Rise To Stardom - Chapter 156

Chapter 156: Happy Drunk
As Oliver stared at the screen from the VIP tent backstage, he had a contented sigh, escape his lips.

Yet, at the same time, there was a hint of worry in his eyes because he knew, that this really was the start of Kyle, truly breaking into the realm of a mainstream musician.

Sure he was already so popular and his music career was already the stuff of envy for many in the industry, especially since he hadn’t even released an album but even then, Hollywood in itself as an industry, loved to have a clear hierarchy for where exactly celebrities stood.

The fact that Kyle, having only being in the industry for two years, was already opening the show for someone as big as Carl Finch, laid down the groundwork that he was the next, big, thing.

And it was because of this exact reason that Oliver knew, that the one thing Kyle could do to further solidify his standing as an upcoming superstar after this mini-tour, was for him to release an album.

That said, contrary to what other agents would’ve done by succumbing to the pressure of wanting their talents to reach new heights as quickly as possible, Oliver wasn’t the least bit eager to rush Kyle to release an album.

This thought process of his, was as a result of two major reasons.

First off, Kyle wasn’t just a musician.

He was also, an actor.

An actor, who was going to stay pretty relevant in the industry for a fairly long while due to the rejuvenating and overwhelming success of [The Curator].

Honestly, it wasn’t even an exaggeration for the agent to say that his talent was the most sought-after young actor in the industry as of the moment…

And that exactly, was what led to the second, major reason.

The pressure to keep, staying relevant, in both of his career paths at that.

This reason exactly, was why he and Kyle, despite not outwardly saying it, had been taking their time selecting the next movie he would star in.

Any single slip up in a movie role, or even him starring in a bad movie or a box office flop, could quite possibly, set him a few paces back in his rapidly ascending career.

As for his music, it was the exact same thing.

One bad music or a few strings of bad ones and he’d instantly become the stuff of backlash in the industry.

The internet after all (most of the denizens at least), loved to watch and relish in people’s downfalls.

That said, the agent knew that Kyle worked best when he was given time to fully flesh out what he wanted to do and due to this reason, Oliver had decided, that he’d rather wait for Kyle to bring up the idea himself so they could effectively work it out the best they could.

He after all, knew better than to follow in the footsteps of other agents who would pressure their talents into ascending even higher, just because they were either extremely greedy or quite scared on losing out on the fame their talent had achieved.

“That said, I think it’s high time he got his own team…” Oliver muttered out loud, still deep in thought with a thoughtful expression on his features.

Truth be told, Oliver was starting to realize that he was slowly getting overworked.

This wouldn’t spell well in the long run as he was the only agent that Kyle had.

In response to his words though, Allen whom had just walked back into room, casually stated in response, surprising Oliver who figured that he must’ve heard as he walked in;

“That’s a good idea, especially since neither of you seem interested in joining an agency.”

“And honestly, at the rapid rate he keeps ascending in Hollywood, it’s necessary that he gets a really good team.” Carl’s agent added as he took a seat beside Oliver on the couch;

“One that would ensure that his trajectory keeps soaring smoothly.”

“And so should you.” Allen concluded, a finger pointed in Oliver’s direction.

In response to that, the suavely dressed agent nodded in agreement, a determined expression, present in his grey irises.

Behind each celebrity in Hollywood, especially the well-known ones, there’s usually a fully-staffed team or an agency.

Considering Kyle and Oliver had been riding solo for a long while without any agency and still planned to do so for the foreseeable future, it was absolutely necessary that they got their own personal team.

A team that would revolve, solely around pushing Kyle Kestis to new heights.

…

…

…

Although the concert was over for the day, Carl still took the time to have a brief meet and greet with his fans.

As for Kyle, he was already back with his friends, all of them sitting at an expensive but highly rated, nearby restaurant as they conversed over good food and drinks.

Sure he could’ve also joined in with Carl but, this wasn’t his mini-tour.

It was Carl’s.

That said, having waited all day, his friends finally got around to asking him all their burning questions.

Taking his time, Kyle obliged and filled them up on everything that led up to him meeting Carl, how they had created the new song and everything interesting that happened in between and also, a few interesting things that happened backstage before the performance.

Having satiated their curiosity, their conversations soon became fragmented yet still engaging, with each and every one of them, conversing over different things.

The atmosphere too, remained lively and jovial as the night went on.

“I kid you not, it’s by far the craziest scene we’ve shot!” Liz hilariously explained something that had happened on set to Steven who was currently laughing in response.

“Tiana smiles warmly?! Give me back my ideal of her being infamous!” Hannah shivered in disbelief while Ellen shook her head in disagreement as she also stated;

“No. I also won’t believe it till I see it!”

Both had worked with the Director early on in their career and still couldn’t believe all the good things Jasmine kept saying about her since they all remembered her as the demoness on set.

“Well if you won’t believe me, here’s a video of the bridal bouquet incident.” the sexy actress spared no effort to buttress her point this time.

“Larry said we’ve got a crap ton of interviews to attend to next week…” Joe casually said to which Ryan sighed in resignation.

“So do I! Can’t I at least, have one more week for my honey moon?” Katie complained, her expression slightly pouty as her husband gently pat her on the back while consoling her;

“There, there darling.”

As for Amy, she was getting a bit concerned yet amused by the way Christina was currently behaving.

‘She’s not intoxicated, is she?’ the teenage lady, tilted her head in curiosity, after which she then began to search the bottles of wine on the table.

She after all, was under age and didn’t want to mistakenly consume whatever it was Christina had.

“You really do need to tell me how you did it dreamboat.” Lily spoke to Kyle who listened attentively while placing some premium steak onto his plate.

“I’m not complaining honestly but it’s so amazing to go through some of your previous clips and see that those same single takes, was what was in the final product.” she added, her expression casual as she popped a chicken choila into her mouth.

In response to her words, Kyle responded with a thin smile;

“Honestly, I can only tell you that it gets easier. That said, as long as the script is good, you’ll have a blast. That I’m sure of.”

“Besides, being The Curator is such an amazing role and I’m certain you’ll do brilliant. Just remember to enjoy every second of it.” Kyle pointed his fork in her direction, to which the lady grinned in appreciation.

And really, Kyle meant every bit of what he had just said.

Sure her stats couldn’t compare to his anymore but even then, Lily had been steadily growing in her acting career and Kyle knew, that Jon, Barry and Tiana must’ve seen something in her to have selected her as the 11th Curator.

Besides, with her powerful [Stage Presence] skill and her current Level 10 acting stat, she was more or less in the same grade as him around the time he had just started the first few days of filming for the 10th season of the show.

As a result, Kyle genuinely believed that Lily would only get better with time.

Picking up his glass of non-alcoholic wine though, the young man already had a few other thoughts swirling in his head as he gazed at the gently sloshing liquid.

Having experienced the concert today, both as an artist and as a fan from the audience, there was one thing Kyle had realized.

‘I should make a pop-rock song…’

“Where’re you going?” Amy curiously asked, her gaze alternating between the wine bottle in her hands and the blonde-haired lady whom had abruptly gotten off her seat.

One of the stand out things throughout the entire concert that he had gleaned from the experienced superstar, was that Carl effortlessly kept ramping up the momentum they had created after [Dancin’ On The Edge] with the right selection of songs.

“Christina…? Why are you switching seats?” Lily soon noticed something was off, drawing everyone’s attention to the lady whom had chosen to seat beside Kyle after shuffling Steven over.

Even though he had sprinkled in a few of his other popular pop songs that were from different genres to keep the audience guessing, Carl’s forte was pop rock.

And pop rock, did a fantastic job of keeping every one hyped-up and singing along.

This train of thought, was what made Kyle realize that although he had made different styles of pop song in the past two years, he actually, hadn’t ever made a pop rock song.

‘Guess I have something interesting to work towards for the album then.’ he inwardly declared with a light smile and a determined glint in his eyes.

“Don’t tell me she’s…” Jasmine widened her eyes in realization, the same thing happening to everyone else as they watched the lady, training her gaze on Kyle.

Yes, Kyle had finally come to the decision to make an album.

Still, it was something he was planning to take his time, figuring out.

His mantra after all, was quality over quantity.

Finally taking a sip of his wine though, Kyle soon felt someone’s gaze on him.

In fact, subconsciously, he had noticed said gaze on him for a quite a while now.

Glancing over sideways, his sapphire irises, naturally locked onto Christina’s dilated pupils, her evergreen irises glistening in adoration.

There was also a small tint of red on her cheeks and a fond smile on her lips.

Before the young man could even wrap his head around what was happening, the lady’s delicate hands had already landed on the sides of his face, a silly expression on her features.

And that was when Kyle finally put together the string of words he had subconsciously been hearing, his eyes widening in realization as he stated;

“Are you perhaps, drunk?”

However, in response, Christina started pulling his cheeks playfully, a small giggle escaping her lips as she did.

“Culprit found! It says here, 5.07% alcohol…” Amy whom had located the wine bottle, read out loud, her voice trailing off as she soon noticed everyone around the table, silently watching the happy drunk, playing with Kyle’s cheek.

Kyle on the other hand, who simply, found her actions amusing, playfully pulled the lady’s cheeks in retaliation while stating;

“Hello blondie.”

In response to his words, a drunk Christina pouted, her eyes seemingly asking him to call her by her actual name.

This simple interaction of theirs though, elicited a chuckle first from Amy and then, evolved into a hearty laughter from everyone else.