Chapter 34: Butterfly Effect

The door to Niall’s apartment gently clicked open.

Humming the tune of [Polaroid] to himself, he shuffled in with the grocery bags in hand, the door closing shut behind him with a flick of his heel.

Niall was in rather high spirits at the moment, a blithe smile nestling on his lips as he kept humming whilst sorting out the groceries.

Now that he was signed to HTA, and equally also had an agent that genuinely seemed to share the same values as he did, his future as actor looked rather bright and he just couldn’t help but anticipate the trajectory it would bring.

Added to that, after flashing him the borderline overconfident grin, the agent had mentioned that he’d get back to him regarding a role in the coming weeks, which in turn only served to heighten his anticipation.

Still, a good part of Niall’s thoughts remained quite reserved about the entire thing... especially since he knew that agents faced more rejections than they did approvals in the industry.

In that regard, it would do him a whole lot of good to temper his expectations. Afterall, bagging a casting audition for a client within a couple weeks wasn’t exactly an easy feat.

That said, having sorted out all the groceries, the young man picked up his phone and proceeded to call his parents to inform them that he’d officially signed with the agency.

Though they’d known about the interview, and he’d informed them that it went well, they had been particularly eager to know about the final decision.

There was also something pretty personal he wanted to discuss with them, one he was hoping they wouldn’t be averse to given how much they enjoyed their peace and quiet.

However, just as he was about to dial their line, another call came in.

Seeing that it was from Michael, a curious expression took ahold of his features as he picked up the call.

"Hey Mike. What’s up?" he greeted casually.

"All’s good, Niall. Trust you’ve been good as well?" the CEO of Feyre Publications responded in kind.

"Dandy." Niall reciprocated with a warm smile and then commented humorously;

"I see Bob’s on vacation,"

"He sent a picture of he and his family sunbathing in Hawaii a week ago. Captioned it with the text; Couldn’t be possible without you, so you’d better begin the next book or I’m locking you in that basement."

Michael laughed a bit at that before replying;

"Yeah. That’s Bob, alright. And if he’s making jokes like that, he’s probably having the time of his life."

Then he asked;

"Say, Niall. If you’re available, could you perhaps come in tomorrow?"

"I have something rather important I’d like to discuss with you, but not over the phone."

To that, Niall’s curious expression returned as he responded;

"Sure. What time would best suit you?"

After sorting that out, the young man then took to calling his parents, informing them of his progress.

Notably glad to hear that things were gelling well for their son, Claire and Clark heaved a genuine sigh of relief from the other end of the line.

After a couple minutes of discussing mundanity had passed, Niall then brought up the personal request, one he’d hoped his parents would give him the green light on.

Yet, despite knowing his parents--especially his father--were now a hundred percent in support of his career path, it had still warmed his heart to hear them respond in the affirmative;

"Son. When we said if you need anything, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask, we’d meant it." Clark replied with a fatherly warmth, to which Claire added in kind;

"So, yes, you have our total support, darlin’. Don’t hesitate to go all the way with it."

*

Seated at the dining table in a luxurious mansion was a family of three.

Eating in silence, their cutlery clinked against their plates, the general ambience in the room tense.

A couple of maids quietly moved in and out, clearing trays when necessary and placing the next dishes onto the table without the slightest delay.

At the head of the table sat the father--Norman Hall, a man in his late seventies with weathered yet defined features, accentuated by greying black hair styled in a classic side part and cognac-brown irises.

To the left sat one of his sons--Joaquin Hall, a classy-looking man in his early thirties who bore a striking resemblance to the older man, though he wore a slicked-back gentleman’s cut instead.

Across from him sat his elder stepbrother and their father’s firstborn son; Henry Hall.

He too bore a strong resemblance to their father and was also in his mid-thirties, though his hair was ash-brown and styled in a neat, textured crew cut, while his irises were gunmetal-blue.

At intervals, Joaquin stole expectant glances at their father, hoping he would speak so he could once again prove he was the only one worthy of inheriting Hall Enterprises--their family business.

Henry, on the other hand, looked nothing of the sort. If anything, he appeared as though he did not want to be there at all.

Unfortunately for him,

"Diamond Productions looks to be thriving."

His father had to bring up the one thing he’d hoped would be avoided.

"I hear your stocks have been steadily rising these past few months."

"Yes. Predictions estimate a 200% increase before the end of the year," Joaquin immediately replied, his words concise and direct.

"There’s a strong chance of bringing the company’s valuation to quadruple the initial investments put into it."

Norman gave an acknowledging nod, his expression reserved. Then he turned to his other son.

"I heard the last movie Vrael Productions invested into, failed?"

"Unforeseen circumstances," Henry responded through a clenched jaw, his gaze locking onto Joaquin, who seemed awfully focused on cutting his steak.

Not that it did anything to hide the subtle snicker on his features.

"And that’s your excuse this time?" Norman asked rhetorically.

"Yes," Henry replied simply.

"How disappointing..." Norman muttered.

Hearing that, Henry’s grip tightened around his cutlery, his knuckles whitening.

All his life, he had strived to be the perfect son--the kind of son the man would be proud of. Unfortunately, nothing he did ever seemed good enough.

In truth, Henry also found it ridiculous that his father had them playing this stupid succession game where they had to prove they possessed what it took to run the family’s many investment firms.

Still, he had given it everything he had--not because he particularly wanted the business, but because he wanted to earn his father’s favor at least once in his life.

"Well, you still have a couple more years before I retire," Norman remarked casually.

"Though at this rate, I doubt you’ll be inheriting any part of my empire." he concluded dismissively.

No sooner had Henry heard that, he sharply rose from the table.

Without the slightest explanation, he simply walked out of the room, leaving his father to offer a disappointed shake of his head while Joaquin looked on, hidden layers of derision glinting in his cognac-brown irises.

Storming out of the mansion, and straight into his vehicle, Henry ignited the engine, put the car in motion and promptly zoomed off.

He needed somewhere--anywhere to cool off.

Luckily for him, he’d received an invite to a Hollywood party from a buddy of his, one he really hadn’t been keen on attending before.

However, with everything that had happened tonight, maybe the rambunctious atmosphere of a party would actually do him some good.

Soon enough, he arrived at the venue somewhere in Beverly Hills.

Texting and conversing with said friend that he’d arrived, he then made his way into the massive mansion, the disco music thumping from afar.

Checking in with the bouncers who verified that he was in fact on the list, the man was quickly allowed entry with a polite gesture.

Celebrities, businessmen and high-profile individuals of all kinds crowded its rooms, dancing, drinking, mingling and involving themselves in some things that he’d rather not say and would be better off staying off the tabloids.

Moving towards one of the bars in a more secluded corner of the mansion, Henry spotted a familiar figure whom was tracing a finger across the rim of his glass cup.

"Hey Vic. Having fun yet?" he greeted as he walked up to the nearest stool.

"I should be asking you that question," Victor reciprocated with a friendly smile and then inquired;

"Weren’t you supposed to be having dinner with your father and your step brother?"

"Don’t, bring them up. I left specifically because I wanted nothing to do with both of them at the moment." Henry distastefully stated as he gestured to the bartender.

"Old fashioned. Thanks."

For a while, both individuals said nothing and simply shared the moment in silence whilst taking a shot of their drinks.

Henry especially, was on his third, and yet he seemed completely fine. He looked to be able to hold his alcohol well.

"[Gun ’em Down] should’ve been a hit at the box office. The plot was utterly fantastic too," he suddenly let out in frustration.

"But that asshole Joaquin just had to poach our distributors from underneath our noses and sabotage the movie by having one of them leak it to the public,"

Then, almost in resignation,

"Honestly, at the rate things are going, I think I might just quit the whole movie production business altogether and invest in something else," Henry let out a resigned sigh.

Victor on the other hand, turned to face him, a frown forming on his features.

All along, he’d tactfully chosen to remain quiet, knowing fully well his buddy needed to vent out some of his frustrations.

However, upon hearing his decision to quit the production business altogether, he couldn’t help but disagree.

Henry loved making movies. All the way from his late teens, he’d been genuinely ecstatic about the art and the craft that came with it.

And though the path his father had laid for him allowed little wiggle room to actually go as in-depth as he would’ve into the craft, he’d still found a way to make movies in his own way.

By producing them.

But now, just ’cause things hadn’t been jelling all too well for a fairly long while, and moreso because his need to earn the favor of his old man was bleeding into his passion for the craft, he was considering the idea of quitting?

There was no way in hell he was going to allow that.

"A string of failures doesn’t guarantee that your next project would equally be the same," Victor picked his words carefully as he took a shot of his dry martini.

"And might I remind you, you’ve had some pretty good hits too,"

"Maybe not as much as the flops, but still solid hits nonetheless," he tapped his finger a couple times on the counter, signaling to the bartender for another shot.

To that, Henry looked over, seemingly mulling over his friend’s words.

Then, he let out a deep, reflective sigh a couple minutes later whilst nodding in acknowledgement;

"I guess you’re right,"

"My bad. The pressure of this stupid succession bullshit kind of got to me,"

"Thanks for setting my head straight."

"Don’t mention it. Happens to the best of us," Victor simply replied.

Then, Henry asked after a couple seconds of shared silence;

"So, what’ve you been up to?"

"I have a new talent," the agent replied casually.

To that, Henry arched a brow as he took another shot of his drink.

Victor wasn’t the type to work for just any client. That much he knew.

With the sort of moral standards he had, it was even more impressive that he’d gotten as far as he did as an agent in Hollywood.

Which was why Henry was quite certain whomever his client was, probably operated on the same wavelength as he did.

However, upon hearing what his friend had to say next though...

"He reminds me a lot about Barry."

... his pupils dilated, softly.

Then,

"That so? Tell me more." he requested to which Victor nodded and began expatiating.

The butterfly effect truly was an interesting phenomenon.

Before Niall had regressed, Vrael Productions had been sold off and merged to a bigger studio.

This was because Henry had decided to close down the studio due to a string of flops, the failure of [Gun ’em Down] been a final nail in the coffin for him.

Yet, due to Niall leaving Goldleaf Talent Agency for Hellion Talent Agency, and subsequently signing a contract with Victor Voss, things had changed drastically.

As a result of the fact that his agent had put in excess effort--one he normally never would--and had tried contacting several studios all day to secure a role for him, all of which responded favorably--half in thanks to Niall’s recent times in the spotlight--Victor had decided to unwind a bit before contacting them again tomorrow to reinforce his efforts to land Niall a couple roles.

Following that decision, he’d figured his friend could equally use a breather, hence why he had invited him to the party as his plus two.

And because Henry had accepted that invite, instead of simply storming off home like he’d done before Niall’s regression, he had instead joined Victor at the party.

In turn, the latter had convinced the former of his decision to close Vrael Productions, hence leading to the current outcome.

An outcome where Vrael Productions started a generational run of box office hits... all of which would stem from the actions of one person.

Niall Parker.

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/Caer07