Chapter 436 Please Be My Master
Veronica could not contain her laughter and she replied in fluent French, “Enchanté, je suis Veronica Murphy.” She made a friendly gesture to shake his hand and added, “I’ve seen your movies and you’re a great actor. You’re quite agile and I enjoy your action scenes.”
“Wow, you speak great French!” Stephen shrugged in surprise and grabbed her hand before lowering his head to kiss the back of her hand. However, Veronica was not quite used to such enthusiastic customs.
Larry smacked Stephen on the shoulders and formed a fist with his right hand as he pointed with his thumb at Veronica. “I need to inform you of this. She’s good at fighting and she’s comparable to you, so why don’t the two of you go for a friendly match?” he spoke gloatingly as if he was the one good at fighting and he appeared to be quite smug.
“Why did you bring this up?” She rolled her eyes at him. “Stephen is a huge fan of martial arts and he’s always keen to find a sparring partner. I’m just fulfilling his wish,” Larry spoke to Veronica in their Collins dialect. “Are you an idiot? He’s so well-built and more than six-foot tall. Look at his muscles. You must be trying to get me killed, huh?”
“What? Are you kidding me? Even if there were two of him in front of you, you would be fine.” They bantered back and forth while Stephen watched their interaction with a dumbfounded expression. Finally, he lifted his hand. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but could you guys speak in French? I can’t catch your conversation.”
Larry smiled cheekily and lifted his brows at Stephen while fueling the flames. “Veronica mentioned that your fight moves in the movies appear to be scripted… Ouch!!!”
Before he could finish his sentence, Veronica had directed a kick in his direction and she quickly explained in French to Stephen, “Don’t listen to his nonsense. I mentioned that you are tall and well-built with well-defined muscles and I would be knocked down in one single blow.”
“Larry hardly ever praises anyone, so I would be quite keen to…” As Stephen spoke, he paused for a moment to consider the situation before pointing and explaining in his slightly stilted English, “In your language, I think it’s known as a spa… uh, I mean… sparring.”
As soon as Larry heard the word ‘spa’, he could not contain himself and burst into laughter. “Hahaha! Yes, you’re right. It is a spa. Haha! My stomach hurts from all the laughing…”
“Larry! Have some decency, alright?”
Veronica gestured to the fans waiting close by. “Your gushing fans are watching you right now.”
“Miss Veronica Murphy, that area there is quite spacious. Why don’t we have a friendly match over there?” Stephen, who was a martial arts fan, anxiously wanted to spar with her.
“Uhh… Well…” She awkwardly reached out to stroke her nose before looking at Larry. She could not help asking in a soft voice, “Does he usually behave like this?”
“Yeah. He’s a martial arts fanatic.” He relished in causing trouble for her while he watched her struggle. “Give it a go then?”
“Yeah, let’s give it a go. I’ll request some time off from the director this afternoon and I’ll treat you to a meal.”
Stephen was in his thirties and had bronze-colored skin with a mustache. He was considered to be those buff and well-toned men commonly seen in international movies. He had an enrapturing smile that looked quite therapeutic.
The movie was an international blockbuster; although they were filming in the country, the crew members were mainly foreigners.
As soon as they heard Stephen, they rushed over and surrounded the three of them, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
“Wow! She’s such a good-looking lady. I like her.”
“Uhh… She looks quite weak. Will she be able to beat him?”
“Come on. Go for a match. Hahaha.”
…
Veronica realized that some of the people here were displeased with her, especially upon seeing two handsome men crowded around her. She noticed the envious looks shot at her by the women and if looks could kill, she would be dead by now.
Since she had no other option, she was forced to agree. “Stephen, he makes me sound like I’m great, but I’m not. I’m not that good at martial arts, so please be lenient.”
“I’ll definitely take extra caution around a pretty lady like you.” He lifted his head and smiled, making him look exceptionally approachable.
Stephen was born with a fair complexion, but he did not like to play the character of a goody-two-shoes, so he enjoyed sun tanning. He had also gotten tanned by making use of tanning beds. Although his skin was tanner than usual, he was definitely a good-looking man.
After all, one’s looks were not affected by one’s skin tone.
Veronica removed her sling bag and sunglasses before flinging them over to Larry. Subsequently, she spoke in English, “Larry, you’re such a rascal! Each time we meet up, you’re always creating trouble for me! Just you wait! I have been keeping tabs on everything that you’ve subjected me to!”
In response, Larry burst out laughing.
Meanwhile, Stephen removed the costume he had on and led Veronica to a wide space inside. “Let’s have our friendly match here. This is a spacious area.”
He walked over with Larry and the group of crew members with nothing to do followed them too. On the other end, filming went on as usual on set.
The originally wide space was now filled with more than twenty people and most of them were dressed in their costumes. Their presence made Veronica feel slightly awkward.
“Fierce one, good luck! Make sure not to embarrass me!”
Larry generally had a cold and indifferent image from the characters he played, but in reality, he was a clown. Still, he had a great personality and it was undeniably rare to find someone unaffected by the scandalous ways of the entertainment industry.
The only ones who truly knew Larry’s true personality were those who were close to him.
“Miss Veronica Murphy, are you ready?” Stephen clenched his fist and put on an offensive stance as he waited to make his first move.
“I’m ready.”
As Veronica shifted her wrist, she saw Stephen rush forward and his punch was headed right at her. She was startled and thought to herself, I’ve underestimated him. He’s fast!
She dodged to the right and lifted her wrist to block his attack and took the chance to attack his stomach by lifting her knees.
It was an unexpected attack for Stephen, so he immediately took several retreating steps before steadying himself.
He shifted his neck and his bones cracked from that action. He nodded earnestly and praised her, “Wow! You’ve got great moves!”
Stephen, being a huge fan of martial arts, knew that it was rare to encounter a woman great at martial arts; someone like Veronica, who was not only pretty but great on her feet, was definitely one of a kind.
At that moment, he became very enthusiastic.
Subsequently, he came forward and directed a blow toward Veronica’s face, but he stopped even before he hit her face. It was a false move and he directed a flying kick at her instead.
Although Veronica did not expect this, she reacted swiftly enough to somersault into the air and leaped behind Stephen. Next, she directed a kick at him after turning around and he stumbled from that kick.
Clap— Clap— Clap— There was a round of applause that rang out all of a sudden.
“Dope!”
“Oh my God! Martial arts can be quite impressive indeed.”
“She’s so cool! I’m so keen to learn from her.”
“I’m so impressed! She’s awesome!”
“She’s got great moves. Her future husband will surely be in mortal danger.”
…
Following that, Veronica continued the match and exchanged several blows with Stephen. He had gone from underestimating his opponent to finally putting in the utmost effort to fight and he realized that he was no match to her.
Finally, he admitted defeat graciously, “I give up. That’s enough for me. Miss Murphy, you’re really great at this.”
Stephen chuckled and ran in her direction. He was not upset at all about losing the fight to Veronica. On the contrary, he was delighted. “Would you be willing to accept me as your pupil?”
