Chapter 71: Cherish

The first week of July came around and Henry bided his time for the 8th of the month to come around.

To his surprise, Diamond Productions actually released the trailer for Tyler’s tour movie earlier. 5th of July to be specific.

Seeing that, the part of him that had been constantly on alert about Joaquin’s schemes only seemed to bloom even more.

And though the average individual may have seen this and reasoned that Henry was just being a bit too paranoid, the man knew better than to give his brother the benefit of the doubt.

In his mind, it was a pretty sharp thing on Joaquin’s part to do to try and throw him off the scent.

Still, it wasn’t a definitive proof that his step-brother was once again targeting the movie he produced.

Afterall, no matter how one spun it, the trailer for Tyler’s movie had been released a full week earlier than theirs.

That was more than enough time frame for the hype train of the popstar’s movie to simmer a bit and allow for theirs to gain make a solid splash.

Unfortunately for Vrael Productions, and much to Henry’s disdain, Diamond Productions actually began releasing promotions intermittently over the rest of the week.

None of the videos they dropped actually passed the thirty to forty second mark, each of them a tidbit of clips and brief montages from the movie itself.

Yet, it was tactic that did a great job of keeping audience retention extremely high.

And as if that wasn’t enough, practically every Hollywood tabloid carried the news, even if it was briefly, hence increasing the awareness of the movie to the masses.

To that effect, most internet denizens who were so much as even mildly interested in the most recent scoop in Hollywood were force-fed the news.

As a result, the reactions that preceded that week... well, it was explosive to say the least.

And unfortunately for the very first trailer of [Silver Comets] which eventually landed on July 12th, the projections of over ten million views and above that the folks at Vrael Productions had expected, weren’t even met.

Instead, the movie’s trailer ended up having less than half the projected views. Three million views, to be exact.

And though some might argue that it was an objectively okay view count for a movie of its caliber, it didn’t detract from the fact that the movie was quickly buried in the algorithm before the month even ended.

To that effect, asides from Niall’s growing fans and a couple of Midnight Avenue’s long-time ones, alongside a few of the individuals whom had actually watched the trailer, most of the general public naturally forgot the existence of the movie.

Yet, [Tyler Kingstone: Under the Lights] still intermittently kept itself in the spotlight, hence garnering well over fifty million views by the end of the month.

In any case, following all that, Henry and Joaquin soon found themselves at their family mansion again, both of them currently walking down its effulgent halls as the maids bowed curtly to welcome and greet them.

Neither said a single thing to each other as they made their way towards the dining room they were to meet with their father for their monthly dinner et report.

However, just as they approached the wide doors to the room, Joaquin just couldn’t help himself;

"That movie you were producing--"

"Cut the bullshit, Joaquin. You might have all the resources to promote Tyler whatever the fuck is surname is’ movie all you like, but it doesn’t change my warning." Henry sharply cut him off.

"Now then," he flashed him a faux smile.

"Let’s get this other bullshit over with." he turned over to face the door and pushed it open, his steps already carrying him in.

Joaquin was rather stunned by how unperturbed Henry was about the meeting they were about to have, though he was more baffled by how casually the man was dismissing him.

Typically, he’d have levelled him a vindictive gaze, especially since they both knew exactly what he’d done.

Yet, for as quickly as he’d addressed it, he had just as quickly dismissed it.

Almost as if it was an afterthought that wasn’t worth all the fuss.

’That’s... curious...’ the man couldn’t help but ponder if there was something he wasn’t aware of.

Something that made it so that his brother wasn’t as bothered as he typically was.

’Was it that much of a low-budget movie?’ the man couldn’t help but question, his brows creasing into a slight frown.

If that was the case, then, for as much as he hated Henry’s gut, him doing all he’d been doing thus far wouldn’t feel as worthwhile.

Afterall, for as low investment as producing and marketing Tyler Kingstone’s movie had been--especially since post-producing the movie was all Diamond Productions had done majorly thus far--it had still cost him a quite bit.

But then again... he wasn’t the one to take chances. Chances that may give his brother an edge to winning over their father that he was best to take on Hall Enterprises.

To that, it didn’t take long for his own faux smile of cordiality to slip onto his features as he walked in after Henry.

Whatever the case may have been, he was bound to eventually find out.

Unfortunately for Joaquin... he was in fact, never going to find out.

The reason for this was rather simple.

[Silver Comets] was a movie Henry was financing largely from his own personal pockets, and not from the company’s bank.

As a result, if the movie flopped, Henry was the only one whom would feel the major backlash that would come with it--a situation he was perfectly fine with.

Vrael Productions on the other hand? They were perfectly safe, all things considered.

However, if the movie did turn out to be a success, not only would he benefit from it, but so would his production company alongside several of the other businesses he was managing.

Afterall, when all was said and done, it meant more overall funds for him. With more funds, he’d have more capital to invest in the things that were of interest to him.

Capital, after all, was the baseline resource required to make investments and drive financial growth.

But Joaquin didn’t have the slightest inkling about any of this.

Largely because for as smart or as cunning as he was, he probably could’ve never conceived the idea of Henry accepting a crazy offer to make a movie where the lead actor not only had the movie’s IP rights, but also a 12% cut of its box office returns.

In any case, speaking of Niall himself, he was currently above the ice, his form executing not one, not two, not even three... but four and a half bloody rotations mid-air!

Through it all, Hector remained slack-jawed, his eyes flickering wildly!

Now he understood why the young man had been renting the rink all night for exorbitantly high prices... all to have the ice to himself and his instructor late into the midnights.

Axels, the move that involved figure skaters leaping into the air to execute a set number of rotations were arguably one of the hardest moves to pull off in figure skating.

Ranging from the single, to double, then triple and quadruple, each involved 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 rotations respectively.

Triple axels were already considered the hardest in this current generation... and as at the time of the 2017 in their world... there was no one to have landed a quadruple axel.

Yet... that very same move... that very same fabled move that wasn’t even in the script that was given to Niall... it was that very same outright, dastardly insane move he had pulled off!

As he landed onto the ice, his form perfect, he seamlessly transitioned into a camel spin a few seconds after... only to gradually pivot and lower into a sit spin in the same breadth of time.

At the moment, Niall looked quite like the spinning top of a Beyblade, his head tucked in, one leg extended outwardly and his entire frame resting on the other leg that kept his centrifugal force continuously rotating.

Once again, Hector was utterly and completely shell-shocked!

Yet, as he watched on, unable to even utter a single word, the classical music that was playing slowly came to a stop.

In sync, Niall’s spinning receded as he slowly rose up, his spin grinding to a gentle halt.

Then, with the proudest grin he’d ever mustered, he placed his arm on his chest and bowed with a flourish at the only spectator in the stands even as his chest heaved tiredly and his muscles protested.

Afterall, if they could right now... they honestly might as well file for a divorce away from him.

*

A week had passed since that day.

Niall, having sorted out all he’d wanted and checked in with everyone to ensure that he wouldn’t be needed in the coming months in LA, had finally arrived at his parent’s ranch in Nashville.

Yet, just as he stepped out of his rented vehicle, he watched as Camille opened the door to his parent’s farmhouse and squealed like a little girl whom had been given the best birthday present!

Then, without the slightest hesitation, she ran up to him and lunged into his arms!

"Sugah! I missed you so much!" she exclaimed in loving, unbridled mirth, her head buried into his chest as Niall did his best to steady himself, a genuinely hearty chuckle escaping his lips;

"Darling! I literally called you an hour ago!"

Then, with the warmest of smiles, he added while kissing her forehead;

"But of course, I missed you too, Red. I missed you too."

As Niall’s parents stepped out the porch, warm smiles on their features, they simply allowed the two lovebirds to have their moment.

And for Niall, he couldn’t have been gladder to be back.

Sure, he’d have to return again in October for the Premiere of [Silver Comets], but for now, he was going to cherish these little moments his new lease on life gave him and never, ever take them for granted.

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/Caer07