"I think it's still quite impressive. First music and then this. You have come a long way since the last time we met."

When Aiden heard that, he couldn't help but smile a bit, thinking of the day he last saw Katie.

Compared to that time, it was true that he had changed a lot. And seeing her also made him realise how far he had come. Rather than just relying on acting, he had ventured out into other fields, accumulating popularity slowly, which had ultimately helped him in his acting career.

"I'm just more focused on the things I know I could do. Moreover, after doing two movies, I feel like I'm getting a better sense of acting."

"That might be true," Katie whispered back. "I was very nervous when shooting scenes with many famous actors in the beginning, but I'm more used to it now and know how to not get overwhelmed. Moreover, you might not know, but working with famous stars is not as grand as you might think."

Aiden raised an eyebrow at that. From the conversations he remembered with Katie, she always wanted to stand among the very best.

"I thought that's what you always wanted."

"Yeah, but that was my thinking before I did movies with them." Katie chuckled. "Some of them are good, but many are pretty much in their own world. I thought I would learn a lot from them, but it wasn't always the case. Most of them were too busy for me to get to know them. Some will do a scene, then an interview, then another scene, then a fan meeting and so on."

"Sounds like your dream was not exactly like you imagined. Well, isn't there a saying? Never meet your heroes."

Aiden said, remembering his days on the set of [Shadows of War]. Katie had probably encountered people like Aaron Hart, but he also knew that not everyone was like the latter. Ray Hardy, the lead of the [Shadows of War], had treated him pretty well on the set and had even helped him in preparation for the role of Kai.

"Yeah, but I at least got a lot of money. It's way better than struggling to pay rent every month."

Katie said, leaning on her seat and picking up her cup of coffee. Slowly slipping it up, she stared at Aiden, thinking he looked a bit more mature now.

The meet-up went ahead like that, with all of them moving on from talking about [30 days of Happiness] to other things like how they had begun their acting careers and their experiences.

This was one of the good things about being part of an independent movie. The actors would be very open, and all of them would have the same goal to give their best to make a good movie.

As their meet-up ended, Aiden couldn't help but ask a question to Katie that was running in his mind.

"Why did you choose the role of Claire?"

He wasn't just asking this because he was curious. It was also a way for Aiden to understand Katie's thoughts about Claire.

He felt like it was important to know what other actors thought when deciding to do the role.

"Well, let me think," Katie said, hearing the question. It wasn't something she could answer straight away as there was a lot about Claire that she had liked and disliked. "You can say that at first, I hated her character."

When she said that, Aiden squinted his eyes in interest, wondering what had made her change her mind.

"It's prevalent in rom coms to have a female character who's already popular or wants to be popular. I know that happens, but it is very overused, and I thought Claire was the same kind of character. She's popular in school and has an athletic boyfriend who's a bit of an asshole." She glanced at Jayden. "It just seemed like an overused trope."

"But that's just the outer layer."

Aiden muttered. A character always has a lot of layers until a director has just not decided to explore it or give a hint about it. Claire was the same.

On the outside, she seemed like another female protagonist in a high school romance that people were already bored of. But Claire was more than just the guy that Arthur had fallen in love with at first sight.

There was a reason why Aiden said that the name 'Claire' would suit the movie title a lot.

"As the plot moves, a lot of stuff about Claire is revealed. In the end, she's more or less a girl that just wants to know more about love. Her relationship with Sam early on in the movie is pretty much hollow, and she realises it too, but she's fearful of losing people close to her. Her grandma's letters are just a way for her to get more time to think about the questions in her mind and get answers. I like how much of a confused and vulnerable person she is inside and how her cheerful persona is more or less an act."

Katie finished her explanation with a smile. Aiden could clearly feel like she had prepared a lot for the character of Katie, and in his mind, he slowly began to project her face as Claire and felt like she would do a great job.

'It seems like I would have a lot of fun working on the movie.'

Aiden thought in his mind.

For him, Katie was someone who complimented his acting well. He still remembered when they used to practice their roles together after work.

So, he was sure that it would also reflect in their characters.

Slowly, he really was looking forward to the start of the shooting.

***

After the meet-up ended and the cast got to know each other, they met again after a few days for a read-through of the script.

The filming locations were also decided then, and they were going to begin filming by the middle of May. Leo had decided that the first part of the script would be shot in LA.

The scenes in which Arthur and Claire would meet at the start of the movie and some montages of their school life would be shot here before the crew would fly over to Europe, where filming would take place in Paris, Brussels and Rome.

The major part of the movie was going to be shot in Europe. That's why Leo wanted to do it after the LA shoots.

If everything goes well, the movie would finish shooting in one and a half months and would be sent to various film festivals.

"Are the cameras ready? Recheck everything. We don't want any mistakes on the first shot. We are going to start in the next few minutes."

Leo shouted, and everyone around him nodded and started rechecking everything just to be sure. Everyone knew the importance of the first shot.

It was the first day of the shooting, and they were filming in a high school that had agreed to let them shoot for half a day. They did not even ask for money and only requested to show the school's name in one of the shots.

Apparently, the school was trying to get some fame for itself like this.

Filming devices had been placed far away from the school gate, on the pavement leading to the school. The camera crew was adjusting the devices for the last time.

The cinematographer communicated with the lighting engineer to ensure the lighting and exposure. Some staff members who had finished their work listened attentively to their conversation.

In some distance, many high school students were glancing at the staff members, excited about a film's shooting. Some of them had even recognised Katie and asked for an autograph.

As for Aiden, many people also pointed fingers at him and called him by the name 'Kai'. But none of them had come forward to ask for an autograph yet.

"Aiden, are you ready? Remember, this is a brief scene. You just need to walk on and glance a bit at Katie there."

Leo, who was explaining the scene to Aiden, glanced at Katie, who was sitting in a car with Jayden.

"Don't worry, Leo. I will give my best."

"Good."

Saying that Leo walked over to Katie and told her the same thing. Aiden chuckled, seeing Leo like this. He was clearly very nervous about his first scene as a director.

Even if it was the most simple scene in the movie, he was nervous that it wouldn't go well.

'I need to give my best.'

Aiden took a deep breath and took his position. Around him, the crew members were spread out, and Wade looked over at him sitting on a nearby bench.

Like Leo, this was also a huge moment for Aiden.

It was the first shot of the movie that he was the lead of. That surely added a bit of pressure on him, but he was also confident.

A lot has happened over the last year, but in the end, he has finally reached a point where he always wanted to stand.

When everything was set up, Leo finally took his position as the director and glanced around for a final check. He shouted, "Action!"

Hearing those words, one word roamed in Aiden's mind as he truly became Arthur Reeves.

'Immersion.'

...

//Dream Note//

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