“CAN you please say no and tell them to skip the kissing scene?” Ri-Ri pleaded to Zion while they were taking a break before doing the kissing scene. They were just retouching her makeup, but she was already sweating again. Why did they even think of adding a kissing scene just when the shooting was about to end? She couldn’t calm down. She wanted nothing but to flee from the scene.
“You know very well I can’t complain. I am not in the position to do just that. We have no choice but to follow what they want. Besides, this is for your own music video, not anyone else’s.” He said.
She gritted her teeth. “I just don’t want to, okay?”
Their eyebrows met in a frown. “Why? Because it’s with me?”
“No,” she scowled at him. “I just don’t want my first kiss to be part of a music video!” She didn’t mean to admit it. But she was really getting desperate by the second.
Zion remained silent and studied her for a moment. Then he shook his head while smirking. “Why do I find that hard to believe?” He said. “For a party-goer like you, you haven’t experienced a real kiss yet? A rebel like you could already have thrown yourself at anyone when too intoxicated at parties. Or maybe you’ve just forgotten which of the guys you gave your first kiss to because you were too drunk to remember.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ri-Ri stiffened, and the color drained from her face. “Did you just insult me?” Something inside her suddenly cracked, and hot tears started to swell up in her eyes.
Zion’s lips parted when he saw her reaction to what he said. He looked totally appalled and apologetic. “Ri, I—”
“Okay, people, let’s do this so we can wrap up now!”
When the director signaled, she immediately left Zion. Secretly, she wiped the corner of her eyes. He made it sound like she was a promiscuous woman, and it hurt so much. It was bad enough that he had already insulted her before, and she was still having this acute attraction toward this man.
“Okay, back to places, people,” the director called out. She returned to her previous spot, and so did Zion. They were both facing each other, but at that moment she couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes. And when Zion lifted her face, she automatically closed her eyes.
“Just a simple peck, three or four times, is enough,” she heard the director comment.
With her eyes closed, she felt one of his arms wrap around her waist. His other hand cupped her cheek. She felt him getting closer; she could feel the heat of his body, his breath almost fanning her face. But none of it mattered. She was so hurt by his words earlier that she just wanted to get this done so she could crawl back to her own little corner.
At the first brush of his lips, she almost gasped. Her body jolted with a start. He hugged her even tighter. But she did nothing. She didn’t even kiss him back, her arms hanging stiffly at her sides.
“Cut!” The director scratched his head. “What the heck was that, Ri? You were like a tree.”
“I’m sorry,” she muttered as she unconsciously touched her lips. They were tingling from that simple kiss.
“Let’s do it again. But please, this time, make it really natural and interesting.”
She nodded at the director’s words without even glancing at him. When the camera started rolling again, she looked up at Zion just as he dipped his head down and captured her lips. At the second brush of his lips, she felt her hands resting on his toned chest. She could feel the strong beat of his heart. And even before she could wonder why his heart was racing like that, he angled her head and gave her a different kiss this time. She felt his tongue lightly graze her lips. She was completely distracted by what he was doing and almost moaned. And for the last kiss, he tugged lightly at her lips with his teeth. She let out a sharp gasp from what he did. Zion ended their kiss and slowly rested his forehead against hers. Then he kissed the bridge of her nose.
“And cut!”
Ri-Ri instinctively pulled away from Zion as if she’d been burned. It was bad enough that her heart was already racing wildly from that simple kiss. She ignored the crew’s compliments and applause. She turned and walked away. It was finally time to nurse her aching pride and heart.
“Ri,” she heard Zion call out to her, but she ignored him. Instead, she hurriedly tried to avoid him. Eventually, he caught up with her. He grabbed her arm, and she had no choice but to stop. She didn’t want everyone’s attention focused on them.
She faced him, but she couldn’t meet his eyes. “T-Thanks for saving this day. You did a fantastic job,” she said, trying to create a diversion from what he was about to say.
“Ri, about what I said earlier, I—”
“Stop right there,” she told him. She mustered the courage to look him in the eyes. “You’re just a bodyguard, your opinion of me doesn’t matter. I also don’t need to explain myself to you. Judge me all you want, I don’t care,” she said. She turned around and left him. His opinions of her shouldn’t matter. Then why the hell did it hurt her more than it should have?