Rise To Stardom - Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Encounter
Making their way out of the hall, Oliver, along with Selena, a pretty lady in her late-thirties with coiffed black hair and black irises whom was dressed in a red blouse, black pants and red high heels, quickly rushed over to meet their respective wards.
“How’re you feeling?” Oliver asked Kyle as he placed both hands on his shoulder, an unusual expression of worry on his features.
“I’m alright. It’s just that, her criticisms felt so weird and out of place…” Kyle quietly replied, disturbed by the director’s harsh words.
“I’ll look into it. But for now, let’s get out of here.” his agent said and Kyle nodded.
Selena too, also seemed to have checked up on her ward and ensured she was alright so Kyle quickly introduced Lily to Oliver.
It also didn’t take long before Selena and Oliver became acquainted and in a few minutes after that, they were all outside the building.
Handing over a bag of refreshments to Kyle, one he had gotten from the restaurant just opposite the building, Oliver moved aside to pick up a phone call from a contact of his.
Lily on the other hand, informed her agent that she’d like to speak to Kyle for a few minutes, one Selena didn’t mind.
As she walked over to him, the young man handed over the bag of refreshments to her and Lily was thankful for the offer. She did love sweets after all.
Leaning on the bonnet of the Porsche, a smoothie in his hands, Kyle then heard her speak.
“Well, that was… something.”
“That it was.” Kyle sighed, still unable to understand the reasoning behind such harsh criticisms.
“You good though?” he asked the lady with a hint of concern in his eyes.
“Oh that?” she rhetorically questioned, her expression unperturbed.
“That was just a typical walk in the park for me. Won’t be the first time I’d get unfairly bashed by a director.” she shrugged, taking a bite out of her crêpe.
“How about you, dreamboat? Was this a first for you?” she asked, one of her eyebrows arched up.
“It was.” Kyle simply replied, another sigh escaping his lips.
Despite telling Oliver he was fine, Ava’s onerous words kept ringing in his head.
And then there was the other ringing.
-Ding!
“Well, it’s part of the hustle. Eventually, you learn how to deal with it. Doesn’t get any easier though.” she gave her honest opinion and Kyle simply let out a dry chuckle.
“That aside though, congratulations on your song reaching top five Lily. I really liked it.” he complimented the lady.
“Aww~. Thanks dreamboat. Thank you for saying that.” she replied with a lovely smile.
“I also saw you in [Grow Up]. You were great. But the memes were better!” she declared playfully and this time, Kyle burst into genuine laughter.
As this was happening, the honk of an SUV that was parking just a few meters behind them, invaded their ambience.
Not that it stopped Kyle from continuing his laughter.
Stepping out of the vehicle though, were Haley Woods and Austin Wilde, both of whom had also come for the auditions.
Unsurprisingly, Kyle and Lily hadn’t spotted them since they had their backs facing them as they gently leaned on the Porsche’s bonnet.
They on the other hand, upon spotting them, had two different reactions.
Austin had a condescending smirk grace his face while Haley had a surprised expression on hers.
Not noticing them though, Lily continued speaking to Kyle.
“Saw your MediaGram handle. February 13 huh? What are you cooking up dreamboat?”
“Are you stalking me?” Kyle joked this time.
“Oh come on. Everyone stalks themselves on the internet even if they don’t want to these days.” Lily responded nonchalantly.
“But who knows. I just might actually be stalking you.” she shrugged again, her tone of choice playful.
No sooner had she done that though, Austin walked over to them, his expression proud.
“Long time no see Lily. I take it you came for the audition?” he asked.
“Oh. Nice to see you again Austin. Yes, we did.” Lily replied, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance.
“Did you get the role?” he then asked, purposely ignoring Kyle.
“No dice.” Lily shrugged and Austin then moved over to her, leaning to whisper into her ears, enough that it was audible for Kyle to hear.
“Well I could get you a role in the movie. See my aunt’s the Director.” he stressed that last part.
Kyle on the other hand, although hearing all that he said, simply finished up his smoothie and then said to Lily.
“I’ll text you later.”
“Sure. I also need to go. Have to hit the runway an hour from now.” she replied with a small wave, one to which Kyle simply smiled and gently nodded in response to.
“It was nice to see you again Austin.” the lady then shook the Austin’s hands and quickly made her way over to Selena’s car, leaving him in a bit of a daze and sour state.
First off, the person he was trying to humiliate didn’t even seem to give a shit about his words and the lady he was trying to impress, didn’t even take him seriously.
Kyle on the other hand, upon turning around, locked eyes with Haley for a split moment and then proceeded to casually enter the car, an air of nonchalance in his attitude towards her.
This caused Haley’s ego to take another brutal hit, a feeling she had tried to bury these past two months after she had broken things off with Seth for good and began her jet-setting phase.
Literally, she had been with any guy she wanted, even those that were far more handsome, wealthier and so much more influential than Kyle.
She had also broken most of their hearts, a feeling that she seemed to relish in.
But for some reason, Kyle’s piercing sapphire eyes made her feel so small. So insignificant.
That was a feeling that was still very foreign to her and even till date, she didn’t like it one bit.
But more than that, she was still so unsure of how to deal with it.
Watching as Austin walked up the stairs, a deep frown on his face, he simply called out to her.
“C’mon Babe. Both of them are waiting for our auditions.”
“Yeah. I’ll be there in a minute.” she responded absent-mindedly.
Watching as a suavely-dressed man, one she presumed to be Kyle’s agent, got into the vehicle, Haley closed her eyes, steeled her resolve and then followed after Austin as she thought to herself;
‘He’s not in the same league as you and he’ll never be.”
“He’s a powerless pleb and you’re a queen. Never forget that he’ll always be beneath you. So hold your head up high.’ her thoughts turned arrogant in an effort to cradle and mend her fickle ego.
Donning a confident smile, the lady then flicked her auburn-hair with style and walked up the stairs, as if to show she couldn’t care less about Kyle.
If only Kyle had noticed her, then maybe her actions would’ve bore fruit.
“Listen, I know today turned out way worse than you or I may have expected,” Oliver said to the young man as their car left the front gates of the studio.
“But you see that’s the thing with Hollywood. There are more people who are willing to be absolute douches for no particular reason than there are people who want to be transparent…”
“And if I’m being honest, you’re going to come into contact with even more scumbags as you progress in your career as an actor.” he continued as Kyle listened to his words attentively.
“But trust me, once you’ve ridden through the worst of them, you’ll definitely get to meet some of the best of them…”
“To do that though, you’ll have to stay very positive and temper your spirits. Keep giving it your all as you’ve been doing and one day, it’ll pay off in spades.” he advised and Kyle nodded in appreciation.
“Thanks Oliver. That was really insightful.”
“Don’t mention it.” the agent casually replied, his eyes on the road as their car came to a halt in front of a red traffic light.
“All that aside though, there’s another project that’s been in the works for a while now…” the agent then said, the corners of his lips curving into a thin smile.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on it since late last year and a contact of mine, just called a few minutes ago regarding it.” Oliver enthused.
“What’s it about?” Kyle curiously asked, his interest piqued.
“Well, first off, it’s an R-rated action movie” Oliver explained.
“And secondly, pre-production for it has finally begun. Currently, they’re in the process of location scouting but auditions should kick-off in the next two and a half weeks.” he added, soliciting a small smile from the young man.
Kyle was just glad to be able to get the chance to try out for another movie role so soon after today’s fiasco.
“I’ll look forward to it then.” he replied with a small nod, his motivation at an all-time high.
At that same moment, his thoughts suddenly went back to his system which he had yet to check out, all along with the new skill he had gotten yesterday.
| You have acted before everyone and impressed them! |
| 1000 exp. points have been awarded! |
| Total exp. points available (8,750) |
| You are close to breaking through to Acting Level 9! |
| Keep acting to improve your skills! |
___________________________
{Kyle Kestis} – Exp. Points (8750)
⸶Skills⸷
| [Soulful Vocals (P)], [Growth Spurt (P)], [Appraisal(A)], [Resonance (P)] – {C}], [Charisma (P)], [Polyglot (P)], [Deep Dive (A) – {C}], [Recollection (P)], [Scene Stealer (A)]…
* Exp. Points can be used to create skills.
⸶Levels⸷
| Singing › Level 10
| Acting › Level 8
| Composing › Level 10
| Dancing › Level 6
| Instrument Mastery (Piano/Guitar) › Level 7/6
* Levels will increase in accordance to your growth.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“[Scene Stealer]…” Kyle mused and the details of the skill showed up.
___________________________
Active Skill – [Scene Stealer]
Temporarily boosts all your acting stats and skills to the max to deliver the best possible performance. Can only be used once in two months!
Cooldown: (Available!)
___________________________
‘Woah!’ the young man exclaimed inwardly, his eyes widening in amazement.
This truly was a high-grade skill. A literal game changer even!
‘So busted…’ Kyle’s frowned a bit though, realizing that he’d have to be very careful as to how he employed its usage.
If for example he did a scene once with the skill activated but the Director required him to redo the scene due to some issue or the other, it could pose quite the challenge.
He probably wouldn’t be able to put out that same level of performance so his wariness was understandable.
Brushing those thoughts aside, he then focused on the odd thing he had noticed.
‘Cooldown though, that’s a new one…’ he couldn’t help but wonder, realizing once again that there was probably more to the system’s capabilities than he knew.
Not wanting to linger too much on it though, Kyle then closed the interface and rested his head on the windows, a gentle smile adorning his face as the traffic light finally switched to green.