Marcus spent the rest of his time at the studio, and by 6 PM, he and his dad headed home. It had been a solid day. He'd assembled the cast for his project, completed the quests, and bought Basic Directing Instincts.
He had everything he needed now. All that was left was to actually start filming. He was curious to see how Basic Directing Instincts would kick in once he got behind the camera.
Right now, Marcus and Nathan sat at the dining table with way more food than usual—bigger burgers, a large pizza, and of course, Coke.
Marcus had initiated this little 'celebration' to thank his dad, ordering all this food. The old guy seemed to be enjoying it, like most Americans who loved this kind of meal.
"I've done my part, kid. It's up to you now to make this good movie you've been talking about." Nathan took a bite of a cheesy pizza slice, talking while chewing. "Honestly, I don't have high expectations for your movie, so just do whatever you want. It's your film anyway."
Marcus felt helpless against this kind of attitude from his dad. Obviously, the guy was being supportive—but he didn't believe in him at all. He didn't even pretend like most parents who'd probably say "I believe in you, son. You can do it."
Nathan was a different kind of parent. Brutally honest, but still supportive.
Marcus didn't know whether to be happy about that or not. Either way, he couldn't really complain. At least the old man had his back.
"By the way, that Katherine... she's actually your teacher, huh?" Nathan mentioned, his eyes showing interest.
"What about it?" Marcus asked casually, obviously curious why Nathan brought it up.
"Nothing." Nathan took a bite of his burger and talked while eating again. "But—gulp—you're pretty lucky to have her as a teacher. Back in my day, all my teachers were fossils. Though, for the record, they were brilliant—learned a ton from them. So don't you dare get distracted by your hot teacher."
Marcus rolled his eyes. 'Really, this guy. His honesty knows no bounds.' He thought. 'I wonder if this is why Marianna left him for another guy?'
After dinner, Marcus washed the dishes to complete a quest, took a quick shower, then returned to his room. Honestly, he still had tons of energy.
He was too pumped for tomorrow. Filmmaking was a completely new world for him, and he couldn't wait to dive in. Especially with the quest rewards waiting for him, plus getting to work with beautiful women like Katherine, Amy, and Arya.
They were definitely motivating factors. He felt restless but controlled himself, shut off the lamp, and drifted into deep sleep.
Time passed, and morning came. Marcus woke as sunlight streamed through the window cracks. He made his bed and drew a circle around today's date on the calendar.
Today was the last Sunday of January—January 31, 2010—and this was the day his filmmaking journey would finally begin. Time waits for no one, and the Major Quest would expire if he didn't start soon.
After handling the simple stuff—bed, calendar, shower, all that—he was rewarded with a tiny bit of points. Just 0.3 points. But it was better than nothing.
Actually, he'd noticed that the more he completed the same Daily Quests—routine stuff like making his bed—the rewards gradually decreased. So he was squeezing every bit of quest points he could get.
Later, he called Arya and Ryan, telling them everything was ready and they needed to come work. These two would be his crew, along with Amy, who'd promised to help out when he'd talked to her yesterday.
By 7:30 AM, Arya showed up—earlier than expected—and she looked pretty eager. She made herself at home the moment she walked in. "That was way faster than I thought. I figured it'd take you forever to get a cast together. Are they any good? Are they actually real actors like you said?" There was doubt and curiosity in her voice, like she couldn't quite believe he'd actually pulled it off.
Marcus smiled as he poured her coffee and made her a sandwich, which she thanked him for. "They're legit actors. Got them through my dad's connections." He added, "Plus, the female lead is someone you definitely know."
Arya looked surprised and curious. "I know her?" She asked after taking a sip. "Can you tell me who?"
Marcus smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out soon enough."
Arya felt the suspense building. 'Who's this female lead I supposedly know? Marcus is killing me here!' She pouted slightly but decided to just wait and see.
Just then, a yawn echoed with the sound of footsteps. They turned to see Nathan shuffling in.
"Good morning, Mr. Crown." Arya, who'd been acting completely comfortable like she owned the place, suddenly got nervous and spoke formally.
Nathan scratched his bare stomach—no shirt on, showing off his slightly chubby belly—but he didn't seem embarrassed at all.
"Oh, didn't expect my son's girlfriend to be here so early." Nathan said innocently, though the teasing was obvious. He was clearly trying to stir things up.
"Bo-boyfriend?" Arya stuttered, unable to handle the accusation.
Marcus sighed inwardly, knowing exactly what his old man was up to. "Don't let him mess with you, Arya. He's just trying to get you all flustered."
Arya flinched. "Flustered? M-me? Of course not!"
Nathan grinned at the girl's reaction, clearly enjoying himself. "See? Your girlfriend's not flustered. She's proud of it."
Arya froze.
"Treat your girl right, kid. It's not easy to land such a pretty one at your age." Nathan patted his son on the shoulder, eyes gleaming with fake pride.
"Mr- Mr. Crown, we're not—" Arya tried to explain, but he cut her off.
"No need to be so formal. Just call me Uncle Nathan." Nathan chuckled warmly. "Or if you want, you can call me 'dad' as your future father-in-law—"
"Alright, alright, Dad." Marcus finally stepped in, feeling the teasing had gone too far. "Let's stop here." He said helplessly. "You're being rude to my friend and employee."
Nathan stopped. He looked at Arya, who'd gone quiet and meek, her cheeks bright red. He felt satisfied but knew it was time to quit.
He'd had enough fun for today.
"Okay, okay." He whistled. "Don't wanna be too rude to my son's 'employee'—wait, does that make you his secretary then—"
"Dad." Marcus said the word seriously, and Nathan backed off.
"Jeez. Tough crowd. Anyway, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. Did you make me breakfast?" Nathan asked Marcus.
Marcus shook his head slightly and gestured at the table. "It's over there."
Nathan headed that way to eat.
Left alone, Marcus looked at the quiet Arya. Obviously, she'd been thoroughly embarrassed by his dad.
She looked mortified.
"Sorry about that, Arya." Marcus sighed. "My dad might be an idiot who gets his kicks from messing with people, but he's a good guy. Don't hold it against him."
Arya snapped out of it and waved her hand. "No, no. It's fine." Though she said that, she was clearly still rattled by Nathan's teasing.
Seeing she'd composed herself a bit, Marcus decided to chat with her—after all, she was going to be helping him with the film alongside Ryan.
----------
Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rang. Marcus headed to the door—his dad had probably already left for the studio.
Opening it, he saw the cast he'd been waiting for. Mike and Katherine.
"What's up, director." Mike greeted with a slightly teasing tone.
Marcus just nodded. He looked at Katherine with a smile. "Come on in."
"Don't mind if I do." Mike said, stepping in first with Katherine following.
Katherine looked around, visibly impressed by the house. For a former successful director like Nathan Crown, it was a nice place—nothing fancy, but solid.
Marcus showed them around. "Get familiar with everything. After all, this is gonna be your house in the film."
"Nathan's really cool with this?" Katherine asked, just to make sure.
"Yeah, don't worry about the old guy. He might seem grumpy all the time, but he's actually a pretty supportive dad."
Katherine and Mike chuckled. That was the truth, wasn't it? If Nathan was like most fathers, he wouldn't be letting his kid blow thousands of dollars on making a movie.
While they talked, Katherine noticed Arya. And Arya noticed her too.
"Ms. Katherine!" Arya exclaimed, recognizing her immediately.
"Arya?" Katherine looked equally surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Arya walked over. "Well, I'm here helping Marcus with some stuff—" She was answering politely to avoid any misunderstanding, but then realized she didn't need to explain herself. She asked the same question. "Wait, what are you doing here, Ms. Katherine?"
"That..." Katherine paused, processing how to answer.
"Ms. Katherine's gonna be one of our actors for the movie, Arya." Marcus explained for her.
At first, Arya was speechless. But after processing that information, she looked at Katherine in shock. "Wo-wow. Really?"
Katherine smiled and nodded.
Off to the side, Marcus explained everything to Arya, who clearly had a million questions.
"I didn't expect this!" Arya exclaimed. "You're actually an actress too?"
Katherine nodded. "It's actually my dream."
"I thought teaching was your passion?" Arya probed.
"Well, teaching is definitely something I enjoy doing, but it's not my dream." Katherine said. "At heart, I'm an actress."
Arya was still processing all of this.
After some more conversation, they got down to business. The filming wouldn't start just yet—Marcus wanted the actors to get comfortable and really embody their characters.
"So, I want you guys to really play your characters well. Be sweet with each other, comfortable with each other, and basically have fun together. Just like any real couple would." Marcus suggested while they sat in the living room.
Mike and Katherine looked at each other. Honestly, they were practically strangers. But the job required them to act like a loving couple.
"Is it cool if I kiss her?" Mike asked shamelessly.
Katherine's brows furrowed. Even Arya looked alarmed.
In that moment, Mike became a total creep in their eyes—someone clearly trying to take advantage.
The awkward silence stretched for a few seconds before Mike noticed. "What? I'm just asking. Didn't you say I need to be sweet and comfortable, like any real couple would be?"
Katherine and Arya ignored him.
Marcus quickly stepped in. "Kissing? Yeah, that's gonna be part of it. That's fine."
Hearing that, Mike looked a bit too pleased. "I see." Though he tried to play it cool.
Katherine and Arya were obviously not thrilled.
"However, beyond kissing and some light physical contact, nothing more than that." Marcus rushed to add.
"Of course, I know. We're not shooting a porno here, right?" Mike chuckled. "I didn't forget our director's still sixteen."
Marcus didn't know why, but he wanted to wrestle this guy and teach him a lesson.
Arya leaned toward Marcus and whispered, "Are you sure about this? Ms. Katherine might not be okay with it."
They both knew Ms. Katherine had a reputation at school as the reserved, single hot teacher.
"It's fine." Marcus smiled as he looked at Katherine. "We actually talked about this before. She's cool with it."
Arya glanced at her teacher and saw she seemed okay with it. Seeing that, she decided not to push it.
In fact, a few minutes later, Katherine had completely gotten over it and was now talking with Mike like they were old friends. They were even laughing together at each other's jokes.
Arya, watching all of it, looked clearly impressed. "Just a minute ago they were strangers. Now they're acting like they've known each other forever."
Marcus smiled, also impressed. "They're actors. It's their job to embody the character. And Katherine—no matter how uncomfortable it might be—knows it's part of the gig."
Arya nodded in understanding. Just then, a car horn blared from outside the house.
Honk honk honk!
At first, Arya and the others thought it was just some neighbor or random car passing by, but clearly it wasn't. The honking was directed at them, intentional and persistent, accompanied by obnoxious laughter. Whoever it was, they were looking for attention—or trouble.
"Who the hell is that?" Arya asked loudly.
Katherine and Mike had the same question.