Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

The next few days, Aiden read the script of [Stars on the Ground] again and again and he had to say that the story was pretty good. 

It had most of the things that normal people would associate Hollywood with and although it was over the top in a few scenes and dialogues looked a bit immature, a good execution could make it feel right. 

After all, in movies, execution of the script was as important as the script. There were many cases where a script was good but the execution had made it average. 

The plot of [Stars on the Ground] mainly focused on Mary White, a white woman with the dreams of being an Hollywood actress, inspired by the top Hollywood actresses of the 80s and 90s. 

The movie was set in that decade too. 

The story was just her trying to do anything to move up ranks in the industry. From giving bad advice to an actress doing the same audition as her to sleeping with a director for the role. 

The decisions were not morally right but they didn’t need to be. One of the major aspects of the movie was the PR team that celebrities have. 

In many parts of the script, Mary’s PR team would show her as the actress that all top Hollywood men had their eyes on. They would even call paparazzi deliberately to spark up scandals. 

Aiden’s character would be one of these men.

A shrewd businessman who seems to live in a shell, not knowing a lot about life outside Hollywood and the rich circles. A classic elitist jerk that doesn’t care about others and treats normal people as disposable. 

There was even one scene when he would frame a struggling actor of a crime he did, very smartly. 

He liked the character a lot. A negative character that was an important part of the plot but in Aiden’s mind, the thing that Hank had told him was still roaming around. 

He wanted to know what had gone wrong between Florence and Hank and why he felt like it would affect the movie. 

He wasn’t getting a wink of sleep due to that. 

He wondered if he was thinking too much but after playing characters like Kai and Finn whose instincts were very sharp, Aiden felt like he had gotten that ability. 

Because of his instinct, he even told Wade to delay the signing. He was reluctant about it, not wanting to create issues because of Aiden’s instincts but he still did it, making some sort of excuse. 

To satisfy his curiosity, Aiden asked Sasha to look for more information about Hank and Florence. 

Even if they found nothing, Aiden would at least feel relieved. 

Sasha, Lia and even Tom tried to use their contacts to know more about Hank and Florence. Aiden also asked his celebrity friends but they found nothing that wasn’t already on the internet. 

Hank was a heavy drinker and didn’t have a good relationship with a lot of people in the industry. Florence had come out snobbish in some of her interviews but she was a woman who was very ambitious and calculative and had a lot of contacts. 

There was a reason why she was able to make the shift into directing so easily. 

Other than that, there were only a few rumours that didn’t seem related to what Aiden was looking for. 

The last time something like this had happened with Tyler where Aiden was in need of information, Uncle Sam had helped him out. 

He still had a lot of his contacts but he has also told him that it would only be for once. Last time, he has already done a big favour, so Aiden didn’t bothered him. 

Day by day, the worry made him more and more uneasy with no solution in sight. 

***

“There are rumours that next project is going to be with Florence Levine and Titan studios. Is it true?”

“Well, I can’t say anything about it.”

“By that tone of voice, it’s easy to say that it’s true. I hope the project goes well for you and there’s no trouble.”

‘No, I’m sensing trouble everyday.’

Aiden wanted to reply to the reporter in front of him but he didn’t. He just politely said a few words and left. 

Currently, he was doing a round of interviews these days. Most of them were because of [Sherlock of the Shadows] but as Aiden could promote his graphic novel in them, he had not rejected them. 

Aside from that, there were also a few photoshoots. 

“You don’t look good. You have that stern expression on your face these days.” 

Wade remarked as they were walking towards the parking lot. Tom was following behind them and even he agreed. 

“Yeah, like you are sick.”

“It’s just that my instincts are still the same about [Stars on the Ground]. I feel like it’s a red flag but I’m not getting the reason why.”

When Aiden said that, Wade frowned. He stopped in his tracks and opened his mouth with a click of his tongue. 

“Then, just leave the project.” He said. “We have not signed it. You can still leave if you want. I know you think that it would damage your relationship with Ava if you did it without any reason but it’s better than you acting like some heavy burden is on you. Anyway, we can’t delay the signing any further.”

“I know that. Let’s talk about it later.” Aiden said and changed the topic. The corridor of a media company wasn’t a good place to talk about this. “Anyway, what’s the next place we need to go?”

“Hollywood Weekly. The interview is with Katherine Huff. You remember the one who was hitting on you?”

“That senior reporter.”

“Yeah, she’s divorced. Maybe go on a date with her after the interview. Get off some steam.”

Wade laughed but Aiden didn’t say anything, his expression changed for a bit as the appearance of the red haired woman came into her mind. She had looked at him very favourably. 

He looked up at Wade and suddenly asked. 

“A senior reporter has a lot of contacts, right?”

“Yeah obviously. Why are you asking?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s hurry.”

Aiden said and quickly moved. 

He had made a lot of contacts in the industry till now but he wasn’t close with any particular reporter. It feels like it was time to change that. 

***

They quickly reached the office of Hollywood Weekly and it didn’t take them a long time to get straight to the interview. 

It seemed like Katherine was just waiting for them. 

Though, throughout the interview, she was looking at Aiden with a bit of a cold glare. He ignored it and just focused on the interview. 

The interview was pretty simple and it didn’t take a long time for it to be over. There was no photoshoot, so that saved time. 

He only had to talk about the recent things that happened with him. The controversy and his successful series. Aiden had already talked about it so many times that his mouth moved on its own. 

After the interview was over, he got to the topic at hand. 

“Can we talk in private? There was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Hearing that, Katherine was a bit surprised. Looking around, she saw that a few staff members were still lurking around and asked. 

“What’s it about?”

“I need to ask a favour.”

She eventually nodded hearing that, interested to know what Aiden was onto about. 

“Let’s go to my office.”

Aiden told Tom and Wade that he would meet them in the parking lot and followed Katherine. 

Walking upstairs, they reached her office that was pretty big and sophisticated, indicating her status in the company. 

She didn’t waste any time and quickly got to the topic. 

“What favour you were talking about?” 

She said in a particular cold voice and Aiden couldn’t help but ask a question back in response. 

“Are you still upset that I didn’t call you?”

“Yeah I’m.” She said directly. “I was hoping you would but I guess the rumours are true that you are asexual.”

“No, I’m not. I just got busy and I’m not really interested in having any relations at this point in my career.”

“That sounds like something an asexual guy would say.”

They went back and forth like that for a while but Katherine’s expression cooled down soon. She let out a deep breath and smiled. 

“Well, it’s fine. I was just hoping for a while but I understand. Anyway I got a boyfriend now, so what’s the favour you want?”

Like he had thought, she was an adult and wouldn’t drag such a small issue. At the same time, her being his fan also made her unable to dislike Aiden, especially because he hadn’t really done anything too rude. 

“I need information.”

“I’m not a detective.” Katherine joked but her face was someone who was keenly listening to Aiden. 

“It’s something of the industry. You must hear a lot of rumours, both true and false and going by your stature, you have the ability to know which one is true and which one isn’t. That’s why, I need your help.”

Aiden started talking about what information he needed and what exactly had prompted him to look for it. On every word, Katherine’s expression kept changing bit by bit. 

It was like she was unable to believe what Aiden was saying. 

‘I don’t know how he got to this but his instincts are on to the point.’