Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

Aiden talked to Ava for a while longer. They just discussed about themselves and their careers before parting ways. 

After reaching home, Aiden didn’t know what to do. His days were going by just reading and trying to get his mental health fixed. 

From time to time, he would always go to meet Uncle Sam and have lunch with him. He hadn’t been able to meet him a lot due to his work in the recent months. 

So, it was a nice change of pace. 

Uncle Sam was just worried about him, being someone to take mental health very seriously.

At the same time, he even offered Aiden to go on a road trip with him, talking about how he always wanted to teach his son the way of life but he never got one and then his cousin had a big rebellious phase which ended any of his plans. 

Aiden did entertain that idea but he wanted to get a bit better first. At his current state, he didn’t even feel like going out a lot. 

‘You can’t explain it in words but maybe try to write it down like a diary or even a story.’

Dr. Penny’s words resounded in his mind. 

Thinking of that, he sat down in front of his laptop. 

Marshall had also asked him if he had gotten another idea for his novel, so maybe he could just use his nightmares to forge a novel. 

He tried to remember the last nightmare he had seen and the feeling quickly set in. A kind of a creepy, disturbing feeling that made him very uncomfortable. 

Still, he tried to type. Trying to let out this feeling in the form of words. 

An hour quickly went by as the sound of typing filled the room. 

“I can’t put it in words for some reason…”

Aiden muttered, looking up at the screen. Only one page had been done in the entire hour. He had kept typing and deleting things because he had felt like it wasn’t the exact feeling. 

His words felt lacking and the story wasn’t right. In the last hour, he had gone from a fantasy genre to horror to a full on diabolical zombie apocalypse. 

He had also wondered about the prospect of writing a story of a person dealing with trauma and becoming insomniac due to being troubled with nightmares. 

But in the end, he had discarded it. He didn’t want to get his mind into something dark, something that takes a deep dive into the minds of a troubled person, when he was feeling paranoid at random moments in a day. 

‘It’s pretty hard to visualise all the things that are in my mind on paper. Why can’t I do it?’

He wondered and even after the day was over, his troubles didn’t. 

***

The next day, Aiden was picked up by Wade because they have a schedule. It wasn’t a gig or anything like that but just a simple meeting in Vikings publishing office. 

The meeting about the film rights of <Behind the scenes>. 

They weren’t going to sign the contract today but it was just a meeting for Aiden to know the thoughts of Gravity Media about the film adaptation and talk about the story. 

“It’s going to be a pretty boring meeting. I’m pretty sure Gravity Media are just going to ask you if you are interested in appearing in the film adaptation. It would give some gravitas to the project then. Otherwise, they are going to make it a proper festival movie and release it in a few years time.”

Wade said, taking a turn and making sure that he was following the correct directions to the office of Vikings publishing. 

“Aren’t they going to focus on some kind of sci-fi project?”

“Yeah, they are trying to aim for the big commercial blockbuster title for one of their upcoming movies. Most of the budget is allocated there for now. It’s a pretty important venture, so the company must be pretty tense.”

“Why are they acquiring <Behind the scenes> then?”

“Future.” Wade smiled. “A plan B if they failed. They would go back to their small movie ventures then. A lot of studios acquire whatever good book is in the market years ago. Throwing their money, hoping they get lucky.”

Aiden nodded, not really too interested in the meeting. It was mostly confirmed that it won’t become a live action adaptation in the next few years, so his excitement was low. 

His mind was still more on projecting out his thoughts in some way or form as until now, writing wasn’t working. He had also tried writing lyrics but it met with the same fate. 

“Are you okay?”

Wade suddenly asked and Aiden looked at him in confusion.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“Nothing. I’m just worried about you a lot.” He said with an annoyed expression. “I have worked with other celebrities, looked at them closely. All of them ruin themselves after getting these mental health issues. It’s a very serious thing and some of them even take their—”

His words stopped in track as he licked his lips. Aiden kept looking at him as he talked. 

“Sometimes, I feel like somewhere it’s my fault. Maybe I worked too much for you? You have been working nonstop since the year began. Sometimes you even slept in the van. I know all this piles up… I just feel bad.”

“I never knew you have an emotional side, Wade. Are you going to say I love you next?”

Aiden laughed. It was just a very different experience to see Wade like that. He was someone who Aiden had seen casually threatening guys but now, he was talking his heart out, blaming himself for Aiden’s health. 

“You!!”

Wade glared at him, seeing him laugh uncontrollably. A frown casted upon his face as he didn’t know what to say. 

“I’m sorry. I know I should not laugh but… it’s just different seeing you like this.” It was only after a while that Aiden stopped laughing. “I appreciate your concerns but trust me, this is not your fault in any way or form. I worked myself hard and I don’t have problems due to working hard.”

Wade let out a deep sigh. 

“Still, now that you have gotten a break, try to just rest and heal properly.”

“I will.”

***

“<The Sand God> completely failed. The critics roasted it apart and I heard that the author is depressed now. I wonder if he will be able to get it back together.”

“Is that so? He looked like such a cheerful guy when he first came here. I was even going to ask him for drinks. Failure is really a hard thing to take.”

“Yeah, it is. You could still ask him out, you know. It’s easier to get him to fall in love with you if he’s down in the dumps.”

“Ah, not now. I was going to see if his book worked.”

A man ignored the gossip that was going on between two female employees as he waited for the elevator to reach its destination. 

He seemed to be in some urgency as he was repeatedly tapping his feet and checking the watch on his wrist. 

‘Finally.’

He thought as the elevator reached the floor. He quickly got out of it and approached the reception. He was wearing a black bag on his back. 

“I have an appointment with Mr. Haynes of the Graphic novel department.”

“Wait a minute.”

The female receptionist stopped scrolling Skygram on her phone and started typing something on her computer. The man’s gaze wandered off as he waited. 

Vikings publishing was one of the most popular publishers in America but the office looked pretty silent and there were only a few people going here and there. 

It was probably due to the time. After all, it was still early morning and Vikings publishing didn’t have a major release this month. 

As he waited for a response, he heard a conversation of two people that were coming out of another elevator. 

“We need to head straight to Marshall’s office. I have already notified his assistant, so there won’t be any problems.”

“Okay.”

Listening to that conversation, the man’s eyes landed on one of the guy’s faces and he felt like he was someone familiar. 

‘Wait? Isn’t he an actor? I saw his movie last summer.’

The man thought but before he could think of anything more, the receptionist opened her mouth. 

“I’m sorry but Mr. Haynes is running late. He’s not in his office till now and you would have to wait.”

“Till when could he come?”

“I can’t say.”

The man sighed as the receptionist gestured him to one of the sofas in front of the receptionist desk. 

He sat down in silence and wondered when Mr. Haynes would come to his office. He wanted to go through the meeting as fast as possible. Otherwise, his anxiety was going to just keep increasing. 

‘I need to make a successful pitch no matter what.’

The man’s name was Bruce Morse and he was a comic book writer that was struggling to publicise his comic for a long time. He had gone to big comic book publishing firms that have made big superhero franchises but his ideas weren’t taken well. 

Most of the criticism wasn’t about his art but the story that often lacks interesting hooks, making it feel boring. 

Knowing that Vikings publishing also has a graphic novel department, Bruce had tried his chance here with a story that he has been making for a long time. 

It was practically his last try as he had decided to give up on a career as a comic book artists if he fails.