538 END OF LUNCH
CHARLOTTE tilted her head. Was there really something wrong with what she said? At times like this, she should rely on the list Krysta gave her. It was a list of instructions on what she should do in situations she couldn't understand. After quickly going through it in her head, there's only one thing that came to mind.
Smile and change the subject.
So she did, and asked Astrid, "How about you? How long have you been acting?"
Astrid was startled at first by the sudden change in topic. Normally, something like this wouldn't faze him. But after hearing the reason Charlotte started to get into acting, it's only natural to be a bit surprised by this sudden shift.
She started acting so she could become more human.
This was the strangest yet saddest reason he'd ever heard for someone diving into acting. He had already noticed that there was something 'odd' about Charlotte. He couldn't really pinpoint it at first. But in this brief conversation, he easily realized what it was.
Charlotte Anderson was socially inept. She most likely found it challenging to interpret and respond appropriately to the emotions of others or navigate social situations with ease. That's why her actions appeared so... disjointed.
Her ability to perform at such a high level in acting became even more remarkable, considering her limited grasp of basic human emotions. Despite this deficiency, she skillfully conveyed the appropriate emotions required for the roles assigned to her.
Or maybe acting had simply become her gateway to experience those emotions. That's why she was able to give everything in every role.
Really, what an interesting girl.
Remembering that the other asked him something, Astrid also smiled and answered.
"Well, let's just say I've been acting most of my life."
Which was not exactly a lie. If he combined his previous life with this life, most of it was still spent in acting.
Charlotte tilted her head, seemingly confused by his statement. She looked like she wanted to ask more. But before she could, their orders arrived.
The three of them had a rather subdued lunch. Without Astrid initiating conversation, their private room would have been eerily quiet. Charlotte was trying her best at first to keep up with the conversation. But she obviously struggled. By the end, she gave up and just focus on the food.
Snow was also unnaturally quiet. Well, he wasn't really that talkative to begin with. But he was even quieter than before. It didn't look like it was because he was refusing to speak with Charlotte or anything. More than that, it looked more like he was in deep thought and couldn't be bothered to join the conversation.
So, the lunch ended on a bit of a low note.
-----
"Thank you for the lunch. I'll see you on the first day of filming," Charlotte said with that practiced smile of hers.
"Yes, we'll see you there," Astrid replied with the same gentle smile.
Snow also nodded as a sign of acquiesce.
Charlotte bid goodbye and walked out of the private room first. When the door closed after she left, Astrid turned to Snow. But before he could ask what he had been meaning to ask since earlier, the other had already spoken ahead of him.
"I know what you're thinking, and no, I don't dislike Miss Anderson."
And that was the truth. Snow didn't really dislike Charlotte Anderson. The reason he had been very quiet during lunch was mainly because he was too shock by the other's small 'revelation'.
The strange feeling he got while interacting with the other was all because of her inability to naturally show emotions in reality outside of the script. The way she could bring out different intense emotions during the script reading just added to this contradiction.
Snow initially couldn't understand how someone could lack something so fundamental. That's what he had been pondering during lunch that he couldn't properly listen to the conversation at all.
But in the end, he just gave up thinking about it altogether. What's the point of analyzing such things? No matter how advance the technology of fertility labs across the Empire was, it didn't mean that every baby that was born there were perfect existence.
Just like how he's not perfect, Charlotte was also the same. Besides, it's not like she's crazy or anything. She's just a bit... unique. More than that, as long as she did her job properly and had a good attitude towards filming, then that was all that mattered. Right?
Having come to terms with that, Snow realized how rude he might have looked earlier because of his attitude. No wonder Astrid was looking worriedly at him.
"I will do better to get along with her next time," he said, not only to reassure Astrid, but also to be a reminder that he really did poorly today.
Astrid was glad when he heard that. He truly thought that Snow might have developed a dislike towards Charlotte. At least, he was now sure that wasn't the case. Snow was probably just unsure of how to act around her. Which was natural, considering that any decent, observant person could tell that her actions and speech were full of contradiction.
"That's good. After all, you're going to play as her older brother. Your interaction wouldn't appear natural if you feel awkward around her," Astrid advised, which Snow also took into heart.
After that, the two of them met with Ellis and David. Then they separated and went to different destinations.
----------
That night, during Astrid and Wulfric's 'nightly' video call, most of the conversation revolved around Charlotte Anderson. Which a certain wolf was not very happy about.
"Really, Charlotte is very interesting."
"Hmp. What's so interesting about a woman like that? I bet even my toe is much more interesting than her."
Wulfric mumbled those words, but Astrid still heard them loud and clear. He looked at the other across the screen and almost laughed out loud because of his obvious pouting expression.
He could almost smell the vinegar from here.
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