“Just accept the flowers so he can get back to work Valentina. As he said, you can just burn it or give it out if you don’t want them all.” Jonathan said in a lazy tone as he walked over to her.
As he looked over the flowers, he gave her a sly grin, “It seems your ‘fan’ is really dedicated. I wish my fans were so devoted and wouldn’t punish me. How nice.”
Hearing his emphasis on the word fan, she shot him a look before sighing in defeat.
Seeing Director Loewe approaching her, she made her expression apologetic as she apologized.
“I’m sorry for the disruption, director.”
“No worries, no worries. It’s good to see that your fans are so devoted to Valentina. If it’s really that much of a burden, why don’t you pick out the bouquets you want and have them place the rest in the garden? There’s a scene in the movie that we can use them for before they wither.”
“Really? Let’s do that. I’ll just keep the bear and just donate the rest. And if anybody wants flowers, please tell them to help themselves.”
Relieved at a solution that didn’t involve covering every square inch of her room in flowers, she gave him a bright smile.
“Good, good. But before that, why don’t you take a photo with the flowers and post it for your fans? I’m sure they’ll be very excited to see you enjoying the gift that they worked hard to deliver. We can even use it as a filming promo. I’m sure the composition will come out great.”
Valentina: “…..”
Could she not? It wasn’t like this was from a fan; it was from a man who was hell-bent on showing her his ‘sincerity’ no matter how many times she rejected it.
“I’ll take the photo for you. Say cheese” Jonathan volunteered with a large smirk on his face as he whipped out his phone in an action that reminded her of Roman.
Before she could process what was going on, a mini photoshoot began to take place, and she found herself standing in the middle of all the flowers.
Forcing a bright smile, she clung to the bear and envelopes while mentally cursing both Jonathan and Kaiser.
Seeing as he began typing something as soon as he was done taking the photos, he was most likely sending it to Kaiser.
Once she was done, she quickly took a photo with the florist and autographed a piece of paper.
As she wanted to disappear, the owner of the food truck approached her with a very familiar thermos in his hand and a wide smile on his face.
“I have a delivery for Miss Valentina Salazar? Also, I’ll be stationed here for lunch and will be providing our entire menu to the cast and crew free of charge. The sender also said I should relay a message saying that it’s from your number one fan, showing their sincerity in supporting your endeavor. Congratulations on your role, Miss Valentina.”
“Wow, Valentina! Your fans are really hardcore! So sincere in their love for you! Thank you for the free lunch! It would really be great if this could continue for the rest of the filming duration as it would save us a lot of costs!” Director Loewe smiled brightly at her, and she couldn’t help but give him a shaky smile in return, even though she wanted to cry.
Sincerity. Sincerity. She was tired of hearing that word.
After grabbing some food, she quickly found a quiet corner to eat while opening the envelopes.
The first one simply said to Auntie Val in childish writing.
It was clearly from Luca.
Opening it, she saw that there was a card inside with a simple drawing of a woman with long black hair holding the hand of a child. The two characters had matching green eyes and were wearing matching teddy bear sweaters. On the otherside was a simple note that warmed her heart.
-Dear Auntie Val, congratulations on your new job. Even though I will miss you every day, I want you to do a good job. I hope you like the teddy bear. I used my allowance to buy it for you. I love you a lot.
- Your little nugget.
Seeing the childish handwriting, Valentina felt her heart.
Her little nugget was simply too cute!
Taking a photo of her hugging the bear and the note, she quickly sent it to Luca with lots of heart and kisses emojis while thanking him.
Luca: Welcome, Auntie Val.
She got an immediate response and smiled as she saw the crooked photo of him eating his breakfast.
Smiling, she reminded herself to watch the video he had sent her earlier before opening up the other card.
It was a high-quality card with a simple handwritten note.
- Congratulations on your role Valentina. Once again, I do apologize for my actions. Look forward to more sincerity from me until I’m forgiven.
- K
Seeing the note she found herself smiling before stopping herself. No, she couldn’t fall for it.
After wrestling with herself for a moment, she still decided to message him.
Valentina: Thanks for the flowers and note. No need to waste more money. Especially Luca’s allowance.
The response came back immediately.
Kaiser: It’s never a waste. He insisted and I refunded it on the back end so no worries. I’ll continue until I’m forgiven. You should send me the photos you took with them so I can save them. You looked very pretty.
Looking down at her simple outfit and her feeling the sweat roll down her back, she rolled her eyes at his nonsense before replying.
Valentina: Why do you need me to send it? Clearly, Jonathan already sent them to you.
Kaiser: I don’t want to save something sent by another man. I’d prefer it straight from the source.
Valentina: Here you go with your nonsense again *eyeroll emoji*
Kaiser: Who says it’s nonsense? I miss you. Send it to me so I have something to keep me going as I’m working hard for your forgiveness.
Reading his shameless words, she quickly scrolled through the photos that Jonathan had taken. Honestly, he was a pretty good photographer since all of the photos had turned out well.
Selecting one where she was smiling while holding up the bear and a peace sign, she made a quick story post and captioned it
*First day on set. Thank you to the fans who sent flowers. The director plans on using them well.”
Remembering the fact that she couldn’t post the location they were at, she made sure there was no location in the image details and posted.
Valentina: Get it from my page.
Kaiser: Stingy :(
Valentina: :) How did you know that stingy is my middle name?
Done messaging Kaiser, she put her phone away before he texted her some other nonsense.
As she was finishing her meal, she saw Elena and Aaliyah slowly walking past her and laughing. As they caught sight of her, Elena smirked at her before loudly speaking.
“There’s the girl with the number one fans, or should I say fan? Maybe it’s her sugar daddy who sent it to her. After all, there’s no way someone who hasn’t even been in any major productions has people supporting her, and a regular fan couldn’t get the filming location. Who knows if the fan bought her the role and is trying to bribe the cast and crew to cover up for her mistakes.”
As she said the words, some of the surrounding people turned to look at Valentina with some slight suspicion and looks of interest as if they were watching a good show.
“Elena, shhh! Don’t say that. We should be thankful; after all, we got a free meal that was so generously provided by Valentina’s fans. Besides, I was also going to provide things to the cast and crew as well as thanks for the hardwork they will be doing. Thank you, Valentina. And if you know who the fan is, please thank them as well.”
“You are doing it out of pocket and the goodness of your heart. Who knows where the money used for the extravagant gift came from.” Elena snorted
“Shhhhh.”
Although Aaliyah acted as if she were trying to shush Elena, her words were even louder than hers.
Meeting Aaliyah’s gaze, Valentina gave her the sweetest smile she could manage while responding, “You’re walking a bit fast Senior Aaliyah. Make sure you remember to limp properly or it would be hard to sell your injury.”
At her mocking words a couple of people laughed while Aaliyah glared at her.
Satisfied with their silence, Valentina simply rolled her eyes before going to lock up her things in the locker provided, hiding the letters at the bottom of her bag.
Honestly, she didn’t have the time or energy to deal with their nonsense. It was almost time to go for her fitting.
As long as those two kept it to petty jokes, she would ignore them. If not, heh.
She hadn’t been lying when she told Kaiser she wasn’t in the mood to deal with people’s nonsense.
If Aaliyah kept messing with her, she would whack her one good time when nobody was watching then fully focus on exposing her.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.