Chapter 28: Cathartic Release

Callow was currently in an emergency meeting at the agency.

Apparently, they’d been having a decline in the number of new talents that had been willing to register at their agency.

Worse still, a lot of their older talents had plans to or had outright made mention of leaving the company very soon.

On an average day, the executives at Goldleaf Talent Agency wouldn’t have given two shits about it.

Afterall, it wasn’t anything new in Hollywood that less popular or obscure actors were often afforded less resources to work with until they reached a level of fame that made them worth investing in.

However, when even their biggest actors were considering it, they were forced to pay attention.

That was not a good sign for them in the long run, hence making it an issue that required an immediate solution.

For roughly five hours, the meeting went on, with data, suggestions, ideas and the likes thrown about in an effort to nip the situation in the bud.

By the time it was over, everyone involved looked notably stressed.

And despite the general conclusion that all their agents be less dismissive of their ’weaker’ talents and cultivate a good work relationship with them, Callow obviously took that advice though one ear and let it pass out the other.

In any case, as everyone filed out of the auditorium, one of the agent’s fellow colleagues walked up to him, a book in his palm.

He seemed to have retrieved it from the goodie bags they’d distributed to each of them before the meeting rounded up.

"Hey, Callow," the man said, a confused expression on his features.

"Yeah, Brody. What’s up? Need anything?" the agent reciprocated, turning around to face him.

"Um, correct me if I’m wrong... but uh, don’t you have a talent whose name’s Niall Parker?"

Callow’s eyes narrowed, a familiar irk flickering across his features.

Then he went on the defensive;

"Yes, I do. Why’d you ask?"

"Well," the agent began.

"I know he’s been getting quite a bit of exposure for his role in that box office hit, but...’

’...were you aware he also wrote a book?" the agent raised the book to Callow.

Upon laying eyes on said book, Callow’s pupils dilated!

Immediately, he dipped his hands into his own goodie bag and retrieved the book.

Equally checking his, as if to verify a second time, another wave of perplexity hit the agent.

It was a well-known fact in Hollywood that bestsellers that were in vogue were often bought in bulk by retailers and then gifted at parties and events to promote the author.

And though it wasn’t typically standard, there were occasional meetings in Hollywood agencies where that thought process extended--especially in emergency meetings like theirs.

But still, for a book to be even gifted, then it either had to be a book that was either a bestseller, or was doing very well for itself in the market.

And that single realization, kept stunning the agent to no ends.

But more than that, he was beginning to put two and two together.

With the release of [The Promised Queen], Niall had clearly positioned himself to leverage the film’s exposure to promote the book.

If that plan worked--which it in fact seemed to have--then the question became unavoidable;

How was he to manage, and more importantly, knock down a talent that had grown his own wings completely independent of him.

As the agent came to grips with that realization, his phone buzzed in his pocket, the tune indicating it came from his work e-mail.

Snapped out of his reverie, he gave Brody whom was already walking out a cursory farewell wave, retrieved the device and then opened the message.

-

Subject: Invitation: Post-Release Celebration for [The Promised Queen]

Dear Presley Callow,

We hope this message finds you well.

Following the successful box office run of [The Promised Queen], we are pleased to extend an invitation to your client, Niall Parker, to attend the film’s official celebratory event.

The event is to begin at 7pm tomorrow, at the Greystone Mansion and Gardens in Beverly Hills.

We would be delighted to have Niall join us for the evening. Kindly confirm his availability at your earliest convenience.

Thank you once again for your continued collaboration.

Warm regards,

Roy Baker.

-

No sooner had he seen the contents of the mail, Callow internally cursed;

’Damn it!’

Without thinking twice, he began formulating a message as he made his way out of the auditorium and into the elevator.

-

Subject: Re:Invitation: Post-Release Celebration for [The Promised Queen]

Dear Roy Baker,

Thank you for your kind invitation and for including Niall in your post-release celebrations for [The Promised Queen]. We truly appreciate the gesture and the continued support shown by the studio.

Unfortunately, due to prior professional commitments and scheduling constraints, Niall will not be available to attend the event.

We extend our congratulations to the entire team on the film’s impressive box office performance and wish you a successful and enjoyable celebration.

Warm regards,

Presley Callow.

-

No sooner was Callow done typing the message, he gave it a look-over, and hit send.

Pocketing the phone, the agent stepped out of the elevator and made his way to the office, a clipped look on his features.

There was no way in hell he was informing Niall of the celebration.

It was already bad enough that the young actor had grown his own wings, right under his very nose.

It was another if he ended up speaking with the right people at the celebratory event and making the right connections.

How then was he supposed to retain any metric of control over him?

Nonetheless, one thing at least gave the agent some form of respite.

And that was the fact that even if his talent’s book was selling like hotcakes, it would still take a while before he would ever be able to gather the funds needed to cancel his contract.

Based on his knowledge of that side of the industry, and how their contracts worked, wealth could be accumulated, surely--but not nearly enough to gain over a million dollars in the span of a year or two.

That sort of feat was reserved for authors at the very top, and not the likes of his talent who was a fledgling author... or so he’d assumed.

Still,

’That’s good enough.’ Callow thought to himself.

A year or two would give him enough time and opportunities to run Niall’s career further into the ground.

Walking into his office half a minute later though, his eyes narrowed again.

There, seated one of the low leather chairs with his back turned to him and his legs crossed was the source of his current demeanor.

Without turning to face him, Niall casually spoke;

"Sarah let me in,"

"Said you were in a pretty important meeting,"

Opting to feign composure, Callow turned towards his fridge in the corner, placed his goodie bag next to it, and then retrieved a bottle of wine from it.

Grabbing a glass cup from the tray he’d placed atop said fridge, he moved towards his desk.

On his way over, he noticed two files lying face down on it. Assuming it was something Sarah had simply dropped for him to review--which she in fact had--Callow didn’t dwell too much on it.

He’d check them out later.

But for now,

"What do you want, Niall?" the agent demanded tersely, lowering himself onto the plush seat as he poured himself a glass with an even expression.

"Nothing, really," Niall casually replied.

Then, he leaned forward slightly, a relaxed smile adorning his features as he continued.

"Just figured I should inform you that our contractual obligations to each other ends today." he gestured toward the files on the agent’s desk.

No sooner had those words landed, Callow immediately froze.

Slowly, he placed the wine bottle and cup aside and turned the files over, his heart rapidly beating in his chest.

Normally, contracts from most talent agencies had a one to three year auto-renewal clause, one that often required a strict 30 to 90 days termination notice beforehand if the talent wished to terminate it.

Goldleaf Talent Agency, on the other hand, was one of the rare few that operated on a completely different basis.

Instead, theirs had a three to eight years auto-renewal clause, one that allowed for a sudden or early termination without prior termination notice.

That termination however, was usually contingent upon the specific condition that the talent could pay all the commissions earned up to that point, particularly for work secured during the contract term.

It was that particular condition that kept Callow in the state he was, his eyes reading and rereading the words on the file;

[Contract Termination for Niall Parker].

As he kept staring at the file with a look of disbelief on his features, Niall simply continued;

"One million dollar’s a lot, you know,"

"But I figure it’s a good tradeoff, given the kind of relationship we’ve had."

As much as the young man wanted nothing to do with the agent, or even the agency itself, some part of him was a tad bit grateful to Callow for getting his foot through the door.

Afterall, he had been the one to approach him back when he was still struggling to land a single role and had personally signed him onto Goldleaf Talent Agency.

And given the way the clause went, the agent was poised to get about a 10% cut of that lump sum in compensation for the abrupt termination while the rest went to the agency itself.

Niall considered that a good parting gift--if he could even call it that.

Rising to his feet though, Niall walked right up to the man, not a single thing disturbing the relaxed smile on his features.

"Now, if you’ll just kindly pen your signature,"

"I’ll be on my merry way." he beamed at him.

For a while, Callow had nothing to say.

And how could he, really?

It was clear as day that he had been completely tricked, outplayed and outsmarted.

Just today, he had been hit with the stark reality that he knew practically nothing about what his talent had been up to, or was truly capable of.

But even that, paled in comparison to this.

With nothing else to say, or do... he simply retrieved his pen and signed the documents.

Casually swiping his own copy off the table, Niall made his way out the door without so much as a goodbye.

Maybe that was why Callow’s anger suddenly flared, bitter words spouting from his mouth in a low, hateful tone;

"You’ll never amount to anything worthwhile,"

"Not in life. Not in Hollywood."

Niall didn’t even bother responding as he walked out the door.

However, just before it clicked shut, he angled his gaze over.

Callow hadn’t known what to expect when he saw the thin smile pulling on the edges of Niall’s lips.

What he definitely hadn’t expected, was for the young actor to indulgently wink at him.

Then, the door clicked shut.

Niall waited a moment, closing his eyes in expectation with a raised finger.

Then he heard a muffled yet equally furious bang of a fist hitting the desk!

Only then, did he sigh in cathartic release whilst thinking to himself;

’Music to my ears.’

Then he practically danced his way to the elevator with a beaming smile, much to the confusion of everyone in sight.

Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!

/Caer07