Chapter Eight - Episode 28 part 2

After Sofia agreed, she was given some prep time, at first with Rico and then on her own. From there, she passed through the stylist department where Jessi brought her fantasies to life on her friend.

Sofia walked on set as Vanessa and Rico, the first to notice, gasped.

"Where were you all my career?"

Sofia blushed, chuckling a bit. She was in an ocean green gown and stood on wedges. Ryan was already on set and the look he gave her was upsetting the butterflies in the pit of her stomach. They were only going to shoot one scene, the last one for the episode and she was already feeling this way. She looked up, wondering if she should ask her Abuela to pray for her, and chuckled, she couldn't believe herself, shrugging off her negativity, she prepared herself for the shoot.

It was several hours later in the studio and the crew gathered around to see the finished product before it would be released.

*********************

...The prince, Nikolas came out of his palace in a robe and took it off, diving into a king-size pool and doing his routine laps. Days like these saw him giving his guards the rest of the day off and so he was alone, but that was how he liked it. Suddenly he heard the sound of a zip sliding along its teeth and stopped midstroke, turning easily in the water. Vanessa stood there, her gown pooled at her feet, leaving her in a one-piece swimsuit.

"What are you doing?" Nikolas asked and she smiled,

"I came prepared, I know your routine now, remember?" She asked in a sultry voice as she slipped off her wedges and dived in. He tried to ignore her but she kept teasing him, swimming in reducing circles around him. Once she got within reach, he grabbed her arm and drew her to him, his eyes searching her face.

"I cannot love." He said, "Why won't you give up?" But she shushed him, tracing her index finger over his lips, followed by her thumb. He swallowed and she held his head in both hands and kissed him. It was gentle at first, light as a feather, and then she pressed them together, nudging his open. She was doing all the work here, while he followed hesitantly. Then she pressed her body against his. Her leg drew up against his side and he held it at her knee, the other hand reaching up to move straying strands before it rounded her waist and drew her even closer. She left his face then and arched backward, letting a small yelp.

"Niko!"

Just then he took her underwater beneath him and a bullet tore through the surface. He activated the drain and let her go, she wasn't their target. As the water level went down, he shot through at a man, using the ladder as a boost. He cracked the neck of the man. He grabbed the gun and had barely slipped behind a pillar when a volley of shots landed there.

Niko was now tuned in to battle mode and this house was specially designed to accommodate that. These fools must've thought he was vulnerable without his guards. They attacked him in his own home and this fueled his anger even more. He knew this place like the palm of his hand and he was going to show them why he was called the Stone Prince.

Suddenly he was swinging off a verandah and releasing bullets with his free arm. He landed across the pool and slid by on his side, shooting at the men as he went past. Unfortunately, he struck something. The shock passed through his whole body, feet first, he turned and it was a huge guy. He gritted his teeth and rolled but the guy grabbed him and tossed him at a wall, coming after him.

However, Niko used it to his advantage, putting both arms back and managing to propel himself off the wall instead. He raised his legs and landed on the guy's shoulders, effectively bringing him down and onto his back. The guy pushed Niko and punched but Niko dodged and landed a punch. Just then he heard her scream and turned, they were taking her and he made to get up, immediately regretting that decision because he'd just given himself up to the huge guy as target practice. The punch struck close to his spine and he fell to his knees, having a blurry vision of Vanessa crying over a man's shoulder as she was being taken before he blacked out.

Much later, he was standing at a table, a pistol on a white cloth before him. He assembled it, cocked and took aim, then un-cocked and dropped it.

"What are you planning my prince?" His butler asked, standing beside him.

"This is what I get for allowing myself to feel again." He replied with a sigh, then turned and leaned against the table with his back. "I don't even know but one thing is for sure. I'm not gonna let anyone take anything from me ever again. I'm gonna kill those sorry bastards one by one until I find Nessa. Then he walked towards the door.

"Hold on a little longer." He whispered, leaving the room...

******************

"Sofia." Rico said, "Tell me where you work now and I'll buy your contract. I mean, damn. You knew her all this while, Jessi?"

Sofia smiled, color coming to her cheeks.

"I appreciate the offer sir, but no. I don't think so."

"Oh come on, you don't have to be so formal with me now, I mean you were even better than Ryan. Look at all the reshoots he caused. Either he's calling you Sofia or he's swimming towards you or starting the kiss, just to mention a few!" Rico cried out in exasperation.

Ryan just exhaled through almost clenched teeth, smiling as he ruffled his hair a bit.

"Let's bring the press in," Rico said, getting up. "Let's get this over with." He and Ryan left while Sofia and Jessi stayed back with some stylists. Sofia was the center of attention, the other girls emphasizing Ryan's apparent attraction to her.

"I didn't know you could act," Jessi said to her friend as the other ladies left.

"Me neither," Sofia replied. "I caused my own share of reshoots though." She chuckled and Jessi laughed.

"Yeah." She said, "But I can't wait to see Amanda's reaction to this." She added, giggling while Sofia shook her head. Jessi always loved her scoop.

Rico and Ryan were in some sort of conference with the press over the episode and they all wanted to know why Amanda had left at such a time and in that state of mind. Rico, in spite of all of Ryan's pleas, put all the blame on him quite openly and they turned to him. Through further questions, it was revealed that Ryan had come in with Sofia and Amanda left in a mixture of anger and jealousy. Rico reassured them that Amanda's contract was still on and everything would be worked out. He also confirmed that the release was not going to be postponed in spite of Amanda's absence.

The episode was soon released and unsurprisingly, there were mixed feelings over the new actress in the last scene. It was the most controversial episode yet and while diehard Amanda fans thumbed it down, Sofia got a really good acceptance rating, considering the circumstances. The episode dwarfed previous ones in terms of views, downloads, and grossing. Everyone wanted to know the new actress on episode 28.

It was getting late and Sofia wanted to leave but Ryan held her back, saying they had to celebrate the success. Just then, they heard the screech of automobile wheels on the gravel outside and Rico put some fingers over his mouth.

"Oops." He said, "Hurricane Amanda is on its way, take cover." and as if to confirm that, they heard the door open and get banged. They heard the heels coming, loud and in quick succession. She came into the room and Ryan was still holding Sofia.

"How could you do this to me, Ryan? I left and rather than coming after me you go ahead and do the shoot with some roadside chick?"

"Excuse me?" Sofia said. Ryan tried to hold her but she shook off his hand and walked to Amanda. "This 'roadside chick'," She said. "Has a name and it's Sofia Delacruz."

Amanda scoffed and said,

"So you're that chick from the premiere night. I knew you had your sights on my man right from that night, so I can't say I'm surprised."

It was Sofia's turn to scoff and she did so with a cute smile.

"You know the funny thing is that you're almost right." Then she nodded. "Ryan, I think I wanna leave now." He nodded, his arm sliding around her waist as he led her away but she flinched,

"Wait Ryan," She whispered, "Just walk on your own."

"Rico, what's the meaning of all this?" She asked, dropping her bag on the table. "My contract is still active, how could you of all people do this to me?"

"You did this to your self Amanda. You left and I had to replace you. It's in your contract."

"Was I unavailable?" She asked.

"You left. You made it clear that you had no intention of continuing the shoot. I had to replace you. We have a deadline you know."

"But can't you do something? Can't you remove that scene and reshoot it? I'll behave I promise."

Rico sighed. "I'm sorry love, but you know I can't."