. And he could not expect me to just accommodate him in my life the way I did before. That ship has sunk already.

And then we did not talk after that.

The last time I heard, he renewed his contract in Japan. And then the contract ended. Cohen told me that he's working. I didn't know where. I didn't really ask. I was busy with my studies.

"I don't know," Dominic replied. And then the guy turned and it was Austin. Napa-tingin siya sa amin. Dominic leaned in and said, "Now we'll see if it'll be weird."

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