Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

Jean nodded and fell silent. She felt the tension as she followed Zed closely from behind. An uncomfortable silence cloaked the couple as they rushed towards the hospital.

When they entered the relatively calm emergency area, it was crowded and it did reek of antiseptic. Then they spotted Moore walking out of the clinic. His right cheek bandaged up and there was a band-aid just above his left brow.

Avery, who was right beside Moore, cast a worried look at Moore's wounds. She also looked like she wanted to cry out and say something to comfort Moore, but she didn't know what to say. When she was finally about to say something, Jean asked, "Moore, are you okay?" Jean, hands still locked with Zed, walked briskly along the corridor amidst the nurses and doctors to close the short distance towards Moore.

Upon noticing Zed and Jean, Avery felt like little part of the heavy load was taken off her chest and she could now breathe a bit better.

"As you can see, I'm fantastic," replied Moore, a bit embarassed. He turned towards Zed and asked him with a serious expression, "Why are you guys here?"

"Adolf called. He told us what happened," explained Zed. "Jean was incredibly worried, so we came as fast as we could."

"Jesus, Moore, why'd you fight?" Jean blurted out, no longer able to keep it to herself.

"Well, I..." Moore paused before he could finish his words. He really didn't know what to answer. He smiled bitterly, and was about to open his mouth.

"This is all my fault," Avery said, her voice quivering with guilt. "It was because of me. I was the reason why Moore got into that fight."

"Then would you please enlighten me what the hell happened there?" demanded Zed, clearly eager to get to the bottom of the situation.

"Actually, it was nothing that serious. For other people, I guess, but it was plenty serious to me. That afternoon, the director had to attend to some other business, so he assigned the assistant director to see the shoot through. The thing was, for whatever reason, this assistant director kept saying horrible things about Avery's performance. Although I saw with my own two eyes that Avery's acting was superb, he asked her to repeat the same scenes over and over again dozens of times. In one particular shot where Avery just had to look back smiling, the assistant director, he said...he said..."

The memory of the director's words filled Moore with anger. His face was livid. He stammered and couldn't even finish the sentence since he was overcome with emotion. "What did he say?" Jean curiously asked.

"He said smiling gently was the most basic and fundamental aspect of acting, but Avery couldn't even pull that off. He insulted her, Jean. He said she knew jack shit about acting in advertisements. In some shots, he shouted at her for smiling too much. In others, he said she smiled like a prostitute. Who says that? Anyway, the assistant director always found a reason to make Avery repeat one shot after another. Why is he like that? How can someone be so rude and over-criticize Avery like that? He's not even worthy to carry Avery's shoes for her."

At this point, Moore was furious. Veins were literally popping on his forehead.

Then it clicked. Zed and Jean realized and understood what had happened.

Moore only wanted to defend the woman he loved, but he lost his temper.

Then all the blame should be on the assistant director. It was fine if he did that to any other actor, but Avery was an international superstar.

Despite this, he still threw insults at her and treated her poorly.

Wasn't he afraid of the backlash he would receive when her fans found out about this?

Moore's words brought about an uncomfortable silence among the group. The silence was broken by Avery, who in a soft voice, said, "Actually..." She paused, trying to come up with the best words so that she wouldn't set off Moore, who was already in a fiery mood. "Today, I wasn't really myself. I got too caught up in the fact that Moore was there with me. I was so happy, so I didn't concentrate on the shoot that much. The assistant director's words were a little offensive, but I guess he thought I couldn't understand Chinese. Throughout the shoot, there wasn't a single perfect shot. It didn't go smoothly, so it was inevitable that he would be frustrated.

Let's look at it this way. Since the director assigned the task of shooting this advertisement to the assistant director, that means the director has a lot of faith placed on that assistant director and believes him to be better than other staff. Sure, he had been a little harsh with his words, but all he wanted was the shoot to be perfect."

As Avery explained, her restlessness was becoming more and more noticeable on her face.

"So you're blaming me for getting mad at him?" asked Moore in a cold voice. He was clealy upset by this.

At that moment, Zed understood why Adolf wasn't here and just called them. He also realized why Adolf told him that it was all Moore's fault for what happened in today's shoot.

How else could a director produce a beautiful and well-made commecial if he didn't strive for perfection and wasn't strict with the staff, especially with the actors?

Moore defended Avery because of the director's drive to create something beautiful. He even lost his temper in the process and beat him up. Zed was baffled by this. 'Why did Moore do that?

Has he trully fallen in love with Avery over the past few days?

Is this why he couldn't bear the fact that Avery was being insulted and bullied like that?'

A lot of questions ran through Zed's confused mind. He found himself staring at Moore, unconsciously trying to examine him for the hope of understanding what his reasons were.

However, Jean had an entirely different opinion.

"Moore, I'm with you. I also can't stand directors insulting and degrading actors and celebrities all under the guise of making a beautiful commercial,"

Jean said angrily in an attempt to comfort Moore.

"Jean!" Zed called with a raised voice, his brows knitted tight, as he wanted to stop Jean from uttering another word. She didn't though and defiantly asked, "Why? Am I wrong? Zed, don't you dare try to stop me. I'll meet with this assistant director and ask him who the hell he thinks he is and find out why he bullied Avery like that." Jean started to walk away with a determined look on her face.

"Stop making this worse," retorted Zed doggedly as his arm shot out and grabbed Jean's arm before she could walk farther.

"Making it worse? How am I making this worse, Zed?" Jean replied, indignant at her husband's words. "So you'd rather Moore keep quiet and do nothing while the love of his life was being insulted right before his very eyes? You call that love?"

"Jean, I..." Zed felt helpless. He forced a wry smile and tried to explain further, "Listen. Each profession has its own rules. It just so happens that directors have tougher requirements and expectations. I'm not saying Moore was entirely at fault. The assistant director may have gone too far with his jibes. But Moore should have kept his temper in check. He should have shown restraint and not beaten the man."

"Zed, whose side are you really on here?" asked Jean angrily.

"Hey, hey. I'm at our friend's side here. I'm just saying, he should own up to his mistakes," replied Zed frankly.

"I don't... I don't even want to talk to you right now," Jean said angrily. She quickly averted her gaze and avoided Zed's determined eyes.

Jean's response made Zed smirk. He walked towards Moore, and sighed before saying, "Moore, listen. I'm not saying this because I thought the assistant director was right. I'm saying this because I think you should think about how negatively this would affect Avery. There would be consequences if what happened back there gets publicized."

"I know that." Moore nooded grimly in agreement, and then added, "I'll apologize. I'll look at the director in the eyes and apologize, even if it frustrates me so much. But I'm willing to do this for Avery."

As soon as Avery heard Moore's words, her head shot up, her expression worried and anxious. "Moore, you know you don't have to do this for me."

"No, I shouldn't have lost my temper. I shouldn't have put you in this situation." Moore added while shaking his head, his tone hurt, "I was too impulsive, too rash. I lost my temper and I didn't stop to think of the consequences. I should have been more considerate." "No, Moore. It wasn't your fault at all. I just wasn't myself today. If I was, this wouldn't have..." Avery's heart was heavy with remorse. The more guilty Moore was, the more upset she got.

Avery should have been happy to see Moore stand up for her when she was being treated like that.

This showed that Moore really cared about her.

What upset Avery the most was the fact that Moore would go and apologize to that man.

The Moore she loved was a proud man.

How would he endure humbling himself before someone?

No, Avery didn't think he could. 000