Rise To Stardom - Chapter 215

Chapter 215: Another Door
Turning around their misfortune with Atlas International.

It wasn’t something particularly amazing that Kyle came up with to achieve that.

In fact, it wasn’t even an ingenious thought process.

But, by the time Atlas’s CEO would be finding out, it would inevitably tick him off quite a bit.

Especially because it had been an oversight on his part and he had indirectly, facilitated everything that came after.

That, exactly, was where Kyle’s rather subtle cunning, came into play

Having made up his mind a few days back after sharing the rest of his thoughts with his agent, he and Oliver, alongside Owen who tagged along, arrived at Santa Monica’s State Beach.

And upon arriving at the door to Xavier’s Mediterranean Condo, the trio were noticeably taken aback by the Director who was dressed in a Hawaiian T-shirt and shorts alongside his beautiful wife who was in a full-body swimwear, both of them heading out the door and towards the beach.

In fact, with all the required gear in their hands, it was obvious they were out on a beach date.

“Okay…” Owen confusedly stated out loud as the duo, with their sunglasses on, synchronously tilted it downwards to stare at the trio while Kyle questioned, his expression shifting slightly to that of amusement.

“Is this a bad time?” he tactfully inquired of the duo despite having previously informed them of their visit a few days earlier.

Glancing over to each other, and then back to the trio, the couple casually responded;

“No.”

“Well, you certainly don’t look like people who got fired from something you spent almost all year struggling to get the opportunity to work on.” Oliver threw in coolly.

Having attended the table read with Kyle, Oliver had already gotten acquainted with the duo, just like Kyle had.

“I’m pretty sure it’s damage control at this point.” Kyle purposely whispered aloud to Oliver and Owen, his tone laced with a bit of humor and mock concern.

“Hey!” Cassandra threw her beach ball at him as Xavier simultaneously added;

“We can hear you!”

…

…

…

Cassandra Cage had spent the better half of the year, trying to get in touch with ChillFlix the moment it leaked to the media that they had purchased the right to [Stray Wolves].

And after an arduous game of cat and mouse for a little over three months, she had finally gotten the chance to speak with ChillFix’s Execs to propose they worked with her and her husband to make a live action adaptation with unexpected success.

Xavier Cage on the other hand, having dreamed of getting the chance to adapt one of Martin O. Ronan’s work all his life, was immensely grateful for Cass’ effort in securing such a golden opportunity.

As a result, to show just how committed he was to ensuring his wife’s efforts didn’t go to waste despite his box-office flops these past few years (all of which occurred due to an unfortunate series of events and not because he wasn’t fantastic at his job), he’d told his wife he’d need to go into seclusion.

The Hollywood Strike too, seemed to have happened at the perfect time, further relieving the Director of any sort of unwarranted pressure, hence giving him all the time to do a great job.

Having being a big fan of Martin’s works all his life, Xavier wanted to ensure that he made a fantastic live-action script that did justice to such an amazing book.

And he did, as noted by the 91% rating Kyle’s [Appraisal] gave the script.

But, unexpected to any of them, everything rolled downhill pretty fast the moment the Hollywood Strike was over.

“So that’s what really happened…” Xavier commented in realization as he and Kyle, barefooted, strolled along the beachscape while conversing.

Just behind them, Oliver, Cassandra and Owen were doing the same, the agent giving her a rundown of what actually went down behind the scenes.

“Yeah. In a way, you could say it’s our fault things went south for you guys.” Kyle had a hint of guilt to his tone as the cool sea breeze, ruffled their hair and the waves, washed over their feet.

“Not your fault at all. Won’t be my first time dealing with Atlas, Lex… or Rob for that matter so rest assured, you’re not to blame.”

Kyle nodded thankfully in response and then squinted his eyes in slight curiosity as he inquired;

“Rob? Robert Iger?”

“Yeah, him.” Xavier nodded and then continued;

“Way before he became ChillFlix’s CEO, we worked together on [Intergalactic].”

“The movie that earned you your Oscar?” Kyle curiously asked.

“Yeah. Rob’s always been pretty salty I won that Oscar ten years ago as the Director but he never even got any nods as the Producer for Best Picture.” Xavier responded and then added, a satisfied smile nestling on his lips.

“Not that I care though. He’s always been such a pain in the ass to work with so it felt quite refreshing being able to flip him off.”

To that Kyle chuckled as the Director did the same.

Soon though, Xavier’s steps came to a gradual halt as he asked of the young man with a slightly curious tone;

“Why are you here, really?”

“I mean, Cass and I definitely appreciate you and Oliver going out of your way to clear things up but that’s not the only reason you’re here, is it Kyle?”

In response to that, Kyle smiled a bit sheepishly and then, retrieved a neatly tucked and folded letter in his pants as he handed it over to the Director;

“This, is the other reason why we’re here.”

“Why so secretive?” Xavier arched a curious brow while accepting the letter.

In response, Kyle simply shrugged, urging him to read the letter with a gestured tilt of his head and a light smile.

“Alright…” the Director had no choice but to play along, his fingers casually prying open the envelope to read the letter.

As he did, Kyle took the opportunity to appraise him a second time.

___________________________

{Xavier Cage} – 43 years

Directing › Level 17

Writing › Level 15

Acting › Level 6

Skills – [Jack of All Trades], [Idea Nexus].

___________________________

The first time Kyle had ever appraised the Director was at their read through session and even then, he had been genuinely stunned.

Seeing the stats again today though, he couldn’t help but inwardly comment, his tone clearly impressed;

‘Wow…’

Xavier’s stats, especially the [Idea Nexus] skill, was one that had Kyle really intrigued for one, very interesting reason.

‘It has a cooldown…’ he mused to himself as he watched its timer casually ticking down 7 days, 9 hours, 59 minutes and 3 seconds.

In fact, Xavier was the only other individual asides him whom he had met that had a cooldown timer for a skill, much like his [Scene Stealer].

‘I wonder how many months his takes before it resets…’ Kyle pondered in curiosity.

“This!” Xavier’s excited remark on the other hand, had him brush aside the panel instantly as the Director spoke again!

“You’re serious about this?!”

“Xavier. I could have sent you an e-mail. Of course I’m serious about it!” Kyle mirrored his enthusiasm.

At the exact same time, Cassandra whom had just being requested of by Oliver to be a producer for [Tech Wiz]’s live adaptation, commented audibly, the anticipation in her tone palpable;

“My knowledge on the source material is limited but count me in! You already had me at superhero movie anyway.”

“So, what’d you say, Mr. Cage?” Kyle on the other hand, simultaneously inquired of the Director.

“Screenwriter and the Director?” Xavier clarified one more time, his tone rhetorical yet excited.

“We’ll pay you handsomely.” Kyle added for good measure with gestured, outspread arms.

“I’d be honored.” the Hollywood Director extended a handshake over to the young star who grasped it firmly, a confident smile nestling on their lips as the early morning sea breeze washed over them.

Just like that, Kyle had secured the Director and Producer for the [Tech Wiz] live action adaptation.

Lex’s antics might’ve cost him his very first movie role as a villain but the young star wasn’t too discouraged.

He was certain he’d get his chance to try out for another in due time.

But more than that, Kyle had capitalized on the misfortune that tumbled across his way and found a silver lining for something even better.

After all, as the saying goes, one has to make the best of what they had and Kyle, with all intents and purposes, was doing just that.

Just like he had been doing from the very start of his Hollywood career.

* * *

(A few days later…)

The past few months had been a fairly low-key month for Kyle’s fan group.

Sure they knew their favorite star had stayed relevant in the industry despite the long Hollywood Strike but still, they just wished that they could find any new tidbit of information about him to hopefully sink their teeth into and get their fairly active fan-group, buzzing like no tomorrow again.

–

Kyle’s Girlfriend: I’m Kyle-sick! I haven’t received my daily dose of Kyle in months! I’m dying of boredom over here people!

Trix or Treat: I agree!

ShrekLovesFiona: Me two!

Mamma Mia: Me three. This is fun.

Princess Peach: Me four! What’s our cinnamon roll up to?!

Peter_Writes_Fantasy: Me five. Are we really doing this right now?

WeDoABitOfTrolling: Me six! Yes. Yes we are. Now giddy up and make the next message longer!

WaifuWithARocketLauncher: Me seven! Seven rocket launchers! Seven glorious nukes! Seven’s my lucky number and trust me, I’ll septuple nuke the next person if your message isn’t longer!

The Impostor: Me eight. Kyle was just announced to be the headliner for 2022’s NFL’s SuperBowl Halftime performance and, at the same time, he’s also announced the dates for his tour starting next year.

–

Like the wrench thrower the fan group knew him to be, in the best way possible at that, the entire group exploded into chaos the moment The Impostor’s message dropped like a nuclear bomb!

* * *

In a very lavish and luxurious penthouse, just off the coast of Mandalay Bay Beach, Las Vegas, Marilyn Aiko was in a shitty mood, a far cry from her plans to go for a nice, relaxing soak in her bath tub.

As if losing the Grammies last year to Nick Astley and the newcomer Kyle Kestis hadn’t been enough, she had also ended up losing the chance to headline NFL’s Super Bowl Half Time to him!

Currently donning a bath robe over her smooth, warm-undertone skin, her wet, darkest-brown hair messily layered all over her well-defined and striking features, Marilyn’s almond irises were furious as she demanded;

“How?”

To that, her agent, Edward Bronx, pinched the ridge of his nose in irritation and simply remained silent whilst pacing back and forth in the modernly furnished living room that reeked of wealth and high-class.

“How?!” Marilyn angrily urged a second time, her voice a bit higher.

Yet again, her agent remained quiet while doing his best to keep his calm.

“How?!!” she practically screamed in fury this time!

“I don’t know!!!” Edward exploded at her, the genuine mix of confused frustration in his tone evident!

“Look! I did everything I could and so did the agency but, you more than anyone should know, that those NFL board members, mostly pick artists that are capable of drawing the most crowd.” Edward continued, trying his best to regain his composure.

“And clearly, they must’ve believed, that Kyle Kestis could draw in more crowd than you. There’s nothing I or the agency can do about that, okay?!” the agent let out an exasperated sigh as he added a few more words;

“Look, at least we got you in as one of the surprise performers.”

“You can still own the stage, Aiko. Him being the headliner, doesn’t change that.” Edward concluded with an assuring grip on the lady’s tense shoulders

Marilyn too, having reasoned from his angle, realized that her agent was right.

She still had a once in a lifetime opportunity that so many other artists could only hope they did.

Still, Aiko’s pride and ego, just wouldn’t let her admit that the young star, was in fact, more in vogue than her.

And as a result, she made up her mind;

‘Own the stage huh?’

‘Then that’s what I’ll do.’ she had an immensely fierce yet prideful expression on her features.

“I’ll put on a performance so amazing, it’ll make Kyle’s look like a total amateur.” she boldly declared to her agent with the most condescending tone and expression she could muster.