Prelude to Forever : Alden & Maine

One Shot #1 - Uncertain Smile

"IN THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF THE NEW FORMAT, EB WAS GETTING NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM VIEWERS BECAUSE OF YAYA DUB. APPARENTLY, JENNY SAYS "HINDI TYPE NG MGA MATATANDA ANG NAKASIMANGOT SA TV."

JENNY WAS DELIBERATING OVER WHAT TO DO WITH YAYA DUB WHEN HER FLOOR DIRECTOR TOLD HER THAT MAINE HAD A CRUSH ON ALDEN RICHARDS, WHO HOSTS EB'S "THAT'S MY BAE" SEGMENT IN THE STUDIO. JENNY ASKED ALDEN TO SIT IN THE AUDIENCE AND WATCH THE "JUAN FOR ALL, ALL FOR JUAN" SEGMENT, WHICH WAS BEING BROADCAST TO THE STUDIO FROM A REMOTE LOCATION. EVER THE TROUPER, ALDEN AGREED, NOT KNOWING WHAT JENNY'S INTENTIONS WERE."

-Excerpts from the Jenny Ferre interview for "The YES Ultimate Kalyeserye Scrapbook (Written by Candice Lim-Venturanza), p. 42-43, YES Magazine November 2015 Issue. Ms. Ferre is the senior vice president for creatives and operations of Television and Production Exponents Philippines Inc. (TAPE Inc.), producer of Eat Bulaga.

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ALDEN

July 16, 2015. A day that started like all other days of work for Alden. He reported for work at Broadway, studied his lines for That's My Bae, got dressed and did his segment. By the end of his segment, he was really hungry. As he was about to take his lunch in the pantry, Jenny Ferre, their SVP for Creatives and Operations called him.

"Alden," She said with a nod, seeming pre-occupied. Ma'am Jenny was like that, her mind was constantly working, always processing new ideas. It seemed that her latest idea would involve him.

"I need you to sit with the audience while Juan For All is on air," She said, writing her thoughts down as they discussed. "Just sit there, wala kang ibang gagawin. Nood ka lang ng Juan for All."

Although he thought it was a weird request, Alden nodded. Whatever the plan was, if it would lengthen his stay here in Eat Bulaga, he was all for it. He loved working here, the Dabarkads were all supportive and welcoming to him. And sitting there with the audience to watch Juan for All would be easy.

The commercial break was over. Alden sat Indian style on the floor near the Audience gallery and gazed at the monitors. Juan for All was always fun to watch, because Jose, Wally and Paolo always delivered the laughs. He looked up to them, knew how difficult it was to be on location and yet, they consistently provided the funniest moments on live TV. His thoughts took him away from the starting spiels of Jose and Paolo, but seeing her entrance in the scene caught his attention.

Maine Mendoza. That's what her name was. He knew her from her popular dubsmash videos, some he had watched and enjoyed when he searched for dubsmash material as pegs. She was wacky in an endearing way, and he heard about her addition to the Juan for All cast as the snobbish yaya who never smiled.

Standing on that banca, she was in full character mode, her nose turned up on the people around her. They got off the banca and joined Jose and Paolo, exchanged a few pleasantries and went through the problem-solving portion. Not once did he see her smile, she was consistently poker-faced or looking at Jose with disdain as he barbed her with his teasing. She dubsmashed her lines effortlessly, like a pro.

Up to this point, Alden still could not understand what his role was. The cameras showed him watching them in a few frames but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. And then it happened.

He was watching her perform the Mukangkaw dubsmash and she was killing it. He was enjoying her performance when she unconsciously glanced at the monitors and saw him watching her. She faltered and went out of character. Helplessly, she smiled, and got teased mercilessly for it.

"Hala yaya, naco-conscious ka kay Alden," Miss A said, stating the obvious.

Totally losing her composure, she gave a full-blown smile before hiding her face behind her fan. Her face totally transformed with the smile. Her expressive doe eyes lit up, her lips revealed beautiful, even pearly whites. She was pretty when she smiled.

The teasing went on and Alden was a bit sorry for her. It must be embarrassing to be put on the spot like that. But like a pro, she played with the moment, flirting coyly with him on split-screen.

Alden smiled back and waved hello. Her smiles were infectious, and he couldn't help but play along. In jest, she made a silly face and waved back. The cute wave got the audience roaring with laughter, him included. She blew him a kiss and he playfully caught it, feeling a tingle of happiness.

For the rest of the segment, he was more aware of her and forgot he was hungry. Alden also noticed other things about her. He liked that she did not wear too much make-up because she looked fresh despite the heat of the sun. When it suddenly rained, she did not run for cover and kept her composure, looking cute in a hat Jose found for her.

When she and the guys walked to the house of the sugod-bahay winner, he noticed her wearing denim shorts and admired her long shapely legs. She also cried for the winner who lived alone in her house. He liked that she did, it showed she had a soft heart.

By the time the segment was over, he felt happy without knowing why. Ma'am Jenny tapped him on the shoulder, thanking him for indulging her.

"Bukas ulit Alden ha," She said with a smile.

That night, Alden went online to watched Maine's dubsmash videos again.

MAINE

The segment was over but her heart was still beating fast. Maine wasn't sure of the aftermath of today's Juan for All episode. The Broadway team shared the surprising response of the studio audience regarding her encounter with Alden. While she was happy that it worked, she was worried too. What did Alden think of her? While she did all her routines in character as Yaya Dub, she wondered what he thought about her, Maine. She probably looked silly.

"Tapos na palabas, uy," Wally joked. He already changed from his Lola Nidora garb and sat on the bench beside her.

"Kuya," She said tentatively. "Ok lang ba yung kanina?"

"Oo naman, ano ka ba?" Wally said with a smile. "May problema ba?"

"Wala naman. Nagulat lang ako kanina na nanood si Alden, natawa tuloy ako. Baka magalit si Ma'am Jenny."

"Hindi magagalit yun. Mukha ngang dahil sa nangyari, tatagal ka sa Juan for All eh."

"Talaga po? Bakit po?" That was good wasn't it?

"Basta." Wally smiled at her and playfully mussed her hair.

She blushed, remembering Alden's smile, and her stupid wave back at him. Arghhh, what was she thinking?

That night, Maine did her spiel in front of a mirror, checking to see how she looked. She drifted off to sleep with a smile, as she imagined flying kisses and dimples waiting for her the next day.