34 Two Faces of Satisfaction

“You did a great job, really” praised Tobiasz Mońka, patting Rafał in a friendly manner on the back. “Not only did you put your heart into it, you also moved brilliantly. Do you practice any sport professionally?”

Rafał beamed when he heard the praise. The compliment from the professional stuntman was very valuable. At the same time, he blushed a little. It's not that he often heard praise, so he didn't have time to get used to them and treat them as natural.

Brylski had just finished his scene and was waiting for the director's decision as to whether there should be a repeat. Probably it will, because they were made not only when someone made a mistake, but sometimes the director wanted some extra shot or just hoped the next take would be even better.

“Professionally, no” Rafał replied. “I like swimming, I run a little and recently started riding horses. I have been an amateur taekwondo training for several years. Very amateurish.”

“Taekwondo? Really?” Mońka was surprised. Brylski noticed that even his colleagues looked at each other appreciatively. It is strange that other sports did not make any impression on them, only this Korean martial art. “That's why your body moves so smoothly. It's good that you have a basic knowledge of martial arts, it will be easier for us to direct your fight scenes.”

So that's what it was about! His experience on the mat will be useful for shooting certain scenes, and probably every actor now knows how to swim and ride horses. I think it was even taught in the acting school, but Brylski was not sure. Rafał beamed even more, but after a while he became worried.

"I haven't trained in years…" he explained.

"But you have the basics," Mońka observed with satisfaction. “To recall them and learn them from scratch is a big difference. Oh! It seems that I'm not the only one who is content with your performance. We don't do repetitions. Let's get off this sun.”

Brylski absolutely did not intend to oppose it. His dark, almost black caftan was very nice, but padded, and it really wasn't the weather in which the human body could endure such clothes for a long time. He was only surprised that he wouldn't have to repeat the scene.

“Really? There will be no double?” He asked in surprise, looking down at the crew and looking for the director. He noticed that Radosz was standing next to Różycki and then something joyfully jumped in the actor's heart to such an extent that he wanted to wave him happily.

"Come on," Mońka smiled. “You need to replenish your fluids and get ready for the next scene. Your sweetheart is waiting.”

“My sweetheart…?” Rafał did not understand. It was only after a while that he realized that in a moment they were to play a sweet and romantic scene with Marzenka. The stuntman talked about Jagusia, Paweł Wroński's beloved!

For some reason, however, the prospect of playing a romantic scene with Marzena Skierska terrified him more than running on rooftops. At least he had a support on the roof.

***

Jakub Wolak was waiting impatiently for the scene they would be shooting in a moment. The scene consisted of two stages, but the director wanted to do it in one take. At the beginning, there is to be a short conversation between the main character and his beloved, then a kiss between them, and then Stanisław Mieczyński, a dear friend of Paweł Wroński and his rival in love, played by Jakub, was to appear in the frame.

It was a very important scene for Jakub. It is in her that, due to the competition for the same girl, his heart is to turn into an antagonist. Right now his ‘romance with the dark side’ is about to begin. After he plays this scene well, he will surely win the sympathy and support of many female fans who will curse the stupid Jagusia for not choosing this handsome, one hundred percent man like Jakub Stanisław.

Yes, it was definitely a breakthrough scene for the action of the series, for the protagonist, but also for Jakub Wolak himself, who knew perfectly well that a good actor and a well-played supporting character could steal all the spotlights and cause the so-called ‘second lead syndrome’. Only that it was necessary to do better in this scene than the main character.

For Jakub, it was not a problem. Convinced of his superiority over Brylski in every respect, Wolak believed that he would overcome him without any problems. After all, he was more handsome, more talented, and professionally trained. And he also had a director on his side.

Sometimes it really pays to stick your buttocks out in front of the right person.

The scene for which Brylski and Skierska were just preparing were about to get an order to start shooting it. Looking at the plan, Jakub Wolak was unable to suppress his complete satisfaction, even a little vindictive smile. Perhaps Brylski played the scene on the roof quite well, but with a kiss it will not be so easy for him. During the last passionate night, Jakub and his lover agreed that they would not forgive Brylski for this scene. Różyckie will demand perfection, even if they were to devote three shooting hours to one kiss. So it was going to be a lot of fun for Wolak.

“You are not too focused” Kasia noticed, who quietly crept up and stood next to him. Kasia was a make-up artist. She was short and petite, completely inconspicuous and a fan of Jakub, which he knew very well. “You're about to enter the set.”

"It remains to be seen," Wolak muttered softly under his breath.

“What?” Kasia clearly did not hear.

“No, nothing. I'm just excited about this scene. Why are you here?” suddenly Jakub realized that Kasia should be in a different place now. “You can't take good photos from here. You're too short to get a good angle. And you know you have to photograph my face, not the back of my head.”

"I'm sorry," the girl squeaked feeling guilt overwhelming her, "but they chased me away from there. They said I was to leave the set...

“I don't give a shit...” growled Jakub Wolak irritated. “As a fan, you should be thankful that you can take pictures of your idol and make no excuses!”

Actually, Kasia couldn't take these photos. The ban on shooting on the set applied to everyone, and if she was deceived, she could lose her job and even pay compensation for breach of contract, but the girl was a real, loyal fan who loved Jakub from the first moment she saw him and was ready to do anything for him.

"Sorry," she squeaked even more softly. “I will find an even better place in a moment!” she informed her idol and ran to search.

Jakub Wolak did not yet have a huge fan base in terms of his artistic output, but he did manage to gather quite a nice bunch of followers on his social media. He made sure to be active and give his fans the right amount of sweet photos. However, this was still not enough and he definitely needed more promotion.

Of course, Jakub could not put photos from the show set on his profile, it would be a breach of the contract and would have a huge problem, but one photo on a fan's account here, another on an influencer's account there and an explosion of his popularity will be guaranteed. You just had to wait for the right moment.

Good self promotion is only half the battle. The other half was to be any compromising photos by Rafał Brylski, his current rival to fame. Black marketing never got old, on the contrary, it became more and more fashionable and Jakub decided to use it.