Chapter 140: Chapter 140

The filming location for Anna Thornton’s MV was at a private club on the outskirts of Aethelgard.

That’s why she had to leave early in the morning to avoid the brutal morning rush hour traffic, and she finally managed not to be late.

Despite sleeping late last night and having a habit of lazing in bed, Anna Thornton is very serious once she starts working.

In past crews, no matter the size of her role, she always managed to be the first to arrive.

However, compared to her, the MV’s male lead and the song’s singer Florian Hollis seemed much lazier.

Anna Thornton and Mary rushed over early in the morning to study the script, and then discussed the MV’s filming matters with the director.

The expression form of the song MV was quite different from Anna Thornton’s previous works; even as a newcomer, Anna had finished discussing with the director, when Florian leisurely showed up with his agent.

Upon seeing Anna on site, Florian was somewhat surprised: "Sister, you’re here so early?"

"Early? It’s almost lunchtime."

Upon hearing this, Florian glanced at the watch on his wrist, as if he finally noticed the time: "Oh right, it’s already noon. How about we start after lunch?"

"Everyone, I’m hosting today, tell my agent what you want to eat."

With a grand gesture, Florian left his agent to soothe the crowd that had been waiting all morning, while he himself felt no pressure at all.

He chose the seat closest to Anna and sat down, immediately crossing his legs and pulling out his phone to play games.

Anna heard the loud game sounds and glanced side-eyed at his phone screen.

Florian immediately extended an invitation to her: "Sister, want to play? I’ll carry you!"

"Girls don’t play on their phones while working, kiddo!"

"What do you mean kiddo? The last time we met I was underage, but now I’m already eighteen!"

Florian seemed very concerned about crossing the eighteen-year threshold.

But as soon as he said this, someone on the game screen, seeing him idle for a long time, cursed him as an elementary schooler, playing timidly. Florian snorted coldly and, with peace of mind, became a deadweight player, executing a series of questionable maneuvers that led his team, unfortunately involved with him, to lose miserably.

The teammates he let down retaliated by sending a storm of private messages cursing him and reporting his account.

Florian was nonchalant, since he’s a cash player; if the account gets banned, he’ll just buy another one.

"Also, I’ve physically matured completely, you know!" Florian leaned closer to Anna’s ear and teasingly added.

As it happened, that exuberant display of adolescent hormones was seen by his agent, who had the heart of a concerned mother and caught him red-handed. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs n0velfire.net

Even while ordering lunch, Kevin Jacobs couldn’t ignore it; he covered the phone microphone and rushed over, positioning himself as a barrier between Florian and Anna: "Florian, I’ve prepared a special rest room for you, why don’t you take your phone and play games there for a bit, I’ll bring your lunch in for you."

"No way, I want to be here! To develop feelings with my leading lady!"

"Oh come on, you two can interact even if you’re not sitting together; aren’t messaging apps very convenient nowadays? Florian, have you forgotten the uproar when you sat with your female partner while filming that commercial during break time?"

"Are you talking about Flora Kimberly Kent?" Mary came over and asked, "Just because of one photo, she got harassed so badly that she had to close comments on all her social media and had to see a psychologist, I heard."

Kevin Jacobs jumped to block Anna and Florian being too close because he saw Anna as a habitual publicity seeker, and had to protect his own artist.

But Mary was wary too, having heard about Florian’s fanbase’s combative power. Since rumors broke that Anna would be the lead in Florian’s new MV, they had already received a wave of backlash and boycotts.

Anna has a good mindset, but which agent doesn’t care for their own artist?

If there were other jobs, Mary wouldn’t want Anna collaborating with such a scandal-enshrouded male artist like Florian.

Moreover, in such partnerships with vastly different popularity levels, the female party always suffers, a conclusion Mary drew from numerous entertainment industry cases.

"Hmph, that Kimberly Kent was deliberately seeking publicity, dragging our Florian for posed shots, and openly spreading the photos. But not being able to withstand the backlash of public opinion herself, she got depressed, which has nothing to do with our Florian and our beloved little fans." Kevin Jacobs clarified.

"Isn’t that how it is in the entertainment circle, people are always unsatisfied, wanting to hold onto a golden thigh or use others as stepping stones. But not everyone is destined for fame, and publicity stunts can’t be a long-term strategy."

Mary felt that Kevin Jacobs’ words were a warning using Kimberly Kent as a cautionary tale.

She couldn’t help but retort, "Publicity stunts aren’t a long-term strategy, that’s why Anna focuses solely on speaking through works. Everyone in the circle, having seen enough, knows that popularity and luck are elusive; the only reliable thing is ability!"

Upon hearing this, Kevin Jacobs chuckled in disbelief, he was about to speak, but Florian interrupted: "You two seem to be having a good chat, why don’t you both go to the rest room? Agents should look like agents, not interrupt artists’ normal work communication."

With Florian speaking up, Kevin Jacobs immediately switched into fan mode, full of care and concern: "Florian, the lunch I ordered will be arriving soon. You didn’t eat much this morning, go ahead and eat, you’re still growing."

"I’ve reached a very standard growth, my height is over six feet. But growing a bit more is fine... So let’s eat while we discuss."

When the lunch was delivered, Florian specifically combined tables with Anna to eat together, generously sharing half of his favorite cola chicken wings with her.

"This MV involves a lot of dance styles and a broad blend of dance genres. If you’re dieting or trying to lose weight, you’d better stop that temporarily and eat more meat; otherwise, you won’t have the stamina for the afternoon." Florian advised her with the experience of someone who’s been through it before.

But Anna noticed that since he’d arrived, he hadn’t interacted with the filming crew at all, "Do you know the dance content?"

"I did the choreography myself, how could I not know?" Florian laughed.

Anna, out of her own actor habit, prioritized studying the script as soon as she arrived for the MV shoot. As for the dance that needed to be used inside, it wasn’t her expertise, and it wasn’t until she got there that the director used a phone to show her a mirrored breakdown video of it.

The director mentioned that the choreography was only completed yesterday.

With no chance to practice in advance, the pressure on her was immense.

Although Anna had a foundation in dance since childhood, Florian’s choreography included dance styles she had never touched before, like pole dancing...

"Indeed, it’s quite challenging."

"No worries about the difficulty." Florian arched a brow at her, "I can teach you hand-in-hand, let’s take it slow."

"Take it slow? The filming period is only three days in total! Have you even looked at the script?" Anna asked him.

"But it doesn’t matter. After all, I wrote the script, I can recite it backwards."

Hearing this, Anna exclaimed in surprise, "What?"

"I wrote the script, don’t you believe me?"

The choreography could be overlooked, but the fact that Florian wrote the script himself was surprising to her.

Anna found it hard to believe, mainly because... the script had quite an extensive level.