Chapter 1906 Dinner For Five
Yuvan chuckled at Zaydenâs solemn expression. âYouâre right. What a fine young man you are! I am curious, how did your father raise you to be as well-mannered as this?â
Zayden puffed his chest out proudly. âHe didnât have to do much. I was born oozing charm and charisma.â âHe had inherited my uncleâs charms, he means. My uncle is more interesting than him!â
âIs that so?â Yuvan exclaimed in admiration. âI would like to meet this uncle of yours and tell him what a wonderful son he has.â
Zayden smiled broadly. It was evident that he was enjoying the praise he was lavished with. Gazing thoughtfully at Yuvan without speaking, Zayden spoke after several moments. âYouâre not half bad, you know? Welcome aboard.â
âReally? Well, thank you, little man.â âYou must work hard on this and uphold the quality of the show. We canât make my mother look bad. Sheâs the female lead.â
âDonât you worry. Iâll do my best to make her shine.â Yuvan appeared to have gained the childrenâs trust. He gazed at the two children and smiled thoughtfully.
The casting director had found a young, professional actor to play the part of the doctorâs son. He was so efficient that Nicoleâs scenes with him often did not require another take.
As a result, the segment that was to be shot over that afternoon was completed ahead of schedule.
As Nicoleâs entire afternoon was cleared, she opted to drop by and visit Joy and Zayden and was surprised to see their faces alight with excitement in Yuvanâs company.
The children appear to be enjoying themselves!
Soon after, a member of the production crew walked over to inform them that their scenes and script had been prepared before handing each of them a little booklet.
âHow are we going to shoot the scenes with school tomorrow?â Zayden asked, looking worried. âShould we ask our teacher for a leave of absence?â
Joy studied the script in her hand. âWe donât have to miss school for that. We can shoot the evening or night scenes after school! How about working on the night scenes during weeknights and the day scenes over the weekend?â
âSounds fine to me. What about Yuvan? He would have to wait for us.â Zayden jerked his chin at Yuvan.
âItâs not a problem for me,â the older boy assured them. âWe can shoot at your convenience. I can make myself useful to the production crew during the day while youâre at school.â
âHow would you like to start tomorrow night, Yuvan?â
âThat works for me!â
The trio soon fell into discussion while occasionally consulting their script. Nicole, who stood watching them, smiled warmly at the sight. She did not expect that Yuvan would get along with the children as well as he did and hoped that he would be able to live up to the childrenâs harsh critique.
After the scenes between the lead characters were shot later that night, Rodney called just as Wilbur was preparing to send Maya back to Imperial Garden.
âHello, Dad?â
âCome home for dinner tonight. Bring Maya with you.â
Wilbur was surprised to receive the invitation. It only took several seconds before he recalled that his father had voiced an intention to use his relationship with the Seet family to secure some large projects.
âIâll ask her.â
After a brief deliberation, Maya decided that as the Simpson household would be enjoying a brief period of respite with Mabel safely away at the hospital, no harm could come from dining at the Simpson residence for once.
âIâm in.â
âWeâll leave at once, Dad.â
âSee you soon.â
After hanging up, Rodney ordered for the kitchen to prepare two additional portions.
Maya and Wilbur found themselves arriving at the Simpson residence several minutes before Janice and Nicholas. Frozen with unpleasant shock, the four of them stood staring at each other awkwardly.
âEverybody is here!â Rodney exclaimed, clearly pleased. âI hope youâre hungry! I had the kitchen pull out all the stops tonight.â
Janice barely suppressed a sneer as she gazed upon the exquisite dinner laid out on the dining table.
Itâs obvious that Rodney did not expect that I would come. I know that the extravagant dinner was prepared for Maya. He never welcomes me in that manner.