Chapter 108: Double Whammy

The months of May and June came with a packed schedule for Niall.

To begin with, he’d had to show up to three promotions for [Rink].

One was a brief, early morning interview, the second was a late evening talk show, while the last was a podcast... one he’d attended virtually over a conference videocall.

The first had happened in the last week of May, while the other two had happened in the second and third week of June, respectively.

Considering Niall wasn’t the lead actor though, he had opted to remain reserved in all of them, speaking only when he was called upon, or if he felt the need to.

It also helped that Matthew, Colonel and Louis happened to have joined these promotions alongside him, further allowing him to take a backseat.

But even then, questions upon questions still came his way.

Unlike Starlight Magazine, who were very respectful of their guests, these three promotion events happened to have hosts who really wanted to be the first to get something out of Niall he hadn’t mentioned anywhere else.

After all, him starring in the highly anticipated movie aside, [Aperture], the song he had released just last month, hadn’t just hit a billion streams in recent memory.

Rather, it had blitzed over... already on its way to two billion streams and was still being replayed over and over like no man’s business even after a month had passed.

GrooveBox too, had moved the song over from GrooveList Top 100 chart to their highest playlist, the All-time 100 chart, further solidifying the sort of legacy the song had made.

Even mainstream artists barely ever had any of their songs making it into the list, as it was one designated for songs that had managed to not just cross the one-billion streams mark, but had managed to do it in a staggeringly short period of time.

In fact, several individuals in the industry were claiming that had Niall not been an independent artist who seemed to not care much for the fame that came with his song, he would’ve submitted them all for awards and would be sweeping said awards left and right.

That alone, in addition to his interview session at Starlight Magazine, did a good job of keeping his name hovering everywhere in Hollywood even despite his lack of public appearances since then.

Until the promotions for [Rink] began, that was.

Set to release in the second week of July, people were patiently waiting for it to drop as all the promotions and interviews thus far showed how much chemistry the cast seemed to have.

At the same time, they had managed to keep their respective roles in the movie under wraps--save for Matthew who was the lead actor--even after the trailer had released.

This secrecy, however, only managed to fuel people’s interest in the movie.

Fans of Niall especially were even more so as they wondered if the role he was set to play wouldn’t be overshadowed given he was amongst such renowned acting powerhouses.

All in all, anticipation for the movie was at an all-time high.

Amidst all these though, there was one person amongst the main cast who wasn’t a fan of Niall’s growing fame.

Considering he’d expected himself to be the most frequently highlighted actor after Matthew, and perhaps even Colonel, he couldn’t help but find himself getting irked when he ended up taking a backseat to Niall likewise.

Throughout all their interviews together, it was the same thing over and over again.

For someone with such a massive ego like Louis’, playing second fiddle to an actor that didn’t even have half the repertoire of roles and a portfolio as robust as he did wasn’t just embarrassing.

It was infuriating...

Especially when several internet denizens pointed it out by mentioning how Niall could’ve easily been the star of all their promotions if he wasn’t so humble.

Safe to say, if Louis’ dislike for Niall had just been something he could overlook before, now, he was consciously seeking for information he could use to run the youth’s rising fame into the ground for a while.

In his mind, he was of the thought that Niall definitely had something to hide. That’s why he was being so secretive and private about his personal life.

That said, he knew better than to try and fabricate information about the youth. For one, his former agent had tried it and his career got axed to oblivion.

He for one, didn’t want to be on the chopping block next.

Then there was the fact that Murray seemed to like the kid a lot, as did Matthew and Colonel.

Those three alone were enough for him to rethink whatever plans he had several times over.

After all, not only was the renowned director far more connected than he could ever hope to be and would essentially sniff out his subterfuge in less than a day, Matthew and Colonel on their own were no slouches either.

As a result, he could only lie in wait like the snake he was, hoping that he would get the chance to strike by stumbling upon a moment where Niall would let his guard down and let whatever he was hiding slip.

Unfortunately for him, Niall’s hands, unlike his, were very clean.

So clean that even despite being aware of Louis’s growing disdain towards him, he couldn’t help but sideline him in favor of more important things in his life.

After all, the only sort of people whom would be wary of people keeping tabs on them, were people who actually had something to hide.

Niall, however, had nothing to--well, maybe except his gifts, which was ironic considering he was the only one who could ever be aware of it.

Besides, he hardly ever stepped out of his home these days as all of his attention had been primed towards becoming a better dancer and writing [The Tree of Fate].

The latter exactly, was what he was doing at the very moment as he sat on the chair under his picnic umbrella on the lawn, his fingers blitzing across the keyboard.

Despite it being the last book in the Fate Series though, Niall was already more than halfway through it.

This was essentially what would’ve happened with the first two books if he hadn’t been juggling to write it in between sets whilst working on a deadline of his own making.

It also helped that asides his gifts, Niall was a heavy plotter. And in the case of heavy plotters as compared to pantsers, writing the book became easier as the books went on. Usually.

In any case, after rounding up the sixteenth out of the twenty-two Chapters in total that the last book was set to have, he gently closed the laptop’s lid and stretched his joints a bit with a small yawn.

Leaning back into his chair a moment after, Niall took in the peaceful ambience.

For someone who grew up on a ranch, this in its own right was one of the best things a man could have.

The gentle swaying of the leaves, the quiet rustle of the dead leaves and the chirping of the birds. He found it all soothing, to say the least.

That said, he couldn’t help but ponder over something, a thoughtful look settling onto his visage.

Now that he was rounding up the trilogy, what book would he go about writing next?

Honestly, Niall hadn’t given it much thought considering how invested he was in the Fate series.

Now though, that thought had bubbled to the surface and he couldn’t help but be excited for whatever he eventually decided to settle upon.

’I won’t be doing another trilogy though, that’s for sure.’ he inwardly decided.

For as much as he’d enjoyed writing and was currently enjoying writing his series, Niall wouldn’t deny that he’d purposely gone down that route to get his name out there as an author.

If it was left to him, and without the situation he’d been in with Goldleaf Talent Agency and Callow, he would’ve honestly just re-written [The Token of Fate] as a standalone book.

That felt much more fitting to him, and would be the right step going forward given all the work that seemed to keep piling on his head these days.

Still, there was one book in the Fate Series he was ’yet’ to write.

[The Hero of Fate].

Fans had been asking for the prequel to the story ever since he’d mentioned it at that interview at Feyre Publications two years ago.

And considering that he still had the rest of the year to go before he submitted the manuscript for [The Tree of Fate], Niall came to a sudden decision.

One that had him grinning from ear to ear as he proceeded to switch on his laptop once more and create a new document.

That’s right.

Niall planned to hit not just his fans, but even Feyre Publications with a double whammy.

Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!

/Caer07