21 Chapter 21: Unexpected Visit

When the name Edie Lara was called, the screenwriter sitting next to Stuart clearly saw his hand move a bit on the table. Edie was just getting lost in her mind, and she didn't expect it would be her turn so soon.

She was so nervous when her turn came that she thought she might blow her lines. She calmly said to herself, "I can do this; here it goes!" She handed over her belongings to Rhoda and walked over to the high stage.

Not until the moment when she was walking did she realize that she was going to audition in front of Stuart. Although she was his wife in name only, she never had any sense of reality. She would be lying if she said that she wouldn't be nervous to audition in front of him.

Edie had an impulse to run away, but she recalled what Danny had said to her. She knew that the opportunity was rare, so at last, she walked up the high stage step by step, biting her lips. The stage supervisor came to help her with stunt rigging and sighed, "You are too thin, and your waist is more slender than Hillary's."

Edie smiled at him, and she kept her head down and dared not to look at the direction of Stuart.

In the movie industry, it would be praise to say that if someone was thin because TV image might widen people's bodies due to the proportion issues. You could look pretty only when you were small enough.

"All right," the stage supervisor pulled the rigging and made sure it was finished. Seeing that Edie was beautiful, the staff added, "Go for it!" Edie smiled friendly and looked down at the people below. She couldn't see anyone's face clearly since the crowd looked like a dark cloud.

She felt that her tension of having to face Stuart disappeared a little too. She had to act even if he was watching. Resolutely, Edie lifted her leg and jumped down lightly. Then her waist was tightened by the wires sharply.

Edie looked back at the wires in astonishment. She had just jumped, but the cables were tightened around her waist, leaving her hanging in the air. The stage supervisor panicked and turned the axle violently, but one of the gears seemed stuck and remained still.

The wires were fragile. Edie felt her waist hurt like being chopped off as the weight of her whole body was pressed on the thin string around the waist. As her arms became weak, the theatrical sword fell from her hand, smashing on the floor and making a loud sound.

Everyone stood still while Stuart had already stood up. Just after a second, the gear suddenly turned again, and the stage supervisor had just released the wire, causing the axle to rotate madly. Edie started to fall at an extremely fast speed with the pressure on her waist being lightened.

The height of the high stage for the audition was only three meters, and there were no protective measures on the ground. What she was facing was the hard cement floor! Also, to leave enough room for the auditions, everyone stood far away. This left ample space in the middle of the floor. There was not enough time for anybody to save her.

Edie was doomed to get injured, falling dangerously down from the middle of the air. Many thoughts were going through her mind, but she only caught the last one, which was hoping that her face wouldn't get hurt!

It was the only thing she could do. She protected her face with her hands, closed her eyes, and fell down. Edie clenched her teeth. She fell rapidly with gravity, but the expected pain did not come.

Instead, she fell into a hard warm chest.

No one saw how Stuart rushed to her in time as everyone was watching awkwardly. All they saw was a black shadow flying over, which took the impact from Edie into his arms — hugging her tightly as he fell to the ground with his back down!

The enormous impact and sudden pain made Stuart slightly frown, but his arms holding her were not loosened at all. Edie was being surrounded by the faint smell of cologne and realized that it was the smell of Stuart's aftershave.

Her face was sticking into his chest, and she could hear his heartbeat, which sounded a little irritable out of concern. She could almost feel the tight muscles under the thin shirt with her hands on his chest.

Stuart looked down and saw her pale face in his arms, wondering whether she was injured. He asked with a troubled look, "Are you all right?" Edie stared at him without moving, as if she didn't understand what had happened.

Was she … caught by Stuart? It was as though she was frozen. The face still looked so handsome in such a short distance, so delicate that no pores could be seen, but his eyes, which used to be cold, were filled with tension.

Her forehead was blown by his warm breath. She felt like she was standing on a cloud, without any sense of reality. The people who were once frozen gathered around quickly. "Mr. Yates, are you alright? Is your back injured? Do we need to call an ambulance?"

Ignoring everyone, Stuart just firmly locked his face with his eyes. Edie gradually came back to herself and shook her head, saying, "I am okay." Her mind was still in a mess. Did Stuart just save her? Why did he save her? Since they were a fake couple, shouldn't he pretend to be unfamiliar with her?

Thinking of his eyes just now, she actually felt a panic faintly in her heart. Edie comforted herself that Stuart was gay and didn't like women! She always over thinks!

Due to such thoughts, a vague sense of loss was aroused but deeply hidden in her heart. The assistant director hurried through the crowd. His fat face was all sweaty out of concern.

He anxiously asked, "Mr. Yates, are you alright? Is your spine injured with such a heavy hit just now? Stage supervisor! Where is the stage supervisor? Call 911 now!"

He was really nervous because if Stuart got injured at his audition place, he wouldn't be able to stay in the industry anymore. Stuart glanced at the assistant director impatiently and said, "I'm fine. There's no need for an ambulance."

Then he helped Edie stand up. He put his arms half around her to let her lean on him as she was still powerless. Stuart's classic handmade suit was dusty, but none of his noble temperament was reduced. No one nearby dared to reach out to support him.

Edie looked up and saw a bunch of questioning and jealous eyes. Her mind became clear, and she pushed Stuart away from her. Rhoda also squeezed in at the time and was frightened when seeing the situation.

She reached out to support Edie, and hurriedly asked, "Edie, are you okay?" Edie seized the opportunity to get away from Stuart and leaned on Rhoda's arms. She lowered her head and said to Stuart, "thank you, Mr. Yates."

Stuart's eyes became cold. How dare she pretend not to know him! All of a sudden, the efforts of catching a plane early in the morning were turned into anger. He did not want to be angry with her, seeing her thin shoulders and neck still trembling as she had not yet recovered from the shock.

He turned his head and lay his cold eyes with a little fierceness on the assistant director, "Is this how the Movie Entertainment assures the actors' safety?" The voice sounded like a cold shaving blade.