Chapter 67: Nitpicker

Brendan paused mid-glide, slowly turning to look at the young man whom had called out to him, as did a couple other curious skaters nearby.

"Huh?" the words rolled off his tongue before he could stop them.

"I said," Niall repeated, effortlessly skating until he came to a stop before the barricade, right in front of the group of hockey players whose gawks had quickly turned to frowns.

"You wouldn’t wanna let these jerks win now, would you?"

For a while, Brendan remained silent, seemingly trying to figure out why this familiar stranger whom he barely ever spoke to in the past couple weeks was suddenly talking to him.

’Is he trying to virtue signal?’ the youth couldn’t help but ask himself.

Yet, as quickly as that thought came, it vanished.

The reason was very simple.

Niall wasn’t staring at him like he was concerned. Rather, his expression was casual. Almost as if this didn’t bother him at all despite his words doing the exact opposite.

That alone left Brendan more confused than he was dejected as he responded;

"No... but haven’t they already?"

"Besides..." Brendan uncomfortably interlocked his hands and added quietly;

"I doubt someone who learned in three weeks what would probably take me months to learn would understand how it feels to be constantly looked down on..."

To that, Niall casually stated in his typical show of objectively stating facts;

"You really shouldn’t compare yourself to me. I learn fast. And by fast, I mean extremely fast."

For a moment, Brendan levelled him an annoyed squint, only for his expression to morph in surprise as he heard the young man’s next words;

"What you probably should have noticed though, is that you haven’t fallen nearly as much as you did, last week."

"You probably should’ve also noticed that these twerps have begun rotating the same taunts over and over again." Niall casually pointed backwards at them with his thumb, his body leaning on the barricade.

In response, all of their faces cycled through several expressions before they finally settled on annoyance.

Yet, the undeniable truth prevented them from objecting or retorting. So, they simply watched on in annoyance as Niall continued;

"And do you know what that means?" Niall rhetorically asked the kid and said with a wide grin;

"It means you’re improving. You’re getting better."

"Maybe not as quickly as you’d like, but definitely faster than you think."

"Right, Hector?" he suddenly called out to his instructor who gave him a thumbs up, a reaction that had Brendan even more surprised.

"See," Niall gestured with open palms and his head tilted slightly as he said;

"So, why not keep trying and show them who’s boss?"

"Besides, moping won’t get you anywhere. It’ll only make your progress slower." he advised, his brow arching as a thin smile traced his lips.

In response to that, a sense of pride and confidence gradually filled up Brendan’s being.

Immediately, he nodded without the slightest hint of hesitation and glided back into the center of the rink.

Then he executed a clean semi-circular glide, his skates halting as he gave Niall his genuine words of appreciation with a grateful smile;

"Thank you!"

No sooner had he done that, he got back into his routine.

Seeing that, Niall smiled approvingly, his head nodding slightly in reciprocation.

Then, his cool-gray irises shifted toward the hockey players still lingering by the boards and glaring daggers at him;

Finding their reactions rather amusing than it was threatening though, Niall himself leaned on the barricade and quietly said to them, his tone of choice quite prudent;

"You know, you really shouldn’t make fun of someone else’s dream just ’cause it’s a lot easier than chasing yours."

Instantly, the annoyances on their visage receded slowly, phasing into something more intrinsic within them.

Shame.

Not the shame of being humiliated... but the shame that came with a realization that they themselves hadn’t realized all this while.

As they came to grips with that, Niall on the other hand, gently pushed off the barricade and glided away, his form excellent as he placed his arms behind his back.

As Hector and practically every other skater on the rink watched it all play out though, they couldn’t help but be even more stunned.

Though they hadn’t heard what the young man had said to the five, they knew for a fact that it had deeply impacted them judging from the looks on their faces.

That gang of kids had been well-known troublemakers around here, the kind they’d grown accustomed to dealing with like they would pesky houseflies that refused to get out of one’s home.

All because one of the parents of the teen amongst the five owned the establishment itself and they honestly didn’t want to have to deal with all the hullabaloo that would cone with getting entangled with them.

Yet, a random noob whom had come in just three weeks ago had so effortlessly dealt with them without even sparking any problem like they’d expected? It really was very surprising to them.

It then made perfect sense that all eyes soon followed the young man as he kept gliding around in circles, seemingly in thought.

"Alright. I think it’s high-time I send in that audition tape." Niall on the other hand, mused to himself, his mind having already moved on from the interaction.

*

(Three days later...)

Murray was currently reviewing the audition tapes that had been sent to him, his marble-gray irises exuding a scrutiny that bordered on perfection as he leaned on his desk.

So far, so good, the renowned director had managed to lock down quite a lot of the movie’s supporting cast and even the main supporting cast.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t quite managed to find anyone he felt was worth getting the lead role or a few other crucial supporting roles for the movie.

For a fact, it wasn’t because there was a lack of talents or acting chops from the actors whom had sent in their audition tapes.

Rather, it was solely as a result of him being a nitpicker.

Was Murray aware of this trait of his?

Well, of course he was.

It was the trait that not only defined his movies, but also defined his career.

It was why he was one of the few directors in Hollywood who had multiple awards to his name despite all the mind games big studios often loved to play.

They may have tried to tank his movies in the box office every now and then, but that didn’t stop him from getting his due acclaim when all was said and done.

Afterall, practically all of his movies had been written, produced and directed by him.

There was also the fact that he had some rather powerful people backing him... the kind of people he’d extended a hand to in his early years whom had now gone on to become pretty influential individuals in the industry.

To that effect, Murray had never seen any reason as to why he’d have to start changing his mindset this late into his career and begin compromising for less than what was required.

Afterall, what was the point in teaching an old dog, new tricks.

In any case, after reviewing yet another tape... the last tape of the day to be exact, the short, chubby man slowly rose up from his chair, his waist and his back coming with an ache that always seemed to remind him that he was getting older.

Stretching a bit, the bones and joints in his body snapping here and there, Murray let out a resigned sigh a couple seconds later as the aches lingered.

"My God, these back and waist pains will be the end of me..." he muttered to himself as he moved over to his kitchen to prepare some chamomile tea.

A few minutes later, he returned to his living room, his expression relaxed as he took another sip of the tea.

Just as he lowered into his couch though, his laptop which was resting on the desk in the corner pinged an email notification.

Believing it to be another audition tape, Murray simply ignored it for the time being and instead, picked up a book on philosophy he’d began reading at the start of the week.

Adjusting his glasses, the man continued reading as he took a sip from his tea at different intervals.

Then, after about an hour of what he’d characterized as his own relaxation time, he placed the mug on the saucer, and the book face down as he shuffled over to his desk.

Pulling up the video though, the very same scrutiny returning to his irises, the man hit the play button.

At first, Murray’s expression remained much the same as he began watching the tape.

So what if an actor opted to go to a skating rink to act out a scene? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen actor go the extra mile to land a role.

What really mattered to him though...

’Does he have the acting chops to back up his skills--’

That thought hadn’t fully registered before Murray watched Niall crash onto the ice instead of nailing his jump... a jump that Elias in the story had also failed.

Yet, at the very moment, Murray had completely forgotten that part because the way the actor on the video fell... well it looked too natural than performative--

In an instant, the realization clicked in Murray’s mind as he watched Niall get up, and this time, nail that very same jump without the slightest issue.

Without thinking twice, Murray locked the young actor in for the movie, his fingers already dancing over the keyboard...

...but not for the lead role like Niall was hoping.

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/Caer07