Rise To Stardom - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Strong Pick
– – –

“Why are you asking me?” Harry casually tilted his head.

“What?! But it seemed like you were going to help me out and I don’t know, maybe give me some advice too?” Matt voiced out his confusion at his brother’s sudden words.

“But I’m not the one in love. That’s all you man” Harry responded with a deadpan look and the look of horror mixed with confusion in Matthew’s eyes became so apparently evident.

That look stayed on Matthew’s face for a while before the former then suddenly burst into laughter, catching both Shawn and Gary by surprise, along with Zack himself at how naturally Kyle had played off not wanting to help him out before.

“Haha! I’m just messing with you Matts!” Harry said and there was a visible shift in the horror in Matthew’s eyes to a slight wave of annoyance.

“Your reaction was just absolutely priceless man!” Harry kept laughing.

“I hate you bro” Matthew finally let out a few words between gritted teeth and his elder brother just casually walked over to him.

Naturally hooking his arm around Matthew’s neck, Harry began to speak.

“Well that isn’t the first time you’ll be saying those words and it certainly won’t be the last”

Moving over to the edge of the stage, just before the table of the Director and Producer who were watching the auditions play out like an already written scene from a movie before them, Harry sat at the edge, his legs dangling and Matthew followed suit, swept up by Kyle’s flow.

“Well Matts, I know you’re scared that if you do confess, you risk losing your close friendship with Layla” Harry began, his playful expression now replaced by a much more mature one.

Shawn noted that noticeable shift in his vibe and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Kyle had purposely moved closer to them to really showcase that subtle shift.

Zack on the other hand who was still in the act of being Matthew, just nodded at his brother’s words.

He knew that Harry would always get his thoughts and mindset.

That had been the case ever since they were kids but these past four years when he had gone to college overseas, occasionally made him wonder if his elder brother still understood him well.

That didn’t seem to be an issue at all as once again, he proved to be right on the mark about what was going through his mind despite how playful he usually was a lot of the time.

“However little bro, you can’t just keep watching and not at least take your chances with her…” Harry spoke again, trying to make his brother understand that you should take your shot with those you really like.

“But it could ruin everything Harry. Everything I’ve worked so hard to build despite how hard it was for me. I really don’t want that to happen” Matthew quietly responded in fear as he stared at the ground.

“Which is why you’re not going to be confessing to her Matts” Harry casually stated instead, causing the latter to whip his head around to face his brother with a deeply confused expression.

Director Shawn and Producer Gary similarly had the same confused look on their faces.

“Trust me, confessions, usually aren’t the best way to go about professing your love” Harry just kept speaking without minding his brother’s reaction.

“It’s more like you’re dumping all of the emotions that has built up in your heart just ’cause you feel the need to let it go, not because you want your special someone to truly understand how you really feel about them”

“That’s a lot of baggage for anyone deal with and it mostly, kinda puts them on the spot. Not ideal at all Matts” he turned to face his brother as he said.

“So what do I do then?” Matthew asked, hoping his elder brother would give him the best advice.

“You talk to her about it. Have a friendly conversation. Put the ball in her court and let her decide” Harry stated in a casual tone.

Matthew had an even more confused look when his elder brother said that but Harry, understanding he needed to expatiate more, soon gave an example;

“Think of it like this; You go up to her and say; ‘Hi Layla. I’d like to have a nice conversation with you’ ”

“I value you as a friend Layla, I really do. But lately, I’ve noticed that I’ve been having these feelings that make me think about you in a slightly more romantic way and I really am not sure what to do with these feelings…”

“I was hoping, maybe we could talk about it. What should I do with these feelings?” Harry finished up the example as Matthew watched him with a bit of admiration in his eyes.

“Considering she’s a close friend of yours, I’m sure she’ll be more than willing to have a conversation of such with you without your friendship ever getting ruined” Harry explained with a light smile.

“In fact, your friendship might deepen even more, even if she doesn’t feel the same way about you, because then, she’d appreciate the fact that you respected her enough to not put her on the spot”

“But if per-chance she does decide to severe your friendship just because of that, then she just hasn’t understood just how amazing of a person you are and you know what; That’s her fault for missing out!” Harry grinned as he said.

“So, how’s that?” he then asked after he was done explaining.

“Think you can give it a shot now?” he further questioned and this time, Matthew nodded, earning him a slight pat on the back from Harry.

Staring at each other for a few more seconds, both brothers exchanged a chuckle after their conversation was over and they even went as far as giving each other light jabs.

And yet, even after all that, it still took a small while for both Kyle and Zack to return back to their normal state of mind and stop acting like two brothers whom had known each other all their lives.

– – –

‘It’s him! He’s perfect!’ Zack thought to himself now that he and Kyle were standing in the middle of the stage again, Director Shawn and Producer Gary also staring at the raven-haired man.

Their eyes showed that they were impressed with him and soon, Shawn opened his mouth and said;

“Well thank you for the audition Kyle. We’ll contact you later if you got the role. You may take your leave now”

“Thank you very much sir!” Kyle gave a curt, polite bow and then made his way off stage, really feeling like he had impressed the judges.

The moment he left, far enough to not be within vicinity anymore, Zack turned to face both Shawn and Gary while instantly declaring;

“He’s perfect! Absolutely perfect!”

“Warm, witty, receptive and mature! He embodied all the best qualities that Matthew loves about his brother!” Zack further added with glee.

That was immensely high praise coming from him and both Gary and Shawn knew that.

‘And that was all improv too. Even beats the original dialogue I had in mind…’ the bushy-browed director thought to himself.

“Guess we’ve got a strong pick for Harry Callagher then” Shawn then declared after a short while and Gary heaved a genuine sigh of relief.

“But, we’ll still need to interview every other person. No matter how well he acted, there can always be a much better actor so let’s get to it” Shawn added and the others nodded because his words were very true.

They still needed to act very professionally until all the auditions were over without any bias of sort.

* * *

Sitting on a bench just outside the building where the auditions had taken place, Kyle opened up his system interface as the notifications bombarded his field of view.

| You have acted before everyone and impressed them! |

| Huge bonus will be applied for acting without using a skill for the first time! |

| You have obtained a huge amount of exp. points! |

| 2500 exp. points have been awarded! |

| Total exp. points available (3100) |

| Acting has advanced from level 6 to level 7! |

| You are close to breaking through to Acting Level 8! |

| Keep acting to improve your skills! |

Seeing his system informing him that he was about to break through to another level in his acting skills, Kyle widened his eyes a bit in realization.

‘Guess the system rewards me even better when I don’t depend on it too much…’

Thinking to himself, the young man smiled with a bit of pride, happy that he was making progress.

Feeling a bit chilly though, Kyle sneezed whilst rubbing his arms, the freezing temperature of December doing its thing.

“Brrr~” he shivered.

‘Maybe I should’ve worn a long coat or a scarf at least’ he thought, a bit annoyed at himself for not bringing proper clothing all because he had wanted to act like a believable Harry.

As the young man kept shivering on for a few more seconds, Oliver’s Porsche soon pulled up to the sidewalk and Kyle swiftly got in like a cave dweller starved of fire.

“How was the audition?” his agent asked the moment he entered, turning up the car heater to its max.

Grateful for Oliver’s gesture, Kyle replied after a short while;

“I think I managed to impress them. I have a good feeling about it”

* * *

As the auditions for the day continued on, Zack, Shawn and Gary ensured to maintain their professionalism while screening the other individuals who auditioned.

However, no one even came minutely close to the level of chemistry that Zack and Kyle had displayed.

As the auditions finally ended, Gary who was so glad that they now had Kyle locked in for the role, soon received a phone call from one of the higher executives running the show.

Picking up the call, the producer had a deep frown form on his face as he replied, knowing fully well that Shawn, being as stubborn as he was, would never agree to what the executive wanted.

“But we’ve already agreed to give the role to someone else” Gary said, causing Shawn and Zack to turn their heads over.

“Then change it. I want my nephew Austin to get the role you hear me?!” came the annoyed voice from the other end.

Considering he was very close to him, Shawn perfectly heard that.

Knowing full well who the owner of said obnoxious voice was, the director snatched the phone from his producer who reacted a tad bit too late.

Now holding the device in his hands, Shawn, in the coldest tone possible, let out a growling negative;

“No.”

“Shawn. I knew you’d be a pain in the ass” the woman on the other end clicked her tongue in disdain.

“Know this Ava. I will not, and I repeat, I will not let you ruin my show again” Shawn kept speaking without giving her an inch.

“And if you really want your nephew to land the role, why not let him audition for it? Or are you also going to take this case to the board of executives again?” Shawn spat out, venom in his voice.

“Damn you!” Ava cursed from the other end and the director replied in a disgusted tone;

“Yeah. That’s what I thought”

Cutting off the call, Shawn tossed the phone back to Gary who was a bit fearful of how his partner had handled the matter.

“You do know she’s well connected in Hollywood right?” the producer told his partner.

“I don’t care Gary. As long as she keeps her mangy hands of my show, I don’t, fucking, care.” Shawn defiantly declared.

Knowing fully well that the board would never agree with her demands again, especially when considering that she had been the one to unceremoniously have him kicked out after the third season to let her brother direct the show, eventually leading to two, very terrible seasons, Shawn was very confident that she had no power over his work anymore and her throwing a fit was all she could really do.