Rise To Stardom - Chapter 191

Chapter 191: Karma’s Boyfriend
Best New Artist.

Honestly, from the moment the Recording Academy contacted Justin’s agents to request for their talent to be a guest presenter for one of the awards of the prestigious award ceremony, they already had an inkling of what they were up to.

Justin himself, for all his fickle pride and petty nature, wasn’t dumb either.

He knew exactly what the play here was.

But, for a rising star like him to even be offered to the opportunity to present a Grammie Award, was a commendable achievement in its own right…

… even if it was mostly facilitated by all the one-sided drama surrounding him and Kyle.

Still, The Recording Academy and the event planners of the prestigious award ceremony, for as much as they loved to revel in pulling their webs of amusement to entertain the audience at home and most especially, increase the viewership ratings of the Award Show, still saw some measure of potential in Justin.

One he could possibly, go on to build upon in the coming years.

After all, it was no news in the industry that a lot of the young artists whom were typically tasked with presenting an award, usually went on to win a Grammie award of theirs, later in their career.

But for now, karma was going to do its thing.

“For Best New Artist, the nominated artists are ––”

“Alison Reyes.”

“Olivia Summers.”

“Kyle Kestis.”

“Patrick Turner.”

“Henry Snipes.”

“Lisa Vogue.”

As the cameras panned to and focused on the nominated artists, their faces reflected on the giant LED screen.

This time, the new artists in the hall, obviously less skilled, and also less experienced at controlling their nerves, had a hard time maintaining a calm façade despite their best efforts to keep it cool.

Not Kyle though.

He was as calm as the still waters of a tranquil lake.

And so was Oliver.

The young man had already won an award so it was to be expected that most in the hall, believed someone else would take home the award.

Nick Astley was already a pretty rare case and judging by how the Recording Academy did things in the previous years, most already ruled out Kyle in their minds.

“And the award goes to…” Justin on the other hand, opened up the envelope at a steady pace, one that only seemed to add more to the nervousness of the other nominated artists who hoped for their names to be called.

Seeing the name written on the paper slip though, the guest presenter paused a bit, noticeably exhaled slightly in acceptance and then, announced like a guest presenter should;

“Kyle Kestis!”

🎶 What a strange canvas of thoughts… 🎶

Another round of cheery applause, louder than even the first collided against Kyle like a torrential surge, his eyes still blinking a few times in disbelief.

This time around though, Oliver lightly pat his talent on the shoulder like a proud father while Lily, already off her chair, clapped in genuine glee.

Slowly getting off his chair, Kyle soon made his way towards the stage as the resounding claps of everyone in the hall followed him.

If originally, the big night was supposed to be Nick’s time in the spotlight, the celebrity would have to get used to sharing that spotlight pronto.

Tonight wasn’t just his night, anymore.

It was, the night.

The night when two artists, old and new, cemented themselves as musicians whom were at the absolute top of their game.

And so, reaching over to where Justin was, Kyle not even finding it the least bit annoying that Justin practically shoved the award into his hands in an expertly inconspicuous way, simply moved towards the mic to speak.

–

(Meanwhile…)

Jennie (Mamma Mia), Owen, Gwen, Stuart, Camille and Miguel, immediately popped open another bottle of champagne with rowdy yet joyous cheers in the office!!!

“This…”

Amy (Princess Peach), was practically skipping about their apartment while squealing as her father, whom had been watching the show alongside her, tried to calm his daughter down.

But, when he glanced over to the screen and saw his other daughter on screen gleefully clapping in similar fashion, he simply gave up.

“It’s heavy…”

Jasmine and her girls Liz, Ellen and Hannah, all of whom were currently dressed in pajamas and had gathered at the sexy lady’s house to have their once in a year sleepover, paused their brief pillow fight for a few minutes to listen, the smiles on their lips beautiful.

“It’s really heavy…”

Andrew (WeDoABitOfTrolling) tightly hugged his girlfriend Sarah, who snuggled up to him on the couch as they watched the TV screen in shared happiness.

“Not literally, no.”

Ryan grinned mirthfully, his hands pouring another glass of wine for Katie, both of whom soon clinked their glasses in a toast to Kyle’s wins.

“But I understand the weight of what it represents.”

Peter (Peter_Writes_Fantasy), stopped tapping the keyboard of his laptop for a few seconds and gently lowered its screen, his ears listening to the radio broadcast with a contented smile.

“I’ll do my best.”

Joe’s parents, alongside his elder brothers, all of whom were now extremely supportive of his dreams after his success in the industry, glanced over to stare at him grinning proudly as he sat in their midst.

“I’ll live up to those expectations, crushing as they might be.”

Carlos, Dahlia and a slew of other employees at SpawnPoint Studios whom had been working late into the night out of habit, gathered around the comfy lobby with the giant TV, all of them smiling exuberantly as they listened.

“Please, keep watching me.”

Sharon, propping her head with cupped hands swooned a bit as she did exactly just that while gazing at her laptop screen, her smile blissful as her legs gently swung back and forth while laying on her bed.

“‘Cause I’ve got so much more to give.”

Steven grinned in excitement, his competitive spirit surging as he got off his chair to practice his piano skills with an interlocked stretch of his knuckles.

“Thank you to The Recording Academy for awarding me this.”

Jeffrey Dickson, glanced over to those same set of individuals, same as Jon Quentin, their gazes still evidently a mix of disbelief and awe that they actually, chose Kyle without any sort of drama.

All were currently at a dinner night hosted by one of said esteemed panel of judges from The Recording Academy who wanted a less boisterous but more intellectual atmosphere to celebrate the 63rd Award Show.

“And thank you, to everyone watching.”

Viewers around the world, shared various expressions and reactions to those words, most of which were of the happy and ecstatic varieties.

“Truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

Christina’s features blossomed into a heartwarming expression, her hands which had been knitting a new scarf with the words, ‘Congratulations Kyle! Here’s To Bigger Wins!’ in case Kyle did win a Grammie, paused to clap alongside everyone else in the grand hall as Kyle, ended his second appreciation speech.

…

…

…

No sooner had the awards show rounded up, TweetTalk was already buzzing, most denizens already geared up to voice their opinions.

#The63rdGrammies was already trending as number one on the social media platform and on a post from an internet celebrity who was always up to date on every Hollywood event, denizens swarmed to the post he had made titled; THOUGHTS ON THE 63RD GRAMMIES?

–

Sleuthing Teen: Yo! Two Grammies for his very first Grammie nods! At the age of 22! Kyle’s on a roll this year people! Also, what am I doing with my life?!!

Laughing Gas 81: Asides Nick and Kyle, Noah was the biggest MVP of the night for me. Sure he’s the host, yes, but still, making funny yet inoffensive jokes that still got us laughing out loud, must’ve been hard work. Mad props to him.

WaifuWithARocketLauncher: Ha! Suck it Justin! Suck it Hollywood Star Awards!

Boss Lady: I’m quite sad Marilyn and Saoirse didn’t win an award but I am smart enough to know that Nick and Kyle, deserved those awards. Kudos to them.

Wendy The Witch: At this rate, karma must be Kyle’s girlfriend ’cause honestly, you can’t tell me that queen doesn’t have his back.

ShrekLovesFiona: @Wendy The Witch; I know right?! Wait a minute?! Does that make Kyle, karma’s boyfriend?! I smell a scoop! Jokes aside though, Justin must be feeling like shit right now.

Kyle’s Girlfriend: @Wendy The Witch; It’s me! Me! I’m Kyle’s girlfriend! I’m so glad our cinnamon roll won his due awards! We really, really made the right person famous and I couldn’t be more proud!

Trix or Treat: @Kyle’s Girlfriend; When will you learn that you’re not?! Also, that saying; ‘Hollywood’s such a small place.’ couldn’t been more true @ShrekLovesFiona. I practically choked on my drink when I saw Justin walk onto the stage to present the award. I’m so happy right now. Everything’s come back full circle in the best way possible. (๑¯◡¯๑)

WhenInRome: Marilyn Aiko’s reactions to losing the awards are priceless! Meme worthy material.

Pushing 60: Nick Astley! Nick Astley’s back baby! After two years of subpar music, he’s finally got his groove back and I’m so full of pride as a fan of his who stuck around despite a lot of people slowly losing interest in him.

Eager Falcon: Man, I can’t wait for Kyle’s album to drop! T-minus 11 days! Also, for a second speech that was made up on the fly and took no less than thirty seconds, it was gold!

GetRekd: @; I agree. Dude’s eloquence needs to be studied.

Annie Are You Okay?: My absolute favorite moment in the Award Ceremony, was Lily and Kyle rapping! Those two are living their best lives I’m telling you!

Pandora’s Box: That ‘Best New Artist’ award curse though. Kyle better start gearing up.

Snoring Panda: Best, Grammie Award Ceremony, ever! And Justin presenting the Award to Kyle, absolute cinema! ✨

–

Like that, more and more comments poured into the post, the discussions, going on, late into the night, even after the Award Ceremony had long ended.

For a post that had already gathered over 10M views, 218K likes, 100K retweets and over 1K comments, it seemed as if the analytics, had no intentions of slowing down one bit.

* * *

Just like every other award ceremony, or most Hollywood red carpet events for that matter, the after party was where the real meat of things, lay.

And for Nick Astley and Kyle Kestis, even after the award show, they were, quite literally, still the main centers of attention.

However, where Nick excelled at being a complete extrovert and a party monster, Kyle the ambivert, needed a few minutes of personal space to recharge his rapidly dropping social battery.

But if Kyle was also being honest with himself, he mostly just needed a few seconds alone to simply reflect on his wins and also ensure, that it didn’t get to his head.

For someone who loved staying grounded and was naturally down-to-earth, he felt that he needed to get away from all the constant praises he had been receiving all night, if only for a minute.

And so, currently in the men’s restroom, the entire space big and lavish enough to serve as the average person’s apartment if remodeled expertly, Kyle exhaled slowly and then, opened the tap.

Scooping up a bit and dousing his face with its coolness, Kyle stared at the mirror opposing him and then said;

“Hey there. Big night we’re having.”

“I wonder what Ollie and the gang would say if they saw me now…”

“They’d practically be dancing in their wheelchairs… probably…” Kyle chuckled a bit at his own words and then stated with a whisper;

“Well, I owe it all to you guys. I hope you’ll be proud of me, wherever you are.”

That was all it took.

Just a few seconds… and some casual words.

That really was all it took for Kyle to remind himself that he was very, very privileged to be at this point in his life.

And for Kyle, being privileged, reminded him of the need to constantly be a better person to feel accepting of that privilege.

Patting his face with his handkerchief, Kyle noticed as the door to the restroom opened and an intoxicated man, swayed in.

No sooner had Justin seen Kyle though, he instantly spoke, his posture straightening up a bit;

“You.”