Rise To Stardom - Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Overly Friendly
(A few days later…)

Hauling her luggage, a small, single travel suitcase that contained all that she truly owned, Sharon, donning a nose mask and a boater hat atop her head, made her way across the busy airport terminal alongside many others, her steps light as her casual, floral gown, breezily yet gently flowed behind.

Exiting the glass doors of the terminal, the lady’s gaze slowly swept over the bustling variety of people moving about and cars, parked outside the airport until her eyes, finally landed on a familiar young man in a nose mask of his own waving over to her.

Quickly, she moved in his direction with a beaming smile.

“Here you go.” Kyle casually tossed over the keys of her new apartment to her the moment she was within reasonable vicinity.

Catching said key with a warm smile which was hidden behind the nose mask she was wearing, the lady’s ocean-blue irises instead, conveyed how immensely grateful she was as Kyle commented curiously;

“Honey blonde? For Felicia?”

“Yes and No.” Sharon shook her head, after which she then winked seductively while twirling around briefly as she inquired of Kyle;

“Like it?”

“It looks good. And it suits you… quite a lot, in fact. Makes you that much more bewitching.” he gave an honest response to which the lady grinned, her eyes sparkling in delight as she temptingly bit her lips;

“Feast your eyes then.”

Kyle, obviously relaxed and unperturbed by her seductive nature, kept leaning on the side frame of his Ford Mustang as he commented casually;

“Still not interested.”

“Eh. Had to try my luck again.” the temptress shrugged in resignation, her lips parting open once more as she casually threw in to answer Kyle’s initial question;

“Fun fact though. This is my natural hair color.”

Kyle was noticeably surprised by the info, a brow arching upwards as Sharon continued;

“Never liked the light blonde and pink highlights honestly. Had to do it though because STA, wanted me to have a more ‘unique’ appearance.”

There was a heavy hint of utter contempt in the lady’s voice as she concluded, her elated mood, noticeably taking a hit by the thought of her old agency.

“But now you’re here.” Kyle’s calm response instead, coupled with his soft, reassuring smile, reeled her back to the present.

“Now, I’m here.” Sharon, despite not visibly seeing the smile due to his nose mask, responded in kind as a comfortable silence descended between them.

“Alright then,” Kyle leaned off his car a few seconds later as he asked of the lady;

“Ready to check out your new place?”

“Yes please!” Sharon beamed in response.

However, just before she got into the car as Kyle opened the door for her, she spoke again, her tone filled with an indescribable sense of gratitude;

“Kyle. Thank you. Truly, from the depths of my heart, thank you, so very much.”

“Don’t mention it.” the young star warmly responded.

In the contract Kyle had sent to Sharon, a bunch of extremely favorable conditions that was not of the typical industry standard was outlined extensively.

Asides from the $1,500,000 dollar upfront pay for her role as Felicia Danvers in [Tech Wiz: Year One] and a 1% cut in the Box Office Returns of all three movies, Kyle as the Executive Producer, purposely added a clause where he was also required to give her proper accommodation from the entire length of the first movie’s pre-production till filming concluded.

Granted the contract also had a bunch of things Sharon herself also needed to do as an actress starring as the female lead in a superhero movie alongside a few other tidbits here and there, the incentives she was being afforded nonetheless, was nothing short of generous from Kyle.

“Oh yes! Congratulations on the NFL SuperBowl Halftime Headline and all your Grammie nods this year Kyle! Here’s to hoping you win them all!” Sharon cheered gleefully the moment the young man, having placed her luggage into the booth, settled into the driver’s seat a few seconds later.

“Thank you. Thank you for saying that Sharon.” Kyle, just before putting the car in ignition, appreciatively replied with a genuine smile.

As if him being nominated for two brackets last year wasn’t a milestone of its own, this year, Kyle had been nominated in a whopping five brackets for the 64th Annual Grammie Awards!

From the more renowned ones like Record of The Year, Album of The Year and Song of The Year, to the lesser known but still prestigious Best Score Soundtrack For Videogames and Best Music Video, 2022, just like Xavier had said, was looking to be a great year.

For Kyle especially too.

* * *

After a few more days of rest, relaxation and sweet, sweet freedom, Sharon was already hard at work.

Asides from being handed over the script for [Tech Wiz: Year One], one she was already so invested in, the lady also had one other responsibility on her plate for now.

Considering the DLC for [Tech Wiz] had already been polished to perfection, all that was left were a few tidbits here and there, most of which required the marketing side of things.

Originally, Kyle was supposed to be the one explaining all the new features that the DLC would confer upon gamers, and how it was an even better experience than the already fantastic base game in a gameplay showcase for the DLC, one which was planned for filming in the coming weeks.

However, the CEO had delegated that job to Sharon, stating that since Voltress, the villain she motion-captioned and voice-acted was heavily involved in the DLC’s story, it’d be a good marketing strategy for her to do it, instead of him.

Sharon too, was very much onboard with this and didn’t spare any effort to get herself familiar with all the necessary gaming lingo and put in some extra work, especially since she seemed to be having quite a lot of fun actually doing it.

As for Kyle, having just received the the teaser for [Tech Wiz: Year One] from Maria in a flash drive, one that they had filmed in no less than a few days after the script had been made, the young star and his team, huddled up around his laptop in their office to watch it.

And after they were done watching, all shared a contented smile on their features as they chuckled from time to time like little gremlins keeping a valuable secret.

In a few weeks’ time, the Super Bowl would arrive and viewers of the annual championship league, asides from having Kyle as their headliner for their Half Time Show, were in for another treat.

The announcement of the titular superhero’s, live action adaptation.

* * *

[Friday, February 11th, 2022].

Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That was where the 56th Super Bowl was going to be held.

Despite today not being the D-day, the field of the stadium was fairly packed and clearly bustling with life nonetheless as the Stage Manager and Event Coordinators went about giving necessary instructions to ensure all was as it should be.

In response, the Sound Engineers, Riggers, Lighting Technician, Event Coordinator, Stagehands and the likes, did as they were told, their efficiency, commendable.

Having arrived far earlier than he should have at the venue though, especially since he, Oliver and Owen had travelled over the day before, Kyle, upon finding his way into the stadium where the rehearsals were going to take place, ran into the second guest performer.

“Anthony Mars. You’ve probably heard the name once or twice.”

Standing at about 5’5″ with a compact, athletic build that complemented his genuinely magnetic air and tanned skin, was Anthony Mars, a very popular musician in the industry whom had released a hit song called [Downtown Groove] late last year that had immediately become an instant bop.

Even Kyle loved the song for just how funky yet retro-inspired it was and admittedly, he had listened to it quite a number of times.

With his signature dark, curly hair, styled in a loose, carefree manner, one that paired perfectly with his warm, light-hazel irises that exuded an intriguing mix of charm and mischief, Mars stood before Kyle and sized him up and down with an interested gaze.

“I heard you’re a great dancer.”

“Oh? That so?” Kyle replied, a light smile nestling on his lips to which Mars taunted;

“So, are you gonna bust a move to back those claims or what?”

“Sure. Why not?” Kyle agreed with a relaxed smile.

“You’d better be ready though. I don’t pull my punches.” the young star chipped in.

“Neither do I.” Mars stood up to the challenge with a confident smirk.

Levelling a fierce, competitive gaze at each other for a few more seconds, the well-dressed star then donned a charming grin as he angled his gaze behind Kyle whilst speaking to Marilyn whom had just walked onto the field alongside the Super Bowl’s hired choreographer.

“Aiko. Parris. I like this one. He’s very slick.” he pointed in Kyle’s direction for context.

“Mars. Please stop sizing up every new artist you come across that’s been lauded to be great at dancing.” Parris, sighed as she walked over.

Kyle, taking the opportunity, introduced himself politely.

“Hi. I’m Kyle Kestis. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working with you.” he extended a handshake over to the lady.

“Parris. Parris Bailey. Big fan of your work.” the renowned choreographer warmly smiled in response as she obliged to the gesture.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person and, I also look forward to working with you.” she added as both shared a firm handshake.

As for Marilyn, the moment Kyle extended a handshake over, she instantly pulled him in for a tight, overly friendly hug as she stated;

“Congratulations on your Grammie Nods Kyle!”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Ms. Aiko.” Kyle, a bit taken aback by her overly friendly reception, still composed himself in time to respond properly.

“Long time no see Mars!” Marilyn soon bounced over to Mars and gave him the same friendly hug.

Both seemed to be quite friendly with the other.

‘Hmmm…’ Kyle on the other hand, thoughtfully hummed to himself as he kept staring at the seemingly bubbly artist who was currently conversing with Mars and Parris.

Having met with her at the Grammies last year and knowing fully well she hadn’t been all buddy with either him or Nick that night, probably because she lost the awards to them, her change in demeanor towards him was frankly… off-putting, albeit slightly.

‘Or maybe I’m just overthinking it?’ Kyle slightly tilted his head in mild curiosity, only to be broken out of his thoughts by Mars who enthusiastically called him over.

…

…

…

Parris, aged 33, had a cool and composed demeanor as she stood atop the stage in her practice clothes, her ash-blonde hair, neatly tied into a bun as her cool-grey irises, swept over the plethora of backup singers and dancers sprawled on the expansive field.

Having already put in a few hours of choreography alongside the stars of the show since they’d arrived, they were clearly getting fatigued.

And so, in an effort to lighten up the mood, the widely-acclaimed choreographer whom had worked with and was still working with some of the biggest names in the music industry, spoke humorously;

“Listen, I don’t care how tired you are or how many rehearsals we’ve done. Tomorrow, when you step on that stage, if one of you so much as trips during any of the dance numbers, I swear I’ll send you straight to the kiddie dance recitals.”

A wave of lighthearted chuckles cascaded over a portion of the field in response to her words as Kyle, Mars and Marilyn, all of whom were seating at the forefront of the crew, joined in.

“Also, if anyone of you guys miss your cue in the next session, no one’s getting snacks after rehearsal.” Parris stated in addition with a casual shrug.

This time, it was a light mix of amused laughter and hearty chuckles from the crew, the air around them shifting from fatigued to relaxed.

That said, considering the lady was entrusted with crafting a performance that combined high-energy choreography, intricate formations, and visually stunning sequences for the 56th Super Bowl Half Time Show, she soon returned to business now that the atmosphere was lighter;

“Okay team, remember, this isn’t just a performance–– it’s a moment. Your moment.”

“The Super Bowl Half Time is only 12 minutes so let’s make every second count and give the audience, something they’ll still be talking about when the next Super Bowl rolls around.” Parris clapped and everyone got off their feet to begin the rehearsal from scratch.

As this was happening though, backstage, Donna and a few colleagues from Atlas’s Marketing Department were about to walk into the Video Director’s tent backstage.

Considering how confidential Atlas was being about the movie adaptation of [Fables & Legends], Lex had more or less assigned someone he could trust to also tag along and ensure no leaks surfaced online till after the Super Bowl Ads.

However, just as they were finally chanced to, two other individuals walked out of the tent, one of whom Donna immediately recognized.

Not even noticing the lady because he was casually conversing with Owen, Oliver simply walked past the lady as both went on their way.

That said, considering Donna wasn’t just the average secretary, otherwise Lex wouldn’t even have her employed, the lady picked up on a few tidbits of their conversation by reading Oliver’s lips in the brief moment he’d walked past.

And when she later inferred and pieced together what exactly he’d been saying a few seconds later, she pinched the ridge of her nose in concerned realization.

‘Lex, isn’t going to be happy about this…’ she inwardly commented with a disturbed sigh.