After the makeup trial came the official shoot. Jenny received the filming notice a week in advance. The first episode of Season 2 was scheduled to take about nine days to shoot. Though her role wasn't extensive, the filming schedule couldn't revolve around her. To ensure no unexpected issues arose, she requested to work night shifts the week prior.
Generally, TV dramas favored studio shoots because location filming was prohibitively expensive. Coupled with strict labor regulations that inflated night shoot labor costs, Jenny could manage both filming and her restaurant job. Of course, this meant Johnny would inevitably find out about her role. Though the old man frowned, he still made accommodations for her. Jessica, however, was less than thrilled. Jenny had no desire to deliberately provoke her, so she simply avoided her for the next few days.
"You might just hit it big!" Kevin, who was working the same shift, was genuinely excited. "Please, if you come back for meals, tip me generously. And if possible, hire me as your assistant—I'll work my ass off for you."
His voice was a bit loud. Jessica, carrying a tray into the kitchen, snorted. Her stunning features twisted slightly, revealing an imperious queenly air—a privilege of beautiful girls. "You wish."
Kevin dared not say anything more, just stuck out his tongue. Jenny ignored her too, quietly eating her lunch. With people like that, even getting angry was a waste of energy.
It was staff meal time. Jenny continued eating her salad, while Jessica, despite her verbal defiance, surprisingly skipped her beloved meat pies. Instead, she mimicked Jenny by eating salad without dressing—essentially a pile of slightly salty greens paired with boiled meat. Jenny watched this unfold and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly: Jessica actually had a bit of wit about her, but unfortunately, she was still a bit careless, which had cost her the biggest prize.
Just as she was thinking this, the wind chimes by the restaurant entrance jingled. Jenny looked up, immediately delighted, and dropped her lunch to dash out of the staff break area. "Dave, what brings you here?"
Dave was flattered by her enthusiasm, scratching the back of his head shyly. "You know Buffy is about to start filming. I was planning to come back next week anyway."
So he came a week early just for her shoot? Jenny was at a loss for words. "Oh, Dave, you're so sweet!"
Without waiting for a response, she dashed back to the kitchen to place an order, grabbing a slice of Hollywood Star's famous Devil's Food Cake piled high with whipped cream. "Put it on my tab."
Dave flushed, gesturing to the seat across from him. "Is this okay?"
He was the only customer in the restaurant now. Jenny shrugged. "Sure thing."
They'd kept in regular contact via calls and texts, so Dave knew her schedule for the coming week. Concerned, he asked, "Coming straight from the set to the restaurant—isn't that too exhausting?"
"Two paychecks aren't easy to earn," Jenny laughed. "Don't worry, Dave. For five thousand dollars, it's just one week. I can handle it."
She genuinely felt sorry. "Too bad we can't have dinner together this week. Hope you won't be too busy once you start work."
"No, no, I won't." Dave started blushing and sweating. He cleared his throat, avoiding Jenny's gaze. "Actually, there's something I haven't told you..."
"What is it?" Jenny kept her smile on the surface, but inside she was screaming: Don't propose, please don't propose!
"I've decided to move to California." "Since I'm now in charge of casting for Buffy, I'll be in Hollywood more than half the year. Keeping the New York place doesn't make sense anymore. I stayed in New York all this time because—"
He waved his hand, not mentioning his ex-wife's name. Instead, he looked at Jenny with unexpected boldness. "Now I have no reason to stay in New York."
"That's wonderful news!" Jenny exhaled in relief, her face lighting up with a radiant smile.
"There's another reason I came early," Dave continued, like a child climbing a staircase built of Jenny's smiles and encouragement, revealing more good news with each step. "The Buffy crew decided to add a recurring role for the new season, but they couldn't settle on an actor. A few days ago, I recommended you."
He leaned forward slightly, as if to take Jenny's hand, but hesitated and ultimately didn't dare. "Jenny, quit your restaurant job. It's time to dive fully into acting."
Jenny was utterly speechless—she felt incredibly lucky, as things were indeed going smoothly on this path.
"I'm not sure about my acting skills—" Old habits die hard; she instinctively deflected with modesty.
Dave nodded unexpectedly. "That's precisely why I didn't bring it up sooner. This is a regular role, not a brief cameo. But your CBS audition left a strong impression on my friend. He believes you have what it takes to give it a shot."
Noticing Jenny's hesitation, he added, "I'll be on set tomorrow to see how you perform. Don't worry—you can wait for the results from Buffy's audition before deciding…"
Jenny shot him a look. Dave didn't continue, instead glancing toward the counter. He smiled, his demeanor growing more relaxed. "Back to work. The boss is already glaring at me."
"Oh, dear, thank you so much. I really don't know what to say." Jenny waved her finger near his ear. "Call me. Let's grab dinner tonight."
She stood up and returned to her section to tidy up, occasionally exchanging smiles with Dave. Yet when Dave went to pay, Jessica beat her to it and served him. —That was her section anyway, so Jenny couldn't really say anything.
After Jessica finished the transaction, her face was sour—Dave hadn't spoken a single word to her the entire time. She slammed the tip down in front of Jenny. "Here. For a Sugar Daddy, he sure is stingy."
Jenny glanced at it and knew: Dave had covered the entire bill, sparing her from picking up the tab, but he'd only left the standard 3% tip—the amount routinely split among the kitchen staff. She smiled. "We're just friends."
"Friends, my ass," Jessica snapped. "You stole him. He was mine."
She must have overheard bits about the film crew and Buffy, sparking her suspicions. Now she was genuinely upset.
Jenny knew she couldn't show weakness now, or who knew what Jessica would say next time Dave came looking for her. She replied calmly, " I don't know what you're talking about, Jessie. If you're referring to Dave's job, all I can say is you had your chance, and I never sought any opportunity with him—fate works in strange ways, doesn't it, Jessie?"
Though it was a lie, Jenny spoke without hesitation or guilt.
Jessica's face twisted in fury. She lunged forward, waving her hand. "You bitch!"
If Jenny hadn't reacted quickly and if they hadn't been separated by a table, Jessica might have landed a blow. Startled, Jenny bolted toward the counter. Johnny scrambled out from behind it, shouting at Jessica, "What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?"
Kevin and another male server rushed out to defuse the situation. Though held back by them, Jessica refused to let it go, spewing a torrent of curses—essentially damning Jenny as a scheming bitch who'd deliberately stolen her chance. Amid the tirade, Jenny suddenly felt like the green tea bitch she was being called.
"Enough." Surprisingly, it was Johnny who finally snapped. "Jessica, you were the one who refused to engage with him from the start—we all remember that clearly. Even if there was something, you were the one who walked away first. Jenny owes you nothing. Now, if you don't want to get fired, go outside and calm down. If you keep this up, I'll have no choice but to call the police."
Jessica's movements froze momentarily before she regained her composure. Shaking off the restraints, she strode straight through the kitchen and vanished from view. Everyone watched the direction she left until they heard a loud slam of the door.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Kevin and his coworkers went to move the table, and Jenny stepped in to help. Once everything was tidied up, she approached Johnny and said apologetically, "John, I'm sorry."
Johnny looked visibly conflicted, but he finally waved his hand and joked, "If you really feel guilty, stick around and help out for a while longer."
"I will," Jenny replied. "I'll stay two extra hours today. I'll leave after dinner's done."
She now had a promising opportunity to likely leave Hollywood Star in the near future. With Jessica potentially being the only head waitress left, Johnny could still speak up for her against Jessica. Jenny was genuinely grateful.
Johnny quickly revealed he'd been eavesdropping all along. "But didn't you and Dave plan to have dinner together tonight?"
"He'll be eating dinner here anyway," Jenny quipped. "Seriously, John, Jessica probably won't be back today. I'll cover for her. There'll be plenty of chances with Dave later."
A flicker of gratitude crossed Johnny's face. He didn't refuse. "I owe you one, Jenny."
"It's me who owes you one," Jenny said sincerely.
Jessica didn't return as expected. Jenny called Dave to explain the situation and assured him she wasn't hurt, but she couldn't stop him from coming to check on her—it was clear he was completely smitten, utterly head over heels.
That was precisely why Jenny didn't want to go out to dinner with him tonight. What had happened before could still be considered within the bounds of friendship, but now that Dave was being so obvious, maintaining that balance would be difficult if things progressed further.
Dave had dinner at the restaurant, then drove Jenny home after her shift. This time, he didn't ask to come upstairs. Instead, he urged her to get some rest. "Filming is exhausting. You need your strength."
In showbiz, he was a rare genuine soul. Jenny was genuinely touched, though not enough to let him upstairs. She simply thanked him again and went home to rest.
The next day, Dave picked her up and drove her to Universal Studios—a rather extravagant choice for a TV production.
From the outside, Universal Studios looked unassuming—just a sprawling array of large warehouses dotted across the landscape. Each warehouse was flanked by a sizable parking area packed with trailers, prop trucks, and numerous production electric carts zipping around under California's blazing sun. Access passes were strictly enforced in each zone; there was no way you could drive from Zone A to Zone H with just a Zone H pass. Of course, wandering around the zones is inevitable. When it came time to get out of the car and enter the soundstage, Dave ran into a minor snag: Jenny, as a guest star of her caliber, didn't have the authority to bring anyone into the soundstage. Fortunately, Dave had prepared ahead of time and called his friend Lynch, allowing them to smoothly enter the studio and sign in.
After signing in, Jenny was led away for a script reading. Before filming officially began, there was always a script reading session where the main actors would read through the key scenes of the episode. Since Jenny was the central character in this episode, she was fortunate enough to participate in the script reading. During the session, she got to know the main cast. Most of the female stars were rather cold toward her, while the male actors were more friendly. Gary, the African-American star playing the lead role of Warwick, even exchanged flirtatious glances with her.
Fortunately, once the script reading began, everyone immediately turned professional. After the read-through, everyone went to get ready for the first scene of the episode. Jenny was no exception. Once her makeup was done... she began waiting.
Yes, whether in China or abroad, before you become famous, an actor's workday isn't primarily about acting—it's about waiting. You wait for your scene, go perform it, then come back to wait. It's quite possible you'll have one scene in the morning and one at night, with the rest of the day... just waiting. Jenny didn't know how it worked in China—she hadn't been on many sets there—and waiting times varied by production. In the U.S., guest actors like her had a dedicated trailer to wait in. Of course, if you preferred standing around watching others shoot, the crew wouldn't stop you, though they'd probably find you rather in the way.
Jenny had no desire to stand around in her fancy costume amidst the bustling set, and the costume assistant wouldn't allow it either. While the jewelry was fake, the gown itself wasn't cheap. She sat in the trailer waiting for a while until Dave came over to chat. They talked animatedly for over two hours before someone called her to the set. Only then did Jenny head over to prepare for filming.
Key scenes often required rehearsals before filming. Nick, Jenny's scene partner, still clutched his script. Jenny didn't take it too seriously either, reciting her lines by the book alongside him. After the director adjusted their positioning several times, the camera movement was finally set. Makeup artists then rushed over to touch up their looks. With a shout of "Clear the area!", everyone in the photography area flowed like a tide behind the camera, a sea of heads watching the actors from behind the tracks.
The clapperboard announced the time and scene number, followed by a sharp clap. The camera began rolling. Jenny closed her eyes slightly, instantly and effortlessly immersing herself in the life of Marilyn Monroe. Then, she opened her eyes, confidently ready to tackle the first scene of her acting career.