Rise To Stardom - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: Unfair Assessment
(A few minutes earlier…)

‘This is all just a farce. A fucking waste of time.’ Ava Wilde thought to herself, her hands massaging her temples in mild annoyance as she watched the two actors on stage.

She had already decided whom she wanted to cast for the side character roles in [Bohemian Days].

Nothing was going to change that.

But now, she had to play out this supposed long game of looking for new cast members just because the upper execs deemed it necessary when all she just wanted to do, was to begin filming as soon as possible.

The producer of the movie, John Woods, who sat beside her whilst leaning on his chair, also had a similar expression of frustration on his features.

Despite having told the upper execs at Black-Box Films that they would sort out the new cast after their negotiations had fallen out with the previously cast actors, they had been adamant about holding an audition regardless.

Why that was so, both of them really could not say but who were they to go against people that could literally fire them as they saw fit.

If the movie was on a smaller scale and the budget wasn’t just over a $100 million with a lot of investors putting their money into it, maybe they could’ve tried to cajole the execs a bit more.

But considering that wasn’t the case, they could only do as they were told.

That being said, it still didn’t stop the two from orchestrating what they needed to do to achieve what they both wanted.

Currently, in their minds, they were just waiting for the two people whom they were planning to cast, finally show up on stage like everyone else.

Then they could finally, end this grand show they were putting on.

Dismissing the two whom had just finished acting out the scene with a small gesture of her hands, her mild annoyance evident, both individuals sighed dejectedly as they left and the next two were called on over.

‘Another set of untalented runts I’m sure…’ John inwardly commented while gazing at the next individuals walking onto the stage as he leaned onto his chair, his arms crossed.

Not that it stopped him from secretly ogling Lily’s tasteful curves and assets though.

Watching them step onto the stage, Ava on the other hand, ran her hands through her greasy, long blonde hair and asked in a slightly irritated tone, her voice sharp.

“Quickly. Don’t waste my time. Introduce yourselves.”

“Good day to you. My name’s Lily Lockhart.”

“And I’m Kyle Kestis. Pleasure to meet you.”

No sooner had Ava heard those words, her pen which was scribbling their names down, paused.

Raising her dark-brown eyes to stare at the two individuals, a twisted, sadistic feeling, filled up her entire being as she gazed at Kyle, scrutinizing him from head to toe.

‘So it was you huh?’ she mused, a malicious intent settling in her gut.

Finally, this was someone she could vent all of her frustrations on.

Masking her thoughts with her current demeanor of nonchalance and annoyance, she simply gestured to them to begin.

“Go on. Show us what you’ve got.”

Turning around to face Lily, Kyle, very sure of himself being able to pull the audition off without using [Deep Dive], suddenly heard Lily’s irritated tone reach his ears.

—

“Really?! Seriously?! How long are you gonna keep hiding things from me James?!”

“What do you mean hiding things from you?!” James lied with similar flare-up to Audrey’s, his arms thrown up into the air.

“Don’t play dumb with me! You got fired last week! Again!” Audrey pointed out, her expression furious and a pained layer of hurt masked beneath her eyes.

Hearing those words, James pursed his lips and pinched the ridge of his nose.

“Tell me James! Why?! Why do you keep doing this?! Why do you keep hiding things from me?!” Audrey asked, this time her pain clearly showing in her eyes mixed with a hint of disappointment.

“Because I’m sick and tired of this Audrey! This life! That monotonous job! Sitting by a desk, doing the same thing day-in, day-out!” James exploded, all of his pent-up emotions rushing out like an unclogged pipe.

This drew a familiar look of disbelief from Audrey’s face but James just kept ranting on without care.

“I can’t do this anymore Audrey! I can’t stomach, two more years of listening to my boss say the most stupid shit! Two more years of pretending to like my co-workers! Two more, bloody years, of listening to people complain over the silliest things on the telecoms when all it takes, is some fucking, common sense, to fix it! That’s not where I belong!”

“But I keep trying and trying and trying! Nothing works! I’ve been submitting manuscripts upon manuscripts for the past ten years and not one! Not one, single, publishing company’s ready to accept me!”

“And yet, they keep taking all this same, third-rate, mediocre stories and keep churning them out like bestsellers when all I ask for is just one, fucking chance!” he held his face in frustration.

“Once again it’s about you, isn’t it?!” Audrey scoffed, disbelief etched on her face.

“What about me?” she pointed to herself and James retorted.

“What about you huh?!” he bellowed out at her.

“You just got a job recently and you’ll be moving to L.A, won’t you?! How exactly do you understand how I feel?!”

“You’re making progress Audrey! And I’m here! Stuck dealing with this god-forsaken passion of mine! Tell me? Do you have that problem?!” he asked with a furious shout!

Hearing those words from the man she had come to love these past eight years, Audrey could feel her eyes getting watery but she willed herself to hold them back.

“You think I don’t know that?” she asked softly and James expression similarly softened when he realized that he may have overdone it.

“I know that James. I understand it. I know the struggle you’ve been through over the years. I watched you get back up time and time again.” she kept speaking, this time tears dropping from her eyes.

“And I’d stick with you through it all, as long as you were willing to open up to me…”

“But you’ve completely fenced yourself these past few months and I… I don’t even know how to get through to you anymore. When did you become so afraid of confiding in me…” she wiped her tears, her voice shaky.

Listening to her, really listening to her for the first time in a really long while, James had a complex number of emotions phase across his face, all of which eventually resulted in a guilty expression.

A moment of silence passed between them as James struggled with the right words to say, his expression sober.

“Audrey, I-” he was about to apologize but the lady cut him off.

“Why’d you hide it from me James?”

“Because, I… I didn’t want you to feel bad about me feeling bad…” James softly said, his eyes reflecting the honesty in his words.

Simultaneously, he also took gentle steps towards Audrey to hold her hands.

“You could’ve just said so.” she whispered, her hands squeezing his.

“I’m so sorry Audrey.” he apologized genuinely.

“I’ve been such a jerk, I didn’t even consider your feelings.” he then pulled her in for a tight hug and for a few seconds, the lady held on tight and just kept sobbing onto his chest.

—

Disentangling from the hug, most of the agents who were sitting by in the hall, had been so captivated by the performance between the two that the murmurs in the hall had gone silent.

Even John whom had previously been uninterested, had his interest piqued and totally enamored by the two young aspiring actors on stage.

‘Their chemistry is unbelievable…’ he thought to himself.

‘If only we could give them the roles though…’ his thoughts continued, a sigh of resignation about to escape his lips.

However, Ava’s sharp words cut through the silence in the room.

“Disappointing.” she casually said, her expression unimpressed.

Hearing that sudden, harsh criticism, everyone in the hall wondered if they had heard those words right.

Even John who knew of Ava’s overly harsh commentaries, snapped his head towards her with a questioning gaze.

‘Is she been serious right now?’ he asked himself, a confused expression settling on his gruff features.

“Disappointing. There, I said it again. I honestly just felt like you two were shouting. Like bleating goats.” Ava continued her unfavorable criticism bordering on insult.

Standing onstage as they heard those words, Lily and Kyle maintained a very stoic demeanor as Ava continued to bash and berate them with even harsher criticisms that were honestly unfounded.

By the time she was done, not a single pin drop could be heard in the hall.

“Now skedaddle off my stage. The very sight of you irks me.” she dismissed the two.

Bowing politely, both of them left the stage while the rest of the hall watched on in bewildered confusion.