Chapter XIV

"Please don't do this to me," I pleaded, trying to make my best puppy dog face at the satan reincarnated in front of me but he just grinned.

My puppy dog face was becoming really hard to maintain, given the fact that all I wanted to do was scowl and glare at him. We were currently in his 'resting' room where he usually got his makeup and costumes for his shoot. Everyone else had been called by Mr. Gilbert for a meeting regarding the next scene.

It was just the two of us in the room and standing here, Adrian seemed to be enjoying my misery to a whole new level. One thing was sure, this heartthrob sure did know how to black mail.

Mr. Gilbert has announced today that a very important scene was supposed to be shot and for that, most of the crew was supposed to head to this beautiful location with a cliff. A cherry on top was that the world renowned action director Jonathan Ward was going come to assist Mr. Gilbert.

And this was an opportunity I really did not want to miss.

But there was a catch, since some of the crew was supposed to stay back and help in wrapping up a few things, there was a big chance that I could stay since Mason was and I was ideally assisting him more than I was assisting Adrian. The only way I could accompany the crew to the location of the next shot was if Adrian said that he needed me there.

And as much as I liked the idea of spending some quality time with Mason with his gorgeous smile, I would still choose going with Adrian for his shoot. Sorry Mason.

So when I tried to ask the said devil, his first response was a smirk when he realised that he had the upper hand. The next response he gave me was-"I'm suddenly craving some Joe's double shot espresso. Can you get it for me, Addison?"

This was accompanied by the sweetest smile that I very much wanted to punch off his face.

The problem wasn't that he wanted me to get him coffee. The problem was that the particular coffee he was "craving" was on the other side of the town and getting it would take me at least forty-five minutes or more depending upon the traffic- and the crew was supposed to leave in half an hour. This left me with only two scenarios.

If I didn't get the coffee- I couldn't go.

If I did get the coffee but didn't make it back in time- I wouldn't be able to go.

I wa almost ready to give up and stay but I knew the amount of regret that would consume me if I didn't even try.

"I can't believe you're actually making me do this," I grumbled under my breath.

Taking a deep breath, I looked up, meeting his sparkling eyes. "Fine. I'll do it," I gave a nod, making up my mind.

He seemed surprised at my response. "So you're going to do it?" he asked, his tone filled with surprise and mild amusement.

"As if you've given me a choice," I said flatly and started to leave.

He gave me an amused smirk in return,"Well, your clock is ticking. So you better hurry," he said, tapping his expensive-looking watch.

I rolled my eyes and started walking out of the room. I was almost halfway across the corridor when I realised something.

The forty minute route was with a mode of transport and here I didn't even have a scooter, much less a car. I groaned, my sad imagination becoming a reality.

My shoulders slumped in disappointment when I realised there was no way I could possibly win.

I was about to admit defeat when Adrian called out. "Hey Intern!"

Yeah, he usually avoided calling me by my name unless he was trying to mock me. It was either "Mason's assistant," "Intern" or simply "Assistant." He seemed to enjoy annoying me a lot. I was practically his source of entertainment here.

"Yes?"

"Here, catch!" He said and immediately threw a small object at me. My eyes widened and I quickly caught it before it smacked my face.

I looked at what it was and imagine my surprise when I found a pair of car keys dangling from my hands.

"As long as you don't scratch it, I'll let you use it for a day," he said, pausing for a second before walking back into the room.

My eyes widened. Was he giving me his car keys to go to the coffee shop?

I turned around, a small smile curving my lips. I hurried through the halls and went out, scanning the parking lot for the spare cars. I spotted four cars lined up in a row, all in good shape and looking pretty expensive.

I grinned as I walked towards them, excited to see which one was his. I pressed the unlock button and two loud beeps resonated in the empty parking lot. I furrowed my eyebrows as I realised that the beeps did not come from either of the cars I was standing in front of. 

I pressed the button again, and heard the same beeps but from the opposite side. I followed the sound further down the lot. 

Once I found the vehicle I was holding the keys to, my lips formed a straight line and I tried not to roll my eyes at this.

I was standing in front of a minivan that was bright pink in colour and had a huge giant pig nose in the front and two big bending ears on the top. Basically, it was a giant pig in the form of a minivan.

I was pretty disappointed with myself for thinking for even a slight second that Adrian was going to let me drive his precious car.

I sighed before getting in the van, trying not to imagine the embarrassment I was about to be subjected to. I turned on the ignition and jumped in surprise as 'Old McDonald' started blasting through the stereo. My hand immediately went up to my heart that I was trying to calm down. 

I switched off the stereo and with gritted teeth and with a tight hold on the steering wheel, I backed out of the parking lot, trying to think about the opportunity I was going to get once I survived through the next forty minutes.

****

I was late.

I pressed on the accelerator as I stole glances at the watch on my wrist. I was about to complete an hour of my journey. My heart was breaking into tiny pieces as I neared the location of the shoot. 

I glared at the cup of coffee that was sitting comfortably in the cup holder.

I sighed as I began thinking of the time I would be spending with Mason sorting out the paperwork since that's what he assigned me to do today. I was starting to really dislike a certain heartthrob a little too much.

Sighing at my luck, I pulled into the parking lot, prepared for a day filled with dusty papers and tired eyes. Once I parked and got off, I noticed that there was a lot of commotion going on.

"There you are!" Mason called out once he spotted me. 

"Hey! What's going on?" I asked, looking at all the people running around and the shouting resonating in the parking lot.

"Adrian's costumes are missing. Upon Adrian's request, one of the employees had put them in a car but we've searched all of them but we can't find them anywhere," he said, running a frustrated hand through his hair, which was really attractive even though his hair was sticking out in different directions.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of the thoughts entering my mind and tried to concentrate on what he was saying.

"Doesn't he remember which car was it?"

Mason was about to open his mouth to answer, when a blonde guy came running and  shouted,"That's the one!" pointing to the pig minivan.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why would he keep the clothes in that van?"

Mason seemed to have not heard my question, since he was more focused on the van as the guy opened it and revealed huge bags with what looked like clothes in it.

"I thought that van went back?" Mason spoke, more to himself as he walked towards it.

"What did you guys need that van for, anyway?" I asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh that. We actually needed a van to transport a few things from the previous set to this one but the agency had only this one available so we didn't have any option but to use it," he replied

"Oh."

"Hey Addison!," a voice called out and I turned to see Amber running up to me.

"Where were you?"

"Ah I was just running an errand for Adrian. What happened?" I asked.

"Well, you're coming with us to the shoot location. Thank God you came back in time. We'll be leaving in ten minutes so grab your stuff." she said hurriedly.

"Wait, I am?" I asked, my stomach curling with excitement.

"Yeah. You're on the list. Adrian said that he needed you to help him out there since Mason isn't going."

A wide smile spread across my lips and I couldn't control my happiness as I gave Amber a quick nod and hurried to grab my bag.

I couldn't believe Adrian kept his word. Thank heavens the costume confusion happened otherwise, I would have been left behind. As I walked inside, a smile on my face, different thoughts kept crossing my mind, making sense of the fact that I was actually going to go to the cliff. 

I was thanking the lords above for the fact that Adrian asked the costumes to be kept in the car that I accidentally took when suddenly a strange thought crossed my mind.

I stopped walking.

Why did Adrian give me the keys of the car that had his costumes in it? 

Was it possible that he knew that the costumes were in the same car he gave me the keys to? Or was it just a coincidence?

A warm feeling settled in my stomach but I waved it off as nothing.

With these different thoughts raising questions inside my head, I quickly went inside and packed my stuff into my bag before rushing out. I was about to turn into the hall when I crashed into somebody. Losing my balance, I fell on my butt. 

I looked up to see the said heartthrob looking down at my fallen self in amusement. 

"Where's my coffee, intern?"

Instead of replying to his question, I blurted,"Did you know that your costumes were in the car you gave me the keys to?"

His eyes widened for a split second before his expression was back to normal, making me wonder if I hallucinated it. "You wish, assistant."

I smiled, getting up and dusting myself off. I couldn't help but feel happy about it. The warm feeling making its presence known while I tried my best to ignore it.

"Hurry up or I'll make sure we leave you behind," Adrian said, turning around and walking away.

"Wait up!" I said, the smile never going off my face.

****

Hey Guys!

How was the chapter?

I'm so sorry for the late update! I was swamped with family weddings and then my university submissions. 

On an average, out of 48 hours, I was spending 34 hours in the library- that's how busy I was. Yes- I calculated XD.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! A very late happy new year to all of you!

Lots of love to all of you <3